 I'm for Oral Questions and I recognize the member for Nickel Belt. My question is for the Minister of Health. Over the last month, seniors, their families, physician, nurses and health experts have all warned that the Government Bill 7 will do nothing to stop emergency room closures, nothing to hire or retrain more nurses or to end the crisis in our healthcare system. An opinion poll in today's Globe and Mail confirms that a majority of Ontarians family agree. Why is the Government plowing ahead with this dangerous plan? The Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. Thank you, Speaker. Through you, you know, I have to say and I'm going to quote from Anthony Dale, who's the CEO of the Ontario Hospital Association. Ontario's hospitals are rapidly becoming the healthcare provider of last resort for thousands of people who actually need access to home care, long-term care and other services. You know, in our budget that we just passed, a billion dollars was set aside for community home care services in the province of Ontario. We are building the capacity to ensure that people are able to be in their homes, in community, whether that is in their own homes with the appropriate home care support or in fact with the long-term care home facilities that we have invested to make sure that the capacity is there, the staffing is there, the oversight is there. We've done that work. Now we have to make sure that those individuals who are languishing in alternative level care beds in our hospitals are actually in community where they deserve to be. Thank you. A supplementary question. The private for-profit home care providers cannot retain and recruit a stable workforce. They cannot do the work right now. Patients are already feeling this pressure from hospitals. Vulnerable people are being told their best option is to move into an expensive retirement home or a long-term care home that they don't want to go to. The government should be supporting people in their own home. That's what they want. We should be fixing our home care system that was privatized by the previous conservative government by strengthening the home and community care system. Why is the government pushing frail elderly people into long-term care home against their will and without their consent? What we are building is a system that allows people to be in the appropriate place for their level of care. I have to remind the member opposite. March of 2019 you said one out of every seven hospital beds is used by someone that we call ALC alternative level of care. It's a fancy word that means you really would like to be supported at home. You really would like to be supported someplace else. What has changed, Speaker, respectfully, from March of 2019 to today? Because we have built the capacity in our long-term care homes. We have built the capacity within community. So why does the member now change her tune and suggest that alternative level of care patients need to be in hospitals when where they really want to be is in community? Thank you, Speaker. Our home care system fails more people than it helped every single day, Speaker. The crisis in the health care system will not be solved by pushing our elderly away from their families. In for-profit long-term care homes that nobody wants to live in. The health care system needs permanent solution to recruit and retain valued health care workers like permanent paid sick days, like repealing bill 124, like giving nurses a chance to negotiate a fair wage after two and a half years of hell. Will the government stop pushing risky plans that are opposed by the majority of Ontarians and commit to solutions that actually address the crisis in our health care system? And now the members to seek to elevate their language. The Minister for Colleges and Universities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. You know, every measure we put in place, the opposition votes against it. Doom and gloom every single day. But what we're seeing is record number of applications to be nurses in colleges and universities across Ontario. 25,000 applications right here because of the investments we're making in long-term care and the Ministry of Health. 58,000 new and upgraded beds in long-term care. The investments being made in the Ministry of Health. $40 billion capital investments over 52 projects that will add 3,000 new beds over the next 10 years. New hospitals in Brampton, in Windsor, in Niagara Falls. Students want to become nurses and the post-secondary education opportunities right here in Ontario are driving those students to those opportunities. Mr. Speaker, my questions to the Premier. Yesterday the Minister of Education claimed that he wanted to avoid disruptions this school year. Does the Premier understand that his government has responsibility for avoiding disruptions? What we accept is a matter of fact that over 30 years in this province irrespective of the Premier and the party in this chair that unions in this province, teacher unions and education unions have striked and withdrawed services throughout those 30 years. That is the truth in the constant of a life of a child in this province. And parents are sick of this experience, tired of this experience every three years. It's about time someone stood up for them and gave them a voice in this discussion. And parents know that this government and our Premier will stand up for kids so they have stability, normalcy and enjoyable experience that they deserve in this province. Mr. Speaker, that's simply not accurate. As kids return to class this week, it's very important to remember that this government's track record when it comes to peace and stability in our schools is lacking. Parents remember this government's attempt to eliminate 10,000 teachers. They remember the mandatory online learning schemes and last year's $900 million funding cut. Students in this province deserve better, Speaker. Will the Premier commit today to working respectfully with education workers and not causing the disruption we all want to avoid? Mr. Speaker, when an education union in the province of Ontario decides to hold a strike vote before the Crown, the government, even had the benefit of tabling our first ask, I would submit that is disrespectful to the people of this province who demand stability for children. And it's about time the government and someone speaks the truth to this power. We need kids to be in school. And I know it is perhaps, it brings great level of discord to the opposition to hear that but the fact is parents want their kids in school, our government wants kids in school and we're going to set up to keep them in school right to June. Final supplementary. We start to clock. Final supplementary. Speaker, education workers in this province have moved heaven and earth throughout the pandemic to make sure our kids could keep learning. And they did it in the most trying conditions that teachers and education workers have faced in our lifetimes. They deserve our thanks. They deserve our thanks and not threats and not funding cuts. Will the Premier, and I ask again, please, commit to recognizing the incredibly important job our educators do and work with, not against them, to improve our schools. Well, in fact, I do agree with the member that these workers play critical roles in schools and I join her in expressing gratitude to them this week especially as kids get back to school. Mr. Speaker, since 2002 we have literally 40,000 more workers in the province and there are not more students in the province over that period of time. There are literally 10,000 more early childhood educators. There are 19,000 more education workers. There are 17,000 more teachers, 440 more principals and VPs. Mr. Speaker, all of this could only be achieved by increasing investment. This September, for this school year, kids are going back to a more normal, stable and enjoyable school year with $650 million of publicly funded investment to ensure education quality is retained for these children. We want it to be positive. We want them to be safe. And that's why we put in place an investment that is historic. Another 5,000 more staff, additional investments in custodians and cleaning and ventilation to help make sure these kids are safe and get back on track of the province of Ontario. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. This weekend, four hospitals in eastern Ontario were forced to close their emergency departments. Patients in Kemptville, Carleton Place, Alexandria and Allmont were all forced to drive 30 to 45 minutes further than usual to reach the nearest emergency room while experiencing a health emergency. Does the Premier believe that a 45-minute drive for patients in an emergency is good health care? Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. Thank you, Speaker. As I've said many times, it is deeply disturbing when an emergency department has to close temporarily, whether that is for four hours, a shift or indeed over the weekend. But we work very closely with our partners both in the hospital sector and Ontario Health to make sure that as much as possible we ensure things like locoms happen where physicians can backfill those positions as available. We've done that work. We'll continue to ensure that as these emergency department closures happen because of a temporary shortage in staff, we'll work with the local hospitals because we know that it is disturbing and frustrating for people not to have their local emergency department open when and where they need it. Thank you. Supplementary. The patients from three of the closed emergency departments were diverted to the Queensway Carlton Hospital in Ottawa. The Queensway Carlton is already short-staffed and already experiencing incredibly long wait times, so these closures resulted in serious strain for the Queensway Carlton this weekend, including almost as many patients in the ER admitted and waiting for a bed as there are stretchers in the ER. Will the Premier address the crisis in emergency care before someone dies because of it? May I'd like to take this opportunity to highlight some of the investments that we have done specifically related to emergency departments. A $90 million emergency department pay-for-results program provides funding incentives for 74 high-volume emergency departments to make improvements in areas such as the length of stay. We have in the province of Ontario 49 municipalities using a 911 model of care pilot which allows for palliative and mental health and addictions patients to be treated or referred to or cared for in community instead of immediately and only having the option of taking them to an emergency department. These innovative solutions were working with partners to make sure that the pilots that we are doing are working and are expanding them and that was why we were able to during the Association of Municipalities of Ontario announce that we're going to continue expanding these successful models that communities want, patients expect and it is making a difference in reducing wait times and delays at our emergency departments. Thank you, Speaker. Next question, the member for Eglinton Lawrence. Many young people in my riding are asking themselves if they will ever be able to afford a home. The high cost of housing is too far out of reach for what they can afford. For decades, the housing supply has not kept up with the ever-increasing demand. Even for fast-growing major urban centres like Toronto, there appear to be very limited options available. Under the leadership of this government, housing starts have started to increase, but they're still not where they need to be. Speaker, through you to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, what is our government doing to help increase housing supply across the province? Good question. Municipal Affairs and Housing. Thanks, Speaker, and I want to thank the member for Eglinton Lawrence for that fantastic question. I'm proud of what our government has been able to accomplish over the last four years under the leadership of Premier Ford. Together, we've introduced the province's first-ever housing supply action plan, which really laid the foundation to the high housing starts we're seeing over the past year. As the member knows, last year we had the highest number of housing starts, over 100,000, that we've seen in over 30 years. But we recognise, and I think we can all agree that that's not enough, in terms of meeting our goal, that we promised Ontarians during the election that just passed that we would build 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years. Together, with our all-hands-on-deck approach, we want to ensure that home ownership is in reach of more Ontarians. Supplementary question. Speaker, there is a consensus, I think, that housing supply is a problem. Even the opposition is now discussing the need to build more homes faster. The people of my riding are worried that housing prices will rise and affordability will worsen without an increase in housing supply to match this demand. With threats of economic slowdown and rising interest rates, home prices have started to cool off. This could make it even more challenging for builders to bring new housing supply options online. Speaker, what additional measures is the government taking to ensure that we build on our progress and bring more housing options online for the people of my riding and all Ontarians? Thanks, Speaker, and I want to again thank the member for her ongoing advocacy on the housing supply issue. Speaker, as I said, this past election, we committed to introducing a housing supply action plan every year during our mandate. We've been clear that these plans will be based on the province's housing affordability task force, which made recommendations around increasing density and bringing more missing middle housing online. We also know that the availability of labour and skilled trades is critical to increasing housing supply. That's why our Minister of Labour is investing in skilled trades and is out there every single day encouraging more Ontarians to consider being involved in the building trades. We're also having an ongoing conversation with the federal government. We need them to work with us to deal with this ongoing labour shortage. Speaker, our government, and I want to stress this, we're committed to our plan to build 1.5 million homes over the next 10 years. We're going to get it done, Speaker. Thank you very much, Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Speaker, Amanda Malner's 20-year-old son is blind and nonverbal and has complex medical needs. He has had serious pneumonia three times since June. About a week ago, Amanda had to call an ambulance for him and was told that a backlog at the ER would mean at least a 15-hour wait at the hospital. Does the Premier believe that a 15-hour wait for emergency health care is acceptable? Mr. Health? Thank you, Speaker. Does the member opposite believe that some of the innovations that we're doing, like the 9-1-1 redirect, is making a difference in their communities? You know, in London Middlesex, I will highlight that they are one of the pilot projects and in fact their satisfaction rate is upwards of 84%. And people are not having to go into emergency departments as a result of some of the changes that we are able to make. Working with our community paramedics, working with our emergency department physicians to ensure that there are options other than only and exclusively an emergency department. We're doing that work. I would love for the member opposite to have some conversations with paramedics, with the organizations that are doing these innovative pieces. Order. And saying, do you see value in expanding them beyond the current 49 pilots? I see the value. We have made those changes and we're expanding those programs because we see it making a difference for the lives of patients. Thank you. A supplementary question. Speaker, Amanda's satisfaction rate is not high. If her son went to the ER by ambulance, he would be attended by paramedics during the 15-hour wait. But Amanda would not be able to be with him to help him communicate. If Amanda drove him by car to the ER, she could wait with him in his wheelchair. But forcing him to sit up for 15 hours would make it even harder for him to breathe. With no good options, Amanda made the difficult decision not to go to ER. Speaker, does the Premier believe that his government's failure to deal with ER wait times is risking the health of patients like Amanda's son? Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. I continue to believe that when we encourage the innovation, that when we talk to the patients and the partners on the ground, whether that is community paramedics, primary care positions, nurses, doctors, hospital CEOs, we come up with solutions that are actually making a difference for individuals like your constituent. We are doing that work. We're expanding the models that are working and we're ensuring that people get the appropriate care. It can't always and doesn't always need to be a direct route from home to paramedics into emergency department, which has always been the way. So we're not going to keep doing the status quo and expect a different result. We're having this innovation. We're seeing results and we're continuing to expand it across Ontario. Thank you. The member for Don Valley North. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to Solicitor General. Speaker, my constituents at Don Valley North are concerned about the increase in auto theft and carjacking in our local community. We have all heard the news about Mitch Manor, stock hockey player from the Toronto Maple Leafs, being a victim of a carjacking back in May. But it is happening to people all over Ontario, no matter who they may be. Speaker, over 5,300 vehicles have been stolen in Toronto so far this year. This figure represents an increase of 50% from last year. Speaker, my constituents know our government is fighting crime and supporting our frontline police officers. Could the Solicitor General please explain to this House how our government is taking action on carjacking and auto theft? Thank you. The Solicitor General. Well, Mr. Speaker, firstly, I would like to say again, our hearts go out to the families in the James Smith Kree Nations, whose lives were trained, changed tragically in a flash, and we mourn with those who mourn. Public safety remains our inherent right to live in our communities safely and to walk our streets and to play in our parks and to go to school and work safely together. And to the member's question, and I thank him for it, having your vehicle stolen at gunpoint is a traumatic event. And to be clear, many of these thefts are in fact related to gun and gang crimes. And that's why our government, together with our federal partners, have invested over $200 million to fight gang violence fueled by smuggled guns. And Mr. Speaker, we are also provided additional funding to the Toronto Police Services for more than $72 million through the Community Safety and Policing Grant program. Mr. Speaker, from me alone as Solicitor General, it is there's nothing more important than safety in our province. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Back to Solicitor General. Speaker, our government campaigned on the promise to improve public safety in this province. Speaker, Toronto Police Officers have stated that when it comes to auto thefts, there is definitely greater sophistication and it leads us to believe organized crime is involved. We can attribute a big chunk of these robberies to the same persons or groups of people. Speaker, as a member of this government, I am proud to stand here today and know that our government is getting it done by tackling gun and gang violence across Ontario and keeping criminals off the streets. Speaker, could the Solicitor General please share more about our government's strategy to tackle the problem of car thefts? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, and I thank the member from Don Valley North. Our government is ensuring that our frontline officers have the technology they need to fight crime in our modern environment and we're investing over $60 million for police services across the province to purchase the latest technology needed to identify stolen vehicles, outstanding warrants and track down amber alert targets faster. This technology will allow police officers to be alerted to stolen vehicles within their view faster than they could run the plates themselves. Mr. Speaker, I'm proud to say that our police officers who work every day that have everything at their disposal to ensure Ontario's security. Thank you. Thank you very much. My question is to the Premier. When Michael Kalazan, a resident of Waterloo Region, was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy, doctors told him he had the life expectancy of 16 years. But he's now 39 years old. Michael has beaten the odds thanks to the round the clock care from his parents. But with no family left to care for him and the lightning fast passage of Bill 7, Michael says without funding for a comprehensive home care program, the province will likely place him in a long-term care home, which he says, and I quote, will be his death sentence. He is desperately trying to preserve his autonomy and his self-determination. This is a serious gap in our health care system. Mr. Speaker, can the government explain why they think it's appropriate for a 39-year-old man to be forced to live in a facility that primarily serves seniors? Mr. Health. Thank you, Speaker. You know, I have to say and well done to Michael and his family for beating the odds. It is an amazing story of resiliency. But I have to ask, have you told Michael that you voted against a billion-dollar investment in Huntsville? A billion dollars that we're putting into community care, that we're making sure that individuals like Michael who want to live in their home with support have that option available to them. With the greatest of respect, Speaker, when you vote against those kinds of investments, it sends a very different message to your constituents that you do not believe in community care. You do not believe that we need as a province to expand home care services in the province of Ontario. Clearly, we do. Our government has made that commitment. We've made that investment. Why isn't the member opposite lauding that and talking about how that is going to make a difference in the lives of her constituents included? Thank you. I'll remind members to make their comments through the chair. Supplementary question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, that is as low as it gets in this place. You got it. Michael's mother is now in palliative care. And he says the GoFundMe program to raise money for his home care is, and I quote, the only way that I can help my mom find peace as she's more worried about me than her own death. Michael is semi-independent. He can work and has a life that is not defined by his disability. The care he receives should be reflective of that. But with no serious investment in a comprehensive home care program, because the gap is there and the minister knows that, institutional care is looking more and more like the warehousing of vulnerable people like Michael. That is the system that you are overseeing, Minister. So does this minister believe that this is the right care at the right time, at the right place, like the long-term care minister said yesterday, because Michael doesn't, and either do we. Mr. Bell. Thank you, Speaker. I want to highlight what this actually means in terms of an investment. 739,000 nursing visits, 157,000 nursing shift hours, 117,000 therapy visits including physiotherapy, occupational therapy, and speech language pathology, 2,118,000 hours of personal support services, 236,000 other types of home care visits. This is real, Speaker. This makes a huge difference to individuals who want to stay safely in their own homes with some support. This is the support that we need in our sector. This is how we are going to get a healthcare system that ensures no matter where you are, in hospitals, in long-term care, in your own home, in palliative care, we will have the support available to support you through that journey. Thank you. The next question, the member for Beaches East York. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good morning, everyone. My question is to Minister Clark. I would firstly like to correct the record from yesterday. The claim that my amendments to Bill 3 were five hours late is completely false. The Minister as a seasoned veteran at Queen's Park should know that. There is no hard deadline at committee. Please correct accordingly. Mr. Speaker, on to my question. For a bill titled Strong Mayor's Building Homes, I find it unusual that the text of the bill fails to mention housing even once. The aforementioned proposed amendments I provided that focused on housing were deemed out of scope and principle at committee. Yet the government continues to insist this bill is going to aid our housing crisis. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister please provide a concrete example of how this bill will be putting shovels in the ground and be specific about what types of housing will be built as a result? So I will remind members to refer to each other by either their riding name or their ministerial title as may be the case. The Associate Minister of Housing. Thank you very much, Speaker. I thank the honourable member for the question. Speaker, 34 out of 35. That's where Canada ranks when it comes to getting approvals to build more homes. The opposition might be okay with that. They were okay with it for 15 years. They let the people of this province down. We're not. We campaigned on building 1.5 million homes so that we don't let down their people of this province. They have continuously said no to housing. They have supported them. We said to every single Ontario, we will do whatever it takes. We will use every tool, work with our municipal partners, federal partners to make sure that we do not carry the tradition of the previous government to let Ontarians down. We will build 1.5 million homes, Mr. Speaker. We'll work with every partner to make sure that happens. With or without their support. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. If there are no specifics about the houses that government aims to build can be provided, I wonder why the bill was titled Building Homes to begin with. We need measurable goals to ensure that housing is actually built. My First Amendment asks that the amount of new housing built within each city every year is proportionally sufficient to meet the goal of building 1.5 million new units of housing in Ontario by 2031. It also included the need for a progress report by the head of council to assess how well they have met that goal, including reasoning for why they have or have not met it and a plan for subsequent years. This amendment was deemed out of scope and principle. Mr. Speaker, my question is then, will the government be tracking and regularly reporting back about the building of new home units in these cities in alignment with the 1.5 million homes? And if so, what system will you use? Thank you, Speaker. And again, I thank the member for the question. Speaker, one-third of Ontario's population in the next 10 years is going to be in Ottawa and in Toronto. So you absolutely are correct. We are going to do everything we can to make sure that we increase the supply because there's a challenge here that some of my colleagues in this chamber don't seem to understand that we don't have the supply to meet the demand. We haven't because they failed the people of Ontario, Mr. Speaker. We're not going to continue on that path. We told Ontarians. I told Ontarians every single person in this caucus when we were campaigning told the people of this province, we're not going to let you down. We're going to make sure we build homes. We'll work with municipal partners. We'll work with our community partners to make sure that we not only build homes, we build all types of homes for all Ontarians. 15 million people are depending on us, Mr. Speaker. The next generation is looking at us. We're not going to let them down. And unlike them, we're not going to do it, Mr. Speaker. Question, the member for Essence. Mr. Speaker, there is no substitute for in-person learning. And this week, thousands and thousands of students across Ontario are going back to school happy because they're going back to normal. And over a decade of Liberal government ignored rural Ontario, they closed over 600 schools, including schools in Essex County. And I can name a few, including Harrow High School and Western Secondary School. School infrastructure should be updated continuously so that our students have top quality facilities and an experience that prepares them for the jobs of tomorrow. Question. Parents in Essex County want good, modern schools for their children. So, Mr. Speaker, my question to the Minister of Education is this. What is the Minister doing to make sure that kids in Essex County and across Ontario get good, modern schools? Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question. I want to thank the member from Essex. Indeed, the people of Essex are very happy this morning because under the members' leadership, a $26 million investment of the North Star High School finally opened under our government. And we're so excited for the 800 students that are going to benefit from this modern state-of-the-art school. But, Mr. Speaker, what's happening in Essex is taking place across our province. We have a $14 billion 10-year commitment to rebuild and renew our schools after the billions of dollars of deferred maintenance backlog that rose under the former Liberals. Mr. Speaker, under our Premier's leadership, we have 100 new schools that have been built. 88 additions and renovations are complete. $2 billion in active capital projects working with my friend and colleague, the Minister of Infrastructure, as we build modern schools with internet and ventilation and accessibility that every student in this province deserves. Mr. Speaker, there's 200 school construction projects that have been approved since 2018. We're getting shovels in the ground. We're moving mountains to ensure that the next generation of kids have modern schools to learn. Thank you very much. Member for Essex. Mr. Speaker, I know the students at North Star High School are very happy. I thank the Minister for that remarkable investment in my hometown. But schools also need staff. They need teachers and assistants and custodians and after two difficult years with COVID-19, more mental health supports are needed by our students. They need it the most. Some test scores are down. Various topics have suffered, especially math, due to the disruptions. So, Mr. Speaker, I know this Minister is on the side of students and parents. Mr. Speaker, specifically what investments is the government making to make it sure that the students in Essex County and across Ontario have a successful academic year. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. We are very much committed to ensuring that these kids are set up for success, which is why there's $683 million investment more dollars this school year. Part of a $26 billion investment, the highest investment in public education ever recorded in Ontario history, and we're doing this because, Speaker, we want these kids to catch up. Now, with respect to staffing, we join others in celebrating the staff within our schools, and we're proud that since 2002, Speaker, we actually have more funding per pupil, more funding for school boards, more funding for staff that includes 40,000 more. As I mentioned in the earlier question, there's 10,000 more designated early childhood educators. 17,000 additional education workers and 17,000 more teachers, Mr. Speaker. This investment is making a difference to improve education quality. And in the greater estates, specifically, $28 million more dollars on the public side, $17 million on the Catholic side when compared to the former Liberals, we are investing and getting the job done for students right across our province. Member for Ottawa County. Thank you, Speaker. My questions for the Premier. Good morning, Premier. A public inquiry into the use of the Federal Emergencies Act during recent convoy protests starts within week, Speaker, the occupation that hit our city last February and March, and I also impacted the good people of Windsor. The deadline has passed to seek standing in this inquiry and Ontario is not participating. Simple question, Speaker. Why? Mr. Speaker, we certainly appreciate the work that is being done by the federal government after the use of a federal emergency power. We were very clear right from the onset, Mr. Speaker, when the Premier instituted an emergency in the province of Ontario that we wanted to see order restored in both Ottawa and in Windsor, Mr. Speaker, but we certainly trust the federal government and federal representatives to undertake a review of a federal authority that was brought into use for the first time by the federal cabinet. Member for Ottawa Center. Thank you, Speaker. That's an interesting response. Back to the Premier. Look, our downtown streets, as the government knows, were choked with diesel fumes and trucks, horns blaring for weeks, and it took three weeks for the government to do anything declared by this Federal Emergencies Act. I know that participating in this inquiry requires disclosure of documents. Speaker, is that why the government is a no-shill because three other provinces are participating? Does it have something to hide, Speaker? And is it prepared to tell the people of Ottawa and Windsor why it is refusing to participate in this disclosure process? Why are you not showing up? In fact, Mr. Speaker, unlike the federal process at the time, the Select Committee on Emergency Management was actually presenting at that time. Mr. Speaker, the member will know that I actually presented in front of him and his colleagues at the Select Committee on Emergency Management during that time, at which time I was very supportive, indicating that the Premier was very supportive in ensuring that Ottawa and Windsor situations were handled. Of course, what he is talking about is the federal government's enacting of a federal emergency. It is the federal parliament and the House of Commons, which is undertaking a review of the Federal Act, Mr. Speaker, and it is incumbent. And I know I certainly trust that the federal government and our federal representatives across all three parties will undertake a thorough review on behalf of the people of Canada. Question? A member for Brampton North. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. Later today, members of this House will be voting on my private members' motion that calls on this government to accelerate the development of Highway 413. It is no secret that previous liberal governments delayed, dithered, and advocated responsibility instead of building critical infrastructure when they had the chance. I speak with people in my riding of Brampton North daily, and one of the top concerns I hear is that gridlock is becoming unbearable for drivers. Speaker, through you to the Minister of Transportation, can she please reassure the members of this House that this government will get it done and build the Highway 413? Minister of Transportation. A member from Brampton North will be able to answer the question and also congratulate him on his excellent remarks last night in support of his private members' motion. Speaker, as the member rightfully points out, drivers have waited long enough for relief from gridlock and our government is delivering. This Highway will cut commute times in the GTA by up to 30 minutes each way, not 30 seconds as the opposition incorrectly claims. This could be the difference between sitting in bumper to bumper traffic but this Highway offers so much more than just relief from gridlock. It will also support more than 3,500 jobs each year of construction and it will generate up to $350 million in real, annual GDP. Speaker, it is a pivotal time to build the infrastructure frontarians that will cut gridlock, create good jobs and provide opportunity for Ontarians. Our government is paving the way towards a brighter and more prosperous future for Ontario by building Highway 413. Thank you. Thank you Speaker and thank you to the minister for the answer to that question. It's a relief for me. I drove in from Brenton this morning. Took me about an hour and a half. I was going left and right, dodging trucks. We need to get this traffic under control. Speaker, we know the opposition parties are against building new highways. When the Liberals were empowered, they cancelled Highway 413. The demand for more transport infrastructure is already here and gridlock will only worsen if governments don't act. Instead of solutions from members on the other side, all we continue to hear is no. Speaker, back to the minister of transportation. Can she please tell the House what our government is doing to right the wrongs of the previous Liberal-NDP governments and build the Highway 413. Thank you. Thank you Speaker and thank you to the member from Brenton North for the question. Speaker, drivers are paying the price every day for Liberal inaction. Successive Liberal governments refuse to build and the NDP supported this inaction year after year. All of us in this House can relate to the frustrations of sitting in idling traffic on our major highways. That's when you just want to get home or to work faster. I want to make sure everyone in this House that under our PC government led by this Premier, things are different. The days of endless studies and debates are over Speaker. I am so proud that our government is answering the calls of countless Ontarians and is moving ahead with infrastructure projects like Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass. Thank you Speaker My question is to the Premier. I was glad to stand with workers on Labor Day but even more glad to stand alongside workers on strike yesterday who are having a pretty tough go right now in their workplaces in Durham Region. These Uniform 222 workers are cleaners at the college who work for GDI Services a private contracted company. Speaker, this appears to be anything but a clean fight. When the pandemic hit these workers rose to the challenge and went to work to protect the safety of everyone on campus now that these workers are in bargaining for fair wages, fair workloads and appropriate staffing levels for their jobs properly. GDI Services has rewarded their honest work by bringing in SCAB Labor to take their jobs. I've heard the minister of Labor say that workers should be respected so does the Premier believe that SCAB Labor is an appropriate way for this company to respect its workers? Thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you to the member for the question and I am aware of the Labor disruption at Durham College. The Uniform activity outside of campus transitioned from a demonstration to Monday, August 29th. Ontario Tech was advised of this over the weekend and on Sunday sent out a campus-wide announcement reminding everyone about picking pro-calls of best practices. The agreement between GDI and their Uniform employees does allow for replacement workers so GDI has a full complement of people fulfilling the cleaning services on campus since the beginning of the strike. The University is open and all academic activities will continue as scheduled. Thank you. Thanks, Speaker. Again to the Premier I know that the minister walked in a parade but I wonder if this government would walk a strike line and hear how ugly working conditions are and maybe understand how SCAB Labor leads to higher conflict picket lines, jeopardizes workplace safety, undermines the bargaining power workers and drags out strikes. Cleaners on the picket line told me that the SCABs have to use Google Translate to communicate, don't have their WIMIS training, don't have the proper supplies or protections. Does this sound like a good idea or a safe idea for anyone involved? When the NDP were government they brought in anti-SCAB legislation. The Harris regime got rid of that real quick. So my question to the Premier is this. Will the Ford PCs support workers and support anti-SCAB legislation? Good question. Mr. Paul, I think the university. Thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you again to the member for the question and I'm happy to report that this situation does not impact student learning as a priority for myself as a minister. The university is open and all activities will remain and will continue as scheduled. Ontario Tech is encouraging both GDI and the Uniform Group to be at the table getting this figured out as quickly as possible and Ontario Tech expects to receive another update soon as to how talks are progressing between the two parties but this is not affecting student learning at this time. Thank you. Next question, the member for Newmarket Aurora. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the minister of francophone affairs. It's important that francophones have access to quality services in their language of their choice. Can the minister explain how our government is progressing in terms of the designation of the regions? The minister of francophone affairs. Thank you Speaker and thank you for the question. Over 80% of francophones live in one of the areas designated under the French Language Services Act. Thanks to the leadership of the community center of Sarnia-Lampton, Sarnia is in the process of becoming the 27th designated area in the province. A committee has been formed to oversee the implementation by November 2024. Speaker, we recognize how important it is for francophones to have access to quality services in French in order to contribute to the social, cultural and economic development of Ontario. Thank you for your reply. I know that my colleague, the member of Sarnia-Lampton will be glad to hear this information. This updated information speaker additionally other than the designation of regions, there's also organizations that are sometimes faced with significant administrative burdens. Can the minister of francophone affairs explain how the government is improving the tools of the development of the services for designated organizations? The minister of francophone affairs. Organizations that chose to seek designation under the quality French language services act in order to reduce the administrative burden on facilitating new designations. To facilitate new designations from a paper-based process to a digital platform in addition to streamlining the process for applicants, the platform also allows agencies and departments to track the status of pendant applications. This improves processing time while maintaining the rigor that ensures quality French language services. And we are working to ensure the well-being of our francophone communities. My question is to the premier. In St. Paul's over 60% of our residents are renters and they're struggling with rising rent to no real rent control. Sandra is a constituent of mine who just received notice of another above guideline rent increase of 4.2% over the next two years. Which they say is to cover the cost of building repairs. Meanwhile, the corporate landlord that owns the building raked in $5.4 million in profit last year. My question is to the premier. Why are tenants like Sandra expected to cover the cost of these repairs through an above guideline rent increase and not the millions of dollars in profit raked in by these corporate landlords? Thank you, Speaker. Thanks, Speaker, through you to the honourable member. We made a promise to Ontarians that we would protect existing tenants with rent control. The vast majority of renters, some 1.4 million fall under the Residentials Tenancies Act and provide that. During the pandemic we were very clear. We looked at the formula for 2023 with inflation. We invoked the cap. It would have been 5.3%. We invoked the cap of 2.5%. We followed up with rolling back. What could have been a 1.5% increase in the middle of the pandemic in 2021 and frozen rents which was unprecedented in many of the provinces and territories. But we want to build upon our success. My question or my response to the member was that Ontarians talked about the fact that over the last term of this government we've seen an unprecedented amount of increase in rental construction. We want to build upon that. But at the same time... Thank you very much. Thank you, Speaker. This is the same government that said no to a rent freeze this year during a pandemic. Anyways, back to the premier. AGIs were supposed to help landlords cover unforeseen costs to keep tenants safely in place. However reports show that it's not small landlords benefiting. In fact, 84% of units impacted were owned by wealthy profitable corporate landlords like those that own 440 Winona. Another building in our riding that was just hit with another outrageous AGI. This misuse is why I put forth a motion asking to ban above guideline rent increases and help struggling to catch up during and after the pandemic. This government said no to me, but most importantly they said no to St. Paul's in Ontario. So I'll ask again of this premier and his caucus will this government stand up to corporate greed and ban abusive above guideline rent increases? Thank you. My colleague for the question speaker, our government has provided more protection than any government in the past 70 years Mr. Speaker and the minister has alluded to what are the decisions and measures that we put throughout the pandemic now and even to protect tenants next year. Mr. Speaker, it's just important to talk about the fact that when we talk about housing and protection for tenants supply is very important and I'm just really interested now to see that the opposition is finally talking about housing again. Mr. Speaker throughout we have continuously been there for tenants when we were putting protection in bill 184 through this ministry Mr. Speaker, we putting we raised the fine to $50,000 for individuals who are breaking the law $250,000 if it was a corporation and various measures to protect tenants. Mr. Speaker what did the opposition do? They have continuously voted against every measure that protects tenants in this province so while they vote against it we will continue to be there for every single tenant in this province. Thank you, Speaker. While many think of fall as harvest season it's also the time of year when our farm families look ahead and plan for the next growing season. I'm hearing from farmers in my riding looking at their crop inputs like fertilizer for next year where our province depends on them for our food security these farmers depend on inputs to help them produce the food and crops that we are so blessed to have here in Ontario. Speaker, farmers in Perth Wellington are responsible stewards of the land implementing best practices like sustainable crop rotation. Governments must partner with them rather than impose targets that could impact crop yields. Speaker to the minister of agriculture food and rural affairs, can she please explain how our government is working with farmers in my riding and across Ontario who are adopting best management practices and supporting sustainable growth for our air culture sector. Minister of agriculture food and rural affairs. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker and the member from Perth Wellington is absolutely right. Our farmers across Ontario are the very best responsible stewards of the land and I'm sure our friends from beef farmers of Ontario would also agree and confirm this during their visits with all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle today. You know, over the decades Ontario farmers have been embracing best practices. They have environmental farm plans they have nutrient management plans they're embracing the for our principle for fertilizer use using the right fertilizer the source is the proper source and they're using it at the right rate and they're using it at the right time and in the right place. The the former practices of broad application aren't employed any longer and our government has also invested $21 million to assist farmers in completing over 2,000 cost share programs and an additional $2.5 million in to ensure that the Lake Erie agriculture demonstrating sustainability program succeeds. Thank you. The supplementary question. Thank you to the minister. Speaker, I know farmers in Perth Wellington are concerned about the negative impacts of the federal government's approach to reducing emissions through imposed targets. According to the parliamentary budget officer, farmers are already facing complex challenges including a federal carbon tax that will cost farmers $25 million this year alone and by 2030 $108 million per year. The Wellington Federation of Agriculture President has said producers have already cut back on fertilizer use because of cost and better application strategies. When food security and stable supply chains are top of mind, we need to support our farm families and so they can be competitive in the global market rather than implosing punitive targets that could impact our food production. Speaker, again to the minister, what is the government doing to support our farmers through these challenging times? Mr. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker, and first and foremost I want to ensure all Ontarians and farmers watching today that we are working with them. The government has Ontario farmers backs like never before and with that we are working with our agri-food industry to drive innovations and solutions that encourage and demonstrate environmental sustainability all the while ensuring farmers remain competitive at the global level. Just earlier this spring I hosted a food summit and again we listened and valued the input from hundreds of participants and as a result we are now working on a food security and stable supply chain strategy in addition to an innovation strategy to propel our entire sector forward. We also have a soil action group that is working on a made in Ontario soil strategy. Over and above that speaker I have to share with you that I am very proud to say in the very near future we will be supporting timely and thoughtful initiatives that will be geared towards fertilizer use and solutions. Speaker, our government is working with farmers like never before and we thank you. The next question. Thank you speaker. I bring a question to the floor of the house from Donna Benke and my question is to the premier. Donna is frustrated with this government and she is frustrated with me as an MPP as well. She is frustrated with this government helping her. Donna is on ODSP. Donna felt like it was a slap in her face when she was notified that she would be receiving $58 per month extra on her ODSP payment. That was an absolute insult to her. Donna expressed her frustration to me with passion and anger because Donna was speaking to me on behalf of many individuals across Northern Ontario which she is trying to voice her views and their views. My question is will the premier commit to doubling the ODSP rates? Minister of Children, Community and Social Services. Thank you speaker and thank you to the member opposite for the question. Our government has been committed to making sure that people who are experiencing vulnerabilities in their lives are getting the supports they need. Whether it's people who have lost their job and need to be reskilled and retrained or whether it's people who cannot work when they began when we came into government with an increase in ODSP after the previous government failed to do so until right before an election that they knew that they would lose. We also created a historic increase in ODSP and the numbers do not speak to the entire whole of government effort and what we have done is create an across government approach looking at the credit, the care credit the jobs training credit the energy and property tax credit making sure that we provide the supports to people that they need across government and we've been working across levels of government. Thank you very much. Supplementary. Speaker, $58. We can do all better than that in this House. Speaker, here's a statement from Donna. If any of them had a single ethical bone in their body or even the slightest hint of common decency they would do what is right. Does the Premier not realize some people on ODSP is fighting mental illness? People with cancer, people that had strokes people that have multiple sclerosis that's the list that keeps going on and on. He needs to stop painting everyone with the same paintbrush. The Premier government always targets the poor. You can't make healthy people by destroying them. They will never be fit to hold down a job but what it will do is push more people to seek out made. My question is do you agree with Donna? Thank you, Speaker. And thank you again to the member opposite. I understand the situation that Donna is in. As a family physician I was very aware of the difficulties people experience and I'm very proud of this government's track record. Increasing it ODSP at the beginning. Then supporting people during COVID with the social services relief fund of a billion dollars. Then historic increase in the ODSP rates aligned to inflation and all of my colleagues working continuously across the board to create programs that help people. The lift, the care the property, the Ontario Jobs Training Tax Credit the Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit the map to wellness the micro-credentialing strategy the child care programs the Ontario child benefits the dental care programs the minimum wage this is an across government approach we'll continue to support those who need it despite the opposition voting no to every measure we put forward. That concludes our question period for this morning.