 It is now time for oral questions. I recognize the leader of the official opposition. Thank you, Speaker. My first question is for the Deputy Premier. No one should be stuck waiting for days in a hospital hallway when they're dealing with serious illness. Yesterday the Premier held a press conference where he announced a plan for temporary relief. That sounds exactly like the Band-Aid Solutions the previous government had been announcing. Can the Deputy Premier explain if this is even a new plan or just a continuation of the old liberal one? Deputy Premier. Well, thank you very much for the question and I can tell you that this is good news for the people of Ontario. The announcement that we made last week we are following up on the promises that we made during the election campaign both in terms of building more long-term care beds and ending hallway medicine. And I can say to the leader of the opposition that this is on top, this is 90 million new dollars on top of that 187 million that has previously been spent on this. This is a lot of money. Is it an answer? No, because we were left with 15 years of chaos with a lack of planning, with hospitals that are over 100% in many parts of this province. But what it is going to do is help those hospitals with the highest need, deal with and get through the flu season where we expect many more hospital admissions. This is going to be a huge help. Supplementary. Deputy Premier should know that hallways aren't only filled during flu season but the reality is constant overcrowding and a scramble for spaces. When is the government going to commit to permanent beds, Speaker? Deputy Premier. Well, we are certainly very well aware that many hospitals across the province are at over 100% capacity. We are working on a long-term capacity plan. Unfortunately, it wasn't ready for this season, a flu season, because we've only been here for several months. But we are working on a long-term plan that will allow for all hospitals in Ontario to operate at safe levels throughout the year and not just at flu season. A supplementary. Speaker, across Ontario we see hospitals operating at maximum capacity and beyond. In Fender Bay, the hospital has been operating at surge capacity for years. In Windsor, the hospital campuses are operating at 99% to 106% capacity and everywhere patients languish in hallways waiting for treatment. Does the government have a plan? And can they tell us when they might be able to produce a plan to move beyond Band-Aid funding? Deputy Premier. Well, the issue of ending highway health care is not one simple solution. It is a multi-faceted problem and we are working at all facets of the problem with respect to alternate level of care patients, people who don't need to be in hospital but don't have a place to go. We have over 30,000 seniors that are waiting for long-term care space. So we're working on both easing the hospital congestion, having a place where the ALC patients can go, and we're also building up capacity in long-term care. So yesterday we also announced 6,075 new beds. Next question, Leader of the Opposition. My next question is also for the Deputy Premier. For a patient waiting with cancer in a hallway for days while receiving treatment, the new government seems to be moving from bad to worse. In a recent speech to the Ontario Hospital Association, the Minister of Health told hospitals that they would have to prepare for lean financial times. Can the Deputy Premier explain how cuts to health funding will clear crowded hospital hallways? Deputy Premier. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And to you, I would say to the Leader of the Official Opposition that is not the case. We are not cutting health care funding for people on the front line. We are not that are available for people. We want to increase the services that people can receive. There is no question that one patient being treated in a hallway is one patient too many. We can all agree on that. And what we want to do is make sure that people are treated in hospital rooms, not in hallways and in storage rooms. That is what we are working hard on, we're concentrating on to make sure that people can get into those rooms and that those patients who are alternate level of care can either go home with proper levels of home support or they can go to a long-term care facility. Every patient deserves to be in a place that is safe and comfortable for them. Supplementary. Well, Speaker, for patients worried about whether a hospital bed will be there when they need it, this government's approach to health care is concerning. Warning hospitals that lean financial times are coming is, I think, a warning that says, get ready for either northwest to hospitals. What cost-saving measures is the government contemplating in the health care budget, Speaker? Deputy Premier. I think the leader of the official opposition will know what the financial state of affairs is for Ontario right now. It has been clearly demonstrated by the Minister of Finance. So there's no question that all areas of government are going to have to look at their operations and understand how you can find efficiencies. What that does not mean is making cuts on the front line. Absolutely not. What we need to do is look internally, look at our processes, how do we do things, things have been done the same old way in health care for many years. We've got to look under every stone and find out where we can find those savings. We know that hospitals are under a lot of pressure. We know that they're in surge capacity. We want to make things easier for them, not more difficult. Final supplementary. Well, Speaker, modernization, transformation, efficiencies are the same words that the Liberal government used. Unfortunately for the Premier and the Deputy Premier, people remember what happened the last time conservatives controlled hospitals in Ontario. Six thousand nurses were fired and compared to outdated hula hoops. You remember that, Speaker? 28 hospitals were shuttered all over the province, closing 7,000 hospital beds. Many of the same players from Ontario have returned. And one of them is heading up the Premier's health care task force. Does the Deputy Premier really think that that is the path forward? Deputy Premier. We are looking at the path forward for 2018 on. We are not looking at what happened. The leader of the official opposition may not realize, but still much health care communication is transported via faxes. That is ridiculous in this day and age. We need to modernize our technology and we need to move forward and look at the ways that we can deliver health care more efficiently. Telehealth care. Making sure that people in remote areas can have specialist consultations without having to travel hundreds of miles in difficult weather. These are the things that we're talking about doing that are better patient care and can be delivered at a lower cost. That's what we're concentrating on. And that's what we'll continue to work on in the coming years. Next question. The member for Windsor to come. Thank you, Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Health. Good morning, Minister. Windsor Regional Hospital has struggled with overcrowding for years and now things are getting even worse. The MET campus is at 99% capacity. The Willette campus is at 106. Wait times in the ER are unbearable. There's no room. Some patients are left on journeys and the hallways, it'll only get worse when the flu season gets here, Speaker. When will this government do the right thing once and for all and give Windsor hospitals the funding they need to get patients out of the hallways and into the hospital beds they deserve? Thank you. Minister of Health and long-term care. Well, I thank the member very much for the question and I do know that there are many hospitals in Ontario that are over 100% capacity right now which is making it very difficult for healthcare professionals to deliver the quality of care that they want to deliver and for patients who are left in hallways, storage closets, board rooms, every available space in a hospital. We want to ease that situation. It has been building up over a number of years for the previous 15 years. We are trying to figure the situation out and develop a comprehensive health capacity plan which we are working on actively right now but we also had to be prepared for this year's flu season and we had to put in this short-term funding that's $90 million that's going to aid those areas that were determined by the ministry to be in the greatest need. I know there's need across Ontario but those areas that had the most urgent care needs There is supplementary Mr. Speaker, Windsor families deserve so much better for years the Liberals cut and froze hospital funding to be fair they gave a little bit more to prepare for the flu season last year but that was too little and too late and now the Conservatives are giving hospitals $10 million less than what the Liberals did why is this government forcing more people to wait even longer and making the overcrowding crisis even worse? Mr. Veldt, long-term care Well, in actual fact what has happened is the $187 million that the Liberals were talking about was spent last year by them but also spent by us this year that money has flowed so the additional $90 million is new money on top of that $187 million across the province that we are adding to that capacity because we know that the hospitals emergency department admissions have increased this year there's more pressure on the system and that's why we want to make sure that those hospitals have the assistance they need but as for Windsor itself and for other hospitals across the province we are looking at a long-term capacity plan that will be a place by this time next year so we won't have to deal with emergency funding for flu season Next question, the member for Willowdale Thank you Mr. Speaker and I'd like to first off wish you and everybody in the House today a very happy Thanksgiving I hope everybody has just a little too much to eat this weekend My question is for the Minister of Economic Development Job Creation and Trade Earlier this week the federal government reached a last-minute trade agreement with the United States The deal comes after months of uncertainty Uncertainty that has hurt families and businesses across Ontario and across our country Could the Minister please outline for the House how the new Canada-U.S. trade agreement fails Ontario workers and leaves many Ontario businesses in a state of uncertainty Mr. Economic Development Thank you to my colleague the member from Willowdale Now that we've seen the details of the new NAFTA this is what we're facing tariffs remain on steel and aluminum with no timeline or plan for lifting them We now have a limit on how many cars Canada can export to the U.S. as well as a quota for future investment in Ontario Canada gave more market share to American dairy exporters leaving less business for Ontario with no plan to help our farmers and now the United States now has veto power over future trade deals involving Canada highly unusual and a real hit on our sovereignty as a nation federal government gave up a lot with no plan to deal with the impact our government will continue to demand that the federal government live up to its obligations and treat the people of Ontario and our farmers and workers with respect supplementary Thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you to the minister for his response it is frankly astounding that our federal government is willing to leave Ontario workers and Ontario businesses out to dry While they trumpet their deal the high managed sectors await answers on the compensation they will receive and tens of millions of dollars of investment is on hold Steel and aluminum tariffs are still in place and businesses have yet to receive the money the feds promised Would the minister please outline for the House what he is doing to ensure that Ontario businesses get the support they deserve from our federal government Minister of economic development Very good question indeed We need to stand for Ontario workers and we will hold the federal government accountable for the treaty that they have signed Yesterday I sent a letter to the minister of foreign affairs Minister Freeland demanding answers about the USMCA Our government wants to know on Ontario businesses and workers want to know what is the plan to mitigate the impact of this deal We have made it clear that new uncertainty that has been created by the federal government is hurting Ontario families businesses and workers We have had a response yesterday afternoon from the minister and I was shocked Speaker we got a boiler plate response with no answers to our questions for the people and workers of Ontario the people of Ontario and the workers of Ontario deserve to be treated better by their federal government Question the leader of the official opposition Thank you speaker my questions for the deputy leader or the deputy premier every day we hear from women and men who are struggling to make ends meet on the current minimum wage they value being able to take a sick day and emergency days but they feel like they're not being heard the minister has said that she's studying the issue but the premier said his mind is made up he's freezing their wages and taking away their sick days who did the premier consult with to make that decision speaker Deputy premier Minister of economic development Thank you for the question we've been doing roundtables my parliamentary assistant Michael doing small business roundtables red tape parliamentary assistant Donna believe it not NAFTA we hear after electricity number one issue for our job creators our business is small, large, medium in this province is bill 148 and the worst of bill 148 is scheduled to come in on January 1st so yes we are studying because we owe it to the people that attend these meetings the people that write us the people of Ontario and we owe it to the workers of Ontario to make sure they have the dignity of a job so we're studying every aspect of bill 148 and we'll have more to say in the future supplementary well speaker people that we've heard from some would call them the little guy are telling us that they're falling further and further behind but they're saying they're working multiple jobs speaker they don't see their children because they have to go from job to job they say tax cuts won't make a difference because they don't earn enough to pay any taxes in the first place they deserve to be heard speaker is the government going to hear from people who have to live on their minimum wage as they make decisions that will have a huge negative impact on people's lives speaker through you I say to the honourable member workers did get a 20% increase this year which is the largest in the 28 years I've been in this place and we just think it's time and we said this in the campaign and we said this when we voted against bill 148 I know you guys supported it propping up the liberals as you did 97% of the time over there I feel an awful pile of jobs and I don't see any apologies over there for the mess you've made bill 148 should never have seen the light of day if I quote the Ontario Chamber of Commerce in the news release this week it says bill 148 was too much too fast and has forced our members to decrease product offerings, increase the price of products, hire fewer employees, reduce services and hours of operation and cut back on employee benefit congratulations NDP I would remind all members and ask them to make their comments make their comments through the chair start the clock next question the member for Simcoe North good morning Mr. Speaker my questions for the Minister of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs Mr. Speaker the US MCA announcement this week has been concerning for our supply managed farmers the federal government had stated that no deal would be better than a bad deal for Canada the news for our dairy farmers has summed up to be exactly that a bad deal the federal government had been negotiating our new trade deal for months and assured us that they would make no concessions yet concerning concessions were made Mr. Speaker through you to the Minister can the Minister assure us that this government will work with our farmers in reviewing the impacts of the new deal thank you very much Mr. Speaker and I thank the member from Simcoe North for being a champion for the farmers in these difficult times our government has committed to standing up for our farmers especially those affected by the results of the US MCA during the negotiations the Premier met with officials in Washington to ensure the concerns of our farmers stayed top of mind I have been in constant communication with the farmers on these issues unlike the federal government we will work hard to make sure that our farmers receive the clarity they deserve on how they will be compensated our government has committed to doing better standing up for our farmers they deserve better thank you thank you to the Minister for his answer and for working hard to make sure that our dairy farmers are compensated our supply managed industry in Ontario assures that we supply the amount of food needed for Ontario consumers and our farmers depend on that market for stability by opening up market access to the United States our farmers are no longer have the stability they depend upon in prices and in supply I know the Minister and our Premier have both met with our supply managed sectors to discuss these issues can the Minister tell us what they are hearing from our supply managed sectors on the new US MCA Minister thank you again Mr Speaker and I thank the member for the supplementary question we as she said we have met with representatives from all of the supply managed sectors to discuss the impact on the US MCA with market access being given through the CPTPP and now more access given through the US MCA our farmers are concerned with the profitability and sustainability of their livelihood we will continue to urge the federal government to provide full and fair compensation for our farmers I want to assure the member that our government is committed to making Ontario open for business and this includes providing Ontario dairy farms remain open for business as well thank you very much for the question next question the member for Windsor West thank you Speaker my question is to the Minister of Health the flu season comes every year and yet each year the Liberals and now Conservatives leave healthcare professionals and Windsor families guessing just how bad things will be after years of liberal cuts and funding freezes our hospitals are in crisis rather than doing the right thing finally giving the hospitals the funding they need to end this overcrowding crisis the Conservatives are taking the same piecemeal approach as the last government but this time with even less funding Speaker how many people in Windsor will be left languishing in emergency rooms in hospital hallways because this government continues to deny hospitals the funding they need to make things better Mr. Vell from long term care thank you Speaker well I wish you were just as simple as the member suggests just throw money at the hospitals and the problem disappears that is not the way it works ending hallway healthcare is a multi faceted problem we have to make sure we don't have as many emergency admissions we need to work on mental health and addiction issues so because we have patients cycling in and out constantly we need to look at getting the patients who are alternate level of care and either back home or they want to be or if they can't be there into a long term care home so we are investing in long term care homes we made the announcement yesterday about 6075 the problem with overcrowding in hospitals is something that's been going on for 15 years where nothing was done I wish I could say we could snap our fingers and make that problem disappear overnight thank you supplementary actually called investing in every ontarian in this province not just conservative insiders and friends leave it to the conservatives to renounce temporary funding with 10 million dollars less than last year and then tout it as progress by cutting temporary funding that was already too low this government is going to make things even worse and life even harder for Windsor families struggling to get appropriate space in a hospital the bottom line is that liberal and conservative temporary funding photo ops won't fix a hospital overcrowding will this government do the right thing and give hospitals the 300 million they need to stop the holy medicine crisis from getting worse yes or no I think it's important for the people who may be watching today's proceedings to correct the statement that was made by the member with respect to funding in fact there was 187 million spent last year by the liberals there was 187 million spent this year by our government and the amount that we announced is a new announcement of 90 million this is good news for people across the province is that the entire answer no but it's a very good forward and it's going to help hospitals during flu season but I would just like if I may Mr. Speaker to read a statement from Dr. Gary Newton who's the president and CEO of the Sinai health system on behalf of our patients their families and our staff I would like to thank Minister Elliott for this investment in beds at Bridgepoint active healthcare anyone thank you thank you next question member for Scarborough Gilbert question is to the Deputy Premier Deputy Premier the quality of life that we have in Ontario is something that we should work hard as legislators to protect last night I was actually with the member from Scarborough Asian Court and it was the 83rd homicide in Toronto we witnessed families walking home from school gripping the hands of their children trying to keep them safe in light of the horrific incidences of gun violence that is plaguing our streets and our communities in Ontario does this government support the ban of handguns to the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services Thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you for that question as we have demonstrated our government has and continues to take action to combat gun and gang violence restore public confidence and ensure our streets and communities are safe Mr. Speaker unlike the last government that looked to cancel the 12 million dollars in funding we committed 25 million dollars over four years Mr. Speaker it's not guns that kill people it's the people that have guns illegally that kill people the investment that we're making is a vital first step in combating gun violence disrupting gang activity and cracking down on the trafficking of illegal guns in the province of Ontario Thank you Supplementary Thank you Speaker and back to the Deputy Premier you know I don't disagree with the investments that you're making but even who said to me that these incidences are occurring are putting everyone in the community at risk and in fact those that are involved in those criminal activities they're not afraid of the police right so these incidences are becoming more brazen and more prevalent in our communities and so your investments in police services and Crown Attorneys is welcome but it's not enough it's not enough and it's not solving the issue at hand and as a matter of fact it's also after the fact so will you stand in this house and support my bill 30 which bans the sale of ammunition right now in municipalities that need that extra support Minister of Community Safety and Partial Services Thank you Mr. Speaker as I mentioned we have made an investment in the with respect to the guns and gags in the province of Ontario starting in Toronto the new equipment and innovative investigative technologies will have an impact with respect to the gun violence that we're experiencing Mr. Speaker our government has been clear in our message that gun violence is a menace to Ontario communities and will not be tolerated in any form Mr. Speaker and our party is the only party in the legislature that's committed to doing something about it Mr. Speaker we have made a commitment to ensuring that our streets are safe we will continue supporting our police services an amazing job with the tools that they have and we will continue supporting them in all their work to ensure that our communities are safe Thank you very much the member for Brampton South Thank you Mr. Speaker my question is to the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Derosier Automotive Consultants have reported that new light vehicles were down by 7.4% in September compared to last year the largest single drop since 2009 the auto industry is an integral part of Ontario's economy and employs of people Derosier said Tuesday that uncertainty surrounding North American trade negotiations may have contributed to the drop in sales many questions still remain regarding what supports Ontario workers and families will get from the federal government can the Minister please inform the members about how the uncertainty surrounding NAFTA tariffs affected Ontario workers and industries Minister of Economic Development I call it for the question Mr. Speaker the federal government should have gotten a better deal under the USMCA Ontario jobs, Ontario families and Ontario industries are paying the price including our auto sector we stood shoulder to shoulder with the federal government throughout the negotiations because we knew that a deal needed to get done however Mr. Speaker we were very clear that the deal needed to get done that protected the agriculture steel and aluminum sectors of our economy and Mr. Speaker that is not the deal that we got the federal government must come forward and be honest with the people but how they're going to support and fairly compensate those affected by their deal and it has to be federal money it's an international treaty they need to stand by the constitution stand up for workers and jobs in Ontario and across the provinces and territories and fairly compensate the people they've hurt Thank you Mr. Speaker our government must stand up and protect Ontario industry whether it's autos or agriculture the bank of Canada has stated that because of the uncertainty and tariffs the Canadian GDP will shrink by two thirds of a percent by 2020 the deputy governor of the bank of Canada has also said after just a couple of months the tangible effects of the cross-border tariffs on steel aluminum and consumer goods have already started showing up in the economic data I'm very concerned about the current tariffs and what our federal government is doing to mitigate the threat of future tariffs can the minister please inform the members what effects the continued steel and aluminum tariffs have on Ontario's industries Mr. Speaker the federal government certainly missed an opportunity to keep section 232 tariffs on the negotiating table throughout the talks they told us it had nothing to do with the talks but in technical briefing on Monday page 4 says they tried to talk to the Americans the Americans rejected them but they didn't bring them back they just took the Americans word for fine we'll kill our steel and aluminum industry the member for Sault Ste. Marie Mr. Moreno was just telling me this morning out of Sault Ste. Marie at Algoma it's cost them $55 million just in three months of steel aluminum tariffs steel tariffs in their case $55 million that eventually hurt every Ontario because it'll be into the price of your appliances the price of your cars the price of your building materials the price of the steel that we use for industry of all types and that's going to hurt every person in the province of Ontario so the federal thank you thank you my question is to the minister of health and long-term care in my riding of Sudbury health sciences north has been underfunded for years and under the previous liberal government funding was cut again and again requiring frontline healthcare workers to do more and more with less and less and despite pre-election promises from the premiere that no one would be laid off the hospital is laying off 60 nurses and cutting services short-term band-aid funding will not help those frontline workers and will not help solve years of neglect and after years of waiting Sudbury needs to know when will this government be putting forward a long-term plan to end hallway medicine minister of health and long-term care thank you for the question we are actively working on a long-term capacity plan as we speak that is something that we will have in place in advance of the flu season for next year but as far as your hospital is concerned I would say that there have been some unfortunate problems for the last year or so there is a significant debt there that they are working with with the Linn to try and deal with with respect to the nurses they are either going to be retiring or they are going to just they're moving on elsewhere there no one is actually losing the job so it's important though that they continue to operate the hospital and that is why the ministry, the Linn and the senior executives at the hospital are working on a long-term solution back to the minister I agree the hospital is making difficult decisions but it comes down to funding and years of underfunding hospital overcrowding is the number one issue of the people in the writing of Sudbury it's the number one thing I hear about the hallway medicine epidemic that impacts patient care all year long not just during flu season it's been going on for years and years our hospitals are stuck making difficult decisions our frontline healthcare workers are doing their best with limited resources but morale is low and many are left wondering if their jobs will be next to the chopping blocks attrition layoff otherwise we're short staffed I join you in blaming the previous government for years of underfunding right but will the minister listen to people of Sudbury and fund our hospitals properly that's what we need to know thank you well there certainly is something that we can agree on this is a problem that's been growing for many many years 15 years I would say of the Liberals and now we are left with that situation we are trying to fix we know it's not going to be an overnight solution we look forward to working with you and your constituents and your writing to find solutions they have been suggested by a number of hospitals I would say particularly at this point medium size hospitals that the funding formula does not work for them I would suggest it probably doesn't work for many hospitals so we are taking a look at funding formulas right now as well to determine what the best way of compensating and providing hospitals with the funds that they need in order to operate and at the capacity they want to operate not at 120% capacity at a comfortable level so the healthcare professionals will be able to do the great work that they are doing in all of our communities in the way that they want to be able to do it and that patients will receive the best thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the Minister of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs many people in the agriculture industry in my writing are concerned about the impacts of USMCA farmers like Tara and Randy processors like Mike suppliers like Paul much of the discussion surrounding USMCA has been focused on its impact on dairy farmers within the supply managed industry I'm aware that the minister in the premier met with supply managed farming organizations to discuss the impacts of the new deal can the minister also let us know what the agri-food business is saying about the new trade deal Mr. of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs thank you very much Mr. Speaker and I'd like to thank the member from Peterborough from Peterborough I want to thank you for the question and bring attention to our agriculture industries impacted by the USMCA we all know that the USMCA negatively impacts supply managed farmers however we also heard from many of our processors following the new deal they're concerned with the millions of dollars in investments in their businesses due to greater market access market access given to the United States in fact Gay League operatives said this week the deal would have destabilizing and detrimental impacts on the Canadian dairy industry our government is committing to keeping jobs in Ontario and furthermore in creating new jobs in Ontario to reflect that Ontario is open for business response complimentary thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you to the member for bringing attention to the agriculture industries impact by the USMCA I've heard from many of our processors following the new deal they're concerned with the millions of dollars in investments that their businesses are now risking due to greater market access given to the United States in fact Gay League said this week the deal will have quote destabilizing impacts on the Canadian dairy industry can the minister outline how Ontario will continue to be open for business in agri-food Minister thank you Mr. Speaker and I want to thank again the member again for being a champion for your farmers as mentioned previously our supply management system in Ontario is designed so that our farmers produce only the amount of goods that are consumed by Ontarians this system provides pricing and supply dependability for our farmers as we continue to review the impacts of the deal of our supply management sectors I assure you that the impacts on chicken turkey and egg farmers will be treated with significant importance I myself will be cooking two turkeys this Thanksgiving weekend in support of our turkey farmers and they may need and I may need some relatives to help come and eat them John, my invitation is still open to my critic across the aisle join us for Thanksgiving dinner next question member for Nicobel thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the minister who had a long term care was to cancel regulations that would have stopped vaping company from promoting their products to children and then last week the government introduced bill 36 with new regulation that allows e-cigarettes and vaping products to be promoted and marketed to children in convenience stores Tuesday a coalition of health organization including the Canadian Cancer Society the Ontario Heart and Stroke Foundation called on this government to put the health of children first and to withdraw this regulation will the minister listen to these healthcare professionals and make sure that vaping company and e-cigarette company cannot promote and market their harmful products to our kids I think we can certainly agree that the health and safety of children and young people is our utmost priority for everyone in this house and the regulations with respect to vaping were conducted and there is some suggestion with respect to vaping for adults that it may lead to smoking cessation but as far as children are concerned there are regulations that are already in place in stores and so on that sell vaping products to make sure that they are not available to children to be sold to children those will remain in place and those protections will stay there that won't be disturbed by this change supplementary I want to make it clear speaker most of the vaping company are owned by big tobacco company which are desperate to hook the next generation to their addictive products they want to pretend that vaping nicotine is harmless even though studies show clearly that nicotine is just as addictive if you smoke it than if you vape it they want to normalize vaping for kids and they want to make it look really cool above all what they really want to get kids addicted to nicotine to make them customers for life when will the minister withdraw this harmful regulation and make sure that kids are not exposed to vaping marketing, promotion or display the regulation is as it is people can comment of course I'm willing to listen to what people have to say I want to protect children as well that is very important and no one wants to see that person get started with nicotine and who knows where it may go from there but it is important to note that stores have responsibility with respect to the placement of these products not to sell them to children we expect them to live up to what their requirements are and make sure that children are safe we will do take other steps to make sure that children are safe and we want to make sure that we have a public campaign to let people know about vaping to let people know about cannabis to let people know about alcohol they may be legal but they're not benign thank you speaker my question to the minister of economic development job creation and trade while we remain hopeful that the USMCA will benefit our economy I'm pleased that the minister sent a letter to the federal government demanding answers on this deal the minister gave up versus what we got in return under the steel the prime minister backed down on protecting our dairy farmers he backed down on cating control of our auto industry speaker he backed down on affordable prescription drug prices he backed down on ending by-american provisions the liberals backed down on tariff free access for steel, aluminum and software lumber and the liberals gave a foreign government the power to override future trade deals speaker through you did the federal government sign away our sovereignty in this new trade deal my colleague what an important question that is and the answer of course is yes they did and Canadians should be shocked at this very fact we're extremely concerned that the deal forces Canada to inform the US of any intention to pursue negotiations with a non-market economy like China this is about our sovereignty indeed Mr. Speaker clause 32 gives the US sweeping powers for the first time to override Canada's future trade deals if we sign a deal with a country like China the clause says we could be kicked out of NAFTA speaker because of this new NAFTA it's more important than ever that we have new trade deals with Japan, with China Asia, more with Europe South America the rest of the world because we need those jobs we need those good paying jobs we've benefited greatly from the old NAFTA not so much with the new NAFTA so we need supplementary back to the minister speaker I am very concerned that the federal government would recently sign away our sovereignty this legislature should speak with one voice in the defence of our industry in the defence of our sovereignty in the defence of our economy we should be united in holding the Prime Minister to account and count on this minister and this Prime Minister to deliver the message to our Prime Minister to do your job and to fight for our workers because Mr. Speaker never has so much been given up with so little in return as our government works to diversify our export markets to create good jobs in this province if the federal government has provided answers on why President Trump has a veto over future trade deals in this country thank you again to my colleague for the question I think we've also Mr. Speaker been alarmed at the lack of a meaningful response from the federal government even a recent policy adviser the Prime Minister said he was concerned he said it's troubling to provide another country with a formal role in vetting Canadian trade negotiations Mr. Speaker the people of Canada the people of Ontario that did vote for the Federal Liberal Party did not vote for that party and Prime Minister Trudeau to give away our rights to be a sovereign nation to make trade deals to be proud Canadians and not subject to the Americans that is not what this country was built on that's not what our next question I used to know my question is to the Deputy Premier Deputy Premier you will know we go to the pumps to fill our cars and trucks and we get gouged every time we go if you live in southern Ontario you pay 40 cents less for gas than you would do in places like Thunder Bay if you live in Canintowong you're going to probably pay an additional dollar per liter so your government took the first step you supported the NDP bill on gas price regulation at second reading but now you got to take the next step will you allow that bill to be called in committee so that we can bring relief to people at the pumps Deputy Premier Mr. Finance Mr. Finance Thank you very much and good morning look our government is committed to reducing gas prices by 10 cents a liter pretty taken a step by through the cap and trade system Speaker you will have noticed the price of gas has gone down gone down by 4.3 cents a liter congratulations to our Minister of Environment they've taken away the cap and trade tax speaker that not only has reduced the price of gas by 4.3 cents but has also put $285 back in the pocket of families and if you're on natural gas that put $80 more back in the pocket of families with more coming yet speaker Mr. Finance I think we've got to take this government on bringing real relief to families Supplementary Mr. Speaker that's laughable through you we know what happened to the price of gas it was the winter blend that came online all across Canada the price of gas went down it's part of what happens every season to stand in this house and say it is up the Conservative Government that did it I didn't know British Columbia, Newfoundland, Quebec and the rest of the country so I say to you again if you really want to stand up for people at the pumps will you allow our bill that we have in committee now to be called so we can bring relief to people at the pumps Mr. Finance well thank you I'll tell you how far reaching our power is we lowered the price of gas by 4.3 cents Speaker we remain committed to our promise during the campaign to make life more affordable for Ontario families and for businesses and we intend to bring that savings not just at 4.3 cents but a full 10 cents a litre we'll be looking at it taking off another 5.7 cents a litre that's what this government is all about it's a government that is for the people that is returning prosperity to Ontario that is bringing real relief for families not just rhetoric but relief for families that's what we're doing and that's what we'll continue to do Question to the member for Bradford Brandt Mr. Speaker my question is for the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs of Ontario Agriculture Week I think it's important that we talk a little turkey before we gobble up our food this Thanksgiving weekend and when I say talk a little turkey Mr. Speaker I'm talking about our supply managed sectors like dairy, eggs and poultry and the focus of the USMCA agreement this week it's important to reflect on the farmers who bring us the great food and products we consume every day through their hard work and dedication I know the Minister met with the Governor of Idaho this week so before he passes the potatoes can the Minister let us know what he is doing to show our farming families that he supports them Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Thank you very much Mr. Speaker I thank the member for Bradford Brandt for that great question following the USMCA announcement the Premier and I met with our supply managed sector to reassure them that we will continue to press the federal government on providing full and fair compensation to those farmers experiencing losses through the New Deal I have been in constant contact with our stakeholders on the best way to move forward together and to listen to their concerns this week we will continue to review the details of the new trade agreement to fully understand how we will impact our farmers and what we can be done to assist them farming families are never to be used as the bargaining chip and our government is committed to supporting our farmers this week and every week Thank you supplementary I thank the Minister for his answer and I know that the Minister has a long history of supporting Ontario farmers Mr. Speaker back to the Minister as we approach Thanksgiving weekend we look forward to spending time with our families and reflecting on all that we are grateful for reflecting on the new USMCA the federal government has led our farmers down more well more than like a relative who gets stuffed before Thanksgiving dinner without bringing and then forgets to bring the pumpkin pie can the Minister let us know that the government has cooking to ensure that the contributions of our farmers are recognized and respected Minister Thank you Mr. Speaker and again thank the member for the supplementary question in celebration of Ontario Agriculture Week I had the opportunity to join the farm and food care group at Union Station to hand out breakfast sandwiches to commuters and make their morning a little bit brighter compliments of Ontario's farmers I also had a little talk a little turkey of my own with the turkey farmers of Ontario earlier this month and I will be cooking two turkeys for my family this weekend to support our farmers and I hope the opposition critic will be able to pass the cranberry sauce without starting a food fight and I encourage everyone to buy local Ontario produce this week and every week and I'd like to wish everyone happy Thanksgiving start the clock next question the member for Ottawa Centre my questions for the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing in Ottawa 150 families are being evicted from the Herringate neighbourhood by the major developer Timber Creek a $7.5 billion company based here in Toronto the developer is demolishing their low-income town homes to make way for more upscale apartments leaving residents mostly new immigrants scrambling to find affordable housing sadly many have been unable to find affordable options in Ottawa's real estate market when will the Minister take real action to address the housing crisis in this province Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing thanks very much Speaker through you to the member for Ottawa Centre I want to thank you for that question I'm certainly aware of the situation in Ottawa as most of you know I spent a significant amount of time in that city given the tornado that went through several areas of the city but while I was there I had a number of people talk to me about supply of housing and housing affordability and I've had several conversations with Mayor Watson about some of the ideas and some of the innovation that the city is working on I want to say to the member that the issue of housing supply is one that I think we all need to incorporate on whether it's in the government benches or in the opposition benches we need to mobilize all of our stakeholders we need to work together and I think housing supply is one of the things that our government is going to continue to place as a top priority Supplementary Thank you Speaker and I thank the Minister for his response and his presence in Ottawa during the recent tornado crisis but Speaker there's another tornado unseen that has hit our city this is one of the worst mass evictions in Ottawa's history and we have yet to see any action from this government to take any serious steps to ensure these families have affordable homes to move into the UN special rapporteur on the right to housing has called this crisis happening in my city a human rights violation the residents of Herringgate deserve justice but the developer has failed them to date the Mayor of Ottawa has also failed them they're counting on this Minister and this government to stand up for them will the Minister end the practice of renovations in Herringgate and everywhere else in this province so something like this never happens again Again Speaker through you to the honourable member again I want to thank you for the question I agree that supply of housing is a priority for our government I tend to take a different approach than the member with this question I want to continue to work with municipalities to work with our 47 service managers and our two indigenous program administrators as well as developers as well as the real estate sector we need to work across lines to ensure that we have an adequate supply and our government's committed we've committed at every opportunity to talk about more housing online faster we need to streamline the development process and that's going to involve cooperation not demonizing the Mayor Thank you My question is for the Minister of the Environment a few months ago the voters of Ontario spoke clearly they elected us on a mandate to bring an end to the ineffective cap and trade program they also voted for us to stop the expensive ineffective carbon tax which will increase the price on everything since then the people of Ontario are not the only people across the country who have seen the like more and more provinces are now seeing the carbon tax and the federal carbon plan for what it is a cash grab that does little to address the problem of climate change this damaging policy will increase the price of gas basic goods like groceries and make life more unaffordable for everybody Ontario has shown leadership in standing up to the federal government against a carbon tax can the Minister of the Environment update this House as to the status of our fight Mr Speaker through you to the member as this House knows this government was elected on a promise to do everything we could to fight the regressive job killing carbon tax to the federal level now since that announcement Mr Speaker and I need the list is so long I need a piece of paper to keep track yesterday Manitoba became the last province to reject the federal carbon plan add to them Ontario of course Saskatchewan New Brunswick Alberta and PEI in opposition to the federal carbon plan the list just keeps growing Mr Speaker Mr Speaker I thank the Minister for his commitment to this very important promise back to the Minister I heard it time and time again at the doors families can't afford a carbon tax it's great to see we are getting support from other provinces in this fight as well I know that the Premier is going out west will be meeting with other premiers Canada needs this leadership someone to talk to the province to bring them together to work collaboratively we need a pragmatic approach and if the federal government is unwilling to provide that leadership I'm proud that our Premier Ford is doing just that we all know that hard working Ontario families just can't afford more taxes can the Minister assure the families in my writing that we would do everything possible to ensure the carbon tax is not imposed on the hard working people of our province Mr Speaker I too am proud of the leadership that our Premier is showing on this issue he's working hard and reaching out across the country he's going to Saskatchewan to Alberta and who knows he may even make a stop in Winnipeg on the way back Mr Speaker while we are showing this leadership the federal Liberals are stuck in the mud they won't change their tune the NDP opposition is devoted to a carbon tax the highest carbon tax in the world we take our direction from the people we will put as the Minister of Finance $260 back in their pockets every year we will do everything we can to stop a aggressive job-killing federal government that concludes the time we have for question period today I wish to acknowledge another former member who is in the House today who served the writing of Niagara Falls in the 36th and 37th Parliament Bart Maves has joined us today I beg to inform the House that pursuant to Standing Order 98C a change has been made to the order of precedence on the ballot list for private members public business such that assumes ballot item number 29 and Ms. Andrew assumes ballot item number 41 it is now time to say a word about our legislative pages these fine young people are indispensable to the effective functioning of this chamber they cheerfully and efficiently deliver notes run errands transport important documents throughout the precinct and make our water glasses make sure our water glasses are always full we are indeed fortunate to have them here we are just getting started our pages are smart trustworthy and hard working they depart having made many new friends with a greater understanding of parliamentary democracy and memories that will last a lifetime each of them will go home and carry on continue their studies and will no doubt contribute greatly to their communities their province and their country we expect great things from all of them maybe some of them will someday take their seats in this House as members thank you for showing your appreciation to our pages we now have a deferred vote on the motion for second reading of bill 36 an act to enact a new act and make amendments to various other acts respecting the use and sale of cannabis and vapor products in Ontario call on the members this will be a 5 minute bell members please take their seats please take their seats on October 1st 2018 Ms. Mulrooney moved second reading of bill 36 all those in favour will please rise one at a time and be recognized by the clerk Mr. Miller Perry Salmascoka Mr. Coe Mr. Gill Mr. Klandra Ms. Serma Mrs. Martin Mr. Sikarya Mr. Osterhoff Ms. Mitis Mr. Hillier Mr. Nicol Mr. Romano Mr. Harris Mr. Hogarth Mr. Fee Mr. Chow Willardale Mr. Pochini Mr. Cramp Mr. Wys Mr. Rashid Mr. Sando Mr. Crawford Mr. Smith Mr. McKenna Mr. Babikian Mr. Baum Mr. Pang Mr. Tanigasa Mr. Baber Mr. Sabao Ms. Singh Brampton Center Ms. Angelina Mr. Tastres Ms. Horvath Mr. Hatfield Ms. Begum Ms. Lendome Mr. Mamakwai Mr. Yards Mr. Carpoche Mr. Mantas Mr. Natashan Mr. Gates Mr. Andrews Mr. Kurnaghan Mr. Taylor Mr. Hassan Mr. Bel Mr. Glover Mr. Morson Mr. Hardin Mr. Wester Mr. Fraser Ms. Hunter The Ayes are 72, the Nays are 36 The Ayes being 72 and the Nays being 36 I declare the motion carried The order of the House dated October 3rd, 2018 the bill stands referred to the Standing Committee on Social Policy Before I recess the House I want to thank and acknowledge the members for the higher standard of decorum that we've set this week in my opinion and a distinct pleasure to serve as your speaker this week. This House stands in recess until 1pm