 Welcome all of our guests and thank them for being here. It is now time for a question period. The leader of Her Majesty's Law, Dr. Dupre. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Premier. The Progressive Conservative team at Queen's Park will be taking a new approach. When the Liberals act in the best interest of Ontario, we'll be the first to applaud them. When the government doesn't act in the best interest of Ontario, we'll hold them accountable. And frankly, today we need to hold the government accountable. Accountable for 300,000 lost manufacturing jobs. Accountable for sky, rocketing, electricity, prices. Actually now I'm going to ask all sites to come to order. And just for the record, I will be tougher if you wish it can happen. Please finish. Mr. Speaker, why does the Premier care so little about all these hard-working Ontario families who have lost their jobs because of her reckless energy policy? Thank you. Premier. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Well, first of all, I want to welcome the leader of the opposition to the park. Say congratulations to him. I know that it is, it takes a lot of energy and a lot of organizing to put your name on a ballot, to win a leadership and to get here, to take a seat. So congratulations on that, Mr. Speaker. And I look forward, I look forward to having debates in this place about the plan that we are implementing, Mr. Speaker, our investments in the people of this province. I know that the member opposite may not be aware, but this morning the Minister of Education and I announced a program called Experience Ontario. 600 young people across Ontario will have the opportunity to have a work experience after high school, Mr. Speaker, to help them to decide where they might go, whether they'll go to post-secondary or training or into a job, Mr. Speaker. So the fact is... It goes both ways. Finish, please. I hope that he will take a look at that program because it might be one of the things that he would want to applaud, Mr. Speaker. A member from Prince Edward Hastings come to order. Supplementary. Mr. Speaker, again to the Premier and thank you for the well wishes. Over and over again, the people of Ontario have made it clear. Our energy rates are too high. It's costing Ontario jobs. Costing the people of Ontario the opportunity to strive and succeed. Just recently, Windsor was passed over for an auto plant because of liberal policies. Recently, the CEO of Fiat Chrysler said that you need to create the conditions to be competitive. I agree. Mr. Speaker, when will the Premier create the conditions on Ontario when we'll stop driving jobs out of this province? Mr. Speaker, it's been a long summer. Let's just go over what has been happening. So under our leadership, Ontario has created 564,200 jobs. In the last seven months, Mr. Speaker, so very recently, Ontario has gained over 15,000 new manufacturing jobs. For the second year in a row, Mr. Speaker, Ontario is the leading North American jurisdiction for foreign direct investment. Mr. Speaker, I know that the economy is fragile. I know that we are working in a context of a global economy that is fragile. But we are putting in place the conditions, Mr. Speaker, that is bringing investment to Ontario and is creating jobs. That's what I think. Final supplementary. Mr. Speaker, again to the Premier, it appears that we have hit a nerve. Knocking on thousands of doors during the Simcoe North by-election, I was taken aback by countless stories of families worried about the fire sale of Hydro-1. The public does not support this fire sale. The Liberals should hit the pause button, given the overwhelming public opposition. Mr. Speaker, how can the Premier proceed with this? Despite opposition well in excess of 70%. Well, good question. But, Mr. Speaker, the reality is that those investments that I am talking about, those investments in infrastructure, whether it's roads or bridges, Mr. Speaker, or transit, Mr. Speaker, those are the investments that are driving the recovery that I was talking about. They're driving the jobs coming to Ontario, Mr. Speaker. Ontario's unemployment rate has fallen 6.8%, Mr. Speaker. It's below the national average. Now, I know that there are still people in this province who are struggling to find a job. I understand that, Mr. Speaker. That's why we are making the investments that we are making. That's why we are putting the training and education programs in place that invest in our people's talent and skills, Mr. Speaker. And that's why we're working with business to partner and make sure that they have the opportunity to expand. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, 13 years ago, Ontario lost a hero from Simcoe County, Bill Wilkins. Bill Wilkins was a firefighter who served the city of Barrie and lost his life protecting Ontario. Bill raced into a burning home. Sadly, tragically, he didn't make it out. While I was in Ottawa, I worked with all parties to support a motion to provide benefits to the families of these fallen heroes. It was a small gesture to make life a little bit easier for those who have lost loved ones. Mr. Speaker, my question for the Premier is will she support survivor benefits for the families of first responders who have fallen in the service of our province? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I just want to acknowledge the firefighters who are here, Mr. Speaker. I know that some of the leadership is here. I also want to say to them that it has been a wonderful experience for our government to have been working with the firefighters in Ontario since we came into office, Mr. Speaker. The changes that have been made in presumptive legislation, Mr. Speaker. The safeguards that have been put in place are one of those areas, Mr. Speaker, where we have an ongoing conversation with the firefighters of this province. And I've often said that every one of the members in our government has the opportunity every year to talk with firefighters. We know what the issues are, and we will continue to work with them as we have, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again to the Premier, we've had an ongoing conversation for 12 years. In a few weeks, we will both be participating in the National Peace Officers Memorial Run. I'm continually amazed by the courage of our first responders. Each day they go to work facing unknown dangers to protect us, to protect Ontario. Those emergency responders ask for very little in return. An Ontario Hero Fund, similar to the benefit established for fallen soldiers, would be appropriate. While this government threw away 1.1 billion on the gas plant scandal, while they squandered a billion dollars on the orange ambulance mismanagement, there's nothing for emergency responders. Mr. Speaker, how can the Premier squander billions when families of emergency workers deserve and need our help? Thank you, Premier. I would just reinforce what I said in my first answer, that we have had a very good working relationship with our firefighters and with our first responders in this province, Mr. Speaker, and we have made many changes including the presumptive legislation that I just talked about in response to challenges that first responders including firefighters have brought to us, Mr. Speaker. So if there are new ideas that are coming from the Leader of the Opposition, we've had all party support for the changes that we have put in place, Mr. Speaker, and so we'll continue to work in that manner because like the Leader of the Opposition, I am 100% certain that the work that is done by the first responders in this province is essential, Mr. Speaker. We support them. We have done. We will continue to do so, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Final supplementary. Mr. Speaker, again to the Premier, firefighters, paramedics, police officers, see things we never want to see. Post-traumatic stress disorder is real and help needs to be immediate. As you know I've said earlier today, there's no monopoly on a good idea and that's why I support the NDP motion to enable faster access to PTSD support. While opposition is united in the need for support, the government continues to delay. Mr. Speaker, will the Premier join the opposition and fast-track the bill to ensure no more heroes slip through the cracks? Thank you. Well, the opposition might know that there is a very active discussion going on with the employees, with workers about PTSD, Mr. Speaker. I know that the Minister of Labor is engaged, Mr. Speaker, on this subject. We have never said, Mr. Speaker, that we were opposed to the notion of coverage for PTSD. In fact, Mr. Speaker, we recognize that this is a very live and current issue. It's something that we know more about every year, Mr. Speaker, and that's why we're engaged in a discussion about how we can best respond. I would say to the member opposite, we will continue to work with him and with the third party, and most importantly with the people who are dealing with PTSD and make sure we put the right coverage in place. Thank you for your question. Thank you for my questions for the Premier. It's always a privilege to spend the summer listening to Ontarians and everywhere that I went this summer, from Oshawa to Sarnia, downtown Toronto to Timmins, I heard the same message for the Premier. Families and businesses want her to stop the sell-off of Hydro-1. Costly privatization of our electricity system and keep our hydro in public hands. Can the Premier turn her back and plow ahead with a scheme that Ontarians overwhelmingly reject? Mr. Speaker, the reality of governing is that there are very difficult choices and decisions that have to be made. And we know, Mr. Speaker, that the investments that are necessary in this province in order for us to be able to grow and thrive, in order for communities all across the province to be able to thrive, the reality is that there needs to be investment. And I'm talking about across the province. Last week I was in Red Lake, Mr. Speaker, the week before last, I was in Red Lake. The number one subject that Mayor Phil Venette wanted to talk to me about was infrastructure investment. The Highway 618, the need for a road north from Red Lake to Pecan to come, Mr. Speaker, transmission of electricity, those are the kinds of issues. Those kinds of investments are needed across the province. So that is the rationale, Mr. Speaker. The investments that are needed across the province, that's the plan that we put forward and that's the work that we're doing. Mr. Speaker, the reality is that this premier is not listening to Ontarians. The Liberals own polls, Mr. Speaker, show that three out of four people are against the premier's privatization scheme. An opposition to a selloff that is cloaked in secrecy, Mr. Speaker, is actually growing by the day in this province. A new poll says that a staggering 83% of folks want to stop the sale of Hydro One. It has never been more clear that the premier has no mandate, no public support, and not a shred of evidence to back up her scheme. How can this premier clow ahead with a selloff that Ontarians overwhelmingly reject, Mr. Speaker? So, Mr. Speaker, that the leader of the third party is referring to some polling that she has had the opportunity to look at. Had she looked at the entire document, Mr. Speaker, she would have known that an overwhelming majority of people also believe that investing in infrastructure is critical, Mr. Speaker. So, here is the reality. Stop the clock, please. The member from Renfrew Nipissing, Pembroke, second time. We've made a commitment, Mr. Speaker, to invest $130 billion in infrastructure over the next 10 years. We are building across the province, Mr. Speaker. We know that in order for this economy in Ontario to thrive, we need to make that investment. Provinces across the province know that that's critical, Mr. Speaker. It's why, it's why in the federal election, Mr. Speaker, all the leaders are talking about infrastructure investment. They know it's necessary as well. So, we're going to continue to make those investments because we know that the economy can thrive in Ontario, and this is the way that we need to go, Mr. Speaker. Speaker, the premier is catering to a small group of her powerful friends. Her favourite banker is now embedded in her office, and she is ignoring the voices of Ontarians who are determined to stop the privatisation scheme that even Mike Harris had the good sense to back away from. The premier has no mandate, she has no public support, and she has no evidence whatsoever to show that the sell-off of Hydro One is the right direction to go. I feel this premier finally admit to Ontarians that they are right and that she is wrong and stop the sell-off of Hydro One. Essentially what the leader of the third party is saying is that we should not make the investments in infrastructure that we are making. So I would ask the leader of the third party what she would advise us to cancel. Should we cancel the electrified barry line, Mr. Speaker, that would advance weekly trips from 70 to 200? Should we cancel the Kitchener line, Mr. Speaker? Should we cancel the Hamilton LRT, Mr. Speaker? Should we cancel the Connecting Links program for rural Ontario, Mr. Speaker, which is $15 million annually? Should we, Mr. Speaker, cancel any support for Smart Track in Toronto? Should we cancel the Mealy Drive extension, Mr. Speaker, in Sudbury? Should we cancel the four-laning of Highway 11-17 between Thunder Bay and Nipagon? Mr. Speaker, the reality is that the leader of the third party would have to advise us which of those projects... Thank you. Any questions? Leader of the third party. Mr. Speaker, no, she should cancel the sale of Hydro One is what she should do. How embarrassing. The only premier in the history of the province of Ontario who can't build infrastructure and keep Hydro One public at the same time. Pretty embarrassing. The question is to the premier speaker. The Liberals have no mandate. They have no public support for the sell-off of Hydro One. But worst of all, the premier is refusing to be open and transparent with Ontarians. When the financial accountability officer tried to do his job by bringing some level of transparency to this process, the Liberals slammed the door in his face. And while the Liberals paid $7.5 million for reports and studies, they refused to share those studies with Ontarians. So why is it so easy for this premier to roll over on her promise to be transparent and to be accountable, especially on this issue? The biggest policy shift in this province's history, at least in the last generation or so. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I know that the leader of the third party knows that we are acting in accordance with the legislation that she voted for, Mr. Speaker. The financial accountability act. She knows that there are certain records that are in the purview of the financial accountability officer. And there's certain art. So this is the legislation that she supported, Mr. Speaker. And here are the parameters. Ministries and public entities must give the financial accountability officer any financial, economic, or other information that is necessary to the performance of his or her mandate. Receptions are provided with respect to cabinet records, personal information, and personal health information. Mr. Speaker, the leader of the third party knows that full well. She also knows, Mr. Speaker, that in the broadening of ownership of Hydra-1, the government is retaining 40% of that ownership, Mr. Speaker. The people of Ontario will retain 40%. She also knows that control of the board in terms of being able to remove the board, remove the chair of the board, retains, remains with the government. She knows full well that no entity will be able to own more than 10%. Mr. Speaker, she knows those controls are in place. Thank you. Supplementary. Mr. Speaker, this premier knows full well that she has promised again and again and again to be open and transparent. In her very first thrown speech speaker, she promised to be accountable to all the people of Ontario and work to prevent mistakes before they occur. Well, the sale of Hydra-1, Speaker, is one of the biggest mistakes that the Liberals are about to make. For us for the facts, he's ignored. And when the Ontario Chamber of Commerce appealed for evidence, the Liberals ignored them too. Why does this premier think that openness and transparency and accountability is too much to ask for when it comes to the sell off of Hydra-1? Thank you. Mr. Speaker, the information that was asked for that fell within the parameters of the legislation was provided. We have provided all the information with the exception of some cabinet records, Mr. Speaker, that were excluded by the legislation that the leader of the third party supported, Mr. Speaker. So she cannot have it both ways. She cannot support legislation and then turn around and say that legislation's not good enough and we want something different or we want you to break the law. We want you to go against the legislation. She cannot have it both ways. She's all so much, Mr. Speaker. She cannot... Mr. Speaker, we are complying with the legislation. We are also investing in infrastructure around this province. That is what this is about. It is about making the investments that we know are needed across the province. Now, the leader of the third party has not been supportive of that, Mr. Speaker. I think much to our surprise because I think she should be supporting the roads and the bridges and the transit investments in every corner of this province, Mr. Speaker. Final supplementary. Mr. Speaker, I find it shocking that the Premier pretends to be so incredulous that we expect her to be transparent and open when that's all she talked about for over a year in this scheme. This is not the kind of government that this Premier promised Ontarians, Mr. Speaker. Rather than openness and transparency, we see another, another Liberal Premier who's keeping families, businesses and this legislature in the dark. Another Liberal Premier who puts her powerful friends and favourite bankers ahead of the people of this province. Another Liberal Premier, Mr. Speaker, who is forcing Ontarians to pay the price for her bad choices. Mr. Speaker, why does this Premier suddenly think that openness, transparency and accountability is just too much for the people of Ontario to ask from her? Well, Mr. Speaker, I think it is what the people of Ontario should expect and it's what we bring to the people of Ontario, Mr. Speaker. The fact is there is a financial accountability officer in place in this province and I would say to the leader of the third party she was part of that discussion and she raised the notion of a financial accountability officer and we have worked with her party to put that in place and she supported the legislation that is now in place, Mr. Speaker. And so when information is asked for we comply with the legislation, we provide that information, Mr. Speaker. And most importantly, we have spent months, Mr. Speaker, talking about and working with communities on the infrastructure investments that they need, Mr. Speaker, knowing full well that if their economies are going to thrive, if they are going to be able to provide jobs and economic well-being in the long term, they need those infrastructure investments. That's the plan that we ran on. That's the plan that we're putting in place, Mr. Speaker. Question? A member from Prince Edward Houston. Very much, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Premier this morning. Premier, you're not only selling Hydro-1, you're keeping Ontario taxpayers in the dark while you do it. Schedule 38 of the budget bill removed Hydro-1 from the responsibility of disclosing executive salaries in spite of the fact that Hydro-1 is still in public hands for now. Hydro users that are seeing skyrocketing Hydro bills have no idea how much of their bill is actually now going into the wallets of suits at Hydro-1. Premier, shouldn't taxpayers have the right to know how much they're paying high-priced Hydro executives? Thank you. Mr. Speaker, under the Ontario Securities Commission, which would govern Hydro-1 in this situation, Mr. Speaker, they're required to file every year, Mr. Speaker, the salaries of their highest paid executives. I think there's six or seven of them, but somewhere in that number, Mr. Speaker, plus the Board of Directors, and it will be completely public and transparent. Thank you. This Hydro scheme is nothing but liberals paying their high-priced liberal friends. That's all this is, is liberals paying liberals, and we know that there's no bottom of the trough when it comes to liberal friends. When he was CEO... Stop the clock, please. I'm not sure you've heard me over his shouting. The Minister of Economic Development will come to order. Don't test. Any other armchair? Carry on, please. Mr. Speaker, when Carmen Marchello was the CEO of Hydro-1, his salary was in excess of $740,000 a year, making him one of the highest paid executives in the public sector. Last month, Premier, you hired a new CEO for Hydro-1, whose previous private sector compensation regularly topped $5 million a year. I'm wondering if that's the reason why you took executive pay at Hydro-1 off the sunshine list, because you didn't want taxpayers to know that you backed up the Brinks truck to pay for your new Hydro's CEO. Minister? Mr. Speaker, the new leader of the PCs is quoted as saying, I generally believe that the private sector can do a better job than the public sector. I think market conditions would be helpful for a lot of government agencies. Mr. Speaker, the PC party has been in favour of taking Hydro-1 public for some time now. They made a failed effort in 2002, Mr. Speaker. They also have in their white paper, which was adopted by the previous leader just a couple of years ago, Mr. Speaker, that they supported Ontario Power Generation and Hydro-1, Mr. Speaker, being sold partially to the public as they're doing, Mr. Speaker. Not only that, Mr. Speaker, with respect to rates, they sent in their white paper and they adopted in their white paper, Mr. Speaker, that the Ontario Energy Board could protect rates, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. I've heard two trends today that I'm going to make reference to. The first one is, again, I will remind all members, I am not happy when anyone uses anything else other than people's titles or their writings. And it stays that way for a reason, and I want it to stay there. The second one is, when you would all be well to follow the leaders of your respective parties when it comes to questioning for this reason, I would ask you to address the speaker and refer to the members in the third person. That helps us with the debate emotion, so I would ask all of us to stay focused on what you're supposed to be directing questions and answers through me. I appreciate it. New question. The member from Toronto, Danforth. Thank you, Speaker. My question to the Premier. Speaker, the Premier promised that the government would retain de facto control of a privatised Hydro-1. Meanwhile, the Ed Clark report offers a promise to investors that the government will exercise no control over a privatised Hydro-1. The Premier can't keep both of these promises. The Premier needs to disclose which of these promises she intends to break in the Hydro-1 Prospectus. The Prospectus was supposed to be released this month, but it is nowhere to be seen. What is in the Hydro-1 Prospectus that's so bad that the government has been delaying its release? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Minister of Finance. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the question. I think the member of the office had also recognised the sensitivity that we're under here to try to maximise the value of Hydro-1 while respecting the process and the procedures in order to go through the Prospectus and to bring it to market. So as a result of that and the quiet period which the Ontario Securities Commissions requires us to do, and we certainly don't want to break that law that we make certain that we proceed The member of the committee may come to order. We recognise that the discipline and the ability for Hydro-1 to succeed requires the sector to do its diligence and that's what we're allowing them to do. And we know that the inherent value of Hydro-1 can be even improved. We want to make certain that occurs as well. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, again to the Premier. Last week in Enveronix poll revealed that opposition to the government's Hydro-1 privatisation has grown. 83% of Ontarians oppose this sale. 61% say they are strongly opposed. In fact, according to the poll half of Ontarians are so opposed to the Hydro-1 sale that they are less likely to vote for the federal Liberals in the upcoming election. Is the Premier delaying the release of the Hydro-1 Prospectus because she knows it will enrage the people of Ontario and lose votes for Justin Trudeau? Mr. Speaker, the process is is unfolding to enable the public and investors and everyone associated to have full understanding as to what Hydro-1 is and will be for the benefit of the people of Ontario and for the majority holders which is the province of Ontario and ultimately the people of Ontario and then broadening that ownership to enable us to reinvest in other assets that are just as critical and enabling us to improve our economic competitiveness. That is what we're doing here, Mr. Speaker. We're out there to protect the people's interest while maximizing its value and reinvesting, Mr. Speaker, into our economy for the benefit of all. We'll continue to do so. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Minister of Health and Long-term Care My migrant crisis which is unfolding as we speak across Europe and beyond as tens of thousands of refugees seek freedom and security and recognition as being part of the human family. I start, Speaker, by offering our deep condolences on behalf of all members of this legislature to the family of three-year-old Ailan Kurdi, Brother Khalib and Mother Rehana and to the countless other families who are like them and those who will be like them. Speaker, given this global tragedy the time to respond, to pledge support, to act is now. I think, Speaker, that has been until very recently the Canadian way of doing things. Whether you're an average citizen an elected official, a community leader, a responsive premier or a reluctant Prime Minister we can all work together to address this human crisis. Minister, can you... Thank you, Minister of Health and Long-term Care. Thank you very much. I want to thank the member from the North for this very important question. Mr. Speaker, I was proud to be at the Premier's announcement on Saturday announcing $10.5 million for the Syrian refugees, many of which will come to Canada, but also that $2 million of that is allocated to helping refugees in the region. Mr. Speaker, the federal cuts that they made a couple of years back to the interim federal health program left our refugee claimants in this province and across Canada unprotected and put our doctors in an untenable position, Mr. Speaker, forcing them to choose who should be treated. And as we all know, the federal court of Canada, the Supreme Court, struck down the changes to that interim health program on the basis, Mr. Speaker, of being cruel and unusual. They required the feds to reinstate health care to refugees. Mr. Speaker, the Supreme Court recognized that it was cruel to deny insulin to diabetics. And Mr. Speaker, it was cruel to deny cancer to suffer. Thank you, supplementary. Thank you, Minister. Firstly, I commend you on your own personal globally recognized medical service of refugees and know that you strive to implement that vision of the Premier and her government here at home. Sadly, Minister, as you cited just now, it can in fact take the Supreme Court of Canada, or at least the latest polling to extract, induce, or manufacture such behavior from the current federal government. It took a court decision to remind and reconfirm for the feds what we have said all along, that our health care system, indeed our country should reflect fairness, compassion and humanity, offering medical care to all our residents, old or recent. Our government believes in one Ontario, an Ontario that protects people living here, not chosen by postal code, riding income, or any other demographic that you care to parse. Minister, would you please inform this House, what has our government and your ministry done to address these concerns? Thank you. Thank you again to the member from Etobicoke North for the opportunity to discuss how Ontario is acting to address the health cuts that were made by the federal government. Our government reinstated access to essential and urgent health care services for refugee claimants through a program called the Ontario Temporary Health Program. Not only was that the right thing to do, the humane thing to do, but it also reflects our commitment to evidence-based decision making because it keeps all Ontarians safe and healthy. To date, our government and my ministry has spent nearly $2 million on this program helping our refugee claimants get the health care they need and deserve. Quite simply, waiting until a patient needs emergency care is more expensive. More importantly, Mr. Speaker, it fails the patient. We call on the federal government to end their appeal of the Supreme Court decision and restore full and essential medical coverage for these vulnerable refugees. New question. Thank you. New question. My question to the Premier after forcing motorists to idle and sweltering heat to accommodate 235 kilometres of HOV lanes, your transportation minister deserves the Pan Am Gold for highway gridlock and wasteful spending. He spent $61 million of Ontario taxpayer dollars on a traffic plan that featured peel and stick, flyaway lane markings and electronic messages to stay at home, while motors fumed in standstill traffic. And now we wait for your HOV legacy to drop the other shoe on us as you magically transform HOVs into HOT high occupancy tax machines. Premier, when will Ontario motorists be forced to pay a second time for the privilege of driving on roads their taxes have already paid for? The roads are already there. Mr. Speaker, well, I know that the member opposite wants to go into the details of transportation aspects of this, and I know that the Minister of Transportation is eager to talk about high occupancy toll lanes. I, though, have to take this opportunity to say what a wonderful, wonderful experience it is. To be able to watch those athletes, those young people from up showcase the very best of what we had in Ontario. More than a million tickets were sold for 51 sporting events. More than 1.4 million people attended celebrations at places like Panamania at Nathan Phillips Square. I had the opportunity to go to 21 events in Pan Am, 12 events in Parapan, Mr. Speaker. It was an experience of a lifetime. I hope that the member opposite had the opportunity to attend even one event because he would have caught that experience, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Supplementary. I did, Premier, but let's get back to those high occupancy tax lanes. Premier, if your minister can't take the heat, he should move over and get out of the hot lane. Premier, despite your minister's recent attempts to delay the hot toll truth, there is no secret. We all see your latest tax grab for exactly what it is. The only reason you're hiding the details of your HOT tax plan is so you won't burn your federal BFF Justin Trudeau. Oh, no. Premier, quit selling and tell Ontario motors what they will be paying to drive on their new two-tier highways in Ontario. Two-tier. Premier, thank you. Thank you very much, Speaker. I want to begin by thanking the member opposite for the question, but also for admitting here in the House today that he did actually take in the opportunity to go to some of the Pan Am games. Thank you very much, Speaker, to him. I also want to say, Speaker, in both the original question and the supplementary, the member opposite talked about the transportation plan for the wildly successful Pan Am and Para Pan Am games. A couple of things to note, Speaker, during the games themselves we noticed a 25% increase in go transit ridership, Speaker. We saw across this entire region, Speaker, more people carpooling for the very first time as a result of the very robust message and plan that we put forward in advance and during the Pan Am game, Speaker. The Premier said it, I've said it through budget 2014 and budget 2015. Our government explicitly said that we will be introducing high occupancy toll lanes at some point, Speaker. We continue to take all the concern from the experience of the Pan Am Para Pan Am games and I will provide an update. The Premier will provide an update. Our Government will provide an update in the near future. Thanks very much, Speaker. Thank you, Speaker. My questions to the Premier. Parents and students deserve stability in our children's classrooms, but across Ontario this Liberal Government has left too many teachers and education workers without a contract for 379 days and counting. On Friday the Liberals failed to reach an agreement with elementary teachers and let talks collapse once again. Speaker, families deserve better. They deserve a government that doesn't try to impose cookie cutter deals and that never walks away from genuine and meaningful negotiations with our dedicated teachers and education workers. Will the Premier Instructor Education Minister to get back to the bargaining table today and get back to real negotiations? Mr. Education. Well, I'm very pleased to report on the real negotiations that have been going on over the summer because we spent hours and hours and hours and days and days and days with our friends from OSSTF, the Ontario Secondary Teachers Federation. We've spent days and days and days and hours and hours and hours with our friends from the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association and I'm happy to report that as a result of those negotiations that in fact we have tended of agreements with both of those groups. We have been spending a lot of time with our frankeners who work in the English public and English Catholic and we'll be carrying on with those discussions this week. We have also supplementary Speaker, maybe the Minister of Education should give the same consideration to the members of that polling CUPI. Speaker, the Premier should order her education minister back to the bargaining table today. That's what parents and students expect. That's what teachers and education workers deserve. Our children's education depends on the people who help students develop a love for learning. The people who open new doors and new doors to the next generation and the people who work so hard to keep our schools safe, clean and welcoming for our kids. When will the Premier get back to negotiating in a meaningful and genuine way with thousands of teachers and education workers who have waited more than a year for the new contracts they deserve. Thank you, Minister. I would point out that it was the elementary teachers federation that walked away from negotiations last spring. On the first date they would agree to begin negotiating with September 1st. We were at the table starting September 1st the first Stop the clock please. I gave earlier some advice and that's exactly the reason why through the chair. Carry on please. And as you alluded to in your question, we in fact did give them the same offer. The government and the public school boards have provided an elementary version of the offers of the tentative agreements. We have put similar offers on the table. We await the response of the elementary teachers and I very much hope that they will in fact have the similar offer based on the same framework as OECD and OCS That's what's on the table. Thank you. Minister, since being elected I've had a chance to meet with a number of police in my community and they work hard every day to keep us safe. I occasionally hear about interactions between the police and members of my community and overwhelmingly those interactions However, I have heard on occasion some concerns about interactions between police and members of the community that seem to be arbitrary or based on nothing more than race. Every time a person is stopped based on their race it erodes the trust that should exist between police and the members of the community that they are a part of. Last week I hosted, as you know minister, a street check consultation at Tobacco Centre at Rathburn area youth project at Burnham Club Collegiate Minister, the event was attended by over 40 young people and notwithstanding how they felt they came and spoke candidly about the challenges that they faced and they had fantastic ideas about how government can help them. During our discussion they expressed concerns about the way street checks are being carried out. Minister, could you please explain what you are doing on this issue? Thank you. Thank you very much, Speaker. I want to thank the member for Tobacco Centre for asking this very important question. Speaker, you may recall back on June 16 of this year I announced our government's intention that we will be bringing regulations dealing with street checks in the province of Ontario so that we have consistent practice across the province. As a result Speaker we have been consulting across the province meeting with many, many community members to hear their experiences dealing with carding of street checks. I want to commend the member from Tobacco Centre for hosting his own consultation and forwarding his feedback he received to us. Speaker, I want to be very clear because there are very two key fundamental principles that is driving Ontario's approach for developing a new practice. Number one Speaker, we take the protection of human rights very seriously Speaker and there is absolutely zero tolerance when it comes to any kind of racial profiling or discrimination. Second Speaker, that we stand opposed to any police stops that do not have a clear policing purpose and which are predicated solely on bias. Supplementary. Thank you Speaker, thank you Minister for that answer. It's great to hear that you pursue these consultations with the people of Ontario and the members of my community in Tobacco Centre are being heard. Minister, you have said that as a government we stand opposed to stops that are predicated on racial bias. If we are opposed to that then they should not be allowed to continue so Minister could you please explain to the legislature why you are not simply banning street checks. Thank you Minister. I have attended many of the public consultations personally and they have been very emotional to hear experiences of people from across the province especially young people's experiences has been moving and one thing Speaker that we have heard clearly is in terms of the definition of street check and they are essentially Speaker stops that are random and arbitrary predicated on nothing more than that without any clear a police purpose a reason or cause a suspicious activity. Speaker if that is how one defines street check then let me be absolutely clear that our new regulation will end those types of stops they will not be tolerated in fact Speaker they will be banned through our regulations. Speaker what we are now working on is making sure that those interactions that take place as a result of on the basis of suspicious activity or some sort of criminal activity that there be rights based safeguard put in place that comply with the Supreme Court of Canada jurisprudence that comply with the rights that are guaranteed and enshrined in the Charter of Rights and Freedom and Ontario Human Rights Court. Speaker if street checks being done in an arbitrary random manner they are being done improperly and we will tolerate them and we will ban them through regulations. Thank you. Speaker the question is to the Premier this morning. Premier your cancelled Mississauga gas plant is currently under construction in my riding of Sarnia Lampton. Safety at this project is a subject to a great concern to the local trades in various major issue reports this site has been described as both troubled dysfunctional and a hurl wind of potential catastrophes this site broke ground in July of 2012 dozens of safety complaints have been filed with your Ministry of Labor by their own record the Ministry of Labor has issued over 190 compliance orders but it wasn't until the local trades walked off the job Mr. Speaker to protest the lack of basic safety protocol by the company that this company that your liberal government hand picked that the Ministry of Labor finally took enforcement action on this site Premier it's my understanding that charges were finally laid on September 11th why did it take your Ministry so long to enforce the Health and Safety Act and lay charges against green children Thank you Thank you Speaker and thank you to the Honourable Member for the question Ontario remains one of the safest place in this entire continent to work and most of the companies in this province act responsibly in this manner. What matters most is safety there's no project in this province that's worth an injury or the loss of a life. I can tell you that our inspectors have been on site more than 70 times on this particular site we've issued 219 orders some of those have been stopped work orders we know there's concerns on the site we continue to work with the parties I've actually appointed somebody I've appointed an independent mediator to go into and to work with the parties you have to remember Speaker our top priority at the Ministry of Labor is keeping people safe yes sometimes that means we have to go in and we have to work with the labor relations within certain projects but the number one priority is to make sure when somebody goes to work in the morning they come home tonight Speaker Thank you My question back to the Premier Over the last 50 years labor and industry in Sarnia-Lampton have developed a culture of safety that is on parallel across this province the Ministry of Labor's own stats say that you are 25 times safer on a job site in Sarnia-Lampton the people in our community live and breathe safety it must be the first priority on any site that's an energy generating facility the leadership of our local trades and business community are experts in the generation and construction of generating facilities tell me that despite the recent intervention of the Ministry of Labor their concerns are still there for safety at the green electron facility as this facility deniers completion it gets closer to going live due to harm, due to human error or mechanical failure or compounded Premier can you guarantee our community to be safe for their loved ones to return to work at this site would you feel comfortable if one of your loved ones worked at this site Thank you Speaker and thank you again to the Honourable Member for the concerns he has raised he and I will know we've had a number of conversations about this and I thank him for his for his vigilance on behalf of his constituents it is disappointing and it is frustrating to see these issues persist at the site I want to urge the parties to work together to focus on what's important to make sure that their employees are protected that they're working in a safe environment I've asked the Ministry of Staff to follow this very very closely we've appointed an excellent mediator who knows the construction sector inside and out Mr. John Miller we're going to use every enforcement tool to ensure that we get compliance of this plant I'm convinced that we're able to do it most as I said most employers in this province do not treat projects this way this is definitely something that's out of character for Ontario business we aim to solve that to make sure that people go to work come home safely at night Thank you Speaker my questions for the Premier Parents across Ontario are struggling to find affordable quality child care and thousands of kids are stuck on waiting lists for spots that their families can afford last November the Liberals voted in favour of my motion to work with the new federal government to deliver $15 a day child care to families here in Ontario and right across the country but now the Premier is more interested in playing partisan games and attacking the only federal plan that will deliver quality affordable child care why is this Premier suddenly backing away from her commitment to working with the new federal government to deliver $15 a day child care for Ontario families I look forward to working with the new federal government on child care what I have said is two things the plan that was put forward the motion that was put forward by the NDP had no details in it but in principle we support the notion and secondly there are no details from the federal NDP about what the plan would actually mean for Ontario I can't say that I fully support $15 a day when I don't know what that means in terms of the money Ontario has already put into child care but do I believe that there needs to be a federal who will work with us on issues including child care absolutely Mr. Speaker well that's good to hear because that's exactly what Thomas Mulcair offered too bad the Premier didn't hear it it's shameful in fact that this Premier is putting the interest of the federal Liberal Party ahead of Ontario children and families Tom Mulcair has repeatedly said he will work with Ontario to respect the unique needs and existing programs in our province including full day kindergarten but the Premier doesn't care and instead stop the clock better thank you please finish instead she is once again putting the interest of her political friends ahead of the people of Ontario after claiming to want a new federal partner how can this Premier put a tax on the only federal plan to deliver $15 a day child care for Ontario families and Mr. Speaker it's an idea it's been put out as an idea it would be irresponsible of me after we have put billions of dollars into child care in Ontario Mr. Speaker to support something that has no details in it and we have no understanding of what it would mean to the people of Ontario we absolutely want who will work with us on child care that has not changed and it will not change and I hope on October 20 we have a government in Ottawa who will partner with us on a number of issues Mr. Speaker and I have said that quite clearly child care is one of the Mr. Speaker but when a notion is put forward without details and I don't have an understanding of what it would mean to the people of Ontario Mr. Speaker it would be irresponsible of me to support it blindly Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker my question is to the Minister of Education Minister last week the students across Ontario returned to school and we know this is an exciting time for all of them students entering their final year of secondary school are beginning to think and plan for what they will do beyond graduation our government knows that investing in the skills and talents of our students is important and we want to ensure that we can help students continue to achieve excellence Minister can you tell us how the Ontario government is helping students make the transition from secondary to post secondary education Thank you Minister of Education Yes thank you Speaker and thank you to the member from Barrie who is a real advocate for children Our government is committed to ensuring that every student has the same opportunity to succeed, graduate from high school and pursue their career passion and that's why we believe in investing in innovative programs like the specialist high skills majors, dual credits, cooperative education and the Ontario youth apprenticeship program so we can help create the right learning environment to help all students build a promising future for themselves Just last week I had the privilege of visiting St. Mary's Catholic secondary school in Davenport with the MPP from Davenport to see their transportation specialist high skills major in action and I was pleased to share at that visit that this year for the ninth year in a row our government is expanding its specialist high skills major program and more than 46,000 students will be enrolled in 1,760 programs across the program we're also expanding our dual credits program to include six supplementary Thank you speaker and thank you to the minister of education for your response and for the wonderful compliment I really appreciate that it's great to hear that our government is taking such important steps to ensure that all of our learners here in Ontario are getting the help they need to develop the skills and the knowledge that they need to succeed now and in the future while I'm proud of these investments I also understand that there is a growing concern that students are struggling to make the connection between their education and training and the workplace there still remains an uncertainty and a gap for many students leaving high school and looking to gain workplace experience Through you speaker to the minister please inform this house of what steps the government is taking to help those students make this transition Thank you minister Thank you speaker and as I said before our government is committed to ensuring that every student has the same opportunity to succeed which is why I was so pleased to join with the premier this morning to announce that Experience Ontario a new program to help Ontario students plan for their future now up and running Experience Ontario is a two-year $20 million program which in its first pilot year will provide approximately 600 students across the province with valuable work experience career coaching and mentorship the program will encourage graduating high school students to choose the appropriate post-secondary educational path for them and will help them succeed once they enroll Each participant in Experience Ontario will have access to a career coach they'll have access to three work placements, they're participating actually just last weekend who was visiting a three-day program Thank you, your question to member from SimpleGrid My question is to the minister of health and long-term care Speaker in May I ask the government Mr. Stituent, Mr. Jim Lees who was classified as a crisis patient by the Community Care Access Centre why he has to wait several months for a long-term care bed In June I asked the government again about Mr. Lees in July I wrote to the premier directly I have followed up with the minister's office and the ministry and the government each week since July and yet the government still has done nothing to help this man Here we are in September and the plight of this poor man remains the same He is no closer to a bed in a long-term care facility So I ask Mr. Speaker, minister when can Mr. Lees expect some help when can Mr. Lees expect to get a bed in a long-term care facility in this province Thank you Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker I appreciate the question I know that the associate minister of health has been working hard on this issue I believe that the member opposite has had dialogue, discussion with her including through correspondence and with his office When it is a matter of finding, obtaining a long-term care bed for an Ontario citizen we work as hard as we can through our CCACs and our partners to ensure that that bed can be provided particularly for urgent cases such as the one referenced by the member opposite I would be happy to follow up with the associate minister as with yourself to see what has transpired over the passage of time with regards to this individual but as I mentioned we have a minister responsible specifically for long-term care Thank you Through you to the minister you gave me that assurance three times already in this house over the last six months it's getting to be ridiculous I'm a former minister of health he's stuck in a retirement home he's an urgent care patient a crisis patient that's as high as you can get in all the categories your ministry has he should be in a long-term care facility he has to be in a long-term care facility he's deteriorating in the retirement home and your ministry is doing nothing and each time you swap it off to your associate minister she sends me emails and I've got 12 of them here in the last two months he leaves, gets the safe and secure placement he needs and I get that time and time again October 6th, July 28th, April 30th August 25th and on and on and on Do something! For God's sake, you're in charge of the system you are the man in charge this man needs help, he paid his taxes he was a volunteer in our community he's a great guy with a great family he's not going bankrupt and he's not getting the care Thank you Well Mr. Speaker when the member opposite who I know is a former minister of health he may choose to judge me but I'm actually going to rely on the opinion of Ontarians with regards to my performance as health minister I'm not going to be judged by the member opposite and I have to say that the associate minister has been working hard on an issue which is important to her and it's important to me as well when it comes to long-term care we've introduced measures recently including substantial investments to increase the number of long-term care beds in this province to redevelop existing ones as well so that even more Ontarians will have access to long-term care in this province but as I said in the first part of this question I would be happy to address this issue with the member opposite as well as with the associate minister responsible for long-term care so we can find a solution to this issue There are no deferred votes therefore this House stands recess until 1pm this afternoon