 Anyway, it is now time for Question Period, the leader of Her Majesty's loyal opposition. Thank you, Speaker, my question to the Premier. I hate that I have to continue to pester you about this, but you and I made a deal two months ago. She says I don't, then I think you know where I'm coming from. I've asked the same question almost every day. Two months ago, you and I agreed that we'd clear the Dax on some secondary bills before the House in order to give you a chance to bring forward a jobs plan. I want to remind you, Premier, that there are only about eight days left until this legislature rises for the Christmas break. I've asked you day in and day out where your jobs plan is as you promised. Unfortunately on Monday, you brought forward your long-term energy plan, a continuation of Dalton McGinney's failed energy policy, so I'm asking for a jobs plan. You gave me a job loss plan, Premier. I can do a long story on this. Will you bring the jobs plan before you legislate or you rise the House before Christmas? Thank you. You see it, please? Premier. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I really want to just go to the premise of the leader of the opposition's question, because when he said we had that conversation about moving pieces of legislation ahead, that's exactly true. The second part, which is he basically asking us to adopt his plan, was never part of the conversation, Mr. Speaker. I said all along that we had a plan. We needed to move legislation through the House, but we have a plan, Mr. Speaker, and I've spoken about it many times. I've talked about investing in people. I've talked about the skills that people need and making sure they have those supports. I've talked about investing in infrastructure, and it would be great if the opposition would join with us in strategic infrastructure investment, including transit and roads and bridges, Mr. Speaker. And I've talked about creating a business environment. And at the manufacturers and exporters meeting last night, Mr. Speaker, it was very clear that the plan that we've got in place is one that they support. Thank you. Well, Premier, I didn't clear the decks for the good of my health. I did it so you could bring forward a jobs plan. I just said you would. Now, you could take our plan. I welcome you to steal it. You could take Don Drummond's plan. You could take Roger Mant's plan, Martin's plan. I don't care what plan to take, as long as you bring forward a plan to grow our economy and put people back to work in the province of Ontario. Here's the question I have for you. We've lost 300,000 well-paying manufacturing jobs, and as you know, Premier, that pace of loss has accelerated under your leadership. If you do get a job in the province of Ontario, the odds have doubled that it's a minimum wage job. You said when you became Premier that you wanted to create a fair society. Premier, what is fair about creating society with public sector haves and everybody else working for the minimum wage? Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Well, I think that the leader of the opposition, I think we understand that his plan would include slashing services to people, Mr. Speaker, taking tens of thousands of people out of the services that they deliver to residents of Ontario, to citizens in education and healthcare. But, Mr. Speaker, as I said, we have a plan in place. Part of that plan is creating a business environment, a dynamic business environment so that businesses can thrive. And part of that strategy, Mr. Speaker, is the Small Business Act, which will come back from committee today. My hope is that the PCs would work with us to pass the bill before the House rises, Mr. Speaker, so that 60,000 businesses can benefit from that break on their payroll tax. I hope that the leader of the opposition would see that that is part of a plan to create jobs and support business and that they would help us move that legislation through. Final supplementary? I don't think the Premier is getting a fair enough grasp on the reality that families are facing across the province of Ontario. Minimum wage jobs have doubled as a proportion of the workforce. We've lost 300,000 manufacturing jobs. I know that facts are stubborn things, but they are reality. And Premier, the concern I have is that you continue to give more giveaways to the government unions with wage and benefit increases that they don't dream of in the private sector. The vast majority of jobs that we've lost in manufacturing were private sector union jobs. So how do you justify it to the union worker? He used to work at John Deere making good salary who's maybe working at a part-time minimum wage job that his taxes have to go up to pay for your giveaways to the government workers. How do you justify it to the Heinz worker, a union worker who's lost his job, that you're going to get more giveaways to the government workers? It's not fair. It's not just. It's no way to build a fair society when you have public sector haves and everybody else. That plan will grow more jobs across the economy. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So what I hear from the leader of the opposition is wedges being driven between people, Mr. Speaker. What I hear is division being sown among people who have certain kinds of jobs people who don't have those kinds of jobs. What I hear, Mr. Speaker, is a plan to slash public services to take people out of public service in education and healthcare and we're not going to do that, Mr. Speaker. What we believe is that it's very important to make the investments that will allow business to thrive, Mr. Speaker. And it's very interesting that the leader of the opposition talks about low wages, Mr. Speaker, when his policy, his labor policy, his so-called right-to-work policies, Mr. Speaker, would actually drive wages down across the board, it would be a race to the bottom, and that is not where we're... New question. Actually, Premier, is it back to Premier, Speaker? Pretty basic, really, of economics. You increase demand. You have more people who want to set up shop, more jobs here in Ontario. That means wages rise. That means that middle-class incomes increase, more people working in the province. You don't see in the graphs the basic premise of economics. And, alas, Premier, is her plan working when the wages for Heinz workers are going to zero, when they've gone to zero for John Deere, when they're shipping Camaro from Ontario to Michigan, Equinox from Ontario to Tennessee. Premier, your plan is bankrupting our province and it's hollowing out the middle class. We can do better than this. And I ask you, Premier, what is fair about society where the only job you can get is a minimum wage job? You're the one that's divided our province. You're the one that gave unaffordable increases to some and tossed the rest out of work. My plan to grow the economy, put people to good jobs, put entrepreneurs back in business. They actually have a rising tide for all so they can protect the things we care about. That's my plan. I just ask you, where's yours? Thank you. The member from Durham will come to order. The member from Northumberland will come to order. Premier. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Well, I think that the leader of the opposition needs to look to the jurisdictions where the kinds of policies that he is espousing have been put in place, Mr. Speaker, and to see what happens to wages, to see what happens to the quality of life, Mr. Speaker, to see what happens to the general well-being of people who rely on services, Mr. Speaker, and their ability to sustain their families. So, Mr. Speaker, that is not where we're going. We are not going to pit people against one another. We are not going to slash services across education and healthcare and across government. That is not what we're going to do, Mr. Speaker. We are going to work with the private sector as we have been doing, as we have been doing with Toyota, with Ford, with GM, with Greenark Tire Manufacturing, New Terra, Pillar 5 in our empire, Lampton Conveyor in Wallaceburg, Mr. Speaker. We're going to work with the people of Leamington as we bring them together and figure out how to make sure that food processing actually expands, Mr. Speaker. That is the goal that we have set in place. That is our plan, and that is the, those are the supports we're putting in place, Mr. Speaker. Good question. A new survey from Economic Development Consultants, Development Counselors, International, Looked Into American Executives, Views on Expansion Markets. DCI found that when companies look to expand a new jurisdiction, the two most important factors driving site selection are operating costs and workforce quality. Your government is driving skilled labourers out of province. Our energy prices continue to skyrocket. Taxes are multiplying. Red tape is costing us billions every year. And you tell us that this is the new normal. What sort of message does that send to potential investors? Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Employment is going to want to weigh in on the supplementary, but let's just talk about energy prices for a second, Mr. Speaker, because I think it's a very instructive area. The manufacturers and exporters meeting last night, there were some really high praise for the long-term energy plan, Mr. Speaker, because what business is looking for is a reliable energy, reliable electricity infrastructure. That's what they said, and it's too bad that all the members here weren't there to hear that. I know some were. Mr. Speaker, according to the National Energy Board, shouting somebody down, the member from Cambridge would wait a minute so that I can speak. Shouting somebody down is not polite. Premier. I just want to talk about the residential rates, Mr. Speaker, and industrial rates. From Northumberland, come to order. Industrial rates in Northern Ontario are among the lowest in Canada and lower than 44 American states have to be here. Industrial rates in Southern Ontario are lower than in Alberta, Michigan, New Jersey, California, and they're in line with states like New York, Virginia, and Tennessee, Mr. Speaker. So, in fact, we are in our competitive, Mr. Speaker, and I think it's worth noting, Mr. Speaker, that when the Leader of the Opposition was asked if he could promise lower rates, he said the answer is no on that, Mr. Speaker. Final supplementary. You told the CME last night you were going to be their cheerleader. They don't need a cheerleader. They need a leader. I called governments to stop focusing on feel-good marketing and answer one simple question. Can businesses be profitable here? If there isn't a business case for investing in Ontario, businesses will bet on another market. Well-run businesses look for well-run provinces. Premier, do you really think that investors will overlook the fact that you find it's minister? I can't explain how he's going to eliminate the deficit or that you have no plan for jobs in the future. Do you see that, please? Premier? In employment. Just in my head, in my mind. Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. And when I talk to members of the CME, they tell me that they're sick and tired of hearing from the official opposition, talking down because they're so proud as we are of the strength of this sector and especially at a time when the CME and their members are trying to encourage young people in this province to join the skilled trades to become technical people and to have a manufacturing sector especially at this vital time when we're trying to encourage them. The official opposition, they may not know this. I know they're being political in a lot of this discussion but I don't understand why they continue to talk down a sector and discourage our young people from entering into a viable sector that has 700,000 people working in it today, which is some of the best companies and in terms of the investment potential as well we have the number one destination for capital for foreign direct investment. These companies are coming here, I wish you'd stop talking down this sector because it's so important to the Premier. Does the Premier agree that transparency and accountability in our electricity system are more important than ever as bills continue to climb? Premier? Thank you very much Mr. Speaker well I do and I have said many times that from the moment I came into this job I wanted to open up the transparency around the way we do business in terms particularly on citing large energy infrastructure but Mr. Speaker I think that the long-term energy plan speaks to that transparency and that openness going forward. Thank you supplementary. Speaker to the Premier last year the private nuclear firm Bruce Power missed a key deadline in their contract and under the terms of the contract the government signed Ontario rate payers were entitled to a significant rebate in the price they paid for power one estimate says the government could have taken $500 million as a year off our bills why didn't the government enforce the contract? Mr. Speaker we're very proud of the job that Bruce Power is doing in delivering nuclear across the province of Ontario as well as Ontario power generation the contracts that we have are on a regular basis because issues come up are subject to negotiations Mr. Speaker and our people in the ministry will come to order in terms of resolving issues that come up if you look across the whole energy sector there are issues that will come up with power producers with power consumers relating to price relating to contracts they're negotiated in an open forthright manner Mr. Speaker. Thank you final supplementary. Well Speaker neither the Premier nor the minister answered that question they said they had independent reports to back their decision for over a year New Democrats have been asking for details of those reports and for over a year the government and Bruce Power have refused to share details the government passed up an opportunity to get a half a billion dollars back from a private power company why can't we see the details that justify that decision? Mr. Speaker as I've indicated there are issues that come up in negotiation of contracts Mr. Speaker sometimes they can be made public sometimes they can't what I will do I'm a new minister for the last number of months I will look into the issue and I will report back to the member in terms of getting additional information on the specifics of this particular issue I'd be happy to meet with the member Thank you New question? Ontario's auditor already said we paid far more than we should have in the private power deal with Bruce the government had an opportunity to dramatically lower costs and pass a half billion dollars in savings on to families and businesses the government didn't do that and they won't share the reports that would explain why does the premier understand why people paying the highest hydro rates in Canada might expect a little more transparency? Well thank you very much Mr. Speaker and the Minister of Energy has said that he will work with the member opposite on the specifics of information that he is looking for but it seems to me Mr. Speaker that this member in particular might want to make some statements on what he supports in terms of energy planning going forward Mr. Speaker because the messages that have been coming from the party have been so conflictual Mr. Speaker they have not indicated what they support what we know is they don't support nuclear they don't support our green energy plans Mr. Speaker they don't support investing in the refurbishment of nuclear they don't support investing in the distribution of energy Mr. Speaker so I would have thought that the member opposite would have wanted to let the House know and let the people of Ontario know what it is we haven't seen that Mr. Speaker Well Premier you clearly don't want to answer these questions the government was pretty clear this week they planned to negotiate additional private power contracts for the refurbishment of six more units of Bruce starting in 2016 given the high cost and lack of transparency associated with the contract can the Premier offer any assurances to families and says worried about new costs and lack of transparency Minister of Energy Mr. Speaker the refurbishments will require procurement and I would ask the member if he were standing over here would he tell the people are going to compete for those jobs what the cost of the contract will be or will he allow a competitive process to take place so that we'll have competition to lower the price and allow you to tax payers Mr. Speaker he continues to criticize private power in this province Mr. Speaker we have a hybrid system here and when they were in power Mr. Speaker the NDP they signed something like nine contracts for gas plants Mr. Speaker which are still operating in this province they were part of the hybrid system the hybrid system is working they generate not only tax payer but the private sector is creating thousands and thousands of jobs in the energy sector Mr. Speaker thank you for your supplementary oh Speaker Speaker Ontarians are paying the highest electricity bills in Canada and they see a government that doesn't seem to care they added a billion dollars to hydro bills in their ill-fated gas plant adventure in Mississauga they added over 100 million to hydro bills moving ahead with nuclear plans they were going to have to scrap in any event and now people learn that the government could have pursued Bruce Power for billions in savings and decided not to and they won't share the information that would justify that decision does the Premier think that that's acceptable Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker I would like the third party to share what their policy is on electricity prices the leader of the third party has indicated that she will not commit to reducing power prices the leader of the opposition has said he will not commit to reducing power prices power prices will continue to increase but if we want to look at what the National Energy Board has done in terms of research for everybody in this room according to the National Energy Board first of all our plan is predicting over 20 years an average increase of 2.8% Alberta over 20 years is predicting 3.7% BC is predicting 3.0% Manitoba is predicting 3.2% Quebec is producing 3.0% Saskatchewan is producing 3.30% what is your percentage for your party tell the people of Ontario your question the member for new market of water my question is to the minister of health speaker on Monday of this week the minister of health told us that she hadn't read the forensic audit report into orange in fact she hadn't even opened the envelope yesterday she told us it was the interim report that she read but she hadn't read the final report she denied that she intentionally withheld that report from the public accounts committee and then said her staff on a spin mission to the press gallery to tell the press gallery that all of the information in that report had already been submitted to the public accounts committee speaker that is an intentional move on the part of this minister to mislead not only us but the media the member will withdraw finish your question last 10 seconds speaker it's obvious we're not going to get the answer here and so I want to put the minister on notice that I will be filing a motion with the public accounts committee this afternoon to call her to testify under oath at the committees next thank you minister of health long term care well speaker I look forward to that opportunity because I do think that the member opposite needs to get his facts straight speaker on December the 21st 2011 I learned what Dr. Mazza took from the taxpayer of this province in a single year a single year was enough for me that was game set match speaker I immediately called a forensic audit because I wanted to understand what was going on in that organization several weeks later I received an interim report from that forensic audit team again that was all I needed to learn and that was when I sent that to the Ontario Provincial Police the police took it from their speaker they are doing their job answer thank you speaker it's very clear the minister has much more to learn and that is what is really going on at this committee speaker it's very clear that the emotionless file this morning to get that report that the minister did not read what's at issue now is the minister's credibility and her competency after more than two years of public hearings after more than 50 witnesses the most we can get from this minister is equivocation speaker we don't believe the minister nobody believes the minister and that's why we want to meet her next Wednesday morning at 9 o'clock will the minister come down to appear before the committee at 9 o'clock next Wednesday morning thank you speaker I am before the committee because I think it's important that committee members and the people of Ontario understand what's actually happened in this case speaker I took immediate action when I found out one year's income for that doctor from the taxpayers of this province I took immediate action I called in the forensic audit team speaker within weeks he was gone the entire board was gone leadership was in place and the OPP were investigating member from Halton thinks that that wasn't enough I tell you complete change at orange and I'm proud of the work that the new team at orange is doing thank you new question new question new question new question my question is to the premier since your announcement of your long-term energy prime this weekend we've had a number of calls in my constituency and I'm sure it's the same in other constituencies offices across Ontario that a 33% increase over the next three years in hydro rates is going to force fixed incomes to move out of their homes I'm getting the calls now where people are saying listen I can't make ends meet as it is now in my fixed income if my hydro rate goes up 33% and I know my property taxes are going up right behind that I can't afford to stay in my home can you tell me why it is that your intent on raising rates so high that people have to move out of their homes as a mean to support themselves in retirement thank you Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker this government has had three primary issues in the energy sector we want a reliable system we want a clean system we want an affordable system we get triple A plus on reliability and making it clean we cleaned up the mess that was there we've got rid of coal and there are significant pressures on pricing this new plan over 20 years is an average of 2.8% but in the meantime in the short term there are still pressures we still have the 10% discount clean energy benefit Mr. Speaker and I spoke publicly a member from Hamilton to call their local distribution companies to get peak saver plus the study has been in has proven to reduce consumption by 9% for individuals they can call a distribution company there's no cost they can install it in their home and they can reduce their price Mr. Speaker you know that that doesn't wash with people back home what people know is they get a hydro bill every month and a hydro bill is going through the roof and they're looking at you and saying what another 33% I can't take it is what they're saying so here we have an email from a woman from Dryden and of course my glasses are isn't that hilarious my glasses got stuck I have an email here from a woman from Dryden that writes the following with the increase in hydro property taxes and insurance we've decided to get our home up for sale we can't afford to live in here anymore on a $566 a month Canada pension and what my husband got in RSVs people can't afford to pay why then are you increasing rates 33% knowing it's going to force people out of their house I think it's important to understand what the NDP voted against Mr. Speaker they voted against the Ontario clean energy benefit they voted against Ontario energy and property tax credit they voted against the northern Ontario energy credit the low income energy assistance program and the save on energy home assistance program there are a significant number of factors that the people in northern Ontario in Timmins and Thunder Bay can access to reduce the rates including using the peak saver plus which will provide an additional saving for the Mr. Speaker if they use all of these benefits particularly those people on low income their rates will be reduced significantly Mr. Speaker thank you new question to members from Glen Gary Prescott Russell and my question is to the Minister of Labour Speaker in my beautiful riding of Glen Gary Prescott Russell the ability to work and do business in both Ontario and Quebec is an important part of the day to day business there's a large amount of cross border trade between Ontario and Quebec and my constituents view the towns on either side of the border as neighbors as one region Speaker a Labour Bill on Mobility was debated earlier this session and was brought forward by the opposition was presented as a solution to inter-provincial trade issues but in fact it would have built barriers between our two great provinces Speaker we all know that closing doors and putting up walls isn't the answer Speaker through you to the Minister can you tell us Minister what the Ministry is doing to help improve Labour between Ontario and Quebec Thank you very much Speaker and I want to thank the member from Glen Gary Russell for his advocacy on his behalf of his community and especially in eastern Ontario on this very important issue Speaker he and I both know Speaker the Labour Mobility Agreement between Ontario and Quebec has made more jobs more investments and more opportunities for Ontario workers in Quebec and Speaker we know that we have to work together to fix problems not create new ones and that's exactly what we have been doing Speaker and few weeks ago we held the first Labour Mobility Agreement round table in Ottawa this event Speaker brought representatives from business from Labour there was Minister of Labour representative there jobs protection office the colleges of trade and others to identify and discuss issues that are facing workers and businesses and to find solutions by working together Speaker the round table was a great success and it just shows the progress we can make instead of working together Supplementary Thank you very much Speaker and thank you Minister for your response and it's great to hear you and your ministry are taking concrete action on this issue I know that my constituents Speaker will be pleased to hear that we're working together with our partners for better results instead of working to build barriers that would only harm or prevent inter-provincial Labour Mobility Speaker Ontario is open for business and we know that many people came out strongly against the bill when it was before this house such as Doug Jordan Jim Washington Mayor of Ottawa Richard Hader in the Eastern Ontario Western Quebec Building Trades Council Speaker through you to the minister could you please tell us more about your round table and what the reaction was Thank you Minister of Labour much it was a very good and productive discussion like I said we had representatives outside of the issues and we were able to really talk about experiences how things have improved since 2006 and one of the messages Speaker I heard very loud and clear that both the business the construction sector in Eastern Ontario and the Labour do not want to build a Berlin wall between Ontario and Quebec they want to make sure that we continue to work together to enhance the Labour Mobility Agreement so that more opportunities more jobs in Ontario businesses and Ontario workers to work in Quebec and as a result we had a very productive discussion speaker as a result we have a good sense of where we want to move forward we will be working closely with specific sectors to address some of the concerns and when I do sit down with my counterpart from Quebec we can find proactive ways to enhance that agreement and create more opportunities for Ontario businesses and workers Thank you My question is for the Premier Premier we agreed to clear the decks so you could finally bring out your jobs plan but what did we get Bill 91 another dangerous economic experiment that you say will create jobs Premier you made the same claim with the Green Energy Act and look what happened you killed thousands of well-paying manufacturing jobs across the province and now you're about to do the same thing with Bill 91 and what's your logic you say that imposing a half a billion dollars in cost to business to green jobs Premier I have a simple question have you done any economic impact analysis whatsoever on how many jobs Bill 91 will kill in the manufacturing sector and name the source you all know it's not on order to serve the environment One hack of a critic getting up saying that somehow the recycling level in the province of Ontario is not satisfactory we did widespread consultation with virtually everybody municipalities the private sector individuals environment groups put together a piece of legislation which was subjected to a lot of discussion before it even came to the House did analysis of what the impact would be by listening to those who made the representations and there is a broad coalition of people out there under the umbrella of the Ontario Waste Management Association who happens to believe that this bill is absolutely essential and they're wondering why your party having coming forward with the plan that resembles this plan very closely has now decided for partisan political supplementary I can't believe what he said he general will come to order I just want to point something out to you the auditor general reported that for every so called green job that's created four more are lost somewhere in our economy but I suppose you wouldn't know that because the Liberal government never did a proper economic impact analysis Premier your reckless policies are driving jobs out of this province and now we have bill 91 a bill that will raise prices for consumers and kill well paying manufacturing jobs Premier in September Heinz wrote to your government pleading to do an economic impact analysis on bill 91 but they never got an answer and now they're gone Premier how many more manufacturing jobs are you prepared to send out of this province just so you can try another one Preston your dangerous economic policies Jean please the member from Lampton middle sex will come to order the member from Prince Edward Hastings will come to order when he gets to his seat I'll remind him a second time the minister responsible for seniors has found that magic moment again for me to bring attention to him he will come to order minister of the environment well Mr. Speaker one can always count upon the Conservative Party in this house to take an anti-environment stand on each of them every time it comes to dirty air but comes to dirty water they're in favour of it but comes to I have a feeling that some members are testing and all pass the test minister of the environment finish please I have met with people from a variety of backgrounds a variety of organisation a variety of businesses in the province of Ontario who have made their representations I have invited them when the bill gets to committee the member from Oxford will come to order the member from Prince Edward Hastings will come to order every piece of legislation it can before this house I have invited those individuals to come to committee to make their representations for their amendments that is something they have welcomed and that is something I look forward to with great anticipation new question thank you very much Mr. Speaker my question is the minister of health and long-term care Mr. Speaker it seems unbelievable but the fact is that when it comes to the minister of health explanation for why she didn't expose Dr. Mazza's real salary the explanation keeps getting worse and worse the minister has stated that it was a responsibility of opposition MPPs and the media who unlike her we didn't know the figure it was our responsibility somehow to ask for the figure it's deeply concerning that after months of front-page headlines and as a result of a minister who is not doing her job she's continuing to fail to do her job in terms of oversight will the minister admit that it was her job to expose the salary of Dr. Mazza and she is the one who failed to do so well Speaker as I said earlier on December 21st 2011 I learned what Dr. Mazza took from the taxpayers of this province that was enough for me one year salary that was it game set match I called in the forensic audit team I think that was the action that the member of the opposition would expect I would do when the forensic audit report came Speaker Member from Renfrew come to order the member from Renfrew will come to order just in case you didn't hear finish I read that interim report by that time Dr. Mazza and his entire board were gone and I referred the matter to the Arrio Provincial Police that was the right action to take that is the action of a minister doing her job Mr. Speaker yesterday the minister was playing games when it came to explain the facts and it seems that she's doing the same thing again today let's be clear the full details of Mr. Mazza's real payout were only included in the auditor's forensic report the forensic report had the full details of this salary if this report was never handed over to the committee that was studying this issue it was only the minister who was given this forensic report when will the minister and the minister chose not to read this report she admitted that she didn't read this report when will the minister stop blaming everyone else and admit that it was her fault that we were again knee deep in another scandalous story involving her ministry Mr. Guelph I think it's important to take the time to understand that the information what information has been provided to the committee the committee requested information they received that information they received the answer to the question from the member from Guelph who wanted a list of all compensation paid to Dr. Mazza that information was provided to the committee part of it publicly available part of it in sealed envelope because it was personal information that information was tabled a year ago also tabled with the committee was the interim report the report that I based my decision on when I called in the OPP the committee has the information thank you new question from the member thank you very much Mr. Speaker my question today is for the minister of education I was pleased to learn yesterday about the steps that our government is taking to strengthen oversight of the province's unlicensed child care sector while increasing access to licensed child care options for family I'm even more pleased to learn that our government has placed a priority on reforming a piece of legislation that hasn't been reviewed in 30 years over the last year and heartbreaking tragedy in my community of Vaughan within the unlicensed sector now I understand Speaker that much of the proposed legislation is aimed at addressing oversight within the unlicensed sector that could help prevent such a tragedy from happening again Speaker through you to the minister can she please describe how this legislation will improve and strengthen oversight in this sector thank you minister of education the member is absolutely correct this legislation is overdue for a comprehensive update Speaker that is why well over a year ago we began to consult with parents and stakeholders on how to update the legislation I'm proud of this legislation which was tabled yesterday in this house that if passed will improve oversight in the unlicensed sector if passed it will allow the province to immediately shut down a child care provider when a child's safety is at risk it would also give the province the authority to issue administrative penalties of up to 100,000 per infraction by a child care provider it would also increase the maximum penalty for illegal offenses under the act from $2,000 in the current act to $250,000 in the new act it would increase the number of children a licensed home based child care provider can care for from 5 to 6 and it would require all private schools that care for children to have a life thank you very much thank you very much Mr. Speaker and I thank the minister for her response I also know that our government has already taken steps to improve the oversight of child care these include a dedicated enforcement team to investigate against unlicensed providers and the development of an online searchable database of validated complaint speaker through you to the minister can the minister please share with this house why this piece of legislation is critical and why it needs to move through our legislative process as quickly as possible thank you minister thank you speaker another excellent question from the member from Vaughan as the member pointed out in the previous question the legislative legislation that governs child care the day nurseries act was enacted in 1946 and has not been comprehensively updated since 1983 speaker that's 30 years ago the legislation does not reflect the current needs of our children and parents the child care modernization act speaker would help transform the child care and early years system to better meet the needs to use and rely on the system and the children who are placed in its care speaker I was pleased to hear yesterday from both parties in the house their acknowledgement and understanding of the importance of this legislation both of them seem to think we need this legislation quickly and I hope that they will both support and help us to pass the legislation thank you the leader of the opposition as you know I'm from Niagara I'm proud of that and while a lot of folks associate tourism rightly with Niagara I'd argue from where I grew up that manufacturing has been the backbone the strength, the fabric of our middle class Niagaraans would always make things sell them to the states and sell them to the world made it a great place to live unfortunately under your policies believe it or not in Niagara the jobs that have been there before the Liberal government now two out of five have gone John Deere, Ed Shea of Canada Red Path, Sugar, DMI Industries sadly going on I've got a plan to bring 300,000 well-paying advanced manufacturing jobs back to our problems including the Niagara Peninsula I want to fight to rebuild that but why do you instead persist on policies that are making Niagara's greatest export of all of Niagara thank you the centerpiece of the plan coming from across the floor is right to work legislation that would drive wages down that would drive quality of life down and we're just not going to do that the other part of his plan is to cut services across government to take tens of thousands of people out of those services that in education health care that are so necessary for people in the province. So, Mr. Speaker, we believe that if we make the investments in people that are needed, make sure that the skills training is available, that the education is available, Mr. Speaker, so we close that gap between the jobs that are available and the people that are looking for jobs. If we make the investments in infrastructure, and I think that the member opposite would agree that infrastructure is very important to the Niagara region, and if we work to create that business environment, like passing the Small Business Act, Mr. Speaker, we would make the conditions right for businesses coming to the province. But, Pringer, if you believe that infrastructure is the path of success, why did you kill the business? Why did you end that project if you actually believe the new highways great jobs? You know, one of the first jobs I had was at Pratt Lambert. It's a pain factory. It helped pay the bills for school, for university. But we've seen the industry hollowed out. DMI Industries and Fort Erie, Jarvis Street, Pharma. That's hundreds of jobs that no longer exist, and in a small town like Fort Erie where I'm from, that's a massive economic. The Minister of Training calls us to come to order. Along the Queen Elizabeth corridor out of commission. You said they couldn't create jobs there. You have two choices. Since you have no plan, you can take our plan. You can take the NDP plan, which is going to increase hydro rates, increase taxes, and bring in more red tape like Bill 91. But for goodness' sakes, pick a lane, pick a plan. Mono bring jobs back to the province of Ontario. Rebuild them in a class. Thank you. You're both of those in Niagara. We are losing. Mr. Senator, please. Thank you, Pringer. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Well, the plan coming from across the floor would precipitate a race to the bottom, which we are not going to engage in, Mr. Speaker. And when the leader of the opposition talks about infrastructure, Mr. Speaker, we're going to build the right infrastructure. So in terms of new roads, we're not going to build new roads for the sake of building new roads. We're going to make sure that the corridors that are already in place are being used appropriately, that we've got the transit that we need, Mr. Speaker, that we've got HOV lanes, Mr. Speaker, and HOT lanes that are going to give people choices and are going to use the existing corridors to the very best advantage, Mr. Speaker. But the fact is that the leader of the opposition doesn't support initiatives to clean up the air. He doesn't support initiatives to clean up water. He doesn't support initiatives to preserve land, Mr. Speaker. So building with his plan, that's not what we're going to do, Mr. Speaker. We are going to make the right investments in the right parts of the province. The Minister of the Environment will come to order. And the member from Mhampton Kent Middle Sex is warned. New question. The member from Nickel Belt. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. Speaker, it's been a week since the Minister learned that Ontarians are having their personal health information shared with Homeland Security Agent of the United States. My question is simple. How could this be happening? Thank you, Speaker. And I welcome the opportunity to speak to this issue. I spoke to the Information and Privacy Commissioner yesterday, I believe, or the day before, Dr. Ann Kavukian. We spoke about this issue. I agree with her that it is completely unacceptable that personal health information be shared in that way. It is contrary to our legislation, PIPA legislation, Speaker. The Information and Privacy Commissioner is looking at this issue, Speaker, and she and I have agreed to cooperate. But I think it's important, Speaker, to know that our ministry does not, in fact, even have that personal information. It is not information we collect. Therefore, it is not information we could share. Thank you. Supplementary. I'm happy that the Information and Privacy Commissioner responded so quickly to my letter and is working. But Ellen Richardson was willing to take her story public. But my office and the Minister's office have heard from others Ontarians who have had the same experience. But they do not want further breach of their privacy. All Ontarians need to be assured that their personal information is never shared without their consent. When Ontarians see privacy cracked in their health information, it is the confidence in the health care system that crumbles. I ask again, can the minister explain to Ontarians how their personal information was shared with Homeland Security and assured all of us that it will never happen again? Thank you. As I said, the Information and Privacy Commissioner is taking this issue very, very seriously. She is working to find exactly the source of that information, Speaker, but I can say with assurance that U.S. authorities do not have access to medical or other health records for Ontarians traveling to the U.S. As I said earlier, Speaker, we do not have that information, so we could not share it. But I completely agree. It's imperative that the Information and Privacy Commissioner does find out how that information is being provided and that, Speaker, I think Ontarians deserve to know that their personal health information is kept private. Thank you. New question from Ajax Pickering. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Natural Resources. December is already here and families are preparing for a holiday season. Common tradition celebrated by families in Ajax Pickering is going to their local market or store to buy a freshly cut Christmas tree. And being that this is Saturday, December 7th coming up, it is National Christmas Tree Day. Many Ontarians will be out this weekend looking for that perfect Christmas tree. I expect a choir to sing here. Here in Ontario, we are fortunate to live in a place with over 71 million hectares of forest with about 85 billion trees, including the balsam fir, a perfect choice for a Christmas tree. We have access to many Christmas trees here in Ontario. We encourage everyone to buy a local speaker. Can the Minister tell us on how buying a local Christmas tree will help support jobs here in Ontario? Thank you. Mr. National Resources. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member from Ajax Pickering for the question. On a lighter note, in the spirit of the season, I'm pleased to tell members of the House about M&R's Ontario wood program, a great initiative to raise awareness of the benefits of purchasing a Christmas tree for the holiday season. When you're buying a locally grown tree, you're helping to support businesses and an economy in Ontario that's very important to the province. There are 500 Christmas tree farmers in the province and there are over one million Christmas trees harvested each year by these Ontario tree farmers. The sales amount to about $5 million annually in direct sales. It takes about 8 to 10 years to grow an 8-foot Christmas tree depending on the tree species. When one tree is harvested, three are planted. Answer. There's always a sustainable crop here. This is very important. And the continued harvesting and planting of these trees is great for the environment. The trees are 100% recyclable and biodegradable. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Buying local is very important to my community. And I thank you and the Minister for letting us know about the benefits of buying an Ontario grown Christmas tree. Many of my constituents will be happy to know that buying a freshly cut Christmas tree helps support jobs. The Minister mentioned that Ontario wood program was launched by the Ministry. What is important is that a program like this helps to provide jobs year round, not just at Christmas time. Speaker, can the Minister please tell us how we in all Ontarians can support the Ontario wood program all year round? Thank you. Thank you, Minister. Thank you, Speaker. And again, thanks to the member from Ajax Pickering. This industry is so important to Ontario's economy. And the Ontario Wood Initiative launched by M&R in 2011 helps to bring greater notoriety to the importance of Ontario wood and wood products. The program is designed to recognize the importance of this natural resource and encourage Ontarians from across the province to think about the benefits of buying wood products locally. Ontario's forest products industry is a significant contributor to the economy. Most recent figures show that Ontario forest supports 180,000 direct and indirect jobs across the province, valued at $11.9 billion. It's a renewable resource that literally builds our province. Buying Ontario wood, consumers are helping to support these jobs. They're helping to boost the forest industry and certainly face significant challenges in recent years. Less than half of 1% of Ontario's forests are harvested each year by law and they're required to have a plan in place for harvesting. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the minister. Minister, Thursday last again, I updated the house on the controversial four-day deer culls taking place in the Short Hills Provincial Park. Last week you stated that there were conservation officers, Ontario provincial police, as well as M&R staff on site to monitor the cull. In light of next week's auditor general support managing provincial parks in a cost effective manner, what was the total cost to the taxpayers to just have 24 deer harvested in the Short Hills Provincial Park, where there's comparatively speaking, thousands of deer are taken province-wide in a cost effective manner at no cost to the taxpayer. Thank you, Speaker, and please respond to the question and share some of the comments that were made last week when the question was originally asked. The member knows that this is about First Nation treaty rights. The member knows that this is the Haudenosaunee First Nations exercising what are their traditional hunting rights in this particular area, and there is a cost to ensuring public safety. Now, I would say and as I've indicated publicly that the individuals in this area who are expressing concern should be expressing their concerns directly to the federal government. This is a treaty with the government of Canada with the Haudenosaunee First Nations. The cost is estimated and the members asked for cost estimates where there are around $40,000 to ensure that there is public safety. Thank you. You know, Speaker, I would say... Thank you. Supplementary. Quite frankly, this is nothing less than the deconstruction of a sanitized memory. Minister, it was stated that there was a need to reduce the deer population of the park by 85%, yet the cull rate is 80% less than that, the statistical birth rate of deer, meaning that the population is constantly increasing by 30% per annum. Minister, do these stats mean that the people can expect a cull to continually, annually, and to expect an expanded cull in order to achieve the desired deer population? Thank you, Minister. Speaker, this has absolutely nothing to do with a cull. This is a hunt that is taking place by the First Nations. They're exercising their treaty rights. The member knows full well he's raised the auditor's issue in their report. I don't think the auditor is going to be interfering in what our constitutional treaty rights of our First Nations and we're certainly going to be welcoming the report and looking to implement any of the recommendations that would be appropriate to do so. The cost is one that the province is bearing with respect to public safety. It's important to ensure that there's public safety while this is taking place. Public safety is the priority and this hunt was conducted in a safe manner. Perhaps we should be considering sending the cost and sending the bill to the federal government of the RCMP for the cost of this and the member might want to take that up with some of his federal colleagues in Ottawa. Thank you. Question to the member from Algoma Manitou. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good morning to you. My question is to the Minister of Finance. In January, the municipality of Calarney highlighted concerns with the new impact valuation method for provincial parks that would negatively affect tax revenues to the municipality. The lands in Calarney, lake heads and headwaters provincial park, Calarney provincial park and French River provincial park are unpatted in lands and will become exempt from taxation. The municipality will see a loss in excess of $649,000 in revenue equaling one-third of their tax base. What is the minister doing to work with municipalities so that they're not losing much needed revenue? Thank you. Mr. Finance. Thank you for the question. I do appreciate the concerns that the member has raised. It's something that we are addressing as well, and I think closely with the municipalities. As a member may also know, the Parliamentary Assistant to the Ministry of Finance has been working with the impact to ensure that we do a proper review and protect the interests of the municipalities that are affected. Thank you. Thank you. Supplementary. Again to the Minister of Finance, the impact evaluation system is wreaking havoc for communities across the province. The entire evaluation systems of parks were sprung on communities last year which left them with shortfalls from previous years. Now the province is threatening to terminate payment altogether on unpatted in lands which would leave the communities with another huge shortfall. What is the province planning on doing with the unpatted in provincial park lands and how will this affect payments to communities? Minister. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I know that there's continued need to have an ongoing discussion with our ministry partners to ensure that we get some of these initiatives correct and that we're fair, especially with the unpatted in lands because even some of those municipalities recognize that the neighbouring community is actually taking advantage of their services and resources that aren't being funded by the unpatted in lands. So we've got to get fairers in the system and I'd be happy to work with the member as well to ensure that the communities in the north and those rural affected communities have access and that we have a fair system for all concern. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Consumer Services. Payday loan companies are used by various people for several reasons. Sometimes by persons in desperate situations who need quick access to funds. These operations offer services that are currently not provided by commercial banks but they do raise concerns when it comes to consumer protection as I've learned from the experiences of many hard-working people in my writing of Yorkshire-Western. There are protections for consumers set out in the Payday Loans Act. However, many Ontarians are not aware of these when it comes to using a payday loan company. Mr. Speaker, my question is what protections currently exist for consumers who use these services provided by these companies? Thank you, Mr. Minister. Thank you, Speaker. And thanks to the member from Yorkshire-Western for raising this very important question. It's important to remember that it was our government in 2008 that brought forward one of the most comprehensive Payday Loans legislation in Canada. We did this very swiftly when this business was downloaded from the federal government. The Act provides tremendous number of protection to consumers. And it meets certain needs for consumers to have access to funds, Speaker. However, the industry has changed and we know that there's a lot of technology involved with accessing payday loans and new products are being offered in this marketplace, Speaker. And those are some of the reasons why I and my review of the Payday Lending Act and we're committed to supporting consumers and supporting our economy. Thank you, Speaker. There are no deferred votes. This House stands recessed until 3 p.m. this afternoon.