 Welcome all of our guests. It is therefore now time for Question Period, the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Energy. Each and every day I hear another story from another family or senior they can't afford their hydro bill. Some parents have had to cancel their children's extracurricular activities. Long-term care homes are being put to the brink. Hospitals. I've heard from hospitals that have to cut necessary medical staff to pay their hydro bills. Seniors will have to leave their heat off because they can't afford the bill. And why is this all happening? Because the auditor general revealed this government overpaid for renewable energy $9.2 billion. So Mr. Speaker, my question to the Minister of Energy is this. Tell me if the $1.3 million in donations to the Ontario Liberal Party was worth overpaying for hydro contracts by $9.2 billion. You are already giving me signals that I may have to tighten things up a little, and I will. If it's necessary, I'm asking you to stop now. Minister of Energy. Thank you Mr. Speaker. I'm very pleased to rise and answer the question from the leader of the opposition. He talked about hospitals Mr. Speaker. I was very proud to be at my hospital in Greater Sudbury Health Sciences North which actually worked with Greater Sudbury Utilities which is actually saving $300,000 a year Mr. Speaker and electricity savings because they use one of the programs that we brought forward Mr. Speaker. We've got so many programs out there to help small businesses, to help hospitals, to help long-term care centers Mr. Speaker that they can take advantage of this and many long-term health centers Mr. Speaker can save up to 34% if they get on the ICI program Mr. Speaker. So we've got programs out there that are helping organizations right across the province. And in terms of fundraising Mr. Speaker, I want to know why you'd have to pay $2,000 to Gulf with the leader of the opposition Mr. Speaker. A member from Glen Gary Prescott Russell come to order and if it sounds like it's going to sound now, I'll move to warnings. Thank you, supplementary. Mr. Speaker, back to the Minister of Energy and since the minister does not want to talk about the donations to the Ontario Liberal Party and the contracts that should not have been signed, we could try something else Mr. Speaker. I want to read to you a quote from the Minister of Community Safety and Social Services and I quote, he said the Ontario Energy Board certainly should not be justifying a rate increase based on the fact that they believe there is too much conservation because that sends the wrong message. Well Mr. Speaker, it certainly does send the wrong message. It's absurd, but Hydro Ottawa is doing exactly that trying to raise rates for those who conserve and so far the Minister of Energy refuses to stand up for those people. Mr. Speaker, does the Minister of Energy agree with the Minister of Community and Social Services and will his government, will the Liberal government finally condemn what Hydro Ottawa is doing and say very clearly it is unacceptable to charge more for conserving? Yes or no? Will you do it? Thank you Mr. Speaker and I was very pleased to be with my honourable colleague in the Sioux Sainte-Marie area talking about all the great programs that we're bringing out Mr. Speaker to help the families in Sioux Sainte-Marie area and to help families in Ottawa Mr. Speaker. In relation to the OEB, the OEB has done a very good job as being a quasi-judicial organisation Mr. Speaker and an arms reach from the government and they've made sure Mr. Speaker that they've actually seen rates go down when asks have come in place. Let me show you their strong record of reviewing rate applications with the consumer in mind Mr. Speaker. When Hydro 1 asked for a rate increase for distribution it received a 9% reduction for its capital request Mr. Speaker. Hydro 1 once again asked for a rate increase for transmission received a 3% reduction for its capital request. When OPG applied for a 6.2 rate increase in 2011 OEB denied that request and lowered rates by 0.8% Mr. Speaker. The OEB has a good track record of consumers in mind Mr. Speaker. Final supplementary. Mr. Speaker again to the Minister of Energy the Minister of Energy does not want to talk about the donations to the Ontario Liberal Party for these renewable contracts. The Minister of Energy does not want to talk about the fact that they're now charging people more for conservation. I don't think the Minister understands how this is affecting families. Let me tell you a letter I got from my own variety in Simcoe North from Dawn and Carolyn Coppin from Pennet-Anglicine. They are two seniors 73 and 80. Dawn and Carolyn own their own home but they still have a mortgage. They have energy efficient bulbs and they use the air conditioner as little as possible. They even kept all their appliances off for 16 days this summer but they still can't afford their hydro bill. Mr. Speaker it's a significant amount of money. Seniors are being forced to the brink and so my question Mr. Speaker is rather than window dressing will this government finally help Ontario seniors when it comes to the out of control hydro bill? Minister of Energy. Thank you Mr. Speaker and I do hope that the honourable member is telling that... I'm going to remind the chief government whip that holding things up as props are not allowed in the house and I will have them confiscated if it happens again and I will offer him a warning. Please finish. Thank you Mr. Speaker. I do hope that the honourable member is telling that family the OESP program in which seniors Mr. Speaker seniors can qualify for up to 75 dollars a month off of their bill Mr. Speaker and come January 1st these families as well Mr. Speaker will be getting that 8 percent reduction once the legislation passes through this house and also I'm hoping he's telling those families about that save on energy program to work with their utilities to make sure that they can find other ways Mr. Speaker of reducing their electricity bills because we do Mr. Speaker have many programs in place to help these families and when it comes to fundraising Mr. Speaker I know it costs $2,000 to play as a person with the leader of the opposition but also to have a state Mr. Speaker at Barbarian Steakhouse $5,000 to play Mr. Speaker. Start the clock. New question. The member from Dufferin Keller. Thank you. My question is to the acting premier. I have an email from a mother of a young boy named Conrad. Conrad has autism and attends Yes, I can nursery school. Let me share what his mother had to say. Yes, I can has been life changing. We don't say this lightly. It has changed the lives of us Conrad's parents and it's changed the lives of his sisters and most importantly it has had an enormous impact on the life of Conrad. Mr. Speaker, can the liberals please explain to Conrad and his family why yes, I can will be forced to close their doors. Is that the premier? Associate Minister of Education. Thank you Mr. Speaker and I want to thank the member opposite for the question. Absolutely, our government wants to give our kids the best start in life. That's why we are making sure that we're moving more than a billion dollars towards childcare in this province on a yearly basis. In addition to that, we are now transforming the way we deliver childcare and what we are doing is moving our capacity to 100,000 new licensed spaces over the next five years. It comes to yes, I can, daycare and ensuring that our children there get the best start in life. I want the member opposite to know that we are actually providing the city of Toronto 351.7 million dollars in order to ensure that the childcare spaces and centres in the city are taken care of. 300,000 of that is being moved forward to yes, I can childcare. In addition to that, there was one term transitional funding that we move forward to the centre. That funding was one time transitional funding. Thank you very much. Your transformation is leading to a closing of the doors of yes, I can which has been doing exceptional work in the city of Toronto. Back to the acting premier. The Liberals keep telling us yes, I can can talk to the city but I won't do any good. There is no mechanism for the city of Toronto to provide funding. In fact a director of the city's children services branch wrote exactly that to the school. There is no operating funds available to your agency outside of the current mechanism. I repeat, no operating funds. Mr. Speaker, will the Liberals stop passing the buck and give yes, I can to the city of Toronto to ensure that there are minimal funding. She promised nine years ago. Thank you. First of all, $351.7 million going to the city of Toronto to ensure that the childcare spaces and centres in the city are getting the support they need. In addition to that, as I mentioned earlier, 300,000 is being moved forward funding of $150,000 actually it was moved forward more than once it was one time transitional funding in the end totaling $450,000 that was only supposed to be one time transitional funding to enable them and ensure that they were coming up with a plan that they needed in order to be able to take care of a financial sustainable financial plan but let me just tell you about our transforming of child care that is going to be starting off from 2017 and over the next five years we are working on that plan and the Minister of Children and Youth Services just chirped these are this is a private operator is that really the issue is the problem that they are private child care operator instead of a public one back to the acting premier I want to share more of what Conrad's mom had to say she asked that we quote imagine the immense feeling of relief we as parents feel knowing our son with special needs is being taken care of as if he is a member of the school's family she asked you to try and visualize the look of joy and Conrad sisters eyes as they heard him say his first word sing his first song and best of all play with them Conrad's mom added this school has changed all of our lives and we cannot imagine life without it Mr. Speaker will the acting premier tell Conrad and Conrad's mom dad and sisters why Conrad won't be able to attend the school any longer thank you and I would also appreciate the conversations that are going on between caucuses while the question is being put not to take place minister thank you mr. Speaker and I really look forward to the opportunity to talk about what we're doing in child care because I really think that this is a historic initiative and it really shows the vision stop the clock please I will ask the same we'll make the same comment as I just made for another group of people the conversations will stop here I don't need the member from trinity spadina to armchair quarterback I'm not impressed answer please thank you mr. Speaker and that's why we have committed to transforming the way we deliver child care in this province we understand that that's a conversation that can't go one way it has to happen with a number of the stakeholders out there and parents and people who are actually informed about what our child care system needs in this province so we are getting ready to have consultations across the province and have those conversations to find out where we should be looking and concentrating our efforts I want you to know that when we came into government in 2003 the party opposite had actually supplied parents in this province with 10% of the spaces that children needed when it came to child care we immediately move forward to double that capacity and now we're moving forward to double that to 40% new question the leader of the third party thank you very much mr. Speaker my question is to the acting premier rather than the deputy premier speaker the mayor of Toronto says he's discussing the sell-off of Toronto hydro with the premier my question is does the government think it's a good idea to sell off Toronto hydro thank you mr. Speaker and I'd like to thank the leader of the third party for that question ultimately mr. Speaker decisions on how to imagine manage Toronto hydro are at the discretion of the mayor and council of the city of Toronto and the province will not interfere mr. Speaker with what is an important decision under municipal jurisdiction mr. Speaker in fact you know what mr. Speaker we at on this side of the house mr. Speaker are looking at broadening our decision with hydro one the decision is facilitating key investments mr. Speaker and infrastructure priorities right across the province that is improving lives and the quality of lives of people of Ontario and there's a few examples mr. Speaker and I know I'll be able to get more in the supplemental but 13.5 billion dollars is being invested in the G the go regional express rail in the G THA mr. Speaker with the quadruple the number of weekly to 6,000 mr. Speaker there are so many great infrastructure projects going right across the province mr. Speaker that I'll get more to that in my supplemental thank you mr. Speaker this government is not only leaving the door wide open to selling Toronto hydro and it indeed is in fact willing to facilitate that sell-off with brand new tax giveaways but there are more than 70 local hydro utilities in this province speaker and so that begs the question which other local utilities local hydro utilities does this government hope will become private for-profit corporations thank you mr. Speaker back in 2012 the LDC panel presented a report that talked about the Ontario distribution sector review panel and it recommended that LDCs merged to create 8 to 12 regional LDCs through mandatory consolidations mr. Speaker and the panel suggested that this would result in a net benefit of roughly 1.2 billion dollars mr. Speaker in present value terms and so after the consolidation report mr. Speaker this is actually money that we can go and put back into the system to continue to put downward rates or downward pressure on rates for ratepayers mr. Speaker consolidating is actually something that the panel is recommending and if you look at California for example mr. Speaker with the population of 30 million people they have four LDCs mr. Speaker we have 72 we have voluntary consolidation out there mr. Speaker and it's something that would benefit the ratepayers here here final supplementary well speaker the bottom line is that selling off hydro one and selling local hydro companies might be good for mr. or rather the the minister's friends and people at the top that the Liberals tend to actually spend a lot of time helping out but it's not good for everybody else it's lousy for everybody else because it's families and businesses that pay the freight minister of tourism culture to the very few people at the top with these privatization schemes and guess what families and businesses in this province simply cannot afford it speaker while the premier might like to pretend that she is saying no to the cost of hydro it's simply not true rather than she has no say over the cost of hydro it's simply not true we know that these privatization schemes increase the price of our electricity across the province of Ontario selling off the hydro system absolutely means bills question go up the cost of electricity is four times higher than it was when this government took over why is the government making things worse when they could be saving the people of this province by stopping any further thank you mr. Speaker and I do have to say it's disappointing to hear that you know the great work that was done by this panel with some great people that put a lot of time and effort into this to recommend this mr. Speaker one person that's very well respected by all parties is Floyd Lagrant who was on this committee who brought forward this report mr. Speaker so you know what mr. Speaker we're finding ways and continuing to find ways to save billions of dollars for ratepayers the voluntary consolidation Peter speaker is one way that this could happen in terms of the broadening the sale of hydro one I was talking earlier about all of the great infrastructure projects that are happening across the province I know I talked about you know the grow the go regional express the Eglinton crosstown LRT one billion is being invested in the infrastructure for ring of fire mr. Speaker the Ontario community infrastructure fund being tripled to 300 million dollars not only 20 million dollars to my community 173 million dollars on highway 69 mr. Speaker I know I'm running out of time but we keep having more and more infrastructure investments right across the province for the deputy premier speaker yesterday the liberals and the conservatives once again voted in favor of privatizing hydro one and helping to privatize local utilities local hydro utilities so can the government tell the people on what page of their platform did it say that they were going to dole out tax giveaways worth over a hundred million dollars to help privatize even more hydro utilities in this province including Toronto hydro thank you mr. Speaker and once again I'm very pleased to stand and rise to answer this question because I know the platform talked about jobs and growth mr. Speaker and the investments that we're making with you know the broadening the sale of hydro one mr. Speaker I know I didn't have enough time the last time so let me continue mr. Speaker the here Ontario LRT in Mississauga and Brampton will provide 20 kilometers of new modern reliable rapid transit beginning in 2022 mr. Speaker thanks in part to a 1.4 billion dollar investment mr. Speaker by this government another one billion dollars will support phase two of Ottawa's LRT expansion mr. Speaker and I know mr. Speaker I talked about 173 million dollars coming to help expand highway 69 to four lanes mr. Speaker that's doing great things for us in the north not only does making our highways safer it's actually bringing more jobs and growth to our communities because we have opportunities for businesses to see us as part of the 400 series of highways mr. Speaker and I want to thank really thank the minister from transportation for seeing the importance of that and investing in them mr. Speaker because we're doing great things right across the province building jobs and building this province up mr. Speaker everywhere I go in Ontario people tell me that they can't afford their hydro bills this government is not understanding where the people of this province are at they tell me that they are bitterly bitterly disappointed in the premier and her party because the hydro sell-off is making life harder for folks instead of making life better and that is not what was promised to them during the last election speaker when people tell me they can't afford privatized hydro one or the sell-off of local hydro their local hydro company it begs the question for me what does the economic development does the government think these people are wrong does the government think Ontarians are wrong when they're saying we shouldn't be selling off our hydro system thank you mr. Speaker the only thing that's wrong mr. Speaker is the understanding that the NDP has when it comes to the broadening of hydro one the OEB sets the rates mr. Speaker the sell-off and the the broadening of the sale has nothing to do with it mr. Speaker but we do we do recognize mr. Speaker that some families are having a difficult time with their electricity bills and so mr. Speaker we have those six programs in place the OESP program mr. Speaker the leap program you know the we also have the northern Ontario tax credit mr. Speaker we eliminated the debt retirement charge mr. Speaker and on top of that on top of that mr. Speaker we actually brought forward our speech from the throne which actually is having an 8% reduction for all families right across the province and for 330,000 families living in rural remote or northern communities they will also see a 20% reduction mr. Speaker so we actually recognized that some families are having difficulty and we put in place programs to help mr. Speaker what the liberals don't understand is what 80% of the people of this province want and that is to maintain a public electricity for them speaker a good future for them and their families right here in the province of Ontario they know that the conservatives aren't the answer they know that that will lead to more cuts and more privatization but they feel that the liberals have let them down speaker in a very very big way instead of stopping the sell-off of hydro one the government is taking that bad idea and one upping it by clearing out the way for the sell-off of local distribution companies of local hydro companies speaker people want hope for the future will this government stop the privatization of our electricity system and do what 80% of the people in this province actually want speaker what the people of Ontario want is actually jobs and growth mr. Speaker and this government is delivering we're building this province up mr. Speaker you know what the again they're not understanding the concept mr. Speaker that we have a quasi-judicial organization called our the OEB which is our regulator mr. Speaker and the regulator is the one that sets the rates mr. Speaker but what we've done mr. Speaker by building infrastructure we're making sure that we're creating jobs and growth right across the province but we've also invested mr. Speaker heavily in renewables we have 18,000 megawatts of renewable energy in this province mr. Speaker and you know what's really important is the the 4.3 yes exactly but the 4.3 billion dollars mr. Speaker that we're saving in health care costs and you know what this year the Toronto vital signs report come out mr. Speaker and let me quote in Toronto premature deaths and hospitalizations as a result of air pollution have dropped by 23 and 41 percent since 2004 thank you new question the member from Nipissing thank you and good morning speaker my question is to the president of the Treasury Board this week the government released unaudited financial statements without verification from the auditor general this is unprecedented in Ontario's history it's clear this government has something to hide right they refuse to cooperate with many independent legislative officers they continue to break their legal obligations and now they're viciously attacking the credibility of the auditor general but the people of Ontario know better speaker they trust the numbers of the independent nonpartisan auditor not the numbers of a government mired and waste scandal and mismanagement I ask the minister will you stop attacking the credibility of the auditor general what's the final funder so thank you so what I wanted to point out was I think you missed a comment yesterday that the auditor general made which was to confirm that in fact our 2015-16 bottom line is accurate that's because because cabinet made a regulation the purpose of the regulation being to resolve for this year at least the dispute between the auditor general and the public servants who are our accountants and we needed to resolve that cabinet made a regulation saying use the auditor's numbers which is exactly what we did in the financial statements that are released so in fact as I pointed out yesterday our numbers agree with her numbers and our current year if the general has now confirmed a number of troubling revelations the deficit of is 1.5 billion dollars higher than the government's projections debt increased more than 20 billion dollars during last year taxes imposed by this government have increased to a record of 91 point 8 billion dollars this year that's up more than 20 percent in the last five years under this government Ontario is now both the most indebted and the most taxed province in Canada that just doesn't even make sense it does not add up rather than address their financial waste and mismanagement this government continues to attack the credibility of the auditor I asked the minister will you come clean and apologize to the auditor general for attacking please thank you president yes thank you very much I think one of the pieces of information that is missing in that little catalog is the fact that in fact Ontario has the lowest per capita program spending of any province or territory in Canada any jurisdiction so when you actually look at our per capita program spending we have controlled that very very successfully which is why speaker when you look at our deficit projection in the 2015 budget you would see it was 8.5 billion when you look at the actual deficit we achieved in last year according to the auditor general our deficit is five billion dollars that is 3.5 billion dollar improvement on our position at the budget and it shows that we will be able to balance here as we go I'm sure the members would forgive me my interruption not given the time that we don't know what's going to happen shortly I would like to introduce in the house in the members gallery from beaches East York 37th and the beaches Woodbine 35th and 36th and now a member of our Canadian Senate Francis Lankin I won't start the clock until the question is put a new question the member from London Fanshawn speaker my question is the acting premier people deserve to have confidence in our health care system but all too often Ontarians are let down by this Liberal government this morning we've learned the health ministry was spending 2.5 million dollars a year for an outsourced PSW registry that never did what the Liberals promised and for four years the Liberals failed to provide oversight to make sure the registry was working for the people of Ontario why did this government spend so much time and so much money on a PSW that did not help home care patients and did not help families and did not live up to the Liberals promises thank you thank you mr. Speaker and it is true that following a review of the registry we made a decision I made a decision to suspend that registry we felt that we could on a go-forward basis we would work with our stakeholders and partners to actually improve what the registry is fundamentally set out to do and that's to protect the safety and security of Ontarians and to provide an important resource for both caregivers and those who might want to employ a PSW and also organizations that are in the business of employing them so we're working on that but I have to say I'm so proud of the efforts of this government the success of this government in elevating our PSWs across this province beginning with a $4 an hour wage increase that that party voted against Mr. Speaker and also working to establish a common curriculum as well and it's really about not only providing that confidence to Ontarians but elevating this important profession giving them the respect that they are due because of the hard work that they engage in each and every day Speaker back to the acting Premier PSWs do extraordinary work every day and families deserve to have total confidence that their government is looking out for them but the failure of the PSW registry shows that the Liberals are more interested in making big flashy announcements than actually helping people in 2011 five years ago it was the acting Premier who promised that the PSW registry quote would promote greater accountability and transparency but it never did that in fact the government secret report found that home care clients and family caregivers could not rely on the registry to actually help them why did this liberal government fail to keep their promised or frontline workers families and hundreds of thousands of people rely on home care across the province of Ontario Mr. Speaker we are keeping our promise they had no promise to our PSWs Mr. Speaker and it's only when we introduced important measures of four dollar an hour wage increase for our PSWs a ten million dollar training fund which is rolled out is providing support to allow our PSWs to further enhance their training a common curriculum Mr. Speaker we're working across the board with our PSWs with they have never done Mr. Speaker and we've made those commitments and we're following through and Ontarians are better off as a result in our health care system is better off as a result of the hard work in our PSWs do every day Mr. Thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the Minister of International Trade in June of this year the Premier unveiled a new cabinet and a number of new ministries notably the portfolio of international trade became a standalone ministry for the first time in the history of Ontario now in my writing of Kitchener Centre we have a number of businesses that currently export or are looking at growing internationally and I can tell you Mr. Speaker that I have ongoing conversations with many stakeholders who are looking forward to this they couldn't be more excited with the creation of this new ministry Speaker could the ministry minister please tell us how his new ministry is going to better serve businesses in Ontario thank you Minister of International Trade thank you thank you very much to the opportunity and I want to thank the honourable member from Kitchener Centre for asking and also for her really business outreach in her area speaker I was so pleased when I heard that the Premier will be creating a standalone international trade ministry since then speaker I have traveled extensively to numerous municipalities in the province met with countless businesses and foreign dignitaries and everyone I have spoken will share that excitement speaker international markets play a critical role in the growth of Ontario's economy this new ministry will allow me to focus on bringing jobs and investment back to Ontario as part of our commitment to grow our economy whether it be convincing overseas company to invest in Ontario or or assisting Ontario companies in going global and ministry will help connect Ontario to the world thank you thank you thank you speaker and I'd like to thank the minister for his answer and I've invited him to come to Kitchener Centre to speak to my stakeholders about this new ministry of international trade well the Premier and the minister have said they have very big plans for the new ministry of international trade as part of our promise to grow our economy specifically this government's commitment to trade missions was noted in both the 2016 budget and in the throne speech that was brought forward just a few weeks ago I know that the minister has participated in a number of trade missions over the past couple of years speaker could the minister please explain why these trade missions are so important to growing our economy here in the province of Ontario thank you minister thank you speaker I want to thank again for the honourable member for asking the question again speaker in business relationships are key trade missions allow our government to meet with business counterparts in person we can prove to them why Ontario is where they need to invest in a way we never can do it over email or telephone in just two years trade missions have succeeded 3.7 billion in investment to the promise speaker we have connected Ontario businesses with opportunities abroad brought jobs to municipalities like Cambridge Waterloo Kitchener and promote Ontario worldwide speaker we will continue to participate in missions to key markets abroad and will continue to build on the success we are living in a highly globalized world we must make our marks well my speaker thank you finished thank you member from starting a lot speaker to you and through you to the acting Premier last Friday I received a call from Lonnie Copa constituent of mine in Petroia first responded with more than two decades of experience responding whenever and wherever he was needed Lonnie told me that the workplace traumatic stress program at London Health Science Center which he has been utilizing to deal with symptoms of PTSD is being cancelled effective December 2nd London Health Science Center scissors no support from your government to keep this program running Lonnie is being told that the next plate closest place that he can access these same services now offered by the workplace traumatic stress program is in Toronto hundreds of kilometres away from our community the acting Premier speaker the workplace traumatic stress program at London Health Science Center closes for good in eight weeks will your government commit today to stepping up and support this program before December 2nd deadline thank you speaker and thank you to the question certainly I think the interest that the province has now a post traumatic stress disorder the impact that it's had on first responders in this province is one that is really accelerated over the years WSI be now has a program in place those people that are first responders in our province speaker now have presumptive legislation the ease of obtaining that treatment speaker has been accelerated over the years one of the centers we have used speaker at the WSI be is the London Health Science Center as we take a look at services that are made available to to our first responders we'd like to see them obviously provided on a province-wide basis speaker I will take the question from the I will take the question from the minister talk to the WSI be again speaker and see if these changes are indeed in the best interest of the province thank you and back to the acting Premier Premier earlier this week the CTV News London your station in your town reported the workplace traumatic stress program at London Health Science Center was closing because of a $500,000 annual shortfall in program funding from your government first responders and clients of the workplace traumatic stress program have called this news devastating Mr. Speaker takes a special type of person to risk their own health and safety to rush to the aid of others in an emergency every community in Ontario depends on these brave individuals in the time of crisis Mr. Speaker to the acting Premier will you commit today to fully funding the workplace stress program at London Health Science Center so the first responders in our province have access to treatments and services where they need them thank you thank you speaker and thanks again to the member I know that he's asking the he's asking the question in a sincere manner because I think all members of this house understand that what we haven't done in the past speaker when it comes to our first responders and treatment for PTSD is something we should do in the future something we can get better at speaker as we examine the services that are available to first responders around the province obviously we try and make those services as localized as possible the WSI be speaker which is an independent agency strives as hard as it can to make sure that people don't have to travel long distances to obtain those services I appreciate the question from the from the member opposite I think it's a sincere question and I as I said I will interact with the WSI be the board of directors and the people there that are running that organization to make sure we're providing services in the way we should speaker thank you new question the member from Kitchener water thank you very much my question city acting premier never before has a provincial government released unaudited financial statements what's more astonishing is that several sections from these statements were missing such as the financial statements from the WSI be the Ontario clean water agency the OEFC and the former hydro one Brampton yesterday I asked the premier to explain why these sections were missing she could not during the public accounts committee yesterday I was repeatedly told by government members that the WSI be statements had been posted but I checked again this morning they are still not there what is the government hiding by withholding the WSI be statements thank you president president thank you very much and I do want to assure the the member opposite that the WSI be economic statement for 2016 is available online as is the 2016 sufficiency plan update all of the material related to the WSI be will in fact be included when we are able to table the public account so I do want to assure the house of that what I also want to assure the house is that while we are obviously in the process of collecting documents and preparing to have them in the process of having them printed that all of the finances of these various agencies have been accounted for financial statements that were made available earlier this week it is my understanding mr. speaker that the chair of the WSI be signed off on the financial statements weeks ago but they are still not posted the statements are complete the government refuses to publish them it refuses to explain why there have been growing calls for an ombudsman investigation of the WSI be by injured workers who say that they were denied benefits that they are entitled to I raised this yesterday of public accounts there is great interest in the accountability of the WSI be to the public and certainly from injured workers why is the premier withholding the WSI be statements published them thank you speaker and thank you to the member for that question the statements have been available online speaker for quite some time in addition the numbers that are in those statements I think is something we should all be proud of this house the WSI be I think is has been an organization that all parties when they've been in government have tried to organize have tried to run in a better manner I think what we're seeing coming out of the WSI be with the figures and with the numbers that the member is talking about is a very good new story we're seeing we've passed historic legislation last year that's included in these numbers reinstating for the first time full indexation of WSI be benefit speaker something something that the opposition the NDP took away from a good worker speaker when you look at this you see full CPI applied in a way that it should be by 2018 speaker all injured workers both partially and fully disabled are going to receive their full CPI that's what's contained in the figures those figures have been available online speaker thank you speaker my question is for the minister of health and long-term care minister in the spring you introduced the patient's first act to further improve patient access and experience this bill formerly known as bill 210 included a plan to transform the health care system into one that puts the needs of the patient at its center I've often heard from my constituents in Davenport about their concerns and really about concerns from many Ontarians about access and the ability of our health care system to meet the growing needs of Ontarians for today and into the future so I'm pleased that our government was introducing a bill that would help monitor modernize our health care system to better respond to patient needs speaker can the minister of health please update this house on the government's plan to put patients first thank you thank you Mr. Speaker thank you to the member from Davenport for this important question and I want to once again acknowledge the abundance of talent that's represented by our health care sector partners in the gallery today that have joined us it's an important day Mr. Speaker we've listened to Ontarians and we've heard their concerns I want this province to know that this government is committed to making sure our health care system directly reflects patients needs Mr. Speaker and later today I will reintroduce the patients first act which would if passed put patients at the absolute center of a truly integrated health care system it would give Ontario's 14 lins the ability to connect all parts of the health care system including primary care and home and community care to improve the planning and delivery of frontline services to patients this will mean easier and more equitable access to care and better coordination and continuity of care Mr. Speaker thank you so much thank you speaker and thank you to the minister for that response I know our government has worked hard to ensure that patients are at the center of Ontario's health care system and I understand that the proposed system changes would strengthen local health care planning and increase efficiency to allow for more funding to be directed to patient care I'm also pleased to hear that our government is recognizing the importance of French language in the provision of health care services and honoring our commitment to meaningful engagement with our indigenous partners speaker can the minister of health and long-term care please tell this house about what this proposed legislation could mean for Ontarians thank you thank you mr. Speaker and thanks again to the member the patients first act if passed will be the next step in our government's efforts to build a better Ontario for patients mr. Speaker our plan includes priority initiatives that we know are important to Ontarians including expanding access to home and community care and ensuring that every Ontarian has access to a primary care provider these proposed legislative changes reflect our vision for creating a truly integrated system that facilitates local health care planning to ensure that patients receive more equitable access to care that meets their needs establishes a formal relationship importantly mr. Speaker between our lins and our local boards of health to support joint health services planning and most importantly ensures that patient voices are at the heart of a system that is accountable to patients and connects them with the care that they serve new questions to the Attorney General over the last few months I've traveled across the province meeting with police and frontline service providers who expressed frustration about the government's lack of action on human sex trafficking just last Friday I was in Hamilton meeting with the local police and victim organizations who echoed the same frustration they told the story of a girl at a local university who was pursued by a fellow student convinced to go on a date with him but he proved to have other motivations and manipulated her into a situation where she was trafficked what this shows is this is happening can happen to anyone and it is happening across the province as we speak the government may say they've taken action but to date no one on the front lines is clear on the details so my question is to the Attorney General is the government ready to admit that they can't keep up on the human sex trafficking and that they are failing the children and all the other victims of this evil evil crime minister responsible for women's issues minister responsible for women's issues thank you speaker I think the member for the important question we know human trafficking is a complex issue and our message to those who engage in this horrible crime is very very clear it will not be tolerated in Ontario and none of its forms and that's why we launched our strategy speaker in June up to 72 million dollars committed to this initiative and action is underway speaker there's many actions underway across a number of different ministries we're doing quite well thank you keep it that way please we're setting up the provincial anti-trafficking coordination office with the community and social services we're establishing a provincial human trafficking prosecution team we're expanding a quick victim response team and enhancing victim crisis assistance Ontario program many other initiatives underway well mr. Speaker it is just a message because there is no action and I'm going to go back to the Attorney General I'll remind the Attorney General that his own predecessor is on record as saying quote we don't know enough about human trafficking frontline service providers and workers do know and they are exasperated that there is still nothing advancing the law to support them in fighting this horrific crime in fact the legislative measures in my private member's girl such as the protection order could have directly helped the Vic protect the victim in Hamilton that I just mentioned legal changes and awareness efforts are part of the solution so my question to the government is simple will you bring the saving the girl next door act up for debate at committee and will you support it through to the end this member was part of the roundtable on sexual violence harassment and she was very active in that and I acknowledge her efforts for that but she also knows that our strategy is comprehensive it's multi-ministry involves a lot of different investments and there's dedicated resources speaker and a coordinated planning process so our strategy is much much broader than the creating a task force or the legislative changes in her bill 158 a cornerstone of the strategy as I mentioned is the anti-human trafficking office it requires a lot of work by different ministries different levels of government police forces this is complicated it will take time to solve but we've already taken steps and sir we're investing across the system I hope she joins me in supporting the investments that we're making to end the crime thank you very much mr. speaker my questions for the deputy premier water should be a public trust last week I met with people from Guelph including two city counselors who are very concerned about the government's rubber stamping of permits to take water it's clear that we need an Ontario water strategy to ensure that there's enough clean water for people today and for generations to come we need to see change now speaker the president of the Treasury Board thinks that concerns about water are based on misinformation does the rest of the government feel the same way thank you very much thank you mr. speaker very much and thank you to the honorable member opposite for the question we have been doing a lot of work on zero waste and climate change and probably have about the heaviest environmental legislative agenda just about any government in many many years and this is the intersection of all of those problems it's there's waste issues there's environmental issues and with the terrible droughts that we're having in climate change we know these are going to become acute we've been working very hard for about over the last year mr. speaker with environmental groups with industry we will soon be bringing forward a very aggressive program to protect ground water to ensure issues of water pricing I am very interested in hearing from the party's opposite and the member opposite would be happy to sit down with her to ensure that the input of her party is reflected in the answer thank you the government well what seems worrisome to myself and other speakers that the government seems to think that the way to protect water for generations to come is to simply charge more well that's not good enough speaker because that simply means it goes to the highest bidder and instead of ensuring that there's water good water good clean water for drinking growing food and sanitation it's just going to be about who can pay a higher price people deserve a real strategy that puts the public interest first that bait that's based on the idea that all Ontarians should be able to access clean water that has sustainable long-term planning and that isn't based on commodifying one of our most precious resources it's time for a full review absolutely of the permit to take water system and a comprehensive evidence based Ontario water strategy to ensure access to clean water for all Ontarians question this generation and generations to come does this government agree thank you yes we agree and to go further than that I take that as very constructive criticism from leader the opposition and I appreciate it I share her concerns she is quite correct as far as I'm concerned that simply charging for water is not the solution it is more complex as the member for Guelph has has expressed we have a complex farm and agricultural and food community here mr. Speaker and we know our food secured on water security and the great work that farmers do on the great work that's being done by a maffron the University of Guelph is also important and we don't see the agriculture food industries here is the problem we see them as important parts I think the member for Guelph has articulated that she's also articulated to me mr. Speaker the importance of water conservation because she is very aware in her area as as in the Cambridge area some of the most water stressed areas in the province and we have to look at this through the lens of water stress and the role of municipalities and being able to manage regional water you I think the member opposite will be happy to see all those things reflected thank you thank you thank you mr. Speaker my question is to the minister responsible for women's issues mr. Speaker the media has been reporting that Ontario has become a hub for human trafficking every day more victims are being forced into the sex trade industry and trafficked across the province and the country human trafficking is a deplorable crime that has long lasting sociological and psychological impacts on survivors it over it overwhelmingly targets young women girls boys and particularly lead those in indigenous communities I know our government takes this issue very seriously and recognizes the devastating impact human trafficking has on victims and their families minister could you tell me what steps you are taking towards combating the heinous crime of human trafficking in our province. Thank you minister responsible women's issues. Thank you speaker I want to thank the member from Brampton Springdale again important question on this very serious issue of human trafficking we know some of the most vulnerable people in our society are the greatest risk of being trafficked and it's our duty to act decisively and effectively to protect them from exploitation human trafficking in all of its forms cannot be tolerated and that's why we are making the investment of up to 72 million dollars and I want to say two things about that speaker it's focused on supporting survivors and it's focused on holding offenders accountable for their horrific actions and and we will not tolerate this so we will have more support for survivors and more mechanism in place to hold offenders accountable and I'll speak more in the supplementary speaker about the different aspects of that I'd like to thank the minister for her answer and for the hard work she's been doing to make our province safer from human traffickers working with other members of cabinet on various initiatives that will make Ontario a safer province these collaborations across ministries are important to ensuring that our most vulnerable victims are most vulnerable members of society are protected from traffickers and that human traffickers are caught and that we have strong supports in place for survivors can the minister please describe some of her work across government to address these important issues thank you minister thank you again I appreciate the opportunity talk about some of the measures we're putting in place to combat this horrific crime so for example speaker with the ministry attorney general we're working on enhanced justice initiatives to support effective prosecution of human trafficking crimes we've already begun speaker to hire crown prosecutors for provincial human trafficking prosecution team and with our ministry of children use services we are strengthening support for youth leaving children's aid societies and we are enhancing protocols between children's aid societies and police services these are just a few of our initiative speaker that we are undertaking to address this crime and to create a strategy that again is focused on supporting survivors and holding offenders accountable is a very serious issue speaker and we are very committed to thank you thank you very much speaker my question is to the acting premier mr. Speaker the London police estimate that they handled over 2,000 mental health calls in 2014 these calls could be better dealt with by the medical community now this problem has gotten progressively worse under the Liberal government police services have reported that the number of mental health calls have skyrocketed over the last decade the average weight for funded counseling and treatment is measured in months not days and this forces people to call 911 instead so speaker to the acting premier why does Ontario force those experiencing mental health issues to call the police instead of providing medical help to the minister of community safety and correctional services minister community safety and correctional services thank you very much speaker and appreciate the question from the member opposite first of all I want to commend our police services right across this province for the incredible job that they do day in and day out dealing with very very challenging circumstances and the members quite right and there are a number of exemplary enforcement detachments that we can talk about in particular the example in Hamilton and the work that is being done with the mental health experts who are participating with police in calls where there's a belief for that an individual may have mental health issues and so recently through our proceeds to crime we've also supported projects across the province for various police forces municipal police forces so that they can engage with mental partners in their communities to bring them along on calls to address these types of issues thank you speak supplementary thank you speaker well minister I won't disagree with you on the fact that our police do do exemplary work the liberal government status quo is inefficient use of public dollars and an unfair burden to place on emergency responders speaker the London police service estimates that mental health calls account for roughly 15% of its budget costing them more than $14 million but worst of all is the human cost the status quo is a tragic disservice to Ontarians suffering from mental health issues police have called this government time and time again to step up and to address the issue but to date the liberal government has a failing grade I'll talk no action so speaker to the minister when will the government start to take mental health seriously instead of leaving frontline officers and emergency responders to deal with the follow thank you you know speaker the characterization is is completely unfair you know I was at the Ontario Police College a couple of weeks ago meeting with folks at the Ontario Police College about the training that they're getting to address individuals with mental health I had an opportunity to speak to a class in fact a new class of recruits and they were in the middle of de-escalation training related to mental health we know there's an ombudsman report with 22 recommendations that our government has committed to implementing a speaker I'll have more to say on that at the end of the month but our police forces across the province are being equipped and are being supported with mental health resources so that they can deal with the exact types of calls and issues that they are increasingly facing in our communities today this is very very important speaker to policing across Ontario I will have more to say about our strategy for safer Ontario that we want to implement which also has tremendous benefit for individuals with mental illness thank you speak thank you the time for question period has ended I do want to make one to my colleagues I do want to make one sad announcement this is the last day for our pages our appreciation for the wonderful work that they've done for us I would I would thank you for that kind reception I will recognize the leader of the third party on a point of work thank you speaker I seek unanimous consent for the immediate second and third reading passage of bill 38 an act to proclaim October Islamic Heritage Month tabled by my colleague member for London Champ Fanshawe along with the members for Scarborough Rouge River and Etobicoke North the leader of the third party is seeking unanimous consent for second and third reading do we agree agree the member from London Fanshawe reading of 38 an act to proclaim the month of October Islamic Heritage Month by Ms. Armstrong Mr. Cho and Mr. Quadri yes this arms are moved second reading of bill 8 do we agree carry order m38 third reading of bill 38 an act to proclaim the month of October Islamic Heritage Month to move on my record bill 38 the member from London Fanshawe speaker I move third reading of bill 38 an act to proclaim the month of October Islamic Heritage Month and this the third the member from the member from Ms. Armstrong moves the third reading of bill 38 is the pleasure of the house the motion carried carried reading of the bill 20 lecture to pose it a lot be it resolved that the bill do now pass and be entitled as in the motion point of order the member from Angolinton Lawrence I would like to invite all members of the house to attend a reception on basically marking pregnancy and infant loss awareness day in Ontario in room 247 I'd like to invite all the medical professionals to hear to learn more about the important investment we're making in pregnancy and infant loss across this province in 247 until 1 p.m. this afternoon