 It is now time for oral questions. I recognize the Leader for Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Thank you, Speaker. My first question this morning is to the Premier. We know that lots of parents and experts and educators are concerned about the government's decision to remove the mass mandates for kids at school immediately upon return from the March break. And we all know that many young children remain unvaccinated. In fact, Dr. uni Peter uni said that the decision that the government's made surprised him. He said and I quote, we don't have any reason to rush and I don't exactly follow what's happening to be honest with you. He said it doesn't seem like a real necessity right now and that the wisest thing would have been to wait a little longer. Speaker, we've seen no public modeling whatsoever from this government. In fact, the last time we saw any public modeling was back in December of last year. The question is, why does the Premier think it's appropriate to rule the dice when it comes to kids in schools and the mask mandate? Minister of Education to respond. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. You know, on this side of the House Speaker, we have full conference in Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health. And I know that is a contrasting position where the members opposite have used political opportunism to tie the crisis to undermine confidence in public health. This government, our Minister of Health and the Premier of Ontario believe in the scientific advice of the Chief Medical Officer who said yesterday quote, so the measures are working and I do think that the increase in air quality, the investment in improved ventilation, the HEPA filtration, the cleaning as well as the investment of testing for all students will continue to keep our schools safe end quote. You know, Mr. Speaker, Ontario is literally one of the last problems to lift our mask mandate. In Alberta, it's March 1. In Saskatchewan, it's March 1. In Quebec, it's March 7. In Manitoba, it's March 15. In New Brunswick, it's March 14. In Nova Scotia, it's March 21. In Yukon, it's March 18. We are being cautious, gradually lifting these measures in accordance with public health, maintaining rapid testing, improving ventilation, ensuring screening before kids enter our school. We're doing all of this, giving children hope that they can get back to normal classrooms so vital to the mental health of children in this province. Supplementary question. Well, Speaker, many experts share Dr. Unie's view, the Children's Health Coalition including hospitals like Sick Kids warned that they wanted masking to stay in place. They said, and I quote, masks also protect those most vulnerable, including high risk, immunocompromised and fragile children. That's from this Children's Health Coalition, Speaker. The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario, President Karen Brown said, and I quote, lifting the mask mandate too soon may result in further disruption to in-person learning and negative impacts on the health and safety of edfo members, of students and their families. Speaker, why is the Premier taking a totally unnecessary gamble with the health and safety of our kids when experts are saying he's going too fast? Mr. Speaker, while it may have been the preference of the leader of the opposition to adhere to the medical advice of teacher unions would have closed schools indefinitely and ensured that, you know, children can't get back to normal schooling, we believe we should follow the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health and his medical officers of thought who have given the province unambiguous advice and confidence to move forward in a cautious manner, maintaining 3.6 million rapid tests every other week towards school and childcare system. We have ensured high quality masks continue to be provisioned free for staff, free for students in our schools. Mr. Speaker, we're continuing to clean our schools with an enhancement of funding and Mr. Speaker, we obviously will continue to make the case for everyone to be screened cautiously before the enter schools. We're going to continue to give hope to children who have, you know, been so impacted by this pandemic and the disruptions of COVID-19. We have a collective duty to get them back to more normal classes with strong protection in place and that's exactly what our government has done, Speaker. The final supplementary. Well, Speaker, despite the Premier's previous promises that he would not put children at risk, in fact he told parents very clearly that he would not take unnecessary risks when it comes to their children. That's exactly what many experts are saying is happening right now. Dr. Uni, the head of the science table said this and I quote, we don't have data regarding the epidemiology of COVID right now in the province that would support the decision. The Premier's lifting the mask mandate without it. No evidence, no science, no modeling. So my question is after all we've been through in this province, all the sacrifices people have made, all the lost time of our children in schools, all of the death and the pain and the anxiety, why would the Premier move ahead with lifting a mask mandate in schools without the public modeling to support that decision? Minister of Education. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Chief Medical Officer of Health yesterday I think created a clear, provided the evidence for why Ontario is moving in the right direction with every public health indicator moving in the right direction. That should be collectively very promising for us. We should welcome the fact that we have fewer case rates, we have less transmission happening within our settings and that's because of high vaccination rates. It's because of a strong adherence to public health measures, because this government led by the Minister of Health and under the leadership of the Premier has followed the advice of the past and the current Chief Medical Officer of Health every step of the way. Our school program has been effective today for the first time in some time. There's not one school close in Ontario because of the strong, roughly 5,000 schools in Ontario. And Mr. Speaker, I want to be clear, we are abundantly aware that COVID-19 is among us. We need to be cautious as we move forward. We have to continue to have rapid tests, millions set to schools, providing PPE, screening children, enhancing cleaning and sending 40,000 more HEP units to schools in the month of March and April. Underscores our commitment to safety, underscores our commitment to keeping kids learning in school. The next question, again the leader of the opposition. Thank you so much, Mr. Speaker. My next question is also for the Premier. You know, I'm really concerned. I think lots of people are really concerned about what impact these decisions will have on people who already are waiting in ordinate amounts of time for surgeries and other procedures. We know that the surgical backlog speaker is immense. Millions of procedures and surgeries have been delayed. And there's evidence around the world that would suggest when the masks come off, the cases go up and people end up in hospital. Anthony Dale of the Ontario Hospital Association said this speaker and I quote, While overall hospitalizations and admissions to intensive care units have dropped significantly in recent weeks, the pandemic is not yet over. He said Ontario's health care system is still experiencing high levels of occupancy. 92% of beds are currently full. So why hasn't the Premier factored in these huge backlogs in our health care system that are already struggling with beds that are full and staff that are exhausted and overworked? And our health care heroes that have provided such great support to us may end up in a bad, bad place if things go the wrong way. Why wasn't that factored in to his mask decision? The Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. Thank you very much, Speaker. Well, to the member opposite, all of those issues have been taken into consideration when lifting the masking requirements because we are in a very good situation right now with our hospitals and with dealing with those delayed procedures. We want to make sure that everyone gets the care that they need as soon as possible, whether it's a CT scan or an MRI or whether it's a surgery. I would remind the member opposite that during 2020-2021, the average Ontario Hospital completed 88% of their targeted surgical allocation and over 884,000 scheduled surgeries have taken place since this pandemic began. We've also made significant investments also to allow hospitals to proceed through these lists more quickly. We've invested half a billion dollars in order to allow surgeries to be done. Evenings and weekends, we want to make sure that we can take advantage of every single spot and availability of time in our OR operating rooms in order for people to get these surgeries as quickly as possible. Supplementary. Speaker, our hospitals have no room for error here. Many, many experts have made it perfectly clear that they think the Premier is just simply moving too fast. Anthony Dale, the head of the Ontario Hospital Association says this, and I quote, given the risks and uncertainties from COVID-19, particularly for vulnerable populations, such as the unvaccinated and immunocompromised, responsibility for any consequences from this decision rests with the Government of Ontario. It seems as though the Government has ignored the impact of these decisions and how that will affect people who are desperately waiting for surgeries and procedures, a million surgeries, 20 million procedures backlocked. What will be the impact, Speaker? I asked the Government what will be the impact from sending the mass mandate, rather ending the mass mandate, on our already overcrowded hospitals. Surely the Government has some specific information that they can share with Ontarians in that regard. Thank you very much. Our Government has always been very open and transparent with the people of Ontario concerning the situation with respect to COVID, what our occupancy rates are in our hospitals, the number of people being admitted into intensive care units. We've seen all of those measures go down quite rapidly since January, since it reached its peak. Those numbers are in good shape. The wastewater surveillance is indicating a downward trend in the vast majority of them. So we are ready to proceed with those surgeries to make sure that people get the care that they need. And I would remind the member opposite that those numbers are not in the millions. We know that even before the pandemic, there are about 200,000 people waiting to have surgeries or procedures done. That's increased to about 250,000 now. So we're looking at an additional 50,000. And with the investments that we've made in order to increase surgeries and procedures, it's not going to result in years for those numbers to come down. It will be a much shorter period than that. So people will get the help that they need. And the final supplementary. Well, Speaker, you know, it really doesn't need to be this way. We could be making decisions that would really clear that surgical backlog and the diagnostic backlog and not put more pressure on the system. The hospitals, Speaker, are still full. Staff are exhausted after two full years of this pandemic. And we know staff have left the health care system in droves because of the exhaustion, because of the anxiety, because of some of the trauma that they faced during the pandemic. But those staff that are still in our system, they've been performing miracle, Speaker, to help our patients here in Ontario. So my question is when we could and should be much more cautious, why is the Premier in such a rush? Why is he in such a rush when the real push should be to get those backlogs dealt with, to get those folks the surgeries they need, to get the procedures done so folks will know what their health situation is and make sure that they get the vital health care services they need. That should be the push. Why isn't it? It is important for the people of Ontario to have the actual facts, Speaker. And as of today, I can advise that there were 742 hospitalizations across the province because of COVID, 244 people in intensive care units. That's a significant decline from January, which means that there is room in hospitals in order for us to proceed with these surgeries. And that we have taken a very cautious and phased approach in reopening Ontario. That is what Dr. Moore has always recommended, and that is what we have always followed. But as Dr. Moore has also said, I quote, we have tools that we did not have just two years ago, including highly effective vaccines that have changed the course of the pandemic. High vaccination rates that continue to improve as more and more Ontarians see the value of getting boosted to protect themselves, their families and their communities. So, Speaker, it is a vastly different situation than what we were dealing with. With the rate of Ontarians who have been vaccinated with the money that we've put into hospitals in order to increase these surgeries. And we are confident that we can both continue to proceed to remove masking as well as continue to reduce the surgical backlogs. Thank you very much. Question, a member for St. Catharines. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Premier, one of the most heartbreaking moments for a parent is to know that their children will not grow up close to the community that they grew up in. As a parent, I get this. My son was pulled away to serve in the military. Over the last four years, the housing market has been pushing young families out of Niagara. Joe Floka, a father and a grandfather, is about to watch his daughter and their young family move to Alberta. This is despite making over six figures, Speaker. This is despite wanting to stay close to their family. They cannot find housing in Niagara that they can afford. This is because under this government's watch, we have seen home prices go through the roof in Niagara. Premier, after four years of the cost of living skyrocketing, four years of your broken promises, how can young families afford to buy homes in the community that they grew up in? Good. Mr. and Mr. Affairs, I'm housing. Speaker, there is a housing crisis in Ontario. I've said this right from the first day I stood in the legislature. And the member opposite talks about the last four years. Well, the last four years for her party and the opposition has been pretty clear. Every measure this government has put forward to provide more supply and to help those young families stay in communities that they want to live, work and raise their family, this party said no. Every time. We placed policies on this table to increase housing supply. They said no. We placed legislation on the books to protect tenants and strengthening our community housing. They said no. We've actually asked the federal government to pay our fair share of housing, 490 million. Will they support us? Their answer is no. Over and over again, their party has made it very clear to young families and young sons and daughters on their availability of housing. They say, you know, every single time and quite frankly, Speaker, it's disgraceful that the idea is. Thank you, Speaker, back to the Premier. Premier, you are a parent. You have to understand how painful it would be to watch your child being forced out of the community and their province. Joe's daughter's name is Lenny and currently rents a townhouse in Niagara for well over $2,000 a month. They have no faith that after four years of this government has a plan to make housing affordable. Your housing task force showed that the housing prices in Ontario increased hundreds of thousands of dollars over the last four years. This housing consultation is three and a half years late speaker made up of CEOs and millionaires that propose little for first time home buyers and nothing for tenants. Will this government adopt the NDP's plan for the first time home buyers like helping them with financing of down payments and rent control? Or does the government plan to do more of the same while expecting different results? Member for Aurora Oak Ridges, Richmond Hill and Parliament. Thank you very much, Speaker. And I thank my Honourable colleague for the question. Mr. Speaker, I absolutely agree with the member. The life was unaffordable as a result of 15 years of neglect by the previous government, Mr. Speaker. I think they went out of their way to make sure that they could make everything possible for Ontarians to be more expensive and unaffordable. In contrast, Mr. Speaker, when we got elected, we saw that. We were told, all of us were told. But while we tried to address at every step of the way, what did the opposition do? They voted no. Every single initiative that we put forward to make life more affordable for Ontarians, Mr. Speaker, the NDP is the party of no. While this party says yes to Ontarians to make life more affordable for Ontarians, creating more jobs for Ontarians, what does the NDP do? Vote no every single time. The only time that they can hang on and say they voted yes is when they partnered with the Liberals when they were in power, Mr. Speaker. They held the balance of power and they supported the NDP. That's on record. Ontarians will never forget that. But we, on this side of the House, Mr. Speaker, will work hard to make sure life is more affordable for every single Ontario. The next question is for the member for Halliburton, for the Lakes Broad. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries. As the minister has stated previously, Ontario's tourism sector was one of the first hit, hardest hit and will take the longest to recover. These businesses faced extreme uncertainty over fear of outbreaks and owners worrying for the safety of their own staff. Direct supports from our government allowed businesses in the sector to stay afloat and now with restrictions lifting, the industry is ready to welcome back more Ontarians. I know there's more we can do and one of the measures introduced by this government was the new Ontario Staycation Tax Credit. Speaker, can the Minister tell us how these hardworking Ontario families will benefit from the program? Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries. Thank you very much, Speaker. I want to say to my colleague and long-time friend from Halliburton, Quartha Lakes and Brock how wonderful it is for her to be such a great champion for the tourism industry and sectors of her own community. I have seen it with my own two eyes, with her and the level of respect and admiration her constituents have for her and the business owners in her community is quite something and I want to thank her for the question because this is really important. As we start to ease restrictions, it's important for every member of this assembly to look at their own backyard and see how they can best support their tourism industry. There will be no full economic recovery in the province of Ontario until your heritage, sport, tourism and culture industries are up and running. Whether that's a local museum, your public library, a major attraction like Ripley's or the entire region of Niagara Falls, a thousand islands, Muscoca, Blue Mountain, Canora Rainy River and that entire area. 1.85 million Ontarians will benefit from this $270 million tax credit. Individuals will be eligible for a maximum credit of $200 for up to $1,000 and will receive a maximum benefit of $400 for up to $2,000. Thank you. And the supplementary question. Thank you Mr. Speaker and thank the minister for that strong response and her dedication and passion for the tourism industry in our province. It is great to hear the government is putting money back into the pockets of hardworking Ontarians. Ontario's tourism businesses have survived some of the most uncertain times in the history of the province. However, they still need support. The staycation tax credit only applies for eligible accommodation expenses so there's even more to be done to help businesses that have been hurt the most but are not eligible. So, Speaker, through you, can the Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries explain how this tax credit will benefit Ontario's businesses? Mr. Heritage. We know that every dollar invested by this ministry is $75 billion in return. At the peak of these sectors they were a $75 billion suite of sectors that contributed to a spectacular double bottom line. On the one hand, the things that make us love where we live or why people want to visit here creates a cultural fabric. At the same time, it drives a $75 billion suite of sectors which is larger than the GDP of Manitoba. That's big business. It's small business. It's also the largest volunteer sector in the country and it's important that this tax credit works to get people moving again and rediscovering and reconnecting in Ontario and paired with a number of our other investments such as the Globus Theatre and others that are in the members' riding. We're continuing to invest to encourage people to get back out. I have to say this and I have to say it very clearly just because we're reopened these sectors don't necessarily recover and it's up to every member in this house to make sure they're supporting their local community in tourism, culture, heritage and sport. Thank you. Next question. Thank you very much, Speaker. My question is to the Premier. The lifting of mask requirements in schools after March break has many London parents concerned and Weber's four-year-old son has health issues that have put him in the hospital with a common cold since he can't get a COVID shot and drives him to school instead of putting him on the bus and picks him up twice daily for snacks and lunchtime so he never has to be among unmasked students. Knowing that everyone in his class wears a mask gives Anne just enough peace of mind to keep her son at school. Speaker, why is this Premier rushing to remove the one remaining layer of protection that kept students like Anne's son safe at school? Minister of Education. Well, thank you, Speaker. I would encourage the member opposite to consult her own medical officer of health on the matter who would support the lifting of measures cautiously one of the last provinces in this nation to do so following the advice of Dr. Moore and the Chief Medical Officer of Health of Ontario. When you speak about one of the measures that can reduce risk in the classroom it's the air ventilation standard that we've invested in since September 2000. We've invested in 30,000 happy units in place but, Mr. Speaker, while we're lifting masking it's now a choice for students and staff we're also enhancing the air ventilation quality in schools by deploying 40,000 additional happy units to publicly funded schools 9,000 more to childcare centres and I feel like it's just we have to provide the full picture we're not just doing that we're actually enhancing the air quality by providing PPE for free through to June including N95s the only province in Canada to do so for education staff I'd encourage everyone to consider vaccination we have 400 vast clinics in schools over the past three weeks we're going to continue to do that to reduce the risk to protect kids keep them in school learning Mr. Speaker, Sarah is a parent and educator in my riding who's deeply worried about her daughter Kira Kira is immunocompromised and it poses a serious threat Sarah wrote to me I might have to leave my job if masking is taken away I don't know what else to do or how to get people to care that some of us can't afford to get sick the fact that municipalities can't even make their own decisions on masking is particularly cruel my constituent Christine calls stripping and limiting the powers of local health units political interference Dr. Alex Summers, Millsex London medical officer of health he recommends continuing indoor masking top scientists are asking for some wisdom in a little bit of caution this political decision took Ontario's science table by surprise look, we all know the Premier Ford wants to faction himself as the people's premier and rules by public opinion alone but will he listen to science this time and keep masks in schools until Ontario's science table not politicians declare it safe to unmask will the Premier do the right thing and make sure kids are safe Minister of Education the chief medical officer of health the principal advisor to the government has been clear that the measures we have taken as a province the high vaccination rates the investment in ventilation the adherence to good hand hygiene and PPE use has got us to a place where we can move forward with optimism and yes with caution our kids deserve to be in normal schools we have systematically and cautiously speaker reopen schools in a more normal environment re-instituting normal semesterings high contact sports and clubs and now we're moving forward to allow children to return to more normal schools while maintaining the protections that keep them safe that have kept them safe through this pandemic Mr. Speaker, the member officer speaks about the wisdom of caution and I'll remind him that Alberta, Saskatchewan Quebec and Manitoba Russia and Yukon are moving before the province of Ontario we are one of the last province to do so but we are doing it with a sense of caution which is why we're deploying 40,000 more happy units to protect these kids and keep them safe the next question the member for Chatham Kent Leamington thank you very much speaker through you to the premier this COVID pandemic has gone on now for two years when this pandemic was first identified you will remember it's a great plan for handling it especially in the early stages I was a member of your caucus at that time and when asked in January 2021 about eight months into the pandemic I actually gave you a minus rating as time went on you recall how I began to respectfully question the science table on their stats and projections when the vaccines arrived they were touted as safe and effective despite in my opinion a lack of solid clinical data would have had more solidly proven the efficacy of the experimental drugs now I believe that the experimental drugs did help some of our vulnerable population in long-term care but premier based on current data coming forward what would you do differently now and I'm talking about lessons learned to protect the health and safety of all Ontarians make the comments through the chair government house leader to respond well Mr. Speaker part of that question I think was the important part of it lessons learned of course is something that we will be seized with this parliament and the next parliament will be seized with ensuring that there were lessons learned it is one of the big disappointments of the 2003 SARS pandemic in this province that the lessons learned were not actually implemented by the previous liberal government it is why we had to move so quickly to bring in IPAC we had to move so quickly the entire health teams brought on board why we had to build long-term care why we had to build health care capacity is the very reason why we had to move so quickly and in the top part of his question he asked why the government wasn't prepared it was because under 15 years of liberal rule they did not learn the lessons of SARS going into warehouses without data and expired PPE had learned those lessons but there's always going to be more to do to continue on our work to make sure Ontario is always prepared a supplementary question thank you for that response three speaker back to the Premier in the past the focus has been on the number of people contacting Covid questionable PCR testing and the number of people dying from Covid now 15 months after the vaccines were introduced many people are having serious adverse effects from the injections proof that vaccines were introduced too soon a top secret document from Pfizer is proving that their Covid-19 vaccine is causing some deadly adverse effects it would appear Pfizer and the FDA wanted to hide their findings there is a 38 page document detailing how many people have suffered adverse effects and what kind of adverse effects they have experienced the first adverse event Pfizer admitted associated with the vaccine is the 1P36 deletion syndrome genital genetic disorder that affects fetuses and deletes part of their chromosomes causing them to be born with severe intellectual disability so Premier why did you and the science table continue to advocate for everyone to get the vaccine if you knew this I think it would be easy for me to have a response that I think all members of the chamber would appreciate but look I'm not going to do that the vaccines worked very very well have changed the course of the pandemic not just here in the province of Ontario across this country people in this province billions globally have taken a vaccine and as I said it has changed the course of the vaccines and as I said it has changed the course of the pandemic and I think that we should all be grateful that it's not only that all Ontarians and globally people are getting vaccinated against this but just how quickly our community our scientific community research and development was done to put us the globally position to defeat this once and for all Mr. Speaker I think we should celebrate that and I know all members have worked very hard to ensure that we're in that position today next question the member for Sarnia Lampton thank you Speaker my questions to the Minister of Economic Development and Job Creation Minister Fidele under the Mr. Fidele under the previous Liberal Government our manufacturers were abandoned and the high cost of doing business drove them out of this province they gave up one in ten up on one of Ontarians most critical sectors and did nothing when over 300,000 jobs and manufacturing fled Ontario that's the legacy of the previous Liberal Government through you Speaker can the Minister please tell this how he and his ministry are reversing 15 years of damage brought on by the previous Liberal Administration Mr. Economic Development Job Creation increased thank you Speaker when our Government took office we listened to the business community and took action to cut red tape reduce taxes and make Ontario more competitive as a result we lowered the cost of doing business by 7 billion dollars annually and then we put the right business supports in place like the 100 million dollar regional development program just this week we are proud to announce an investment of more than 10 million dollars from Sterling Marathon in Elora now that investment of theirs will create up to 50 new jobs over the next 5 years to reshore their residential appliance production line here into Ontario creating good jobs strengthening local supply chains for the future now the province provided a million and a half contribution through our south Western Development Fund and Speaker this is yet another of the thousands of Ontario business success stories showing that Ontario is getting stronger supplementary questions thank you Speaker and thank you to the minister for his response and for his work in reversing the harm the previous Liberal Government inflicted on our men and women it's great to hear that our Government has taken the right steps to reduce the cost of doing business all the while putting in the right supports to encourage the growth in our manufacturing sector Speaker my constituents and I'm sure all of Ontario are curious about what else is being done by your minister can the minister please tell us how we are supporting all different types of businesses in Ontario's diverse manufacturing sector Speaker as a result of lowering the cost of doing business by over 7 billion dollars every year we've seen our manufacturing sector take off Hoffman plastics in Orangeville has invested 20 million dollars to build a brand new 41,000 square foot automated warehouse to produce plastic packaging containers for the construction chemical and food industries our Government invested 3 million dollars through the Southwestern Development Fund Shogun Mayataki has invested over 30 million dollars for the construction of a new 120,000 square foot facility in St. Thomas to grow Mayataki mushrooms for use in biopharmaceutical and supplements again our Government invested 4.5 million dollars through the Southwestern Development Fund this fund supports regional priorities and challenges and boosts the province's economic recovery and yes speaker this is another of the thousands of Ontario companies showing that Ontario is getting stronger for Brampton North thank you Mr. Speaker my questions to the Premier all insurance companies have made record profits during this pandemic and it's we would have assumed that auto insurance rates would have gone down but it's complete opposite auto insurance rates continue to rise in Brampton and across many municipalities in Ontario many people have been doing their part leaving their cars at home traveling as much and trying to reduce their emissions they even have clean driving records no accidents no tickets but they are still being price gouged by insurance companies now this is not an issue that we can't fix the Liberals promised for 15 years they would fix the auto insurance price gouging and they did nothing the last four years the Conservative Government promised time and time again to lower auto insurance rates and where we continue to see skyrocketing auto insurance rates so at a time when Brampton and other municipalities are struggling with high inflation when will this Government assist the people Ontario and lower the auto insurance rates thank you number for Brampton Brampt Parliamentary Assistant just waiting for my mic there it is thank you Speaker I appreciate the question Mr. Speaker through you to the Member our Government has been keeping a very close eye on the auto insurance industry as we go through COVID making sure that insurance companies are treating the people of Ontario fairly during this unprecedented time that's why we've had a very very clear message and I appreciate that point you should provide relief to that reflects the financial hardships your customers are facing because of COVID-19 and by encouraging and promoting timely action by insurers we've enabled more than 1.3 billion dollars in consumer savings affecting 93% of Ontario drivers removing barriers to relief all of the 14 largest auto insurance companies in Ontario who control 97% of the market provided some form of relief to the people of Ontario thank you Speaker supplementary question I don't think that's something to applaud about still paying over $2,000 in auto insurance in the Brampton area Speaker again to the Premier auto insurance companies are price gouging the people of Brampton at a time when they're struggling to keep pace with inflation they're struggling with groceries they're struggling with gas they're struggling with housing costs this government is promising to address the high costs of living with their license plate fee removal Speaker the $120 license plate renewal just doesn't cut it when people in Brampton and across the GTA are paying over $2,000 per year in auto insurance premiums so instead of supporting the people of Brampton this government is ensuring that auto insurance companies keep overcharging Ontarians they're approving high auto insurance premiums and they can do something about it and they can do it today with auto insurance premiums so the people of Brampton are confused by this government's promises that they are lowering auto insurance when it is not happening so my question to the government is will this government commit to making life affordable for these folks of Brampton and reduce auto insurance costs thank you thank you very much Speaker and I thank my honourable member in the opposite for the question as well when it comes to affordability I think you have heard the Premier and our government be very clear every single decision that we make is to make sure that life becomes easier and more affordable and more attainable for the people of Ontario Prime example of that is now 760,000 Ontarians are now going to take a bigger paycheck as a result of us raising the minimum wage to $15 when it comes to gas prices when we told the opposition that the carbon tax was going to make life more unaffordable for Ontarians it was only this side this was the one side that said we will do whatever it takes we will stand against anyone that will make life more unaffordable for Ontarians we are the only ones that said it 4.3 cents lower in the price of gas as a result we took steps to make sure life is easier for businesses who took a hard hit during the pandemic every single decision that we made to make life more affordable for Ontarians what did the opposition do? Vote against it thank you very much the next question my question is the Premier mask mandates are being lifted March 21st and while they have been kept in settings like hospitals and schools and public transit the Premier decided to lift them in their children's schools the fact that the head of the science table is urging caution and the Children's Health Coalition of Ontario had asked the government to wait two weeks two weeks Dr. Paul Remiliotis we would need a couple of weeks to assess what happens after spring break because we typically get surges of cases after a school break I think the school boards and people needed more time to prepare so Speaker the Premier ignore this advice and not take a more cautious sure footed approach in our children's schools by simply waiting two weeks and to reply the government House Leader look we have gone right from the beginning of the pandemic we have ensured that our schools have been safe the minister highlighted in previous answers just how important it was that we work together and very closely not only with the Chief Medical Officer of Health but with stakeholders to ensure that we had proper ventilation in our schools that we had rapid testing available in our schools that there were free M95 masks this is something that we have been seized with right from the beginning is one of the reasons why we have one of the safest return to school policies in the country but having said that it is also very important as the minister highlighted and I know has been a priority of both the Premier and the Minister of Health of school setting we are doing one of the last jurisdictions to do it with respect to lifting the mask mandate but we are well on our way to ensure we can lift the mandate have children in a more normalised school setting while ensuring the utmost in safety for our students thank you the supplementary question so given that the government is removing masking mandates in places where vaccination rates are high why are they removing masking requirements in places where vaccination rates are low Ontario is at the back of the pack in Canada for vaccinating our 5 to 11 year olds we should be at the top and the needle just it hasn't moved much in the last 4 weeks that's not surprising though because 4 weeks ago the Premier was casting doubt on vaccines so Speaker we know that vaccines and masking are our most effective tools against COVID so Speaker through you when will the Premier have a plan to get vaccination rates up for 5 to 11 year olds and when will we do the right thing and simply follow the advice of the Children's Health Coalition and wait 2 weeks Minister of Education thank you to the member opposite for the question I do want to quote the Chief Medical Officer from this morning who said and I quote look at over 55% of 5 to 11's have had their first dose however half of them have come forward for their second dose 91% of our children have gone vaccinated with 2 doses around 10% have even come forward to get their third dose and he also said we've got a good level of protection those environments end quote now we accept Speaker we need to remain vigilant through the rest of this pandemic and that's why Speaker we're adding 49,000 more more HEP units in this province than all provinces combined the province of Ontario and to the question on vaccinations over 400 school focused vaccine clinics were minister of the last 3 weeks were one of the few provinces in this nation to go into school seeking consent to reduce barriers to vaccines we know they work and that's why we're encouraging uptake for boosters for our staff for vaccination for first and second and third doses for those eligible within our schools paired with strong ventilation improvements right across Ontario the next question member for Mr. Saga Aaron Mills thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the minister of government and consumer services minister yesterday you healed an important announcement in the Toboku about what this government's doing next in order to help bring about a booming recovery for our province Ontarians are counting on our government to bring real and meaningful change to how Ontario gets its goods the goods it needs to keep our province safe and strong for years to come as such speaker I would like to ask the minister to please tell us more about the new building Ontario business initiative and what it will do for the future of our people and businesses Minister of government and consumer services thank you Mr. Speaker and very huge thanks to the member for Mrs. Saga Aaron Mills for his question and for his great advocacy for the people of his riding this new building Ontario business initiative or Bobby for short as we like to call it Mr. Speaker will leverage existing public sector buying power to help direct more government procurement opportunities towards local Ontario businesses Mr. Speaker while Ontario businesses have social responsibility practices in place such as labour ethics and environmental standards other jurisdictions may not have these same standards which drive our business to a higher level but our businesses here in Ontario they should not be disadvantaged to foreign ones because of the cost of these standards so we are leveling the playing field Mr. Speaker so that we can ensure that the people of this province have the opportunity to compete on the government procurements that we have right here in Ontario and with Bobby we are going to make sure that buyers are able to procure products and services using a weighted domestic criteria so that local suppliers can be evaluated fairly and in order to ensure that we are putting more tax dollars to work and giving more preference to our local businesses and vendors thank you supplementary thank you very much Speaker and I would like to thank the minister for this answer Speaker our province has had to endure one of the most difficult periods in modern history and it has affected our businesses and people unlike anything we have seen under this under foreseeing circumstances we have had to find new and innovative solutions in order to best protect our people and businesses so my question to you Mr. Speaker is again to the minister of government and consumer services could the minister tell us how building Ontario business initiative is going to contribute to our efforts in spearheading Ontario's economic recovery and what makes it special especially important for our people and our businesses thank you again Mr. Speaker and to the member for this question and you know what the best way to talk about this Mr. Speaker is with an example and it's about never again when the premier of this province stood before our entire province and said to everyone never again any other jurisdiction for our PPE needs we engage supply Ontario we engage the real fundamental tenants of the building Ontario business initiative and you know what Mr. Speaker never again will we be holding to any other jurisdictions because now we are going straight to the source and we are getting nothing but the best of the best in supplies and you know what that's because they're Ontario made products and we are harnessing the immense buying power of our province and we are going to change boost Ontario jobs and businesses and put money where it is needed most as we are recovering with Bobby Mr. Speaker we are also aiming to break down barriers to increase government procurements towards our local businesses to ensure that the little guy has the opportunity to build their business and also rebuild our economy Mr. Speaker we are choosing to invest in our people and our potential because we know that their ingenuity and ability is going to elevate us through the next several years of recovery and look for a greater work as a result of this initiative next question Mr. Speaker in my writing of York Southwestern our community relies heavily on what is an underserved Toronto transit system people rely on Jane Street Weston Road and Eglinton Road Lawrence Avenue rely on buses that are long advocated for fuller transit service and funding that benefits the very real needs of our community the transportation minister is proposing changes to transit funding when one considers the TTC identified $185 million operating gap in 2010 my concern is how are proposed changes going to affect transit service and jobs and we know Mr. Speaker I do sympathize with the member opposite it was a very difficult 15 years under the Liberals with the inability for them to start to build transit and transportation in the province so I can appreciate how frustrated and how angry he must be in particular given the fact that when his party held the balance of power they didn't actually focus on transit and transportation in his writing but listening to this member and to the people of Toronto and really the greater Toronto area we're making these investment in transit and transportation one of the largest investment in subways in the history of the province we're expanding two way all day GO train not only to the members writing but we're doing it out to London and I know my community of Stovo which has never had that so we're making these very important investments working with the City of Toronto you know how important it is for economic growth in the financial capital of the country to have better access to transit and transportation and we're also building roads bridges highways across the province so I do agree with them I understand this frustration and we'll get the job done thank you the last 15 years was bad the last 4 years was worse and here Speaker I have written also another letter to the Minister back to my question to the Premier recent conversations I have had with the hardworking focus of the amalgamated transit union local 133 113 have raised some serious red flags about the proposed funding and how gasoline taxes are allocated and how integrated fares will be utilised in you are 2019 2019 budget $1.1 billion allocated for the TTC via gas tax was removed by this Government I believe it is fair to ask where did that money go and why was it not used towards improving the operation and maintenance of our public transportation system I am a bit confused as to why the NDP would say that it's worse given the fact that the Ministry of Infrastructure is delivering a three stop Scarborough subway I think that that would be better for the people of the community I know the Minister of Infrastructure is delivering the Eglinton Crosstown Speaker I know that the Minister of Infrastructure and Minister of Transportation are delivering expanding GO train service so the NDP have really caught me by surprise now that expanding services making it better, improving it for the people of their communities in the province of Ontario is somehow making life worse I was speaking just this morning to a new mother her name is Jessica she's got a beautiful son and she was telling me just how important these new investments in transit and transportation are to her and her family so we'll continue to do that I'll have to have a discussion with the member opposite because I really do remain confused as to how improving services expanding services making life easier for the people of the province of Ontario how that is defined is worse for the NDP that's the question the member for Cambridge Thank you Speaker Good morning my question is for the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing In mid-February a meeting was held where the Municipal Cambridge Heritage Advisor Committee voted against showing support for a proposed million square foot warehouse in Blair Village shockingly the Mayor of Cambridge and City Council is now sneaking in the Heritage Impact Study and the Traffic Impact Study at a council meeting scheduled for this coming Tuesday March 15th was officially scheduled for June why the rush? residents have been given less than a week's notice and it's occurring during March break when people are away this is a direct attempt to undermine any hope of community involvement I have to ask the Minister again what if any assurances are in place to hold municipal councils in check when they undemocratically push through programs against the will of constituents Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing I'm not sure why this member has an aversion to this Council municipalities are duly elected levels of government people go to the polls and they elect their Mayor and they elect their Council and they operate on the system collaboratively with the province if this member has an issue with a Heritage Committee meeting next Tuesday she should contact Mayor McGarry and Council and express her concerns supplementary unfortunately the Cambridge municipality is like this government they don't listen earlier this week I read a petition asking the Minister to confirm that the City of Cambridge failed to meet its obligations to complete public consultation the petition was put together and signed by hundreds of people in less than 24 hours for over a year the Blair community have been rallying attending meetings, writing letters making phone calls they are concerned that City Council is going to push through with their own agenda they are feeling ignored and suppressed by their governments Speaker we have been told time and time again by this government that public consultation will be conducted I have been told by members of the community that they have not been consulted what else do they need to do to make it clear that they are not in favour of this project I ask the Minister on behalf of my constituents will the Minister rescind the MZO in the village of Blair Minister Municipal Affairs I've said this many times we issue an MZO based on a resolution from Council which in this case it happens if this member has a problem with the municipal council if she wants to attend a meeting and express her views she's quite willing to do so I know that she didn't serve at the municipal level but she's been in this house for four years she knows how this place works she knows how municipal council chambers work if she's got a problem and a residents have a problem they can go to the council meeting and they can express it it's just that simple Speaker my question to the Minister of Health Speaker Gastroenterologists over the years have learnt that if you have early intervention when it comes to people when it comes to colon cancer that you can really turn the outcomes around and one of the things that gastroenterologists have been able to do up until recently is that if they had a patient that they thought you know what we should keep a closer eye on you because your polyps grow faster you should bring that person in for a colonoscopy more frequently every year every two years, every three years whatever they think but normally it's their call your government does now change this so now it's every ten years not at the call of the specialist why is the Ford government Mr. Speaker trying to micromanage what physicians are supposed to do Minister of Health Well I've said this many times the health and well-being of the people of Ontario has always been our government's top priority and we have provided physicians and primary care providers with the tools that they need to do their work in situations such as you've just described if someone needs to have a surgery done or have a test done more frequently that's certainly up to the provider to provide we have room in our hospitals we have provided hundreds of millions of dollars for equipment we've invested $5.1 billion in creating another 3100 beds and that's across the province of Ontario that's every part of Ontario so it's clear that if it's called for in patient care that this work can be done on a more frequent basis not once every ten years but whenever it's needed that's just not the case what the government has done is that they've restricted the ability of gastroenterologists to be able to do colonoscopies and only be able to do them within that ten year period in very very you know narrow circumstances if the person is passing blood you know different things like that but you know as well as I do that a lot of colon cancer is caught how by going for a colonoscopy not waiting until you start bleeding or start feeling ill and what gastroenterologists are saying why are you trying to micromanage the work that they do and making sure that patients are safe so I'll ask you again why is this government Mr. Speaker so intent on micromanaging decisions that should be made by our medical community and instead insert them in selves inside and say oh every ten year everything will be fine because it won't Mr. Halle what we do is follow best practices of the province of Ontario however if there's a situation where a gastroenterologist believes that someone needs to have a test done within that ten year period it's perfectly available for them to do so it absolutely is we have the machine we have the equipment we have the availability in hospitals or in suites where that can be done and if someone has a history if someone has a family history a family history of trouble themselves they will be followed more closely by their primary care physician and by their gastroenterologists and if they need to have that done more frequently than ten years those tests will be done Thank you Mr. Speaker we are all tired of this pandemic and of wearing this mask and we have been wearing constantly this mask for over a year believe me I can't wait to take it off too and yesterday the government announced that the mandates for masks would end on March 21st except the high risk environments Sick kids, CHEO McMaster's Children's Hospital and the Children's Hospital at London Health Sciences The government science advisors have made it clear that high quality masks are essential to help minimize the risk of spreading COVID-19 in schools especially when this government is not investing in ventilation and school building improvements Speaker, in what world does the premier think that COVID-19 will not spread in Ontario schools Thank you very much Mr. Speaker I will remind the member opposite that Stephen Dalduca's position that Stephen Dalduca's position in this legislature is that we should have had longer lockdowns we should mandate three doses in order to be fully vaccinated we should mandate a vaccine on young children as a prerequisite to enter a school that is a different position than that of our government that has followed the advice of the chief medical officer of health who believes we are now prepared to move forward with caution with higher ventilation standards with access to PPE and of course with the maintenance of screening before people enter schools we follow the advice of the chief medical officer of health who believes that the metrics in public health have allowed us to get to this place and I hope that members opposite would affirm in your supplemental your support, your confidence in the chief medical officer of health of this province who's guided us ably to get to this point and I hope an opt-in is in Ontario Thank you that concludes your question period for this morning I'm going to ask all of our pages to assemble it is now time to say a word of thanks to our legislative pages our pages are smart trustworthy and hard working they are indispensable to the effect of functioning of this chamber they cheerfully and efficiently deliver notes run errands, transport important documents throughout the precinct and make sure that our water glasses are always full we are indeed fortunate to have them here our pages depart having made 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 continued their studies and no doubt contribute to their communities, their province and their country in important ways we expect great things from all of them maybe some of them someday will take their seats in this house as members or work here as staff we wish them all well thanks for allowing our appreciation for our legislative paper next we have a deferred vote on the motion for second reading of bill 96 an act to authorize the expenditure of certain amounts for the fiscal year ending March 31st, 2022 call in the members this will be a five minute bell