 It is now time for oral questions, and I recognize the leader of Her Majesty's Royal Opinion. Thank you, Speaker. My first question this morning is to the Premier. The Premier is risking the spread of the COVID-19 virus, more deaths, more business closures, further lockdowns because he's refusing to listen to the advice of experts and he's reopening too quickly. In fact, health experts are almost unanimous in condemning the Premier's decision here. Dr. Brown, the head of Ontario's COVID advisory table, said on Thursday, and I quote, If public health measures are lifted, cases could rise dramatically. Dr. Peter Uni says we're heading for another lockdown. Dr. Michael Warner asks, are we trying to fail? My question to the Premier is, considering what his advisers are recommending, why is he deciding to reopen this province? The Premier to reply. Well, through you, Mr. Speaker, we aren't reopening it, the province, we're transitioning. We're transitioning into the framework that was laid out by the health team and we're following the guidance from the Chief Medical Officer of Health, which we will always follow. Just to remind everyone, we have the most stringent protocols anywhere in the entire country and the most stringent restrictions anywhere in the country. We're going to continue doing that, making sure that we keep the public safe, make sure that we keep the people long-term care safe and education workers safe along with the students. So that's what we're going to continue doing and just keep in mind, when it comes to Peel, Toronto and New York, and it's going to be up to the Chief Medical Officer and the local medical officers, if they want to open up and go into the great lockdown scenario on February 22nd, but we won't hesitate to pull on the brakes at any given time, Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much. This is a supplementary question. Speaker, it seems pretty clear that what this is all about is transitioning into a disaster. In fact, the Ontario Hospital Association head, Anthony Dale, said that the warning last week from Dr. Stiney Brown, the head of the science table, could not be clearer, do not open up. He says that an exhausted, overextended hospital sector will have to deal with a third pandemic wave. So my question is, when the Premier is receiving warnings from the Ontario Hospital Association, from health experts that are crystal clear that they oppose this reopening, why is the Premier ignoring them? The Premier, through you, Mr. Speaker, right from day one, we've always listened to the Chief Medical Officer and the health team, and we're going to continue to listen to the health and science experts. Mr. Speaker, we're doing more rapid tests for prevention than anyone in the entire country. We're doing 58% of all the rapid tests in the country, even though we're about 38% of the population. We're well over 2 million rapid tests. We're going to be deploying upwards to a million rapid tests every single week going into businesses, going into long-term care homes, going into schools. I know the Minister of Education has allocated 50,000 rapid tests to making sure that we're testing 40 schools this week alone, and we're going to continue focusing on the rapid test. Thank you. The final supplementary. Mr. Speaker, it's really clear that ignoring the advice of experts will put lives at risk in our province. The science table has warned very clearly that the third wave could bring up to 16,000 daily cases of COVID-19 if the Premier prematurely opens up this province. In fact, it could put ICUs in a position where they're working at triple their capacity, literally unable to meet the demand put upon them by this Premier's decision. The fact of the matter is the Premier has not learned from his mistakes. He is repeating the mistakes of the past. He's not listening to the advice of experts and opening too soon, and my question is why would he do such a thing? Premier. Through you, Mr. Speaker, we aren't transitioning without approval of the Chief Medical Officer, which we always do have, because I won't waver from the advice that he gives us and the health team. But we have to thank the people of Ontario, because unlike what the Leader of the Opposition said, with the collaboration of everyone except the NDP and the Liberals, we were able to bring the numbers down. ICU units are actually going down, the capacity that is there right now, the numbers are going down. We have to make sure that we continue following the protocols and the guidelines of the Chief Medical Officer, but we will never take our eye off the ball. We will always be working 24-7, which we have been for the last year every single day, Saturday, Sunday, even on the holidays we work on like some other folks, Mr. Speaker, we're going to continue being very vigilant when it comes to this. The next question. Once again, the Leader of the Opposition. Thank you, Speaker. My next question is also for the Premier. Speaker, essential workers in this province, frontline workers in this province, have to make each and every day a decision about going to work, often times when they are sick. People should never have to choose between going to work and bringing illness into the workplace or losing a paycheck and not being able to meet the bills. In fact, people should be able to take time off because they have paid sick days. Government's own experts have said that paid sick days are the right thing to do here in Ontario. It was recommended by the head of the science table that apparently the Premier listens to Dr. Brown. Even Dr. Williams, whose advice the Premier has told us a couple of times already this morning, he always takes, supports, paid sick days. The Premier said he always listens to Dr. Williams. Will he listen this time and provide paid sick days for the people of this province? Premier. Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I'm going to respectfully ask the Leader of the Opposition stop getting people confused. There are sick days. And even when they were being interviewed, either the Leader of the Opposition doesn't know the program or doesn't understand it or something, there's over a billion dollars that I fought for and the other premiers fought for and John Horgan, fellow NDP counterpart fought for. We all collaborated. We ended up getting over a billion, 1.1 billion. Mr. Speaker, this goes back all the way to September. Only 319 million has been spent and because the Leader of the Opposition is out there confusing people, and even when she was interviewed with a nurse, the nurse said, no, I didn't even look into the federal program. So the Leader of the Opposition is very confused when it comes to this. We have a great system. We aren't going to duplicate it and continue to double dip into the taxpayer's pockets when there's a billion dollars, 1.1 billion sitting there. We need to make sure we shorten the time. Thank you. Premier will take his seat. This is a supplementary question. It's this Premier that needs to get with the program. He knows darn well that he got rid of the only two paid sick days. Member for Northumberland, Peter Burroughs South will come to order and withdraw, Leader of the Opposition. The Premier needs to stop passing the buck, Speaker. It's really clear that paid sick days are a provincial responsibility. They always have been. They always will be, and they are being recommended by virtually everyone except the Premier. Government public health experts say we need paid sick days. Health experts, business leaders, labour leaders, heck, the past two leaders of the provincial PC party all say we need paid sick days. So why is the Premier stubbornly refusing to implement paid sick days for the benefit of stopping the spread of COVID-19 and keeping people safe? Premier. Well, Mr. Speaker, right from the get-go of when we hit this pandemic, we've had a very clear agreement, all the premiers, along with the federal government, that we aren't going to duplicate programs and being very prudent with the taxpayers' money. People don't expect it. Anyone that I've ever talked to, Mr. Speaker, that I said, oh, there's already a program. First thing they say, well, the Leader of the Opposition must be confused because she's making it out that there is no sick days. So, again, it's very disappointing, very disappointing that the Leader of the Opposition would be out there and confusing people. Folks listening at home, there is paid sick days, there's 10 paid sick days, 1.1 billion. What we have to do is continue, which we are working with the federal government to shorten up the time to increase it from 500, possibly up to $1,000, but no one expects us to double dip into their pockets, unlike what that's the practice of the NDP, not ourselves. The final supplementary. Oh, I can assure the Premier Speaker that the people of Ontario know very well who to be disappointed in. I can tell you this, experts have been predicting a third wave and more lockdowns, more illness, more pressure on the hospitals, because the government has decided not to take action on a few key initiatives. The Premier is simply refusing to listen to the advice of experts, even though he claims the opposite. If the Premier truly wanted to stop the spread of COVID-19, he would not be opening this province too quickly, and he would be providing paid sick days for every worker in this province. Why will this government, why will this Premier refuse, continue to refuse to act? Why is he not taking action on the very advice that his experts are giving him? Why? Premier. Well, through you, you, Mr. Speaker, we've been acting from day one, and we haven't stopped acting and making sure that we put the protocols in place, making sure that we're taking care of small business owners with the grants up to $20,000, which is now up over $900 million to help the small business folks. But, Mr. Speaker, this is a very large province, and what is good for the folks up in Canora may not always be good for the people and the leader, the opposition's riding in Hamilton or may not be as good for the people in Toronto and Peel. That's why we're opening the economy up extremely, extremely cautiously. And when it comes to Toronto, and it comes to Peel, and when it comes to York, it's very simple. We're going into the great lockdown zones in February 22nd, and in saying that, if the local medical officers put a section 22 in and continue down with the lockdown, by all means, they have the power to do that, and we'll support them. Thank you. The question is for the Premier. During the first wave of COVID-19, the people of Ontario were shocked by the appalling conditions and the failure of this government to protect our seniors in our long-term care homes. In the first wave, we saw 1,848 people lose their lives. Last June, the Premier pledged, and I'll quote, we're going to make sure that this doesn't happen again, end quote. But, Speaker, as of last week, our long-term care homes have now seen more loss of life due to COVID-19 than in the second wave than they did in the first. How can the Premier justify the failure to keep this promise and keep our seniors safe? Minister of Long-Term Care, respond. Thank you, Speaker, and thank you to the member opposite for the question. Indeed, long-term care homes have been on the front lines of this global pandemic, not only in Ontario, but across Canada and across the world, and our government has used every option at our disposal to prevent and contain the spread of this virus. We implemented surveillance testing in Wave 1 for residents and staff, and we have one of the most sensitive thresholds to outbreak definition anywhere across the country. We have slowed outbreaks and caught cases early. And the Premier personally pushed for surveillance testing in Wave 1, as did I. And every resident and staff member was tested in Wave 1 as part of our testing strategy. Despite the reluctance of some, we pushed for the implementation of rapid testing. These tests have added an extra layer on top of the IPAC, on top of the integration across our system, on top of using all the expert advice. We will continue to do this. Thank you. And the supplementary question. Speaker, despite what the minister is claiming here today, they failed to take action. The necessary action needed to protect seniors in long-term care. The Premier said that this would never happen again. But they could have actually taken steps like a recruitment drive, like the one in Quebec that brought 10,000 PSWs into Quebec's long-term care homes, or emergency shelters to ensure that residents would be moved out of those crowded homes and not suffer when those outbreaks were happening. Instead, this Premier changed the law to ensure that private, for-profit long-term care homes wouldn't be sued. Will the Premier admit that this government broke their promise to seniors and take the urgent action needed today, and now to ensure that we protect our seniors before this impending third wave hits those homes? Mr. Long-Term Care respond. Thank you, Speaker. And once again, thank you to the member opposite. We acted quickly and decisively throughout this pandemic. It is a worldwide global pandemic, and we have used every measure and every tool available to us to fight this virus and stop the spread. As I mentioned, the testing and now the staffing, looking at this across the board from day one, using the rapid response teams deployed from our hospitals, the infection prevention and control teams, the Ontario Workforce Reserve for senior support, and our resident support aides, making sure that we took regulatory amendments and emergency orders to make sure we could provide flexible staffing into our homes. We have continued unrelentingly to make sure that our homes had the support that they needed. The community spread in wave two is different from wave one, and we continue to take every measure possible. And looking at the $1.9 billion, up to $1.9 billion for our monumental staffing plan, 27,000 new people. Thank you very much. The next question, the member from Mississauga East Cooksville. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and my question is to the Premier. Since we last meet in December, we have seen good news as it relates to the transmission of COVID in the province. Early case numbers are down, transmission rates are down, less people are being hospitalized. The measures are working, staying home is saving lives. Together, we are bending the curve, we are protecting our hospitals, and we are looking out for the most vulnerable. But we are not clear of the storm yet. This is a critical time. We can find a way forward, but we need a plan that continues to protect the health and safety of each and every person in this province. We have seen in other countries what is happening with these new variants, and it is a reminder of what can happen here. Premier, can you please share with my constituents what other enhanced measures our government has put in place to counter the spread of new variants? Thank you. Premier? Thank you so much. I want to thank the member from Mississauga East Cooksville, and I want to thank you for your great leadership in Peele. The member is 100% correct. The risk of these new variants is of great concern. My friends, I sounded the alarm bells before. I stood on the podium and said it's not a matter of if it's when these new variants come into place here. On Boxing Day, we confirmed the first case of the UK variant of COVID-19 in Ontario. Now we have confirmed cases of the Brazilian and South African variants. What our government took action immediately, we delivered a six-point plan to help stop the spread of these variants throughout the province. We brought in mandatory testing at Pearson Airport, which was critical and well overdue, Mr Speaker, that I was jumping up and down for months about getting testing at Pearson. Now we finally ended up getting it. We have caught new variants coming through, well over 200 that would be in the public and thank goodness we stood up and we did the testing at Pearson Airport. Thank you Mr Speaker and thank you to the Premier. My supplemental question is back to the Premier. Premier, as you have said, the spread of any new COVID-19 variant is a significant threat to the province's response to COVID-19. My region of Peele is one of the hotspot regions and I know that many of my constituents are concerned about these new variants, which mean, will mean for them. Premier, our government has worked diligently to put in place stronger measures to counter the alarming public health trends and fight the new variants. We issued the stay at home order. We launched several workplace inspection blitz, including a safety blitz at all big box stores. We have accelerated vaccinations for our most vulnerable seniors. Premier, can the Premier please share with the legislature more about our government's six-point plan to prevent and stop the spread of COVID-19 variants in my writing? Thank you. The Premier. I want to thank the member for the question. As I always say, we can't let our guard down now. We can't let our guard down ever. If we see the numbers spike again, we're prepared to take further action and that's what we call the break, Mr Speaker. We'll put on the break quicker than you can shake your stick. Because nothing is more important than protecting the people right now, that's why our government implemented strong measures and a part of our six-point plan. Mandatory testing and travellers at our borders, this is the most important thing we can do to stop the spread of these deadly variants coming into our communities. That's the first one. Second, is enhanced screening to identify all positive COVID-19 tests in Ontario for known variants within two to three days of the initial processing. Number three, maintaining enhanced public health measures. Number four, strengthening our case and contact management efforts for all COVID-19 cases. Number five, protecting the most vulnerable by accelerating vaccinations of residents in long-term care, retirement homes and First Nation elder residents and six, leveraging new data sciences techniques and integrate data. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next question, the member for London West. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Speaker, one of the first things the Conservatives did when they were elected was immediately take away paid sick days from Ontario workers. Now in the middle of the biggest health crisis our province has ever seen, this decision isn't just making life worse, it's literally putting people's lives at risk. Speaker, no worker should have to risk exposure to deadly infection on the job or spread it to their co-workers. No worker should have to watch their family fall ill because their own government refused to act. By voting today against the stay home if you are sick act, that is exactly what this government is telling Ontarians. Speaker, through you, I ask the Premier, is that the legacy he really wants? Just to note, Mr Speaker, that the House leaders have met three times, February 3rd, 5th and 11th, and at no time did the new Opposition House Leader ever mention that this bill would be a priority that the NDP would bring to the floor of the Legislative Assembly. We expect to be working together as we have constantly done in this legislature. When this government started with the new protocols back in March, we went to the Opposition and we told them the bills that we were introducing, we allowed them to make amendments to those bills, we worked together, Mr Speaker. I would hope that, going forward, that if the Opposition want to work cooperatively, that they use the forms that we have set to do that, Mr Speaker, it's one thing to place stunts on the floor of the Legislative Assembly. It's another thing to work together to move this province forward, like this Premier has done, and like I'm sure the Minister of Labor will outline in the supplementary. Thank you. The supplementary question. Thank you, Speaker. Municipal leaders, councils from across the province, physicians, nurses, public health experts, local boards of health, workers and business owners all agree that without paid sick days, the Conservatives aren't just causing the third wave to hit faster. They are ensuring it will hit harder and hurt more than ever. Speaker, the Premier had a chance to do the right thing this morning, but his government voted against giving people the paid sick days they need now. My question is, what is it going to take? How high will cases have to get? How many more deaths before this government finally does the right thing and passes our bill? To respond, Minister of Labor. Well, Mr. Speaker, the member opposite must not have heard earlier on when the Premier answered, but Mr. Speaker, to every worker in the province of Ontario there are two weeks of paid sick days available to them. And Mr. Speaker, thanks to the Premier of Ontario, the other Premiers across the country working together with the Prime Minister of Canada, they've delivered $1.1 billion worth of paid sick days to workers in this province and right across the country. But Mr. Speaker, it's up to every elected official to not play games. And when the member opposite, the member opposite, don't tell workers that this program is available to them, that's a disservice. Mr. Speaker, we've worked closely with the federal government to raise awareness of this program. To ensure that monies get paid more quickly in the people's bank accounts, and I'm proud to say, Mr. Speaker, over 110,000 workers in Ontario are now receiving paid sick days. Thank you. Thank you very much. The next question, the member from Ottawa. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Premier. Premier, last Sunday the government announced that it finally offered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine to all the 70,000 residents in long-term care. It's been more than two months since vaccines have arrived here in Ontario, and we are weeks behind other provinces. British Columbia, Alberta. The government side, come to order. Manitoba, Quebec, Prince Edward Island, all finished in January. Vaccines didn't make it in time to revert a place, or to Tomiskaming, and too many other places in Ontario. The government side will come to order. It takes for vaccines to become effective. So, we've had enough vaccines since the end of December to get the job done. So, Speaker, through you, can the Premier explain to families how we fell so far behind and failed to prioritize residents in long-term care during this phase one? The government side will come to order. I'll start crawling out my names. I can hear your voices. The Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry will come to order. Premier? Well, Mr. Speaker, again, you know, I want to use a certain word, but again, it's not, can I use the word accurate? Not being accurate, because the gentleman there hasn't looked at the numbers. We're actually leading the entire country. No one is coming close with 59% of all second doses in Canada and the entire country. So, I'm not too sure where you're getting your numbers from, but again, we're 38%. We're 38% of the population, 59% of all second doses. We have an incredible team. We have a great team out there headed up by General Hillier, making sure that we're vaccinating more people than anywhere else in the country. And that's the reason, Mr. Speaker, we have the lowest case counts out of anyone per 100,000. Thank you. Thank you. This is definitely a question. Speaker, we've almost given 500,000 doses, not got to the 70,000 residents in long-term care until last Sunday. So supply wasn't the issue, right? So here's how it, here's what happened. The government failed to take the advice of Pfizer from December 18th. And then when Quebec and BC were vaccinating residents in long-term care, would it Ontario do over Christmas? Oh, we took a holiday. We took a holiday. It put us weeks behind. And the best answer was we got spanked. Well, I don't think that's good for families. It might be good in the locker room after a beer league hockey game, but that's not a good answer. As a result, when the virus got ahead of us in long-term care and when the virus gets ahead of us, it just doesn't go ahead of us. It accelerates. So the slower we go, the faster it goes. And what that means is more disease, more suffering, more death. So Speaker, through you, can the Premier explain the rationale for this lack of sense of urgency for these delayed decisions and failure to act that put residents in long-term care in a vulnerable situation families need to know? Premier to reply? Mr. Speaker, that information is just not accurate. We're leading the country, bar none, over anyone, even per capita. And I would be more than happy to sit down and inform the member that 59% of all second doses in Canada, 59% of all second doses in Canada were here in Ontario. 65% of all long-term care patients have received their second dose. And as we move forward, we will be at 100% of all long-term care patients very, very shortly because we have an incredible team. The only thing we're missing? We're missing one thing, Mr. Speaker. We're missing the vaccines. Give us the vaccines. We will get them into people's arms. We have the most efficient, the most organized team in the entire country. The member for Ottawa South with number 100. Next question? The member for Glamoral Glandrum. Thank you, Speaker. As cases have come down from the spike around Christmas, students from around the province have safely returned to in-person learning. And this is welcome news for parents and students in my riding. We have had a safe return to school in September, although with cases of variants appearing around the province, it's clear that we must remain vigilant. Can the Minister of Education please share with this legislature the new efforts this government has taken to ensure schools remain a safe place to learn and to work? Questions to the Minister of Education. Thank you very much, Speaker. I appreciate the question from the member. And obviously members on this side of the house are quite pleased that all students in this province are now able to return to school this week. That is vital for the mental health and development of all children and critical. As we move forward with ensuring we can combat COVID-19 by keeping these kids safe, what we have done over the past weeks is stepped up our program with a plan to expand asymptomatic testing. Up to 50,000 tests every week, as the Premier just noted in the legislature, in the City of Toronto alone this week alone, 40 schools will be tested for asymptomatic testing, working with the local public health unit to deliver that layer of protection that is critical as we move forward with these new variants. We've also enhanced the screening protocol of children and staff before they enter school. And likewise, a better quality mask, a three-ply mask according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. In each and every realm, we have improved investment, enhanced the requirement, and we'll continue to invest to make sure that these kids and all staff are safe in this province. A supplementary question. Thank you, Speaker. And back to the Minister. School boards have done great work in moving quickly to remote learning during the province-wide shutdown and at other times throughout the school year. However, we know that a consequence of separation from classmates is an impact on mental health. This is especially true for younger children or children who require more specialized care. Though the return to in-person learning is a huge factor in maintaining mental health for students, families, and staff, we know that continued supports are needed. Would the Minister of Education please share with us what efforts are being done to help support the mental health of our students? Minister of Education. Thank you very much, Speaker. I appreciate the opportunity to just really... Member for York Centre, come door. Minister of Education. Thank you, Speaker. It is really important that we continue to stay focused on the mental health of children, which is why, as noted, we are pleased that all children are able to return to class this week so consequential for their mental health. But in addition to that, realizing that there are some children that are struggling, we have enhanced our investment over $52 million during the pandemic, alone in net new dollars to hire over 200 more mental health workers and ensure that our kids and the staff have access to the supports that they need and they deserve. $52 million of which 10 million was just provided to kids. Helpphone, as well as to provide working with School Mental Health Ontario a mental health action kit where all classes are able to talk about the importance of mental health and really improve the resilience of our kids. We'll continue to invest in them and follow the medical advice to keep them safe. Thank you. The next question, the member for London Fanshawe. Thank you, Speaker. And my question is to the Premier. Throughout this crisis, new Democrats have put forward solutions to improve long-term care. At every turn, the Conservatives put up roadblocks, dragged their feet and sat on billions of dollars that would have saved lives. They did it again this morning. They're voting against a rapid passage of a bill that would ensure that every single nursing home resident in Ontario is guaranteed in law, a minimum of four hours of hands-on care. Why is this for government so afraid of making it law that long-term care homes meet minimum standards of care for the seniors who live in them? Minister of long-term care, there's one. Thank you, Speaker. And thank you to the member opposite for the question. Our Conservative government is going to be the first government to address the ongoing crisis in long-term care, the long-standing crisis, whether it was the capacity issues that the previous Liberal government neglected over its time in office or whether when the NDP had the balance of power, held the balance of power between 2011 and 2014 and failed to address the staffing issues, failed to address the very important sector of long-term care. We are putting forward a staffing plan. We are committed to making sure that we modernize and repair and advance long-term care. 1.9 million dollars for our staffing plan. 27,000 PSWs, RNs and RPMs, we are well on our way to addressing the long-standing crisis that was left behind by the previous government. Speaker, we often hear from this minister how her heart goes out to the loved ones who lost their vulnerable long-term care. Well, I hope today you have a change of heart and you force your cabinet ministers to pass this bill. Speaker, one of the Conservatives biggest failures during this crisis has been in long-term care. Thousands of loved ones are no longer with us because this government failed to invest in long-term care. The government said they do anything they could. Everything is on the table, says the Premier. But when it came time to vote on concrete steps that would and could have passed today, improvements that would have made the lives better for thousands of families, this government said no. Why won't the Premier do the right thing and pass Bill 13 today? Mr. Long-Term Care. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. I'm thanking the member opposite for the question. When the NDP, when the previous government had an opportunity to put the measures in place to make sure we had a solid resident-centered long-term care system, they did not. Unlike what you are putting forward, what the member opposite ordered. We have a plan for staffing. We have a plan to modernize long-term care. Opposition come forward. Up to $109 billion annually by 24-25 to create 27,000 new positions with PSWs, RNs and RPNs. The promises by previous governments and propped up by the NDP are, we have a littered landscape of reports that have landed in the shredder and not a shred of improvement was done in long-term care. A conservative government will be the one. Official opposition come to order. Rebuild and advance long-term care unlike the member opposite's plan. Thank you. Next question the member for Guelph. Thank you, Speaker. Good morning, everyone. My question is for the Premier. The federal sickness benefit falls far short of what is needed to keep workplaces safe. And that's why we're seeing so many outbreaks in essential workplaces. That's why communities with essential workers are three times more likely to have COVID cases than communities without essential workers. That is why paid sick leave is good for business and essential to keeping our economy and schools open. So, Speaker, will the Premier admit that the federal sick leave benefit falls far short of what is needed and actually work with us to pass a sick-paid bill that works for Ontarians? Thank you very much. Minister of Labor, who is that? Well, thank you very much, and I thank the member opposite for this question. Mr. Speaker, the very first piece of legislation that we passed when COVID-19 hit Ontario was a job-protected leave. So any worker who's in isolation and quarantine, if you're a mum or a dad who had to stay home because you're looking after a son or a daughter because of the disruptions in the education system, you couldn't be fired for that. Mr. Speaker, we went even further. We eliminated the need for sick notes. And, Mr. Speaker, back in the summer, thanks to the leadership of Premier Ford and other provincial and territorial leaders, they signed an agreement with the Prime Minister. Two weeks of paid sick days are available to the working people here in Ontario. And, Mr. Speaker, I'm proud to report to the House today that over 110,000 workers here in Ontario are now receiving sick-day pay through the federal government. We work with the federal government to raise awareness of this program and to ensure that people get paid more quickly. And, in fact, Mr. Speaker, 80% of the payouts are being done within three days. Thank you. The supplementary question. Back to the member. In the same way that the government is dragging its feet on delivering paid sick leave that actually works, they've also been dragging their feet on deploying rapid testing. Finally, after months of asking for rapid testing and reports revealing that the government wasn't rolling them out, they finally announced last Friday that we would start seeing the deployment of rapid testing. But this is cold comfort long-term care homes who do not have the staffing needed to administer rapid tests. So will, Speaker, will the Premier provide the funding the long-term care homes need to administer rapid testing to keep our workplaces safe and our loved ones safe? Minister of Labor Minister of Long-Term Care Thank you, Speaker. And thank you to the member opposite for the question. The rapid tests are another layer. In fact, in wave 1 our government was pushing for rapid tests, but we could not get them because they were not available yet through Health Canada. We were well ahead. Well ahead. In wave 2 the Premier pushed and so did I to make sure we could get those rapid tests out to our long-term care homes as another measure. We at this point have over a million rapid tests that have gone out to our long-term care homes 1,213,140 to over 500 homes. We were required to do a pilot which we did to be cautious of what the impact of these might have. We made sure to understand the implications and the use of rapid tests. So this has been ongoing. We are making sure we support our homes over 1.38 billion dollars has gone to our homes to support them in prevention and containment including other measures for staffing. This is unprecedented the support that these homes are receiving rapid tests. Thank you very much. The next question. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Students attend post-secondary institutions to create a better and brighter future for themselves. They should be focused on their grades and maturing not worrying about acts of sexual violence happening to them, but sadly they continue to experience sexual violence and harassment and other forms of violence on campus. What's even worse, many students feel that their allegations won't be taken seriously. This allows predators to continue what they are doing without any fear of discipline. Speaker, I know our government has made a commitment to help keep our communities healthy and safe in Ontario. Can the Minister of Children and Women's Issues explain to the members of the legislature how the government is keeping that commitment in place for students? The Minister of Children and Women's Issues. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Our government has zero tolerance for acts of sexual violence or other forms of violence in our communities. We believe that students should never be afraid to come forward if they are unfortunately victims to one of these horrific incidents. It was in 2019 that our government required every publicly assisted partners about the number of reports of sexual violence by students and supports provided for the survivors of these heinous acts. In addition, we've doubled our investment to $6 million for the Campus Safety Grant. And in January I was pleased to announce with the Minister of Colleges and Universities that we are proposing changes to the sexual violence policies on campus. These changes will keep institutions focused on the issue of sexual assault and finding the perpetrator of sexual violence. We're hoping that through these proposed changes students will feel confident coming forward so they are able to heal and that perpetrators are held accountable. Supplementary question. Thank you Minister for that answer. I know students and families will be pleased to hear that we are continuing to fulfill our commitment of creating safe learning environments for all students. I'm especially pleased with the additional funding to support the prevention of sexual violence especially against young women as they are the most common victim. And I'm glad this includes institutions in the city of Hamilton as well such as McMaster University. Speaker, these are significant changes to sexual violence and harassment policies at our post secondary institutions. And I'm happy to see that the government is prioritizing the health and safety of all students. And I'm happy that we get more people especially students' perspectives on this issue to ensure we are making a lasting positive change. Can the minister please expand on how these regulations will support survivors and how Ontarians can share thoughts on the proposed regulation? The response to Parliamentary Assistant Member for Northumberlin, Peter Burrow-Sow. Thank you Mr. Speaker. As of now Mr. Speaker these proposed changes would make Ontario one of the most important regulations with these protections specifically outlined in legislation or regulation. It's also important to note that there are policies in place that let those affected know that they can come forward without fear of reprisal as my colleague mentioned. Mr. Speaker we hope these amendments will help continue and help encourage those who want to come forward to come forward and reduce re-traumatization and encourage re-traumatization as we said Mr. Speaker. These changes are a direct result of real consultations that we've had with students Mr. Speaker and I'd like to highlight and thank a recent conversation I had with the Ontario Undergraduate Student Alliance and specifically their President Julia Perera. Thank you for coming forward. Thank you for bringing voices forward for those who are voiceless. We're going to continue to consult with student groups Mr. Speaker on these consultations which will occur until March. Thank you very much. The next question the member for Windsor West. Thank you Speaker. My question is to the Premier. On Saturday I hosted a virtual town hall with families, essential caregivers and experts from all over Ontario. I heard first hand stories about the emotional, physical and mental impact that many individuals have suffered from forced isolation during this pandemic. But sadly still some residents in long-term homes, retirement homes, hospitals and others continue to be denied meaningful, consistent access to their essential caregivers. Speaker it is well known that denying residents in congregate care their right to meaningful access to their essential caregivers is incredibly harmful. So I ask the Premier this. Why did his government block passage of my bill the more than a visitor act just moments ago and stop it from becoming law quickly? Mr. Children Community and Social Services Thank you very much Mr. Speaker for the opportunity to respond to the question from the member opposite here this morning. I want to remind the member that our government took immediate action to ensure that we were protecting the province's most vulnerable people and that includes in the settings that she described and we did that very quickly. In the developmental services sector that I'm responsible for Speaker we brought in the COVID-19 action plan for vulnerable people. That was intended to stop COVID-19 at the door and I want to give a big shout out actually to those working in the developmental services sector for the great work that they've been doing throughout the pandemic. It's been almost a year now and they've done impeccable work in these facilities ensuring that there's enhanced screening so that we're stopping COVID-19 at the door. Proper PPE usage and then managing outbreaks when they do happen Mr. Speaker we also included $40 million in the residential relief fund and I know that's been extremely well received at the same time we're making sure that when it comes to visitors to these homes we're working with the local medical officers of health in the region to ensure that we're keeping those individuals safe inside. Thank you Speaker I'll just remind the minister while he was posting pictures of his family skating yesterday on family day there are mothers who cannot see their homes because they are locked out. Congregate care residents have waited for too long with much uncertainty and incredible anguish wondering when they will have meaningful access to their essential caregivers their loved ones. I've heard from mothers that haven't been able to see their child who has a disability and lives in a group home. Sons and daughters that haven't held their elderly parents hand to comfort them in months some people are dying alone denied the love of family and the peaceful passing that we all hope for. Some caregivers have been locked out of their loved ones residence for almost a full year now. Congregate care settings across the problems have vastly different policies some even within the same boundaries. The current government guidance isn't working it's not enforceable. There needs to be legislation. Speaker my question is why won't the premier pass the more than a visitor act today to end this harmful forced isolation and reunite these families? Minister Thanks very much speaker and I hope that everybody did have a happy family day yesterday and I want to thank the member opposite for bringing the legislation forward and I was pleased to see that it did pass second reading and I can assure the member that we're continuing to work with all of our partners in the sector. Keep in mind that we're dealing with very very large homes here some of them have four or five residents some of them have 45 residents Mr. Speaker and there are over 4,000 group homes in the province of Ontario all of them have special treatment some of them have very frail individuals inside some of them don't so speaker we're working with our partners in the sector and I know that when I speak to our partners in the sector they're very appreciative of the resources that we're providing as the government of Ontario and also the guidance to respond to the risk of community transmission presented by COVID-19 by implementing increased precautions when necessary including visitor restrictions in congregate care settings and as I say working with the local public health units the medical officers The next question the member for Scarborough thank you speaker and happy new year speaker my question is to the premier the government is hoarding $4 billion in standard funds with just six weeks left to the fiscal year end last week the FAO economic and budget outlook showed that ballooning contingency funds this close to the end of the fiscal year serves only one purpose and that is to reduce the deficit when it remains unspent speaker through you to the minister with the need to invest in public health staffing for long-term care schools and paid services for people at high risk of COVID-19 in Ontario why is this government continuing to hoard all these funds instead of giving people the support that they need now and still have $4 billion order minister finance president of the treasury well thank you mr speaker and through you to the member opposite you know every quarter this member opposite gets up and says that there's a secret stash of money which the evidence would show otherwise mr speaker we've increased the funding for the people of Ontario by $25 billion over last year mr speaker last Wednesday I got up in front of the press and said $13.3 billion that had been sent inside has been fully allocated mr speaker the premier has been very clear and everyone on this side of the house has been very clear on this side too that we will spend whatever it takes to protect the lives and livelihoods of every Ontarian and we won't stop doing that and that's why we continue to make sure that we allocate and spend the money which every quarter the member opposite sees that that's what we've done thank you mr speaker supplementary question thank you speaker and back to the minister the FAO does not agree and more importantly we don't believe it allocation does not mean spending so if all the contingency funds have been spent and the cupboard as you say is now bare how much of the $2.1 billion announced last week is being spent to increase our lab testing capacity and how many new contact tracers have you hired now with the faster moving variant expected to spread across Ontario we are on a coalition course for a third wave and perhaps a further lockdown COVID-19 community spread is high in places like Scarborough, Mississauga Brampton, Windsor speaker new variants are expected to dominate fast Ontarians are worried that we are no longer in a continuous pandemic that we are in a new virus season will the minister tell us how much of the $2.1 billion is being spent on genomics thank you and the minister of finance to reply thank you Mr. Speaker for that question I think the member opposite just answered the question isn't it the prudent and wise thing to do to set aside some money in the fourth quarter for things like the third wave and let me go to the facts Mr. Speaker because the facts matter the third quarter which we just ended we had set aside some money and you know what happened the second wave and let's take a look at where some of that money was spent $869 million for additional funding for hospitals purchase of PPE $609 million long-term care in our response an additional $398 million and $1.4 billion for small businesses Mr. Speaker who are suffering and struggling through this thank goodness Mr. Speaker we have set aside some money and we spent that money to protect the lives and livelihoods of the people of this province the next question the member for Hamilton Mountain thank you very much Mr. Speaker my question is for the premier last week the Hamilton spectator reported that it's been over two years that any Hamilton long-term care home had a comprehensive inspection this is a massive failure in keeping long-term care residents safe and I saw this failure in my writing of Hamilton Mountain at Graceville and nursing home where poor management led to over 230 cases of COVID-19 and 44 deaths will the premier acknowledge that cancelling quality inspections was a horrible mistake that has only made COVID-19 pandemic worse and led to preventable illness and deaths Mr. long-term care thank you Speaker thank you to the member opposite for the question for Grace Villa everyone at Grace Villa has been in our thoughts we've been very concerned about homes that are affected when we look at the recommendations from the Auditor General's report in 2015 that was because there was 8,000 complaints or incidents that had not been acted upon and that's why the Auditor General provided recommendations in her 2015 report and that's why we take action to not only do regular inspections unannounced regular inspections but we needed to clear 8,000 incident cases and complaints that had not been addressed by the previous government and also supported by your government so it was the former government that promised comprehensive inspections for every home but after 3 years they'd only done 123 homes and 5 years after that they hadn't come the supplementary question this government has been in power for over 2 years and Grace Villa hasn't had any improvements horrific failure to protect these make your comments through the chair this government's horrific failure to protect the residents of long-term care homes is now common knowledge one day before the provincial finally intervened at Grace Villa a provincial inspector went into the home to respond to a complaint somehow the inspector found nothing wrong the very next day the crisis in the home was so bad that Hamilton Health Sciences had to take over workers described it as a war zone yet the province found nothing I was shocked to learn that Grace Villa's last comprehensive inspection was back in 2018 why has the premier allowed his government to give up responsibility and ensure that Ontario's long-term care homes provide safe and high quality care thank you to the member opposite again for the question there is a zero tolerance for non-compliance and that's why we have our long-term care inspectors public health inspectors and that's why our outbreak definition has the lowest threshold one case of a staff member self-isolating at home is the threshold so that we can get public health into our long-term care homes rally the rapid response teams from our hospitals and put every measure in place the speed with which COVID moves is unparalleled it's not even seen before in this country or around the world our inspectors are in contact with the homes on a daily basis and all measures are put in place to support our homes if we look at what has been done to address the long-standing issues of the backlog 8,000 inspections delayed under the previous government next question thank you very much Mr. Speaker it's nice to be back and my question is for the premier Mr. Speaker everyone will remember that one of the first things this government did upon taking office was to eliminate guaranteed paid sick days the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted for all of us just how precarious it is to be an essential worker without the protection of paid sick leave too many Ontarians face the choice between going to work symptomatic or not the choice between losing a paycheck or putting food on their table or a roof over their family's heads since March of last year Mr. Speaker Ontario Liberals have called on the government to bring back guaranteed paid sick leave that they cancelled the government's own medical experts agree that ensuring all Ontarians are protected with paid sick leave is one of the most important measures not currently in place here in Ontario Mr. Speaker when will the government listen to their own medical experts to substitute guaranteed paid sick leave for all Ontarians Mr. Speaker the very first measure that this government took the very first piece of action was a job protected leave for every man and woman who go to work every day in the province of Ontario in fact Mr. Speaker if you're home in self isolation and quarantine if your mom or dad staying home to look after a son or a daughter you can't be fired in Ontario I'm proud to say that we were the first jurisdiction forward such progressive legislation in fact Mr. Speaker we went further we eliminated the need for sick notes here in the province of Ontario and as I said earlier the Premier all the other Premiers and territorial leaders worked with the Prime Minister of Canada to ensure that there was two weeks of paid sick days for workers in this province and for every worker across the country in fact Mr. Speaker over 110,000 workers today in Ontario have either the federal benefit or have applied for it and we're going to continue to work with the federal government to improve the program not duplicated the supplementary question thank you Mr. Speaker my supplement is for the Premier and everyone knows there's a difference between a federal benefit you apply for and have to wait for and continuing to get your paycheck on schedule Mr. Speaker the Conservatives have often enjoyed playing political ping pong with the federal government but it's long past time that they took leadership and showed leadership to Ontarians in this issue Mr. Speaker residents of Ontario are tired of the back and forth whether it's rapid testing or vaccine supply or paid sick days all this government knows how to do is blame and look to the federal government for the answers the government's own medical experts the government's own medical experts agree that guarantee mayors, councils, public health authorities across the province have endorsed the plan for paid sick days here in Ontario will the government show leadership and lead again Mr. Speaker and guarantee ten paid sick days for every Ontario resident today Mr. Speaker our Premier ensured that there were two weeks of paid sick days for every single worker in the province of Ontario and Mr. Speaker to consult and talk to workers right across this province that's why Mr. Speaker when we heard a number of weeks ago that it was taking up to two weeks to get this benefit I worked with my colleague Minister Qualtro the federal minister responsible for this program to her credit they moved Mr. Speaker 80% of payments now are directly deposited into workers bank accounts within three days Mr. Speaker I think that's progress Mr. Speaker it's up to every elected official in the province of Ontario every municipal leader and every federal member to raise awareness of this program it's up to all of us to let every single worker in this province know that there's paid sick leave and paid sick days available to them Thank you very much