 Thank you. It is now time for a question period, the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Thank you for keeping my questions for the Acting Premier. Ontario was once a thriving location for investment, attracting companies from across the globe and driving our economy. Specifically, Ontario was proud to be a world leader in the mining industry. Just over a decade ago under the previous government, we were the top mining jurisdiction in the world. Number one, now we're number 28. Every year my colleagues and I meet with the Ontario Mining Association and every year they have the same issues with your government. Ontario mining companies are faced with some of the highest energy costs in North America, the highest workers' safety premiums in Canada, a massive infrastructure deficit, and tax instability. So Minister, what are you doing to address the high energy rates that are making it difficult, very difficult for mining companies to continue to invest in Ontario? Well, Speaker, it's unfortunate that the opposition party continues to run down Ontario's economy. In fact, Speaker, we've made some important progress in our recovery from the recession, the global recession. Stop the clock. The comments today brought me to say that I will interject on those that interject while the answer is being given on that side, and I will ensure that we get this done quickly and effectively with your cooperation. Finish, please. Thank you, Speaker. I know that the Minister is going to want to respond specifically to Connie. I know the opposition will want to celebrate, in fact, the progress that we've made. We've gone from a all-time high on the point rate of 9.4% down to 7.1%, still too high, but moving in the right direction. We've added 723,000 more jobs, Speaker, and last year employment in Ontario increased by 100,000. We're moving in the right direction. The opposition party should stop running down Ontario and celebrate our progress, Speaker. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, I say to the Honourable Member, it's hard to believe anybody could run the province further and in the ground than what your government's already done. Ninety-thirds consecutive months in a row that this province, that used to be the economic engine of Canada, has an unemployment rate above the national average. Shame on you. Dead last in Canada for jobs. You know, talking about the mining industry, again, Dalton McGinn told us he was going to fix the mining industry with the work around the Ring of Fire. He'd quote, he was going to garner billions of dollars of new investments and thousands of new jobs. We know nothing's happening around the Ring of Fire. The mining industry itself tells us you've set up a shell economic corporation that doesn't do anything. There's not even anyone there to really talk about the needs of the industry. In fact, the Globe and Mail article recently talking about the Ring of Fire, Cliffs, Chief Executive Larenco Gonclaves said, quote, I don't believe under my watch. I plan to stay for the next 60 years that the Ring of Fire will be developed. So once again, Minister, I didn't get an answer. What are you doing to bring down these industrial hydro-register driving jobs out of this problem? Yeah, yeah. Check the mining sector. Minister of Northern Development of Mines. Minister of Northern Development of Mines. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Speaking specifically about energy rates, we certainly recognize what a cost that is to the industry. And that's why we put in place a Northern Industrial Energy Rate Program, which is bringing costs down for major mining companies by 25% as well as other incentive programs under the Ministry of Energy, which have made a real difference. And that's what the Ontario Mining Association told us when we met with them the other day, that they were very pleased with that and they want to see that continue. In terms of the comments made by the CEO of Cliffs, I think what's really important, and the leader should note this, is the way that his comments were responded to by everybody in the industry, which was indeed there is significant interest in the Ring of Fire. There are a number of companies that are interested in moving forward with that, and those comments were put out very publicly yesterday by those who responded to the CEO's comments. So we are going to get you to move forward in a very positive way, making sure that we make programs related to the building of the Development Corporation. Thank you. Well, Mr. Speaker, that's a point that the Minister raises, and that is, are you going to continue the Northern Industrial Rate Program? It's a shame that you've got rates, hydro rates, so high in the province that now you have to bring in a subsidy program. I suspect for this winter you're going to have to bring one in for seniors and continue to expand the one for seniors and low-income Ontario families. We're already hearing stories pointing into our riding offices about families being cut off because they can't afford their hydro rates, and the winter is just beginning, I say to the member across the way. And the second, so there's a rumor about you discontinuing the industrial hydro subsidy, and the other rumor that the mining industry is definitely worried about is you'll do the same thing you did to De Beers that suddenly brought in the unexpected diamond tax that you're going to increase the mining profits tax. So I want to know specifically, are you increasing, are you going to keep the subsidy on hydro for them so they can at least continue here in the province for a bit? And what are you doing about the mining tax? Well, Mr. Speaker, I mean, I think it's really pretty irresponsible for the comments made by the Leader of the Opposition, particularly as they did not support the introduction of the Northern Industrial Rate Program. We've supported this in a strong fashion. It's been extended to the year 2016, and there is a very clear commitment in our part to maintain that rate. We recognize how important that is. There's no question, when we met with the Mining Association a couple of days ago, they were talking positive. They were talking about the value and economic impact of what a new gold mine can bring to the economy. That was fantastic. We had another report that made it very clear about the huge benefit of the mining supply and services sector, meaning about $10 billion. The fact is we've got new mines opening. We've got 10 new mines that opened in the last 10 years. The fact is the industry is certainly under great challenges, but we are working with them closely and will continue to support them, as we will, in the Ring of Fire. Here are the new questions. Let me go to the opposition. Back to the acting Premier, Mr. Speaker. On Friday afternoon of the August long weekend, your government decided it was a convenient time to release a report detailing the waste and mismanagement of government pensions in the energy sector. The report conducted by pension expert Jim Leach revealed that Ontario taxpayers are contributing $5 for every $1 that employees contribute. In fact, it's worse that Hydro-1 employees only contribute $0.12 of every dollar in their pension. Minister, we all know these pensions are far from sustainable, and despite your constant promises, you've actually done nothing to fix them. And now Hydro-1 rates are going up once again on November 1st, just a couple of days. Minister, how much more are Hydro-1 rates going to increase because of your inability to manage pensions properly at OPG and Hydro-1? Good question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Interesting question, given the fact that we commissioned Jim Leach to take a review, look at what is occurring. It's been occurring over many years, Mr. Speaker. And we have taken an initiative recognizing how important it is to protect taxpayers' money because, after all, we are part of this initiative. And Jim Leach has been, and I commend him on the work that he's done that he's brought forward. And the question comes as a result of the efforts that we're taking, Mr. Speaker, not because of any design that they've made. In fact, we're trying to correct some of the things that they put in place. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Let me read a few quotes from that report that describe the situation your government's got us into. The report said that pensions are generous, expensive, and inflexible. It also stated, should plans go further into deficit, the sponsors and ultimately ratepayers will be required to pay even larger contributions. Now, Minister, your government did recognize this problem as far back as two years ago in 2012 when you committed in that budget to reform these ludicrous pensions, but you've done nothing since, except reiterate that promise two more times. So it's clear you don't, you won't act, or you don't want to act, or you don't have the stomach to act to get these skyrocketing hydro rates under control. Do you really think it's fair that these people, public service, employees, and the energy sector have these hugely fat, hugely fat pensions, and yet people at the other end of the spectrum in Ontario are having the lights shut off because they can't pay their bills? Mr. Finance? Mr. Speaker, the question occurs only because we are taking action. The question only is being made today because they've never had the stomach or the gumption to make corrections to the mistakes that they made in the past. We are moving forward. We've done the review. Jim Leach has consulted with Hydro One, OPG, ISO, and ESA. We recognize that the pensions that have been negotiated over a long period of time need to be corrected. We've taken steps already with other pension holders to the tune of saving Ontario $2 billion every year, and we'll continue to do that in this case as well. We have an opportunity to save to ratepayers a total of $1 billion by 2016, not because of what they're saying, Mr. Speaker, but because of what we are doing. Thank you. Thank you. Final supplementary. Minister, you had Jim Leach's report before the election. You sat on it. You didn't let anybody know that you had it. You didn't let Mr. Leach speak about his recommendations. And then when it finally was put out on a long weekend in August on a Friday, you said you would review the report. You have said since 2012 that you would do something about this. Meanwhile, you continue to sign collective agreements in the energy sector that perpetuate these bloated pensions, these bloated, unjustified pay-outs to people that probably go home at five o'clock every night, if not 4.30. The fact of the matter is, Mr. Speaker, he mentioned the Electrical Safety Authority. Well, in May of this year, you signed a collective agreement with them that not only perpetuated their bloated pensions, but you gave them a 2.7 pay increase. 300,000 Ontarians are out of work in the manufacturing sector. Guess what? I say to him, Mr. Speaker, guess what? They've had 100% pay cut. Why do you keep going with these pensions and increasing hydro rates in this world? Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have had over 700,000 net new jobs since 2003. We have over 100,000 jobs that were created last year. They suggest that we cut 100,000 jobs in their platform. As we review Jim Leach's report, we continue to pursue efficiencies in OPG and Hydro One through ongoing business transformation initiatives. In fact, Ed Clark is looking at it as well, something that they deny as being appropriate. In over the last three years, efficiency savings of approximately $500 million have been achieved in both agencies. OPG launched a company-wide business transformation initiative to enhance efficiencies further and reduce spending. And today, OPG's business transformation plan has resulted in savings of $275 million in 2011. As noted, the work that we're doing is going to save over $1 billion by 2016 with pensions, and Hydro One has identified over $500 million in cost savings and productivity improvements in 2013-15 alone. We're doing the job, Mr. Speaker, and we'll continue to do so. Thank you. Good morning, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the acting premier. Like Elvis, the liberal credibility on openness and transparency has left the building. They insist that this time it will be different. This time you're going to be progressive, and this time they're going to be transparent. So can the minister explain why this time they are protecting liberal insiders, introducing a half-baked CEO salary cap, privatizing by stealth, and selling off public assets? Well, Speaker, I'm not exactly sure what the question was, but let me give the answer that I think she was asking, and that's on our executive compensation bill, Speaker. I think it's very important. I think the people of this province have the right to know why people are paid what they're paid, if they're paid for by taxpayers. That's why we've introduced legislation, Speaker, yesterday, and we announced. We're actually going to introduce an amendment at committee that will expand the reach of this bill. People deserve to know why publicly paid people are getting paid what they are. So we're bringing in a process that will gather the information and then set out thoughtful, reasonable caps, bands upon which compensation will be paid, Speaker. It's a much more thoughtful response than that offered by the NDP. Thank you. The Deputy Minister should read her own legislation. There is no cap in that bill. Speaker, we know that the Liberals are planning to sell down their interest in Hydro-1 and to bring private companies into our local hydro utilities. And we know that this Liberal government is wasting Ontarians money on the outsourcing of IT services. We found $200 million. Help me, help you. Why would we do that? And I would call that privatization. And it's a stealth agenda that you have. What does the Minister call it? Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. This question is coming from the person who actually brought me to the job of being the cut czar, if in fact the NDP were to form government. This is the person who said, choose me, choose me. I can find $600 million of savings, primarily in health care and education. Well, this is one of the first opportunities to offer constructive advice on how we actually drive savings to suggest that we can save $200 million in IT by taking on her advice is baloney, Speaker. I don't know if that's parliament, if it's not I apologize, but it just simply doesn't add up. She's got her facts wrong. She refuses to correct her facts, Speaker. We are committed to getting best value and we would welcome the helpful advice from the party opposite. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. For 10 years the Liberals have been saying they'll deal with out of control public sector CEO compensation. And for 10 years, public sector CEO compensation has shot through the roof. Now the Minister is saying that they will have a salary cap, but they just won't say what that cap will be. And they apparently scribbled that legislation on the back of a napkin, because somehow they forgot to include agencies like eHealth and like Mars. How can the Minister expect anyone in this province to take anything that she says seriously? Once again, I have to correct the facts, Speaker. Yes, it is true that we have rejected the NDP position that there be a cap across all executives, no matter what the job is that they do. That is not a particularly thoughtful approach to what we all agree is an issue that we have to address. So we will be creating hard caps. They will be different in different sectors, as well they should be. We will be looking at public sector comparators. We will be looking across Canada and beyond to actually justify the bans, including a hard cap, by sector speakers. So it is a thoughtful approach to a complex problem, but we are determined to take it on. I am very pleased that the member opposite is suggesting that they do support, that they will support the amendment to expand the reach of the bill. Thank you. New question. The Minister was given strict instructions in her mandate letter to increase transparency and accountability, but instead of ensuring Ontarians hear testimony from the people accused of wiping computers in the Premier's office, like Peter Feist and Laura Miller, the government is protecting Liberal insiders. Can the minister tell this House if her mandate letter is worth the paper that is printed on? Thank you. Thank you very much, Speaker, and I thank the member opposite for the question. I think the member opposite will agree by looking at the actions of our government by the mandate letter she suggested herself, by the legislation she was referring to earlier on in her first part of the question, dealing with government accountability and transparency, that we under the leadership of our Premier are taking very concrete steps to ensure that government is open, that government is transparent, that information is readily available to Ontarians. That is the commitment that we made to the people of Ontario in the last election. That's the commitment that is very clearly outlined in the speech from the throne, and we will carry through that commitment as well. Thank you. Again to the acting Premier, the minister received a mandate letter that said make government transparent, but instead she's protecting Liberal insiders from testifying at the committee. Her mandate letter talks about protecting public services, but the Liberals are privatising public services like IT and hydro utilities, and it talks about getting CEO pay under control. But the Liberals are introducing the first pay cap with no cap, and they're making last minute changes after they got caught leaving organizations like eHealth and Mars out of the legislation. The minister doesn't seem to take her mandate letter seriously. Why should anyone else? President of the Treasury Board. Thank you, Speaker. The Premier has made it very clear she wants Ontario to be the most open and transparent province in the country. That is what we're doing, and even the member opposite is referencing the mandate letters. Speaker, for the first time in our history, our mandate letters have been released publicly. The member opposite's referring to the mandate letters. As are other people across the province who actually are paying attention to what happens in the Ontario government. So I think by releasing the mandate letters, we have signalled very clearly that we are committed to openness and transparency. When it comes to executive compensation, just to remind anyone watching, our initial legislation covers hospitals, hydro entities, school boards, universities, colleges, CCACs, and we're expanding to 64 more organizations. We will be introducing that amendment in committee. Thank you. Final supplement. I guess I would just say that the actions speak louder than words printed on a mandate letter. The Liberals can tell themselves they're being progressive, but this is what people actually see. They see Liberals scrambling to protect their friend, from giving answers about the gas plants. They see a promise for a public sector CEO pay cap but there's no actual cap in that legislation and they're not even sure who it should apply to. And they see a government that's outsourcing, privatizing and wasting money but insisting it's being responsible this time. Things will be different. Does the minister think protecting insiders, skyrocketing CEO salaries and an accelerated privatization agenda which is hurting this province is actually being progressive? Well, Speaker, I think we are doing exactly what the people of this province elected us to do, Speaker. And we are committed to to come to balance by 1718 and at the same time continue to strengthen public services and build the infrastructure that this province so sorely needs, Speaker. If the member opposite has a better idea on how we can build the necessary roads and bridges and transit systems that this province needs, I'd love to have her suggestion. All I'm hearing is you don't, you can't do it this way, you can't do it that way, you can't do it this way and there are so far zero constructive ideas on how we raise the significant capital required to build the infrastructure and assets that the people of this province need. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Minister, during the ice storm last January many municipalities stepped up to assist stranded motorists who are unable to get home as a result of closed roads and my own riding, Shelburne and Malank then applied for $51,000 and $50,000 each to the disaster relief assistance program only to be denied because to quote the rejection letter these costs can be managed within municipal budgets. Minister, do you believe it is fair for Shelburne and Malank to put the total bill when they were sheltering stranded motorists from across Ontario? Thank you. Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Thanks, Mr. Speaker, and thanks for the question. What I think is fair is that municipalities for whatever reason or combination of reasons suffer the most damage and have the least ability to respond fiscally to the challenge that presents gets helped as quickly as possible and those that have the financial wherewithal to handle the concerns will understand that those that are in greater need should get the assistance that they require. We can't respond to every request out there. The ice storm was a one-off issue as well. It wasn't like the normal old-rap kind of position but those municipalities have been most challenged and are at least able to respond to the ones that are getting answers. Thank you. Supplementary. So my question to the minister is how bad does it have to be? I understand you've approved $190 million in disaster relief funding yet decided that Shelburne and Malank don't qualify. To put this in perspective the mayor-elect of Malank stated that the costs of the damages would have a serious impact on creating its next budget for the township and stressed that $50,000 is the equivalent of a 4% tax hike. Minister, will you reassess these requests from Shelburne and Malank in light of the significant burden these costs will mean to their municipal budgets? Mr. Speaker, we have a process in place. Before the ice storm there was no funding allocated specifically to respond to ice storm issues. This government found a way to provide $190 million to those most stressed. I think that should be celebrated, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. No question? From Brambley Gormald. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. My question is to the acting premier. The hundreds and thousands of Ontarians and agencies often work alongside co-workers earning 40% less pay fewer or no benefits at all job insecurity and little protection against workplace abuses. Bill 18 gave this government an opportunity to fix these problems but the government has failed once again. Instead, they've left many of the barriers that have trapped people in insecure work for years. The government could have taken the time to listen to temporary job agency workers and develop real solutions to address the problems but instead they're rushing through a deeply flawed bill through a time allocation motion. Why is this government using strong arm tactics pushing through this bill instead of protecting those vulnerable workers in our problems? Questions? Mr. Speaker. And I thank the member for the question on Bill 18 which passed through the House yesterday I'm very pleased to say with all party support. The intent of this bill builds on a 2009 bill which prohibit agencies from imposing barriers that prevent clients from hiring those assigned employees directly. They prohibit clients of agencies from any reprisal against assignment employees for asserting the rights they have under the Employment Standards Act. If this bill is passed speaker and I hope it is clear that temporary help agency recruits are not charged fees by those agencies for things like resumes for simply taking a job having the information they need the seizure of passports, documents included in this bill. I would urge the House and the member to support this bill. There's a process where people will be able to come forward make recommendations along the way. I urge that we get to that point speaker. Thank you. Mr. Speaker. I would like to know how flawed this bill is and how far it doesn't go far enough is the fact that bill 18 only extends to joint and several liabilities to protect unpaid wages and unpaid overtime but not public holidays and other basic employment standards. If the liability is not extended the way it works right now is that direct employees so that direct employees and temporary job agencies then temporary workers are still left without protection. New Democrats will be moving a motion that will extend all responsibility to both the employer and the temporary job agency. Will the government support this motion to truly protect the workers in this province? Thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you again for the supplementary question from the member. Obviously we will all watch with interest as the process unfolds as it should but let me tell you what this bill does it establishes joint and several liability between the agencies and the clients for their failure to pay wages that means that those companies that would now potentially be liable if the agencies refuse or won't pay the workers the companies themselves have to pay the workers that's protection that these people don't have right now Speaker and it's good protection it also helps that the temporary help if the workers injured the injury could also affect the company's cost as well which is an extra incentive to all companies in this province those that employ temporary help agencies to ensure that they've got a safe workplace it's an added incentive I know that that's the name of all members of this house that the people come home from work at the end of the day safe this bill moves the yardsticks on this and it's worth the support of every member of this house New question from the member from Newmark and Aurora Well thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the minister responsible for senior affairs Minister I think I speak for everyone when I say Ontario seniors have significantly contributed to the success of our great province and that they continue to make meaningful and significant contributions Mr. Speaker October 1st is recognized in Canada as National Seniors Day and by the United Nations as the International Day of Older Persons Mr. Speaker on this occasion the minister made an important announcement and gave us an update on the new senior community grant program that our government has launched the program is a tremendous success helping seniors across our province to stay connected and involved in their communities especially the seniors in my writing of Newmark and Aurora Mr. Speaker would the minister please inform the house of how this grant continues to help improve the lives of seniors in Ontario Thank you I want to thank the member for Newmark and Aurora and congratulate him on his election to this Parliament Mr. Speaker I know that Sa'i will serve the people of Newmark and Aurora with zeal and dedication and let me say Speaker that our government introduced the seniors community grant program with the idea to keep our seniors engaged and active in their own environment in their own community to live a better and more meaningful life Mr. Speaker the grants fund not for profit organization for groups that indeed encourage and promote a greater social inclusion volunteers and community engagement and to bring our seniors out of isolation I'm very proud and very pleased to inform the house that so far 118 projects have been already funded groups have received funds reaching out to some 25,000 seniors in our province and Speaker we will continue to build on the success of this program Thank you Mr. Speaker and I would like to thank the minister for his response it's great to hear how committed our government is to our seniors and I'm delighted to say that this grant has been very well received in my writing of Newmark and Aurora Mr. Speaker I recently had the pleasure of attending the celebration of the reopening of the Newmarket seniors place an organization that boasts the membership of a thousand seniors it was a wonderful event with a number of activities food entertainment and many many seniors in attendance Mr. Speaker I'm pleased to say this celebration was made possible because of funding received from the seniors grant seniors community grant that helped the center reopen its doors Mr. Speaker can the minister provide us with any additional details regarding this great initiative that's serving my senior constituents so well Thank you Mr. Speaker I want to thank the member from Newmarket and I know that if the seniors in the writing of the members are happy in having received the funds and doing this wonderful event events like the one there and celebrations throughout Ontario are taking place as community groups are receiving the funding I have to say Speaker that I'm so proud this is the first time that our seniors in Ontario they are enjoying the benefit of the first ever in the province for our seniors grant this is going directly to help our seniors stay connected engaged in their own community and living a more meaningful life Speaker I have to say because of the success of the program Speaker our funding increased from five hundred thousand to one million in thanks to Minister Sousa in the budget of the 2014 I have to say that this is part of the Ontario action plan for seniors we will continue to work on it and continue to make Ontario the best the best province where seniors can age and live gracefully Thank you Thank you Speaker my question is to the Minister of Transportation Minister when I asked you in estimates this week about the government's commitment to deliver two way all day go service to Kitchener Waterloo within five years you told me quote there are a lot of commitments that governments make that parties make that are aspirational in nature yes aspirational in nature I believe commitments made before during or after an election are your word they're your promise and where we come from we have a four letter word for those who dress up their aspirations as commitments Kitchener Waterloo residents are still waiting for the four trains going in and out that were promised seven years ago now they have even more reason to be skeptical minister question a very simple question when will Kitchener Waterloo residents see two way all day go service Thank you Minister of Transportation I want to thank the member opposite for his question and I certainly had a terrific time at estimates committee having the opportunity to respond to questions from this member not just about issues relating to chrome yellow and school buses for example speaker but also to respond to questions with respect to our very ambitious plan to deliver two way all day what we call regional express rail and what I find troubling speaker more than anything else is that this member repeatedly both in his own community a community that is so ably represented by our member from Kitchener center and at here today in the house and over the last few days at committee seems to be far more interested in parsing my words and getting to a game of semantics instead of actually working hard for his community to work with us to deliver two way all day go speaker as I've said many times in this house our government has a commitment and will deliver two way all day go service to Kitchener Waterloo, to Milton, to Barry and along all of our corridors over the next decade that's our plan I would be remiss if I I just your timing is so impeccable I'm here to admonish someone on this side you give me that reason to do so I am going I would be remiss if I did not tell the deputy house leader that he's warned and I will now turn to the member from Renfrew and say you're next carry on back to the minister it does appear we've struck a chord here in fact minister and committee those were your exact words your government's aspirations at least the former minister of transportation was actually prepared to give a timeline so why the change of heart minister I am trying to work with you here I'm giving you another opportunity to clear the air with the people of Kitchener Waterloo so can you tell us today what timeline your ministry is now aspiring to for completion of all day two way go service to Kitchener Waterloo thank you thanks very much Mr. Speaker I thank the member again for this question it's interesting to me both at committee in press releases that he's put out to his community and here again in the house today this particular member seems very taken with the word aspirational let me talk about that for a quick second speaker in the last election campaign last consultation that we had with the people of Ontario that member his leader his party aspired to fire 100,000 Ontarians this party our leader our government aspired to move Ontario forward by building it up with an ambitious $9 billion plan for transit and transportation over the next 10 years that's the work we're doing we're going to deliver for Kitchener for Milton for Berry for Brampton for Mississauga for the entire province because that's our plan we'll get the job done thank you your question thank you speaker my question is to the minister of labour speaker once again this afternoon I would be bringing a bill forward called the child protect performer legislation bill 17 to the legislature for second reading speaker this is an essential legislation to ensure that working children have the safest working environment possible in our province my first bill 71 was tabled on the 15th of May 2013 and unfortunately speaker after going through committee with the government support and assurances that the bill would go it ended up as a political football on the order paper speaker can this minister confirm to me that there will be no I repeat no political games for this current bill which protects children thank you minister of labour thank you speaker and I thank the honourable member for the question if I was able to guarantee there would be no political games in this house I'd be one unique politician but let me tell you that I do support the bill personally I know through the ministry processes as we've investigated the bill over the years it's a bill that's received support from the ministry of labour as well I look forward to the debate this afternoon I look forward to the passage of this bill through the process at the end of the day speaker you know and I know and the member knows and we've had conversations on this and he knows how personally supported I am of this bill at the end of the day it's the will of this house that will pass this bill it will be the three parties working together agreeing that this bill will move forward I can honestly say speaker that I wish the member well he will have my personal support and the support of the ministry as this process continues thank you minister for your support unfortunately I hope the host leaders feel the same way speaker bill 17 encompasses the amendments that were made in committee just 11 and a half months ago it has been through intensive writing and committee processes ministry strats work with ACTRA work with equity on the bill and all the parties worked on it through the committee process and passed it speaker the protection of child performers the only legal child labour in Ontario must be enshrined in law their safety should never be subject to negotiations by house leaders speaker will this minister commit right now to his and government full support full support to protect child performers and by passing bill 17 to third reading and to royal assent not stalling it at house leaders meetings thank you thank you speaker and thank you to the member once again for the supplementary I'm sure that all members understand in this house that the need to keep our kids safe whether it's at school or in the workplace is something that we all to use the word use recently aspire to it's something that we want to see happen there's a process that's employed in this house the house leaders meet on a regular basis they decide on the agenda of the house bills proceed in that way so certainly speaker I met with the member opposite to express our support with the bill nothing would make me happier than to see this bill proceed if it's a will of the third party which I believe it is certainly my colleagues on this side of the house that I've spoken to I see it move forward we wish you well in this regard there's a process that needs to be followed I can't speak forward they can speak for themselves I know where the rest of us stand speaker thank you well thank you speaker my question is the minister of food and rural affairs ministers there is approximately 1549 park producer in the province of Ontario the market roughly 4.8 million hogs an industry contributing upwards of 5.6 billion to the Ontario economy but minister on January 22nd 2014 the first case of PED was discovered in Ontario a virus causing high death loss in pigs especially nursing piglets the disease which struck the united states in the spring of 2013 killed millions of piglets south of the border and helped drive up the pork prices it has spread through 30 U.S. states more than 8500 farms Mr. Speaker can the minister please update the house on what the government is doing to support Ontario's supply producer during the challenging times thank you minister culture food and rural affairs well thanks very much Mr. Speaker I want to thank the hardworking member for that question this morning the the agri-food industry the province of Ontario represents 34 billion dollars of GDP 760,000 individuals are employed in this industry and the pork sector makes up 5.6 billion dollars of the total GDP since PED was first discovered in the United States the province and the industry have made concerted efforts to educate producers transporters and suppliers about the virus and help them implement strong biosecurity measures in fact through red grant in the county of Lempton, Ontario we're providing funds now for a trucking firm which is the first biosecurity firm I believe in North America and that's a great tribute to the ingenuity of people in the county our government our government has provided over 2 billion dollars in immediate assistance to Ontario pork follow the upgrade to support the industry thank you supplementary the member will sit and he knows better supplementary thank you the minister for his answer it is clear that the collaborative efforts by veterinarians, farm groups government farmers and many people in the swine sector to fight the disease in Ontario coupled with the province preparedness and resources put forward in responding to and limiting the spread of PED in Ontario but minister on July 21, 2014 the PED was found on an Ontario farm as part of the industry PED surveillance elimination project Mr. Speaker, producers industry and public want to know why Ontario continues to see cases of PED can the minister please inform the house of PED in Ontario and now we're addressing the challenges as we heard question to the winter months Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for supplementary the early identification of the source in Canada along with summer weather has helped produce the impact of the virus in Ontario and has limited its spread in fact, it's been over 3 months since the last case the virus was confirmed while Manitoba and some US states continue to have new cases during the spring and summer months Mr. Speaker, it's important to note that the PED is a virus which tends to flourish in cold weather I recently had the opportunity to meet with officials from Mexico and the United States to discuss PED and shared information and heard from experts on how leaders can help prepare their region to manage the outbreak and defeat it it remains critical for all the parts of the pork value chain producers, transporters, suppliers to be vigilant with biosecurity practices to prevent PED and other viruses from getting inside this wine production units in Ontario my ministry has been and will continue to work with the pork industry in strategies to mitigate the risk of PED's impact this fall of winter and insuring Ontario's vital pork industry this province New question, the member from Centro North Thank you very much Mr. Speaker my question today is for the minister of education and minister, we all know that your built tan is seriously flawed and in spite of that you still want to push through this house quickly the bill does absolutely nothing to provide a more safe day care system we calculate that a minimum of 140,000 independent day care spaces will be lost and eliminated you disagree with that number so minister, it's very simple how many independent day care spaces have you calculated will be lost, simple numbers thank you minister of education yes thank you actually I'd love to hear how he calculated 140,000 but I can actually I can actually the member from Renfrew Nipissing Pembroke is warned I'm very happy to tell the member opposite speaker that in fact we have since we came into government licensed 130,000 new spaces and that's actual licensing data that we have licensed those new licensed child care spaces but I really do have to challenge what the member opposite has said about Bill Pan because as we all know the ombudsman recently tabled a report and he made a number of recommendations and I simply want to quote what the ombudsman told Queen's Barrel Reef he said I'm satisfied that the bill takes care of what needs to be legislated I'm satisfied with the current course of what's happening and with the undertaking of the minister supplementary well the same people that wrote your briefing note to the same people that left down the day care system for the last 10 years okay so minister I want to tell you there are rallies being planned to protest the flawed bill tan and the loss of 140,000 independent day care spaces and we expect a rally will be held in your riding of wealth in early November and we'd like to do it according to your schedule these protests are being held because independent day care operators have been completely left out of the consultation process that created this flawed bill and in spite of the fact that independent day care providers provide about 78% of the spaces but you know what they don't belong to the working families coalition they don't have a big union to support so since you are denying child care providers a voice by not allowing the bill to travel as the MPP for wealth will you attend the wealth rally and hear the concerns of your constituents minister thank you very much we really do need to talk about the reality of how people have responded to the bill for example if you talk about the response of Andrea Culver who is the coordinator for the Ontario coalition for better child care she says this is broad legislation that is going to really crack down on those unlicensed operators who have more than 5 children but it also has the impact on child care centres and a very significant proposal for children from 6 to 12 I'd like to tell you actually another quote from Andrea Culver it's really a big step to moving from a patchwork programs to a system of early learning and child care we really feel this legislation is part of the move to create an early learning of child care systems thank you Mr. Speaker my question is to the minister of education parents expect this government to do its job and keep kids safe in daycare but the ombudsman has uncovered a shocking lack of inspectors to do the job there are just 49 permanent child care advisers in Ontario and the minister's new enforcement unit will only add 6 inspectors it's no wonder illegal daycares operate with impunity taking advantage of families without getting caught there simply aren't enough inspectors to do the job how can the minister possibly defend having just one inspector for every 22,000 kids in daycare thank you minister of education yes and I'd like to talk a little bit about the findings that both the ombudsman and our ministry found was when we looked at the old way in which inspectors were organised is that they were responsible primarily for visiting and reviewing and issuing and renewing licences and then coincidentally had additional responsibility to respond to complaints about unlicensed care what we've done is created a new unit whose only responsibility is to respond to complaints about unlicensed child care and that moved to create a totally dedicated enforcement unit that will only worry about complaints on unlicensed child care and has been endorsed by the ombudsman in fact his recommendations include moving ahead with setting that up and I'm very pleased to report that that unit has been set up I must have read a different report because the quote that I've read the ombudsman said too little too late inspectors say they're drowning under their workload and unable to keep up that means that kids will continue to fall through the cracks and according to the ombudsman himself the minister's new enforcement unit will just have six investigators able to lay charges against illegal operators it's nothing but a drop in the bucket because there's no way that one inspector can keep 22,000 kids safe day in and day out in contrast the private day home agencies are required to employ one inspector for every 25 homes which equals to 125 kids why does the minister have such low standards for her own department thank you minister yes I'm afraid that the member didn't actually understand the previous response but let's just move on to what the ombudsman said the ombudsman said the ombudsman said in his report the government and the ministry have taken positive steps and made concrete plans to improve the process for dealing with complaints about unlicensed day care in the past year the ministry has made genuine and focused efforts to rise to the challenge of ensuring that Ontario has a proactive, timely risk based proactive system for monitoring unlicensed child care operations and I would like to repeat that all the people in this unit will do nothing but respond to complaints and make sure that any directives they issue have been completed and when we get built and they will actually have the ability to impose fines they will actually have the ability to close down thank you thank you Mr. President thank you Mr. Speaker I have a question for the minister of environment and climate change a day when ghosts and ghosts come out across the province looking for treats and hoping to avoid being tricked it's a wonderful time when communities like mine come together with decoration costume and get to meet their neighbors in the spookiest of settings I know children in Ottawa Orleans are particularly excited to show up their costume and go trick or treating door to door while we all enjoy our time with family and friends during Halloween and dress up as many of our favorite monsters and villains it's important to remember the different ways we can be green while celebrating Halloween Speaker through you the minister of the environment and climate change please update on what the government is doing to help Ontarians enjoy more environmentally friendly thank you thank you thank you my dear friend from Ottawa Orleans for that great question and I also would like to wish everyone in the house a very safe and spooky Halloween if you're out with your little ones if you haven't gone door to door enough this year at least you get candies and a smile this time I also I also just want to recognize this program Mr. Speaker is really the remarkable creative work of the very great people who work in the ministry environment and I'm very proud to be here on the floor on their behalf and they have come up this year with a campaign highlighting a number of enviromene monsters Mr. Speaker to remind us ghosts and ghouls about some of the small actions all of us can take to help protect the environment I've got some favourites Mr. Speaker and if you've been to the social media website you'll see these folks Dr. Frankenfield's monster reminds us of the importance of reducing reusing and recycling to make sure we keep as much waste out of our landfills as possible thank you oh I'm sorry all right got to go supplementary thank you Mr. Speaker and again my question is for the minister of the environment and climate change Mr. I'm terrifyingly terrifically thrilled to hear that once again the ministry of the environment and climate change is finding fun ways to encourage Ontarians to enjoy their Halloween in an environmentally friendly way I'm sure constituents of my writing of Ottawa Orleans will be happy to know they can have a frightfully good time at Halloween while doing their part to fight environmental evil like Dr. Frankenfield monsters Dr. Frankenfield's bottle Zella I especially appreciate the minister's mention of Ontario drinking water it's important that we protect one of our most precious resource now and for the future generation of calls and goblins Speaker through to the minister can you inform the south of any witches and warlock the people of Ontario should come to look out to help protect our water maybe I can go through some of the other characters Mr. Speaker who encourages people to walk, cycle, carpool or take public transit to reduce emissions from vehicles my personal favorite bottle Zella is a monster I have some personal experience with encouraging people to fill up at the tap and bring a reuse of bottle with them to reduce waste and take advantage of Ontario's world class and great drinking water there are also it would be great for those of the legislature these are nonpartisan we have blue characters red characters and orange characters and green characters so you can find your favorite but it's a great social media to get kids more aware about the simple things my other favorite Mr. Speaker is the pill which teaches us not to flush our pharmaceuticals down the toilet so there's some very good lessons here I hope you'll take advantage of these very nonpartisan tools Mr. Speaker my question is for the acting premier in question period on July the 8th the premier acknowledged the need to construct the highway 6 Morriston bypass she said and I quote from Hansard there are investments needed I would call attention to a statement that the member for Wellington Halton Hills made yesterday and quote that statement of mine the one she was talking about had highlighted the need for the Morriston bypass if the premier who is herself a former minister of transportation thinks that the highway 6 Morriston bypass is needed why is it not yet on the ministry's 5 year plan for new highway construction thank you Deputy Premier Mr. Transportation thanks very much Mr. Speaker I want to begin by thanking the member opposite for the question today and also for raising it on a number of occasions since June the 24th since I was first sworn in as minister of transportation and for also raising this issue at the estimates committee yesterday just to be clear our government does understand the need to move forward with the realignment of highway 6 between Freelton and Guelph which will of course bypass the community of Morriston and provide improved connection to highway 401 in the Hanlon expressway and we continue to move the project along with respect to the design environmental phases to eventually prepare for construction but what I also said at estimates yesterday I think Speaker Baer is repeating here in this house this is one of the reasons that I'm encouraged to hear these kinds of questions from members on the other side of the house because it's a clear recognition from them that it's very important for our government to make the concern crucial investments in public infrastructure like highways like bypasses like transit and I look forward to seeing ongoing support from these members for our very ambitious 29 billion dollar plan for public infrastructure Mr. Speaker that's all well and good but I think I need to point out that on October the 6th representatives of the Morriston bypass coalition were here at Queens Park coalition includes the city of Guelph the city of Hamilton their chambers of commerce businesses like Tim Hortons Maple Leaf Foods, Nestle Waters Canada Bread and Cargill as well as the county of Wellington and the Township of Puslench the minister knows that I've been calling for the construction of the Morriston bypass for many many years predating his appointment as minister and when will he finally put it on the five-year plan Thank you Minister of Transportation Thank you very much Speaker and I thank the member for the follow-up I said at committee yesterday the ministry of transportation is in the process right now finalizing the next rollout for the five-year plan that he referenced in the question I do look forward to continuing to work with him and members from his community and members from communities right across the province of Ontario as we do move forward with our plan to build Ontario up again this is why it is so crucial for us to have comprehensive and full support in this legislature for the 29 billion dollars that we'll be investing 14 billion of which will be for crucial infrastructure in the Toronto and Hamilton area and up to 15 billion dollars speaker for public transit projects in the GCHA It's why it's so important for us to see in communities like that members and in all other communities that we all represent as 107 members of this legislature we need to invest you can't slash them your way to growth this is the way to build up Ontario and move the province forward Thanks very much New question The member from Ottawa The member from Ottawa Far distant land of Ottawa thank you Mr. Speaker My question is to the Associate Minister of Finance Speaker the government stated in this year's budget that individuals participating in a comparable workplace pension plan would not be required to enroll in the Ontario retirement pension plan in that same document the Liberal government committed to introducing PRPP legislation in the fall of 2014 nearly three years before the plan ORPP would even see the light of day the Liberal government claims their priority is to create a public pension plan for the workers of this province yet they are leading with a private option that will send Ontarians harder and contributions to Bay Street Speaker Will the government's bank friendly PRPP be considered comparable and qualify for an exemption from the Ontario retirement pension plan Is this why the Liberal government is giving PRPPs a three year head start over the ORPP Thank you Associate Minister of Finance responsible for the Ontario pension plan Thank you Speaker and I want to thank the member from Ottawa for her question and for her work as the critic on pensions Speaker the fact of the matter is that we have a retirement savings challenge people are simply not enough for their retirement and this is a concern for the future for our economic future and what we've committed to do in our budget is to introduce the Ontario retirement pension plan that is our commitment and that is what we intend to do which is to ensure that we have a secure retirement future for Ontarians at the same time we know that people will continue to have their goals in retirement long retirement system here in Ontario including voluntary measures such as the PRPP Thank you Speaker So with the standing order the member from Simcoe North has given notice of his dissatisfaction with the answer to his question given by the Minister of Education concerning bill 10 this matter will be debated next Tuesday at 6pm we have a deferred vote on the motion for second reading of bill 15 an act to amend various statutes in interest of reducing insurance fraud enhancing toll and storage services and providing for other matters regarding vehicles and highways call in the members this will be a 5 minute bell First take their seats please On October 21st 2014 Mr. Bradley moves second reading of bill 15 all those in favour please rise one at a time and be recognized by the clerk Mr. Nackby Mr. Bradley Mr. Hoskins Mr. Sandals Mr. McCharles Mr. Cole Mr. DeKar Mr. Dillon Mr. Cadre Mr. Orozzetti Mr. Gravel Mr. McMeekin Mr. Murray Mr. Murridi Mr. Kato Mr. Leel Mr. Flynn Mr. Crack Mr. Wong Mr. Hunter Mr. Morrow Mr. Jasek Mr. DelDuca Mr. Domerla Mr. Fraser Mr. Anderson Mr. Baker Mr. Ballard Mr. Dung Mr. Hogarth Ms. Koala Mr. Potts Mr. Rinaldi Mr. Arnott Mr. Hardiman Mr. McLeod Mr. Wilson Mr. Huda Mr. Dunlop Mr. McNaughton Mr. Jones Mr. Barrett Mr. Monroe Mr. Bailey Mr. Harris Mr. Pettipies Mr. Ford Mr. Singh Mr. Vantop Mr. Vantop Mr. Novo Mr. Tavins Mr. Miller Hamilton East Stony Creek Ms. Sattler Ms. Taylor Ms. Natashack Ms. Fife Mr. Manta Mr. Gates The nays are 14 The ayes being 66 And the nays being 14 I declare the motion carried Pursuant to the order of the house dated October the 29th This bill is ordered Refer to the standing committee on general government The member from Kitchener Waterloo on a point of order Mr. Speaker I'd like to correct my record from this morning I used the wrong Judy Judy Finley was the former child advocate The members are correct in terms of all members have the opportunity to correct their record and that was in order There are no further deferred votes This house stands recessed until 1pm this afternoon