 It is now time for oral questions. I recognize the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Thank you, Speaker. Speaker, my first questions to the Premier. For months, the Premier has refused to commit to a full independent public inquiry into long-term care. Instead, the government has offered a vague commitment to a limited government-controlled commission with no terms of reference, no leadership, and no plans to even get started for months. Families who have lost loved ones deserve answers, and they deserve action. They see a long-term care system dominated by powerful interests making millions of dollars, and they want to know, is the Premier prepared to truly change a broken system and take on the big corporate interests and conservative lobbyists? To apply on behalf of the government, the Minister of Long-Term Care. Thank you, Speaker, and thank you for that important question. Our government is committed to long-term care. It has created a standalone ministry for long-term care. It has put money behind long-term care. It is the first government in the history of this province to put that amount of money behind what its actions are. It is not only talking, it is walking. It is making sure that we take action each and every day forward in advancing the needs of long-term care. A commission that has public hearings, public input, and has a public report. It is under the Public Inquiries Act. It is going to include the voices of Ontarians. We will be thoughtful about it. We will be open-minded about it. Long-term care in Ontario has been neglected, sorely neglected, and COVID-19 has laid its shortcomings bare. We must all work towards making sure that our most vulnerable people are cared for with respect and dignity. And I hope that you will be part of the collaboration as we transform and reform long-term care. The supplementary question. Well, Speaker, this morning I was joined by families with loved ones at the for-profit Extend-to-Care Guildwood home in Toronto. Audrey lost her mother Teresa to COVID in the halls of Guildwood and told us this, and I quote, she went into Extend-to-Care Guildwood healthier than most 86-year-olds and eight weeks later she was dead from COVID. The government has the power to step in and take direct control of homes like these. And for months they've refused to do so, while families like Audrey's pleaded for help. Will the Premier listen to families of Guildwood today and take over management at this home ravaged by COVID-19? Mr. Long-term care. Thank you, Speaker, and thank you once again for the question. Our government has consistently taken action to address the concerns of our loved ones in long-term care and their families. And my heart breaks for everyone who has gone through this devastating virus and its effects. COVID-19 is at war in our long-term care homes. We are on the front lines, and I understand the concerns. Many of us have had a loved one in long-term care, may have one there now. We've experienced it. I know professionally as a physician how hard this is on families. And that's why the decisions we've made have been extremely thoughtful, understanding that there are consequences to every single decision we make. And when the mandatory management order was made to assist those two homes that were really having difficulties containing the spread of COVID-19, we did it thoughtfully. And we will continue to take every measure necessary to help our families and our staff and our loved ones. We will do it every single time thoughtfully. Thank you. Thank you. The final supplementary. Speaker, the government cannot dismiss or ignore the outbreaks in our long-term care homes any longer. The government has the power to act. Yes, they finally gave themselves after weeks and weeks and weeks and weeks the power to act. And for months they've sat on the sidelines, while families have begged them, begged them to intervene in these homes. Corporate providers, like extended care, are turning a profit. But the staff who provide care and the families of residents say that they're not protecting their loved ones. They're turning a profit, but the loved ones that live in those homes are not being protected. The Premier says he wants to take urgent action. That's not what's been happening. There hasn't been urgent action. So my question is, will the Premier and this government listen to workers and families, not CEOs and lobbyists, and take over this home today? The Minister of Long-term Care. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you again for the question. I reject the premise of your statements. We have absolutely taken swift action beginning with the formation of the command table. With the guidance that was put out in February, at the first sign of COVID-19 being a presence in Ontario, we acted and we acted decisively. And we have consistently acted, looking at ways we can improve infection and prevention control in homes, active screening, and unfortunately the essential visitors only, which was absolutely necessary, but it has caused hardship and I acknowledge that. It was absolutely necessary to do that. We have hospitals coming in with rapid deployment teams. We have taken over three emergency orders. We have had more than two packages of regulatory amendments or two packages of amendments to regulations. We have done this consistently and we are taking every measure possible. Using every tool possible, including the mandatory management order that we issued recently and it will not be taken lightly. Those are serious decisions. Thank you. The next question, the leader of the opposition. My next question is also for the Premier. But I do have to say, decisive action isn't waiting until two weeks ago to give yourself the power to take over homes. In BC, that was done within the first couple of weeks of identifying the crisis in long-term care homes. That should have happened here in Ontario, that is not decisive action. Less than a week ago here in the legislature, the government claimed that Ontario's COVID testing was a success and that Ontario was a global leader in testing. Barely 24 hours later on Thursday, the Premier claimed he was shocked by Ontario's low levels of COVID testing and was pledging yet another action plan. We see what's going on here. You say one thing, but the reality is quite different. At what point during that 24-hour period did the Premier actually realize that Ontario's testing was in fact and remains so today inadequate? The Minister of Health to reply. Thank you very much, Speaker. And we certainly recognize how important testing is in defeating COVID-19. We've said that from day one. We've ramped up our labs so that we can do the testing across the province. Initially, this was only public health Ontario, but we quickly built a network of labs in universities in hospitals, some private labs with public health to now have over 20 partners. So that was done very quickly to ramp up our testing. We have and continue to be the leader in testing in large provinces across this country. We are going to continue to test. We have tested all residents of long-term care homes and all of the staff there, but we need to continue to go in and do that testing on an ongoing basis because this is such a vulnerable population. We're going to continue our testing now with respect to congregate living, including retirement homes, shelters, and other places of congregate living, such as group homes. I'll have more to say. My supplementary question. Well, Speaker, it's quite disturbing that the Minister of Health aped the Premier's suggestion last week that we were the best, not only in the country, but in the world on testing. That is completely problematic that the Minister of Health came out of her mouth last week. The fact is, for months, the Government has offered more excuses on testing than actual answers. Last week, the Government said they couldn't find a way to career lab samples around the province. Then they blamed the weekend results for results drop-offs, rather. Only later did they admit that the results are so low that the labs that process them are only half full. What assurances can the Premier offer us that the new testing strategy will actually produce the results that every expert says we need in order to successfully reopen the economy when efforts to date have been so consistently falling short? Minister of Health. Well, the reality still exists that Ontario does lead the large provinces across Canada in terms of testing, has so throughout. We are continuing to increase our testing volumes. We've actually put $100 million into assisting in advancing our lab capacity and our testing capacity. We're expanding that in communities across Ontario. We're expanding it in the north in Indigenous communities and First Nations communities. And we've also allowed the assessment centres. We've given them guidance and instruction that if someone appears and has symptoms of COVID, and they want to be tested, they will be tested. This is really important as we start opening up our economy. We need to see what the effect is on public health. We're expanding our capacity in that area. We're also going to be going into large places of business as well. We do have a strategy that we will be outlining in the next day or so to the people of Ontario. But we know that we are going to be able to respond to those numbers over 20,000 and we will be able to do it on a consistent basis. The final supplement. All I can say, Speaker, is promises promises. That's what we get. A lot of promises but no action. Yesterday, the Premier encouraged Ontario families living in what he called hotspots to get tested for COVID-19. Yet when the CBC News asked the government to provide a list of these hotspots so that people could actually take the Premier's advice, the government refused to do so. Can the Premier explain how families are supposed to know whether they're actually in any of these hotspots if the government refuses to share that information with people? The Premier has always said that he wants to be open and transparent with the people of Ontario with respect to COVID-19 and nothing has changed in that respect. But what I think it's fair is for the Premier to have the opportunity to outline the entire testing strategy in little bits and pieces so that the people of Ontario can understand it in its entirety. But the most important piece for today is that if people feel that they want to be tested for COVID-19, if they're not feeling well, they can go to an assessment centre and be tested. That is going to happen in all of the assessment centres that we have across this province. The next question. The Leader of the Opposition. Questions also for the Premier, Speaker, to hear. People need to wait and get the information bit by bit. And in the meantime, the COVID-19 virus is going to spread, but we'll all just be fair so that everybody knows at once what the Premier has got up his sleeve in terms of a strategy. That doesn't sound like a testing strategy to me, Speaker. It sounds like high risk strategy that this government is allowing to occur. This is just the latest example of the mixed messages, an inconsistent approach that we've seen from testing. So I'm back to the Premier again. And this is something we need to get right if businesses are going to open again and families are going to be able to go outside for months while the Premier has talked doctors, health experts and working people have been demanding action. Testing in group homes and shelters and workplace testing for essential workers. Mobile assessment centres and comprehensive contact tracing so that we know who has the virus been in contact with. When is the Premier going to announce these measures, Speaker? Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. All of the issues that you've just discussed are issues that we are talking about right now and that we are rolling forward. It's happening across the province. We have the assessment centres opened. We know that it's going to be important to work with businesses as they start thinking about how they will open, how they are going to do their testing, how they are going to get tested, all of those discussions are happening and we are working hand in hand with businesses, with workplaces that want to move forward. That said, there are some areas where there are more outbreaks than others. We've heard about it in some meat packing plants, for example. Those are the areas that we need to go to, that we need to do the testing, that we need to make sure that people are safe that work there as well as consumers are going to be safe as well. So there's nothing that is going to be discussed. We are discussing this comprehensively. We are going forward in doing the testing. The testing volumes are coming up. We were in transition when we completed with respect to long-term care homes, but that is continuing. Every resident of every retirement home is also going to be tested, but it's important to make sure that we do the testing in the general public as well as protect those vulnerable groups that need protection like people in long-term care homes and people in long-term care homes. Thank you very much. The supplementary question. Speaker, we're 11 weeks in. You would have thought the government would have had the testing figured out by now. Having discussions isn't good enough. For families across Ontario, the testing couldn't be more important. Their health is at risk. Their ability to get back to work is at risk. There is a real risk that following a trend of reopening the economy may have to be restricted or rolled back. The Premier's officials are using this data to make decisions about going forward or pulling back the steps that they've already been taking in terms of reopening. So can the Premier tell us at what level of testing he will set and actually achieve so that Ontario is safe to reopen? Minister Bell. Thank you, Speaker. And what I'd like to say to the leader of the official opposition through you is that as always we have taken the advice and counsel and scientific evidence of our Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Williams. Dr. Williams and his team of public health experts who are among the best in the world are continuing to advise us on our testing strategy, testing locations, we have not done this on a just a thoughtless basis. We have sat down with Dr. Williams and with his team to understand what is safe and careful for us to open. We want to make sure that people are going to continue to be safe. One of the worst things to happen is to start opening up the economy and then have to close things down again. No one wants that to happen. We want our economy to continue to grow but it needs to be safe for the people of Ontario. And that is the work that we are doing but you have to remember that that is not happening just with government officials. This is with an independent officer of the legislature. Thank you. The next question, the member for Mississauga East Cooksville. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Health. Around the world we have seen cases of COVID-19 in Ontario was not immune to that trend. But we have seen over the course of this outbreak our province has steadily increased our capacity to test more and more Ontarians. I understand this is largely due to our government increasing our lab capacity. This steady increase has given me reassurance that our province has the upper hand in fighting this virus. Would the minister be able to tell this House how we have been able to expand our lab capacity? The Minister of Health. Thank you to the member from Mississauga East Cooksville for this question. It is very important because we do realize how important testing is in defeating COVID-19. Simply put, the sooner that we can identify cases, the sooner we can act, we can contain cases and stop the spread and of course that will save lives. That's why we've integrated our lab system in a way that has never been done in the province of Ontario before. This seamless integration of labs across Ontario has resulted in most tests being returned to the patient within 24 to 48 hours. Additionally, the integration of our lab systems here in Ontario has allowed us to become a leader in the country for testing. In order to ensure the health and well-being of Ontarians we are continuing to invest further expanding our lab capacity which I will speak more about in my supplemental. The supplementary question. Thank you Minister and thank you to all those on the front lines helping us fight this virus. As this outbreak has progressed it has given me great pride to see how swiftly our government has reacted to combat COVID-19. We know that testing is a major part of ensuring our province can reopen and we know that our government has been working tirelessly to ensure testing is being done. We know this is not easy and with the hard work and dedication we are putting in I'm confident that we'll get to where we need to be. Can the Minister update us on how the province continues to prioritize testing for this province. Thank you. Minister of Health. Ontario has a province-wide network of 23 laboratory sites working in coordination to further increase capacity and test turnaround times for COVID-19 testing. Additionally through Ontario's action plan we've provided $100 million in additional funds for public health units to support COVID-19 testing. Speaker to date, Ontario has completed over 600,000 tests and continues to lead large Canadian provinces in daily testing volumes. But we do know we need to do more and that's where we're now encouraging anyone who thinks that they need a test to please go to an assessment centre and you will be tested. We want to ensure the health and well-being of Ontarians and our COVID-19 testing and continue to maximize Ontario's testing capacity. It's important for every single Ontarian. The next question, the member for Brampton Centre. Thank you, Speaker. My question is for the Premier. Speaker, despite the government's promises workers across this province continue to struggle to access personal protective equipment. In Brampton we're still grieving the loss of Arlene Reid a personal support worker who died from COVID-19 after raising concerns about the lack of PPE she had available to do her job safely. We also heard the story of Leonard Rodriguez a personal support worker from Toronto who was forced to wear a dollar store mask on the job because he could not get access to the PPE the province keeps promising and failing to provide. To the Premier, if there is enough PPE readily available why are workers in this province still unable to access it? Deputy Premier and Minister Veldt. Well the health and safety of all Ontarians is our primary concern and especially when you consider our frontline workers they are going in day after day to do this very difficult work they're putting themselves in health risk as well as their families I know some families have not even been able to be together because one of their family members works in front-line care this is very it's disruptive it's disturbing for everyone however we have been accessing PPE despite the worldwide demand for it we continue to access PPE through our regular sources through Ontario made sources so that we can build up our own reserves this is vitally important for the future but we have PPE available it's available to all long-term care homes it's available to all hospitals and other congregate settings it is available on the basis it can be accessed inventories are being sent and people just can order this from the Central Pandemic Reserve and it will arrive to them within thank you the supplementary question thank you but it's not just healthcare workers that can't access personal protective equipment it's all frontline workers taxi drivers for example in my riding have been asking this government for masks gloves and protective shields they need to keep themselves and their passengers safe in Brampton we've heard of at least 10 taxi drivers who are working out of the Pearson airport 10 alone that we know of that have died and they are still telling us that they can't access the equipment they need to do their jobs safely to the premier will the government commit today to ensuring that every single worker in this province who needs PPE no matter where they work will have access to that personal protective equipment they need to protect not only themselves their families and the people of this province Mr. Peltzer well there are many people that could use PPE people working in stores anywhere can use PPE the fact is that most PPE that people need to wear and this is according to Dr. Williams and the medical officers are the surgical masks which are not the N95 respirator mask that many people ask to wear that is going to be sufficient coverage for them in some cases that may be face shields as well but the reality is that we are still accessing PPE through our regular sources we are still getting the gowns the N95 masks the gloves the face shields everything else that we need now there may be situations where in some healthcare situations perhaps the supervision there didn't allow people to have access to it that is an entirely different issue from whether there was PPE response there is PPE there will continue to be PPE available to all frontline workers who need it thank you very much the next question remember for Scarborough Guildwood thank you speaker my question is to the minister of long-term care extended care Guildwood is nestled in a loving community every year we have a parade and the whole community gathers and marches by the long-term care facility that facility is currently in a raging outbreak in fact half of the residents have contacted COVID-19 27 have died 25 staff have contacted this disease the community is crying for help will you appoint a hospital to take over the management of extended care Guildwood so that we can preserve lives minister of long-term care thank you speaker and thank you for the question I appreciate your community rallying around your long-term care home I think communities can be very very important to support our long-term care homes we've taken measures across this pandemic regularly at time of need when homes were in crisis we acted we are keeping monitoring keeping track of our homes the worst hit homes we have even gone to the point of calling in the Canadian armed forces these are all serious decisions that impact the ability of our homes to function reasonably well some of them are in crisis we've had to issue the mandatory management order other homes they may be in crisis but we're managing to coordinate and collaborate with local hospitals with other agencies and finding a way forward for these homes there has to be a collaborative process to this we need to be supporting our homes and the staff that work there issuing a mandatory management order is a last resort I believe very much that our homes they're gradually coming out of this our outbreaks are reducing and we are getting a handle on this even in the homes that are in in a dire situation thank you thank you the supplementary question speaker I appreciate the hesitation that I hear but right now there are 30 people walking in front of extended care Guildwood in protest they are asking this government to act and to act quickly I spoke with the daughters of Teresa DeCruz they put their mom in extended care Guildwood just two months ago she was healthy and COVID free and sadly she has passed away from this disease in just eight weeks we need the province to use the power that is available so that we can save lives will you act and will you act today this long-term care facility in outbreak with the hospital resources that are available and waiting to be used Mr long-term care thank you we take all of these situations extremely seriously and that's why we work with public health Ontario Ontario health our hospitals in the area we've had tremendous support coming from our acute care hospitals to help our long-term care homes these are actively monitored we have our inspectors in touch every day there are other inspections going on through labour we are aware of the circumstances of the homes in terms of testing in terms of PPE in terms of infection prevention and control and all of these measures are taken on a regular basis we are looking at how we can support the homes and the hospitals have really risen to the challenge it's not an easy time for anyone right now and looking at every measure if there is a worry about PPE there is a route to access that if there's concerns about incidents there is an action line that can be called we want to make sure that the communication is maintained with our homes and make sure well with the collaboration is occurring and we are getting support to all homes thank you next question the member for Ottawa Veny thank you Mr. Speaker the premier has been asking and even begging commercial property owners not to evict their tenants because there are no lineups of tenants to take their place he says however evictions are still happening so why is the government not willing to use its power to take a measure to protect the tenants and to enact a measure to prevent evictions just like it did for residential tenants why isn't the government using its powers in order to implement a measure and to prevent expulsions as they did with residential tenants thank you thank you thank you for the question as minister Phillips has addressed this question several times over the last two weeks and I want to remind the House that this legislature has passed $10 billion in support for Ontario businesses it included $6 billion in support related to the deferral of taxes $1.8 billion in regard to property taxes that we enabled our municipalities to do and $1.9 billion in WSIB supports we also cut the employer health tax by $355 million so that 90% of the businesses won't pay that tax this year we also reduced electricity costs by $300 per business as well this is a government that supports business we're going to continue to work with the federal government as they roll out their commercial program and again I want to thank the member for the question supplementary question thank you Mr. Speaker the unlawful coalition of BIAs is asking this government for a moratorium of six months to prevent evictions to compel landlords to take up the emergency program the Toronto BIAs are asking the same thing because according to their surveys less than 20% of the commercial property owners are willing to take the emergency program so why won't the government listen to businesses and give them the support they need instead of threatening commercial property owners with consequences down the road thank you Mr. Speaker I'm not going to reiterate all the support measures that I addressed in the first question but I will acknowledge that we all know on this side of the house on behalf of Minister Phillips Minister Fidelli, Minister Sarkaria they've taken an incredible amount of time to work with businesses during the pandemic and we all know the extreme pressure that they're facing at this time a global economic slowdown which is underpinned by a global health crisis is putting real pressure on businesses in our province and entrepreneurs we understand that we're going to continue to work with them we're going to continue to work with the federal government as we move forward and we're confident that working together as Team Ontario that we're going to get through this pandemic thank you for the question next question the member for University, Rosdale thank you Speaker my question is to the Premier Jeffrey is a personal support worker in my writing he quit his job to work in a long-term care home and help out the home that Jeffrey works in is so understaffed that one PSW is sometimes responsible for 25 seniors Jeffrey's body aches at the end of each shift he gets no break Jeffrey does everything he can to help frail seniors eat and drink when they don't want to anymore as Jeffrey puts it, I help them laugh when they live I hold their hands when they die this government promised they had things under control Jeffrey's experience is telling us the situation in these homes is not under control will the government call a full public inquiry so we can ensure that something like this never happens again Mr. Blanchham? thank you Speaker this global pandemic has put our long-term care homes on the front lines the conditions in some of our homes are worrisome and that's why we've taken all the measures possible even including a mandatory management order where hospitals are now going into two of our homes to deal with that we know how incredibly important this is this was many years building in terms of the staffing crisis it didn't happen overnight many many years and now with the pandemic we have a situation that is an absolute crisis and that's why we're doing absolutely everything possible to bring as many workers in looking at pandemic pay making sure they have the PPE they need of doing the testing the active surveillance the asymptomatic spread looking at how we protect our residents this is an evolving science and we're listening to our experts our chief medical officer of health our public health officers for that advanced information and knowledge we rely on that and we're taking every measure possible looking at our PSW my heart goes out to them they are on the front lines they are heroes and we will continue to do everything possible to support them thank you my question is to the premier families, residents and health care workers at me and manor in my riding are still telling me PPE is being rationed with some health care workers being told no when they ask for N95 masks even though a quarter of our residents have died of COVID-19 they've told me the government commission announced last week didn't go far enough me and manor community we have a public non-partisan independent inquiry into long-term care homes and I stand with them me and manor needs help now and needs to come under the direct management of this province they require full access to PPE to keep staff and residents safe I stand with them there have been over 1400 COVID-19 deaths in Ontario long-term care homes how many more does our province need to see will the premier stand with me and manor long-term care home today and make the commitment today to provide direct public management necessary PPE and a public inquiry into long-term care will the premier stand with me and manor yes or no thank you speaker minister long-term care thank you speaker thank you again for the question long-term care in Ontario is under siege by COVID-19 a commission an independent commission non-partisan commission we have announced that that will be starting in September it will be public hearings there will be public input there will be a public report we encourage transparency we must all be interested in getting to the bottom of this the opposition supported a government that neglected long-term care for 15 long years watch watch what happened over that time we looked at the neglect and the long-term care sector ignored a public inquiries act includes independent commissions this will be done we will get to the bottom of it if anyone has concerns right now the action line is there we are monitoring our homes we are very aware of me and manor and we are getting me and manor support me and manor already has Sunnybrook hospital and Ontario health is actively involved making sure that they get their PPEs we have inspectors that are on the ground and aware of what's happening in our homes this is ongoing and we will persist to protect thank you very much Member for Lanark Frontenac Kingston my question is for the Premier the Premier told the people of Ontario that they have a right to know what he knows the Premier also gave Dr. Williams the power to postpone medical procedures the FAO reported in April that over 50,000 people have been denied medical healthcare and that number is rising by 12,000 every week over 100,000 people have been denied medical procedures Minister how many people have died waiting for heart surgery organ transplants and other procedures how many more are suffering because they cannot get cataracts knees and hip surgeries minister will you tell the people of Ontario how many innocent people have died waiting for the Premier's emergency powers to end Deputy Premier and Minister of Health I think the member very much for the question it is an important issue I know to many, many Ontarians who have been waiting to have their scheduled procedures done whether it's for eyes whether it's hip sneeze surgeries or heart surgeries this has been very, very difficult for very many people and we are several 100,000 procedures behind but we needed to do that in order to create the space in case we had a surge in COVID cases thanks to the work that was done by 14.5 million Ontarians to practice physical distancing to take all of the necessary health measures that were had to be done we fortunately did not see our hospitals overwhelmed but that very well could have happened we very well could have been in the same situation as Italy and Spain and other places around the world fortunately that did not happen on Ontario and we are now working to get those procedures back in place which I'll speak to in my supplemental thank you the supplementary question again to the Premier we have flattened the curve the dire predictions of hundreds of thousands of deaths were wrong it will flatten the curve the Premier has also flattened our economy has also extinguished all social interactions and has stifled our democracy and our freedoms in April the Premier told the people of Ontario that they deserve to know what he knows Minister over 100,000 people have been denied necessary medical health care to get the real picture of Covid we need to know the consequence of your actions Minister will you provide the number of preventable deaths caused by the decisions taken by you and the de facto Premier Dr Williams or will this be kept secret and hidden Deputy Premier Minister of Health I think there are many things to say here but I'll start with this there has always been a triage factor in place for people that have been waiting for cancer surgeries, heart surgeries other surgeries that could be life threatening based on a pandemic plan that was developed by Cancer Care Ontario many years ago after SARS so that if people were in a situation where their life was at stake and they needed to have surgery they would have had surgery by now they would have what has been looked at is the type of surgery people have how aggressive the cancer might be how whether the situation is going to place them in a life threatening situation and if they needed the surgery they would have had it by now there's been some modelling done with respect to deaths but no one knows the exact number so certainly is that if people needed to have that surgery on an urgent basis they would have had it now we're in a position thankfully where we've asked every hospital to prepare a readiness assessment to start those surgeries again and that assessment is going to be reviewed on a regional basis and it's going to be based on the number of patients that they have that have COVID the space that they still have left in their hospital these elected procedures how much personal protective equipment they have independent of the pandemic supply whether they have thank you very much thank you the next question the member for Waterloo this premier continues to think that empty words are enough to convince some landlords to give their commercial tenants a break well Mr. Speaker without concrete action some landlords just aren't interested I know a small business owner of Woofer and Richmond Hill has tried with her commercial landlord Primont Homes not only are they refusing to apply for the federal rent relief program they actually told her they're increasing her rent by 30% Ontario businesses deserve leadership during this crisis they are so frustrated with this government they need a ban on commercial evictions now their rent should be capped and the rent subsidy to survive last month does this premier and this government understand that small businesses with bad landlords will no longer be open for business and this compromises our economic recovery as a province the minister missed comparison our government has been working hand in hand with Ontario's business community from day one our province hasn't seen a more business friendly government for 20 years since the outbreak of COVID-19 we have been acting decisively to ease financial pressures facing our business community across Ontario and again I want to remind the honourable member that Ontario's action plan responding to COVID-19 includes $7 billion indirect support and $10 billion in cash flow support as part of a $17 billion package designed to help families and communities to work closely with the federal government and coordinate our efforts to provide maximum relief for our business community thank you for the question thank you my question is to the premier the premier's empty words and tough talk mean nothing to the small businesses in my riding that either don't qualify for the government's inadequate rent program or whose landlords are refusing to opt in businesses like northern contemporary gallery have already been evicted and business owners like timothy from nine tails coffee bar and greg from the ace restaurant are worried that if this government continues to drag their feet on small business supports like direct rent relief small businesses won't survive this crisis when will the premier stop pretending that tough talk and press conferences is enough for small businesses to make ends meet and start taking real action to save our main street businesses I want to thank the honourable member for the question and I know that the finance minister would want me to thank all members of this legislature for voting for the $17 billion program that our government has brought forward and it was supported unanimously to support the people of the province included in that program was a $241 million assistance that our government has put forward as part of the emergency commercial rent assistance program again speaker we will continue to work with all levels of government as we move forward we will continue to meet and to work closely with our business community again on behalf of the ministers who have had tireless work with our business community the next question the member for Thunder Bay Atacocan thank you speaker my question is for the premier speaker I continue to hear from folks throughout my constituency who are still not getting the pandemic pay this government promised weeks ago Jean Bartkovac the president and CEO of the Thunder Bay Regional Health Science Centre wrote to the premier calling the pandemic pay for all our frontline health care heroes as he put it many of my staff have been working for the last more than eight months seven days a week sometimes more than 12 hours a day and the fact that they're still waiting to find out if they even qualify for support is making things harder premier when will this government ensure that frontline health care heroes finally get the pandemic pay they deserve deputy premier thank you well we are grateful for the work that our frontline professionals are doing in health care they are the ones that really are holding up the entire system for us they are the ones that show up each and every day and the idea of pandemic pay was to assist them at least financially in a small way to thank them for their efforts but the pandemic is being worked on daily it's important to mention that the Ministry of Health has been working with over a thousand different transfer payment agreements and getting this moving so it should start flowing next week all pandemic pay recipients will receive pay from the date that we first announced it so it will be retroactive back to April 25th but it's just the sheer volume and the number of payment agencies that we're dealing with has held this up but it will the money will start flowing next week the member for Windsor to come see supplementary question good morning minister speaker when the pandemic pay plan was announced the government said employers had all been contacted by the 15th of May people in my writing were expecting money to be in the bank account by now however we now know the government has no idea when all employers will be contacted and the money released we do know there are other employee classifications deserving of the bonus pay including lab techs taking blood samples x-ray techs dialysis techs staff and our physicians offices in pharmacies physiotherapists and god bless them the good people who are handing out the groceries that are food banks making sure that those in most need don't starve speaker when can we expect the government to show their appreciation to those employee groups I've just mentioned thank you very much to the member for the question and the careful consideration has been given to the recipients of pandemic pay I know that they are anxious to receive it however as I indicated in the previous question there are over a thousand transfer patient agreements and agencies dealing with that is what has held things up slightly however the money will start flowing next week it will be received by the employers for distribution to the employees accordingly so I know they've had to wait a little bit longer than expected but that's only because of the sheer volume and the number of transfer payment agencies that are involved with it the next question the member for Glen Gary Prescott Russell thank you Mr. Speaker minister of municipal affairs and housing challenging times paying the rent is becoming increasingly difficult for many Ontarians as they struggle to make ends meet the government put a freeze on tenant evictions and that helps for now however I think we're all well aware that it'll take a while to recover from this it won't be all rainbows and butterflies the week months or even years after we overcome this challenge Ontarians will need time to get back on their feet Mr. Speaker the government sets the maximum for allowable residential rent increases annually a freeze on this increase a 0% max for the next two years would cost the government nothing and would bring much needed relief to tenants this is an important tool at the government's disposal that can be used to help Ontarians get at least some breathing room so Mr. Speaker will the government put a freeze on rent increases for the next two years to help Ontario tenants get back on their feet during these difficult times the minister of municipal affairs and housing thanks thank you very quickly during this pandemic and I know that the Attorney General wouldn't want me to remind the house that we he acted decisively to halt eviction orders and scheduled enforcement of eviction orders also ensuring that no one is evicted for not paying their rent during this terrible virus but Speaker we also invested $200 million into our communities through the social service relief fund the fund allows local service managers the flexibility to use it in their communities however they need it and some have provided rent relief in their communities again Speaker all the suggestions and the options are on the table as the premier said at numerous press conferences we will take the advice from the public as we move forward with further action thank you the supplementary question thank you thank you to the ministers I appreciate Mr. Speaker my complimentary question when it came to stores charging exorbitant prices for essential supplies in the face of a pandemic and rightly so now food delivery services are charging restaurant customers up to a 30% commission fee at a time when restaurants are dependent on these services due to the current restrictions last week I wrote to the minister a small business in red tape production asking him to act now and put a temporary 15% cap on these commission fees for the duration of the ongoing pandemic many of these businesses are seriously at risk Mr. Speaker these abnormally high commission fees are just another form of price and yet for this the government has indicated that they will not be stopping this practice Mr. Speaker will the government reconsider issuing an emergency order limiting these commissions to 15% as several other jurisdictions have done while Ontario's state of emergency is in effect Government House Leader Thank you Mr. Speaker the member knows the government moved very quickly in particular to we put in place a tip line we brought in some emergency orders to ensure that Ontarians were treated fairly we of course will continue to work very hard to make sure that Ontarians are treated fairly during the COVID crisis so I do thank the member for a question Thank you Thank you Speaker my questions to the Premier thousands of workers have shown up to work every day during this crisis and it's hard to reopen the economy tens of thousands more workers will be expected to return to the workplaces it's vital to ensure that workplaces remain safe speaker for the workers and for the public while the pandemic still rages on however instead of putting in place rules and adequate onsite inspections related to COVID-19 this government only offers vague optional guidelines how will this government ensure that those that have to go back to the workplaces will be coming sick Thank you very much Mr Speaker as my own friend will know the Minister of Labour has been working very closely with the Minister of Health and through the various command tables that are dealing with COVID-19 we've been reaching out to stakeholders across the province it is obviously very important to the people of Ontario that we see the economy restored and that people get back to work but as the Minister of Health just said we have to do that in a safe way and safety the safety of Ontarians as the Minister of Labour has been working very diligently on this I understand that there's somewhat over 90 reports that have been prepared on how to return different sectors safely and we will continue to do that by working together with the opposition and of course with those at the command table Thank you Is that a preventive question? Once again the Member for Subway Thank you Speaker back to the Premier it's interesting to mention the Minister of Labour because I have questions about that as well I'm scared they'll catch the virus and bring it home to their families since the beginning of COVID-19 outbreak in Ontario, 213 workers have exercised a right to refuse unsafe work and asked for workplace inspection from the Ministry of Labour The Toronto Star reported that in every single one of these 213 cases the Ministry dismissed the workers concerns without inspecting the workplaces in person Despite the Premier's rhetoric worker refusal complaints to the Ministry of Labour due to COVID-19 have been denied in the vast majority of cases Workers deserve clarity Speaker What direction has the Government given to the Ministry of Labour and inspectors when they receive a work refusal complaint from a worker concerned about their safety? The Member will know that the Minister of Labour worked very quickly to ensure that there were inspectors actively going into workplaces across the province of Ontario to ensure first and foremost the safety of those who are going back to work We understand how important it is to get the economy moving again and we can't do that if the workers aren't safe and secure and that's why the Minister of Labour has been working with stakeholders with health care professionals with the command table to ensure that we have rules in place for when the economy begins to open up when different sectors of the economy continue to open up there are over 90 reports in place already and as the Minister said last week there are a number of inspections that are happening daily there have been a number of complaints made yes and a number of workplaces have been cited the Ministry of Labour has shut them down Speaker we will continue to do this because obviously what is very important to the people of the province of Ontario not only is that they remain healthy and safe but that they have a job to go back to and when this economy gets moving again the only way we will get it moving is if there are people who are going back to work the Minister of Labour is on top of that working with the Minister of Health thank you very much next question the member for Niagara West Speaker we know that COVID-19 is impacting everyone across Ontario and also our municipalities provide the critical front line services that so many Ontarians rely on every single day so speaker my question today is to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing I'm asking the Minister if he could please explain to this House to support our municipalities and our communities I want to thank the honourable member for the question it's a great question I want to take this moment to thank Ontario's municipalities including AMO and our councils, boards, committees and every single municipal worker each and every one of you are on the front lines providing the supports and services that Ontarians rely on and I want you to know that our government is working from shoulder to shoulder with you because working together as team Ontario we're going to get through this we as Ontarians all essential workers immense debt of gratitude one that we will never be able to say thank you enough for it thank you for the question I think we can all agree that our hundreds of municipal partners are doing incredible work but we also know that we're going to have to come together to make sure that our municipalities are able to get back on their feet it is a difficult time could the minister please provide this House with a bit more information on how our government is working to help municipalities keep Ontarians safe Minister I want to thank the honourable member for the question we've given $148 million to our municipal partners through the social service relief fund and this fund is allowing those local service managers to work with our municipal partners in their communities in ways that they need it most this is on top of the quick actions that our government has taken to allow electronic council meetings staff redeployments and moves to keep our supply chain open our government is continuing to work with our municipal partners through our technical table so that we can track COVID-19 related expenses but we're also joining our government for assistance because we can't do this alone thank you for the question next question my question is to the Premier yesterday the Prime Minister announced that he was working with the provinces to guarantee 10 days of paid sick leave for all workers in Canada which is good news to Ontario workers who had their sick leave rolled back after this government came to power now that the federal government recognised the vital importance of paid sick days to allow workers to stay home when they are sick will this government finally admit that cutting paid sick days was the wrong thing to do and commit to providing 10 days of paid sick leave for all Ontario workers the Government House Leader to reply this is a proposal that the Prime Minister announced yesterday it was announced during the COVID crisis we have actually moved very quickly to protect the people of the province of Ontario workers in the province of Ontario who have lost their job during COVID-19 we have been very aggressive right from day one we will continue to be very aggressive to make sure that the people of the province of Ontario are safe we will continue to work with the federal government on these initiatives but never leave it to the NDP to miss an opportunity to try and conflate COVID issues which are ravaging the not only the Ontario economy but the entire global economy and trying to gain political advantage in another sector Mr. Speaker I will say this we will protect the people of the province of Ontario we will protect the workers of the province of Ontario and we will make sure that they have a good job to go back to once COVID-19 has been defeated by this government Mr. Speaker Thank you very much that workers who can't afford to take a day off when they are sick are compromising the ability of our province to recover from COVID-19 Mr. Speaker my question is short and simple when will workers in Ontario be able to access paid sick leave so they can afford to stay home when they are sick Mr. Speaker we move very quickly when immediately in fact to bring to the legislature with unanimous support of all members of this House to ensure that those sick with COVID-19 who were displaying symptoms those who have to stay home to take care of loved ones who may have COVID-19 would be protected their jobs would be protected we are one of the first governments in the country to do that and one of the first legislatures so I'm very proud of that who will help us make the investments in long-term care, who will help us make the investments in improving our health care system, who will help us build a bigger and better and stronger economy, Mr. Speaker. So it goes without saying, we will continue to do what progressive conservatives have always done. We will pay very close attention to the people who have built this province and made it the best province in this country, Mr. Speaker. She can rest assured that we will not let go of that and we will continue to do that. Thank you. Thank you very much. That concludes Question Period this morning. We no further business this morning. The House stands at recess until 1 p.m.