 It is now time for a question period for the leader of Her Majesty's well opposition. Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Premier. Criminal charges have now been laid against one of the Premier's most senior operatives, Jerry Law Heed Jr. Though he investigations against the apparent contradictions of the Elections Act by the Premier's deputy chief of staff and Jerry Law Heed remain open and ongoing. Mr. Speaker, now that charges have been laid, will the Premier set the record straight? Did the Premier instruct either Pat Sabara or Jerry Law Heed Jr. to offer Andrew Olivier a job or an appointment in exchange for staying out of the Sudbury by-election? Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. As the leader of the opposition knows, we're aware of the charges that have been laid against Mr. Law Heed. The police have informed Pat Sabara's council that she will not face any criminal charges. That is also public knowledge now Mr. Speaker. I've been open with the legislature, I've been open with the media Mr. Speaker, and I've been open with the public about these allegations. And we have faced in the process, we have cooperated. I am going to seek order immediately. The member from Renfrew will come to order. Please. We have cooperated fully with the process Mr. Speaker. We'll continue to do so and this matter is now before the courts and I will not be commenting on the situation in Sudbury. Mr. Speaker, again to the Premier, just because Pat Sabara won't face criminal charges, it doesn't mean she won't be charged under the Elections Act. In a media interview in mid-December, Jerry Law Heed Jr. confirmed that he spoke with the Premier before he spoke with Andrew Olivier. On the tapes, Mr. Law Heed says, I come to you on behalf of the Premier. On the tapes, Pat Sabara says, you've been directly asked by the leader and the Premier to make a decision to step aside to allow Glenn to have this opportunity uncontested. In the eyes of the hardworking people in Ontario, Mr. Speaker, Pat Sabara's actions are no different than Jerry Law Heed's. In fact, they may be worse. Mr. Speaker, will the Premier tell the people of Ontario what she instructed Law Heed and Sabara to say and to offer to Andrew Olivier? Thank you, Premier. And again, I will just remind the leaders of the opposition that there are no criminal charges that are going to be laid against Pat Sabara. That is public knowledge, Mr. Speaker. As far as I know in terms of the Elections Ontario investigation, it is ongoing, Mr. Speaker. We have no knowledge to the converse of that. And we'll continue to cooperate with that independent investigation, Mr. Speaker. But in terms of the other questions about the Sudbury by-election, those matters are before the Court, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Final supplementary. Mr. Speaker, again to the Premier, the Premier is going to have to tell the truth at some point. There is a possibility that this Premier… I'm going to ask the leader to withdraw and to be very cautious of how we're going to say things that we can't say directly. We're not going to say indirectly. Withdraw, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, to the Premier, the Premier is going to have to… Mr. Speaker, at some point, there is a possibility that this Premier will be subpoenaed to testify. There is a possibility that the Deputy Chief of Staff will be subpoenaed to testify. The Premier's office must be held to the highest standard. How can the Premier, in good conscience, continue to evade answering these questions when there is serious criminal allegations of corruption that go to the heart of the highest levels of our office? Here. Mr. Speaker, please. Mr. Speaker, please. Thank you. Premier. I have answered questions in this House. I have answered questions in the Legislature, with the media, Mr. Speaker. I have been very clear in terms of my involvement in what happened, Mr. Speaker. And there are no criminal charges that are being laid against my staff person, Pat Cerbera. There is an ongoing investigation in terms of the elections in Ontario, Mr. Speaker. But I would say to the Leader of the Opposition that at every juncture I have cooperated, I have worked with the investigation, Mr. Speaker, I will continue to do so. I have answered those questions, Mr. Speaker. Now there are issues that are before criminal court, before a court, Mr. Speaker. And I won't comment on those. The member for Bleeds, Granville, on the order. Question, Leader of the Opposition. Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Premier. When the Liberal government couldn't negotiate a contract with the doctors, they slashed their fees paid to physicians in retaliation. The Liberals have cut $580 million from physician services as a punishment for not agreeing to the government's deal. What does this government not understand? This is a cut to patients. They aren't just punishing doctors. The government is punishing patients in Ontario. The people of Ontario are going to be hurt. The people that are going to be hurt are stroke patients, young families, the elderly, all those in need of Ontario's medical help and care. Mr. Speaker, why is the Premier being so short-sighted? Why does she continue to slash healthcare funding for frontline healthcare workers? Well, Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition is talking about a negotiation. We have a deep respect and admiration for the doctors of this province. We know how critical they are. I grew up in the family of a general practitioner, Mr. Speaker. My dad has worked. He's not working now. He's going to be 90 years old next year. But, Mr. Speaker, he practiced in this province, and I know how critical primary care physicians are. It's why, Mr. Speaker, we've hired thousands more doctors. Thousands more doctors in this province than there were when we came into office in 2003, Mr. Speaker. Unfortunately, the Ontario Medical Association rejected the offer that was on the table. A third-party Justice Winkler came in, Mr. Speaker, looked at the offer, recommended that the OMA accept the offer, Mr. Speaker. They chose not to, so we had to go forward and implement the offer, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, again to the Premier. Rather than blaming hard-working doctors, let's talk about the facts. The $580 million cut to healthcare is threatening access to quality and patient-focused care. With 800,000 Ontarians already without a doctor, and 140,000 new patients each year in Ontario, these cuts will make it even harder for people to get care they need. Cuts that will lead to the closure of many walking clinics. Clinics that are visited each day by the very people that don't have a family doctor. That means those patients will have no choice but to go to a merge. And that means longer wait times at a merge. Mr. Speaker, the damage from these cuts is being felt. Associate Minister of Finance. Will the Premier get her priority straight and stop this assault on frontline healthcare in Ontario? Thank you. I know that the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care is just wearing to answer the supplementary, Mr. Speaker, but let me just be clear. Despite the fact that this member was in the federal government at the time when Stephen Harper slashed the Canada Health Chancellor. The member from the Pee and Carlton will come to, and the member from Renfrew and Nipissing Pembroke will come to order. Finish, please. Despite the fact, Mr. Speaker, that that cut will mean $8 billion less to Ontario over 10 years. We have consistently increased healthcare funding, Mr. Speaker. Doctors, salaries, doctors, compensation, Ontario have gone up 60% under our watch, Mr. Speaker. The average doctor in Ontario bills about $350,000, Mr. Speaker. They're among the best paid in the country. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, according to the Premier's own budget, the federal government transferred a member from Trinity, Spadina, come to order. Mr. Speaker, according to the Premier's own budget, the federal transfers increased by $652 million, but you only spent $598 million, so you cut $54 million from the healthcare budget in Ontario. Years of cutting funding to doctors, two years ago it was $800 million. Natural resources come to order. And it was $580 million cut earlier this year, and now another $235 million cut. This has real results in Ontario's healthcare delivery. This means the closure of at least six addiction centres just in Toronto alone. It means longer wait times at ER, family doctor office and clinics. It means 140,000 people struggling to find a family doctor. So my question, Mr. Speaker, is maybe instead of $5 million in bonuses to Pan Am execs, $24 million in salaries and benefits for healthcare. Thank you. Thank you. Premier? It's a long-term care. Yeah, you're welcome. I like that. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I know that the member opposite, the leader of the official opposition, wasn't here under the Mike Harris government when that government slashed healthcare, closed hospitals, fired thousands of nurses across this province. And it's true, Mr. Speaker. It's true when we came into government in 2003. We inherited a system that was disrespectful of our doctors. Doctors were leaving the province. Doctors weren't adequately compensated. We've corrected that. Minister of Aboriginal Affairs? Finish, please. We appreciate the work that our doctors do across this province. We increased their compensation from government by 61% over the last decade, to the point where they're among the best paid in Canada, if not in North America, as they should be, Mr. Speaker. And that's going to continue. It'll continue to increase to represent our doctors well. New question. The leader of the third party. The questions for the Premier. Last January, at the beginning of her efforts to hide her role in the role of her office in the Sudbury bribery scandal, the Premier issued a statement saying that Mr. Lougheed, quote, is not government or Liberal Party staff, he speaks for himself, unquote. But Mr. Lougheed certainly seemed to think that he was speaking for the Premier Speaker. And it's a bit rich for the Premier to distance herself from a well-known senior Liberal bagman who has raised a lot of money for her campaigns and has raised a lot of money for Mr. Trudeau's campaign. Does the Premier still stand by her statement that Mr. Lougheed wasn't speaking for her or anyone in her office? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Well, I will repeat what I said earlier, Mr. Speaker. Of course, we're aware of the charges that have been laid against Mr. Lougheed. There are no criminal charges that have been laid against my staff person, Pat Sorbara, Mr. Speaker. There is now a case before the courts, and I'm not going to comment further on that. But the leader of the third party knows that I have answered questions in the legislature. I have answered questions of the media. I've been very clear about the incidents around the Sudbury by-election, Mr. Speaker, but I'm not going to litigate a case that is now in front of the courts. Thank you. The Premier has refused to take any responsibility in the Sudbury bribery scandal. But while the Premier is trying to act like she barely even knew Jerry Lougheed, the transcripts say in black and white that Mr. Lougheed was, quote, acting on behalf of the Premier. My question to the Premier is this. Did the Premier order the call, and was Mr. Lougheed, in fact, speaking on behalf of the Premier, as he claimed? Thank you, Premier. Mr. Speaker, these are issues that are going to be dealt with in a court, Mr. Speaker. I'm not going to comment any further on them. Welcome. Final supplementary. Responsibility for this mess, but something simply is not adding up. If the Premier has nothing to hide, she should just say so, Speaker. Mr. Lougheed transcripts say very clearly, and I quote, they would like to present you options in terms of appointments, jobs, whatever. On the recording, it certainly seems that they are the Premier and Ms. Sorbera. Who ordered the call? Was it the Premier, was it Ms. Sorbera, or was it someone else in the Premier's office? Thank you. Well, thank you very much, Speaker. I think maybe the leader of the third party should look to her deputy leader, who's also a lawyer, and maybe get some legal advice. And that advice should be on the lines of Speaker that she should not be soliciting anybody in this house to interfere in a judicial proceeding. I think that's, Speaker, a well-known fact. You don't need to have a law degree to understand that we do not interfere in any kind of investigations or judicial proceedings. It will be highly inappropriate, Speaker. So all these questions that the member opposite is asking are inappropriate, and I would suggest to her respectfully that she should not be soliciting anybody in this house to interfere in a judicial proceeding. Thank you, Speaker. No question. The leader of the third party. Questions also to the Premier. This is the Premier who loves to talk about having conversations, Speaker. And it's clear from the transcripts of the recorded telephone calls that the Premier, Mr. Berra, the member for Sudbury, and Mr. Lahid were all having lots of conversations behind the scenes, Speaker. There's a good reason to believe that every single one of these four people know who it was that ordered Mr. Lahid to make the call. Will this Premier show some leadership, Speaker, and allow the people in her office and in her caucus to come forward with what they know about the order to have Mr. Olivier accept a bribe? There is a process that has unfolded and is unfolding outside of this legislature. I have cooperated with that process, Mr. Speaker. I will continue to do so. But the fact is that this is not the court. This is not the court where the decisions are going to be made. We are not having that. That process is not in this room, Mr. Speaker. It is happening outside of the legislature. We will continue to cooperate, Mr. Speaker, and as we have done all along. Thank you. Province of Ontario shouldn't have to be sworn in by a judge to be upfront with the people of Ontario. She has been tying herself in knots to protect herself and Liberal insiders while she keeps the truth from Ontarians. The Premier, Ms. Sorbara, the member for Sudbury and Mr. Lougheed are all in this up to their next Speaker. Does this Premier actually expect Ontarians to believe that no one in her office or her caucus knew about the calls to offer Mr. Olivier a bribe to step aside? Speaker, once again, there is a reason why we keep our judicial system separate from our political system. And the reason exactly for this reason is that we do not try cases in the legislature. What the Leader of the Third Party is doing is trying to inject politics in the matter for the Court Speaker. I think the prudent advice to her would be that she should refrain from doing so. She is not a judge. She is not the trier of fact. She is not a litigator as far as I know in this case either. All those steps, Speaker, will take place in front of a judge. It's not a matter of getting sworn before a judge or not. That is how the system works. Speaker, and it works for reasons like this for centuries. And it is the right system. Let's not mix politics with the judicial proceeding. Let's respect the process. The Premier has cooperated on this matter from day one. Thank you. Speaker, it seems like no matter how badly you behave if you're a Liberal you have to be dragged away in cuffs before you're held accountable in response. Please step up and show some responsibility, Speaker. Someone is not coming clean. No one believes that the Premier, that her Deputy Chief of Staff and that the member of Sudbury absolutely knew nothing. If the Premier and her staff had nothing to do with this, Speaker, she should simply say so. She's the one that promised over and over again that she was going to do things differently this time around for the Liberal, Speaker. Seems like the same old, same old is happening in this chamber. Why won't the Premier be upfront and honest with Ontarians and tell this House who ordered that call? Speaker, the Premier has been honest. The Premier has been honest and upfront with the people of Ontario. She remains, she's been open on this matter. She has it, she has cooperated. Speaker, the Premier has cooperated on this matter from day one, but we are not going to break rules by interfering in a judicial proceeding. And I think the leader of the third party should also refrain from doing so. Speaker, so we are not going to comment any further on this matter. And Premier and this government will remain focused on the mandate that the people of Ontario has given to us. We will continue to focus on building Ontario up. We are going to continue to focus on investing in the skills and talents of Ontarians. We are going to continue to focus on building infrastructure which is much needed across this province. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you. Speaker, my question is the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. Speaker, last week the auditor general released a scathing report detailing the CCAC's failing of our most vulnerable citizens. And Mr. Speaker, the CCAC's failing of the people of Ontario means this Liberal government has failed the people of Ontario. The Liberals failed when they allowed 40% of funding to go directly to bureaucracy, which is quite unheard of. Mr. Speaker, every member in this House must have heard a horror story of a patient being denied the CCAC service they deserve. Mr. Speaker, why did the Minister ignore the cries of those patients in need? And where was the accountability in this government to ensure cost-effective care? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I appreciate the question. The member knows that I spoke to the Auditor General's report last year. I endorsed her report. I accepted it—sorry, last week I accepted her report. I accepted all of her recommendations. And I indicated that I planned, as the Minister, to implement all of her recommendations in her report, Mr. Speaker. But I also mentioned that since earlier this year we've been very engaged. In fact, the government had asked some time ago for Gail Donner, an expert panel, to look at home care for us. She presented her report in January of this year. And since then, we've implemented—we've accepted and implemented all of her recommendations as well. And we have a 10-point action plan that reflects her recommendations. We're going to be working with both reports, implementing both reports in their entirety, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Back to the Minister. Minister, far too long this wind liberal government has ignored all those people who returned away or moved down the wait list at the CCACs. For five years, this ministry failed to conduct an analysis to show whether service providers could deliver better, direct programs. This liberal government allowed cost to skyrocket without considering the damage to our health care system. Mr. Speaker, it's time for action, not studies or high-price consultants. It's time for accountability. Minister, the Auditor General's Report clearly shows you're incapable of controlling the bureaucracy in the health care system. Are you not up to the job? Mr. Speaker, the member opposite knows, because he has a background in the health sector, and I appreciate that and enjoy the fact that he will be an effective critic for that, and I'm sure other reasons. But I want to say, Mr. Speaker, that we have world-class health providers that are working in our CCACs and with the contracted agencies providing support to people. Roughly 800,000 Ontarians around the year. But I want to point out that the party opposite did vote against our $250 million increase annually for our CCACs, for home and community care, going forward in the next three years. We're investing $2.5 billion in our CCACs. We're implementing, we're not having another study. We're not doing another review. We have two good roadmaps that we're following with recommendations from the Auditor General, with recommendations from Gail Donner and her expert panel. We're implementing her recommendations to make sure that we're providing the best possible care. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. A question to the Premier. The Premier says she has an election mandate from the people to sell off Ontario's oldest and most important public asset. But Ontarians aren't buying it. They don't like being duped. At least 165 Ontario municipalities have passed resolutions since the election opposing the Premier's sale of Hydro-1. And over the weekend, a national columnist wrote, and I quote, her decision to privatize Hydro-1 is a reminder of how flexible some might say duplicitous Liberals can be once they gain power. Unquote. Will the Premier stop her duplicity, listen to Ontarians and reverse her reckless short-sighted plan to sell Hydro-1? Thank you. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question from the third party, Mr. Speaker. They have been criss-crossing the province meeting with people, Mr. Speaker, and flaming them on so-called skyrocketing hydro prices because of broadening ownership. Mr. Speaker, just last week, the Supreme Court of Canada, not a journalist in any newspaper, the Supreme Court of Canada has upheld the right of the Ontario Energy Board to ensure consumers pay just and reasonable rates for electricity. Or any other utility, Mr. Speaker, on expenditures like collective bargaining labour agreements. In a decision Friday, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled on the long-standing dispute that began after the Energy Board determined Ontario power generations. Labour costs were too high and disallowed the full payment amount requested. Mr. Speaker, the Supreme Court of Canada says the OEB's mandate is to review the underlying cost structure and make sure the costs that OPG seeks to pass off to customers. Two rates are just and reasonable. This applies, Mr. Speaker, to the Hydro-1. Thank you. Supplementary. Speaker, again to the Premier, these 165 municipalities need money for infrastructure. They also know that Hydro-1 makes money for Ontario. The Hydro-1 prospectus tells investors to expect cash dividends of $500 million per year. They know that a privatised Hydro-1 will drive up electricity rates and make it harder to deliver essential municipal services. They know this is a bad deal. Will the Premier stop ignoring these 165 municipalities and keep Hydro-1 public? Thank you. Mr. Speaker, the member wants to ignore a ruling from the Supreme Court of Canada, Mr. Speaker, which says that the OEB does have the power and is in fact reducing rates when they're required to be reduced, Mr. Speaker. Not only with electricity companies, Mr. Speaker, the Ontario Energy Board just last week again, Mr. Speaker, a lot of fast-moving news here. The OEB approved decreases in natural gas rates for Enbridge and Union gas customers, Mr. Speaker. The OEB, Mr. Speaker, is functioning. It's responsible. It's one of the best regulatory agencies in South America, Mr. Speaker, and they will control and modify and hold Hydro-1 to account on rates, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Transportation. As a member for Brampton West, I know that transit is extremely important to those living in my community. Many of my constituents rely on boat transit to get to and from work every day. And they tell me that they want to see investments in transit and transportation that truly count. Mr. Speaker, as part of Budget 2015, our government announced improvements to the Goal Rail Network as part of our Regional Express Rail Plan. Can the Minister please tell members of this House what kind of service improvements interiors can expect under this plan? Thank you. Minister of Transportation. Thanks very much, Mr. Speaker. I want to begin by thanking the member of Brampton West, not only for his advocacy and the question today, but for continuing to be a great champion for all of Brampton. As announced in Budget 2015, as the member mentioned, our government is making the single largest infrastructure investment in this province's history. We are investing $13.5 billion to improve the entire Go Transit Network as part of our Regional Express Rail Plan. As part of that plan, we will be giving those living in the GTHA new travel options with faster and more frequent service and electrification on core segments of the Go Rail Network. And specifically, Speaker, that means that these investments will more than double peak service and quadruple off-peak service compared to today. Reduced journey time for some cross-region transit trips by as much as 50% speaker and a much wider range of travel options for those living in and around the GTHA. Progress is already made, but our government will continue to work with Metrolinx to deliver on this important plan. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and I want to thank the Minister for his response. As the Minister noted, our government is making the single largest infrastructure investment in Ontario's history. And I know that those living in my community will be pleased to hear that they will be seeing service improvements as part of our Regional Express Rail Plan. But I also know that those living in my community do not want to wait 10 years to see these improvements. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister please tell members of this House if those living in Brampton can expect to see increased service sooner than 10 years from now? Thanks very much, Speaker. I want to thank the member again for the follow-up question. Of course, Speaker, we expect that over the next 10 years weekly trips across the entire GO Rail network will grow from the current 1500 to nearly 6000. But, Speaker, importantly, we are meeting 10 years to deliver important results earlier this month, Speaker. I was happy to announce that we have already added 14 new train trips on the Kitchener Line between Mount Pleasant GO Station and Union Station Speaker. This is an investment that will directly help those living in the community of Brampton along this particular line. It's further proof, Speaker, that our government's commitment to making daily commutes and quality of life better for Ontarians is happening, whether they live in York Region. Today, where we build most of our transit vehicles or they live in Brampton, Speaker, credit to this Premier. Thank you, Speaker. My question is for the Premier. Speaker, the true price of the many liberal scandals is hitting home in Northern Ontario. To pay for their gas plant scandal or their smart meter scandal, this government is firing nurses. Hundreds of nurses have been fired in Sudbury, Timmins, the Sioux and my hometown of North Bay. A recent Sudbury Star headline reads, quote, ''Nursing off jeopardized lives'' or the North Bay Nugget headline, Speaker, ''Deaths will rise if nursing cuts not opposed.'' The Liberal government just fired 158 healthcare workers at the North Bay hospital. And, Speaker, that's on top of the 197 they fired over the last three years. Speaker, when will this government come clean and admit they are firing nurses to pay for their scandals? Thank you. Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I've had the opportunity to speak with the member opposite, specifically about his hospital in North Bay. And he does know, because we talked about this, that the funding in that hospital has increased by over 100 million since we came into office. He also knows, and I took some time to detail this with him because I believe it's important, is that the Linn in the hospital are still having discussions. There has been no decision, Mr. Speaker. There isn't an official plan going forward by the hospital that's been approved by the Linn. The Linn in the hospital are in those negotiations and working first and foremost, Mr. Speaker, to make sure that there will be no negative impact on patient care. I'm confident that if we give that time and space to the hospital to have those negotiations to build that plan together, the ministry has been working as well diligently with both parties to make sure that we're prepared to step in where we need to to make sure that quality of care is maintained. Thank you. Back to the Premier. Speaker, the Auditor General told us that the consequences of liberal spending would quote, crowd out the programs Ontarians depend on. Add the cost of their scandals and we now see what this government is doing. Waste a billion dollars on the orange scandal, fire a hundred nurses in Timmins and the Sioux. Waste a billion dollars on the gas plant scandal, fire a hundred nurses in Sudbury. Waste a couple billion dollars on smart meters, fire a couple hundred nurses in North Bay. Get caught paying ten thousand dollars to have computer files deleted, don't worry just fire another nurse up north. Speaker, how many more nurses and frontline healthcare workers is this government going to fire to pay for their next scandal? Thank you. Peter, please. Thank you. Minister. Thank you. Well, the member opposite, of course, has his own list. Here's mine. That opposition party in the last election promised to fire 100,000 workers and abroad have fired thousands of nurses. Thousands of nurses close dozens of hospitals, Mr. Speaker. We've hired, since we came into office, to correct their mistakes and the damage that they had done. We've hired more than 24,000 nurses and more than 10,000 of those are registered nurses. And, of course, Sudbury, out of the very first location in this province, Mr. Speaker, to have a nurse practitioner lead clinic, the first of 25 that exist in this province today. That's our commitment. It's not the commitment of your party. In fact, we've corrected in the last decade the errors that... As you have been reminded, this is the chair that you speak to and not through. This is the chair that you speak to when asking questions and delivering answers. New question, the member from Timmons James Bay. My question, through you, Mr. Speaker, is to the Premier. You're a liberal operative, Mr. Jerry, Mr. Lawheed, who has done a lot of work for both yourself and your country, has said that he's been trying for years to get Mr. Tebow to run in the Ontario legislature. In the end, there was just one problem. And that was there was a Mr. Olivier who wanted to run in that nomination. Surely this hurdle must have come up in your discussion with Mr. Tebow. Our question simply is this. Can you confirm that you actually talked about the problems in regards to the nomination with Mr. Tebow before he ran? I think, again, Speaker, I'm not sure the member heard my response earlier and I will restate that I think the opposition should not be soliciting the government to interfere in a judicial proceeding. It will be highly inappropriate. Speaker, our system ensures that there is clear delineation between the political side, the legislative branch and the executive branch and that from the judicial the court system, Speaker, and I think the member will agree with me that it will be very inappropriate for any member of this House to interfere this matter or speak to it. We'll let the judicial proceeding to continue and have the facts come out and deliberations made at that stage. Thank you. To the chair, please. Through you, Speaker, back to the Premier. No, I don't agree with that. The facts are Mr. Tebow had discussions with a number of members including the Premier in regards to running in the Sudbury by-election. Our question is a very simple one. Did the Premier or anyone else have discussions with Mr. Tebow vis-a-vis the problems they were going to have when it came to the nomination process, yes or no? Thank you. Sorry, Speaker, with all due respect to the member opposite, he should know that in our case, the facts are not alligated in the chamber of the House. There's a reason Speaker, a judge is referred to as the trier of facts. It's the judge's job to be able to determine the facts. Finish, please. I think, Speaker, the member opposite should listen to his deputy leader. He's pleading them, he's begging them not to ask these questions. I think the jeopardizing his law license as a result, Speaker, by doing so, we should not be interfering and we will not be commenting any further on it. Thank you. Thank you. New question, the member from Kitchener Center. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the minister responsible for seniors affairs. Minister, the oldest members of the Baby Boom generation in North America turned 65 in 2011. By the year 2036, our province's older adult population were more than double to 4.1 million seniors. This major change is going to affect every jurisdiction in Canada, and it's presenting both challenges and opportunities for every community here in Ontario. Minister, you recently launched the age-friendly community planning grant that's going to help build more accessible and inclusive communities across the province. This funding is very important and it's been well received by municipalities and organizations across the province, including in my writing of Kitchener Center, $150,000. Speaker, can the minister please inform this house? Question. This new grant is going to help improve the lives of seniors in Ontario. Thank you very much, Speaker, and thank you to the member from Kitchener Center. Speaker, our new $1.5 million age-friendly community planning grant program, it's yet another example of our government's commitment to seniors in this province. This funding is going to help communities and organizations to undertake essential strategic planning in their communities with a strong focus on seniors. It is assisting community to decide what local improvement they can make to enable people of all ages to fully participate in their life, such as installing automatic doors, adding benches in parks and roadways, increasing accessibility of retail centers and transportation, and installing public services. We are working together with the municipality to invest in age-friendly communities. It's part of our economic commitment to build Ontario up, and it's also to build a better Ontario for our senior speakers. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It's very encouraging to see the steps that we are taking to actively support municipalities across Ontario as they plan to accommodate seniors to contribute to our community. As mentioned, the municipality is receiving $50,000 for a project that's going to conduct a needs assessment and develop an action plan to address any identified needs and gaps for seniors in Kitchener. And this project is also directed at ensuring that my community is not only friendly for older adults, but also persons with all abilities and ages. We want Kitchener to continue being vibrant and healthy as possible, with lots of positive feedback from the city and from local seniors groups that are expressing interest and gratitude for this funding. Speaker, can the Minister please elaborate on other initiatives that we have undertaken to develop more age friendly communities across Ontario? Thank you, Minister. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our collective challenges to ensure our communities grow to meet the evolving needs of our ability, Speaker. This is why the age friendly community planning is so important and it is why we will continue to work with municipalities, seniors organizations and community partners as well. Speaker, on there is investing an additional $200,000 in an outreach initiative program to provide free assistance across the province to communities that are interested in adopting an age friendly planning principle. We will continue to provide information to municipalities on development, implementation and devaluation of plans for age friendly communities. As well, we have been partnering with the University of Waterloo, the Ontario Interdisciplinary Council of Aging and Health and Senior Health Knowledge Network to lead this particular outreach speaker. We will continue to find new ways to serve our senior speakers. Thank you, Speaker. My questions for the Premier this morning. Premier, one of the most frequent issues that comes up in my constituency office in Belleville is home care or the lack of it. Patients and their families are often on the receiving end of much less care than what the CCAC has originally promised them. Last week we learned from the auditor general why and the minister is probably going to pop up here like a whack-a-mole and tell us that he's going to pop up. The auditor general told us yesterday or last week is that more and more money is being sunk into administration and sunshine list salaries and less and less is going into actual health care on the front lines. So Premier can you explain why only 47% of people who need to see a nurse in the first 24 hours after leaving hospital are actually seeing one of the home care workers and administrative salaries have gone up by 27%. Good question. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question and it is unacceptable that figure that he just described about the rapid response nurses that so important when individuals do transition out of hospital that they can expect to receive that care when they arrive home to support them. So we will be working with our Linn's NRCCACs to make sure that we can improve that to set which and to measure the success so we actually see that improvement in that area. I've said last week as well with the auditor general that we accept all of her recommendations they're important equally important she also has an important recommendation number five which says essentially that we should review the entire model of delivery of home care to Ontario citizens we plan on not having another review Mr. Speaker we've been spending a long time looking at this we have Gail Donner's report from earlier we're taking the whole set of recommendations and moving forward to make sure that we're providing the best possible care we can for these vulnerable individuals. Mr. Speaker with all due respect and back to the Premier you've had 12 years to figure this out you're dumping millions of dollars into the salaries of people who don't see patients. Katie Hollister Loeb in my writing is one such case she was originally told that 90 hours of care per month would be provided to her mother who has end stage dementia that was reduced first to 80 hours per month and is now being reduced all the way from 90 down to 40 hours a month Katie and her husband had managed to cobble together some additional care through community care programs that they pay for but that barely covers the hours that the CCAC originally promised to her mother they may have to leave their jobs they may have to move Mr. Speaker can the minister explain why Katie's mother who spent 42 years as a nurse deserved to have her care cut so that more money can be put into administration into bank accounts of those working in administration executives at CCAC Thank you Mr. Speaker Thank you Mr. Speaker and I think most of us know that CCACs were actually a creation of the Conservative Party in the late 1990s and Mr. Speaker saved a significant amount of money when we took the PC's 43 CCACs that they created around the province and reduced them to 14 14 for them to coordinate with the lens as well Member from Renford Nipissing Pembroke Warren So after the progressive Conservative Party created those 43 CCACs in the 1990s this is in fact these two reports here are really the only substantive reports that have been done by anyone of our CCACs in that 20 year period I welcome the recommendations we plan in implementing all of them Mr. Speaker Thank you Mr. Speaker My question is to the Premier The Premier has stated that our Deputy Chief of Staff has been cleared of any charges or any wrongdoings by the OPP However, that's not true We've made it explicitly clear that the investigation is still ongoing and charges may still be filed against her staff under the Provincial Elections Act and she may very well be at the centre of the scandal as a person who directed Mr. Lahid to make the call to the Premier Ontarians deserve honesty and it shouldn't take the court to get it Will the Premier please be up front with Ontarians and address the allegations of bribery against the OPP Well Mr. Speaker let me just correct what the member opposite said what I said is that Pat Sorbera's Council have told her that there will be no criminal charges laid against her I also said that as far as I know the investigation by Elections Ontario is ongoing so I just want to correct what the member said we have cooperated with the investigations Mr. Speaker but there is now an issue before the court and I will not comment on that Thank you very much Mr. Speaker the Premier in fact is quoted as saying quote I never believe that my staff did anything wrong but the reality is her Deputy Chief of Staff is still under ongoing investigation How is it that the Premier had no knowledge that her staff and a high ranking liberal campaign team member were engaging in illegal activity during the by-election it's taken an investigation and criminal charges laid by the OPP to uncover corruption in the Premier's office How could the Premier be so unaware of this alleged illegal activity in her own office by her own staff Thank you Mr. Speaker I'm really surprised by the line of questioning from the Deputy Leader who is an esteemed member of the same profession that I share as a lawyer who knows really well knows really well that court proceedings must not be interfered with I'm sure he's advised clients in the past to do the same to make sure that the courts decide if a matter is under course proceeding so I think all the questions that he's been asking he's essentially soliciting the government, the Premier to move away from that very well known principle in our system where we keep the political system separate from our legal system I would urge a member opposite that we should focus on real issues that matter to Ontario's issues like building our communities up making sure that we continue to build an infrastructure and ensure that our province is economy growing every single day Thank you Mr. Speaker my question this morning is for the Minister of Northern Development and Mines Ontario is a leading jurisdiction for the exploration and production of minerals in Canada and a major player across the world the mining and exploration industry is an incredibly important contributor to our provincial economy this is particularly clear in my community of Sudbury with a rich history in mining Mr. Speaker and while lower metal prices are being impacted the forecast for mineral production in Sudbury is bright the area is home to several of Ontario's key advanced mineral exploration projects our government continues to invest in this important sector and ensure that the mining sector remains a vibrant part of our province's economy so Mr. Speaker through you can the Minister inform the House on the status of the mining industry in Ontario and its significance Thank you Minister of Northern Development and Mines Thank you Mr. Speaker and let me thank the member for Sudbury for the question certainly one of the strongest advocates for the mining sector in the Ontario legislature Thank you so much and Speaker we are indeed proud of the fact that Ontario remains a leading jurisdiction where the exploration and the production of minerals in Canada and a major player across the world we have world expertise the advantages of a strong economy competitive business costs and world class research and development environment as well the bottom line is pretty interesting in 2003 exploration expenditures in the province of Ontario were 219 million in 2014 despite some of the challenges in the sector there were over $500 million because great news the value of mineral production 2003 mineral production of the province $5.7 million to walk 2014 over $11 billion a record study performance Thank you Thank you Speaker it is part of our government's plan to build Ontario up by creating a dynamic and supportive environment where businesses can prosper Ontario is a leader not only in the Canadian mining industry but also globally there are hundreds of international companies in Ontario engaging in mineral exploration and hundreds more in supplies and services sector to benefit from that investment the total number of direct jobs in mineral production was 26,000 in 2014 there are also additional 50,000 jobs associated with manufacturing and processing and the mineral sector is the largest private sector employer of aboriginal peoples in Canada I know that the minister recently celebrated the success of Detour Gold at their site just outside of Cochrane can the minister please elaborate on the status of the gold sector in Ontario Thank you so much for speaking with us again a great follow up just last week I was joined by a number of municipal leaders and aboriginal leaders on an exciting trip to Detour Gold Detour Gold site just a couple of hundred kilometers from Cochrane as they poured their one millionth ounce of gold and that of course is only 30 months after their first gold bar in February 2013 it was a tremendous experience to see them pour the molten gold and only moments after I was holding that solid gold bar in my hand they wouldn't let me take it with me let's put our promises going separate perspective speaker approximately two thirds of the exploration spending I've gone towards exploration for gold in 2014 was similar spending expected this year and much less spending in the three gold projects in traditional gold camps across northern Ontario we've got a great start in the tail-demining sector Mr. Speaker and City we're very very proud of this long-distance Good question Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker my question is to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister I hope you will remember in 2013 municipalities in Ontario were hit with a major ice storm that took out hydro for days and resulted in damages that cost millions of dollars almost two years later many municipalities are still waiting for part of the emergency support they were promised when asked why this was taking so long the parliamentary assistant of municipal affairs and housing blamed the municipalities could the minister of municipal affairs and housing tell us whether he agrees the delay is the fault of municipalities or whether the provincial government should take the blame Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Well someone once said no one's guilty but everybody's responsible so I wouldn't want to tag responsibility for the slowness of any system on anyone especially the federal government that has to clear the applications and are much more stringent in terms of the requirements which played some role I wouldn't want to do that in this house because that would be on fair so you know there were some there were some struggles municipalities had to document the real cost there was a procedure set out to allow that to happen we followed that procedure and there was a lot of money delivered to municipalities to assist money that we hadn't budgeted for but still deliver Can you stop the mission? Well Mr. Speaker partial funding after two years is not the emergency support that municipalities had been promised the government took over nine months to even create an application and waited until November to do the training that's the following year we all know municipalities went to great lengths to get those applications done last winter and get them in municipalities and with that you will know municipalities are not the problem with this program would the minister apologize for his parliamentary systems attempt to blame municipalities and apologize for his failure to deliver the emergency support municipality Thank you Mr. Speaker we'd much rather point we'd much rather point direction than fingers I'm not going to apologize on behalf of municipalities for whatever time it took for them to get their material together we respect municipalities they work hard and by the way let me just take a minute to compliment the EMS workers and the hydro workers who work tirelessly to recover from that ice ice storm it was something that befell our province which we didn't anticipate but when push came to shove we all work together to respond appropriately thank you Thank you, new question the member from the parliament Thank you Mr. Speaker My question is for the Prime Minister Prime Minister the Premier they know he is a liberal fundraiser for the Premier and right now for Justin Trudeau they know that he is a senior liberal insider who does the bidding for the provincial and federal parties in Sudbury and beyond the Premier was given the chance to show some integrity and show that she is the Premier for all of Ontario instead speaker why has the Premier consistently put well connected liberal insiders ahead of the interest of the people of Sudbury when will the interest of the good people of Sudbury actually come first Thank you Speaker again I would restate that what member is asking about speaks to a matter that is before the course and will be highly inappropriate to interfere in the matter this government has continues to work hard and has invested heavily in improving the lives of the people of Sudbury when it comes to investing in healthcare and education in Sudbury the investments have been at a record level over the last 12 years we are very proud of everything that we have done in Sudbury the work that our former member of the provincial parliament and the work that the member the current member of Sudbury continues to do on behalf of the Sudbury that community is much better off over the last 12 years an investment in the healthcare and education system than ever be and to stand by the record Thank you Thank you Speaker back to the Premier Everybody in Sudbury knows what role Jerry Logie Jr. played in the Sudbury by-election for the Premier and that he is playing Mr. Trudeau he is a senior Liberal and Steiner and he does whatever is necessary for the Liberal Party in all of the conversations between the Premier, Mrs. Sauvara Mr. Trudeau, Mr. Thibault and Mr. Logie not one did what is best for the people of Sudbury ever come up not one Speaker Will the Premier admit that through all of this it has always been about the Liberal Party and never about what is best for the good people of Sudbury My question is simple Speaker When will the interests of the people of Sudbury come ahead of the interests of the Liberal Party Thank you This government and this Premier will continue to stand by all communities across this province including Sudbury We have invested incredible amount of investment when it comes to healthcare and infrastructure in Sudbury and that is why Speaker after the great work that Rick Barluci did in that community that community once again in a by-election voted for the current member from Sudbury Grand Thibault why because they supported a government that has been continued to invest in Sudbury who has put always the needs and wants of the Sudbury community a friend and somebody who has devoted his life in serving Sudbury and now is a member of the government and continues to serve that community We will not leave Sudbury behind Speaker and will continue to make sure that Sudbury is ahead and as a priority for this government Thank you I have a question for the member from Ottawa My question is for the Minister of Environment and Climate Change What were the summer our government hosted the climate summit of the Americas July 7th July 9th Speaker like many Ontarians constituents in my mind in Ottawa South are concerned by climate change and greenhouse gas pollution They are worried about what kind of world their children and their grandchildren will be left with if we don't take strong action on climate change There is frustration at the lack of strong action on climate change from national governments and in particular from their federal government Speaker through you Minister of the Environment and Climate Change inform the House about the outcomes of the climate summit of the Americas and their importance as part of Ontario's leadership in fighting climate change Thank you Minister of the Environment and Climate Change I want to thank the member for Ottawa South for this and for his leadership on this issue Mr Speaker It was the results of the summit were quite extraordinary We have 22 members of the Australian, US, Mexican and Canadian Federation signed on to an agreement that have now committed to enough emissions reductions between now and 2030 equivalent to the annual emissions in one year of the United States Mr Speaker And a matter of fact Governor Brown and I two days ago were standing on a stage in New York City inducting 14 more members from the Americas into this group doubling the number of countries The United Nations framework on climate change was so taken with this that they have now set aside a day as a result of these efforts for the first time to bring what are called sub-national international governments into the formal UN reduction strategy This was an enormous accomplishment Thank you Thank you Mr Speaker and my question again is back to the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change for updating us on the success we had and bringing leaders from across the Americas together to take action on this important issue Increasingly provinces and states are providing leadership on climate change especially where national governments have failed to take meaningful action In Ontario we beat our 2014 greenhouse gas target of 6% below 1990 levels Ontario is continuing to demonstrate leadership on climate change and moving forward with a cap and trade system to reduce greenhouse gas pollution while keeping Ontario's industries competitive Through you the Minister of Environment and Climate Change inform the House on what the commitments of the climate action statement mean and why sub-national action on climate change is so important Thank you very much Mr Speaker One of the other things that came out when I was at the UN last week what came up often over and over again was the incredible leadership of Premier Nguyen, Premier Cuiard and Jerry Brown and when I was speaking with Christina Fagueras one of the things that came out of that Mr Speaker was on the first day of the summit the undersecretary Lacey from Mexico committed the Mexican government to work with California Quebec and Ontario to create a carbon market across America and that is viewed as one of the most important steps to securing it but I also want to thank members opposite the member for Huron Bruce and the member for Toronto Danforth who attended and participated and have been working I think to elevate this above partisan politics because it really goes to the question from the member from Oxford we're going to face more flood events like in Burlington more damage like we saw on go transit we will see many more years where we lose 80% of our apple crop and where things like my storms cost the public and that's why we thank you member from Eglinton Lawrence on point of order I wonder if we could have a minute silence for the grandfather and the three children that were killed in a horrible accident yesterday at Kirby Road in Kipling York Region and just reflect on this incredible tragedy remember from Eglinton Lawrence is seeking unanimous consent for a moment of silence upon the tragedy do we agree could I ask all members in the house and all visitors to please rise for a moment of silence the Minister of Agriculture on a point of order thank you very much Mr. Speaker in the public west gallery the sporting we have members of the Ontario Agricultural Sustainable Coalition they'll be having meetings at Queens Park here today for a lunch and reception at Route 228 that is afternoon thank you the member from Burlington on a point of order I'd like to introduce two members of the public from my riding of Burlington we're in the gallery today members of the Canadian Association of Physician Assistance here for a lunch and reception Denise O'Leary President of the Ontario Chapter of the Canadian Association of Physician Assistance and Julie Kaspersky welcome to Queens Park the Minister of the Environment on a point of order thank you very much Mr. Speaker again on a point of order my apologies I just wanted to recognize the very bright young girls from Brankson Hall who were here up until a few minutes ago these are soon to be extraordinary young women leaders and it was very great to have them here in the House today before we move into our deferred votes I'm going to recommend to the House and to all members that if you know they're coming you might want to do a pre-introduction during the time allotted for introductions that allows us to continue with the schedule that we've got established you would be helping us in our agreed upon process by the House leaders if there is a change to be made it must be made by them we have a deferred vote on the motion the second reading of Bill 9 an act to amend the Environmental Protection Act to require the sensation of call use to generate electricity at generation facilities calling the members this will be a five minute bell members please take their seats on December 2nd, 2014 Mr. Murray moved a second reading of Bill 9 an act to amend the Environmental Protection Act to require the sensation of call use to generate electricity at generation facilities all those in favor please rise one at a time and be recognized by the floor Mr. Nackney Madam Mayor Mr. Sousa Mr. Matthews Mr. Hoskins Mr. Dugas Mr. McCharles Mr. Quinter Mr. Cole Mr. DeLaney Mr. Dillon Mr. Gravel Mr. McMeakin Mr. Moriti Mr. Coteau Mr. Long Mr. Quadri Mr. Dixon Mr. Pratt Mr. Sergio Mr. Moro Mr. Dalduca Mr. Darmelo Mr. Frazer Mr. Anderson Mr. Bader Ms. Hogarth Ms. Koala Ms. Marley Mr. McMan Mr. Milch Mr. Nidoo Harris Mr. Pott Mr. Rinaldi Mr. Teebo Ms. Thompson Mr. Hardiman Mr. McCloud Mr. Wilson Mr. Brown Mr. Fidelli Mr. Yakibusky Mr. Miller-Perry Sound Mascoka Mr. Monroe Mr. Yura Mr. Walker Mr. Smith Mr. Harris Mr. Marteau Mr. McDonnell Mr. Pettipis Mr. Tavos Mr. Seng Ms. Horvath Mr. Vanta Mr. DeNovo Mr. Miller Hamilton Ms. Fide Mr. Manta Mr. Hatfield Mr. Gates Ms. French All those opposed, please rise one at a time to be recognized by the clerk. The ayes being 95 and the nays being zero. I declare the motion carried. Second reading of the bill. Did he elect you because of the law? Pursuant to the order of the House dated June 2nd, 2015, the bill is ordered referred to the Standing Committee on General Government. There being no further deferred votes, this House stands recessed until 1 p.m. this afternoon.