 It is now time for oral questions. I recognize the leader of the official opposition Speaker my first question is to the Premier Before I give it though I do want to acknowledge as well on behalf of Ontario's new Democrats the tragedy that befell Ottawa on the weekend and say to the members affected that our hearts are with you And I know it's been a difficult road for your constituents in the last couple of days Did the Premier believe that the previous liberal government was accurately reporting the province's deficit figure when the election campaign began this spring Through you mr. Speaker I'll tell the opposition what I what I believed What I believed is what the auditor general was saying that they were cooking in the books That's what I believe and I also believe That the leader of the opposition and the NDP party Was supporting supporting the Liberals every step of the way Going to ask the Premier to withdraw the With trial What I do believe Is we have the worst political scandal in Ontario's history at hand right now We will be going through line item by line item We'll be putting a team together To make sure That people are held accountable For the taxpayers of Ontario. That's what I believe here here Thank you, speaker Well on friday the minister of finance put on a show that ontarian see every time a new government rolls in Pretending to be shocked by the deficit numbers that weren't shocked weren't a shock to anyone Who's read a newspaper over the last year the premier promised people a change But this pantomime act is right out of the McGinty win playbook does the premier really expect anyone to believe Again through you mr. Speaker As I mentioned earlier We have the worst political scandal In ontario's history We have a 15 billion dollar scandal on our hands And we're going to get down to the bottom of it as the NDP stood side by side shoulder by shoulder with the Liberals boosting them up as you can hear protecting them That is unacceptable to the people of ontario the people of ontario want answers We we had an event fort fest on the weekend and what I heard over and over and over again Where did my money go? Who's being held accountable? I assured the people of ontario There's going to be answers. We will get down to the bottom of it and there will be people held accountable. Thank you Final supplementary I wish the premier would actually look at the numbers because he would discover that the tories Propped up the liberals about 50 of the time speaker. The premier spent a campaign promising everything to everyone He said that he'd balance the budget within three years Slash taxes for his wealthy friends and do it all without cutting the services that families rely on New democrats have argued for months that the promise to balance the books by 2021 was reckless Irresponsible and could not be achieved without deep deep cuts to the services that families rely upon Is the premier still promising to balance the books by 2021? Or is he now admitting that his promise was irresponsible and that he never had a plan to keep it? Through you mr. Speaker I'd like to know why the leader of the opposition is defending the wind liberals. That's what I'd like to know Yep Talk about accounting practices The the mvp through you mr. Speaker Has the same accounting practices during the election as he saw with the liberals for the last 15 years They they couldn't add up their own budget They were five billion dollars off The only difference is the liberals were about nine billion dollars off on their projections But I can assure the people of Ontario We're going to keep with our mandate of lowering taxes to the middle income families of this province Lowering gas prices and we're already halfway there by a reduction of five cents per liter We're going to lower the hydro rates to a tune of 12 and we're going to get jobs created in this great province We start the clock Leader of the opposition Thank you, speaker. My next question is also for the premier Let's be specific during the last campaign the premier echoed our commitment to end hallway medicine in our hospitals Yet he also committed to six billion dollars across the board cuts Which would result in hospital closures in ontario and layoffs for frontline staff I was at the thunder bay regional hospital on friday a hospital like many others across ontario that has been operating at surge Capacity for months and months Is the premier prepared to back away from his six billion dollars in cuts to ensure that hospitals like this Have the resources that they need to combat hallway medicine Premier through you mr. Speaker I can tell the leader of the opposition We have the best minister of health of overseeing However, all the confidence in the minister of health to end hallway medicine hallway health care Stop the line-ups that are four or five hours in the hallway of every hospital in this province We will reach out to the doctors and the nurses that we think the world of the frontline workers to get their opinion Once we get the input from the frontline health care workers and the nurses and the doctors We will move forward with a joint plan because nothing is worse Than a bunch of politicians telling professional health care workers how to operate Operate the hospitals what they do every single day. We will straighten out the health care mess. That was great. Thank you Thank you Well during the campaign the premier promised that he could and would make six billion dollars worth of cuts And that no hospital or no family would be affected by his cuts But on friday his finance minister said and I quote the hole is deep and it will require everyone to make sacrifices without exception Which is it? Premier through you mr. Speaker and leader of the opposition We're focused on the 15 billion dollar scandal at hand here that the leader of the opposition Said what's wrong with that? There's nothing wrong with that You knew about it nothing to see the only person that knew about it was the leader of the opposition And the nbp and the liberals because they were shoulder to shoulder Standing together While they were creating the biggest political scandal in ontario's history We need answers the people of ontario need answers And I can tell you the leader of the opposition better come up with better answers than we all knew about it That is disgusting But it was pretty obvious that there was going to be a problem with the auditor's response to the liberal books and we all knew it speaker So maybe the premier didn't he would be one of the only people in ontario that didn't The families in ontario Families in ontario to action on crumbling schools crowded hospitals and disappearing jobs Instead they get a premier playing games with the deficit focused on avenging old grudges and back room deals for his friends And scrambling to explain why he's not going to keep the empty promises that he made on the campaign trail Everyone in ontario knew the liberals were playing games with the deficit It was obvious Will the premier admit that his promise to instantly eliminate the deficit while offering tax handouts to his wealthy friends Was irresponsible and reckless and if not will he tell families exactly what it is that he plans to cut premier Through you mr. Speaker I want to know where was the leader of the opposition? We never heard anything from the leader of the opposition But the leader of the opposition knew about it that there was no big surprise So as the leader of the opposition the ndp were voting with the liberals 97 of the time Condoning condoning the back room deals Condoning the wasteful spending They were standing shoulder to shoulder with them And the biggest political scam i've ever seen in my life Wasting billions and billions of taxpayers money that our generation and the next generation Will be paying off each our children will be paying it off our grand grandchildren will be paying it off All because the ndp Stood by and condone the actions of the liberals Next question leader of the opposition start the clock Question is for the minister of municipal affairs and housing On friday as we've all acknowledged in the house this morning the ottawa region was struck by two tornadoes of devastating force Miraculously no fatalities occurred as the minister for children and youth has mentioned But several were injured homes were destroyed and hundreds of thousands lost power on behalf of myself and the members for ottawa On behalf of myself and the members of my caucus I want to say to the member for ottawa that There was a great deal of devastation We want to acknowledge that and acknowledge the hard work and leadership speaker of all of the the first responders and folks in ottawa that pulled together In the face of this tragedy the premier stated that the provincial government I quote will provide whatever resources are required to support ottawa as they work to recover Can the minister provide us with any more details on what resources resources will be deployed to aid the ongoing relief efforts Minister of municipal affairs and housing Thanks. Thanks very much speaker, and I want to thank the Leader of the opposition for the question And I also want to acknowledge the work that Has been done by our first responders Hydro workers city of ottawa officials. I also want to commend Premier Ford members of our cabinet minister mccloud and minister fullerton the Government members the opposition members in ottawa the mps City councillors for for all of their work that they've they've done As we announced on saturday Our government has activated the disaster recovery assistance for we we continue to work for work with the city of ottawa officials Continue to have people from my ministry on the ground being able to answer those questions for Four citizens and and again, I appreciate the the question from the leader of the opposition This is something that we all need to to rally around. There was a tremendous devastation in those communities and Those citizens of ottawa are going to need the not just the financial supports, but but also The health care supports the mental health supports There's a lot of things that that our government is willing to to put up to help the city of ottawa and I'd be pleased to answer more in the supplement supplementary Well, speaker on the weekend the government did announce that it's activating the disaster recovery assistance Program in the ottawa region to cover emergency expenses for residents over and above what private insurers can Can provide the minister of municipal affairs has said that the exact areas qualifying for assistance is in the process of being determined Can the minister assure the city of ottawa and all ottawa region residents who have experienced property damage or loss That they will be eligible for disaster recovery assistance. We know that this program has not been As it should in the past in other situations that have occurred around our province and we just want to get an assurance that in fact people who Need the support are absolutely absolutely going to get it Thanks again to the leader of the opposition for the question typically The drail program the two typical complaints that we received is that Past governments haven't activated the program early enough and claims Took too long to process that's why our government acted quickly and and enacted the program within 24 hours of The disaster taking place and we've committed we have people on the ground right now In the city of ottawa we we continue to pledge that we're going to put as much resources that we can to process those Those claims quickly We want to make sure that we're responsive to the needs of the citizens in ottawa and I think most people know that Our assistance program is meant to supplement insurance But that doesn't mean to say that people have to wait and that's why we acted decisively and acted In the best interest of the people of ottawa again I want to reiterate my thanks to to all members of this house And the community of ottawa the one thing that I know premier fort and I Saw when we toured the the areas of devastation was the tremendous sense of community the fact that Neighbors were working together to help each other to to get through this and our government's going to stand with them Thank you. Next question a member for ottawa west napia. Thank you, mr. Speaker My question is for the minister of municipal affairs Mr. Speaker as has already been noted on friday evening Tornado's rampage through the city of ottawa leaving a trail of devastation in their wake Thanks to the brave work of our first responders We are blessed that no lives have been lost as a result of this But the destruction and anguish left behind is all too real In the communities of dun robin trend darlington and craig henry Many people have found themselves without a home Thousands across ottawa remain without power Mr. Speaker could the minister please update the house on the quick actions that our government has taken to provide Support and relief to the people of ottawa in this time of need Through you speaker, I want to thank the the member opposite for the question. I appreciated Seeing him yesterday in in bar haven and again, I want to Again acknowledge the tremendous work that's being done on the ground by our first responders Yesterday to the premier and I and and MPPs on the ground to to to meet with the mayor and and with the chief and with other officials They've been there's been incredible lines of communication That have been been opened between the group and again, I want to credit all of those people From all sides of the house and in the community for the work that they've done As has been mentioned the premier toured the dun robin site with the minister Fuller to response. I had the opportunity to tour trend darling and craig henry With minister mccloud and again, I want to say that We acted quickly with the disaster recovery assistance For ontarian's program and in the supplemental I'll give more details Thank you supplementary Through you mr. Speaker I would like to thank the minister for that update and for his tireless work On behalf of the people of ottawa to ensure that they receive the support they needed Yesterday the premier took the time to tour Some of the damaged areas and visit with residents Impacted by this disaster as he said at the time It was truly inspiring to see the strength and resilience of our people in this time of crisis I am proud of both my hometown and of my colleagues in this chamber and at city hall Who have stepped up and showed such tremendous leadership I know that many families right now are concerned about the financial impacts of this disaster Mr. Speaker could the minister please update us on the rollout of the ontario government's recovery assistance program Minister thanks again speaker. Thank you to the member My ministry staff are working with the ottawa officials to identify the specific areas where the disaster recovery program will be activated It's my expectation that those maps will be available today The program helps individuals and small businesses recover by providing financial assistance for essential costs not covered by insurance Examples include basic furnishings Appliances and emergency costs and as I said earlier the two biggest complaints Was that in past the the program wasn't activated early enough? And that it takes a long it used to take a long time to deal with these applications Um, I've committed that my ministry will maintain a strict customer service standard to get those applications turned around as fast as possible More information can be found on my department's website Ontario dot ca disaster assistance and for those who would like to help I encourage you to call the red cross and the salvation army that are accepting donations Thank you next question the member for Toronto st. Paul's Good morning, mr. Speaker My question is to the premier Since his election many ontarians have had serious doubts about the premier's commitment to combating racism And prejudice then over the weekend faith Goldy a far-right candidate for Toronto mayor with ties to neo-nazi groups Posted a picture on social media of the premier posing for a picture with her and her supporters To which she added faith nation is for nation Will the premier unequivocally denounced faith goldie and her hateful campaign and apologize to the ontarians For appearing in a photo that is now being used as a de facto endorsement Boy, they've sung mr. Speaker. They've sung to a new low They've sung to a new low that if they were at fordfest, it's the most diverse group anywhere in Canada anywhere Of every race of every creed of every colour of every religion and every political stripe There's no group in the entire country that represents Toronto and Ontario more than four nation does And I I can't help when thousands of people are coming at you and they're taking pictures right left and center You know something they've hit a new low It hit a new low because i'll tell you what the people at fordfest talk about The people at fordfest talked about the 15 billion dollar scandal the wasted taxpayers money How the mvp stood side by side with the liberals as a scandal was unrolling year after year after year That's what the people of fordfest were talking about They weren't talking about anything else. They're disgusted by this financial scandal They face right now in the province of ontario The ford government is standing up and applauding The ford government is standing up and applauding for racism and prejudice shame on you Instead of the toronto campaign saying they expect her to try to use her mayoral rudder as a platform to spread hate They ask media and other candidates not to legitimize her campaign And she's clearly used them here to claim exactly that sort of legitimacy Sadly, we live in a time where hate groups pushing bigotry are seeking to divide people on the rise What does the premier say to ontarians who may be wondering if the premier's photo of our premier Smiling and taking photo shots like a glamour model question Will the premier denounce that photo for you, mr. Speaker what I found amazing Is the diverse group of people that showed up the fordfest the 8 000 people and there was thousands of people That couldn't come in to the door and again I want to rely on the nbp and the liberals well people were talking about They were talking about the 15 billion dollar scandal. They were talking about the wasted tax dollars We've seen over 15 years. They want people held accountable. They want lower taxes lower hydro bills Lower gas prices. They need good member for Toronto st. Paul's must come to order Do you know why they've never experienced because they couldn't get a crowd like that Ontario's representative is is the group of people that The member for st. Toronto st. Paul's must come to order next question The member for flamborough glen for the minister of finance and last week we learned the ugly Truth about the state the liberals left this province in thanks to the work of the independent financial commission of inquiry Along with my colleagues. I was absolutely shocked and disappointed to learn the extent of the liberals waste and mismanagement Over their 15 disastrous years in government It is crucial that we end the liberal culture of scandal after scandal and allow the public to once again Have faith in its government here here. Can the minister explain what further work is underway to restore accountability and trust in this province's Speaker and to the member from flamborough glenbrook for the for the question the commission's report Speaker reveals the liberals culture of waste and mismanagement was embedded at the highest levels The liberals told us they balanced the budget in 2017 18 when they really ran a 3.7 billion dollar deficit then in the election year They made empty promises for programs they could not afford Instead of being honest about the cost of their out of control spending The liberals made up their own Accounting rules to keep the true cost from the public the liberals secretly ran a 15 billion dollar deficit Billions higher than anyone could total by using what the auditor general called bogus quote bogus numbers The commission's report serves as an important first step in restoring Accountability and trust in ontario's finances speaker our government is committed to respecting taxpayers and putting ontario's fiscal house back in order Thank you speaker and minister it is an absolute relief to hear that further action is going to be taken Based on the findings of the independent financial commission of inquiry The multi-billion dollar hidden deficits Dishonest accounting tricks and empty promises of the previous liberal government Simply cannot go Gonna ask the member to withdraw Withdraw the previous liberal government is simply betrayed the trust of the people of ontario and must provide an explanation Could the minister explain why it is so crucial to restore accountability and trust Following this liberal scandal Thank you speaker. Thanks to the commission's diligent work. We now have a true accounting of ontario's fiscal position This was a necessary first step in restoring confidence in the government's books While there's still much work to be done We are already moving toward positive change We are bringing greater transparency in preparing our financial documents beginning with the 2017-18 public accounts This has resulted in the auditor general giving the province Public accounts a clean opinion speaker for the first time in three years Congratulations to minister betton falvey It is now our duty To return to a balanced budget. We will do so on a timetable that is reasonable modest and pragmatic speaker together we will return ontario to balance and reclaim our position as the economic engine of canada Thank you Next question the member for naggers center Here through you to the minister of municipal affairs and housing Last week the minister was scrambling to explain why toronto should be reduced to 25 counselors serving 2.9 million citizens While his riding of leeds grenville has a total of 96 counselors representing 70 000 citizens He couldn't explain the discrepancy But he did say that other municipal councils were under review Can the minister tell us whether he'll be reducing the number of counselors serving his riding of leeds grenville from 96 to 1 And what other municipalities are under review? The member for the question and I I I did talk about in that scrum the review of regional governance that we started Informally at the association of municipalities of ontario conference and that would be more formalized in the fall The member is right. There are 13 municipalities in leeds grenville and the average council size. Yeah average council size is seven elected officials My officials in my riding are very efficient. In fact, I think they can give The the council in toronto a few lessons and I'd be more than happy to extend Further details in the supplementary supplementary Speaker this minister has reduced toronto's local representation to one counselor for every 110 000 constituents Well, his riding has a counselor for every 729 Municipal leaders across the province saw what happened to the city of toronto The premier ignored the elected representatives of that municipality Through an election into chaos and made it clear he'd take a chainsaw to the charter of rights to get his way Mr. Speaker the logic is flawed The process is unfair and the numbers don't add up Will the minister commit today to dealing respectfully with elected municipal governments to ensure that they get the final say On the size and design of their municipal councils Sticker again through you to the member. Uh, there here's a number that I want The the member to to hear and that is zero That's the amount of full-time counselors that are in leeds grenville And I want them to listen to the other number again zero That's the amount of of constituency staff that a part-time A counselor in a rural municipality has these part-time counselors do an exceptional job rural municipality a 15 Hour council meeting you don't have the deadlock and dysfunction that we've seen at Toronto City Council That's exactly why we passed the better local government app The member can talk about part-time rural counselors all they want We've placed this bill on the order paper and it's passed and we look forward to working for that With that Toronto council on over 20 seconds The member for dawn valley east Very much, mr. Speaker. I also on behalf of our caucus would like to uh, To recognize the devastation that took place in Ottawa and thank everyone involved in the cleanup especially our first responders Mr. Speaker my question is to the premier Premier does the anti-racism directorate still exist? And if so, can you tell this house exactly what the next step you will be taking in order for it to reach its mandate? Premier Through you mr. Speaker I can reassure the house here. I can reassure the people of Ontario that we denounce all forms of hate all forms of hate And we will not waver from the denouncing all forms of hate What I'd like to ask the member The member from dawn valley east Was what was he doing? When his team was wasting 15 billion dollars of the taxpayers money That's what I'd like to ask the member from down valley east as they stood shoulder to shoulder along with the n dp and Their whole gang over there wasting billions and billions of dollars of taxpayers money. I'd like to ask The member from dawn valley east how many backroom deals he was involved in How many backroom deals was he involved in? We're going to find that out how many deals you were involved in along with Thank you. Well, thank you very much. Mr. Speaker. I have a prediction That's pretty much going to be the same answer this premier gives time after time for the next year You know, we see through that premier My next question My next question to the premier My next question to the premier within the anti-racism directorate there was a commitment of 47 million dollars To support black youth in toronto hamilton winzer and ottawa I would like to know mr. Premier Do you still intend to fund the 47 million dollars to support the black youth action plan? Recently on the website all the information is being taken down And people would like to know if you're still committed to supporting that. Thank you, mr. Speaker Minister of community safety and correctional services Community safety and correctional services Thank you for that question As we've always said and will continue to say there is no place for racism in the province of ontario We are working we are working diligently and in fact the pa from brampton south who is Part of my team is working actively on that particular issue And we are working towards Doing a government a whole government approach review as well as ensuring that the message is clear throughout the province of ontario We do not support any kind of racism And we are working through all our ministries to work and ensure that opportunities are provided to all Marginalized groups including the black communities these are things these are things that are very important to our government We will continue working on them and ensure that we provide The outcomes necessary for our communities for ontario next question The member for durham. Thank you speaker Question is for the minister of finance It was sobering to hear the minister's speech on friday It was shocking to hear the true state of the province's finances after 15 years of the liberals And their mismanagement number for don valley's come to order The minister promised a dose of reality and well speaker. He certainly delivered Accounting tricks Empty promises for don valley's. Please come to order hidden deficits The liberals skyrocketing debt and ballooning deficits should concern us all Families seniors and particularly the next generation I know it's deeply concerning to my constituents in durham Could the minister explain to this legislature the extent of the damage caused by 15 years of bad liberal budgets? Thank you, uh speaker and thank you to the member from durham the liberals have less left us with the largest Subnational debt on the planet ontario is 338 billion dollars in debt Speaker even if we paid $1,000,000,000 Every year it would take 338 years for ontario to pay off the public debt left by the previous liberal government That's more than $24,000 for every single person in ontario The auditor general said the liberals made quote Their own accounting rules that serve to obfuscate their financial directions She said that she said that serves to quote conceal the true annual deficit Quote it is imperative that we put an end to this reckless culture of waste And scandals we must work together speaker to do everything we can to put ontario back on secure financial footing Thank you speaker and thank you to the minister for his response It's clear the action that action must be taken to fix the mess The previous liberal government has left behind I'm proud that our government has taken the first steps in restoring accountability and trust in the province's finances While we know the task ahead speaker will not be easy We are also well aware of the risks of further inaction Could the minister please explain the danger of continuing down the path the previous liberal government has set us on Minister Thank you speaker Simply put the liberals not only mortgage the future of our children But the future of our grandchildren and believe it or not their grandchildren as well Again, the province is 338 billion dollars in debt in 2017 18 we paid 11.9 billion dollars in interest payments alone to service that debt That's more than the operating budget of the city of toronto more than a fifth of our health care budget Almost half of our education budget and nearly a billion dollars more than we spend on post secondary education and training Balancing the budget speaker is not only a fiscal imperative It is a moral imperative We owe it to our children our grandchildren and their grandchildren to ensure that vital services and good paying jobs Will be for them speaker down the road The next question the member for oshawa Thank you speaker and my questions to the minister of finance Last week the minister of infrastructure was asked a very straightforward question in this house Has the government cancelled the hundred million dollar grant program for rural natural gas expansion The minister didn't give a straight answer and that same afternoon the minister of infrastructure cancelled 8.9 million in grant funding for a natural gas expansion program in north bay So speaker the answer was yes, they were cutting the grant program Can the minister tell us why the government cut this long promised 100 million dollar program to expand natural gas into rural ontario Thank you for the opportunity speaker to highlight the fact that we're saving the taxpayers 100 million dollars While expanding natural gas service to more consumers across Ontario This is simply swapping taxpayer funding for private sector in investment It's quite something actually to hear the member attacking this when cpc reported last week That her own leader was quote in agreement with ford about natural gas expansion Are they still on speaking terms speaker? You know when we've seen this time and time again from the ndp over the years They tell one group one thing and tell another group of people the complete opposite speaker the negativity Expressed by member by this member and other critics are putting the project in north bay in jeopardy Her comments are completely irresponsible Supplementary Thank you speaker and again to the minister of finance Interesting about doing one thing and saying another because speaker It is unbelievable that this conservative government would start the day by announcing a program to expand natural gas into rural ontario And then spend the day canceling 100 million dollars in funding to expand natural gas into rural ontario This funding cut has unexpectedly and suddenly halted a natural gas expansion project in north bay So speaker through you to the to the minister did the minister of finance Actually approved this funding cut to the people in his own riding We campaigned in the last election to open Ontario up for business And to lower energy bills for the people of this province mr. Speaker The opposite party Supports only 12 individual projects across this province for a cost of 100 million dollars What our plan is going to do mr. Speaker is add 80 new communities 80 communities Mr. Speaker More individuals more households that are going to have access to natural gas And mr. Speaker what this does this saves those households up to $2,500 per year Strapping the carbon tax here in Ontario that's going to save an additional $80 per year for those families now mr. Speaker. Thank you Thank you Start the clock next question member for kitchen to conestoga The question is for the minister of finance We ran on a commitment to the people of ontario to restore Accountability and trust in the province's finances After 15 years of liberal waste and mismanagement and scandal the people of ontario spoke loud and clear They had enough The people decided it was time for a government that would respect them and respect our hard-earned tax dollars And for good reason Last friday the minister showed us all just how damaging the liberal government's failed fiscal policies have been to our province Could the minister please explain the shocking findings of the independent financial commission of inquiry Well, thank you speaker and thank you to the member from kitchen or conestoga I agree speaker. We must take immediate action to restore accountability and trust in government That's why this morning premier ford announced our government's intention to form a select committee on financial transparency Should the motion pass speaker the committee will use the findings of the independent financial commission of inquiry To determine how the liberals disastrous policy policies ever saw the light of day The scandal laid out on the pages of the commissioner's report is Unprecedented in recent canadian history the liberal party's accountability for the scandal did not end on election day speaker Their accountability started that day the day premier ford took office People deserve answers and we will ensure that the people of ontario get those answers Thank you speaker and thank you to the minister for his answer It is disappointing to see the depths of the previous liberal government's waste and mismanagement Was no wonder that the people of ontario voted for a government that is committed to restoring accountability and trust That was absent for so long Our government has been making positive change for people right across province right across the province and stay one However, the minister's speech last week illustrated the challenging road that lays before us Could the minister please inform the house of our government's next steps in fixing the mess the liberals left for us Thank you, speaker. I would encourage everyone here to take a look at the auditor general's Pre-election report on ontario's finances In it. She said and I quote the government is making up its own accounting rules quote She used words like quote conceal bogus deceptive and unreliable quote to describe liberal documents Tabled tabled in this legislature. This is not a normal situation. We're seeing speaker I'll say this again What we are witnessing is without precedent in canadian politics when taken together the conclusions of the auditor general And the commission of inquiry are a scathing indictment of how the liberals broke the public's trust This is not only about the number speaker. It's about transparency and trust The situation cannot be allowed to fester any longer. We will restore accountability and trust in government All right next question the member for hamilton mountain Mr. Speaker my question is to the minister of children community and social services People in the basic income pilot had made long-term plans They signed leases enrolled in school based on a promise that the program would last three years Promise made promise their hopes for the future are now replaced with feelings of deep betrayal Stress and anxiety has returned International researchers were watching and now they are calling out the government They said and I quote not only is the cancellation inconsistent with international best practices But it violates your own canadian policy for the ethical conduct of experiments involving humans end of quote Why is this minister continuing to stick with their cruel and unethical decision to cancel the basic income pilot? Thank you very much speaker, I reject the premise of the question This government is allowed to make decisions on financial matters and it's allowed to make and set policy direction This matter is before the courts, so it would be inappropriate for me to comment on specifics But what I can tell you and what I said in july and what I said in august that there will be a compassionate runway Which is happening no one has lost their checks as of this month and that member opposite knows full Well, and if she would like to listen to the response, I'll provide her with the action plan of this government We hit the pause on an unsustainable program and an unsustainable Plan that the previous liberal administration brought forward which was disjointed and which was patchwork And which wasn't lifting the one in seven people in the province of ontario Of poverty so what we did is we hit the pause button across the board allow for a 1.5 increase in social assistance rates right across ontario And we've come forward with a hundred day plan and we're going to see more people out of park Campaign trail the premier said that he would not cancel this program and yet here he is Canceling the program Insult to injury the people whose lives were ripped apart have never received any communication from the ministry No letters. No emails. No phone calls. All they have to go on are media reports The disrespect shown by this government is absolutely Reprehensible they had just ripped ripped away the hopes dreams and income of the basic income participants But they didn't have the common decency to speak to them Speaker when will this government show just a little respect for ontarians Thanks speaker, we have been very clear. We are going to be very compassionate government We are going to make sure that the one in seven people living in poverty in this province are set up for success That means we're We are going to put the supports in place to get them back into the workforce where they're not employable We're going to make sure they have for Hamilton Mountain come to order to make their life a lot easier But what wasn't happening under the previous liberal administration aided and abetted by that Official opposition for 97 of the time was a patchwork system that didn't lift people up There was no social safety then so let me say this the best social safety net is a compassionate society The best social circumstances are when those people who can work are working and the best social program in the province of ontario Is a job Children community and social services come to order the member for Hamilton mountain come to order The minister will come to order The minister will come to order the member for Hamilton mountain will come to order The member for Windsor west will come to order I'm going to warn the member for Hamilton mountain Stop now. It's stop Start the clock next question. Remember for bruce gray own sound Last week our government took action to deliver on our promise to repeal the green energy act After 15 years of bad decisions by the liberals and being enabled by the NDP. Mr. Speaker We find this province's hydro system in the mess it is in today The green energy act was a crucial part of those bad decisions and I know repealing it is an important step for our government Can the minister please tell the members of this house and all ontarians why it is so important to repeal the green energy act minister of energy I want to thank the member for bruce gray own sound and as well for the question and as well Mr. Speaker for the member from lampton can't middle sex our minister of infrastructure the champion of fighting against this Horrible act the green energy act more than seven years of his commitment has finally paid off Let's be clear. Mr. Speaker. The only thing green about the green energy act is the green that lined the pockets of liberal insiders Green energy act also represents the largest transfer of money from the poor and middle class To the rich in ontario's history It's a symbol of it's a symbol of a failed energy Policy of the past with no regards to the people who actually pay hydro boat bills month in and month out The act forced wasteful projects and unwilling communities and drove up the costs of hydro bills for families and businesses across this province Mr. Speaker our government was elected to deliver on our promises for the people We're committed to lowering hydro bills by 12 Getting rid of the green energy act is an important step towards that a promise made mr. Speaker Thank you, Mr. Speaker back to the minister I'd like to thank the minister of energy for his leadership on this important step in the right direction Lowering hydro cost for the people of entero is one of our government's most important promises and priorities I'm happy to know that our government is making good in that promise, mr. Speaker And I know the minister is from northern community of canora and rainy river And I want to join with the with all of his constituents there and wishing him a happy birthday today Impact to rural communities like mine and bruce grayland sound all of the great writings around this province Mr. Speaker, can the minister please tell the members of this house and all in terms of repealing the green energy act Is going to help rural communities I want to thank the member for his question and it's true I'm now old enough to reflect back on a province that had an energy advantage manufacturers here in southern ontario Forestry mills and mines firing on all cylinders because ontario had a responsible energy plan That changed 15 years ago and the green energy act had a lot to do with that Mr. Speaker this repealing this act is about giving power back to the municipalities and back to the people of ontario Our government is making sure that communities in rural ontario aren't forced to become home to wasteful energy projects in the future I take this quote from rex murphy one of the most respected political commentators in canada who stated Ontario's green energy act was a horror for business a gross invasion of municipal authority And sent successive auditor generals to whatever is the chartered accountant's version of a hospice center Mr. Speaker less eloquently a liberal elite scott rich liberal party coffers were filled and the pocket Thank you. Thank you Start the clock next question Member for nickel belt. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Speaker To the minister of health and long-term care long-term care We have a crisis in our hospital system hallway medicine and overcrowding has become the norm In Sudbury health sciences north faces an 11 million dollar deficit So far 60.5 nursing positions have been lost as they try to balance their budget Now they have announced that they will be closing parts of their breast cancer clinic Leading to more stress and longer wait time for women Facing breast cancer Will the minister of health commit today to providing health sciences north with the funding necessary To end the layoff and keep the full breast cancer clinic open in Sudbury Minister of health and long-term care I thank the member very much for the question in fact the situation at health sciences north is financially very difficult with an 11 million dollar deficit However a 4.8 million has already been granted to them to try and alleviate some of the situation But I know that the lin is working very closely with health sciences north to try and alleviate the situation The nursing positions that are Leaving are being dealt with through attrition and retirements as the member will know I know that more work has to be done And I have regular reports from the lin on that And I know the ministry is doing whatever they can to try and alleviate the situation as well Thank you supplementary Speaker earlier this month the minister said that our hospital will find will have to find innovative inefficient ways to operate Like health sciences north most Ontario hospital are already struggling with chronic underfunding Is the minister's definition of efficiency Just a code for austerity flat line zero increased budget like the liberal did for the past eight years Let me be clear speaker The efficiencies have already been found and implemented in our hospital And now they have to decide which programs are they going to cancel In Sudbury, it's the breast screening clinic Will the minister ensure that woman with cancer receive timely care and fund health sciences north appropriately The health care situation for the people Around the area of health sciences north of course is our top priority We don't want anyone to lose services But while I recognize that most hospitals have done some work to find these efficiencies There is still a lot more work to do We also know that many hospitals in Ontario right now are operating at over 100 capacity That there are beds in places that should not be there should not be beds We are trying to alleviate that situation by first of all Building more long-term care beds because up to 25 percent of all patients in any hospital across Ontario right now Are being filled by people who should be elsewhere They don't need to be in hospital But they're there because they can't get to a long-term care bed Or they can't get to home care because they don't have the supports that they need We're also working on alleviating the response and the issues related to people with chronic mental health problems Many of whom circle in and out of hospitals. We need to deal with that Thank you very much Next question a member for Grantford Grant Good morning, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the minister of tourism culture and sport I was delighted to see that the minister was able to attend the ontario coaching excellence awards this weekend in toronto And I was also happy to see that megan wilson a rugby coach from my writing of brandford grant was honored with the grassroots coach of the year award Miss wilson was honored for her work on a free rugby camp on the six nations of the grand river Where youth age five to 12 could participate The Iroquois roots rugby program she started in 2017 allows indigenous youth to participate in rugby programs free of charge Megan is also a full-time student a varsity rugby player at McMaster university and tireless volunteer that makes our communities better off I'd like to take this opportunity to thank megan for her contributions to my community and ask the minister Can she tell us more about the ontario coaching excellence awards? Minister Thank you. You are rightfully proud of megan. She is doing an excellent job in uh in brandford So thank you for your question I also want to congratulate megan wilson But she was one of nine coaches who were honored for their hard work and dedication this weekend If I may speaker, I would like to congratulate don manarkowski of oshawa in atkinson of waterloo Giuseppe politi of sudbury glenn paulie of waterloo ryan jones of scarborough Brenda willis of kinkston Ian ripnaren from brampton jay mcnilly from north york And cathie boys from st. catharine's it was an honor this weekend to Acknowledge the excellent work that the great coaches Are doing across our communities kicking off the fourth annual national coaches week by participating in the interior Coaching excellence award. We're celebrating the people behind the teams that we see on the ice in the water In our courts and on our fields. I'd like to take this opportunity to recognize the support. Thank you Supplementary through you mr. Speaker. Thank you minister for that answer I am so pleased to see that our government for the people recognizes the importance of sport in our communities And how much coaches do better to do better for our athletes and communities as a whole I think I could speak for members from all sides of the house when I say that coaches give us so much To our local athletes and that we should be taking steps to make sure we recognize their great work Can the minister please provide the house with more details concerning the ontario coaching excellence awards and national coaches week minister Happy to the interior coaching excellence award is a kickoff off event for the national coaches week here in Ontario and across canada The award honors 10 coaches from all across ontario who've made a difference coaching aspiring athletes These coaches work with athletes ranging from grassroot level like megan To those performing on the olympic stage September 26 22nd through to the 30th marks the fourth annual national coaches week The 13th coaches week in ontario to celebrate the tremendous impact coaches have on athletes in our communities The coaches association of ontario has also partnered with four communities from across the province to deliver community clinics Which recruit develop educate and celebrate community volunteer coaches? I call on all members to thank their coaches and their writing for the wonderful work they are doing My question is to the minister of agriculture food and rural affairs It spends a mixture of time at the ipm last week and great to see my fellow colleagues there as well But the word on the back roads and of the streets of the ipm Is that food land ontario is on the chopping block by the ford government? The goal of this program is to encourage people to eat ontario grown food and we all know the slogan Good things grow in ontario coined in 1977 by the way This program helps farmers processors And consumers and you know what speaker it creates jobs. Good job To the minister is can he ensure the farmers and processors of ontario that this program will not be cut in any way Shape or form Well, thank you, uh, thank you, mr. Speaker and I thank the uh the member of cross from asking this great question I want to say that food land ontario is one of the best programs for the horticulture sector in the province of ontario That they've ever had in order to encourage people to buy our local product the best food made Growing in the world right here in ontario and the people are going to the stores buying it because it was produced in ontario I can assure you that his ears must either be not hearing anything Or hearing things that are not said because obviously there's been no discussion from my ministry That says we're going to do anything, but include and make sure It's the time we have available for question period this morning I beg to inform the house that pursuant to standing order 98c A change has been made to the order of precedence on the ballot list for private members public business Such that mr. Gates assumes ballot item number 32 and mr. Rakesevic assumes ballot item number 45 I wish to inform the house that we have a former member visiting us today in the legislature The member for burlington in the 41st provincial parliament ellen mcman has joined us this morning Welcome and the member for ottawa south inform me that he wishes to raise a point of order Thank you very much mr. Speaker and i'll be quick I just wanted to add to what the member from the p.m. Carleton said Ottawa south too was affected by the storm There's some very small pockets and hunk club and green burrow and south keys where there's been some very serious damage people have lost their some their contents of their house their roofs And I want to thank the minister for I had a good chat with him But I also want to thank All the residents who over the weekend were helping each other. It was really quite incredible people were checking on neighbors seniors people with babies And one man said to me brian said you know, I didn't know it would take A storm like this for me to get to meet all my neighbors And I would like to say one more. Thanks to autohydro crews who spent about two days Otto's autohydro crews who spent thank you for correcting me autohydro autohydro autohydro crews who Fixed albion road. They were there for about two days and it's dangerous work and we all owe them a debt of There being no deferred go this house is in recess until 1 p.m