 It is now time for oral questions, and I recognize the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Thank you, Speaker. My question for the Premier. According to Dr. Michael Warner, the OR at Michael Garen Hospital in Toronto drops to using just two out of ten operating rooms at 4 p.m. That's eight operating rooms sitting empty for more than 12 hours per day. Why is the government choosing to send surgeons, nurses and funding to private for-profit clinics while operating rooms in our hospitals sit idle? The Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. Thank you, Speaker, and thank you to the member office for giving me an opportunity to highlight the announcement that we made with the Minister of Long-Term Care on the weekend, I'm sorry, on Thursday it's a plan to stay open healthcare stability and resistance. A five-point plan that talks about not only healthcare human resources, but giving hospitals the additional investments that they need to make sure that when there are operating suites available, we are funding them additionally. We are doing programs that allow our paramedics to go into community and serve people in community. In my own community on the weekend I was approached by someone who said they've been using the community paramedics and program for years and they love it. It is exactly what they need to be able to stay safely at home. The five-point plan covers a number of areas that we know we can focus better on and ensure that we have the healthcare services we need where we need them. Thank you. A supplementary question. Again to the Premier, in December 2021, Ontario's Auditor General reported that ORs sit unused far more than they should. A full third of hospitals in Ontario didn't even hit the target for operating room use. And the same goes for CT and MRIs. CT scanners are used at 37% while MRI machines are used at 56% of system capacity. St. Joe's and sick kids in Toronto, Lake Ridge Health Hospitals in Oshawa and Ajax and North Bay Regional Health Centre all shut down their CT and MRI machines by 4pm. Why is this government refusing to use the operating room CT and MRI capacity we already have? So Speaker, as I mentioned, we've already invested $300 million as part of our province's surgical recovery strategy. And I only point to the Ontario Hospital Association's comments after the Thursday announcement. The OHA supports the strategy announced today by the government of Ontario for the fall and winter 2022-23 as it will help maintain access to health services during what is expected to be a challenging period. It is essential that all partners continue to work closely together as a team Ontario approach to overcome the complex underlying issues facing the healthcare system. Hospitals are here to serve the people of Ontario and will continue to do everything possible to meet their health services needs. We will continue those partnerships. Thank you. The final supplementary. Moving surgeries and procedures to private for-profit clinics will send surgeons, nurses, technicians and other health care workers out of our hospitals. Why is the Premier robbing from the underused public system to send health care workers and funds to private for-profit clinics? Mr. Health. Thank you, Speaker. I will remind the member opposite and all parliamentarians here that we have actually added 400 physicians, residents to support the workforce in Northern and rural Ontario. Order. We're launching a new provincial emergency department peer-to-peer program to provide additional on-demand real-time support and coaching. Member for Kitchener-Cotta Stogan, come to order. Member for Hamilton Mountain, come to order. Minister of Health can continue. Thank you, Speaker. And from the Ontario Medical Association, they support the initiatives announced today by the government strengthening collaboration with government doctors and other health care stakeholders is critical to resolving the unprecedented pressures on Ontario's health care system. No one group can do this alone. We must work together. Member for Niagara Falls. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Last week we got to see the Conservatives long-term care plan. Cruel doesn't even begin to describe it. Hospital discharge planners have always been allowed to have conversations with patients. However, the new regulations give them power to access a patient without consent to send their personal information to a private care home without their consent. To discharge them from the hospital and admit them into a long-term care facility without their consent. Informed consent is the cornerstone of modern medicine and health care. My question is clear. How on earth did the Premier come up with this cruel scheme instead of just properly resourcing our long-term care system? Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Well, the Honourable Gentleman is actually incorrect. Now, perhaps he didn't have a chance to take a look at the bill, Mr. Speaker, because had he looked at the bill he would have seen right in the explanatory note that in fact consent will still be required. If he went a little bit further into bill 60, subsection 60-7 he would see again that consent is still required, Mr. Speaker. What we're doing actually is working with our acute care partners to finally be able to be in a position to address the challenges that have faced acute care for a very, very long time in this province. Mr. Speaker, long-term care is in a position to be part of that solution. And it's in that position ultimately because of the investments that this government has made since coming to office in 2018. So again, Mr. Speaker, the Honourable Gentleman is wrong. I'd be more than happy to send a copy of the bill over to him so that he can take a look at it for himself. I certainly do appreciate the ministers sending over the bill to me, but I just happen to have a copy in front of me. The new provisions authorize certain actions to be carried out without the consent of these patients. It's right in the bill. So maybe, I'll give it to the clerk and maybe they can send it over to you. Speaker, this bill seeks to send seniors out of their communities to homes with open beds. You know which homes are most likely to have open beds? They are private for profit long-term care homes with terrible records of abuse and no air conditioning in their rooms. We have 79 care homes have no air condition as of this weekend. The same private care homes with PC insiders on their boards. How can this government even pretend to care about seniors while they're literally proposing to rip them away from their families? Speaker, will the Premier accept the responsibility when seniors deteriorate from their homes? Thank you. The Honourable Gentleman is wrong. I'll quote directly from the bill. LC patient who transfers an ALC patient to a long-term care home without the consent of the LC patient where their substitute decision makers will not be allowed. So Mr. Speaker, it is very clear that that will not be allowed. But the member's tune has changed a little bit since Thursday, right? People would be forcibly removed from hospital against their will without their consent. He said that they would be moved into ward rooms across the province and hundreds of miles away from their family and friends. Mr. Speaker, now because of the investments that we have made in long-term care that is not going to happen. And the member knows this. He knows that we will not move people without their consent but it allows us to have a conversation. What homes might be available to a patient in a hospital who has been discharged in and around their homes of choice while they wait for their home of choice to become available, Mr. Speaker? I think that's responsible. It is part of the solution to the acute care challenge that we face for decades and I'm happy that long-term care can play a role. Thank you very much and let's be clear. Conversation is not consent. 5,000 seniors have died in long-term care homes over the last couple of years. 40 of them died last week. Parents, grandparents, mother-in-laws, father-in-laws. Under this government's watch we have seniors waiting in hospitals because there are no long-term beds in their own communities. We have seniors roasting in long-term care homes that are over 40 degrees because there is no air conditioning in their rooms. Now the government's own legislation says seniors will be sent to homes outside their community without consent. When will this government admit they completely left out and left seniors behind? When will the Premier appoint a full-time minister of long-term care? Seniors deserve no less. Thank you. Mr. Long-term Care. It's not dangerous that the Honourable Gentleman is wrong because I can only assume that he hasn't read the bill and he's not up to speed. But what is dangerous is to be out there communicating things that just simply are not part of the legislation. Nobody will be removed from a discharge to as discharged from a hospital, will be moved into a long-term care home without their consent. It's in the explanatory note and it's actually in the legislation itself, Mr. Speaker. There is nobody roasting in long-term care homes at 40 degrees. The Fixing Long-term Care Act, which he voted against ensures that that does not happen. In fact almost 89% of our homes have air conditioning in each and every room and 100% of our long-term care homes are air conditioned Mr. Speaker. That is the reality. But here is the thing Mr. Speaker. Long-term care, we can be part of the solution Mr. Speaker. It has been decades that long-term care has placed a challenge on the healthcare system but because of the investments that we have made that they have voted against, we can be part of the solution Mr. Speaker and we will be. Member for Davenport. Good morning Mr. Speaker. This question is for the Minister of Education Speaker. Unfortunately our public healthcare system isn't the only sector that's being targeted for privatization by this government. Two weeks ago the finance minister announced a new scheme that would give payouts to parents for tutoring outside of school. It's a plan that sucks 225 million out of our public schools far surpassing whatever this government is contributing to in-school supports for kids and giving them what I can only guess is about 50 bucks per family for tutoring services outside of school. Speaker, through you to the Minister of Education, how does taking money away from our in-school supports of public education and forcing families to find help for their kids at 50 bucks a year actually help our struggling students? To apply the Minister of Education. Mr. Speaker, we reject the premise it's an either or proposition. This progressive conservative government is going to give support to parents while increasing investments in public education. We can do both in this province and we owe it to parents to do both and you know it's so critical at a time of rising national inflation the cost of living challenge I find it a bit bizarre for new Democrats and Liberals to oppose measures even if they incrementally provide 50, 100, 200, 400 dollars as we've done in the past year over the pandemic that makes a difference and parents this province want more of it not less. We have increased investments for public education as announced by the Minister of Finance by 650 million more dollars for this September. A learning recovery plan that leads the nation with $175 million in tutoring supports for the publicly funded schools the member officer rightfully speaks about. We agree it is important these kids get back on track and Mr. Speaker the most important thing we can do in addition to the dollars is to have a resolute commitment to keeping kids in class and our government will deliver that for the kids at this point. Supplementary question. It's clear this is really about sucking funds out of publicly funded education and subsidizing private tutoring at $50 for a family a year. What is that actually achieved? If anybody speaker was watching the J's in last week you probably saw these slick new taxpayer funded ads for the government's so-called plan to catch up and let's be clear that most of that is a recap of funding that was announced last year and this new $50 tutoring support. Who, how, when or who's going to get those support checks because the government hasn't even released any details of it so not only are they prioritizing these one-off checks over real investment in our kids schools but they're spending massively to convince parents that they're doing more than they are. Speaker how much is the government spending on this massive advertising program to promote a plan that doesn't even exist yet? It's not lost on families watching that when the details were unveiled for the $200 investment we provide to every child or the $400 when we doubled it, the new Democrats opposed it then just like they will do it now. They have stood up against the incremental savings our government has been able to provide for families. The idea logically is consistent after all in the child care deal where we're now saving on average $4,000 this year, $12,000 by next year, the new Democrats wanted us to omit for-profit child care because they don't believe in choice, they don't believe in respecting parents and they don't believe in delivering affordability for the taxpayers of this province. Our government and our premier have a mandate to do that, to work with our publicly funded school boards to improve education quality, to invest more and to expect more and that's exactly what we're going to do by investing in a landmark tutoring expansion plan, a 420% increase in mental health. All this is going to make a difference as we get kids in normal, stable, more enjoyable schools this September. Next question, the member for Whitkey. Thank you, my question is to the minister of long-term care. Last Thursday the minister introduced legislation in his house that critics have suggested we'll see seniors discharged from hospital and moved into long-term care homes in communities far from their family and friends and against their will. We all know, Speaker, how difficult it was during the initial waves of COVID-19 when family could not visit or participate in caring for their loved one in a long-term care home. Speaker, is the minister doing as critics have suggested and ignoring the lessons of the pandemic and forcing seniors to live alone, isolated from family? Minister of long-term care. Thank you. I'd like to thank the member for the question and the obvious passion which he brings to the file. I can assure the member that of course no such action will be taken. Consent will still be required. We do understand how important it is that loved ones, family, friends, spouses, partners are close to their loved ones in long-term care, not only because they provide assistance with day-to-day activities, Mr. Speaker, but because of the emotional support that comes with having a loved one nearby. But it also reflects, Mr. Speaker, that the best care for somebody who has been discharged from a hospital is not in a hospital. It is in a long-term care home, Mr. Speaker. I just said we want to turn people from patients to residents, Mr. Speaker. We are in, we have the ability to do so and I'm very part of the fact that long-term care can be part of the solution. A supplementary question. But back to the minister of long-term care, Speaker, I appreciate the answer. However, regulation will be used to implement the legislation. And Hal will identify the parameters around movement into a home. Very specifically, Speaker, who will the minister be consulting in advance of establishing a regulation? And how long will Ontario families wait before the minister delivers the regulations implementing the legislation? Mr. Blomkirk here. Thank you, Honourable Member, for the very important question. My parliamentary assistant, Mr. Jordan, will be undertaking, has already begun consultations. We will be working with residents councils, family clinicians, hospitals, Mr. Speaker, and residents to ensure that the regulations in fact keep residents as close to their homes of choice as possible and close to their family, friends and spouses. But specific to the question assuming that this legislature passes this bill, we will quickly present regulations no later than one week following the passage of the bill. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker, through you to the Premier. One year ago this week, downtown Wheatley exploded, likely as a result of an old abandoned gas well that had leaked. According to the Globe and Mail, months after the explosion, the Chatham Kent Fire Chief warned the provincial government of gas leaks and repeatedly begged for help. But the province evidently decided this was the municipality's problem, not the province's. There are estimated 15,000 abandoned oil and gas wells in rural southwestern Ontario. Experts say another Wheatley is just a matter of time. Will the provincial government take action to prevent another explosion, or will the Premier abandon rural communities to deal with this danger on their own? Thank you for the question, Mr. Speaker. First and foremost, let me just thank the new member from Chatham Kent for the work that he's been doing on this file, Mr. Speaker. It is something that he addressed almost immediately after his swearing in. At the same time, Mr. Speaker, significant resources have been put in place to ensure that we identify and cap wells. Frankly, we are working with our partners at all levels, the municipal and the federal government to not only identify these wells but to cap them. As I said, funding has been put in place to ensure that that happens at the same time through the good work of the member for Chatham Kent and, of course, the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. Local businesses that were impacted by that are being supported, Mr. Speaker. So more work needs to be done, but we're well on our way to ensuring all communities are safe. Supplementary, the member for Hamilton West and Caster Dundas. Premier, the explosion in Wheatley flattened the downtown core and many people were hospitalized. About a year before the Wheatley explosion, there was another explosion just 10 kilometres away near Leamington. That explosion took the lives of a retired couple. Experts believe an leaky oil and gas well may have been the cause of that explosion as well. People have died and yet when Chatham Kent detected a gas leak in downtown Wheatley and begged the province for help, the province dithered. Past provincial governments have allowed oil and gas companies to walk away from their responsibilities when they abandoned wells. When will your government take action to prevent another deadly explosion that we are seeing in the province of Ontario? Mr. Speaker, the government is keenly aware of the problems with the homeowners and tenants in Wheatley. Obviously, we were on the ground very early, both the Premier and Minister Rickford. On March 4th, 2022, the province extended the Wheatley Residence Assistance Program to the end of the year. Wheatley residents who have not been able to return home can receive assistance costs until December 31st, 2022. So far, Speaker, the honourable members should know that we paid over $823,000 to help evacuated households and additional payments are being made on an ongoing basis. Question to member for Oakville North Burlington. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In an answer to one of my colleagues earlier in question period, the Minister of Long-Term Care confirmed that no patient in hospital will be discharged into a long-term care home against their will and that he understands the importance of keeping someone in long-term care close to family and friends. However, the opposition are suggesting that as part of the solution to the decades-long challenges in acute care, seniors are being forced back into four-bed ward rooms. Speaker, these ward rooms were singled out by the Long-Term Care Commission as being a serious part of the problem in the initial waves of COVID-19. Can the Minister confirm if he is considering this as part of the solution and if so, what evidence does he have that they are now safer? Minister of Long-Term Care. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I thank the member for the question. Of course, the member served as parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Long-Term Care predating me and did a tremendous amount of work which actually has brought us to the position where we can actually participate in long-term care. So I thank her for that work and the passion that she brings. Very specific to her question despite what the transition critic is tweeting out and press releases four-bedroom ward rooms will not be used as part of this solution. Thank you. A supplementary question. Thank you, Minister. And, Speaker, my follow-up to the Minister is about the resources that will be available to residents who are moving into a long-term care home following discharge from a hospital. Often patients coming from hospital require some additional assistance that is not always available in a home. For example, patients requiring dialysis must move back and forth from home to hospital for their treatment. Residents with dementia would also need special services and care. The Minister has stated that long-term care is able to be part of the solution so can the Minister explain what additional resources are provided to improve residents' quality of care? Minister of long-term care. Thank you again to the member. And I understand why she's asking this question because it is something that she worked on for four years as the parliamentary assistant on the strategic long-term care advisory table. And what we are doing, Mr Speaker, is we're adding $37 million in additional resources right now and over 60 million ongoing. And what this will do is to look at homes and retrofit them. It's a community partnership that we're doing. So a patient discharged from hospital who needs dialysis, we will make sure that the home where they may go to actually has dialysis available. But we're doing a bit more than that too. We're partnering up with Bacrest that offers behavioral services. We're leading edge behavioral services. We're doing that. And we're providing additional supports for behavioral services on tarot to deal with or to assist in those instances where a patient is leaving hospital with dementia and a home requires additional resources in order to deal with it. It is really in all honesty thanks to the hard work for the member for Oakville Burlington and of course my predecessor, the minister who took a lot of this work in advance of me even getting there. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Thank you, Speaker. My question is for the premier. With the rate of inflation, this program does not even cover the cost of gas. Let alone a hotel room to travel for residents in Northern Ontario. Patients are left paying out of pocket for their expenses or racking up credit card bills. Sadly, some people must cancel their appointment because they simply cannot afford it. What is this government going to do to help offset the cost of important medical travel and ease the financial burden for residents of Northern Ontario? Thank you, Speaker. We recognize that the residents in Northern Ontario face some unique challenges because of the distances between accessing healthcare, particularly specialty services. So the Northern Health Travel Grant is continuously upgrading quality improvement opportunities. In fact, in the 2021-22 allocation, it was $48.2 million. And most importantly for me 96.2% of those applications were approved. We've done things like making sure that people who have to use the Northern Ontario Health Travel Grant have the opportunity, if they so choose to be able to have direct deposits. So if you are using the service on a regular basis, you have the ability to receive that payment back sooner as opposed to waiting for a check. It is an optional program, but I think it speaks to we always want to see where there are opportunities for improvement and we will act as a government. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. President. The reimbursement rate is 41 cents per kilometre and has been for many years. With a price of gas sitting around $1.90 to $2 per liter the whole-tail industry has seen an increase rate of up to 30%. It's not uncommon to pay $1.50 per night. The travel grant covers $100 for two nights. Meals have never been a grant. These medical appointments are booked because they're necessary. How are seniors of low-income patients supposed to cover these costs? Will the government stop dragging their feet and implement a new revised reimbursement formula for this program? Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. So as I mentioned in my previous answer of course we understand the unique challenges that Northern Ontario residents experience, which is frankly why we have ensured that there are now 400 new additional health care providers working in Northern and rural Ontario. We'll continue to work with our partners to improve any programs that we have in place and those programs such as matching an emergency room doc with a peer mentor that may have access to different skill sets and using that to make sure that we leverage so that people in Northern Ontario and across Ontario have equitable access to health care in the province of Ontario. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Climate change is wreaking havoc around the globe. Fires, windstorms, floods, all happening with ferocity and a frequency that we haven't seen before. Ottawa has seen two floods and three major windstorms in the last five years. That's once in a generation happening every single year, Mr. Speaker, but Ontario has failed to invest in infrastructure adaptation or the modernization of disaster relief programs to address the new reality. In May, the direct with winds up to 190 kilometres an hour swept across the city. 180,000 residents were without power, some for days, many for weeks. Residents isolated at the upper levels of apartment buildings without fresh water, Mr. Speaker. The emergency response to the storm has cost the city and Hydro-Ottawa up to $50 million. Three months later, despite promises from the Premier, there has still been no provincial support to the city or Hydro-Ottawa. When will the government step up, fulfill its commitments to the residents of Ottawa, and compensate the city and Hydro-Ottawa for the cost of the storm? I apologize to the member who is riding the course as Orlane. Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks. Thank you, Speaker. And I thank the member opposite for his question, and was pleased to join him with members of Ottawa City Council to discuss climate change and the commitments that this government are taking to address and improve adaptation and resiliency through the province's first ever climate change impact assessment. I know my colleague will address some specifics in the supplemental, but I'd like to lead by saying this is the first ever climate change impact assessment this province has ever undertaken. It was welcome news by the City of Ottawa, and will help build our resiliency. To add to that speaker, we've made critical investments in stormwater, wastewater infrastructure upgrades after years of neglect by the previous government where we saw sewage spills leaching into Lake Ontario where infrastructure was crumbling and not able to meet extreme weather events. Under this government, we've increased OSIF, a critical funding instrument for rural municipalities. We've increased funding for sewage and water to address overflow issues. We've launched the first ever climate change impact assessment and will continue to work with municipal partners to address this. I'd like to thank the incredible staff at Hydro One for the work that they've done to address these outages. Thank you. The supplementary question, remember for early end. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. Supplemental is the premier again. Some of the hardest hit areas of Ottawa were in the rural areas. Navin, Sarsfield, Carl's Bad Springs. Families like the McWilliams, the McFaddens, the Cotten's have seen utter devastation to their farms and their properties. Farms that have been feeding the community in the region for generations. And they're not alone Mr. Speaker. Despite some nice promises from the premier during the election these families still don't qualify for the disaster recovery assistance program. Why? Because the government hasn't activated the program for the City of Ottawa Mr. Speaker. These families have worked for generations, not only producing food but giving back to the community. Whether it's leading the Navin Fair, which is vital to the village, whether it's volunteer firefighting, whether it's Hay West, these families have been contributing to their community, helping all of us for years Mr. Speaker. During one of their darkest hours of need when will this government step up and provide disaster relief to these families? When will their government be there for them? Minister of Miss Bullfaires and Housing. Well, Mr. Speaker the ministry teams have been working with local officials since the May 21st storm event in the province. We deployed 19 provincial disaster assessment teams to assess damage both in southern and eastern Ontario. People who are affected from the storm obviously because the disaster relief assistance program for Ontarians isn't a replacement for insurance. We obviously want to continue to encourage residents to meet with their insurance company to talk about the assessment, and we'll continue to work with local officials. I, like all members of this house, celebrated the work that our hydro workers have done. We've got a tremendous amount of municipal staff and hydro staff that have been on the ground since that May 21st event. We applaud the work that they do and we'll continue to work with our ministry. The next question the member for Cambridge. Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question follows up on the previous two questions from my colleagues to the minister of long-term care. Why I appreciate that no senior will be discharged from the hospital into a home against their will and no patient will be separated by great distance from family and friends. I am concerned about the resources being available. I'm not talking about additional funding that will be part of this but more the availability of staff in homes that receive a senior discharge from a hospital. Given the staffing challenge faced across the sector how will the minister ensure that no senior discharged from a hospital becomes a resident of a home that is understaffed. Speaker, would exactly be the point of reducing stress in the long-term care sector only to add it to long-term care sector and put residents at risk. Minister of long-term care I thank the member for the question. A very good question because we've heard some discrepancies on how this will work Mr. Speaker. One of the reasons why we need to be able to work with families is so that we can assess what homes are available in and around the patients preferred choice. Does the phone is part of the fixing long-term care act. Does the home provide the resources that are needed. Does it require the extra resources and does it have the staffing and the care available for a patient who might be discharged. That is what this act allows us to do that it didn't allow us to do. And again as you know Mr. Speaker as part of the fixing long-term care act nobody can be discharged into a home that does not have the appropriate level of care for the person who is becoming a resident of that home. The supplementary question. Speaker the minister has stated that long-term care can be part of the solution to what has been a decades long challenge in acute care system. Part of the government's plan includes elimination of isolation rooms that have been set aside for COVID outbreaks at home or in home. There are currently a number of homes across the province in outbreak. Will this policy not put these residents at risk? Is minister declaring victory over COVID at this time when no one else is? Mr. Long-term care. A very good question from the member and I appreciate it. So what the policy allows us to do Mr. Speaker is reflect on the fact that vaccinations have made such a difference in long-term care homes across the province of Ontario. Now fully 81% of our residents eligible residents have received a fourth dose of isolation. What we are doing of course is there are currently 2,000 beds that have been set aside for isolation purposes. This policy will take about 1,000 of those beds and make them available for the acute care system leaving in place over 1,000 beds for isolation purposes Mr. Speaker. Of course homes still have to provide an emergency plan. But too is a specific question on outbreaks there are still 167 homes down from 197 homes that are in outbreak Mr. Speaker. But to put it into context 34% of those are asymptomatic cases. 10% of the homes in outbreak have absolutely no resident cases Mr. Speaker. And 60% of the homes that are considered in outbreak have between 1 and 10 cases. So a lot of work has been done to ensure our seniors are safe in long-term care. Thank you. The member for Toronto Senate. Thank you Speaker. Thank you. My constituent Andrew reached out to me saying and I quote, I make decent money as an engineer but there's no way I'll be able to afford a house in the next 10 years. It makes me want to leave. Many believe that zoning and supply are the issues but demand is artificially generated by those who are rich enough to speculate and pay cash. Their breed will never run out. I end the quote. Speaker every housing expert knows supply alone didn't create the housing crisis. Speculators with insider connections did. What is this government doing to stop the ramp speculation taking home ownership out of reach for young families and tenants. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. And I thank my honourable colleague for the question. Mr. Speaker when it comes to housing supply is absolutely the issue Mr. Speaker in this house and I'm not sure why my colleagues in opposition continuously fight that. Mr. Speaker as a result of inaction by the previous government we are in a housing crisis in Ontario right now and every single person in this province is in this province Mr. Speaker which is why under the leadership of this minister and this premier and this government we are making a difference Mr. Speaker last year alone 100,000 starts started right here in this province Mr. Speaker. That's over 13,000 of those were rental units Mr. Speaker when we talking about helping Ontarians we're talking about housing across for every single province Speaker every single initiative that we've put forward the opposition they've let the people of this province down we're going to fight for them for every single day to make sure life is more affordable everyone has a safe and loving home to go. The supplementary question. Speaker thank you and again to the premier although my question wasn't answered but I'm going to ask a new question during a housing crisis and looming recession this government is allowing a historic rent hike of 2.5 percent this government continues to allow a rent control loophole on new units my constituent Terrence tells me this weekend how everyone he knows including himself is stuck living where they are now because to move they'll be paying for more money for less housing the prices are going up every month while rents are spiraling out of control Speaker while in Camments grow in every Ontario city why is this government worsening inflation by allowing a historic rent increase Speaker I was waiting for this member to ask a housing question because I wanted from our government's perspective to find out which MPP is here today was it the Toronto City Councilor who talked about supporting more housing construction or was it the Toronto City Councilor who once threatened to take this government to court about consulting on the building code and the recommendations regarding the Algoma mall or was it or was it Speaker through you was it the Councilor who once threatened to create her own red light system to stop development of housing in her riding over and over again we've seen new democrats not support when we want to strengthen penalties for bad landlords we've seen new democrats vote against increased support for tenants who were wrongfully evicted which new democratic party stands here today the one that's going to support our government when we stand up for tenants or the one that always blocks new construction the member for Brampton East Speaker the auto industry helped make this province an economic and manufacturing powerhouse for decades yet we saw the damage the previous Liberal government's policies did to this sector with Ontario's auto industry we all remember the warning from the former CEO of feed Chrysler Sergio Martioni who said that the Liberals carbon tax policy risk toppling Ontario's competitive position in the auto industry and today we see that threat that by American policies like the US EV tax credit have on Ontario's auto sector my constituents are worried about the economic impacts this will have for Ontarians and the auto industry in Ontario the premier and our team spent considerable time with US lawmakers and we made a very solid case for what we call a by North America stance and this ended with a personal visit to Washington to visit with Canada's ambassador Kristen Helman now we can proudly say that our team efforts paid off as the US only EV program is now the North American vehicle credit this is yet another reason that automakers and those in the supply chain will continue to invest billions of dollars in Ontario's emerging world class EV sector by reversing the damage the Liberals and the NDP caused over more than a decade we've reduced the cost of doing business in Ontario by $7 billion annually and speaker it's not wonder that we've already attracted $16 billion in EV investments and thousands of jobs over the last 20 months supplement your question thank you minister Mr. Speaker we remember when the previous Liberal government sent businesses running from Ontario with their costly policies we can't afford to lose businesses once again we need to increase production here in our province we need to show the world that Ontario is open for business and that we are an auto industry leader once again the communities of Oshawa, Windsor, Brampton, Oakville Ingersoll, St. Thomas are all leaders when it comes to auto production we know that we can compete with the rest of the world and succeed but this is not the case with Liberal and NDP policies my constituents want greater assurance that Ontario's auto sector will be protected going forward and the new Buy America rules will impact our EV sector Speaker can the minister outline how the government is ensuring the stability of the auto manufacturing industry in the province Minister of economic development we listened carefully to what the auto industry said they needed after years of being strangled by the Liberals anti-business policies and their hydro mess our driving prosperity plan set out a 10 year vision for the future of mobility here in Ontario we're already seeing the results speaker of our auto plan Ontario's automotive sector is in a stronger position today than it ever was under the previous government 16 billion in transformative EV investments in 20 months did not happen by accident this is a new era for the province and our auto workers we're bringing jobs back we're bringing investments to communities the Liberals neglected like loyalists in the east Cobalt in the north and Windsor in the west that's how we're driving prosperity Ontario's auto is back Question member for Kiwetnaw Good morning my question is to the Premier Speaker there are multiple indigenous led conservation projects in Ontario two are in Kiwetnaw indigenous protected and conserved areas are a necessary tool to protect the lands in the biodiversity of the north but Ontario law does not recognize IPCA as a protected area why does Ontario have no process to enable indigenous protected and conserved areas The Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks Thank you Speaker and thank you to the member opposite for that important question I think it's important that each and every action that I take as Minister of Environment and that this government takes is done so with indigenous communities that's why when I heard from Chief Touquette about important work we're doing on adjusting boundaries we said yes we said yes as a government we would work with them to adjust measures within the provincial parks and conservation reserve DAG to work listening with the First Nation community when Merv Chichoux spoke with us when I was up at Treaty 9 territory and asked about greater protections for French river we said yes these are all actions taken by indigenous leaders and each and every time we've listened we've worked with them to explore the art of the possible but it's important to note Speaker that this is led by and for indigenous communities and I'll always be willing to work alongside them to achieve their goals and objectives the supplementary question nice Speaker back to the Premier Kitchener makes up an interlock have spent years safeguarding the watershed of their in their treaty territories while these lands and waters are protected under KI laws Ontario must also reflect this and their laws to keep resource development and endangering the lands the waters the animals and fish this government must not resist the efforts of indigenous people to protect these lands because this government one of the ministers I've been trying to block and attempting the ICPAs while Ontario support KI's effort to protect their lands and waters minister's environment thank you Speaker this government will always work alongside indigenous community to support expanding green space protecting water and protecting our endangered species in the north throughout Ontario Speaker I reflect again upon a work that we're doing with Elliott Lake that members colleague we're doing important work there to ensure protection for the riverside of a provincial park and we're always willing to sit down with indigenous leaders a speaker when it comes to protecting water and working together it is this government that for the first time ever launched the First Nations advisory circle through a mandate that I issued the Ontario Clean Water Agency again underscored by the principle never about us without us we continue to work with indigenous communities to protect water in the north it's this government that's led unprecedented plastic capture technology on our great lakes it's this government that is working at unlocking the potential that is the north when I was on treaty 9 territory chief Archibald welcomed the opportunity that EVs present the north to unlock the potential of this province and we understand thank you thank you the next question the member for Niagara west thank you much Speaker I would like to remind the government of Ontario experienced energy insecurity like they had never seen before because of the Liberals reckless energy policies there were families that had to choose between heating or eating businesses left Ontario because we were deemed to not be competitive and too costly of a jurisdiction worst of all we saw the opposition publicly news about getting rid of our nuclear capabilities altogether Speaker let me be clear we can never allow our energy system to be compromised nuclear energy sector provides reliable and environmentally sound energy for our entire province the continued use of nuclear energy in Ontario will displace approximately 80 million tons per year of carbon dioxide Speaker could the minister of energy please explain how our government is enhancing our energy strength by partnering with the nuclear sector and ensuring the technological advancements that Ontario are first and foremost and the minister of energy to reply thanks very much Speaker thanks to the member opposite for the question that's exactly why our government is committed to a reliable affordable sustainable and clean energy sector and that's why we're leveraging small modular reactors and our first mover status that we have so that we can untapped the benefits to our economy in Ontario in Canada and indeed around the world this past spring we announced our vision to partner with other provinces new Brunswick Alberta Saskatchewan for the deployment of small modular reactors across the country and we're also creating new opportunities to export Ontario's goods our technology and our expertise to North America and around the world especially in eastern Europe last week I joined OPG in one of the largest electrical utilities in the United States Tennessee Valley Authority the TVA to announce a collaboration that's going to allow TVE to replicate what we're doing with small modular reactors here in Ontario a first grid scale SMR and that's why we're going to continue to unlock the potentials of SMR for our environment and our economy Mr. Speaker Supplementary question Thank you very much Speaker and when we take a global look at energy markets we see that Ontario's energy leadership is needed now more than ever. Russia's unprovoked an illegal attack on Ukraine as long with the growing instability in Asia as the Chinese communist regime attempts to destabilize that region has left our global partners seeking a strong stable reliable source of energy and Ontario can step up and show leadership and demonstrate that we are a trusted capable stable worldwide nuclear leader Ontario's nuclear ingenuity and know-how is unmatched and our record of success is unparalleled we just need a government that is willing to support this vital vital industry. Speaker can the Minister of Energy explain how our government will advance this nuclear technology knowledge and provide leadership to other jurisdictions what is the government doing when it comes to showing the world that Ontario is the leader when it comes to small modular reactor technology. Minister of Energy Thank you very much Ontario has a proud history and a long one as a trusted leader in nuclear expertise internationally and as new nuclear technologies such as small modular reactors become more mature and commercially viable we need to be ready to leverage our domestic supply chain 76,000 workers in Ontario experienced nuclear operators to make the most of this opportunity we also need to be ready for an increased demand for clean reliable and affordable electricity here in Ontario whether it's the electrification of our transportation sector powering new electric vehicles for EVs or making green steel with electric arc furnaces our economy is growing and it's electrifying nuclear power is going to continue to be a key part of Ontario's clean electricity grid Mr. Speaker as we move towards a clean energy future it's clear that there is no path forward without nuclear energy to get us to net zero Denise a 31 year old Toronto woman is a native of a home that can accommodate her wheelchair and is free of chemicals and strong smells from multiple chemical sensitivities however Denise can't afford any apartment that meets these criteria because she is on ODSP unable to afford housing that can accommodate her disabilities Denise has applied for medical assistance in dying Speaker it is absolutely horrifying that anyone in Ontario should be forced to choose death because they can't afford to live will the Premier commit to doubling Ontario works in ODSP so that everyone in Ontario can afford to live Mr. Children Community and Social Services Thank you Speaker and thank you to the member opposite you know my heart goes out to anyone facing difficulty in their lives such as the individual you mentioned and that is exactly why our government has increased the ODSP rates to really decades long largest increase in this program this is historic and it's not the only thing that we use to support people in their time of need there are those who cannot work and we support them through ODSP through the variety of social assistance programs the lift tax credit the care tax credit the dental benefits for elderly low income seniors we're continuing to allow discretionary benefits to be used for people in their circumstances and we're working with our municipalities in that shared vision of how do we improve the lives of people who aren't able to work while creating the training programs and the job readiness programs for those who can work and we'll continue to do that important work thank you an extra $50 a month isn't going to get anyone housing in this market Speaker Denise is not alone Tracy Thompson who contracted long COVID in March 2020 has recently applied for medical assistance in dying as well Tracy who has not even been able to get ODSP because long COVID is not recognized by the program has been clear that her application is exclusively a financial consideration she wants to live but she can't afford to Speaker we have reached a point in Ontario where people are being forced to choose between a quick death before the money runs out and a long painful slow death without financial support so why is the Premier not taking action to address poverty Minister children community and social services thank you Speaker once again you know my heart goes out to anyone who's in that situation and that's why we're working across across government to make sure that we put in the supports needed for people in these situations and it's exactly why anyone in this situation should also be seeking mental health supports and I'm very pleased to say that the Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addiction is doing just that to create the programs necessary this is something they're also working with the federal government to make sure that they bring forth and fulfill their commitment to the Canadian disability benefit and also the programs for the supports through the federal government but also our municipalities and understanding that partnership is so important and it's a process to housing across ministry whether it's the Ministry of Health creating programs to support people in their time of need this is a multi ministry effort it is across municipal governments it is across the layers of government including the federal government and we'll continue to work for solutions this is an important area allowing people to get the support that they need when they need it thank you Mr. Speaker with the cost of living rising throughout the province working people in Ontario and in my riding are being impacted by what feels like increasing prices on all day to day essentials while the GTA is home to many hardworking Ontarians it is also one of the most expensive regions to live in Canada food insecurity affects almost one in five Toronto households recently the University of Toronto released a report that shows that nearly 16% of Canadians live with food insecurity as families basic needs continue to increase we know that many families will have challenges especially with a liberal carbon tax that raises the cost of everything Speaker can the Minister of Finance share what our government is doing to provide financial relief for the people of my riding and for all hardworking Ontarians thank you the Minister of Finance well thank you to the member from Brampton North for that very good question and thank you Speaker the Minister of Finance has warned the Ukraine tension in Asia inflation that we haven't seen in four decades are driving up global prices but this government will always be there for the people of Ontario in these uncertain times that is why our government raised the minimum wage and will raise it again in October to $15.50 an hour that is why we eliminated monthly fees saving drivers up to $120 per year that is why we are proposing the enhanced lift tax credit providing additional relief for those making less than $50,000 a year Speaker with this change $1.1 million low income workers would see an additional $300 on average in tax relief in 2022 the best way to support workers is to raise more money back into their pockets that is exactly what this government is doing thank you Speaker and thank you to the Minister of Finance for the answer to that question I would note as having served in his office prior and had to answer a lot of his tough questions I am happy that he is here answering mine now Mr. Speaker many Ontarians including in my riding of Brampton North are concerned about the cost of gas that they would like us to raise on hard working Ontarians for far too long we had a Liberal government supported by the NDP that continued to impose new tax on new tax increasing the financial burdens on hard working Ontario families because of their reckless policies we saw how they made life more unaffordable for not only my constituents but for all Ontarians they brought in a devastating carbon tax for everything they implemented gas tax hikes with the HST they made life less affordable for all Ontarians during the last provincial election there was even a candidate Mr. Speaker if you can believe who was a former NPP who called high gas prices a blessing in disguise Speaker can the Minister please tell us how our government thank you very much Minister of Finance Mr. Speaker and I am pleased by the member opposite's enthusiasm on this issue to ask the Minister of Finance these questions let me tell you Mr. Speaker for families trying to make ends meet high gas prices are never a blessing in disguise this government understands that it is high gas prices are a financial burden on many Ontarians taking hard earned money out of their pockets for workers and for seniors that's why this government is focused on keeping costs down that's why this government eliminated the Liberals cap and trade tax scheme this government temporarily cut the gas tax by 5.7 cents per liter through our relief at the Pumps Act Mr. Speaker the facts speak for themselves according to Statistics Canada the price of gas is our question period for this morning this house stands in recess until 1pm