 It is now time for all questions. I recognize the member for Tomiska Mimpochka. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. And my question, my first question, is to the acting Premier. Frontline doctors and public health experts have been sounding alarm about the Premier's response to the second wave of COVID-19. Yesterday, the Premier responded by suggesting that they hadn't read the plan. They hadn't read the whole plan. And he keeps insisting that infection rates have gone down. Hours later, Peele's medical officer of health responded and I quote, regardless of what the province's new framework is saying, I must be clear. All of our metrics are going in the wrong direction. End of quote. Does the forward government actually expect people to believe that this doctor working on the front lines just hasn't read the whole plan? The parliamentary assistant, the member for Eglinton Lawrence. Thank you, Speaker. And thank you to member opposite for the question. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, our government has followed the best advice available from scientists and public health experts. And that's certainly what's happened with our COVID-19 framework that we put out recently. So we have been looking at all the available evidence and listening to all the available experts. As you can imagine, there is no shortage of opinion from different doctors on what should and should not be done and where the lines should be drawn. But all we can do is make the best available advice available also to the public transparently. And that is what the COVID-19 framework does. It puts a framework out there for people to discuss, consider, and we can always adjust if need be in the future. But we believe it's a good framework based on the advice of our public health measures table and the advice of all the public health experts that we have consulted across the province. Thank you. A supplementary question. Many doctors and health experts are raising serious concern about the Premier's plan. These are the people working in critical care units. These are the doctors running our public health units. And the Premier Times calls them armchair quarterbacks. If he's so confident, if the government is so confident about their plan, which the member on the government side just stated, why don't they show us the reports and studies that they're basing the plan on. Show us, actually, be transparent with those reports and studies. The response. Thank you very much, Speaker. And thank you to the member opposite for the question. Our government has been very transparent all the way along. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have had daily briefings with the public, with media available and ready to ask questions. We've been here in the House answering questions. And, frankly, we've been producing the public health experts who give the government advice, the Chief Medical Officer of Health, the Associate Chief Medical Officer of Health, for a while every day and now two days a week for questions. We have been extremely public and transparent. And recently we have just released this COVID-19 framework, which transparently sets out the kinds of indicators and things that the public health measures table looks at and advises the Chief Medical Officer of Health about. And that is where the government does get its advice. So I believe the public has a great deal of information. We've also put out a dashboard recently on our COVID-19 website, which has been updated and is easy to use and access available for anyone to look at at any time. We're all making the best information available so we can make the best decisions available. The final supplementary. Many public health experts would not agree with that answer. The Premier has seemed to have squandered many opportunities he had to prepare Ontarians for the second wave. And now cases are reaching all-time highs. It's clear that our communities need to bear down hard against the spread of COVID-19, and it's clear they need support. Long-term care homes need staff. Now. Testing and contact tracing needs boosting. Now. And businesses and hard-hit communities need direct financial supports. Now. Instead of adding more chaos and confusion, will the Premier find and deliver what the province needs to weather the second wave? Now. Again, Parliamentary Assistant to reply. Thank you, Speaker. Our government is committed to using every resource possible to protect the health and well-being of all Ontarians. And that's why we unveiled this fall our comprehensive 2.8 billion keeping Ontarians safe preparing for future waves of COVID-19 plan. And that plan looks to build upon current measures in place and introduce new and innovative policies to ensure that our province is prepared to respond to several scenarios. And the plan includes helping prevent illness and protecting communities by identifying six key areas, including maintaining strong public health measures, implementing the largest flu immunization vaccine campaign in Ontario's history, quickly identifying outbreaks, accelerating efforts to clear health backlogs, preparing for surges of COVID-19 and recruiting, retaining, training and supporting our healthcare workers. This is a great plan. It's led to unprecedented levels of testing up to 50,000 tests we're able to do now. And nothing really will stop this government from putting every resource to protecting the health and safety of all Ontarians. Thank you. The next question. Again, the member for Tamiskimi Concurrent. This next question is also to the acting premier. The government wants to rush through its bill that is going to let long-term care home operators off the hook for legal liability. After 2,000 seniors have lost their lives in long-term care, the government set up hearings for the bill. But instead of doing all they can in a pandemic to make sure that everyone who wants to participate can, they are doing the exact opposite. The government, and this is hard to believe, the government's scheduled hearings in a room without webcast ability. In other words, no one was able to watch the proceedings. Why is the government suppressing the hearings instead of ensuring that the public who is very interested can actually see debate under them? The government has stated. Actually, a bit surprised at the question from the honorable member. From my understanding is that he is a committee chair and he will know that the government does not schedule what rooms committee hearings take place and that members and committee chair will entertain motions from members asking for certain committee rooms. Having said that, Mr. Speaker, this government did recognize, certainly during COVID, that there was a deficiency in all of the committee rooms and many of the committee rooms with respect to broadcasting. That is why the government did ask the Board of Internal Economy early on to ensure that going forward, all of the committee rooms are available to be televised, Mr. Speaker. It's a step that is long overdue and I appreciate the fact that this government is ensuring that all Ontarians going forward will have access to all of the committee rooms. It's something that should have been done many years ago, Mr. Speaker, and I look forward to that being done very soon. Thank you. And a supplementary question. Speaker, for the safety of Ontarians, this building is close to public. We appreciate that. That's exactly why a bill with this much interest should have had public hearings available to watch online or on TV. The government knows there's an interest. 58 individuals signed up at short notice to speak to the bill, but only 15 were allowed. And not surprisingly, the government did not prioritize a single family who lost loved ones in long-term care. Why is this government doing everything it can to ensure this legislation that limits the liability of private long-term care providers gets the full public hearing it deserves? Why? Why is it not? Opening up so everyone can see. Thank you. Again, Mr. Speaker, the committee, to the best of my knowledge, did not receive a request from the members opposite, either from the official opposition or from the independents on the committee to ensure that the committee was a televised committee. There was no request that was made, Mr. Speaker. At the same time, with respect to who presented in front of committee, the same process was used, has been used for all committees. Members of the opposition have an opportunity to select the members that they want to appear before the committee to highlight the ones that they feel are important. The government did not make a decision on that. The government did not make a decision to stop people from presenting. My understanding, Mr. Speaker, is that I believe it was the member for Aleens, if I'm not mistaken. That was filibustering the committee, which resulted in fewer members appearing before the committee, Mr. Speaker. But at no time did this government have any decision to play in whether the committee was televised or who would appear in front of the committee, Mr. Speaker. I would suggest to the member opposite, who is a committee chair, that in future, they will be able to make a decision to stop people from presenting. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Can you find a supplementary? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The government has a majority in the committee, so the government can make changes at committee. Speaker, families deserve answers from their government. They deserve to know exactly who has lobbied for these changes. In our caucus, we believe families and survivors should have their voice heard. It appears the government is so ashamed of their own legislation, that the government knows there is more interest in this bill. They have the majority on the committee. They control the agenda of the committee. But in the end, the government, the government members, will the government do the right thing and open up more time in committee in a webcast room for the public to share their views on the legislation. So all the people who applied to be heard can be heard. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Government House Leader. Again, Mr. Speaker, my understanding is that this bill has been dealt with with respect through an order of this House, which all members had an opportunity to vote on. It is also my understanding, and if the member has information to the opposite, that no motion or request was made of the committee to transfer the room from where the hearings were held into a room that could be televised. If the member opposite has that request, I would certainly like to look at it, but I have certainly not seen any request. The member will also know that subcommittees are equal in this place. The government does not hold a majority on the subcommittees. It is one member of the opposition, one member of the government. The member will also know, Mr. Speaker, that the opposition has the ability to prioritize what witnesses they would like to see at committee. So I would suggest to the member opposite if he is unaware of all of these things that we can certainly arrange a refresher course for him and for the member's opposite. As a committee chair, I am surprised that he does not know this, but I would suggest to the member stop politicizing that it is so important for so many people across the province of Ontario, Mr. Speaker, in the absence of them getting the job done, we will. Thank you. Thank you. The next question, the member from London, to answer. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Premier, my London colleagues and I have repeatedly implored your government to ensure the increased number of folks needing testing would have access to tests and results. In a press conference last week, London's medical officer of health, Dr. Mackey, warned the contact tracing is not effective if it takes people a week to get back the results. And yet testing backlogs persist in London. Yesterday, just over 28,000 results were posted while 33 are still waiting to be processed. And that's a far cry from the 50,000 tests per day your government promised Ontarians. Meanwhile, parents and kids are left in limbo wondering if it's safe to go back to work and back to school. Small businesses are forced to work short-staffed and long-term care residents are separated from their central caregiver. Will this government take immediate action to address the backlogs in London? The Member for England and Lawrence and Parliamentary Assistant. Thank you, Speaker. Our government recognizes how important testing is in defeating COVID-19. And we've made it clear that testing is a priority. The sooner we can identify the cases, the sooner we can stop the spread of the virus. And it's important for the Member opposite to remember that testing is demand driven. And I also want to be clear that any person who needs a test, according to the guidelines, will receive a test. And right now you can book them immediately. And 80% of results are being reported within 24 to 48 hours across the province. And while there are always tests in progress, the situation is now stabilized and I can assure you there is no backlog. It takes time for the test to be taken, time for the test to be transported, time for the lab to run the test. So there's always going to be tests in the pipeline and then lest it exceeds our capacity which is now about 50,000 tests, it is not a backlog. Those are tests we will process the next day and the results will be available within the 24 to 48 hour period. Thank you. Thank you. Speaker, Leora is an essential caregiver to her mom who is 101 years old in long-term care. So time is very important to her and her mother. She wrote me in quote, this is what she said, this past Wednesday I went for my regular two week testing. It is now five going on six days since I was tested with no results. I cannot see my mother without results. Just advising the home that I was tested is not enough. The system is broken. The effect on our elderly is appalling. While my mother's physical needs are very well attended to, the staff does not have the time to attend to her emotional needs. They are doing their best but they need family to help. Safety is first and foremost for her and others in the home but without improved response time for providing results precious time is being lost. Will this government commit to provincial, public health units, the resources and supports they need so essential care givers aren't forced to waste precious time waiting for results? Parliamentary system Our government is committed to ensuring that Ontarians can continue to get tested and receive their results in a timely manner and that's why our government is investing over a billion dollars to expand the capacity of our provincial lab network so that more labs can be processed and ensure that the labs have the resources they need to meet our provincial testing targets and they have. This investment will include hiring more staff, more lab staff, more professional staff, improving data quality through digitizing requisition forms and other automated features. I would also like to remind the member opposite that Ontario Health has made it clear that long-term care homes and other congregate care settings have priority at provincial labs so that we can continue to work with our sector partners around the province to make sure that testing turnaround times continue to improve. So that Ontarians do not experience any untimely delays in receiving their test results. Thank you very much. The next question, the member for Oakville. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Thank you Mr. Speaker. And my question is to the Minister of Long-Term Care. We know that wait lists for long-term care have grown significantly over the last decade and a half. And that was prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The minister has spoken frequently in the House about the ongoing work being done to repair and rebuild our long-term care system. On Tuesday you announced that the government is selling surplus land to build three new long-term care homes and 900 new beds. Given the urgent need to add new capacity to provide the tens of thousands of people on the long-term care wait list with the care that they need. Can the minister please explain to this House what our government is doing to build new long-term care beds and how this announcement will help for the capacity of the people of Oakville. Minister Long-Term Care. Thank you Speaker. And thank you to the member from Oakville for his advocacy on this file. Thank you. We are delivering on our commitment to transition our seniors from wait lists to modern long-term care homes providing a warm and safe environment with the quality of care that they deserve. Developing long-term care homes on surplus government lands will help address barriers often faced by long-term care operators such as the limited supply of available land, particularly in urban areas. In Oakville this will mean additional 512 long-term care beds that will be located at 2165 Dundas Street West. This is just one piece of our government's commitment to building 30,000 new long-term care beds over 10 years. And Speaker, our government will continue to deliver on that commitment. Thank you. Please supplement your question. Thank you Speaker. Thank you Minister. That's great news for the people of Oakville and Ontario really. That's phenomenal. Speaker, many citizens of Oakville have written to my office raising their concerns about access to long-term care. I am glad to hear that progress is being made in my community and across the province of Ontario. This is a critical step towards improving the quality of life for people on the wait lists and their families. The fact is the previous Liberal government built only 611 beds between 2011 and 2018 while the over 75 population grew by over 170,000 people. Speaker, this government was elected by the people of Ontario in part because of our plan to address bed capacity in long-term care. So I'm glad to see us building nearly as many in one project and I'm glad to see one of the projects is in my community. Can the Minister please explain what else this government is doing to rapidly address capacity shortages in long-term care? Mr. Long-term Care. Thank you Speaker and a number from Oakville. Working together with our sector partners our government continues to use innovative ideas and modern solutions to pursue an aggressive modernization agenda for long-term care. Developing these three long-term care homes on surplus government land will add almost 900 new long-term care beds to the system. But our government knows that more has to be done to improve capacity. And this past summer we announced the accelerated build pilot program which is helping build new long-term care beds across the province in record speed that meet modern design standards including air conditioning and private and semi-private rooms. Speaker we have a plan to improve long-term care capacity and staffing that is much needed to coincide and we will continue to do just that. Next question, the member for Beaches East York. Thank you Speaker. The minister of long-term care and Baird who lives in my riding hasn't been able to help with her mother's care since the pandemic hit in March. Neither have her sisters. Anne's mother lives in Bertrand Place, a retirement home in Dundas. She's over 90 and in failing health and she desperately misses the health the care of her daughters. Despite the fact that there has been no COVID at the home and that her daughters qualify as essential caregivers the home is not allowing her daughters to come in to her room. Speaker, how is the minister ensuring that people like Anne's mom can have the help and visitors they need for the sake of their physical and mental well-being? The minister of long-term care. Thank you Speaker and thank you to the member opposite for that important question. Our government acknowledges and recognizes the importance of family caregivers or caregivers beyond the family for our residents in long-term care. Our emotional well-being is our focus as well as their physical safety and health. We understand the homes we understand the situation that some of the homes are in but as you mentioned homes that are not in outbreak do have an obligation to allow caregivers essential caregivers each resident can identify to caregivers and those caregivers should be allowed into the home. This is something that we will continue to work with our sector partners on to understanding the needs of our residents the needs of their families and the needs of the staff and residents other residents in the home to be kept safe. So all of this is an effort to address an issue that was long-standing over the first COVID wave and we understand the issue we're continuing to work with our partners to make sure that the access to family and essential caregivers is done. Thank you. Supplementary question. Thank you speaker and her sisters and their families have been limiting their exposure to others in order to ensure that there's no chance that they could possibly transmit COVID to their mom or inadvertently bring it into the home. It's cruel to deprivance mom of the loving care of her daughters when there's absolutely no health reason to do so and mom needs her daughters as the legislation to fix this problem and allow individuals receiving care and their caregivers to have a voice when will the minister listen to the families and pass that bill. Thank you. Thank you speaker. We are constantly monitoring the situations within our homes and again our government recognizes the importance of essential caregivers and family members for our residents and that emotional well being of our residents is really something I very much take to heart as a daughter of a family member my parent who was in long-term care I know how much it means to families to visit and I used to take my mother regularly to do that so it is something that is very close to my heart and I will continue to make sure that we take every measure possible work with our homes listen to our families and continue to address the situation that means so much to families and residents in long-term care. We will be on this continually. Thank you. The next question the member for Ottawa said Mr. Speaker my question is for the minister of long-term care at Ottawa's Starwood long-term care home there are 79 cases resident cases of COVID-19 19 staff cases nine residents have died makes it one of the worst outbreaks in the province so speaker I said before COVID-19 is like a brush fire once it starts inside a home it's hard to control so at Starwood the home's operator said in an email that delays in testing contributed to the spread of COVID-19 and it's not the first time we've heard that in the second wave and it's not good enough to say we make it a priority it actually has to happen delays in testing mean delays in cohorting and sending staff home and the minister knows that's how residents get sick can the minister tell us why those things testing is not in place to protect every resident in long-term care the parliamentary system as I said before our government is committed to ensuring that Ontarians can rely on test results and test results coming back in a timely manner and that's why we invested a billion dollars in our testing strategy so that we can have more lab capacity and get those tests turned around as quickly as possible and that's what we've been doing we've hired more lab staff we've hired more professional staff we've improved the data quality with digitizing requisition forms and other automated features and 80% of tests across the province are being returned within 24 to 48 hours so frankly that's a lot of testing we've tested over 5 million Ontarians and long-term care homes are prioritized for testing results and long-term care homes in outbreak are at an even higher priority for test results thank you speaker the supplementary question well you don't know an outbreak until you do the tests 89 long-term care homes are in outbreak this morning and earlier this year at Ottawa's western villa 20 residents died of COVID-19 you look at the dashboard you don't see the cases and both western villa and starwood are a 15 minute drive from the minister's constituency office and what happened at these homes are both very serious and every day it's really discouraging to hear the minister downplay the number of cases in the legislature on social media as if it was somehow minimized by the minority of homes being in outbreaks can't minimize the impact of COVID-19 and it's the minister's responsibility to protect every resident in long-term care the bottom line is the things that need to be in place like testing are not there for everyone so my question to the minister is this what are you going to ensure a timely test turnaround for every resident in long-term care thank you Parliamentary Assistant Prime Minister and thank you for the question as I've indicated and answered several questions we have ensured a timely test turnaround 80% of tests are being returned within 24 to 48 hours we are working on improving that even further so that we get up to 90% of tests being returned within that period of time it would be wonderful if we could get to 100% of tests being returned within that period of time but we have invested a billion dollars in testing testing is a high priority for long-term care residents and long-term care facilities which are an outbreak is the highest priority in that list and hospitals as well because we know how important it is to get those tests turned around quickly obviously we're very concerned with any institution long-term care home or hospital that is an outbreak and we want to do our best to make sure that we contain and isolate the cases as best possible to ensure that the health and safety of all of the residents is protected thank you the next question thank you Speaker my question is to the Minister of Labour Training and Skills Development as you know he's always building up success in this province but it's no secret that there is a looming labour shortage in this province with a third of journey persons in Ontario at nearing retirement age and the average apprentice being at the age of 29 years it's clear to bring more people into the trades and there's hundreds and thousands of jobs that are available across our province I can transform the lives of many people be they many young people women, new immigrants there's an opportunity for all these individuals to support a meaningful, high paying successful career but there are often as many barriers and I wanted to ask the Minister of Labour Training and Skills Development what he can tell us is to what he's doing to build up success for all those people no matter their background Minister of Labour thank you very much and I want to thank the member from Berry Innisfil for this important question and for really working within our government to get more young people into the trades ensuring that these good paying jobs often jobs with pensions and benefits in the skilled trades get filled over the next few years this is our government's mission filling these jobs is vital to keeping our province competitive for the future and building what our communities need as part of our skilled trades strategy we made investments in the trades right across the province our government recently announced $43 million which includes teaching kids from grade 1 about the skilled trades to encourage them to pursue a career in the trades additionally the Premier and I recently announced an additional $2 million to help racialized and disadvantaged job seekers train for these great careers this included $500,000 for youth employment services in Toronto to help with cloud computing and programming training for 100 racialized youth our government believes that good meaningful jobs change thank you very much well thank you Minister for the answer and there's no question that COVID-19 has taken a toll on many sectors but especially on women's economic position when it comes to STEM, manufacturing and the construction sector and I know the Minister of Women and Children has been doing many tours across the province to encourage more women to get into the skills trades and working with kick-ass careers and you see the opportunity across our province for these women with high paying jobs huge demand in our economy to tackle many of the barriers some of these women are going to the trades but not all please tell us what is she doing to get more women into the skills trades the associate minister of children and women's issues thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you the member from Berry Innisfil who is also a great neighbouring MPP Mr. Speaker the member is right we know that women have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic both at home and in the workplace and we are committed to ensuring that women are not left behind as we reopen Ontario's economy our government continues to stand and fight for all Ontario workers including women and are working to encourage them to pursue careers in the skills trades and STEM sector this past month I had the pleasure of visiting the women in skills trades program at the Burlington Centre for Skills Development over the course of their 22 week program women are equipped with the carpentry tools and training they need to launch successful careers in the construction industry alongside the Minister of Labour Training and Skills Development we announced an investment of 75 million dollars over the next two years to help apprentices cover living expenses during their in class training Mr. Speaker our work does not end here we will continue to fight for women across Ontario to make sure they are aware of the opportunities in the skilled trades and to support them along their pathway thank you next question the member for Kingston in the islands thank you Speaker and today my question is for the acting Premier on Tuesday Kingston City Council passed a motion urging this government to extend the eviction ban for arts venues for six more months entrepreneur Wendy Hewitt owner of our beloved independent cinema the screening room has seen a 75% drop in attendance since the pandemic began and says they are hemorrhaging thousands and thousands of dollars per month like many others this business could not access this provinces commercial rent subsidy arts organizations across Ontario desperately need stability and the assurances of support now if these spaces are forced to close who are we kidding they are not going to open again Speaker with that in mind will this government please step up and extend the commercial eviction ban for arts venues for six more months the Parliamentary Assistant and Member for Willowdale thank you very much Mr. Speaker and thanks to the member opposite for raising this important issue the arts industry as many businesses throughout Ontario have been facing a very difficult time instead of this pandemic and that's why this government put away partisan differences worked with all levels of government across all party lines Mr. Speaker to make sure that we provided a coordinated system of support and that's what this government has done our part has been 30 billion dollars in direct relief 241 million of that went to the commercial rent relief program which has aided over 617,000 employees here in Ontario Mr. Speaker the commercial rent program that the federal government has announced this will be tenant led as we heard at the standing committee on finance of economic affairs there is more to be done there's no question about it and that's why I look forward in a few hours to table our next step response to make sure that we protect support and recover here in the province and the supplementary question thank you Speaker and respectfully to the member opposite I was asking for an eviction ban to be extended for six months and I do hope that that is part of the budget this afternoon because all the programs in the world won't matter if these landlords decide to evict these tenants from those locations the arts and culture sector makes huge contributions to the economy and the well-being of our communities and earlier this summer with the member opposite the world-renowned Toronto International Film Festival testified at the standing committee on finance and economic affairs and told us how it generates more than 200 million in annual economic activity creates over a thousand jobs and reaches approximately 850 million people worldwide arts and cultural organizations and individual artists are the soul of our communities they create spaces of joy and celebration and with so many struggling with isolation right now these outlets are especially important in a province where we lack adequate mental health supports will the government provide additional funding for immediate and near term support and recognition of the increased costs experienced by these businesses and organizations Member for Malaville Thank you very much Mr. Speaker and again thank you to the member for his concern for this very important industry and certainly Tiff I think was missed by all members of this house as well as the valuable sector itself and the jobs it creates and the economic prosperity brought to Ontario Speaker we still must protect and support those businesses there's no question about that and our government has outlined that support in 30 billion dollars of direct relief and as I want to remind the member this is a coordinated approach with our federal partners to make sure that we fill the gaps of the relief they provide and that's why we've helped with 300 million dollars in our recent announcement to help with additional fixed costs to help with property taxes to help with other taxes and to keep hydro rates low Speaker there is absolutely more to be done as we move through the second wave and that's why our budget will be an opportunity to protect the hardworking business in the art sector to make sure that we support those businesses and also look around the corner to make sure that we have a plan for that day of recovery Thank you Thank you very much The next question member for Simcoe Gray Thank you Speaker my question is for the Minister of Education Speaker the Simcoe Muscoca Catholic District School Board received approval and funding two and a half years ago to build a much needed school sub division in Alliston after meeting all the requirements the Board is still waiting for final sign off parents, students, staff and trustees are beyond frustrated and COVID-19 has only heightened their ex-aspiration The pressure to limit overcrowding, reduce the use of portable classrooms and allow for physical distancing is greater than ever Will the Minister put an end to the delays Will he review this sorry situation with his department and see that the necessary approval to proceed to tender is finalized Minister of Education Thank you very much Mr. Speaker and thank you to the member opposite for his question The project noted as I understand the Board had submitted a request for approval to proceed to tender in August of 2020 We have reviewed it, they've also come forth with a request to increase the project budget cost We've been reviewing the matter since August I appreciate very much the community pressures in Alliston, a growing community in your riding and I'll work with the Deputy Minister's office to make sure that the Board gets an answer as soon as possible A supplementary question I thank the Minister for that question, hundreds of students are counting on you to get this project moving forward The new school will accommodate about just over 430 students right now are being bussed to Beaton Beaton is almost at capacity now for the number of portables I think we have 8 portables, we're going to grow to 12 soon which is the municipal limit at that school It is a fast growing part of the province as all ministers know once the green belt went in, Simkel County became the fastest growing region in the province because you have to leap over the green belt and then you buy your house or your apartment or whatever in my riding and in other members' riding, so in Simkel County and Great County so I appreciate anything you can do Minister time is of the essence and I'm sorry it's fallen on your watch it should have been built years ago Minister of Education Thank you Speaker and as noted the Board had come forth with a tender for approval in August, we are reviewing the matter expeditiously appreciating that families in your community want to see action in the new school very much agree the building schools during Covid is important at least for the medium term to help relieve the accommodation pressures that are rising across communities including in Alliston we just announced with the Premier 500 million dollar investment in capital, this is actually the second capital investment this calendar year two intakes of over billion dollars, roughly billion dollars to build new schools, to expand schools and to build over 1700 new childcare spaces for working parents clearly more to do and I look forward to getting to work for the people of Ontario Thank you Next question, the member for Markham Thornhill Thank you Mr Speaker my question to the Minister of Indigenous Affairs Mr Speaker, the first week in November each year is a treatise recognition week in Ontario the people of my riding know the importance of treatise with Markham being part of the Johnson-Pudler Purchases sometime is called a hunt-shot treatise Mr Speaker, can the Minister please tell this House what our government is doing to highlight treatise and their significance in Ontario Thank you The Parliament Assistant Member for Peterborough Quarry Thank you Mr Speaker, Treatise Recognition Week is an opportunity to promote awareness and understanding of treaties to form the basis of our relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples Indigenous elders and knowledge keepers like Doug Williams from my riding share their stories through living library events that are viewed online and in schools across the province. This year we've expanded our online programming to reach even more Ontarians Mr Speaker, recognizing the histories of treaties helps preserve Indigenous culture and traditions as we move forward together on the path of reconciliation Having the knowledge holders tell these stories provides a much richer experience for other people to learn Thank you and the supplementary question Thank you Mr Speaker Thank you to the Parliamentary Assistant for that answer I know many of my constituents are participating in the Virtual Living Library event this week Can the Minister please tell this House what else our government is doing to honor this important week. Thank you Parliamentary Assistant Thank you Speaker Our government is grateful to all of the Indigenous leaders and educators who share their stories and perspectives each year for the Living Library Program Additionally Speaker, Ontarians can access many more resources including our digital treaties map at ontario.ca slash treaties I'd also like to share with the House that November 8th is National Aboriginal Veterans Day May we honor the contributions of many First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples who proudly serve this country during the First World War, the Second World War, the Korean War and every conflict since lest we forget the bravery and sacrifice of Indigenous veterans who answered the call and defended this country Next question Thank you Speaker My question is to the Minister of Health Yesterday the Minister said while we have the ability to reach up to 50,000 tests per day it is demand driven so it depends on the number of people that actually show up. Speaker Londoners are showing up but they are finding it hard to get tests Arden Urbano needs a COVID test in order to travel for business Her local pharmacy has designated just one hour per day for people without symptoms to call for an appointment They must wait for a callback later before they can book a test often days out Last week she emailed me to express her frustration and described the Government's testing strategy as a complete fail Why is the Minister blaming Ontarians for not getting tested instead of accepting her responsibility to meet testing targets The Parliamentary Assistant Member for Eglinton Lawrence Thank you Speaker for the question As I've said many times we recognise the importance of testing and testing turnaround times We've made it clear that testing is a priority for our Government and we've put a billion dollars into enhancing our testing strategy We have a capacity to do 50,000 tests at this time every day However we don't always have 50,000 tests to process every day When we do those tests are able to be processed even further We're also expecting rapid tests to be approved by Health Canada and perhaps available across the country shortly and that would be another initiative which would help testing turnaround times It is possible that occasionally people do have to wait longer for tests but as I said 80% of the tests across the province are coming in within 24 to 48 hours and we think that's a fairly good result but we want to make it even better That's a supplementary question Speaker Another constituent emailed me last week to ask why when testing rates are half the provincial capacity it took four days to get a COVID test appointment at the Oak Ridge Assessment Centre for her symptomatic teenage son She wonders if confusing messaging and barriers to access testing are reducing numbers so the Government can claim that people are not coming out and this is exactly what we heard yesterday when the Minister said I'm not sure if the leader of the official opposition would like us to just go and grab people and bring them in for testing We don't want people to be grabbed We want a plan for timely testing that meets provincial targets When will we see it? Thank you We do have a plan for timely testing that meets provincial targets We're executing that plan We are meeting our targets We're able to and process 50,000 tests a day at this time and we're increasing that number every day As to the member's suggestion that you cannot get an appointment for testing I can't speak to the particular testing centre that you referred to but I do know that within the City of Toronto when I have gone on the websites of the various testing centres I've been able to get an appointment within an hour so there are many testing facilities available and we have 160 assessment sites set up around the province There are lots of testing sites available and I hope that people will be able to get the test and get the results as quickly as possible That's certainly what our plan is working toward Thank you Thank you Next question, the member for Don Valley West Thank you very much Mr. Speaker and Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Premier I've asked about the expansion of the mandate of Canada Christian College as many of us have from this side of the floor I continue to be deeply concerned not about the PCAB process which the minister uses as a shield when he answers questions but rather about the legislation that essentially preempts the objective process The well-known homophobe transphobe, Islamophobe, Charles McVidi is being supported and rewarded by this government If his bigotry doesn't give this government pause then his dubious academic background and his questionable financial arrangements should We've had a lot of opportunity to think about the need for decency in political life as we have watched the machinations and behavior of the I hope outgoing President of the United States The support of Charles McVidi is not decent Will the Premier do the decent thing and withdraw Schedule 2 from Bill 213 and cut McVidi loose Order The minister of colleges and universities to reply Thank you Mr. Speaker We talked about the process and the process is critical It's critical for a reason Mr. Speaker The most fundamental freedom we have under the Charter is Section 7 of the Charter which says that everyone has the right to life liberty, security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice Mr. Speaker Fundamental justice Mr. Speaker and to the member opposite is about procedural fairness These are principles of procedural fairness which are accountable and transparent We cannot interfere with these types of procedural safeguards It's wrong Mr. Speaker it violates the principles of fundamental justice I ask no one in this house to accept or adopt beliefs that they don't hold I accept no one to do anything of that nature I ask that you simply accept the principles of fundamental justice and principles of fairness The supplementary question So Mr. Speaker If I were asking for interference in the PECAB process then that answer would have been perfectly legitimate That's not what I'm asking about I'm asking about a political decision to preempt that very process But Mr. Speaker I have a very personal question for the Premier if he refuses to end this support of McVity and maybe the minister would like it along to him Can the Premier please provide an explanation for his behaviour to all the lesbian and gay and trans and Muslim parents in the province To all the educators and grandparents and families who will have to explain to their LGBTQ and Muslim children why their government would support a man who despises and loathes them and the people they love Because if the Premier cannot come up with an explanation then the only explanation available is if he agrees with Charles McVity or maybe if he doesn't agree with Charles McVity then the man did the Premier a favour and now he expects the Premier to do him a favour The problem with that Mr. Speaker is that this man to whom the Premier is returning a favour is full of... I'm going to ask the member to withdraw You can't impute motive Place your questions I asked the Premier what he suggests we tell our children and their grandchildren What does he suggest I say to Olivia, Claire and Hugh about why their government is rewarding someone who believes that their grandma and their gage and their uncle are evil Mr. Coleson University Thank you Mr. Speaker What the member opposite just asked what I've been hearing over and over again is that we interfere with independent processes There's a request that the government interfere in metal with independent processes There is no way to stand in the way of a PCAP process There is no way to stand in the way of an independent process But I know that the member opposite when she stood as Premier I know that that happened quite often Mr. Speaker We can go through numerous scandals that happened, numerous issues that arose and look no further than now the leader of the Liberal Party, the new leader appointed by that Premier to be the Minister of Transportation even Dalduka, the leader of the Ontario Liberal Party the former member for Vaughn the former Minister of Transportation we can talk about getting swimming pools built we can talk about doing things like go stations to avoid procedural fairness rules we don't meddle with procedural fairness Mr. Speaker, those are the right things to do The next question the member for Nickel Belt Thank you Mr. Speaker My question goes to the Minister of Health With 19 numbers on the rise Ontario must have a plan in case they are more critically ill patient than our hospital can serve On March 28 the government sent a widely condemned critical care triage protocol to Ontario hospital the Ontario Human Rights Commission many disability organization and even the government's own bioethic table have called on the government to cancel that protocol the critical care triage protocol has been criticised for allowing discrimination against people with disability who would find themselves in need of life saving medical care with a dozen major intensive care unit now operating at capacity this can become a life or death issue for people with disability in a not too distant future with the unanimous advice of her own bioethic table the Human Rights Commission the OED Alliance will the Minister cancel her discriminant story March 28 critical care triage protocol Thank you and thank you very much for raising that because that really deserves clarification I can tell you that I had nothing to do with any kind of triage protocol such as this not by me I am aware of something that did exist in draft form it never saw the light of day in terms of coming to reality and quite frankly I find the whole approach extremely offensive ageism is illegal if anyone in our long term care homes needs medical care they will receive it and that's exactly what's happening so I reject any premise that anyone is acting as a teacher such as this thank you two months ago the government's bioethic table gave recommendations to the minister of health on the rules that should govern critical care triage to replace the March 28 critical care triage protocol that has been sent to every Ontario hospital already despite the premier's promise of full transparency in the handling the government has kept the critical care triage protocol kind of a secret her minister doesn't know about it Ontarian people with disability we all deserve to know what directive the government is considering in this life and death decision making process the minister owned bioethic table the Ontario Human Rights Commission and major respected disability organization are urging the minister of health to immediately release bioethic table's recommendation presently being considered will the minister immediately make public the recommendation of the government's bioethic table on critical care triage and will she consult with people with disability on the rules that should govern critical care triage the response thank you the member opposite for the question obviously the health and well being of all Ontarians is our top priority on March 28th draft critical triage protocol for a major surge in COVID-19 pandemic was developed by a bioethics table but has been rescinded and should not be implemented or relied on and this early draft in any subsequent draft documents developed for engagement and consultation should not be used a revised framework may be shared in the future and distributed should pandemic conditions deteriorate significantly in the province our government has also introduced our comprehensive 2.8 billion dollar keeping Ontarians safe plan which will ensure that the province is ready to respond to several situations for COVID-19 and implementation of our plan is well underway we don't anticipate getting anywhere near having to use such a protocol thank you very much next question member for Mr President Mr President my question goes to the premier it's hard to believe that a government continues to justify its sneaky measure in bill 213 which gives the important power to grant university degrees to a homophobic and islamophobic man who continues to spread hatred Mr. McVity a great friend of the premier as it seems I've never really heard of this man before so let's face it after hearing him I could have done it without him if you want to have nightmares listen to this man talk it will send shivers down your spine back home we put it aside we put aside people like that but here with this government it looks like they are being awarded with the power to grant universities in arts and in science unbelievable why would the prime minister and his government want to grant such powers to a homophobic islamophobic and hateful thank you Mr. Speaker I want to expand on this a little bit more because we've been having this conversation all week the process is the most critical element of what I referred to earlier our fundamental justice fundamental justice requires that we have procedural safeguards so anyone who wants to apply for a license or designation as I said before has to be guaranteed a process I'm not sure if the members opposite I'm not sure what they would like me to do they would like me to wait outside of the computer system pack the computer systems in order to stop an application from happening no that is not reasonable and that is not what we can do there is a process now the fact that we're in this we're able to speak about this brings it out into a public domain that is transparent that is why we're here Mr. thank you very much the supplementary question thank you Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker do they stand against hate homophobia and Islamophobia yes or no if yes they will remove the schedule that they snuck into bill 213 that encourages it if they don't they will keep it so will the government do the right thing and remove schedule two of bill 213 yes or no Mr. Speaker as I've indicated we obviously respect every element of fundamental justice, everything within the Charter, equality rights, and we absolutely stand for principles of justice. We obviously do not stand for hate. But these are not synonymous as they want to be set out by the members of the opposition. What is in the bill is not synonymous at all with what they are referencing. In fact, it is all about procedural fairness as we have said time and time and time again. It is critical that we be able to enter into this chamber and have respectful debate. It is critical that we ensure that everyone has the opportunity to follow a process and that there is a clear line of what that process is. While we sit in this chamber, we have to be able to have respectful debate. And that is what we would hope for, Mr. Speaker. We are all about transparency and accountability and procedural fairness, and that is what we are doing. The next question, the member for Scarborough Southwest. Thank you, Speaker. Mr. Speaker, last month, the Minister for Small Businesses and the member from Scarborough Centre visited Cosmetica, a makeup factory, because the owner wanted to reuse red tape. This company is the same company that forced workers who feared for their own safety and health of their family members to continue working during this pandemic because this government made a makeup factory essential. And after taking advantage of these workers, 180 workers were terminated. Mr. Speaker, the regulations that protect our workers are not red tape. They are the basic rights of workers that should be upheld in this province. Can the Minister explain what backroom deals were made with Cosmetica after they fired 180 workers? Mr. Blaver. Well, Mr. Speaker, thank you to the member opposite for raising this issue today at Queen's Park. Mr. Speaker, the health and safety of every single worker has been the government's top priority during COVID-19. Mr. Speaker, that's why we recently announced that we're hiring actually more than 100 labour inspectors. That'll be the most labour inspectors that the province has ever had in its history. That's why we've doubled the capacity at the phone line centre at the Ministry of Labour. If any worker is afraid for his or her safety on the job, they can call 877-202-008 in the Ministry of Labour Training and Skills Development. We'll investigate the concerns that any worker has. Mr. Speaker, furthermore, I would let the member opposite know that they can visit Ontario.ca forward slash COVID safety to see the more than 200 resources available to workers and to every employer in the province. And the supplementary question. Mr. Speaker, over the last months I've been fighting for these workers who were laid off by Cosmetica. These employees were laid off by a company only to be replaced by workers through the agency simply to save money by this company. The employees weren't given and some of these employees weren't given a record of employment and explained their severance packages. So when I reached out to the Minister of Labour in September to let him know about these issues and asked for help because these 180 workers wanted help and without exposing themselves they wanted the Minister to ask Cosmetica so they could be explained what their record of employment looked like and how much severance were paid. The Minister simply refused and told them to expose themselves and actually file a complaint with the ESA. So will the Minister explain why he is unwilling to help Ontario's workers because the suppression of workers rights by this government has reached a devastatingly high level and it is unacceptable? Can the Minister explain why he's unwilling to help these workers, Mr. Speaker? And the Minister of Labour to the contrary, this government is standing up with workers every single day that we're in office, Mr. Speaker. In fact, the very first legislation that we brought forward during COVID-19 was Bill 186, the most progressive legislation in North America. Mr. Speaker, that legislation, that law that was supported by all members in this house tells any worker if they're in self-isolation, if they're in quarantine, if they have to stay home and look after a loved one, they can't be fired for that. We expect every single labour law to be followed in this province and if they're not, Mr. Speaker, they'll be penalties to pay. I just will come to order. That concludes our question period for this morning. Pursuant to Standing Order 36A, the member for Ottawa South has given notice of his dissatisfaction with the answer to his question given by the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health concerning testing and long-term care. This matter will be debated Tuesday, November 17th, following private members' public business. This house stands in recess until 1 p.m.