 questions I recognize the leader of his majesty's loyal opposition. Good morning speaker this conservative government failed to notice 10.8 million being siphoned off by a senior bureaucrat money that was intended to support families during the worst of the pandemic and the liberal government before that failed to notice 36.6 million stolen through a computer consultant scam by the same thief. He could do this in large part due to the fact that this government and others are over relying on expensive private consulting firms. Speaker to the premier will he cut down on his government's use of overpriced consultants to protect public money. To respond the government host leader. Thank you very much Madam Speaker of course we have been fighting right since the beginning since 2018 to restore the Ontario's fiscal situation and we've been doing an extraordinary job at that. In fact not only have we restored the fiscal sanity in the province of Ontario we've done it while at the same time cutting taxes for the people of the province of Ontario reducing costs to our small medium and large job creators to the tune of over eight billion dollars which is seen which is seen our income rise by over 50 billion dollars. Mr. Speaker 50 billion dollars we've done it while stabilizing electricity rates we've done it while investing a record amount in infrastructure a nationwide leading amount of infrastructure while building 58,000 you and upgraded long-term care beds while building new schools. Mr. Speaker we're seeing thousands of jobs come back to the province response dollars in economic activity. Mr. Speaker and we're doing it because we have had a plan since 2018 that plan is working and today Ontario got led the nation in job creation. Yes you see Mr. Speaker on our side of the house we know very well that this government is actually saying that they actually like consultants they do admire very much consulting companies so we know that we need more transparency and more accountability concerning the contracts in particular because this government is considering to privatize more public services like healthcare for example so Mr. Speaker to the premier does his government want to create a sunshine list for these consulting people? Mr. Speaker thank you to the member opposite thank you for your question which is a very important question in this assembly as the leader of the opposition said we do have a plan for Ontario this is a plan to build Ontario and concerning the sunshine list and everything that is related to the sunshine list it is very important that we work together in order to build Ontario in order to build an Ontario that is strong and as the leader said we three years earlier not just for some Ontarians but for all Ontarians so that we can build Ontario today and deliver a better Ontario to future generations. Final supplementary. That rather astonishing speaker because the Conservatives federal leader is calling for more transparency and accountability into consultant contracts at that level of government. Speaker back to the premier does the premier think that there should be a lesser standard for his own government? In office back in 2018 we've done an extraordinary job of ensuring that the people of the province of Ontario are well served by their government that has included of course a reduction in the use of outside consultants but at the same time Mr. Speaker it is clear that we had two years worth of a pandemic and on occasion we did need to have some outside assistance. Now Speaker what has that been meant for the people of province of Ontario? It has meant a province that led not only North America but one of the leaders in terms of the entire planet in getting us beyond COVID and now what does that mean? That means that Ontario again is leading the nation in job creation so I understand why the leader of the opposition is talking about anything other than creating jobs because we're leading the nation in terms of job creation I know why she doesn't want to talk why she doesn't want to talk about infrastructure because we are leading the nation in terms of building infrastructure I know why they don't want to talk about energy because we've stabilized it when they tried to destroy it on every single measure Ontario is leading North America Mr. Speaker I think it's something to be proud of. Thank you the next question once again the leader of the opposition. This government has nothing to be proud of Speaker one in four kids are using a food bank right now Speaker I'm here for answers for the people of Ontario and we're not getting any of that question so let's just try something else here the government is bulldozing 7400 acres of protected land in the Greenbelt Speaker handing it over to developers who just so happen to be big conservative donors and insiders but time and time again this government refuses to tell Ontarians exactly how they picked this land through freedom of information request the NDP and now investigative journalists too have uncovered the existence of a key document that would provide answers but this government has blocked its release. Speaker to the premier will the government stop stonewalling the release of this document so Ontarians can finally get some answers. As I've said right from the beginning of course we will continue to work with the with the integrity commissioner but at the same time Mr. Speaker I know why they don't want to talk specifically about building homes for the people of the province of Ontario because when they had the balance of power along with the Liberals Mr. Speaker what did they do they put obstacles in the way which has led us to a crisis of housing in Ontario imagine Ontario somewhere that I think Italy fits into Ontario 34 times and we have a housing crisis here in the province of Ontario you know why that is because the policies that you support day in and day out stop people from being able to develop in Stoville I have a developer who wants to build and 12 years later only now was able to get a shovel in the ground because of those policies. Thanks to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing we're taking away that was those obstacles we're building homes for the people the province of Ontario we're leading the nation in job creation yet again Mr. Speaker Ontario is on the move we're on the right track and I hope you'll support us on that. Supplementary question. Speaker we know this isn't about housing this isn't about housing if you cared about people and you cared about affordability of housing you'd bring back rent control you start with that jeez here's that here's another factory order here's another factory a speaker order government side will come to order so that I can hear the Leader of the Opposition and restart the clock Leader of the Opposition Nerve there I guess uh speaker before last year's election the Premier promised up and down that he would not touch the green belt but on November 4th the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing broke the Premier's promise it's hard to believe that the minister would betray such a big promise without the Premier's permission so back to the Premier did the Premier or anyone acting on his behalf direct or authorize any ministry officials to remove lands from the green belt prior to last November 4th. The Minister of Municipal Affairs has been very clear on that Mr. Speaker but what we've said right from the beginning right from 2018 we said that we had to build more homes in the province of Ontario because that was virtually stopped under the Liberals and NDP coalition in this province Mr. Speaker people could not build homes people could not find you homes and we knew that a conservative government would restore the economy of this province that millions of people would want to flood back into Ontario that billions of dollars of investments would want to come back to the province of Ontario and what are we seeing Mr. Speaker month after month after month after month Ontario is leading the nation in terms of job creation yet again today we're doing it Mr. Speaker it is built on the back of the investments that we're making through the Minister of Economic Job Creation trade we have a bill in front of this house today by the Minister of Red Tape Reduction which will continue to take away obstacles to job creation and growth I hope the NDP will do the right thing support that and support the thousands of people who finally have the dignity of a job because of the policies of this government that and the final supplementary Speaker the house leader spinning so fast he's going to take off this government is having a lot of trouble following along so I'm going to make it very very simple for them Speaker will the Premier rule out any further removals of land from the green belt yes or no it's not the government house leader that's taken off it's the economy of the province I'm excited I'm excited Mr. Speaker why would I not be excited on yet another month where Ontario is leading the nation in job creation I'm excited I guess it is a tough time to be the leader of her majesty of his majesty's opposition right it's a tough time when you're leading in terms of job creation it's a tough time when you're leading in terms of building infrastructure it's a tough time when you're leading in terms of building new schools it's tough time when the Minister of Labor has reopened the economy to allow people to get jobs right here response but this is also a good time it's a good weekend we're having Passover it's it's Easter Mr. Spirit the Ontario economy has risen from the dead which was what the Liberals and NDP brought to this province and House will come to order government side will come to order okay start the clock the next question the member for University Rosdale the house leader was asked a very simple question there and they failed to provide an answer my question is to the Premier last weekend I joined hundreds of people from 25 st Mary's and 145 st George who were rallying to save their homes and their buildings from being demolished and turned into condos these people are stressed and worried because they fear this government is going to gut Toronto's rental protection laws and make it practically impossible for them to return to their home once the construction of the new building is complete over 3441 affordable purpose built rental homes are at risk of being demolished and turned into condos we cannot afford to lose these homes Premier will this government commit to preserving Toronto's rental protection laws so these people can keep their homes to apply the Minister of fiscal affairs and housing you're this this member has you know a habit near our housing supply bills to make statements that simply aren't true and this is one of them we have not made any changes I'm going to caution the minister on his use of language and ask him to withdraw we have not made any changes to these bylaws that are in effect for those municipalities they remain in place despite this speaker this member and the opposition continue continue to falsely tell tenants that we have removed once again I'm going to ask the minister to withdraw the unparalleled remark and not make another one thanks speaker in fact we announced yesterday that we are proposing to explicitly require that municipal replacement bylaws include compensation so we've been clear on our consultations on setting common rules on the province this member continues the supplementary question like the members of Ontario's eviction protection laws are as flimsy as tissue paper I want to talk about the landlord tenant board new evidence shows that tenants are being pushed to the back of the queue and awaiting twice as long as landlords to get a decision at the landlord and tenant board I would call that discrimination what is this ministry going to do to reform the landlord tenant board so everyone can get access to a fast and fair hearing equally the attorney general thank you mr. speaker for that friendly question the number of things that we're doing is phenomenal we we have put resources into reforming the system in how it operates the backbone of the system mr. speaker but the opposition voted against it and then we put resources into recruiting more adjudicators and more back office staff but the NDP voted against it and just yesterday with the minister of municipal affairs and housing we announced that we're doubling the number of full-time adjudicators so that we can speed things up for the independent tribunal that sets its dockets to protect both landlords and tenants thank you mr. speaker and the next question the member for brantford branch thank you speaker my question is for the minister of finance our province like the rest of the world is experiencing the effects of the global economic uncertainty high interest rates and inflation in responding to the challenges and pressures facing people and businesses our government recently introduced a budget that laid out a solid plan to invest in the priorities that matter most of the people of ontario as we build for a stronger future however individuals families workers and communities in in my community of brantford branch are looking to all governments for help the federal government also recently introduced their 2023 budget the people of ontario expect their provincial leaders to work with the federal government to make life better everyone speaker can the minister please explain how the most recent federal budget will help address the needs of ontarians thank you minister finance well thank you mr. speaker thank you to the hardworking member from brantford brant for that question we really appreciate the federal government mr. speaker working with us in a number of areas that help ontario families ontario workers and of course businesses right across this province together we have retracted billions of dollars in investments putting ontario and canada back on the map as an automotive powerhouse including folks wagons recent announcement that it has chosen st. thomas is the new home of its first ever offshore battery plan when we work together we can accomplish great things that's why it's good to see the federal government's 2023 budget providing support in responding to the u.s. inflation reduction act ontario is leading the way getting good jobs manufacturing jobs back to ontario for now and for the future and ontario as was evidenced by the employment numbers this morning is leading the job a country in job creation thank you speaker and thank you minister for that response it's great to hear that there is ongoing federal cooperation and support for our plan to build a stronger ev manufacturing economy here in ontario our entire province reaps the benefits and is more prosperous and when people are working and our manufacturing sector is strong however for the people in my writing and in communities across ontario local and regional economic uncertainty still remain a major concern the people of ontario need to be confident that our government understands what is happening at the federal level in ottawa and is working on behalf of ontarians to tackle problems that are important to our province speaker can the minister please elaborate on what priorities our government one wanted to see reflected in the federal budget thank you minister finance you again to the member from grandford grant you know that's a great question first of all housing we expect that the federal government will work with us on the housing affordability crisis that we talk about every single day in this house and we continue to call on the federal government to defer the harmonized sales tax on all new large-scale purpose-built rental housing projects to help spur the construction of more rental units here here mr. speaker next the ring of fire the ring of fire wasn't mentioned once in the budget this is a missed opportunity for workers for candidates growing electric vehicle and battery supply chains as well as northern ontario and indigenous communities mr. speaker just a few days ago i released ontario's 20 23 budget and while our government is working hard to build a strong ontario for today and for tomorrow we know governments make faster progress when they work hard together so please join us in working hard together for all ontarians next question the member for oshawa thank you speaker and my question is to the premier life is becoming more and more unaffordable even for ontarians in the first few months of life the lack of affordability is affecting their lives deb's grandson was placed on enfamil a plus formula at three months of age she wrote to me about the price gouging her family is struggling with while they search for baby formula she said quote my daughter and son in law are always scrambling to locate a store that has it on the shelf when they do find it the price has doubled and quote children in ontario are going hungry while this government makes excuses when is this government going to stop gouging and make sure every family that needs it has access to affordable baby formula thank you thank you madam speaker i appreciate the question of course health canada uh is is is the lead on this and has been working very closely to ensure that there is a stable supply of a formula on on the shelves it is something that the minister of agriculture and the minister of health have been uh monitoring very closely at the same time mr speaker let me assure the people of the province of ontario that we are working very closely with health canada we are working very closely with federal health health officials we are assured at this time that unlike the challenges that the the federal government had early on when it came to pediatric medicines that we are not in the same position right now but i do appreciate the the question from the member opposite and she has our assurance all parents across the province of ontario have our assurance that we are working very very closely with health canada to ensure that we have a stable supply thank you speaker and i appreciate the government house leaders attention to this because baby formula is not affordable as deb wrote quote at first it was about 37 dollars for a box my daughter just found some at shopper's drug mart priced 67 dollars a box on amazon 77 dollars a box this concerned grandmother asks how are these companies allowed to claim shortages and then price gouge young parents this makes me so disgusted and quote i will ask you her question deb would like to know how are single parents making minimum wage supposed to feed their child thank you the government house they look specific specific to to the question with respect to for me look we we understand it is something that the minister of agriculture was immediately alerted to and contacted health canada and federal officials to ensure that there was a stable supply for for the people of the province of ontario but i think the question in itself though highlights some of the other challenges that we're having right so the member highlights that when there is a lack of supply prices increase and things become unaffordable and it's at the heart of everything that we've been doing since 2018 here in the province of ontario because we understand that the way to bring costs down for the people the province of ontario is in part when it comes to housing for instance having more supply will reduce the cost for the people the province of ontario and they have not been in favor of that we also understand when it comes to red tape by reducing red tape and obstacles it helps bring the response at the same time we brought in things like doubling of the odsp we brought in of course the lift tax credit we are there the minister of education of course bringing in the nation leading child care program nation leading child care program which is which is half the cost for the people of province of ontario so thank you very much the next question the member for mississauga center speaker and my question is for my great colleague in mississauga the minister of public and business service delivery on april the sixth speaker 2018 ontarians were hard broken to hear the news of the devastating bus collision carrying the humboldt broncos hockey team 16 of the 29 passengers lost their lives and the 13 who survived will bear physical and emotional scar for the rest of their lives humbled broncos defenseman logan bullay succumbed to his injuries the following day on april the 7th and logan's parents bernadine and toby bullay courageously offered to donate his organs so that six people could live what an incredibly difficult decision for any parents to have to make for the bullay family their decision represents the difference that can be made through the act of giving and speaker currently today in ontario there are 1,600 people on the waiting list for an organ transplant question can the minister please speak to the significance of this day and the importance of continuing logan's legacy of organ donation to republic and business service delivery thank you very much speaker and thank you to my amazing member from mississauga center for the question speaker while april 7th remains a difficult day for many people and families it has also become an opportunity that many others have embraced to raise raise awareness for organ donation marking this day as the green shed day in honor of logan bullay effect just like logan and his family everyone who is comfortable and willing to sign up for donation has the power to save the life of another and my ministry continues to work tirelessly to ensure that ontarians have every resource necessary to stay informed and access this service if they choose to do so if you want to register to donate you can do in person at any service ontario location near you or go online at service ontario dot c a slash be a donor and check whether you have already registered as a donor or update an existing registration as long as you have an ohib eligible ontarian age 16 and up thank you the supplementary question thank you so much speaker and thank you to the minister for that response and i just want to reiterate the website service ontario dot c a slash be a donor and i encourage all members of this house to go today and check if you are an organ donor and if you're not please register so that we can save lives and speaker i'm proud to be part of a government that works to raise awareness about organ donation and how these efforts can make a difference in saving lives as a nurse working on the front lines i have personally seen how organ donations can restore hope and provide a future however we know that the number of patients who need a lifesaving transplant is greater than the number of organs and tissues that are available while almost 90% of canadiens say they support organ donations only 32% have registered their intent to donate i also want to praise the great work of the trillium gift of life network and there be a donor campaign which is taking place this week speaker can the minister please elaborate and on what our government is doing to support organ and tissue donation registrations minister thank you speaker and many thanks to the great member for the supplementary question i'm proud to stand in this house and share that over 4.6 million ontarians are registered as organ and tissue donors it is a reminder of the selfless nature that makes us proud vibrant and community oriented province that we are speaker and i'm proud that my ministry has enabled over 1.1 million registrations checks and updates through the online donor registration service and more than an additional 3.3 million in-person registrations at our service ontario locations speaker each and every one of those individuals has the power to perhaps one day one day save the lives of up to eight people and impact as many as 75 others speaker today i want to also remind ontarians that april is the be a donor month and in the memory of logan the humble broncos and their families i hope ontarians continue to raise awareness and remind others that they too can give the gift of a second chance of life thank you the next question remember to promise in paul thank you speaker this is to the premier at home in st paul's the lineup around our beaten covered food bank run by st michael and all angels routinely wraps around the block i remember the first time i handed food to a child according to daily bread food bank one in four food bank users are children this conservative government has made things worse they fail to act on the affordability crisis speaker children are paying the price they're paying the price in food banks while this government eats states my question is back to the premier will the premier finally take responsibility for the affordability crisis so kids aren't lining up at food banks or will they keep passing the buck on a full stomach i might add thank you can you reply minister finance mr speaker and thank you to the member opposite for that very important question and and you know within you know the cost of everything going up our children our paramount in in in the work in in this country in this province and so that's why we have to be very focused on the issue of affordability now mr speaker while many are feeling the pinch and while we've done many things i would just point to one aspect of food inputs which is frankly the federal government and their carbon tax you just increased the carbon tax again by three cents and not only is that a challenge for many at the pump many who take their children to school or drive to work but it's also a major input in the cost of groceries and the cost of food so when you keep increasing response that's hurting people as opposed to this government which reduced the gas tax to help people mr speaker it'd be nice if the minister actually answered the question a food program in my writings but i know fort york saw a record number of users in the previous month order one is a senior caroline and she's using a food bank for the first time and she writes it is sad and shameful that we're in this situation the cost of everything is impossible to live on because of the cost of rent and food the five biggest grocery retailers have been making record profits while the people buying groceries can no longer afford the food they need will this government address record food grocery chain profits or whether they continue to depend upon charities and food banks to feed the people of this province mr finance thank you mr speaker to the member opposite uh very important that we all work together to help as many people in this province as possible that and that's why the minister of municipal affairs and housing through the social services relief fund provided through the pandemic food supports and many supports for those most in need mr speaker that's why through the trillium foundation the ontario trillium foundation 83 million dollars to help provide grants to non for profits to help with food banks to recover from covid mr speaker that's why we're supporting uh the uh children and youth and families with eight million dollars in further funding for feed the feed ontario mr speaker i come back to what i just said we are taking action on a lot of fronts uh including uh supports for low income seniors including uh lower taxes through credit rebates for low workers uh but you know the federal government could do their part and lower the carbon tax we did that we dropped the gas tax we're doing it for the whole year that's how we're helping the next question the member for dawn valley east thank you mr speaker mr speaker my question is for the premier the alarm bells have been ringing for a while now the cost of living continues to rise astronomically grocery stores are raising food prices landlords are raising rents people are falling behind and they are now turning to food banks in record numbers in toronto for example the number of people relying on food banks has quadrupled over the last three years at the daily bread food bank there were nearly 270 000 visits in march alone a record one third of visitors actually have full-time employment full-time employment but they cannot make ends meet and for the first time in 25 years under this government mr speaker the number of children using food banks is going up one in four visitors at the daily food bank at the daily food bank the bread food bank is a child mr speaker ontarians experiencing a crisis of food insecurity we're talking about hardworking question who can no longer keep up with the skyrocketing cost of living why is this government failing so spectacularly at protecting ontarians from falling victim to food insecurity to reply to premier i want to i want to thank the member from dawn valley east but first of all i want to acknowledge my niece my brother uh rob's daughter up there from michael power good to see you honey i love you one day you'll be sitting down here you know talking about affordability uh mr speaker the the member from dawn valley east they voted against 10 cents cut uh the gas tax they they voted against the reducing the the tolls are getting rid of the tolls on the 412 418 they voted against increasing the od sp by five percent you voted against increasing the minimum wage the highest minimum wage in entire country our province is on fire we create another 21 000 jobs last month at six consecutive months in a row 640 000 more people are working today and when they had the regime for 15 years and destroyed this province from top to bottom order order start the clock supplementary question mr speaker the government across has destroyed health care from top to bottom and now they're turning to the economy mr speaker when the level of food insecurity the epic when the security has reached the epic proportions we are seeing now it is a clear sign of this government's failures we are literally talking about parents and children struggling to eat even parents that have full-time jobs making more than minimum wage we need to adequately address the historic levels of inflation ontarians are experiencing with proactive financial release really the rising costs of things like food and housing have vastly outpaced this government's half-hearted measures as they pay lip service to the struggles of ontarians for a government with 44 billion dollars in contingency funds 12 and a half billion in excess funds over the next three years and a well documented under spending habit you would think they could find some room in their budget to address the most essential needs something isn't right mr speaker how can this government run a province let alone an economy if hardworking families with full-time jobs can't even afford to feed their children and to reply the premier well mr speaker is pretty rich coming from a party that destroyed this this province for 15 years chased 300 000 jobs out of our province because of high energy costs high regulations high taxes all they believed in is taxing the people we believe in giving back to the people 1.1 million low-income workers have received the tax cut we made sure that we increased minimum wage as i said we extended 10 percent off tuition for those great students up there they're going to university they're paying 10 percent less under the liberals all they did is jack up the cost and on health care mr speaker we've hired 60 000 new nurses registered in ontario 8 000 new doctors registered as you destroyed health care in this province there is hallway health care we've never seen a worse system we're fixing that system we're making ontario prosperous and people are going to thrive and prosper in ontario restart the clock the next question the member thunder bay atticoke thank you speaker my question is for the solicitor general constituents into my writing of thunder bay atticoke and see that significant work is underway in correctional facilities across the north major infrastructure developments are occurring in facilities located in thunder bay and canora it is vital that modernization and improvements to these facilities addresses the safety needs for staff and provides a high standard of care and supervision for those in custody all workers need to be assured that they have the tools they need to do their jobs safely and well speaker can the solicitor general please provide information about the progress and implicate implications of these projects thank you reply the solicitor general well thank you mr speaker thank you mr speaker and i'd like to thank the incredible member from thunder bay atticoke and there's question and mr speaker i was recently in thunder bay with him and i can tell you how truly impressive the sites are the ultimate goal of our correctional infrastructure projects is to create a safer environment for our correctional staff and those in our custody and not only have we expanded the current thunder bay correctional center but we've added a 50 new bed modular state of the art build we've also started breaking ground on the 1.2 billion dollar correctional complex in thunder bay mr speaker public safety is the utmost priority for our government mr the president per month mr speaker per month thanks to the work of these officers ontarians will say will feel safer in their communities thank you speaker and thank you to the solicitor general for that response it's encouraging news that our government is focused on investing in a series of projects to modernize correctional services to improve the health safety and security of provincial facilities while our government is taking action to prioritize safety for correctional staff and those in custody we must respond to serious concerns about capacity pressures in the correctional system overcrowding creates a difficult unsafe and unhealthy environment for everyone and leads to increased workplace health and safety concerns speaker can the solicitor general please elaborate on how these infrastructure projects are addressing capacity in ontario's correction system solicitor general well thank you mr speaker and i want to thank my friend for the question and i'm truly excited about this project because we're replacing out of date infrastructure that goes back to the 19th century this new modern facility will provide staff with the tools and technology and a healthy work environment to do their jobs safely and effectively and it has been an honor i might say mr speaker to meet many of the native inmate liaison officers during my visit these are truly amazing people our new facility of thunder bay due to be completed in about four years will have a 345 bed capacity to address the pressures create additional space for programming and expand supports for inmates with mental health issues mr. the president just we fiat and mr. speaker i am proud of our staff and they are wonderful people who are protecting us every day thank you speaker deondra is a four-year-old child who has severe sleep apnea in a sleep test it showed 85 of deondra's airway is blocked by adenoids when sleeping and she was referred for urgent surgery her surgery was scheduled for march at sick kids but was canceled and the reason given for the postponement was culvert surgical backlog worse a new date was not given sick kids have told the family that they are trying to get through as fast as they can we know they have a backlog of 12 000 surgeries speaker deondra has had to be resuscitated at least once after nearly suffocating to death while sleeping my question is how long does the premier think is an appropriate time for deondra to wait thank you thank you mr. speaker and thank you very much for the question and i'd certainly be happy to look into this case if you wanted to talk to me about it afterwards but nothing is more important to all of us than protecting the health and well-being of ontarians and especially our children we're working with pediatric hospitals to ramp up their capacity wherever possible and that means making permanent investments to increase the number of critical care beds at chio children's hospital of eastern ontario mcmaster children's hospital london health sciences children's hospital hospital for sick children and the kingston health sciences center this government has invested almost a billion dollars in the surgical recovery funding and we will continue to make the investments necessary and spare no expense really to make sure that the people of this problem province and especially our children continue to have access to the quality care that they know and expect supplementary question speaker deondra's mother chanel and her grandmother silvia are in the gallery today and i invite the member to meet with them after question period both mom and grandma don't sleep they stay up all night watching deondra to make sure she doesn't suffocate to death they're panicked and exhausted this is the experience of so many families across ontario and yet this government underspends on health care speaker every day deondra waits for surgery is another day she risks losing her life it's another day the family is put in stress and anxiety will the premier ensure that every public operating room in this province stays open and is fully staffed so kids like deondra can get the surgery they urgently need and not have to wait and roll the dice thank you very much mr. speaker thank you again to the member opposite for the question obviously this government has pulled out all the stops and is in the midst of the largest health human resources recruitment and training retention initiative in ontario's history we've made record investments and as the premier noted earlier 60 000 new nurses here in ontario 8 000 new doctors including 1800 family physicians and we're going to continue to make those investments that that's part of the reason we brought forward bill 60 we're also in our your health plan expanding family health teams and we've got a 30 million dollar investment in that we're doing everything we can to make sure that ontarians get the kind of care that they know and deserve thank you the next question member for agents yes speaker my question is for the minister of children community and social services veterans have always held an important and special place in my heart they defend the rights and freedoms that we often take for granted through conversations with members from my legion we speak about the responsibilities of the royal legion and a veteran affairs canada and the needs of veterans could the speaker could the minister please share a program that we have put in place by our government that supports our veterans minister children community and social services thank you very much speaker and i want to thank the great member for ajax for the great work that she does in her writing and thank you very much for the important question speaker i know the debt that we owe to veterans for the sacrifices they have made to our country and they continue to make to make sure that we live in a better place mr speaker ontario is the only province in canada with a financial assistance program created specifically for veterans the soldier's aid commission provides financial assistance for veterans and their families up to two thousand dollars for per household for the following items health related items like hearing aids glasses prescriptions and dental needs services like home repairs moving costs or furniture specialized equipment like assistive devices wheelchair and prosthetics personal items mr speaker and employment related supports like workloads work boots short-term costs to improve employment opportunities and i will have more to say in the supplementary supplementary question the speaker and thank you to the minister for the response i'm happy our province is putting in place additional programs and supports for our veterans when we think of veterans many of us instinctively think of about our older generation which those which served in the wars the world wars and Korean war however the reality is that there are many young veterans who serve canada in most recent conflicts such as the afghan war it is vital that programs and support adapt to meet their needs and are modern and change for to sorry modern and supply needs for their families speaker can the minister please elaborate on how the soldiers aid commission is responded to younger generations of veterans mr children community and social services speaker speaker we need to continue to support our veterans including the young cohorts mr speaker that's why our government passed a new line 2020 to expand the soldiers aid commissions program to include all ontario veterans and their families regardless of where and when they serve mr speaker this was the first meaningful change in the mandate after years of being ignored by the previous government which saw the commission's financial assistance constrained to very limited group of former servicemen and women mr speaker i'm pleased to add that to support this expanded mandate the commission's funding has been increased by about 600 to 1.55 million each year mr speaker last we invested $529,000 through the true patriot love foundation to deliver a broad range of mental health supports to veterans responding to civilian civilian life mr speaker we must never forget the bravery and sacrifice of our veterans and i thank each and every person that serves us in uniform thank you thank you the next question the member for hamilton center start the car i recognize the member for hamilton center thank you mr speaker this question is to the minister of education hamilton wetward district school board trustee sabrina dot hub this week successfully passed the motion to redraft 2022 2023 suspension and expulsion data to show desegregated categories such as gender and race by 2023 because she knows what it'll show that kids in schools who are the most impacted by discretionary suspensions and expulsions are black racialized indigenous and disabled students you have the data to support suspensions and expulsions don't work they perpetuate the school to prison pipeline in 2020 the minister announced a ban on discretionary suspensions for children in kindergarten to grade three is the minister willing to extend this ban to include all elementary school students enter apply the minister of education this speaker we are very cognizant of the disproportionality impacting racialized and indigenous students in ontario it's the basis for why we essentially eliminated the ability of principals and educators to suspend children in kindergarten grade one and two and three there's got to be a better way by which we can ensure these young people are focused and stay in school integrated in their classrooms than to suspend them at that young age mr. Speaker we also saw the data that informed the decision of this government to de-stream the entire grade nine curriculum on the basis that we want to give young people equal opportunity and a pathway to success by removing the barriers that impede their progress we know there's more to do in the context of fighting racism discrimination and barriers in school and i look forward to working with community to build further initiatives we can undertake in this province to ensure every young person graduates achieves and get a good job in this province elementary question mr. Speaker school boards in peel Ottawa and Toronto have all spoken up about the data which proves the suspensions and expulsions disproportionately impact black racialized and disabled students because they are far more likely to be treated punitively than their peers in 2021 a school board in Dallas became the first large urban public school board in north america to ban discretionary disciplinary suspensions for this reason the data is clear discretionary suspensions is a tool that feeds racism anti-black racism and ableism in our school system will the minister of education answer trusty dohub's question and extend your ban on discretionary suspensions for kids in elementary school that go beyond grade three mr. Speaker the research is abundantly clear about how we can ensure racialized children could succeed in the classroom let's ensure that those kids are able to see their educators that reflect the communities in which they work when the NDP and the liberals had an opportunity to work with the government to eradicate regulation 274 a regressive regulation that denies principles the ability to hire a highly talented racialized educator in a community that with many racialized kids they oppose that effort so mr. Speaker if members opposite want to advance the cause of anti-racism you would have supported the government to be streamed the curriculum you would have supported the government when for the first time in the history of Canada's of Canada we actually overtook and supervised the board on the basis of anti-black racism we have taken action in this area unfortunately we've done so without the support of the NDP and liberals the next question the member for new market aurora thank you speaker my question is for the associate minister of women's social and economic opportunity the development of technology in recent years has driven a push for more technical training in the science technology engineering and mathematics fields also known as STEM however the numbers of women employed in technology careers as well as in trades related occupations are well below their male counterparts this is troubling speaker especially with the overwhelming labor shortages in many sectors across our province it is essential that all students are exposed to technological education to learn critical skills so they can succeed in a good paying job speaker can the associate minister please explain how our government is empowering students especially young women to prepare them for the jobs of tomorrow the associate minister of women's social and economic opportunity thank you speaker and thank you to the member of new market aurora a great member in that community mr speaker i am proud that our government is taking action to ensure that students across the province have the tools and skills they need to build prosperity for their generation in ontario and our minister of education has worked diligently to ensure that this becomes a reality and i was honored to participate in the announcement with the minister of education that our government will be revising the grade nine 10 curriculum and implementing the requirement for students to take at least one technological course this is great for all students but especially for girls who will now have even more exposure to the highly rewarding fields in stem and this is reassuring news for both me as a public servant and a mother that we are taking the right measures to prepare young women to pursue fulfilling careers in the skills trades and stem and this supports the thousands of jobs that are being triggered um that are the creation of thousands of jobs that are being triggered by the thank you very much supplementary question thank you speaker and thank you to the associate minister for that response it is encouraging that all students will have an opportunity to explore options for career pathways in technology and trades related occupations through hands-on experiences and technical skills learned in the classroom our government must implement solutions now that will help address ontario significant labour shortages it is projected that by 2026 approximately one in five job openings in ontario will be in the skilled trades related fields with more than 100 000 unfilled skilled trades jobs right now it is critical that our government does all that we can to attract more young women to pursue fulfilling good paying careers in the trade speaker can the minister please elaborate on how technological education will help prepare young women to pursue careers in sectors that are vital to our economy the associate minister thank you speaker and thank you again to the member young women deserve a life of opportunity and one that will help them become successful leaders in any industry they choose and part of navigating that success is exposing young women to non-traditional careers early in their education our government's commitment to equip students with the skills they need and stem will prepare them for careers for the future young women who traditionally may have been discouraged from entering the trades will now develop skills and knowledge that will help them understand and contribute to the technological advances in the changing workplace and world the recent changes in the graduation requirement are another step our government is taking to increase women's participation in the workforce and empower them to succeed in sectors that are vital to our economy we have taken these steps because we know that when women succeed ontario succeeds next question member from the people walk change day thank you speaker for the minister of francophone affairs as from april first there will be a period of adaptation there were many things regarding this law there is a lack of employees because of this and all the agencies subject to this law will not receive services in a bilingual way how will you ensure that bilingual employees be and which will be the repercussions for those who will not respond to this law I thank the member for his question I'm proud that our government is the first government who modernized the law for services in front for the first time in 35 years since the very beginning of the history of the law regarding bilingual services we know the importance of francone providing these services for franco-ontarian this law will be in forces from april first it comprises nine measures that are essential to ensure that and francophones in ontario receive quality services from the very from the establishment of the very first contact I agree with the opposite member there's a lot of work to do to ensure that our workforce is prepared to provide these services in a bilingual way thank you to the minister for their response french language is always unprotected this has happened for the last 40 years there are many factors to it immigrant francophone immigration post-secondary secondary institutions francophone organizations what are the strategies that your ministry is going to set in place to ensure continuity of our institutions and organizations to ensure that francophonie is no lost in ontario thank you speaker and again thank you for the question the loss of the linguism that we've seen throughout the reason information that was given by a statistics canada is a national shows a national phenomenon in ontario our government has said concrete measures to respond to the needs of the francophone community and to face the challenges that they have been seeing we have modernized the law the law to provide the francophone service bilingual services with the work that we have done by modernizing this law we have also presented a global strategy to address the fear that is brought by the member opposite so that we can help community francophone communities to help francophone and bilingual organizations in their communities speaker no government in the history of ontario has done as much as we have done thank you speaker it's always a pleasure to take the floor and friend and i've liked this exchange this previous exchange culturalism our province is home to people from all across the world who are proud to call ontario their home while our province has much to offer we recognize that diverse workers and entrepreneurs face unique challenges when it comes to finding jobs starting businesses and accessing opportunities and i've met with many of them at my constituency office and particularly hardworking local business owners who are just trying to make a go of it our government is working diligently to address systemic challenges here in ontario while investing in diverse talent and communities to support job creation and economic growth speaker can the minister please explain how our government is supporting diverse entrepreneurs who are looking to start a business here in ontario minister of citizenship and multiculturalism well thank you very much mr. speaker and i'd like to thank the incredibly hardworking member for from winters to come see for the question speaker as the members member alluded to a diverse ontario is critical to our economic success of our province diverse communities help enrich our cultural fabric and build our province into the amazing place that is through their talent hard work passion fresh ideas and perspectives speaker is part of our government's ambitious plan to build a strong economy for today and tomorrow we're investing an additional 15 million dollars into the into black indigenous and other diverse aspiring entrepreneurs in ontario start and scale their businesses this funding will help them overcome barriers by providing them with coaching training and start up funding to get their businesses off the ground and set up for long-term success ontario continues to lead our nation in job growth and this will continue to help create jobs and opportunities for families strengthening communities across the province and build a stronger ontario for all thank you the supplementary question thank you speaker and thank you to the minister for that response this is all good news for the people of ontario since day one our government under the leadership of the premier has been committed to eliminating barriers to economic success for all ontarians and acknowledging the unique contributions of diverse communities throughout my home region of Windsor Essex we have not only seen a rich history of people of afghan descent but we are also seeing many active community organizations and projects dedicated to preserving this vital history and building a bright future ahead the black community as well as other diverse communities and their businesses are truly crucial to the growth and success of Windsor and the surrounding areas speaker can the minister please elaborate on the supports that are available for diverse communities across ontario minister well miss speaker again i'd like to thank the member for the great question speaker our government is opening doors and creating opportunities for ontarios diverse communities this year alone we'll be investing more than 35 million dollars to the black youth action plan and raise grant to help thousands of black youth and diverse entrepreneurs succeed and reach their full potential i know that my colleagues from across government are doing this work as well speaker weather's improving outcomes for children leaving the child welfare system under the leadership of the new minister of children community or social services or investing graduation coaching and tutoring supports to help black students succeed in and beyond the classroom under the leadership of the minister of education or providing underrepresented groups with the skills and training they need to find good paying jobs under the leadership of the minister of labour immigration training and skills development our government is leaving no stone unturned mr speaker to ensure ontarians from all walks of life have every opportunity to succeed that concludes our question period for this morning and i recognize the member for halibut and qurth lexbrock on a point of order thank you mr speaker i'd like to thank my page at elizabeth keys brazier from halibut and qurth lexbrock for her amazing service to the legislature and to introduce her mom shelly brazier and her sister lillian keys brazier and i recognize the government house leader understanding order 59 thank you very much mr speaker let me just uh first of all thank all of the members for what was another very productive week on behalf of the people of the province of ontara and wish all of those who are celebrating over the weekend a very happy and safe holiday to the leaders of the opposition we have not yet finalized the order of business for the week after the constituency week uh so i know the leader of her majesty's loyal opposition will look for spending some time with me as we organize the the business over the next few days thank you thank you very much and before i uh adjourn the house for the morning i want to introduce some very special guests who are here in the speaker's gallery my friends from the wellington holton hill's provincial constituency office judy brownrick karen thomas and janice howie they didn't tell me they were coming down so i'm not sure who's looking after the office today but i think they're here to celebrate tartan date this house stands in recess until 1 p.m