 It is now time for oral questions, and I recognize the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Thanks very much, Speaker. Speaker, my question this morning is for the Premier. Yesterday, Toronto's Medical Officer of Health released detailed modelling, which showed that without action from the Ford government, there could be more than 30,000 new cases of COVID-19 infections over the coming months, with a peak that won't arrive until the spring. Today, we have almost 800 new cases of COVID-19. So the Premier said he wants to see the evidence before he acts. Has he seen enough yet? Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. Well, we have been following the numbers very carefully as well, and there are some hot spots, as we all know, in Toronto and Peel and in Ottawa. We already have taken some steps to try and flatten the curve. The problem with what has been done is the backlog. What's happening, and the numbers that we're seeing now, is there's a result of infections that happened a week to 10 days ago. We have taken steps to make sure that unmonitored groups don't come together, that we are dealing with bars and restaurants, only six people at a table, making sure that they close earlier. We are taking steps in monitoring this. We have received our own modelling, and we are considering what needs to be done. In conjunction, I would say, with Dr. de Villa, Dr. Williams is in contact with her on a daily basis, and we are monitoring the situation very carefully. A supplementary question. Well, Speaker, if those numbers are from a week ago, who knows what the numbers really are today? That is cold comfort from the Minister of Health. The Premier spent months dithering and delaying, trying to save money when he should have been focusing on saving people. We know that the Premier failed to fund expanded testing back in April, even though the experts were pleading for him to do so. And doctors and lab technicians tell us that they're scrambling today, because Ford's Conservatives wanted to save a buck. Once again, the Premier is refusing to act. I'm going to ask the Leader of the Opposition to refer to other members by their title or their writing name. Leader of the Opposition, please. Absolutely, Speaker. Thank you. Once again, the Premier is refusing to act. Every day he refuses, this pandemic grows even worse. How much more evidence does this Premier need? How much does he need to see before he actually does something? Minister of Health. Well, we have a very substantive fall preparedness plan keeping Ontarians safe and we are putting that into action across a variety of scenarios, including putting a billion dollars into testing, tracing and contact management. That is allowing us to do far more tests than we ever have before. In fact, yesterday in Ontario we conducted 48,000 tests. That's a substantive, intently building our ability. In contrast, I would tell you that Quebec did 20,000 tests yesterday. Ontario is a leader across the country in testing, tracing and isolating, and we are doing that. We are going into communities. We are going into communities at risk and we are making sure that we seek out the cases that are causing the problems. We know that some of the cases have been in certain areas in those hotspots and that's where we are addressing our resources. The final supplement. Mr. Speaker, might I remind the Minister of Health that, in fact, a couple of jurisdictions have abandoned contact tracing because they simply don't have the resources, because this government didn't fund them to have the resources to do that contact tracing? And it's already too late, Speaker, for the thousands and thousands of families who have lost and continue to lose loved ones, that the Premier could have prevented that from happening if he had actually stepped up to the plate. But he can take action right now, and he should. All summer, he refused to make the investments needed to stop the spread in our hospitals and long-term care, to keep students and teachers safe in the classrooms, to get proper testing in place. All of that should have been done during the summer. The Premier's dithering and delays have left us completely unprepared for the second wave, which is upon us. Will the Premier finally stop ignoring the evidence? Stop trying to save a buck and invest the money desperately needed to bring order to the chaos that he has created in our province? Minister of Health, your reply. Speaker, I would say to the leader of the official opposition through you that that is absolutely incorrect. We have taken steps since the beginning of this pandemic and have invested hundreds of millions of dollars into being prepared. We have the fall preparedness plan, and we've put money behind each and every one of those steps. We're ready for the biggest flu immunization campaign in Ontario's history. We've put $935 million into hospitals this year, a 5.5% increase, which is the greatest increase in over a decade. We've put money, $124 million into opening reactivation care centres so that we can have the capacity in our hospitals to deal with COVID-19, and we've also invested over $300 million to get caught up on all of the surgeries and backlog procedures, MRIs and CT scans. We have taken every action necessary every step along the way, and we're going to continue to make those investments. We've invested, and we're responding and taking action. Thank you. The next question, once again, the leader of the opposition. Speaker, my next question is also for the Premier, but I'll inform the Health Minister that I'll take the word of experts on the front lines because those are the folks who know what's really going on and are prepared to say so publicly. Ontario's patient ombudsman confirmed in a report today what families and residents of long-term care have been telling us for months, Speaker. Decades of cuts from both the Liberals and the Conservatives have left a broken long-term care system that is unable to protect our seniors in the face of COVID-19. Understaffing, a lack of inspections, and decades of cuts have created a system where staff were forced to work when they were sick with COVID-19, couldn't access proper protective equipment, PPE, and residents were left in bed literally for months at a time. The ombudsman is joining a course of people calling for urgent changes. When will those changes be in place, Speaker? Minister of Long-Term Care to reply. Thank you, Speaker, and thank you to the member opposite for the question. It's a very important question that I'd like to provide really substantial progress in terms of what we're doing, in terms of IPAC, in terms of staffing, in terms of funding for our homes, creating the partnerships that the patient ombudsman has asked for, and I would really like to thank the patient ombudsman office and the patient ombudsman for the work that they have done on this. It was very insightful, and obviously work that was deeply felt by them, so I appreciate everyone who's working so hard in long-term care. Many of these areas that they have touched on, we have already implemented, including the partnerships, which is ongoing to make sure that our homes have support from the hospitals, as I mentioned. The staffing is a priority, and our government is putting dollars behind that, as we speak. And the caregiver piece that we have implemented at the beginning of September. So we continue to work, continue to add layers, and we'll keep at this. We will be focused, and we will continue to support. Thank you very much. Supplementary? The second wave of COVID-19 is already here, and we are seeing the tragic consequences in long-term care. Ottawa's for-profit West End Villa has seen 19 deaths now since August. Now we're seeing new outbreaks and deaths in Toronto and beaten at long-term care homes. 50 seniors, literally half of the residents at the for-profit Fairview Nursing Home have been diagnosed with COVID-19. The Ombudsman has called for urgent changes, a boost in staffing, and a protection for whistleblowers. Why are these measures not already in place, Speaker, and when will they be? Mr. Long-term care. Thank you, Speaker. So thanks for raising those issues, and that is something all of those issues are areas that we are working extremely hard on, and taking our very, our most vigilance to address them. This is happening as we speak. I want to mention again that outbreak means one resident or one staff case in the home. And right now we have 44 homes with no resident cases, although they are considered an outbreak. Two homes in Ottawa with resident cases, and those homes are stabilizing. And this is very much better compared to the first wave, whether it's through the partnerships with our hospitals, working with our chief medical officers of health, the medical officer of health, and making sure that we do every measure based on evidence, based on data. Our homes are stabilizing. Many of the homes that are in outbreak right now have no resident cases. 44 homes have no resident cases. We will continue to take advice from the patient ombudsman from other groups to make sure that we're doing everything possible to support our homes. And we'll keep doing that. Thank you. Final supplementary. Speaker, the minister talks about urgency, but what people say, what people see is dithering, delays, and penny pinching by the Ford government. What terrifies residents and frontline staff in long-term care is that despite months of promises, we still aren't ready. And she knew that because the minister received a letter identifying that by the people who have first-hand experience with long-term care. There is still no legislative minimum when it comes to standards, when it comes to hands-on care. There is still no meaningful staffing strategy. There is still not enough PPE for the workers in long-term care. Whistleblowers are still not protected here in the province of Ontario. We're doing the second wave with fewer healthcare resources, burnt out workers, and exhausted and terrified family members. The Premier promised he would spare no expense when it comes to protecting our seniors in long-term care. Why did the Premier break the promise? Thank you, Speaker. I thank you to the member opposite for the question. Unfortunately, that's a mischaracterization on many points of what is actually happening. Our government has been committed to the safety and well-being of long-term care residents. And we've not only got plans and working on those plans ever since the new Ministry of Long-Term Care, a standalone ministry demonstrating the dedication of this government, making sure that we put dollars behind our plans, initially $243 million to help stabilize our homes, the emergency orders that we put out, four sets of those, the amended regulations. We have been working speedily and active this whole time to an evolving, unprecedented threat, invisible intruder into our long-term care homes. Our homes, I have been advised, they have six to eight weeks of PPE. That was last week's announcement, $540 million, half a billion dollars going to assist our homes in staffing, in IPAC training, in minor capital repairs to enable them to fight COVID more effectively. Our government has demonstrated its willingness to understand the science, to work with the experts. We continue to do this. We will stay focused and we will get this job done. Thank you. Thank you. The next question, the Member for Waterloo. Thank you very much. My question is to the Premier. Yesterday, even as the Premier blustered about the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on small business and jobs, his President of the Treasury Board was confirming that small business tax deferrals had come to an end and boasting that he planned to collect every penny of deferred taxes from small businesses. As always, there is a massive gap between what the Premier says and what the Ford government actually does. Tax deferrals pushed debt down the road. Now the government has come to collect in the middle of phase two of this pandemic. Is this really the Premier's plan to help small business and protect jobs? The Parliamentary Assistant, the Minister of Finance. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And we recognize how difficult these times are for small businesses out there. And that's why there has been $11 billion in direct support for these businesses, Mr. Speaker. $241 million in the form of a commercial rent relief program that has provided relief to 60,000 commercial tenants here in the province of Ontario. It has over 604,000 employees who have been assisted by this rent relief program. But we understand that there is still suffering going on and that's why we continue to collaborate with the federal government just this morning. The Minister of Finance here in Ontario was communicating with Minister Freeland about additional supports and those additional supports will be coming soon. It will be announced in our multi-year plan on our recovery plan on or before November 15th of this year. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to say that those businesses in Ontario would love to see that $11 billion because they have not seen it. The Premier says he's refusing to act on desperately needed COVID measures because it could hurt small businesses and cost jobs. But those small businesses are already hurting. Jobs are already being lost. If we want to get this second wave of COVID-19 under control, we need to provide direct support to small businesses to pay for their rent which is their number one ask and to protect jobs. These half measures and now tax clawbacks will only make things worse. Will the government stop trying to save a buck? Make the investments now to save jobs and small businesses before they disappear. They deserve our real support in the province of Ontario. Associate Minister of Small Business Red Day Production. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. From the onset of this pandemic this government has been committed to supporting small businesses. And the challenges that small businesses are having and that is why we continue to not only consult but also act on those consultations like direct supports through the commercial emergency relief program that saw over 241 million from the province and close to a billion in total with the federal government support over 500,000 employees over 55,000 businesses. Our investment in digital main street to help the businesses pivot to e-commerce digital platforms helps support 23,000 businesses in this province. $2,500 grants for the hardest hit businesses. Just yesterday I had the opportunity to announce a $60 million program that will support main street businesses with $1,000 to cover the cost of PPE because they have stepped up and protected not only the employees but the consumers, Mr. Speaker. We will continue to support small businesses and invest in that. The next question, the member from Mississauga East Cooksville. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries. Minister, you often say Ontario offers the world in one province. That's why every year there are thousands of festivals and events exploring different cultures and bringing us all together. This year has brought drastic change. Festivals and events across the province were left with the tough decision to cancel all together or significantly alter their programming. My question for the Minister is what the government is doing to help these amazing festivals and event organizers successfully and safely adopt their events. Thank you. Mr. Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries. Thank you very much. I'd like to say thank you to the member from Mississauga East Cooksville. I had the opportunity over an 11-week period to travel through every corner of Ontario to be able to join him in his riding and we took in a few events and took a really nice tour of his community. I understand, Speaker, that it's very hard for Ontarians to gather and we recognize that this is first and foremost a public health crisis. We also recognize within this ministry that there's an economic and social crisis as well, which is why we flowed $9 million early during the pandemic to preserve and protect existing festivals and events who had to either shutter, or go digitally. Earlier today, I announced that the Ontario government will be putting forward a plan to reconnect Ontarians safely, virtually, digitally and through other means in order to bring Ontarians the traditional experiences that they love so much around Halloween, around Remembrance Week, around Hanukkah, Christmas and, of course, New Year's. So that $9 million will be today where we'll be retroactive to August 12th and events right up until March 31st. We can reconnect and still have that experience. And Santa, of course, is coming to town as of December 5th. Thank you. Supplementary question. Thank you, Speaker, and thank you, Minister, for being a champion for those in the culture industries across this province as they fight to overcome the challenges of COVID-19. Minister, I know I speak for many Ontarians when I say community events have been greatly missed. The ReConnect program will definitely help support many events across the province as they work to adopt to the new safety guidelines. I look forward to seeing the innovative approaches taken by organizers to ensure health and safety measures are met while still being able to connect us all together. Minister, what are some ways organizers can use the funding from this program to enhance the possibilities of a successful and safe event? Thank you. Thanks very much. Earlier today I joined MusicTogether.ca along with the Toronto original Santa Claus parade to talk about how they would be able to access this type of funding as well as municipalities across this great province. We want them to regroup, reimagine and of course reconnect with their neighbors. Some of the experiences that will be eligible for these organizations will be drive through pumpkin lighting, virtual Remembrance Day events, first holiday parades and drive by floats, static floats, drive-in music concerts and movies, holiday tree lightings and of course, I think we're all prepared to say goodbye to 2020 so we will be investing in New Year's Eve events as well. I encourage all members to go back to their communities over this Thanksgiving weekend and find out how they can access this funding and this funding will be used for eligible expenses such as programming and production, promotion, mobile applications and website development and, Speaker, we look forward to having everyone safely reconnect virtually or through drive-by experience this season. Thank you. The next question the member for London West. Thank you very much, Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Speaker, the Covid-19 pandemic has shone a light on the urgent need for access to childcare in Ontario but instead of opening up new spaces and providing some stability to the sector, the response from this government is to increase the size of childcare groupings putting 12-month-old infants in a room with 2-year-olds and making other changes that experts say will result in worse not better care. Can the Premier explain why he is using the cover of a pandemic to try and sneak through changes that could harm children in Ontario? Minister of Education. Well, thank you, Speaker. Two years ago when we came to office we had a very expensive childcare in Canada after the former Liberal government that is Order. Leader of the opposition, come to order. Member for Waterloo, come to order. Over here Government House Leader, come to order. Order. Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, come to order. Minister of Education, please reply. Thank you, Speaker. It should not be controversial that we make it clear that affordability is a centrepiece of our programme when it is clear during this recession, during this pandemic that we have many people who cannot participate in the labour market because they are hindered by access and because of affordability. Compounded by the former government who did nothing to create childcare space it was this government last year that created, helped facilitate the creation of 19,000 net new spaces. Our plan is to consult the sector as every single day now and well into the future. Member for Davenport, come to order. Place your supplementary. Member for London West. Speaker, it's not just that infants will be placed with two-year-olds. The Premier's proposed changes would also move two-year-olds from a room with 15 children to a room with 24 children. There would be fewer trained, caring ECEs and non-licensed staff filling ECE roles. Larger rooms and fewer staff is not what parents want. It's not what children need and it's not what experts and educators say is best. Speaker, COVID-19 has highlighted what families have been saying for decades. We need more high quality affordable public licensed care, not new rules to water down the care we have. I ask again, why is this government trying to bury these wrong-headed changes in the middle of a pandemic when families are already stressed to the max? Speaker, what families expect is for the government to work immediately to make sure child care is accessible for families now and in the future. Let me advise the member what in fact this consultation aims to do. We're aiming to improve quality of child care in the earlier setting. Creating flexible options for families, flexibility which does not exist for many parents. We need to make sure we have more ECs within the system. Clarifying the requirements for the inclusion of children with special needs is an important part of this consultation. Ensuring culturally relevant programming is important for new Canadians that come to this country and reducing the administrative burden and the red tape on those nonprofits, on those organizations that are providing child care within our community. We are working very hard to ensure that parents can get back to work and we will do that. Thank you very much. Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Premier. Ontarians will never forget the infamous leaked video during the 2018 campaign where the Premier promised to open big chunks of the green belt for developers. He backtracked then and he backtracked again when the public outcry against opening the green belt for development happened with Bill 66. Mr. Speaker, York Region councillors are voting on a resolution to ask the province to open the green belt land for industrial and commercial development. Every time this comes up the Premier is forced to backtrack and apologize and reconfirm a commitment to not open the green belt for development. My question is will the Premier keep his promise to the people of Ontario to maintain existing protections for all 2 million acres of the green belt even if this resolution passes your council tonight? Minister of municipal affairs and housing. Thanks Speaker and again through you Speaker to the honourable member the Premier and I and our government have been very very clear. We have indicated over and over again and quite frankly when we've received resolutions and letters and the member is right the resolution has not been debated yet. I'm not in receipt of it but we've made it very clear to people who have sent us resolutions about developing the green belt that the answer is no. I can share those with you. You know that they exist because groups that work with you have asked me on certain developments and we've been crystal clear. Speaker we will again through you we will again reiterate like I have and like the we will protect the green belt in all its views. And the supplementary question. Speaker I appreciate the minister reconfirming that commitment but the question is why does this keep coming up for debate if discussions weren't happening somewhere? And so some of this is I wondering if it's being driven by the streamlined environmental assessment for the GTAS West Highway 413 which will pave over parts of the green belt and pave over 2000 acres of prime farmland. Speaker it is Ontario agriculture week. This is the week where we celebrate farmers and we especially celebrate those farmers for their 30 billion dollar contribution to our economy and for feeding us during this pandemic. So my question to the minister is will the minister commit to protecting farmers and farmland by not paving over any prime farmland whether it's with highways or subdivisions. Minister of affairs and housing. I'm again this member we've been very clear so I have got I've got a book full speaker quite frankly about the resolutions that councils have. Member knows he can't use props. Please reply. Local council speaker are democratically elected. They have debates in their chamber just like we do. I cannot predict what requests I am going to get from Ontario's 444 municipalities. But I can tell you today speaker and I can tell the members of the house and every head of council and every community across Ontario that if you're going to give us a request to develop property within the green belt we have one short answer. No. The next question to member from Niagara west. Speaker in August of 2019 I was joined by premier forward to announce important infrastructure investments in the Niagara area. Over 1.6 million dollars of provincial funding is being invested to reconstruct 2.5 kilometers of Pelham street with nearly 10 million dollars to the Ontario community infrastructure fund with over 3.3 million dollars allocated to the city of Niagara falls nearly 1.1 million dollars for Ford area and over 1.1 million dollars to Grimsby to name just a few. Now these investments will enhance the safety and reliability of the roadways across Niagara and will have a significant impact on the region's economic development. I'm proud our government is working with partners to get projects built so I'm wondering if the speaker could tell the House about the economic benefits of building key infrastructure projects such as these across Ontario. Minister of infrastructure. Well thank you Mr. Speaker and I'd like to thank the member from Niagara west for his important question and his advocacy for his constituents. Infrastructure is one of our province's key economic drivers. It creates jobs, keeps Ontarians healthy and gets people where they need to go. Ontario has nominated over 140 road, bridge, air and marine infrastructure projects for a total provincial investment of more than 115 million dollars through the rule and northern stream of the ISIP bilateral agreement. If all the rule and northern projects nominated to date are approved by the federal government the joint investments could reach up to 592 million dollars for Ontario's communities. We are also investing in hundreds of transit infrastructure projects across the Niagara region and other communities outside of the GTHA. Our government is and will continue to work with our municipal partners, families and businesses to make smart investments in infrastructure to keep it reliable for the people of Ontario. Thank you Mr. Speaker. I know that Niagara has seen tens of millions of dollars of these funds flowing into our region and we're very grateful for the minister's advocacy. After announcing the nomination of road and bridge infrastructure projects last year this summer I was thrilled to be joined by my municipal partners and federal counterparts to share that the federal government has approved a number of these nominations. Finally Niagara municipalities can get shovels in the ground. These investments total over 14 million dollars combined and will have a positive impact on the daily lives of my constituents. For example, more conventional expansion buses can be purchased and technology can be upgraded to improve operations in the Niagara region. In West Lincoln St. Anne road will finally see the repairs it desperately needs and notably the replacement of a key well and canal bridge can finally get underway and I know the members opposite will appreciate that as well. Would the minister tell the house when the Niagara region will see more infrastructure projects like the ones announced over the summer. Thank you Mr. Speaker and thank the member for the question. As you know the projects from the Niagara area are being reviewed and we've submitted for review and we're waiting for federal approval on several more. The member from Niagara West has been a strong advocate sharing stories of damaged vehicles from blown tires to broken shocks because the potholes on St. Anne's road. Ontario's infrastructure cannot be left to crumble to a state of disrepair. We've made progress towards improving Ontario's infrastructure but the need for renewal remains. There's much more work to be done to improve the quality of life. That's why Premier Doug Ford has called on the federal government to end approval delays and invest an additional ten billion dollars per year over ten years to get shovels in the ground on infrastructure projects. Through strategic investment we can continue to help improve the quality of life for all Ontarians it's time for Ontario to get its fair share of funding. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Thank you Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Judy owns Free Times Cafe a restaurant and music venue that has been in the neighbourhood for over 40 years in my riding. Free Times supports local art and music and is a hub and an institution for the downtown Jewish community. Now Free Times is in trouble. The federal rent subsidy has ended and the second wave of COVID-19 is hitting hard. Judy cannot afford to cover the ten thousand dollars a month in rent. She can't do it. Without financial support now Free Times Cafe will be forced to shut down permanently. Speaker will the Premier commit to providing direct rent relief to small businesses like Free Times. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker and certainly we are understanding of the difficulties that businesses like Free Times are going through during these during this pandemic Speaker and that's why our government reacted very quickly in March with 3.7 billion dollars in direct supports and increased that total in August to 11 billions in supports for individuals and businesses Mr. Speaker and our Associate Minister of Small Business and Retail Production has done hundreds of hours of consultations with small businesses as has the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs and Mr. Speaker we continue to collaborate with our partners in Ottawa. We understand that there is more to be done and more will be done. Thank you. The supplementary question. Thank you. It's very important that the buck is just not passed to the federal government and back and forth. These small businesses are waiting for real action. They are going under across my writing across my writing across my writing across my writing across my writing across so many of our writing small businesses are struggling to keep their businesses open every single day I get contacted by businesses who say I can't make it work anymore. Kathy an owner of Santosia yoga studio she can't afford the money to invest in virtual classes. Monty the owner of bow tie noodles can't pay the utilities which cost upwards of $1500 a week and Snicky D's the iconic music venue in my writing is also facing closure. Speaker it is not enough to rely on the good will of landlords or to offer grants for PPE. We need real relief. When will this government take real measures to save main street? Thank you very much Mr. Speaker and yes the member is correct and saying that small businesses face a number of challenges and she mentioned PPE and I was so happy to hear our questions. The minister of small business red tape production announced $60 million in a grant directly for $1,000 for businesses with 10 employees or less Mr. Speaker. There's been a number of initiatives that we've introduced in that $11 billion bucket we announced in August Mr. Speaker but we recognize that there is more that needs to be done and that's why we continue to consult with this sector we continue to work with our partners in Ottawa and call on them for work together to provide small businesses that relief Mr. Speaker it's good that this government exercise fiscal prudence in its first two years because that's why we have those funds available to protect those small businesses and we will get through this together. Thank you Mr. Speaker. The next question and member for Ottawa staff. Thank you very much Speaker and my questions for the minister of long-term care. Yesterday Ontario's patient Ombudsman Kathy responded to COVID-19 in Ontario's long-term care homes and among the 568 complaints she received she noted that there are errors that cause some workers to be working with a COVID positive 19 patient without PPE. Infected COVID-19 residents being left in the same room as an uninfected resident and staff shortages that required some people to work 15 to 18 hours a day and the SWAT teams the ministry promise were slow and not effective. The Ombudsman says many of the key public health risks remain the same for a second wave and Ontario should not expect a different result under the same conditions. So Speaker through you what is the minister of long-term care doing to protect residents in long-term care home and prevent the COVID-19. Minister of long-term care. Thank you Speaker and thank you to the member opposite for the question. Our government across ministries working with the our sector and working with the experts the scientific experts the medical experts the public health experts working with all hundreds of people really to address the issues in long-term care so staffing obviously priority you've seen the dollars put forward $540 million just recently announced to address staffing I pack the PPE we're providing six to eight weeks of PPE for all our long-term care homes that is done from our government ministries to make sure that they have the protection that they require and I will acknowledge that in the first wave the global competition for PPE created numerous challenges we were getting PPE to our homes some of them only within 24 hours of need we were getting them there we're continuing to work on staffing with the Ministry of Health we are putting dollars behind that we are continuing to work on staffing I pack capacity emergency stabilization and thank you very much and the supplementary question so reasonable rational thoughtful people across this province patient ombudsman infectious disease specialist chief medical officers of health are all saying the same thing they're sounding the alarm so 14 homes in Ottawa are an outbreak that's two more than yesterday that's in the minister's backyard one of those homes west end villa has more than 130 cases and 19 residents have died that's not a result that any of us want speaker I don't want to hear answers with zeros attached to it because that's not what matters what matters is what's actually happening in the homes and it's not happening and people are telling the minister that and I don't know if she's not listening through you speaker what is the minister going to do to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Ontario's long-term care homes and protect them thank you thank you speaker and thank you to the member opposite for the question our government multiple ministries experts are working round the clock to ensure that our homes are supported in as many ways possible looking at the scientific evidence as it evolves but I want to take you to task a little bit on the numbers you mentioned because I was very clear earlier in this chamber that only two homes in Ottawa have any resident cases and you've mentioned in over 100 cases that is reflective of the staff that is being tested and our testing our surveillance mechanisms are working and we're picking up the tests that are positive and the staff are self-isolating at home our surveillance is working 98% of our homes across Ontario do not have any resident cases the two homes in Ottawa the West End Villa is being well taken care of the Ottawa hospital is involved the chief my heart goes out to everyone who's been affected by this we will continue to do everything possible to use every tool every measure but I do take the exception to the order the next question the member for Burlington thank you so much speaker my question is for the minister of children community and social services over the last few months we have had we have all had to adapt our lives to the new normal Ontarians have stepped up made sacrifices and worked hard to curb the spread of COVID-19 but doing so has challenged families across the province especially those caring for children with special needs through you speaker minister what has our government done to provide support to families caring for children with special needs children community and social services thanks very much speaker and thanks to the member from Burlington for the question this morning speaker our government knows that providing support to families caring for children with special needs is crucial to ensuring that all members are able to thrive and that's why our government is investing in additional $20 million in the special services at home program and that will ensure more than 4,700 families get the help and support that they need to access things like respite so they get a break and programming for their child as well this investment builds on existing initiatives like the care tax credit that our government introduced last year that means that families with children with severe disabilities are getting $8,250 per child in relief in child care expenses which is really important for those families you know we want these families to know and we know they're experiencing extremely trying times right now during COVID that their government is here to help them during that difficult time thank you very much and the supplementary question thank you so much minister for all your hard work and compassion and passion minister I'm glad to hear that our government has expanded the reach of the special services at home program to an additional 4,700 families with an investment of $20 million but minister during the outbreak of COVID-19 these families are spending more time at home and many do not have access to their normal supports as we all work together to stop the spread of COVID-19 what is our government doing to ensure that families receiving funding through the special services at home program are able to take advantage of this investment minister thanks again to the member from Burlington who does an outstanding job in representing these families in her community speaker when we announced this investment we knew that funding alone wasn't going to be enough we needed to make sure that families would be able to spend their funding on what they needed when they needed it and that's why we made it flexible speaker that's why we expanded the list of eligible expenses to accommodate activities and services and supports that can be offered to individuals in their own homes because a lot of them were confined to their own homes unfortunately this included access to items like arts and craft and recreational facilities and fitness activities and technology and those types of devices that they would normally access through their day programs which unfortunately have been cancelled because of COVID-19 we provided families with 25% of their funding for this year in advance and we knew these families needed support and our government was quick to act to help thank you the next question the member for Kitchener Center thank you Mr. Speaker my question is to the Premier this week my office is from Paul Wyman whose wife Ursula is at A.R. Gowdy long-term care home in my riding of Kitchener Center recently Paul became an essential care worker for Ursula this allowed them to reunite after months of separation and it renewed her spirit but then the second wave hit Speaker Paul placed 20 calls to make an appointment to get tested so he could be with his wife only to find out that everything was booked solid for an entire week so Mr. Speaker my question is to the Premier can the Premier tell Paul when he will be boosting testing capacity especially for essential care workers so that people can finally be with their loved ones the Deputy Premier and Minister of Health thank you well I can tell the member opposite that we are already boosting capacity we indicated that in a previous question that we conducted 48,000 tests yesterday and we're well in our way to our 50,000 goal by the end of this month and onward to 68,000 by mid-November we're boosting capacity and our lab capacity at the same time however we're asking for a bit of patience because we have moved to this new online appointment facility which is better for people in the long run because once they have the test they will receive the results sooner so please ask him to continue with the request there may be the possibility that he can get tested at a pharmacy as well if he wants to try and book an appointment through a pharmacy for a test and the supplementary thank you Mr. Speaker and back to the Premier Paul is not the only one who's raising this issue in my office Ken is an essential caregiver for his 96 year old mother who's also a resident at AR Gowdy like Paul, Ken told me that the testing backlog is keeping him from caring for his mother on two to three hours outside of Kitchener just to get tested families are filled with anxiety because they cannot reach their loved ones but the Premier keeps telling us that this is all part of his plan so will the Premier explain why there are no mechanisms in place to allow essential caregivers to be given testing priority and how he plans on fixing the mess that he's made Mr. Pell we are boosting capacity on a daily basis our numbers keep going up about 40,000 tests about two weeks ago or at 48,000 yesterday and we're continuing to grow we want essential caregivers to be able to go into long-term care facilities to help care for their loved ones but I might suggest as we are expanding capacity into more pharmacies and other locations we want to be able to have more locations available for people to be tested but perhaps calling a pharmacy and arranging an appointment there if he's asymptomatic which I'm assuming he is to try and obtain an appointment there might be the best way for him to proceed because there is an ability for people who are essential he's an essential caregiver in a long-term care facility I think that would probably be the best way for him to try and approach it to be able to get in sooner to be with his loved one at the long-term care home the next question remember for Ottawa Vanier thank you very much Mr. Speaker my questions for the Premier Ottawa has set a record again today Mr. Speaker 182 new cases in the nation's capital and Madonna Care Community in Orleans is experiencing its fourth outbreak of COVID-19 COVID has penetrated Madonna's iron ring that the Premier said he would build four times Mr. Speaker residents living in Madonna are facing the sixth and seventh invasive comfortable COVID-19 test and of course they're facing the isolation that comes with the declaration testing backlogs are stopping some employees from showing up to work and now staffing agencies are using loopholes and government regulations to move employees from one location to the next when is the government going to close the loophole and permanently and properly staff long-term care homes in Ottawa Mr. Speaker thank you and thank you for the question to the member opposite first of all let me address Madonna and in Ottawa there are only two homes with resident cases Madonna care community has no resident cases fourth outbreak it has and again I reiterate the definition of an outbreak can mean no resident cases no case of COVID in the home but the staff being picked up on surveillance testing to make sure that they do not enter the home while they're positive so this is working we know that Ottawa, Toronto Peel York our hotspots right now their prevalence in the community of COVID-19 is being monitored and I know that many eyes are on that to assess the situation and understand what can be done the staffing is a critical piece we've acknowledged that from the beginning and we were working on that ever since we were a new ministry in 2019 and this summer staffing was a priority we will continue to put dollars behind that as we did last week we will continue to work on that with the plan with the ministry thank you very much the supplementary question thank you Mr. Speaker my supplement is also with the Premier was another record today in Ontario 797 cases province wide Mr. Speaker and for profit clinics are charging $250 private pharmacies are making money offering COVID-19 tests Mr. Speaker and the Ontario government is shipping COVID-19 samples to private for profit labs in California Mr. Speaker because they haven't invested in public health care here in Ontario proudly tested in California at the top of all the test results Mr. Speaker how long is the government going to rely on private for profit to tier American health care to get us through COVID-19 the government host leader to reply thank you Mr. Speaker as the health minister has said and as the Premier has said testing remains a priority for the province of Ontario we've significantly increased our capacity since the first wave going from 5,000 in the early days to as the minister of health just reported 48,000 yesterday at the same time we've increased our capacity Mr. Speaker but we will spare no expense to make sure that the people of the province of Ontario their health and safety is maintained Mr. Speaker that's why the minister of health the Premier and this government put forward a significant fall preparedness plan that is working and that is showing results and is quite frankly the envy of Canada thank you Mr. Speaker Thank you the next question the member for St. Catharines Thank you Speaker and my writing Deb Turkovich this week she discovered her daughter's class at 27 students will be increasing no not decreasing more students are returning to the classroom because they are finding that the virtual schools are just not working we all have heard from parents that are struggling to manage the cost of staying home while losing income it is clear that this government has not given any real or safe choices for parents will the Premier listen to the evidence listen to the residents of Niagara like Deb and commit to keeping our children safe by capping class sizes to 15 Mr. Speaker Minister of Education I want to thank the member for the question obviously we are fully committed to the safety of children in Niagara and across the province it's why Speaker in Niagara for the district school board there's available funding of over 71 million dollars specific for COVID between funding provided by government and the unlocking of reserves what that has led to is hiring of teachers it's hiring of custodians and we're seeing classroom sizes in kindergarten at 20 grade 1 to 3 at 17 children in grades 4 to 8 at 23 well below the provincial average what we have said clearly Speaker is that in every region for every student we will provide them with the funding and the resources to ensure that they are safe and that is our obligation in all regions of this province Mr. Speaker, back to the premier we have 14 schools in Niagara with COVID cases so far because community spread is spiraling out of control that's because community transmission is increasing for Deb and her family they know that protecting children cannot be done in schools alone it takes community with adequate resources in fact when Deb's husband presented symptoms for COVID-19 it took him seven days to get a call back for a test yes I said seven days just for a call back shame families in my riding St. Catharines and in Niagara are struggling with unsafe overcrowded classrooms on one hand and fearing transmission in their community because of under resource assessment centers on the other hand why is the premier unwilling and unprepared to fund smaller classrooms or provide resources so assessment centers can keep up Mr. Speaker we should be proudly supporting the work of our frontline health practitioners, our nurses and doctors our teachers and administrators who are working very hard to keep us safe Mr. Speaker, just for context in this province when you compare us to a jurisdiction like Quebec yesterday they have a population of 8.5 million people we have 14.5 they tested 20,000 people and yet they have three times the cases two-thirds two-thirds speaker, three-fifths the population half the test three times the cases it is clear speaker we are doing everything possible within our schools, within our communities to reduce the risk to ensure our kids are safe and I am grateful for the work of our doctors and nurses those on the assessment centers and our teachers doing everything they can going above and beyond to keep this problem the next question the member for Cambridge my question is for the Minister of Health prior to the 2018 election the Premier on the campaign trail said he was dead against injection sites he promised to focus on rehabilitation instead but after winning the election what did we see the government decided to fund 21 consumption sites across Ontario another flip-flop, another policy implemented by the previous government that this government has embraced in August the Mayor of Cambridge had a delegation meet with the government and requested that the province fund a drug injection site in my writing of Cambridge constituents oppose such a move my question is does the government intend on funding a drug injection site in the writing of Cambridge Minister of Health I am very proud of our government for supporting consumption and treatment services sites they are saving lives they are absolutely necessary in the communities that have them have reported a significant improvement there still is more work to do we have not received applications from all municipalities that want to have consumption and treatment services site in their writings or in their communities if they want to we are examining them very closely and we encourage municipalities to come forward with them so any suggestion that this was a wrong decision I think would be really rebuked and denied by the communities that already have them because there is no question they are saving lives the supplementary Mr. Speaker it's an interesting response seeing as how in Alberta when an site was introduced we saw first responders responding to overdose calls on a daily basis and that went up from 24% to 67% an increase of 2.5 times and there are other examples across Canada in Cambridge there is a demand for rehabilitation and treatment for laws to be enforced for criminal acts and things giving and for jobs communities should be given the option to have centres that strictly focus on rehabilitation without consumption this government has not given communities that choice they have only a one size a fit sole take it or leave it option a drug injection site or nothing at all my question is will the government provide the communities with the option of applying for centres that only focus on rehabilitation without consumption or will it stick to finding only these sites and provide no funding for any other possible solutions like rehabilitation and treatment centres Minister Pell well to be clear first of all municipalities are able to apply for consumption and treatment services sites in many communities have done that and as I indicated they are receiving good results however we also announced yesterday that we are investing $176 million in community mental health supports rehabilitation services as well that is going to be open to municipalities to ask for to apply for and we are already in the process of working with many communities to do that we're at KMH yesterday for an announcement where they're opening a response centre for people who are in very serious condition that's been expanded tremendously and we want to provide other communities across the province with rehabilitation services in addition to consumption and treatment services sites you're right the rehabilitation part is very important sometimes through the consumption treatment services sites can be helped into rehabilitation after they've been receiving services there that's part of the purpose that they're there but we then have to make sure that we have the rehabilitation thank you very much next question thank you Mr. Speaker this province is experiencing a crisis and yet this government has cut $161 million in supplements for shelter funding they've frozen funding for the homelessness prevention program they've cut the ending homelessness program funding by 25% they cancelled the basic income pilot all these cuts that your government has made are fueling this crisis in the middle of this pandemic the City of Toronto has released a plan to build 3,000 affordable supportive housing units immediately and 350,000 over the next 10 years they are asking for provincial support to fulfill that plan will your government commit to supporting the City of Toronto plan to build affordable housing Mr. Ms. Fullfair is in housing well thanks Speaker through to the honourable member I know now that he's not the finance critic because some of his financial information that he's released both in this house and outside this house is totally incorrect our government has worked very closely with the City of Toronto and all of our 47 service managers and our two indigenous program administrators just in the house just a day or two ago the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services in response to a question talked about how our government early on in the pandemic provided $200 million in advance to our municipalities to help those most vulnerable people and now the total amount of dollars that we're providing municipalities are over $510 million every statistic and again the member talks about saying that community homelessness monies have been cut that's absolutely false the number he's quoting is from the estimate for the affordable lands project you can't buy lands twice we don't buy it every year we provided an affordable lands project we moved on to the next program and again thank you Mr. Speaker in June 2019 the federal parliamentary budget officer reported that the provincial government your government cut $161 million from rent supplements and shelter funding that's the federal budget officer it's not my numbers that the federal budget officer's numbers this week I was just speaking with a member from St. Catherine's she said that people are lining up for hours around the block at a church to get a shower who are experiencing homelessness there are 10 encampments in Hamilton there is one park in my riding with 60 tents and more than 100 people living in it the residents in my riding business owners and people experiencing homelessness came together this week and we asked three things from this government reverse the cuts we want to see on homelessness and support the city's plan to build affordable housing will you do any of those things to address this crisis Mr. Speaker the Canada Ontario community housing initiative dollars for the city of Toronto this year are up from last year the community homelessness prevention initiative for the city of Toronto this year compared to last year the dollars that we provided in the pandemic $39 million under the community quarter the social services relief fund and the fact the city is eligible and we're encouraging them to ensure that they get their long-term sustainable plan in an additional $118 million the strong communities rent supplement program is exactly the same amount of money this year is what the city received last year in total $384 million that the city received or is eligible for is up compared to last year up compared to the year before and up compared to the year before that it's up, up, up question period has come to a conclusion I understand the member for Toronto St. Paul's has a point of order thank you speaker I'm honoured to stand in the presentation of Ontario today and recognise this month being women's history month and also October 11th is the international day of the girls and October 18th is persons day may we never forget the undeniable contributions of women and girls past and present and may each and every one of our actions as legislators seek to uplift and amplify women and girls voices and act on their calls for justice and equity thank you members for the point of order but good news nonetheless thank you and before I recess the house I want to extend my best wishes to all the members their staff and the staff of the assembly for a very happy thanksgiving and a good week next week when you have a chance to be back in your writings to reconnect with your constituents and your families and do your constituency work this house stands in recess until 1pm