 It is now time for oral questions. I recognize the leader of Her Majesty's loyal opposition. Thank you so much, Speaker. My first question is to the Premier. Speaker, last week the Premier said that Dr. Moore, quote, never rests and then went on to claim and I quote, yesterday he had a meeting with all public health officers throughout the province. Dr. Mustapha Hirji, however, the Niagara Region Chief Medical Officer of Health said he wasn't invited to any such meeting and now of course media reports are indicating that last week in fact Dr. Moore was on vacation. So my question is why is it that the Premier is making stuff up instead of being straight with Ontarians especially? I'm going to ask the leader of the opposition to withdraw the parliamentary remark. Sure thanks, Speaker. I'll withdraw. Perhaps I should be putting it this way. Why do people not get the information they need from this government and instead wonder what's really going on? You have to withdraw without qualification. To respond, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. Thank you very much, Speaker. In fact the people of Ontario did get the information that they needed. While Dr. Moore was away we had an acting Chief Medical Officer of Health in Dr. Murdy as well as five Assistant Medical Officers of Health who were closely following the situation in Ontario and Dr. Moore was in regular contact with them. The people of Ontario have been well served by Dr. Moore as well as by the Acting Medical Officer of Health and the Assistant Medical Officer of Health and in fact Dr. Moore was here yesterday speaking about a very important issue about expanding the eligibility and access for antiviral medications which are an essential tool that we are using to ensure that the people of Ontario are kept safe and well during this entire course. It's not about Dr. Moore deserving vacation. I'm sure we all agree that he does. It's about the Premier providing accurate information to the people of this province. We all know that the risk for children remains high, that in fact we are worried about children ending up in hospital which nobody wants. Dr. Unie the Science Tablehead said mask up. That was his advice. Public Health Ontario is calling for temporarily reintroducing a mask mandate requirement. The Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario is calling for more safety measures in our schools. Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation, mask mandates and other safety measures are still required say them. Catholic Teachers Association as well asking for a reinstatement of mask mandates in Ontario schools. So why isn't the Premier listening to those folks? Why is he listening to the experts at Public Health Ontario, his own science table, our education system in order to protect our kids from COVID? Our government has been listening to Dr. Moore, the Acting Chief Medical Officer of Health, the Assistant Medical Officers of Health. Since the beginning of this pandemic and we will listen to their requests and their recommendations, Dr. Moore and his entire team are actively following the situation with respect to masking in the province of Ontario. He is currently studying right now the situation for the most vulnerable people in Ontario, which are the people that are in our hospitals and our long term care homes in congregate settings. And of course there's also on public transit. So we await his recommendations on whether he believes that this should be extended past April 27th or not. And as soon as he makes those recommendations, he will be out to speak about them and we will be available to answer any of your questions about them. Well, thanks, Speaker. You know, Dr. Moore has also said that he intends anticipates that this sixth wave is going to lead to 600 hospitalizations a day. High hospitalization rates in the ICUs as well, 600 Ontarians a day throughout the month of May. This wave is going to continue in his estimation. Dr. Michael Warner says that this surgeries will likely be cancelled and those patients with non-COVID care needs will be waiting and waiting and getting sicker and sicker and that's not fair. Registered nurse Birgit Umegba said, and I quote, hospitals will not be able to handle the disaster that awaits. Healthcare workers, Speaker, are already burnt out and now they're going home sick again with COVID in droves. Hospitals have paused their attempts at getting to the backlogs that already were caused by this government's inaction. So my question is, how many more surgeries and procedures is this government expecting to cancel while hospitals fill up with COVID patients? How many more years will Ontarians have to wait for the surgeries and procedures they need? Surely the government has estimates of those numbers. Thank you very much. We don't anticipate having to put any delays in any of the procedures that people want to have caught up on because we had to delay in previous waves of COVID. We understand that people have been waiting a long time for surgical procedures, hip and knee replacements for laser treatments for their eyes. All of those things are very important and there will be continuing notwithstanding any increases in hospitalizations. As the member will be aware, we have created another 3100 beds at a significant cost to the province of Ontario. Dr. Moore is following the situation very closely and because we have a high rate of people who have been vaccinated, currently over 92.9% of people aged 12 and over have had their first dose and 91% have had two doses. We're also offering third doses and fourth doses. That along with the antivirals that are coming on board and the increased capacity that we have in our hospitals means that we can deal with both the patients who are coming in with COVID as well as the patients who need to have procedures and surgeries done that had to be delayed long ago. We're catching up on them now. Next question. Well, Speaker, it's troubling that the Minister of Health's description is inconsistent with that of experts and even with the Chief Medical Officer of Health, but I want to talk about another issue and ask the Premier about Equal Pay Day and today is Equal Pay Day for women, which means we've been pretty much working for free since 8 or since January. What we know though is that tonight there is actually the first leaders debate in this campaign and it's focused on women's issues. In fact, the last time something like that took place in our province was back in the 1980s. Disappointingly, however, it looks as though the Premier is not going to be able to fit that into his schedule. So I'm going to ask him a couple of questions about the Equal Pay Coalition's desires for Ontario. Ontario urgently needs things like decent wages for women and affordable housing strategy, paid sick days for workers. These are the focuses of what they are asking and yet the government that we have now is focused on low-wage policies like Bill 124, no answers to the housing crisis, a refusal, stubborn refusal to bring in paid sick days. Why isn't the Premier interested in making life more affordable and respecting women? Thank you so much, Speaker. Our government has been working and with workers throughout this COVID-19 pandemic, including by giving a permanent raise to 158,000 personal and direct support workers. These frontline hearers are found in hospitals, long-term care and congregate care. Since October 2020, we have invested over $1.3 billion to attract and retain healthcare workers through the wage enhancement. This was just one measure found in our government's Pandemic and Emergency Preparedness Act. A bill introduced to ensure our province would be able to act where needed, most to support public services. Thank you. A supplementary question? Thank you, Speaker. You know, Ontario was also the very last province to strike a childcare deal and of course that delay also hurt women and disrespected women. Women working in childcare deserve a whole lot more than what this Premier has on offer. He's continuing with his low-wage policies, setting the ECE wage at only $18 an hour, which is $7 an hour lower than experts are recommending in order to make sure that the sector is able to thrive. That's $300 less, Speaker, what this government, per week, what this Premier is offering. The Coalition for Better Child Care is calling for higher wages, of course. We've already made that commitment just this morning. When the Premier heard about this, he said, to be frank, they deserve more money, and we're going to work on that. How can anybody believe that the Premier is serious about childcare when he had to get dragged to the table, was the last province to make a deal, and refuses now to make the investments necessary to ensure that our sector and childcare is robust and the workers are being paid properly? Minister of Education, we're sorry. We're the only political leader in this legislature that is serious about getting the job done for mobs and dads when it comes to affordability, is the Premier of Ontario who signed a better deal, a longer deal, and a program that delivers affordability for those women, for all parents in this province, 25% this spring, 50% on average, by Christmas of this year, roughly $10,000 in the pocket, Speaker. That is going to make a difference, and if new Democrats and Liberals were committed to their children, they would have stood with Ontario to stand up for the parents in this province who demanded a better deal, a longer deal, and a program that gets them to $10 by year 2025. We are hiring 14,700 more ACs. We are increasing wages, $18 minimum, rising to $25 a dollar per year over the course of this program. It's going to help incentivize talent, provide quality to our kids, and finally deliver affordable childcare for parents in this province. Well, Speaker, housing affordability is another issue that women are very, very concerned about, and the cost of buying a home under this Premier's leadership has doubled. The cost of buying a home has doubled under this Premier, and renters are now paying almost $200 a more per month for rent. That is really tough for people, Speaker, when the price of everything is going up and the Premier has low wage policies in place. If we were going to be this way, we could actually have an affordable housing strategy that fills in the missing middle sector of housing that gets more middle class families into homes, focusing on starter homes, for example, town houses, semi-detached homes. These are the kinds of things that people could actually afford. So why is this Premier unwilling to listen to women and do something meaningful to take on the rising costs of housing in the future? Well, Mr. Speaker, we've actually started right from the beginning, right from 2018, we knew that we had to focus on making life more affordable for the people of the province of Ontario. Now, while the leader of the opposition tries to pick winners and losers, what we decided, Mr. Speaker, is that all Ontarians should be winners in the economic prosperity that this province has had since 2018. Now, when it comes to housing affordability, we've brought in transit oriented services, the fact that you build communities around transportation corridors. Now, the leader of the opposition, of course, voted against it and actively campaigns against that. We brought in a new program by working with our municipal partners to get more homes, more shovels in the ground quicker, Mr. Speaker. They are against that. She's against more homes in her own community, in her own backyard. She's against affordability, Mr. Speaker. When it comes to renters, the policies that this province has to deal with are affordable housing starts, affordable housing starts, Mr. Speaker, for renters, then at any time over the last 35 years, and it is because of the work of this Premier, it is because of the work of this Finance Minister, and the colleagues behind me who work every day for. Thank you very much. Thank you for Toronto, St. Paul. Thank you, Speaker. Today is equal pay day in Ontario, or as many women would say, it is because of the work that this province has done to resist in our province. Despite Ontario implementing the Pay Equity Act in 1988, 1988, here we are 34 years later and have yet to achieve its core mandate. To this day, the pay gap sits at 32% for all women, and it's even higher for women who are black who are indigenous and trans women. Women with disabilities, for example, face a pay gap of 56%. Women with disabilities, for example, are going to make women workers, such as midwives and workers in for-profit nursing homes to court for 15 years than to actually close this. My question to the Premier, will this government finally close this gap by implementing key asks to do so? Ask that we as the official opposition have been pushing for for years, including legislating pay transparency in social ministry for children and women's issues. Thank you so much, Speaker. The Pay Equity Act is about equal pay for work or equal value. Under this act, female and male job classes and the value of the work they perform is compared. Subject to certain exceptions, female job classes must be paid at least the same as male job classes where they perform jobs that may be different, that are of equal or comparable value. The value of jobs is based on the levels of skills, efforts, responsibility and working conditions involved in doing the work. Thank you, Speaker. Well, to all of the Ontarians who are trans or non-binary, I would like to say that the government is stuck in a binary that's hurting Ontarians. My question is back to the Premier. Last week, representatives with Ona, SEIU and the OFL stood in this very building of Bill 106 for exactly what it is. Yet another tactic used to suppress pay equity in this province by effectively interfering with the collective bargaining powers of nurses, PSWs and other healthcare workers. Jobs that are predominantly held by women to demand better pay. Pay that matches the value of the work they do. This, on top of Bill 124, which we know has had a catastrophic consequence for not only our healthcare system, but those same workers who had their salaries capped by it that this government calls heroes. My question is to the Premier, will this government commit to pay equity and finally finally repeal Bill 124 and withdraw Bill 106 for the devastating impacts both have on meeting the goals of women in Ontario. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Well, look, Mr. Speaker, we knew again it is worth coming back to where we were in 2018 when we were elected to office. We saw a province whose economy had stagnated and we knew that our number one responsibility was to reignite the Ontario economy and to reignite the Ontario economy that means bringing everybody, making everybody a part of that, Mr. Speaker, and that is what we did right from the start Speaker and we knew that when it came to healthcare that we could not fix healthcare if it wasn't, if we didn't start to fix long-term care. And what did we do? We built 30,000 net new long-term care beds, new long-term care beds. We fixed 27,000 old outdated beds, Mr. Speaker. We're hiring 27,000 additional healthcare workers and why did we do that? We did that so that we could rebuild the healthcare system, the hospital system in this province and under the previous Liberal Government supported by the NDP had started to crumble. We're building brand new hospitals in Pielonges. We're fixing hospitals in Niagara Region and across the province, Mr. Speaker. And it is because of a strong, stable, majority progressive Conservative Government that Ontario is leading the nation in economically. Thank you. The next question is a member for Whitley. Well, thank you, Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Energy. Minister, it's been great to hear you speak so highly of nuclear power and all that it has to offer Ontario throughout this legislative session. The position come to order. Speaker, I'm so proud to be part of the government that's been such a strong advocate for the nuclear sector. Speaker, nuclear facilities run by Ontario's expert nuclear operators, Bruce Power and Ontario Power Generation generate clean and reliable electricity that powers Ontario families and businesses and, Speaker, creates good-paying jobs. Minister, what is our Government to continue advancing nuclear technology such as small modular reactors in this great province of Ontario? To apply the Minister of Energy. Thank you to the great member, one of our great MPPs from the Clean Energy Capital of Ontario, the Durham Region from Whitley. You know, the member is quite right. Our government's never been shy about our support for nuclear power. We know that continuing to advance nuclear technology in Ontario is only going to benefit every family and business in this great province, and that's why since December of 2019, Speaker, Ontario, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan and now Alberta have been working together to advance SMRs in Canada through an inter-provincial memorandum of understanding. Just a couple of weeks ago I was out in Regina, Speaker, and we finished our final product which is a strategic plan for the deployment of small modular reactors in this country and around the world, and the strategy is a path forward for the advancement of SMRs. It's an opportunity for us in this country. It's an opportunity for jurisdictions around the world to harness what we have in Ontario, and that is a clean energy nuclear advantage that we are going to export around the world to clean up emissions and grow our economy, Mr. Speaker. A supplementary question. Well, thank you Minister for that excellent answer. It's great to hear that Ontario's work on this collaboration between provinces has come to fruition. I'm also pleased to hear that our province is continuing to lead the way, Speaker, on nuclear technology. Speaker, our government knows that the nuclear industry has so much to offer in Ontario, not just through the generation of clean, safe, and reliable electricity Speaker, but also in economic potential, export opportunity, and Speaker, good jobs in the skilled trades. And Terrians want to know more, Speaker, so through you, back to the Minister what will the government's strategy mean for the future of energy in our great province? Minister of Energy. What a great question from the member from Whitby. Canada's nuclear sector, Mr. Speaker already supports 76,000 jobs. Most of them are right here in our province in our supply chain, and we know that this sector has the potential to do so much more. The goals of the strategy that we released a couple of weeks ago are to position Canada as an exporter of global SMR technology while promoting a stronger nuclear regulatory framework and securing support from the federal government, which is really important on the new SMR technologies that are being developed by working with the feds and our nuclear operators and also engaging with the public and indigenous communities. We can turn our vision for nuclear technology in Ontario into a reality. This will mean more jobs in the skilled trades, more export opportunities and more economic growth for our province, and at the same time, Speaker, it's going to mean even more reliable and affordable and safe, clean electricity for families and businesses right across this great province, right in the market. Question for Parkdale High Park. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Premier. When the $10 day child care deal was announced we learned that there would only be a tiny wage increase for workers, and that too only for half of the child care workforce, a workforce of predominantly women. This, in the midst of hyperinflation and a childcare staffing shortage, doesn't make any sense. The NDP has committed to a wage floor of $25 an hour for registered ECEs in childcare and $20 an hour for all other childcare program staff. My question is simple. Will the Premier do the same? Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. It is this progressive Conservative Government that did with no Liberal Premier could, which is deliver affordable childcare for Ontario families by the year 2025, a 25% reduction on average by this spring and 50% on average by this Christmas. Although I do hear the members of Liberal Party quite defensive on this issue, and they should be Speaker because when they increase fees by 400%, 40% above the national average, they have a lot of experience to do for the negligence and the inability to get the job done. As the House Leader has rightfully acknowledged a 400% increase on Ontario families but there is relief on the way Speaker under our government finally getting it done and for the workers. Government House Leader will come to order. Supplementary question. Back to the Premier. We all know that $10 day childcare program will create a very large increase in demand and failing to address the supply side of things, in this case workers, mostly women taking care of our children will lead to a major crisis in childcare. We are going to need to expand the supply of qualified childcare workers which will not be possible to do without improving wages and benefits. Will the Premier commit to paying fair wages and creating a workforce strategy so we are able to recruit and retain workers in childcare workforce? Congratulations. It is the government stated intent to hire over 14,000 workers by increasing wages, $18 as the floor, $20 for supervisors that increases $1 every year to 2025 to get to $25 for example. Not only did we do that for children for staff that work with kids 0 to 5 for kids, staff that work with children 6 to 12 which is outside the scope of this federal agreement. The province unilaterally provided $390 million to also increase those wages so we create a floor of income and we incent these hardworking people to stay in our childcare centres. We are going to need many of them because our government is expanding affordable childcare, increasing access and delivering $10 by year 2025. Next question, the member for Scarborough Guildwood. Thank you Speaker. It has been over a month since Bill 60, the Safe and Healthy Communities Act addressing gun violence has been sent to the Standing Committee on Justice Policy. The government house leader for moving this important bill forward. My question is to him. Some cynics have suggested this is just parliamentary games and that Bill 60 will never get out of committee. But I am not one of them. The government house leader has stood in this house and stated that Bill 60 has merit. I know he believes that it is an important bill. We are running out of sitting days. Bill 60 will help Ontarians suffering from the trauma and the pain of gun violence. Will the government house leader prove the cynics wrong and move Bill 60 to public hearings so that we can go to clause by clause in one day. Just as he did for Bill 78 today. Mr Speaker, I am surprised to get the question from the member opposite because we spoke about this yesterday. We spoke about it last week. Of course it is a private members bill and as I mentioned to the member opposite private members business has to be worked on with members. Now I ask the member because she does not have an available slot to debate her bill. I asked her if she could work with somebody else in her caucus who does have an available spot and do what all members do. They swap their ballot dates to bring legislation quicker. If the member opposite wants to suggest who we can facilitate that with for her then we can do that. If it is another member of her caucus it is another member of the NDP caucus who she wants to pull a bill away from we can do that. I have mentioned this to the member on multiple occasions that she brought a bill forward that has no ballot date or time to be debated in this place. We did the courtesy of moving it into the NDP caucus. There could be some discussion on it and we are awaiting her advice as to who she would be swapping her ballot date with. Supplementary. Thank you speaker and back to the government house leader. The past weekend has been deadly. On April 7th Kartik Vasudev an international student attending Seneca was shot and killed in broad daylight at Sherbourne station. She was shot near Niagara falls while two other people are now in hospital. And on April 9th two separate shootings in Toronto left two men dead. That's 19 homicides so far this year in this city. Our community in Scarborough is still reeling from the death of a grade 12 student who was shot at school. Toronto Medical Officer of Health Eileen de Villa has said the community effects of gun violence have not only physical effects but also mental. These effects can be long lasting multi-generational and cyclical. I have met these families and I have seen and I have heard their pain. I have witnessed them suffering without the supports they are in silence. Speaker I cannot be silent. We have bill 60 it is right here in this legislature it is about public safety and I am asking all members of this house to help to represent these people and to answer their call now. I will look Mr. Speaker again I think I have answered the members questions both in the house and on a number of occasions outside of the house but ultimately I think the people of her community and the community that I know quite well I think that community has a lot of resources and better outcomes. I know that the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions has been providing that Mr. Speaker with a groundbreaking investment in mental health. I know that the government is looking at law and order obviously with the guns and gangs supports that we have put in place. I know that there have been investments into the local community including the Boys and Girls Club in her right. We know how important it is that people have options Mr. Speaker but it's not just about punishment rehabilitation it's about giving people the opportunity to succeed because when I lived in Scarborough that's what people asked for they asked for the dignity of a job and that's what this government is doing putting in place the environments that has created 550,000 jobs lifting people out of poverty giving them the opportunity to succeed and I think that is the best thing we can do to create. Thank you Mr. Speaker and my question is to the Minister of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs Mr. Speaker having a strong food supply chain means making investments in every region across this province and that includes in my writing of Etobicoke Lakeshore we are proud to be home to the Ontario Food Terminal North America's third largest wholesale market of fruits and vegetables and because of this government it will remain in Etobicoke for many many years to come over 2 billion pounds of produce are sold there every year in Etobicoke Lakeshore AgriFood is a huge economic driver in fact there are over 60,000 AgriFood jobs right here in Toronto Ontarians are looking to our government to invest in food and the beverage manufacturers are creating more jobs and growing our economy so Mr. Speaker could the Minister please tell the House what investments are being made for the food and beverage sector across the province to apply I remember for Perth Wellington and Parliamentary Assistant Thank you Speaker and thank you to the member from Etobicoke Lakeshore for that important question our government is building a stronger economy to expand their businesses create new jobs and grow our economy through the Canadian Agriculture Partnership Ontario is supporting a $4.5 million investment in over 100 food and beverage processors in every corner of the province this is an investment in an industry that contributes over $45 billion to Ontario's GDP each and every year and supporting livelihoods in communities across the province including Etobicoke Lakeshore Supplementary question Well thank you for that answer and first of all I also want to thank the Minister for her visit to Dempemire Bakery in the riding of Etobicoke Lakeshore we went for a tour together and it was just a great visit so I just want to thank her and for everyone who knows Dempemire just so you know it's fresh right in Etobicoke Lakeshore and I want to thank the Minister for that response of supporting Etobicoke Lakeshore through this $4.5 million investment you know one of our local businesses Two Bears Coffee who is at the street from my constituency office they're going to receive funding to help develop a plan to export into the U.S. and expand their marketing to increase their sales and upgrades to Banahala Foods means they'll be able to produce more and grow their operations right here in Etobicoke we started as small businesses and have now grown into successful operations that are ready to bring their products to new markets I am so proud, Banshee and the success of our businesses so back to the Minister and through you Speaker what additional products projects will this $4.5 million investment support and how does the Minister plan to get it done for Ontario Food and Beverage processing sector Thank you Speaker and again thank you to the member of Etobicoke Lakeshore a champion for her local businesses we're investing from farm to fork in all parts of our province and across the agri-food sector from Keto Buns in Middlesex County's marketing campaign to expand into the plant-based market to all staid farms to all steam farms in Oxford who will use the funding to enhance their biosecurity through better sanitation we're building up every link to further strengthen our robust food sector under the Liberals red tape and the sky-high costs of doing business in Ontario kept our food manufacturers from reaching their full potential but this government is focused on creating an environment for them to grow and prosper as they should by reducing red tape we've saved the agri-food industry over $3.2 million every year without compromising on the quality of Ontario products this and our $25 million strategic agri-food processing fund we're supporting a bright future as a global leader for Ontario food and beverage processors we continue to say yes to growth and prosperity and to strengthening the agri-food sector as part of how we'll continue to get it done thank you speaker next question thank you speaker my question is to the premier south-west small businesses were left behind throughout the last two years of the pandemic a local favorite and black-owned business Omo Bamboo shop owned by Omo Nwami a creative young woman entrepreneur suffered losses and was also left behind by this grant Omo Nwami and many others who sell products at shops farmers markets creators markets were left behind because of the barriers that this grant included and Omo Nwami wrote to us and I want to quote I own a store but most of my sales come from pop-up markets you have seen me at markets I couldn't do any market in January because indoor gatherings were not allowed and flea markets couldn't operate the categories listed on the government website doesn't take into account people like me whose businesses were brought to a shop to a stop indirectly my sales for January was about 90% less than what I would have done if there were markets and about 200% less than that of December myself and many businesses like me rely on the flea markets artisan markets and pop-up markets in general should be able to apply but for some reasons they were overlooked speaker my question is why did the provincial small grants leave behind businesses and entrepreneurs like Omo and dozen others in my community who are still left without any answers or support thank you speaker Mr. Finan well thank you Mr. Speaker to the member for that question of course as you know we were following public health guidelines and the advice of the chief medical officer of health and of course many businesses were impacted by the shutdown in January but of course we came there to support those businesses that were 100% locked down we provided a third round of small business support grants to over 100,000 businesses over $3 billion in the three rounds Mr. Speaker but we didn't stop there we provided property tax and electricity relief for those businesses affected Mr. Speaker but we didn't stop there we've provided support for digitization for PPE grants but we didn't stop there Mr. Speaker we're now reopening the province such that the conditions are there for small businesses to prosper because they are the backbone and the identity of our province thank you Speaker in case the minister of finance wasn't listening almost did not have the struggles that the minister just identified she did not even qualify to get the grant and he mentioned the grant that was just introduced which was the latest small business grant program that was announced in January but opened in February 18th a month later and closed on March 11th the application which needed to be done fully online was available for less than 30 days Speaker we've provided in being a place where people from all walks of life people who may not be all digitized for their businesses for example some seniors people with many other barriers can enrich and the local economy with their small businesses entrepreneurship can flourish these exact people Speaker and many others were left behind by the grants unreasonable requirements and accessibility barriers local grocery shops, farmers markets for example lost income last two years did not qualify in fact I have a list of over 20 businesses right here that I have told the ministry about and they did not do anything people are still waiting and these include people who are like taxi drivers driving instructors, gym owners and I could just go on but I do not have that time Speaker so my question is why did the government not expand the eligibility and the deadline despite being told repeatedly about the issues of the grant program and why did the province fail to deliver a broad and accessible support program for small businesses Mr. Finance Well Mr. Speaker thank you again to the member opposite for that question Mr. Speaker you know one of the things that we have focused on to support the job creators in this province including small businesses, large businesses entrepreneurs men and women of this great province is putting in place the conditions so that they can prosper Mr. Speaker we have a minister in charge of red tape that is why we have introduced eight bills and passed eight bills for red tape production that is why the minister of energy has focused on providing electricity relief and energy relief for the people and businesses of Ontario that is why we saw in the last month 34,000 new jobs created in Ontario leading the country again followed by in February when 194,000 new jobs were created those are people who have more money in their pockets that can go to your local business and prosper and support our economy because that is the way forward and we are not going to go backwards. Thank you Mr. Speaker to the premier Mr. Speaker gender parity is not yet a goal that has been achieved and I look forward to an equal payday where we can actually celebrate parity as a feta complete unfortunately in fact the fight for support that women need remains a harsh reality in many areas that is why I felt compelled to table bills like bill 99 to help survivors of human trafficking with their deaths and bill 108 to give victims access to sexual assault evidence kits in addition to these struggles women still earn lower incomes than men do in Ontario we need to level the playing field and give women the chance to fully contribute to society in 2018 the Ontario Liberal government passed the Pay Transparency Act which is a great instrument to promote gender parity and equal opportunity by requiring transparency about workplace practice unfortunately the government never allowed it to take effect what is the government doing to ensure transparency about the practice of sexism in the workplace thank you thank you so much speaker our premier and our government cares about making sure women are getting paid equally for the work that they do one example would be women in the trades equity and skilled trades good paying jobs and because of our premier and our government rebuilding Ontario's economy there's 36,600 more women are working since the pre-pandemic we are addressing core issues that will help close this gap and I'll repeat those in the supplementary thank you supplementary Mr. Speaker women in Ontario make 89 cents for every dollar a man makes the Pay Transparency Act would have exposed the worst wrongdoers who are denying women workplace advancement women are too often passed over for promotions that they deserve because there's still a presumption that they are less qualified for leadership roles and in order to change this pattern we need to have measures of accountability on pay equity practices all the government had to do to address this discrimination was followed through with an existing law the Pay Transparency Act why did the government hit the brakes and said no to implementing this legislation thank you our government is dedicated to supporting equal pay for work of equal value this is why we have been working diligently on empowering women and providing women and supports to make sure that they have all the resources to enter and re-enter the workforce we are breaking barriers for women and breaking stigmas around women so that they feel free to prove male dominant jobs such as ones in skilled trades and STEM that I spoke about earlier they're well-paying jobs we also know that pay equity is a problem which is why we introduce the support, retention and act to ensure that the existing pay equity gaps are not widened and to help employers meet their obligation when it comes to pay equity I would also like to say that we have the pay equity office in place to ensure that we have a functioning and strong complaint system in place we will continue to stand for empowering women and have put together the women's task force thank you so much next question the member for Carlton Mr. Speaker my question is to the minister of community children community and social services there's currently a growing demand for services for children and youth with special needs statistics show when children in Ontario begin school almost 300% have at least one developmental vulnerability that could pose a risk to their lifelong health learning abilities and behavior statistics like this show there is a great need for support for children and youth with special needs in 2020 over 110,000 children and youth received rehabilitation services including occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech language pathology across Ontario through the children's treatment centres and community based settings so my question Mr. Speaker through you is what is this government doing to make it easier for children with special needs to gain access to the care they require the member for Ottawa West Indian thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you to the member from Carlton for asking such an important question you know Mr. Speaker when I was first elected I had the chance to visit CHEO services for children with special needs in our hometown of Ottawa I was already personally familiar with many of these facilities while these services are staffed by an incredible team they are currently scattered across disparate and outdated facilities our government got to work on a commitment to make services for our kids with special needs better and more accessible and I was so proud Speaker when in last year's budget our government announced that we would be fully funding a new 200,000 square foot building for CHEO to better serve these this new multi-story building called One Door for Care will reduce the need for families to have to travel to multiple facilities bringing access to these critical treatment and rehabilitation services and I'll have more to speak about One Door for Care in the supplementary these supplementary questions thank you Mr. thank you very much Mr. Speaker and to the minister for that response Speaker this government has announced that over the span of four years we will invest an additional 240 million dollars in funding to reduce wait lists and build additional service capacity intervention and rehabilitation services for children and youth with special needs this investment is addressing the critical needs of children and youth with special needs and such support for children with special needs and actions like this investment sets up these children to have the best outcomes for their health and happiness so through you Mr. Speaker my question for the minister is what benefits and services will this new treatment center provide for children with special needs thank you very much Speaker and thank you to the member for that question for children with multiple or complex special needs the One Door for Care building will bring together teams of professionals under one roof to support children with special needs through a coordinated plan of care One Door for Care will help reduce wait times for services so that more children and youth can receive these important services with capacity issues so there's more space available for service delivery and it will bring together teams of professionals working together under one roof to support children with special needs Chio currently provides these services in eight locations across the eastern Ontario region which can make it difficult for families and providers to coordinate services and support for children and youth as they grow into adulthood we are making special needs supports more accessible for this investment and Speaker I am so proud to have been part of a government that made this project a reality after 10 years of Chio working to make this possible thank you next question the member for St. Papi thank you Speaker the gender wage gap is the widest and female dominated professions in the healthcare sector during the brunt of the pandemic jobs that are absolutely critical to Ontario's recovery from COVID-19 are the jobs where women's labour is most undervalued and most underpaid instead of closing the gender wage gap this government is doubling down on old legislation like bill 124 that forces a 1% cap on female dominated work this government is doubling down on new legislation like bill 106 that overrides public sector workers pay equity rights through you Speaker Premier, this is a question from women working in Niagara's nursing homes hospital workers and my past colleagues at Hotel Dooshaver hospital Speaker why is this government so committed to low wage policies that keep women's wages down the Associate Minister children women's issues we are dedicated to ensuring that pay is determined by work and that equal work has equal pay regardless of all other factors we have recently introduced legislation the supporting retention of public service act which helped address pay equity gaps yet it is important to mention that our government is not only focused on addressing pay equity but we are fighting hard for our women our government is also working diligently on supporting women we are investing $117.3 million in employment and training supports so women have access to training for in demand skills and have opportunities to connect with employees looking to grow their businesses Thank you Speaker when I look at the landscape of Niagara health care leadership these are positions held by women the vast majority of our hospital workers nurses long term care staff home care staff and nearly all Niagara health care workers are represented by female leadership in Niagara fixing these pay equity gaps for women is not only about supporting women's work it is also supporting the results of that working for families when we don't mean to fully address pay equity in health care then we really are not meaningfully closing the gaps of hospital wait times or quality of care for our loved ones Speaker to the premier why are you moving backwards with legislation that keeps the wages of these health care workers down when these female dominated health care workers are the ones that continue to carry us through this pandemic let me first just be clear that the liberals and the NDP did zero nothing to close these gaps for women like nothing absolutely nothing so through this pandemic as I've said before there's permanent to 158 thousand personal and direct support workers these front line heroes are found in hospitals long term care 2020 we've invested over again 1.3 billion dollars to attract and retain health care workers through the wage enhancement this was just one measure found in our governments pandemic and emergency preparation act a bill introduced to ensure our province would be able to act where it's most needed and to support public services next question thank you speaker my question is for the premier today is equal pay day in Ontario the gender wage gap is an unacceptably high 30% so what that means is on average women in this province have been working for free up until today because on average they earn less than 30% of the average man the wage gaps even higher for women of color 40 to 46% experts say that pay transparency is a key tool to addressing the wage gap but one of the first things the government did on taking office was to say no to the pay transparency act so speaker I want to give the government an opportunity and I think women deserve a clear yes or no answer will the premier say yes to closing the gender wage gap by immediately restoring the pay transparency act thank you Mr. Speaker look I can say this I appreciate that today is the day that we focus that there is a focus on that but in this government everyday pay equity and issues around women is everyday for us I have the actual honour of sitting in a cabinet in a caucus full of strong women who every single day where in a legislature surrounded by strong women who do the exact same thing we all want the same thing I believe I think we would all agree that if you do work you should be paid the same amount as somebody else doing the exact same job I can't imagine anybody would disagree with that I'm a father of two girls and I can tell you this I won't be leaving this place I won't be leaving advocacy for them until it is the same for everybody so the member opposite has my word that we will continue as a government to do everything that we possibly can to set aside the failures of the last 15 years where the liberals did literally nothing on this Mr. Speaker we will set that aside and we will continue to move forward because it is important to the province of Ontario for a strong Ontario a strong Ontario with economic activity like we've never seen we have to have women involved in that Mr. Speaker and yes we will continue to work to ensure that women who get paid the same as any man who does the job quite frankly Mr. Speaker I can say in this caucus women do the job a lot better than some of us men and they deserve that recognition Thank you So Mr. Speaker I don't know if I got the clarity I was looking for I did hear the house leaders say yes so I'm hoping that is yes to bringing back the Pay Transparency Act so while we're on that let's give the government an opportunity to be really clear with women on a few other issues Manitoba understands that early childhood educators deserve $25 an hour Ontario doesn't seem to get that because they're saying $18 an hour healthcare heroes get it that by having their wages capped at 1% when inflation is at 5% that means predominantly women frontline workers are actually taking a pay cut so why the government is in the mood of saying yes or no I'd like Speaker to ask another yes or no question Will the government commit to paying ECEs $25 an hour and will the government commit to repealing bill 124 so women frontline healthcare workers can negotiate fair wages Mr. Education Thank you Speaker what we can commit to doing is increasing wages by $1 each year to $25 of the course of this mandate we are hiring 14,700 more ECEs to support families and what we're also doing to support women which was left out of the question is the fact that this progressive Conservative government is delivering affordable childcare $10 daycare by year 2025 a 25% immediate reduction it's retroactive to April rising to 50% on average by Christmas of this year that's going to make a big difference for women economic participation the economy it's going to support affordability increase access these are things all governments politicians for a generation have spoken about our government is getting it done next question not sure if you've noticed but the official opposition is marking equal payday with an all women lineup of questions and I have a question for the Premier last week I told this government that without a commitment to renewed funding the best care program for chronic disease management would have to send layoff notices to its 30 staff best care has changed the lives of 10,000 patients in London and southwestern Ontario who are living with chronic diseases like COPD, asthma and heart failure it has reduced emergency room visits by 63% hospitalizations by 60% and urgent physician visits by 50% representing $10 million in health care savings over the three years since it opens Speaker why is this government ignoring urgent calls from best care board chair Dr. Cathy Folds and allowing the program to fold the government has later to respond listen Mr. Speaker I guess I would just say this I hope one day that if my daughters ever replace me in this chamber they'll never have to get up and remind me that it has been all women asking questions that is where we have to get to in the province of Ontario Mr. Speaker I think that question itself highlights the work that still needs to be done in the province of Ontario and the opposite student is upset but Mr. Speaker what that really is is an indication that we have more work to do and if we have more work to do let's get at it Mr. Speaker now with the program the member is talking about opposite speaker look we have put so many significant resources into ensuring that the best quality of care across the province of Ontario it is what we had to do right from the beginning we were left with a healthcare system that was not able to keep up with the demands of the people the province of Ontario the very same things that they are critical of are what are allowing us to make these important investments whether it's long-term care whether it's rebuilding hospitals across the province whether it's hiring 8,000 nurses 27,000 additional PSWs Mr. Speaker we will continue on that work because it's important for the people of Ontario any supplementary questions Mr. Speaker best care has made a huge difference in improving outcomes for patients but time has run out to save it after I asked my question last week Dr. Folds received a call from the Minister of Health's office assuring her that the government is looking at funding I talked to the Minister of Health later who said she would follow up I sent the Minister an urgent email yesterday the response crickets the best care board is meeting tonight termination notices must go out tomorrow for the board to meet its legal severance obligations the 30 respiratory technologists and nurses who work for best care will lose their jobs will this government contact Dr. Folds today and confirm that best care funding will be renewed thank you very much Mr. Speaker I think the member indicated in her question that the Minister had already reached out Speaker we are going to continue though as I said ensuring that we have the best quality of health care whether it's in London whether it's any part of the province I know that in Niagara region we're building additional hospitals we're bringing 8,000 nurses we're building a medical school in Brampton a medical school in Scarborough I am told now somebody can correct me if I'm wrong but I am told that our medical schools are more women than men now Mr. Speaker so when we look at where we can improve services it will be strong women who are at the forefront of delivering these services that the member talks about but the one thing that we need to do to ensure that this continues Mr. Speaker that the reigniting and the unleashing of the Ontario economy which allows us to support health long-term care education is to re-elect a strong stable progressive conservative majority government on June the 2nd all of that Mr. Speaker next question the member for all A&M thank you very much Mr. Speaker today marks equal pay day and a day that is dedicated to the raising awareness about the gender pay gap because women deserve to earn the same pay as men for doing the same work and that's period Mr. Speaker but women also deserve to work in an environment where they are free of harassment and abuse and one where action so egregious as these would warrant losing your job it has been over a month since my private members bill bill 10 stopping harassment and abuse by local leaders act past second reading unanimously Mr. Speaker we don't have much time left to get this bill passed into the law I'm urging the government to fast track bill 10 through committee so that there's enough time to debate it and vote on it before the end of the session the minister of municipal affairs has said that this is a nonpartisan issue and I agree so will the government commit to expediting bill 10 through committee and back to third reading the election the government host leader again Mr. Speaker look private members business is just that it is business that is brought forward by members and they have to have a ballot date in order to discuss that bill it is something that we work on now again I say to the member opposite as I have to the previous member if there is an opportunity to switch your ballot date with somebody else to bring forward a piece of legislation that is you think is very very important please do so at the same time Mr. Speaker at the same time obviously obviously we want safe workplaces in the province of Ontario I don't think anybody on either side of the house would disagree with that that is why we've ensured that we have resources in place to do that I know that the minister of municipal affairs and housing has been working with the AMO round table I know that the minister of children and women's issue we will continue to work with our municipal partners to ensure the highest standards for elected officials across the board Mr. Speaker so that all workplaces can be safe the supplementary question thank you very much Mr. Speaker as was noted I did use my ballot date we're asking for hearing a committee and fast tracking it to approval Mr. Speaker the government has consulted municipal leaders on this issue they were heralded in media across the province for vowing to strengthen codes of conduct and yet nothing came of it Mr. Speaker the association of municipalities of Ontario supports a mechanism for removal for office so do Ontario's big city mayors the city of Ottawa has called for such a mechanism the city of Barrie has called for such a mechanism yesterday at the good roads conference I heard from the women's caucus of Middlesex County that they support a mechanism for removal for office Mr. Speaker we are running out of time to get this issue addressed this is a non-partisan issue will the government commit to supporting victims of workplace violence and harassment by passing bill 10 before the House adjourns for the election let's get it done Mr. Speaker Government House Leader again thank you Mr. Speaker look we're going to continue to working on issues ensuring safe workplaces not just in the days before an election we've been doing it since the start of our mandate back in 2018 and we will continue to do it after June the 2nd Mr. Speaker this is not something that we look at in the dying days of the legislative assembly and say let's bring it to the table now because we want a campaign on it it is something that the Minister Minister of Municipal Affairs has been working on with the Minister for Women's Issues also consulted on this broadly Mr. Speaker and we're going to do something that we get right and the member opposite of course talks about a situation in Ottawa while he was a municipal councillor in Ottawa it is a terrible situation Mr. Speaker and something that we want to ensure never happen again Mr. Speaker but that leadership also can come from individuals who serve on council in communities across the province of Ontario you don't always have to wait for the provincial government to do something we have rules in place we have laws in place Mr. Speaker that concludes our question period for this morning the member for Orlean has informed me he has a point of order thank you very much Mr. Speaker on a point of order I would like to seek unanimous consent to expedite passage of bill 10 stopping harassment abuse by local leaders act 2022 to 3rd reading so we can have justice for the victims of abuse by local leaders member for Orlean is seeking unanimous consent of the House to expedite the passage of bill 10 agreed? hard to know the Attorney General has a point of order thank you Mr. Speaker my point of order has to do with the pages and I just wanted to point out when I was a page Bowtide Bill was sitting right where right where Peter Borough Quartha member is and I just want to do a shout out to the page captains today Brianna Jackson and Molly and Molly's parents and grandmother are in the house today thank you Mr. Speaker Member for Peter Borough Quartha has a point of order thank you Mr. Speaker I want to wish you a happy 100th birthday today to Fred Allison the grandfather of one of my constituent assistants Julie Chatham thank you next we have a deferred vote on the motion for 3rd reading of bill 111 an act to amend the fuel tax act and gasoline tax act with respect to a temporary reduction to the tax payable on certain clear fuel and on gasoline call in the members this will be a 5 minute bill