 It's now time for question period the leader of Her Majesty's will Mr. Speaker today 817,000 more students are now impacted by the chaos this government has created in our province's education system With no EQ AO testing parents and students will lose out on this important assessment that lets them know how they're progressing in class The absence of a report card comments will likewise keep parents in the dark And that's just the beginning of this strike action the education minister said parents shouldn't Be put through this uncertainty, but I remind you mr. Speaker It is this government that has created this uncertainty through their flawed negotiation process Premier the education minister can't get the job done and she won't step aside. Will you fire your minister of education? I May have to reenact my original Thursday Issue when I stand it stops no shots Premier very much mr. Speaker, and I know that the minister of education is going to want to comment But let me just say mr. Speaker that we want very much for the Teachers the support staff the students all to be in class across the province no matter what board no matter what region of the province mr. Speaker Obviously, I'm I'm encouraged in terms of the elementary Students in the public system that they they'll remain in the classroom And I'm pleased to see that et fro has returned to the central table Mr. Speaker because the only way to get a deal is to be negotiating and mr. Speaker we do believe in the collective bargaining process and that is that is a real difference between us and they the party opposite We believe that the collective bargaining process should be allowed to work mr. Speaker there is a new process in place that recognizes that there is a Central process in local mr. Speaker that was necessary in order for us to move forward and we look very much forward Getting those deals at the table Well Premier not only are the 817,000 elementary school students impacted there are still nearly 72,000 students locked out of their classrooms This government needs to think about those students for just a minute think about the Brock High School rugby team in cannington Yeah, who practiced so hard all year and now may not be able to complete at off stuff compete at off stuff Think about the grade 12 student from Sudbury Who's been practicing all year for a senior solo at a farewell concert that may never happen? Think about the student at st. Clair secondary school in Whitby She needs to be in her calculus class as she tries to prepare for an Ivy League education Premier make these students Fire that education Thank you, Premier I do think about those students That's exactly what I think about when I think about how important it is that we have a world-class education system in this province Mr.. Speaker and that is exactly why mr.. Speaker It's very important that we have a process in place that allows us to work with our teacher and support staff partners Mr.. Speaker that we get a deal at the table that we honor the collective bargaining process mr.. Speaker That's very important to the relationship between all of the adults involved in the education system I'm not happy with the fact that there are kids out of school mr.. Speaker I'm not happy at all about that and in fact mr.. Speaker. I got involved in politics Mostly because of the 26 million student days that were lost because of the previous government's inability With the education sector at all mr.. Speaker, so we are Absolutely committed to making sure that the bargaining process works partaking of that mr.. Speaker and continuing to build up the Students are being used as pawns In a process that this government It's now obvious that no one seems to even know what the rules are mr.. Speaker when both the education minister and the leaders of teachers unions Make conflicting comments about what's an issue at the central bargaining table and what's an issue at the local table Is it any wonder that a settlement is nowhere in sight? Premier for 16 days Durham students have been without an education for 11 days Students in the rainbow district have been without an education for six days Peel students have likewise been denied an education by your government and now with over 800,000 elementary students impacted by your two-tiered train wreck of a bargain partner It's clear the education minister is not up to the job once again. I ask you do the right thing Remember from Renfrew nipissing Pembroke You can ignore me all you want at your peril from your job education minister of education. Yes. Thank you very much and Obviously we share the concern of everyone in this chamber from all three parties that there are students out of work or out of Out of school and we want to support those students But what I would point out is that we are committed to the collective bargaining process and Durham Where it is a local strike there are never from Hamilton East Stony Creek ETO the elementary teachers the elementary teachers have returned to the table and Discussions are continuing and that's how we're going to solve the problem is by negotiations and negotiations are going on But we are very concerned about those students Particularly those secondary students who are out of class and it's packed on Friday Met with the Ontario universities and we've met with the boards repeatedly and we're working to put it The internet courses are there to support Guess this morning Premier Cuiard has taken real steps steps to balance Quebec's budget Premier wins budget balancing plan involves a fire sale of assets that belong to the people of Ontario Furthermore, Premier Cuiard has shown leadership with his provinces energy policy He understands that low hydro rates are fundamental to create a climate where business can prosper and families can thrive You on the other hand are intent on bankrupting Ontario's businesses with your government's energy policies Forcing them to flee this province and set up shop elsewhere just to keep operating Premier will you take a lesson from Quebec about the direct relationship between low hydro rates and keeping businesses here in Ontario? Thank you. All right, so we'll apply it Next one when I'm standing and I get quiet somebody wants to interject their name Premier, thank you very much. Mr. Speaker and I neglected at the beginning of the my first answer to congratulate Patrick Brown on his on his Into a leadership myself, I know that I know that he must be very excited and Anxious as he goes into these coming weeks. So I just wanted to congratulate him and The the member opposite reminded me because of course he touched the new leader touched on on this issue in his remarks Mr. Speaker, and I I know that the member opposite understands About the relationship with Quebec and we compare and contrast our our realities, Mr. Speaker I know the member opposite understands that we have different geography than Quebec. I know he understands that I know he understands the tilt of the land is different and I'm sure Mr. Speaker, but we certainly will work with Quebec to do everything we can to make sure that we maximize our partnership Thank you supplementary Ontario is a strata cop removed its operations to Quebec in large part because of the competitive hydro rates in that province This past month good year chose to open a plant in Mexico instead of Ontario because of our ridiculously expensive Hydro rates Ontario needs businesses to come here because of our hydro rates not to run away because they can't afford them Your government's failed energy policies have already cost this province over 300,000 well-paying manufacturing jobs all gone Premier how much longer will you ignore the exodus out of Ontario of Solid job creators like good year before you take real action to lower Ontario's hydro rates Mr. Speaker the member will know that in northern Ontario We have a near program which is an industrial support program that takes 25% off the price manufacturing facilities in northern Ontario And in northern Ontario mr.. Speaker we have among the lowest rates industrial rates in North America mr.. Speaker the new leader of the Progressive Conservatives Talk about basic Basing our energy policy forward in building new hydro electricity Electricity capacity in the province of Ontario mr. Speaker. We've used that all up. There's no more capacity We spent 2.6 billion dollars mr. Speaker Remember from the P in Carlton second time the member from line art Here we go and 2.6 billion dollars expand it missing talk to me We spent 1.2 billion dollars building a new tunnel to expand Niagara capacity. Thank you Final supplementary. Thank you very much back to the Premier Quebec has embraced the fact that a prosperous province needs to have a strong private sector economy an economy that allows governments to invest in its people Rather than sell off public assets to buy labour peace Quebec wisely chose to build its energy system around its strength a natural abundance of hydroelectric power You on the other hand insist on subsidizing expensive wind and solar projects that are costing Ontario families and businesses thousands of dollars each year Speaker today the Premier touted Quebec's accomplishments Premier will you follow Quebec's lead and adopt a realistic affordable? provincial energy plan Mr. Energy Mr. Speaker last month Ontario's manufacturer sector gained 1200 new jobs We saw the manufacturing sector gain over 800 jobs the month before mr. Speaker since 2003 our government has announced over 1.6 billion dollars in support of Ontario manufacturers leveraging over 15 billion dollars From the private sector to spur in spur innovation mr. Speaker We are also among the lowest in North America in terms of industrial pricing because of our programs that we have such as the ICI IEI which lowers significantly the prices that our businesses have to pay mr. Speaker Thank you speaker. Let me first congratulate Patrick Brown on his election as leader of the Progressive Conservative Party The other members that participated in the race for leadership My questions to the Premier Speaker not a single person in Ontario voted to sell hydro one And now the Premier is refusing to hear from people about what they think of this short-sighted scheme More than 28,000 people have sent this Liberal government a message that selling hydro one is wrong Ontarians don't want to pay the price for yet another bad decision by the Liberals They want the Premier to stop her privatization scheme before it's too late Why is this premier refusing to listen to hydro one's owners the people of Ontario? We ran on a platform of building this province up Mr. Speaker and I and a cornerstone of that plan mr. Speaker is investing in infrastructure and a cornerstone of the plan to be able to come up with the dollars to come up with the funding to do that Investment mr. Speaker was that we were going to look at the assets owned by the province of Ontario mr. Speaker owned by the people of Ontario and we we said that clearly in our budget we said it clearly in our platform and in fact mr. Speaker the Leader of the third party knows full well that they ran on the same assumptions and in fact She said just on May 7th, and I quote so there is no doubt We did talk in our platform about looking at some of the physical assets the province Mr. Speaker the leader of the party That it is very important that we invest in the roads and the bridges and the public transit that are needed in this That's her mr. Speaker. We can't do that if we don't have the funds to do it mr. Speaker, and that's why we need Thank you Physical asset is not a hydro system for the province of Ontario and this premier should know that She has scheduled four days of hearing speaker on the hydro one cell off Four days and not a single one of those hearings is going to be held outside of Toronto Selling hydro one will hurt forestry and mining in the north. It will hurt farmers in our agricultural Heartland it will hurt manufacturing our innovation sector and small business It is going to kill jobs and make life less affordable more expensive It will hurt family speaker in every single part of Ontario and people deserve to be heard So why is this premier refusing to hear from the people who will pay the price for her wrong dead? Head of decision to sell Correct the leader of the third party. She knows there are six days of committee hearings, mr. Speaker that are Mr. Speaker she also knows that the discussion She also knows that discussion of the amendments of a bill are part of the committee hearings mr. Speaker And so that is why it is six days of hearings mr. Speaker they're happening on the on the bill The fact is mr. Speaker that if we do not Invest in the transit and roads and bridges that are needed in this province mr. Speaker Then we will hobble the ability of this province to move forward We will we will not ensure the growth and the economic viability of this province our Competitiveness globally if we don't make those and make those investments So what we are doing mr. Speaker in terms of opening up the ownership of hydro one Retaining 40% ownership answer beaker keeping regulatory and price controls in place We're working to make that a better company mr. Speaker to work better for the people of this province I will supplement the speaker perhaps the premier's house leaders should send her a copy of the motion That's before us that we're debating today, which says four days of hearings Sending the liberals a message that selling hydro one is the wrong decision and they won't they don't want to pay The price for it. This is one of the biggest decisions in a political generation and the premier is shutting people out The premier talks about transparency. Oh, she talks a lot about transparency speaker But she's only holding four days of committee hearings She talks about openness speaker, but she's ramming this short-sighted plan through this legislature like a Harper style omnibus bill If the premier is so proud of her plan speaker and thinks that people actually support it Why is she so worried about giving people their say through hearings across the province? I Am I am very confident that in the six days of committee sitting and I understand that I understand that two days of Clause by clause, but mr. Speaker I spent a lot of time in committee and it seems to me that committee the discussion that happens in clause by clause is Extremely important because that's where the synthesis of what has been heard gets expressed in amendments, mr. Speaker So I hope that the I hope that the leader of the third party is not suggesting that clause by clause is irrelevant because that is when the bill Thank you In terms of the conversation that we have had with the people of Ontario Mr. Speaker, I would remind the leader of the third party that there are pre-budget consultations across this province Mr. Speaker wins or London Toronto, Mississauga Cambridge Ottawa across the province, mr. Speaker Also for the premier speaker well the premier might believe her own spin about broadening ownership But people see through it speaker and they know that selling hydro one leaves them paying the price I was in Bramford this weekend listening to people Laura do good owns a bakery hydro He eats the ovens and runs the air conditioning during the summer She says that the higher bills that she's going to have because of the sell-off of hydro one could mean that she will not be able To hire employees and in fact may have to lay off It is clear that selling hydro one is bad for small businesses. Why does this premiere? What does she have to say to the people like Laura do good who have small businesses and don't want you to sell off hydro one What I would say to businesses across the province to residents and ratepayers across the province mr. Speaker is that We are we are in the process of making changes that are going to put downward pressure on rates, mr. Speaker, we're not interested in rates going up We are interested in a more efficient a better company mr. Speaker that is actually going to help the constituents of this province Mr. Speaker and in terms of people having their input There has been much opportunity there will continue to be as I said in the six days of hearings, mr. Speaker and I would remind I would remind the leader of the third party mr. Speaker that under the NDP and 91 and 92 there was one day of committee consideration for the budget One day and we have bought six days Finish please Just to remind the leader of the third party mr. Speaker that we are Place ample opportunity for people to It is not just small business people who are going to pay the price Kim Prince and her husband are barely making making ends meet as it is she is distraught and she is angry Kim says that if her hydro bills keep going up she and her husband will literally Literally be on the street now What does the premier have to say to people like Kim Prince and her husband who can't afford to pay the price For selling off hydro one What I would say to people across the province including in Branford mr. Speaker is that we must invest in infrastructure We must invest in infrastructure in every region of the province We must make those changes and those changes will help individuals because it will help them to get home sooner to Their families to get to work mr. Speaker in a much more efficient way and it will also help businesses mr. Speaker the one thing that business says to me particularly businesses that want to come to Ontario or Want to expand is they need investment in infrastructure and I understand mr. Speaker that the member for Timmins James Bay He has said that their plan would be just to borrow more money mr. Speaker they would just keep borrowing mr. Speaker they have no other plan and mr. Speaker that's not viable that is not a tenable solution there must be a well-faceted solution That's the plan that we put in place mr. Speaker so that we can make those investments that are so critical to the businesses and the individuals in this problem Final supplementary Speaker nobody voted in favour of selling hydro one because this government was not up front about the fact that they were going to do that during their Electric and businesses it is the wrong decision for families There is only one party that's actually taking the time to listen to ontarians standing up for public ownership of hydro one And that is the new democrats Excuse me I'm sorry. Stop the clock. The member from beaches East York will withdraw They're withdrawing Please finish Bills need to stay under control in this province not get risen because of the sell-off of hydro one and we're standing up for the Protecting of the money that hydro one actually brings in each and every year that helps us make investments in Ontario Will this premier and her Liberal government stop the sell-off of hydro one and do right by the people of this province Thank you knows That the Ontario energy board sets prices now the Ontario energy board will set prices in the future mr. Speaker the regulatory regime That is in place will remain in place mr. Speaker So we have made a decision based on the reality that we must invest in infrastructure We've made a decision based on the reality that no matter what region of this province whether you go to the north I was in Sudbury talking to Phenom this week mr. Speaker Every municipality in this province is interested in the provincial government working with them to invest in Infrastructure in the north that means roads and bridges in the greater Toronto Hamilton area. That means Trains it means public London in Ottawa and Kitchener Waterloo in Bramford. It means transfer to speaker So we are going to work with those municipalities. It would be great if we had a federal partner working with us Well, we're going to work with those municipalities This is the premier Premier for five years you chose to risk the lies of Ontarians to save a few bucks On your substandard winter road maintenance contracts with the earmuffs on five years in which the auditor Revealed continued lax standards meant Uncleared roads that were the direct result of your government's flawed cost-cutting contracts You knew the dangers for years and yet you did nothing people died you failed to act Actually, all of you know better Premier you failed to act and people actually died Premier why did you refuse to lift a finger when ministry staff warnings cried out for your action to prevent Untimely ignore it winter road deaths Transportation Thanks very much speaker I want to thank the member from Kitchener Conestoga for that question as I said last week when the auditor brought forward her report I had contained eight recommendations speaker and as I've said as the ministry has said in that report all eight of the auditors Recommendations have been accepted and we will continue to go forward working on those recommendations speaker But it is important to remember that in 2013 the Ministry of Transportation undertook an internal review speaker That was before The Public Accounts Committee asked the auditor to do her work So in 2013 as a result of the internal review that the Ministry undertook speaker The member from Renfrew second time the member from Stormont and the member from Lanark second time carry on Thank You speakers I said as a as a response to the internal review that we that we did conduct in 2013 speaker Over a hundred new pieces of equipment have been added both for northern and also for southern Ontario Additional materials have been brought forward additional oversight speaker will continue to work on this matter. Thanks very much Thank you speaker Well, I'll remind the minister that the problems on Ontario roads started in 2009 Not 2013. Mm-hmm. Premier ministry staff repeatedly issued stern serious warnings for winter road clearing under your new Substandard contract regime, but you chose to ignore them You made calculated decisions to save a few bucks by carrying on with your new substandard winter road clearing contracts and people lost their lives Carol Milokovic the wife and mother of Robert and Daniel still won answers the families of Alyssa McEwen and Jessica Chamberlain Deserves answers Premier you ignored warnings. You've ignored your responsibility to Ontario families Why are you ignoring the calls for a coroner's inquest into these wrongful deaths? Minister Thanks very much speaker as I've as I've said repeatedly whenever I hear of a fatality on a highway anywhere in Ontario Whether it takes place in winter or in any other season, of course a speaker I feel heartfelt sympathy and I offer condolences to the friends and family of anyone who loses their life on an Ontario highway. It's why it is so fundamentally important at the Ministry of Transportation to make sure that we maintain the strong track record that We do have speaker for the last 13 years Ontario has ranked first or second for highway safety across all of North America. In fact speaker in 2012 In 2012 speaker the only other jurisdiction in North America that had a better record was the district of Columbia Speaker in 2013 the ministry did conduct the internal review of the winter maintenance program as a result of that internal review More equipment is being added more oversight is being added. We have a new procurement out in the Kenora area speaker We've accepted all eight of the of the auditor's recommendations and speaker. I've asked the auditor to come in back in next year Thank you Thank you speaker my question to the premier. I was pleased to hear from the premier of Quebec this morning I understand premier regularly speaks with mr. Cuyard as the premier knows a hydro bill in Quebec From Quebec's public hydro agency is about half of a hydro bill in Ontario with our mess of privatization Remember for me and now for any Ontarians can have their say the premier is planning a sell-off of hydro one privatizing even more of the system the lesson is clear well managed public hydro is affordable privatized and fractured hydro is expensive and dysfunctional can the premier explain why she doesn't get this Mr. Speaker first of all going back to the 2014 budget we made it very very clear that we were going to Examine all of our assets to see if we could repurpose those assets For infrastructure investments, mr. Speaker. We've done that mr. Speaker We are moving forward with a plan that will see us broaden the ownership of hydro one mr. Speaker It will not be privatizing. We will have a minimum of 40 percent ownership moving forward no other Entity will be able to own more than 10 percent mr. Speaker and in speaking of rates We've said it over and over again mr. Speaker the Ontario energy board Decides what they're going to do Whether it's a municipal utility whether it's hydro one or whether it's a hybrid there are some utilities now mr Speaker that have private interest in answer speaker the Ontario energy board will be strengthened The Ontario energy board will assure that the interests of the public will be maintained Well speaker as you know majority private ownership means privatized in 2014 hydro comebacks dividend to the province was $2.5 billion which is up from 2.2 billion in 2013 but selling hydro one will cut our dividends Ed Clark sells it says selling 15 percent of hydro one will cost Ontarians $150 million per year and it's only going to cost more Money as the premier sells more the lesson is clear well managed public hydro puts money into provincial bank accounts So we can invest in the province privatized hydro cost the province money That means last money for the public to invest Why does the premier refuse to look at Quebec as a model instead of plowing ahead where their fire sale of hydro one? Mr. Speaker, I don't hear the opposition talking about the price of natural gas in Ontario. Mr. Speaker Two-way conversations not going to happen Carry on I don't hear the critic talk about the price of natural gas in Ontario Natural gas in Ontario The is rated and is regulated by the Ontario energy board mr. Speaker Union gas and Enbridge are 100% private companies Mr. Speaker, and they are control their prices are managed by the Ontario energy board Just as in Ontario mr. Speaker for high for hydro one or for OPG or for municipally owned utilities We see reductions in rates that have been applied for mr. Speaker in 2010 hydro one asked for a rate increase Distribution received a 9% reduction OPG asked for 6.4% increase. They got a point 8% reduction The Ontario energy board is Thank You mr. Speaker first of all, I would like to highlight the visit of Quebec's premier Historical event for the legislation of Ontario My question is for the minister responsible for francophone 2015 is essential for our province We have not only do we have the pan-american games, but we also have 400 years of francophone presents in Ontario the minister said that we would have one point four million dollars for different Community programs to celebrate the francophone presents in Ontario. We are getting ready to celebrate The francophone presents in Ontario could the minister Give us an overview of the 62 projects that are in the works for the celebration the minister First of all, I would like to thank the member for Etobicoke north for his excellent question mr. Speaker It is in last September in Sudbury that the premier announced a subvention of 5.9 million dollars to help Projects celebrating the 400 anniversary of francophone presents in Ontario I can't wait for these celebrations be it for cultural touristic or other events. I know that on Friday we will See the launch of a new program There is also the Franco celebration in in Toronto the celebration started this month and will end in October Francophones and Francophiles invite all Ontarians to come and celebrate with us As well as our friends across the country. Thank you Thank you, mr. Speaker, and thank you to the minister for her answer One of 14 members in the government speaking French, and I am proud to see that we celebrate the historical presents of francophone in Ontario Samuel de Champlain for until today. It is great to celebrate this event, but could the minister Give us an overview of the long-term investment that we will do in and in order to make sure that the The minister, thank you mr. Speaker. We are talking here of one More than one million francophones in Ontario who use the French in their home We have a lot of students as well and 190 million students in French immersion we have a hundred new schools that have been built and the creation of six entities Working for French in our institutions. We have also the creation of the commissioner for francophone services We have six percent of francophone Immigration and immigration in Ontario. We are proud of our investment. Mr. Speaker, and I also want to add that The legal system operating in both languages Happened thanks to one of our ministers My predecessor of the Conservative Party Who established this nice initiative? So I would like today to thank him. Thank you Rainbow thanks speaker my question is to the minister of energy local mayors plant managers, and I read the riot act to hydro one about unreliable electricity Two companies in my riding have had more than seven outages already This year alone every one of them costing over $50,000 in lost time and products one plants lost production now totals over one Million dollars another manager noted his sister plant in South Carolina Pays half the per kilowatt hour price for electricity and has just one outage per year That's your record minister double the cost Seven times the outages seven yet somehow on Terra hydro actually issued a press release last week Saying that question that the issue is fixed given the facts, you know, that's not true So why don't you just tell hydro to stop spinning and start fixing the problem? Mr. Speaker hydro Continues to invest in infrastructure hydro one particularly And we also have to remind people that there are 77 ldc's local utilities across the province who are responsible for Maintaining and providing the service remember from Bruce gray on so the hydro one mr. Speaker they have regional plans They have regional consultations, and they have regional budgets to deal with these particular issues There are circumstances mr. Speaker where we do see some some failure in the system In fact, they've been brought to my attention by members of the opposition And I've arranged meetings with hydro one senior people and we're working on resolving those particular issues mr. Speaker But across the board hydro one is one of the most reliable Companies in North America mr. Speaker it has been recognized as such as one of the top five and their service In terms of the infrastructure mr. Speaker is extremely reliable Thanks, the speaker back from the spring minister that release was an insult to the local mayors It was an insult to those companies who met with hydro one and quite frankly They're furious it was clear to everyone in that room that the problem is getting worse not better Just go ask your staffer. He was sitting at the last meeting. We had you and hydro remain in the dark You're broken electricity system hurts our ability to bring new businesses to the riding threatens our future of plants that we have right now hundreds of jobs and million of dollars of investments hang in the balance Prismian cables greenfield ethanol good year the eastern Ontario wardens caucus local mayors They're not making this up minister So what I'm asking you is will you drag hydro one to the table with a directive to fix this? problem before it ruins our eastern Ontario economy Minister member should know that we're in a process now of broadening the ownership of hydro one Mr. Speaker there will be significant changes Can you take your earpiece off the mic? Thank you very much Mr. Speaker we expect the new hydro one with broadened ownership to have a board of directors that is More experienced in business than perhaps the one we have now. We're going to be making changes It will make a difference, but mr. Speaker hydro one response to those areas that have service problems They they put additional attention to them if they're brought to my attention and the member knows He's brought matters to my attention. We've been dealing with them other members have done so as well, mr. Speaker answer hydro one will be a better company and hydro one will provide service that is responsible and mr Speaker the rates and the industrial sector are not Thank you new question the member from the nickel belt Thank You mr. Speaker my question is for the premier the premier the premier promise that personal support workers would be getting a raise They promise to raise PSW wages A dollar fifty last year a dollar fifty this year and a dollar next year for a total of $4 an hour increase the message was clear and simple If elected the liberal government would be raising PSW wages by $4 an hour Less than a year later. The government has delayed the pay increase to PSW and definitively my question is simple what happened Thank You mr. Speaker mr. Speaker I want to say that I'm proud to be a member of a party in a government that has made such an Important commitment we recognize that Gone through great efforts to remedy that situation and provide it into place actually Many other measures mr. Speaker that will help to ensure the sustainability of that important health care profession mr. Speaker We've already increased last year the wages of our PSW's in home and community care by a dollar fifty an hour We've made the commitment to do the same this year the member opposite knows and we've already stated that that Increase will be retroactive to April 1st of this of this year mr. Speaker We're frankly the reason why we're still working at this is we want to get this a hundred percent right We're working with all our partners the PSW's those that represent the the service providers our linds and ccac's And we're going to be able to move forward as we commit to thank you Thank You speaker PSW provide Services to some of the most vulnerable Ontarians they deserve to be treated with respect all of them deserve respect Speaker right now it looks like one more example of liberal saying one thing But quietly doing something completely different There's lots of PSW's that are watching this morning. Can the premier or the minister tell them? When will they be getting the promise raised? Well, they're going to be getting that increase that second increase of a dollar fifty very very soon mr. Speaker It's going to be retroactive to April 1st And I want to remind the member and her party as well that they voted against that four dollar increase to our PSW's It's a commitment that we made we made it in her budget mr. Speaker We put it in her platform as well We're committed to seeing it through the four dollars over three years in addition to that We're increasing the minimum wage for our PSW's to a base of $16 and 50 cents an hour We're doing this mr. Speaker because we recognize that our PSW's provide such important care to Ontarians right across this province We want to make sure they're valued we want to make sure that their profession is recognized and appreciated We want to make sure that we're providing them with the training to create a sustainable work well We're doing all of those things we're following through with that commitment of four dollar increase mr. Speaker Thank you speaker my question is for the minister of health and long-term care today kicks off national nursing week in Canada Nurses play such a valuable and important role in our health care system here in Ontario I've been a proud registered nurse for over 30 years We as nurses are the most trusted profession in Ontario and I know that my nursing colleagues continue to be there for people When they're at their most fragile and vulnerable Nurses care for them comfort them They are a lifeline and sometimes they're the last friendly face a patient will see before they pass away This was certainly my experience as a nurse the influence and impact that nurses have on patients and this province Can't be quantified or measured because they give so much of themselves in their work The theme for this year's nursing week is nurses with you every step of the question through you speaker Minister what is our government doing to support our hard-working nurses in Ontario? And I couldn't have said it better myself I want to thank the member from Cambridge for this important question But even more than that I want to thank her as she's a nurse and she understands the important role that our nurses Do around this province every single day, so happy nursing week mr. Speaker we know Let me take the opportunity as well on behalf of I think all of us But certainly this caucus over here and myself as Minister of Health to thank our nurses for the incredible work They do the frontline work They do whether that's working in home and community care mr. Speaker or in her hospital ERs or intensive care units in our public health Units our nurses are performing such exceptional service to this province. They do it often silently They do it without often without recognition mr. Speaker, but they need to know that we appreciate the hard work that they do for us And I will and I will answer mr. I look forward on the on the supplementary mr. Speaker to elaborating more in terms of some of the specific measures we thank you Thank you, Speaker, and I thank the minister for his dedication to the nurses in Ontario I know that in February the minister and the premier Reconfirmed the government's commitment to move forward with a plan to expand the role of registered nurses to include prescribing drugs I know this is great news for the nurses and the patients in Ontario While I was working in the emergency room at Cambridge Memorial Hospital The role of the nurse expanded to carry out medical directives when certain conditions existed such as ordering some lab and x-ray tests and administering some medications without a direct doctors order Contributing to reducing ER wait times the addition of nurse practitioners into our hospitals Allows Cambridge residents with minor ailments to be treated more quickly as a care coordinator for CCAC I work closely with nurse practitioners and saw firsthand the valuable role they play through you speaker Can the minister inform the house of how he's recognizing National Week this year? Minister thank you. I thank you again to the member of Cambridge for this supplementary question Mr. Speaker our government's investments have helped to ensure that there is a stable nursing workforce now and For the future since taking office in 2003 our government has added more than 24,000 new nurses working in Ontario and there are currently over 135,000 nurses employed in 2014 mr. Speaker our government has also focused on increasing the percentage of nurses who are working full-time And I'm pleased to say that that percentage has increased by 14 percent since 2003 We've expanded services offered by nurse practitioners allowing them enabling them to improve patient care by providing services such as Admitting and discharging patients from hospitals ordering laboratory tests and prescribing medication and nurse practitioners will also be able to refer patients Directly to specialists today. I'm going to women's college hospital for an announcement where I will also have the chance to meet with nurses for National Nursing Week in Canada. Thank you My questions to the minister of health and long-term care The Chesley restorative care unit minister is a success story But despite its success in providing traditional transitional care for over 300 patients mostly seniors You're choosing to close it and despite of its support of patients as they transition into home care Which is a focus of your ministry? You're turning a deaf ear and despite its success in reducing return visits to emergency Units throughout our area the most costly form of care the savings That are realized by the restorative care unit is being ignored So minister no matter what numbers you throw around and no matter how you spin it back home We know the truth and that is you have turned your backs on rural Ontarians in my area and you refuse funds To make the question care unit in Chesley be extended. So minister Will you once and for all come to my area? Thank you and Bruce and visit this restorative care unit Thank you Thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker. I understand the member opposite She's a great advocate for her community. I have no doubt about that But she needs to understand that this pilot project this important pilot project But that's what it is that the south bruce gray health center had announced themselves that the Restoratory care unit at their Chesley site was to close in may But I think she also knows by now I would hope that I asked the lin to press the pause button on the closure to ensure that the best decision Could be made for the community And the lin has been working with the hospital to ensure that this wouldn't happen without proper community consultation And in fact the lin is leading the process of working with the relevant Operators in the area to develop a long-term plan. Mr. Speaker There's an open board meeting the hospital that took place at the end of april I understand that that's this has allowed the community to have more time to Answer I contribute to the issue and I also understand that the hospital agreed that they would the program would continue to allow this review process and consultation Thank you, mr. Speaker. Thank you Thank you very much mr. Speaker My question for the minister of health and long-term care You recently announced 150 million dollars to create 69 more silos of bureaucracy in our health care system Your government also recently dumped 30 million dollars for administration to cover it sam's mess And you blew seven million dollars and consultants to tell you how to conduct a fire sale of hydro one When it comes to our health care, you cannot find money for its constituents and here on bruce and bruce gray own sound Minister, how is it that your government can find money to cover partisan liberal boondoggles? But not when it comes to keeping restorative care services in our chasse hospital Well, thank you mr. Speaker and uh The member I hope you know that the health links that you're talking about are they already exist And they have been lauded quite frankly around the world For the focus that they pay to the most complex patients in our community Order a team-based approach to actually provide this care But to get back to chesley and the restorative care unit If the if the member opposite didn't hear in the first part of my answer Despite the fact that the hospital made the decision on their own to close the unit early a number of months ago I asked the linda step in and for the hospital to not move forward with that decision We put a review process in place. We've got a substantial consultation with the community In fact, the ministry implored the hospital when they had they were going to continue with the closing day first We implored them to keep it open so we could engage in this review process We're doing that. I think that we'll have an answer which is suitable to the community. Mr. Speaker new question The leader of the third party Thank you speaker my questions for the premier As of this morning nearly 900,000 kids across the province are being impacted by the premier's neglect and underfunding of the education system Our schools are in chaos and the premier and her minister hold ultimate responsibility Contrary to liberal spin. This government has already made a 250 million dollar cut to education And internal documents show a plan to cut about 500 million more over the next 300 three years Why is this premier forcing students and families to pay the price for her government's wrong choices and misplaced priorities? Thank you very much and uh once again 22.5 billion equals 22.5 billion that's not a cut But they do seem to be quite fixated on the results at the end of last year Where my ministry showed a 248 million dollar savings? Let me tell you where the savings came from the savings came because there were less students enrolled in our 72 school boards Then the boards had uh, uh, originally projected that led to some in-year savings last year Member from Windsor West Reinvested this year which gives us higher pure pupil spending this year Part of that savings came from administrative spending at my ministry. It had absolutely nothing to do with grant I will have more to say In the supplementary The facts be for themselves speaker six million dollars cut from special education 88 neighborhood schools closed more than 2 000 childcare spaces in toronto on the chopping block 115 teachers in peterborough fired 260 jobs in the tdsb Including 50 special education staff and a hundred esl teachers cut And now it appears that the liberals are flip-flopping on their commitment to keep class sizes low with caps When will the premier take responsibility for throwing our schools into chaos? Listen, let's kiss Speckhead has gone up 1.1 billion dollars Since 2000 and this year But to go back to this 250 million dollars. They're really concerned about do you know what happened school board reserves Remember from kitchens now what i do Books because we supply all the funding. Do you know what the school boards had more money left over and put in reserves Than we projected so it got consolidated on to our books and in addition money that we had promised per capital For new schools new additions and new childcare spaces the people that the money was promised to hadn't spent it yet So we're we'll spend it in the future but we didn't spend it last year and you know what they campaigned on finding more safe New question the member from beaches east york Well, thank you speaker my question is for the minister of transportation and concerns great news about an agency under his direction As the member of beaches east york, I know that many of the people living in my community use public transit on a daily basis Transit is a key component of their everyday life and for many metro links is an important part of their daily commute Just a few months ago the speaker the minister and I along with representatives of ttc And metro links had an important pilot project announcement about ordinary affairs in my riding at the danforth main station Now this is why speaker i was very interested to hear last week that metro links has received special recognition For their exceptional service to ontario speaker Will the minister please provide members of this house with more information on the recognition that was recently received by metro links Question. Thank you Thank you very much speaker I want to begin by thanking the member for beaches east york for his hard work and for his tenacity on behalf of his community speaker As the minister of transportation It's one of my core responsibilities to work closely with metro links to develop and implement an integrated transit and transportation system right across the greater trono and hamilton area speaker Our government continues to work in close partnership with metro links to develop long-term solutions for gridlock and transit That will help manage congestion connect people to jobs and improve our economy. That's why I was very pleased to report I am very pleased to report that metro links has been recognized as one of canada's top employers for young people for the third consecutive year speaker this competition This competition is part of the canada top canada's top 100 employers project Which seeks to recognize community leaders who have effectively attracted and retain younger employees To their organization speaker. I want to congratulate the chair of the board rob pritchard president and CEO bruce mcquague And the entire metro links team for this honor Well, thank you speaker And I want to thank the minister for his response and particularly for the great work that he is doing to help build Ontario to expand the transit options in the province of ontario Now there are many young people living in my community Which is why I was so very pleased to hear that metro links has been recognized as one of canada's top Employers for young people for the third consecutive year and mr. Speaker on so many occasions We've heard the minister tell the members of this house that there are over 16 billion dollars worth of transit expansion projects Currently underway in the greater Toronto hamilton area and since 200 in 2003. We have invested over 22 billion for public transit in ontario Including approximately 10.8 billion in go transit No, mr. Speaker. I know that those living in my community would be interested hearing more about the projects that are currently underway So speaker question speaker. Will the minister please tell the members of this house about those critical transit investments that metro link Is building in the region and especially affecting my constituent Mr. Transportation, thanks very much speaker and again I thank that member for his question as I often say in this house speaker Very proud to be a member of a government that continues to invest in critical transit and transportation Infrastructure initiatives across the province and of course Metro links is a key partner in delivering on these important transit projects for example speaker projects like go regional express rail Which will give those living throughout the gta? New travel options with faster and more frequent go rail service And electrification of core elements or core segments of the go rail network Speaker projects like the union piercent express Which will provide passengers with predictable and reliable service to and from the airport while reducing congestion on roads The up express coming into service on june the sixth speaker and projects like the eglinton cross town lrt speaker Which is the single largest transit expansion project in ontario's history? And we'll provide tremendous environmental projects and benefits to our region speaker This is only some of what we have underway. Again, I thank that member and I can Thank you speaker. My question is for the minister of energy Speaker during a stop in perth wellington He is quoted as saying when we look at some of the bills coming in we say this is unacceptable Congratulations the minister for his honesty And we agree skyrocketing hydro bills are unacceptable Could the minister tell us under whose watch since 2003? Did hydro bills rise to such unacceptable levels? Mr. Speaker, I'm very pleased that he rose he raised that particular issue The context in which I was saying it mr. Speaker was the fact that throughout rural ontario There's a lot of electric electric heating and during Difficult winters They create a real burden. Mr. Speaker. That is a legacy that's been on through different governments, mr. Speaker The reality is we are taking an initiative mr. Speaker A member from Prince Edward Hastings second time the member from Renfrew Nipissing Pembroke is warned To the rest of the article which indicated for the first time any government in ontario Is going to undertake two infrastructure part of the funds which will come from the broadening the alert of hydro an initiative to bring more natural gas to rural communities mr. Speaker It's a very very significant initiative The minister of agriculture rural food and rural affair come to order and the member from Prince Edward Hastings is warned Supplementary, thank you speaker speaker the minister came to strap Finish please Speaker the minister came to strafford and finally admitted there's a problem after years of telling us there's no problem And now he's blaming a previous government from over a decade ago And he expects anyone to believe him my constituents aren't falling for it The fact is many of them can't afford their hydro bills Two weeks ago on peak hydro on peak hydro cost spiked another 15 percent with no end in sight The only thing more unacceptable than our hydro bills is this stunning arrogance of this government Minister, what are you waiting for will you finally take some responsibility for your own unacceptable policies? First of all There are three other provinces that have higher electricity bills in Ontario Two manitouven co-backcast significantly lower than all the other provinces. Mr. Speaker What I was addressing was a significant issue in rural areas, which has been there for decades during cold winters on electric heat It becomes very very difficult. Mr. Speaker. We have in our budget Which we're rolling out Mr. Speaker to bring more natural gas service to the rural areas and initiative We're proud of an initiative that government never even thought of 10 year anniversary of the legislature's unanimous passing of the accessibility for ontarians with disabilities act It mandated the government to ensure ontario be fully accessible and barrier free by 2025 to the premier the liberals own independent review concluded that 10 years later it has failed 1.8 million ontarians with disabilities through non-compliance and lack of enforcement The premier promised that ontario would be on schedule when she was running as leader of her party But a oda enforcement is down cut in half in 2015 Will the premier admit that her government has failed ontarians with disabilities and commit to increasing a oda audits in both public and private sectors Thank you, mr. Speaker, that's a that's a that's a good question. I actually welcome the question We have seen our compliance go up. Mr. Speaker over the last 24 months from 16 percent to 40 percent Good increase but not good enough as far as we're concerned Mr. Speaker, we're now we're now coming up to our 10th year anniversary of the a oda What a great time mr. Speaker to celebrate how far we've come because we are number one in the world when it comes To making headway on accessibility and it comes to having legislative requirements We're the only province that has that right now So we're number one in the world for that but would also a great time to assess how far we've come And how far we have to go and in the measures we'll need to take over the next 10 years to reach our goal of full accessibility So I welcome the members input. We will continue to work to improve compliance We'll continue to work to ensure that people with disabilities get hired throughout our our employment system in ontario Mr. Speaker, we've got we've come a long way. We've got a long way to go and it's something we're very excited about tackling The time for question period is over Point of order the member Thank you very much, mr. Speaker. I'd like to uh recognize yvonne spicer gordon kyle chris peasley and roi oliri from the community living in Chair, I'll welcome the legislature Point of order member from the member from well Introduce kerry thomas david meddleton and dale sheets from the wellum column community Mr. Speaker, I would like to correct what I said I was talking about a judicial system operating in two languages and that was an initiative of Attorney general roi mcmarty. Thank you Uh, I'd like to welcome uh Merrick golden as well to the legislature today And I know you'll be joining me in a few minutes outside speaker for the europe day flag raising event We'd like to welcome everyone who's up participating in that event Thank you, I would like to introduce mary crudin She's president of canadian parents for french. She's with us today Thank you Our note for votes this house stands recess until 1 p.m. This afternoon