 So now we have question period and I recognize the leader of Her Majesty's loyal opposition Thank you. Thank you speaker speaker. My first question this morning is for the Premier Speaker COVID-19 is tearing through our communities at this point almost 750 people are in ICUs literally struggling to breathe on Friday The Premier decided not to take the advice of the medical experts That asked him to deal with this horrifying situation in our province He chose not to Will he instead do that today? Thank you very much speaker. Well, in fact, we have been taking the advice of the medical experts since this pandemic began We have been taking their advice with respect to the need to maintain physical distancing to follow the public health rules The declaration of the state of emergency most recently in the stay-at-home order We also followed the advice that was given to us that we needed to step down on scheduled surgeries Which we did we followed the advice with respect to a rolling out and Redeploying health human resources from one location to another to make sure that in hot spots We had adequate people to care for those in intensive care And we also followed their advice in order to be able to move patients around if necessary from one location to another To deploy all of our health workforce and our health Availability in intensive care and other units across the province. So in that in everything else We have followed the health experts every step along the way during this pandemic Well speaker the Minister of Health knows that that is not the case in fact Members of the science table to a one every single member of the science table Disagrease with the statement that this minister just made Speaker frontline staff are literally were literally sobbing in hallways of hospitals When they saw the Ford government's press conference on Friday Experts have been pleading with this government to protect vulnerable workers The premier instead decided to close playgrounds and give Police sweeping powers that they didn't want and that they won't use Speaker The government's expert advice from the science table has been very very clear Why will the Ford government not take the advice of the experts? Why will they not and will they finally do so today and help save lives of Ontarians? Minister of Health In fact our government has taken the advice of the health science advisory table the public health measures table Dr. Williams our chief medical officer of health the medical health officers in each of the 34 public health unit regions That is why we ended we decided to deploy 25% of all of the vaccines off the top before they're delivered to the 34 public health unit regions in order to Dedicate those extra vaccines to the hotspot areas We know that's where a lot of the transmission is happening and we're very able to do that We will be able to get the numbers more under control to reduce the number of people in ICU to save more lives That is the goal of all of this. That's what we're following That's what will the medical health officers recommended and that's what we're doing The experts were very clear what we need in Ontario to save lives and save the health of our people Paid sick days not carting Essential workers being vaccinated not being stopped for checks Shutting down of workplaces where COVID-19 is spreading Not shutting down playgrounds speaker playgrounds in soccer fields The advice was very very clear. I Think that we need to hear from the premier in this government Exactly whose advice are they taking because they clearly are not taking the advice of the experts Will he finally will this premier finally start listening to those frontline? Healthcare workers and the experts who are pleading with him to do the right thing What the chief medical officer of health has recommended what the science advisory table is recommended is that we need to have enhanced Public health measures because this is spreading within our communities. We need to stop that That's why the recommendation was made with respect to the closure of playgrounds because of close community interaction However, we did hear from people that this was not something they wanted We are listening that is why we made that change But we are still asking people to please follow those public health measures That is how this transmission is happening that is what the medical experts have told us and that is also why we're deploying 25% of the vaccines off the top to go into those health hot spot areas because we know if we can deal With those hot spot areas that is going to be good for the entire province because that will reduce Transmission and make our hospitals be able to cope with the numbers of people that are coming in and reduce the number of people that we have Any funds your units that is all part of the advice that we've received and that is what we are following The next question once again the leader of the opposition speaker speaker my next question is also for the premier Nobody agrees with the premier Nobody agrees with the premier the science table has publicly asked for a correction of course a course correction That's what the science table is saying not what the minister is suggesting The police publicly rebuked this government on the regulation they brought forward on Friday Even the PC caucus seems to be in revolt When it comes to the decisions of their own government is making We need to fix this Scenario the government can do that We need to prioritize the saving of lives the health and well-being of Ontarians the saving of our hospitals and our health care system will the government do the right thing Reverse course and actually implement the measures that the experts have been telling him are necessary to save Ontarians lives Minister of health thank you speaker Well, our government has been following the recommendations made by the medical officer of health the science advisory table and others Our goal is to save the lives of the people of Ontario to protect their health and well-being That is why we've taken the steps that we've had and we will we are Understand that there's a lot of transmission in the community that we need to limit Mobility as much as possible for the next few weeks This is a very very difficult state that we're in we recognize that and we know that we need to back roll out those vaccines As quickly as possible. That's why they're available in vaccination hotspots. They're available in private clinics They're available in pharmacies what we need is a greater supply so that we can get more needles into more arms as fast as possible That is what we're doing We are working with the federal government and we know that we need to move fast on this and to reduce transmission We followed this advice from the chief medical officer of health all along with respect to the science advisory We I know there's an issue with respect to some of the items that they are concerned about I will deal with that my supplemental The very science advisory table that this minister claims that the premier is following the advice I've said we cannot vaccinate ourselves out of this crisis. That's what they said. They said that weeks ago But the government didn't listen doctors including the government's own experts feel betrayed and they feel frightened Dr. Peter uni says this Yesterday which referring to Friday was one of the darkest days in my professional career and also personally. It's just wrong You know, it's just wrong Dr. Ashley chutes said I Quote I feel sick. I actually feel sick if they don't get this now. They're not gonna get it It's been a few hours, but I am still shaking Speaker lives are at stake in our province people are dying of COVID-19 Will the premier finally admit that the measures he announced Friday were the wrong measures and actually take the advice of the experts and implement Measures that will save lives and get us out of this horror show that we're all living Thank you, we have been following the recommendations made by the science advisory table all along I understand that dr. Uni is concerned that not all of the public health regions that they recommended were included in the List that we projected. However, it's really important to understand that that is not the only thing that one needs to look at In identifying the hot spots. We looked at what the recommendations made by the science advisory table But we also need to look at hospitalizations Outbreak data low testing rates and deaths during the second wave of the pandemic We also need to look at some of the socioeconomic Barriers that are preventing people from coming in to receive the vaccines all of those were taken into account in Identifying the hot spots across this province all of those were taken into account with the best interest of the health and well-being Well-being of the people of Ontario we started with that at the beginning of this pandemic It continues to be our main focus respond will be throughout our response to it Speaker lives are at stake lives are being lost people are struggling to breathe in the icu's which are bursting at the seams With COVID-19 patients. Dr. Andrew Morris says this and I quote 18 months ago. We talked about hallway medicine Now we're talking about hallway deaths and Tent deaths We need a government that will listen to science The premier has to start listening to the pleas of the frontline ICU doctors and nurses Not to the anti shut down Anti science wing of the PC caucus will he start doing that? Thank you, Speaker. We have been listening to the recommendations made to us by the Medical experts by the epidemiologists that has been the case every step along the way And what we've been trying to do in addition to reduce transmission is build capacity in our icu's we started that a year ago We've built over 3,400 beds in our system Which is the size of six community hospitals that have started we've added over? 285 intensive care beds what we're doing now is making sure that we can use our entire health capacity To make sure that we can use every single bed that we need to use that is why we're transferring patients If we have to from one location to another as close as possible to their home location That is why we're redeploying staff from all across the province We are working with other provinces to assist some of their assistance as well, and that is why unfortunately we've had to postpone slightly the Scheduled surgeries and procedures so that we will have the people in the hospital to care for the COVID patients Who would otherwise be carried for the surgical patients all of that is on the basis of medical Advice that we're receiving on a daily basis And the next question later the opposition speaker speaker my next question is also to the premier The premier had a whole year to plan to avoid the crisis that we're in and Instead what he's ended up doing now is is having to deal with a scramble a scramble begging Conservative premiers around the province for help that they can't provide Rejecting help from the Red Cross Unbelievably rejecting help from the Red Cross when it was offered last week He is putting petty politics in front of a head of human life, and it's a disgrace There's a nightmare scenario happening right now in ICUs almost 750 patients in ICUs in our province How can the premier possibly? justify rejecting any Offer of help when Ontarians lives are at stake Well, we have taken every step possible and are continuing to do so to build capacity in our health care system and our intensive care system It's one thing to have the beds It's another thing to have the health human resources to be able to operate them in some part We will already have the health human resources because they are already there They would otherwise be dealing with surgical patients. We have to postpone that somewhat We'll get back to that as soon as we can we know we have that internally But we're also looking at Ontario health at the former Linn's We're looking at making sure that we can bring in more students student extern program that we already have We had 900 spots filled as of February We can extend that to 3200 people with pharmacy technicians and other technicians We are building that capacity to be able to deal with this But as a leader of the opposition should probably be aware. This is not just happening in Ontario This is happening across Canada and around the world because of the variants. This is a new Situations dealing with now. They're very very transmissible. That's why it's so important We are asking people to please follow those public health measures. So, thank you final supplementary Speaker the Premier of this province needs to stop the political posturing. He has to stop People are dying of COVID-19 by the thousands Order What we need in our province is paid sick days not carding What we need is giving essential workers the vaccinations that they need Not giving them spot checks on the side of the road What we need is to shut down workplaces where COVID-19 is spreading not shut down playgrounds and soccer fields We have to start putting Human life the Premier needs to start putting human life Above his political pride So my question is Can this Premier actually do that? Mr. Bell Thank you, Speaker while protecting human life has been our primary goal since this entire pandemic began And I can assure the leader of the official opposition through you speaker that that is the Premier's primary goal right now He has been working day and night trying to get assistance for Ontario right now He is working very very hard. He's working with other premiers We're looking at other countries to try and get assistance to make sure that we have how health human resources In part to really the people that we know who are already in the front lines are working day and night to save lives That is leader of the opposition come to order. That is what we're working on And in terms of what we're doing to protect human life We are dedicating 25 of all vaccines that come in to go into those hot spots to go into those factories To go into those workplaces to make sure that we can vaccinate People who are living in some of those hot spots. That is the plan That's what we're going to do and that is what's going to save lives The next question the member for willowdale Thank you very much speaker In the week of April 4th to 10th the data available shows that no fewer Than 39 international flights landed at Pearson international airport with confirmed cases of COVID-19 Honors flights combined more than 450 rows of passengers are considered affected by the confirmed positive cases Speaker depending on the size of these planes We are talking about maybe 1300 to the leader of the opposition will come to us or more The spread of COVID-19 in dangerous dangerous variants of concern is only made worse by cases coming from other countries Speaker will the government call on the federal government to secure our airports as the federal government should have done months and months ago To government Thank you very much. I just want to thank the member for willowdale for that that question. It is Obviously something that that is very serious and certainly impacts Toronto Calgary And Vancouver and Montreal This is really where the variants of concern really started to to come into into these provinces We have been calling on the federal government right from the beginning to secure our airports Look as the member highlighted 27 up to 2700 passengers a week Who could be infected and into our communities right here in the province montere? It's just too much. Mr. Speaker So yes, again, we will be calling on the federal government to do its part to secure Our airports, mr. Speaker so that we can continue to to make progress on on not only attacking but defeating COVID. Thank you Supplementary question Thank you, speaker. The data also shows that no fewer than 14 domestic flights landed at Pearson with confirmed cases of COVID-19 On these flights combined more than 80 rows of passengers are considered effective by positive cases Speaker depending on the size of these planes. We're talking about maybe 200 to 250 passengers or more The spread of COVID-19 in dangerous dangerous variants of concern is only made worse By the fact that this virus is coming in from other provinces Speaker will the government call on the federal government to secure our airports as the federal government should have done long ago Yeah, thank you very much, mr. Speaker and the member is quite correct It is also domestic flights because as you know Many of the international flights then result in domestic flights across across the country and that is why Ontario is working with both manitoba and kebek to ensure that we can secure our borders But ultimately mr. Speaker we need the federal government to take a more active role We have been calling on them for months when we started hearing about the variants of concern Whether it was from brazil whether it was from the uk We had called on the federal government order some leadership at our airports, mr. Speaker It was this premier in this government that had it had to institute Testing at at the airports, mr. Speaker We had to lead the way with in terms of isolation, but ultimately mr. Speaker whether it's international flights or domestic flights We need the federal government to start showing some leadership help us by securing those international airports, mr. Speaker So that we can see respond as we said up to 2700 people Just on international flights enough to 500 domestic than mr. Speaker. It's a big number. We need to get under control The next question a member for scarborough southwest, thank you speaker mr. Speaker We have over 4447 new cases as of today scarborough has an average of 24 percent once again positivity rates With neighborhoods where there are almost a thousand cases per hundred thousand people Mr. Speaker, I really hope the speaker is listening Because frankly these days I feel like he's not listening to me or the people of this province Or his caucus members So today I and I know that many ontarians are listening to us as we speak in this house So I hope he understands the reality that we're facing in this province And the outcry That's there in this province right now We are on the international news or on cnn bbc and people are talking about us like they were talking about it last year Speaker last week 10,000 of our vaccine appointments were cancelled and two clinics closed Yesterday I heard that two more days were cancelled in scarborough And I know the minister will blame the federal government and I know they have their procurement failures But I'm asking the minister because they have a responsibility of the disaster we have in ontario because they failed to protect our essential workers and distribute vaccines Equitably some asking mr. Mr. Speaker. Why is this government still not providing scarborough and The minister of health to apply Thank you to the member for the question Of course, we have been listening every step of the long way That is why 15 neighborhoods in scarborough have been identified as hot spots And as you probably heard in my response to previous question The 25 percent of all vaccines that we receive are now going to be designated to hot spots That means that some areas where they have low rates of transmission will be receiving fewer vaccines But that means places like scarborough that has 15 areas that are in hot spots will be receiving more vaccines We understand that there are high rates in scarborough. That is why we're making this change so that there will be additional vaccines Coming to scarborough making sure that your constituents and all the people in scarborough will be protected The supplementary question Thank you speaker and I want to thank the minister for her answer There are 15 areas identified and I have personally identified locations in my area For for the mobile clinic speaker and I'm going to reach out to the minister's office directly Because we don't have a single mobile clinic in scarborough yet And we are We have 24 positivity rate and essential workers racialized community members who still cannot get their vaccines and senior speaker People who are still waiting but then from phase one And if you're listening to experts listening to ontarians, well, let me tell you this doctors have repeatedly Told us that scarborough is on fire with cobit 19 Our hospitals are on the brink with icu's full and these patients who are critically ill with cobit are essential workers The most vulnerable people the science table has made it very clear that we need to prioritize our hardest hit hardest hit regions That we need to do we need decisive actions Around workplace safety protect our essential workers instead on friday this government chose a police state over public health Chose regulations that are barely harm low income and racialized people like those in my community. Mr. Speaker I want to quote dr. Shale rowell who very beautifully said they looked at us in the eye and said your labor is essential But your lives are not so mr. Speaker. My question is why is this government refusing to listen to experts and provide Thank you Thank you speaker and I would say to the member through you mr. Speaker that what she's suggesting Is absolutely not the case you've already heard the indication that recognizing that there are 15 hot spot areas within scarborough Scarborough with receiving additional vaccines with respect to where people can receive the vaccines I can advise that there are 51 pharmacies In scarborough that we are providing vaccines six mass immunization clinics and four primary care locations Which are going to be expanding of course as we receive more doses of the vaccine But no one in scarborough is being forgotten everyone who wants to receive a vaccine will get one And we are going to prioritize people in their workplaces to make sure that they can be able to come in And get the vaccines. This is an area you are in a hot spot. There's no question about that We've recognized that we're providing more vaccines And we're going to make sure we have more mobile units go in to help make sure the people in the workplaces can receive them response The next question the member for scarborough gildewood. Thank you speaker My question is to the premier this weekend. I spoke to many people in scarborough who had their vaccination appointments canceled There were no alternatives offered. It's been over a week. No mobile clinics coming to support these people Scarborough has been devastated by the cancellation of over 10,000 vaccination appointments at the centennial college shn clinic All of scarborough is a hot spot. Not just the 15 postal codes 24 positivity rate in the highest region last friday We were looking for a vaccination plan from this government to address our community Instead scarborough and the province were left with something that really looks like police surveillance and a government mandated carding The only announcement addressing vaccination gap in scarborough was a vague promise of 25% More vaccines allotted to hot spots Speaker the people of this province deserve more scarborough residents deserve specifics So will the government tell us how many vaccines will the premier deliver to the sh Scarborough health network this week to get all sites in scarborough vaccinating people today Minister of health Thank you speaker I can advise the member opposite that all of the hot spots that have been identified to date and others as they come forward Will be provided Their share of the 25% of vaccines off the top Before the next allocation is given to the public health unit that they would normally receive Equitably as with the other 34 public health unit regions But as far as the closure of the clinics in scarborough is concerned I think it's important to remind the member opposite that the public health units themselves are responsible For receiving the distribution of vaccines and making sure that they're allocated to all of the distribution spots Where the vaccines are going to be administered in the case of the scarborough health network as with others It's important to remember that the Toronto public health has a system so that when they receive the vaccines they are allocated And each vaccination site is Advised how much they are getting and when they will be receiving another allocation However, there is a plan that is being delivered in accordance with the plan. All of the public health units are very well Thank you Speaker back to the premier, it is your government's responsibility The modeling tells us that hot spots are vaccinating at 5% lower than non-hot spots That's wrong and that has to be corrected quickly Speaker this government's enforcement of measures are offensive And a road public trust in government's ability to manage this crisis right after the premier's announcement Police services made statements against implementing random checks including Toronto and peel These powers have the greatest impact on black indigenous brown and other people of color Who feel targeted by these measures? They know what it's like to be carted and stopped without cause BIPOC make up a large amount of essential workers leaving their homes this morning to get to the front lines Speaker the premier needs to support these workers and not find them. Will the premier do the right thing? For essential workers giving them paid sick leave paid vaccination Thank you The government house leader replied Thank you very much. Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the question as the honorable member is fully aware that the first federal budget in two years Will be presented today and it is our complete expectation that the federal government will move to supplement the canadian Sick benefit program as you know, there is a significant surplus in the Ontario count and we expect that that Those changes will include a vaccination day Paid vaccination day for essential workers and that it will include An elimination of the gap between when a worker Can apply and receives that benefit so we're anxiously waiting but we do expect that to be in the in the federal government's budget today and and and We look forward to the support of all members of the house for that measure in the in the federal budget Here's the next question the member for willowdale Thank you. Speaker. I want to talk about the data from last week april 11th to 17th It's not all in yet, but it shows that at least 16 international flights landed at pierson airport with confirmed cases of covid 19 On these flights combined more than 120 rows of passengers are considered affected by confirmed positive cases Speaker depending on the size of the planes. We're talking about maybe 350 to 700 passengers or more The spread of covid 19 and dangerous dangerous variants of concerns is only made worse by cases coming in from other countries Speaker Will our government call on the federal government to secure our airports as the federal government should have done many months ago Coming on Peter Again, thank you. I don't remember for the question I know how important it is not only to he and and in his community. Look recognizing the fact that Toronto peal New York region Are three of the most hardest-hit regions having been in lockdown since since november, mr. Speaker the member is quite correct international flights and and in in many cases domestic flights have been a serious Cause for spread community spread, mr. Speaker the premier was well ahead of this and it wasn't just our premier It was premiers in in some of the larger cities Where we're now seeing a third wave impact most significantly We're all calling on the federal government to take control of our borders to institute testing at the borders to To provide isolation centers at the borders It was the premiers of these provinces that had to take steps in abs in the absence of federal Leadership on this but we can still this federal government can still do the right thing Take control of the of our international borders so that we can control these variants of concern, mr. Speaker There is still time to do this and when you see the numbers each and every week The threat is is is continuous and we need to take action right away So I call on the federal government to do that the supplementary question Well, thank you speaker and i'm glad the government house leader brings up domestic flights because the data available also shows that Four domestic flights landed at Pearson with confirmed cases of covet 19 That's combined on these planes speaker 20 rows of passengers that are considered affected by confirmed positive cases and depending on the size of the planes we're talking about maybe 600 60 to 120 passengers speaker The spread of covet 19 and these variants of concern are only made worse by cases coming in from other provinces Speaker will the government call on the federal government secure our airports as they should have done a long time ago Government house leader Yes, again, mr. Speaker It is it is very important and it cannot be understated how important it is and while we appreciate the assistance of the federal government on issues where where we can work cooperatively We are pleading with the federal government to do its part to secure our international borders Mr. Speaker when you see what is happening at our at our airports the the member was very correct in highlighting the data We're talking thousands of people who are coming through our borders In possibly infected hundreds of of ontario residents putting more stress on our health care system, mr. Speaker We need the federal government to move quickly to do this We have been calling on this for months before the variants of concern started Having such an impact on the province of ontario. We beg them to do this mr. Speaker. There is still time They can still institute a better Testing at our airports. They can bring the airports down. They can close those international airports And when you see the impact of also having on domestic flights, mr. Speaker Now is the time for the federal government to work with us to secure our international borders so that we can defeat covid 19 once and for all Next question the member for brampton center Thank you, speaker Speaker doctors have been warning that our icus were in crisis and that in communities like brampton Essential workers and their entire families were getting sicker much faster But on friday as hospitals and icus were on the verge of bursting and as case counts and outbreaks were at all time highs And as thousands of doctors and nurses were struggling to keep people alive Dr. Williams this government's top covid advisor Disrugged his shoulders and said that there was nothing that could be done Speaker there was a lot that could have been done This government could have implemented paid sick days to help save lives They could have provided vaccinations in hotspot communities But they failed to do that to say that there was nothing more that could have been done is just horrifying And it shows that this government just simply doesn't care speaker My question to the minister of health Will she denounced dr. Williams's heartless comments and finally take some responsibility for this crisis that her and this government are responsible for Thank you speaker and I would say to the honorable member through you mr. Speaker that Dr. Williams has done an incredible job for this province over the course of this pandemic He has provided invaluable advice to us as a government along with the public health measures table The science advisory table and numerous others We are indebted to him for the work he has done any suggestion that he made that he couldn't have done anything about it I'm sure was with respect to the fact that these variants of concern are so much more transmissible Relate to so many more hospitalizations So many more people in acute to care in icu's and unfortunately many more deaths including young people Dr. Williams is dedicated to preserving the lives and safety of the people of Ontario As is our government and we are taking every step possible to make sure that we can do that Thank you Speaker Doctors don't feel like this government is doing everything that it possibly can and I'll quote some of these leading experts From dr. Michael warner quote. I do feel defeated. I'm kind of past anger and on to defeat and quote From dr. Brooke phallus a critical care doctor at brampton civic hospital It just felt like today was sending a whole lot of people to their death When they didn't have to end quote Speaker through you again to the minister of health These are the words of doctors nurses and science table advisors Yet the government keeps pretending that there's nothing more that they could have done Speaker how many more people need to die in this province before this government is going to step up with a plan And help us get through this third wave and help us save lives in the province of Ontario How many more people need to die before they will take action speaker Thank you, speaker in fact our government does have a plan that has been informed by medical experts in the covid 19 vaccine distribution task force The goal of all of us, which i'm sure is of yours as well is to save lives protect people make sure that they're going to be safe That's why our vaccine rollout order to start with age Risk and the hot spots. That's why we have ordered 25 percent of the vaccines off the top to those hot spots making sure That those people living in those areas can be protected receive the vaccine Which will be number for brampton centre come to order across the entire province That's why we've had to postpone some of the scheduled surgeries That's why we're rolling out more people to help with deployment of forces from different areas That's why we're having to transfer patients in some cases to make sure that we can use our entire health system Every single part of it in every part of this province to save lives. That's the goal. That's the plan. That's what we're doing Thank you the next question the member for guelph Speaker my question is for the premier On february 11th the chair of your science advisory table predicted a disaster if the government eased restrictions The government did indeed ease restrictions against the public advice of many public health care officials and scientists And the disaster is here but instead of paid sick days And safe workplaces the premier on friday closed playgrounds and enhanced police powers Public health officials were shocked and angry and yet the government today keeps saying they are following The advice of scientists and public health officials So speaker Will the premier commit today to sharing the scientific data and public health data table advice That led to his decision to close playgrounds and institute carding instead of focusing on making workplaces safe And helping essential workers stay safe in the workplace Minister of health Thank you speaker and thank you to the member for the question and I can certainly advise that All of the information that was provided to us by the science advisory table has been provided to you and provided to the people of ontario Dr. Brown has been very outstanding in providing public health measures the advice of the science advisory table What is being what is happening across in ontario and what we've seen in the last month or so is an incredible rise in the number of cases due to the variance of concern We anticipated that based on what they told us and we have been building up building up our hospital Capacity building up our health human resources Trying to build up our vaccine supply and we are working with the federal government But several of the order have been delayed notwithstanding that we are working very hard to get as many needles Into as many arms as possible in order to stop the transmission and protect the people of ontario The supplementary question speaker I ask that question because public trust Is vital to combating this pandemic? And how can we build public trust? When so many public health officials doctors nurses and scientists and other experts Are essentially saying that the government is not following their advice My gosh, even one of their own caucus members remember from scarborough center put out a letter Asking for the data their own caucus member So speaker, how can we expect the public to be on our side? If we're not going to be open and honest with them Dr. Unie talked about friday being the darkest day of his career And so speaker i'm i'm asking i'm actually through you pleading Will the government please? Release the data Be transparent Be have the information accessible to the people of ontario So we can indeed all be together and have the information we need to make the right public health minister of health Thank you speaker. I can understand the concern you're expressing To i would say to the honorable member, but this information has been released This information is released by dr. Brown on a regular basis. I know that dr. Unie works with them dr. sander works with him There's a number of public health doctors epidemiologists that are working on this Trying to give us an indication of where we are going with this which has been Exacerbated times 10 by the variance of concern. We knew this was coming That's why we've been taking steps in order to deal with it both in terms of blunting transmission But also by building hospital capacity We are working on both of those aspects right now to make sure that we can take care of the people who are coming into the hospital With covet 19 and to do whatever we can to blunt that transmission because it's happening in the community Now with respect to the playgrounds, we heard what people said We understand from many very important for children to be able to get out to get some physical exercise It's good for their physical and mental health. We understand that But we are still asking people to please continue to follow those public health measures Thank you very much. Thank you The next question Thank you very much speaker last week maderna announced that they were cutting one of canada's vaccine shipments in half We were supposed to receive 1.2 million doses, but now we will receive just 600 000 In ontario speaker covet 19 case numbers continue to rise and the vaccines are desperately needed and they just aren't here Today, mr. Speaker, we were supposed to receive 448 000 doses of maderna, but i'm sad to say that they have not arrived Speaker Will the government tell this house? My question is for the government house leader. Where are the vaccines? And when will we get them? Again, I want to thank you gentlemen For the questions an important question, especially in light of the fact that his community, uh, toronto Peel in york are three of the communities that have been have been under lockdown since really since since november Obviously, we are anticipating a significant Delivery of of maderna vaccines. It's not the first time that this has happened But yet again, we've been disappointed this is a I believe the third time this has happened And really this has happened in february march and now into april Vaccines that we were promised have not been delivered which has caused us to modify The the public health safety measures that we have to To do to keep our province safe mr. Speaker So we really are we really need to have a proper information from the federal government With respect to the supply of vaccines when they're coming what we can expect mr. Speaker It has become increasingly more difficult for us to defeat covet without the vaccines that we've needed Hearing from members across the aisle and from members in our own in our own writings when clinics have Have to be cancelled or delayed because of the lack of vaccines, mr. Speaker It is a problem that the federal government needs to address immediately Thank you, speaker. This just it's not acceptable I mean south of the border in the united states and around the world Jurisdictions are able to procure vaccines and that's just not happening here in canada unfortunately and Speaker appointments are no good if you don't have vaccines to fill them We are 500,000 doses behind and that is just in the last week Speaker my question again through you to the government house leader will ontario Call on the federal government to get their act together and get ontario the vaccine doses that we desperately need Again, yes, again, and I sense that I do feel the members frustration I really do I know how hard he has worked for his community I know how how difficult this challenge has been for the city of toronto and for other regions that have been in lockdown in the province for so long I know that he's frustrated when he hears The impact that our international airports have had on his community with respect to the thousands of people The variants of concern that have been brought into the country from other jurisdictions without a federal partner willing to take action for us But ultimately mr. Speaker in february in march and in april We continue to see massive delays in vaccine distribution not only to the province of ontario but across the Across the country mr. Speaker and we need desperately to have a partner in ottawa who give us a secure supply of vaccines so that we can continue with our mass vaccination clinics across the Across the province so that we can go into these essential workplaces so that we can continue these vaccinations for Hard to hit communities mr. Speaker, but we can't do it without vaccines So we need the federal government to step up to the plate and provide that's order shipment of vaccines. Thank you Next question member for toronto danford Thank you speaker speaker my question for the premier Despite calls from public health experts saying that the only way to stop the pandemic from getting worse Was to immediately bring in paid sick days Pay time off to get vaccinated and ensuring that people could stay home When they can stay safe where they can afford to stay safe The premier decided he apparently knows much better His big brain solution give the police power to stop and find anyone outside of the house That's right speaker Not only do frontline essential workers have no choice, but to keep going into work even if they're sick The premier thought it would be a good idea to make sure that they could get stopped and find on their way to work to My question speaker through you to the premier on what planet did you think this was going to help anybody? Thank you You know, it is critical for all enterians to respect the stay at home order and stop the spread of kovat 19 and the very very Transmissible variants although the mass majority of enterians have respected public health measures put in place Certain individuals continue to put others at risk by gathering with those outside of their household Our priority has always been to address and discourage gatherings and crowds that violate the stay at home order And have the potential to further spread kovat 19 That is why we provided police with the additional temporary authority to enforce the stay at home order by putting a stop to gatherings and crowds Thank you Supplementary question Speaker Minutes after the premier rolled out his half baked plan to try and arrest his way out of the pandemic Police forces all across the province started to push back Saying they wouldn't enforce the rules and they didn't want the increased powers Mayors and councils warned that the premier's plan was only going to hurt frontline workers And communities that have already been hardest hit by the crisis Lawyers and civil rights groups warned that criminalizing people for being outside Was going to create more problems for everyone Speaker my question again to the premier through you the cops the municipalities the legal community Literally everyone thought it was a bad idea. Why did you think you knew better? I invite the member to make his comments through the chair. I'll allow the solicitor general to reply Thank you speaker, you know, it's been pretty clear that the public health guidance remains for people to stay at home We have refocused ontario reg 8-21 enforcement of kovat 19 measures And it clearly states if a police officer or other provincial offenses officer has reason to suspect that you are participating in an organized public event Or social gathering they may require you to provide information to ensure you are complying with the restrictions This is all about limiting mobility to keep people safe and make sure that the kovat variants don't go rapidly through our communities Thank you, speaker Thank you the next question the member for dawn valley west very much mr. Speaker my My questions for the premier speaker. We know that this has been a dark year for everyone in the country for some It's been darker than others But people in ontario have needed government more than at any time in most of our lives Quick and difficult decisions have been required as circumstances have changed by definition in these circumstances Mr. Speaker we could expect some mistakes to be made But mr. Speaker we should also expect that this government would learn from mistakes Time and time again epidemiologists ico doctors and nurses Education workers on the front line women working in child care and groceries and in factories have called for protective measures And time and time again this government has either ignored the calls first paid sick leave for example Or they've been dragged in the case of making educators in hot spots a priority for vaccination So mr. Speaker then we had friday's announcement saturday's reversal an announcement of half measures and a reversal of only the most ineffective Probably unconstitutional of those measures speaker to the premier clearly the decision making process has broken down What is the premier going to do to ensure that the confusion and anger of this past weekend does not happen again? What will he change? Government house leader group thank you very much mr. Speaker I do appreciate the answer from or the question from the the member opposite Look mr. Speaker these have been very difficult times. This is a pandemic that nobody was expecting Mr. Speaker, but we have been working full on to ensure that the people of the province of ontario are safe Mr. Speaker that includes Increased capacity in our icu that includes increased capacity in our in our hospitals that includes Record numbers of new builds for our long-term care homes mr. Speaker We are fighting back right now with respect to the vaccines that we do have going into the communities The hotspot communities vaccinating Essential workers mr. Speaker we are doing all that we can working with our partners municipally working with the federal government When we can mr. Speaker to ensure that people are safe mr. Speaker But ultimately ultimately it comes down to the same thing We need people to stay home when they can mr. Speaker We need to reduce mobility because the variants of response Concern are out of control and until we get control of those international borders This will not stop until we get more vaccines. This will not stop mr. Speaker, but we are in control and we are doing all That we can thank you So mr. Speaker the point that I was making in my first question Was that in fact to that list of things that you have done? And I know you are all working hard and I know you've had a really bad weekend So I have some empathy for that. I really do and that's a personal comment. I absolutely do But mr. Speaker What has been done is not working and the decision-making process is not working So even if the premier institutes a cabinet shuffle Something has to change different voices need to be heated not just heard Teachers education workers and child care workers for example need to be vaccinated We know it's critical that we get our kids back into school Would it not make sense for example to use this time when school buildings are largely empty to make all those workers Who have contact with kids child care workers? All our education workers a priority and ensure that they're all vaccinated before they go back into those buildings Not just in hot spots, but across the province Can the premier tell all of us? What is his plan for getting the vaccine into the arms of all the people who work with our children? And how is the decision-making process going to change? Goverment I see Speaker I have said on a number of occasions that this government has been focused on Repairing 15 years worth of damage that was left behind by the previous liberal government I said in an answer last week that it has been more difficult To face the challenges of COVID-19 because of the lack of investment that was made by the previous liberal government Left us with the lowest The lowest ICU member for don valley west will come to order government host leader, please They have lashed us with the lowest ICU capacity per capita in north america, mr. Speaker this particular member while premier built a lousy 400 long term care beds. That's it. Mr. Speaker 400 long term care beds Is her record at this opposite of what have we done? We poured billions of dollars into health care, mr. Speaker to recoup because they did not we put more money into bill ICU capacity more money into critical care capacity more money into long-term care capacity, mr Speaker, we are doing the job that she is premier failed to do for the next question the member for london west Thank you, speaker. My question is to the premier speaker on friday the premier told ontarians that everything is on the field now Ontarians might reasonably have expected that everything would include paid sick days as dr Brown had recommended just a few hours earlier They might have expected the premier to announce my stay home if you are sick act So that workers essential workers wouldn't have to make the impossible choice about Going to work sick or paying the rent speaker public health experts are angry and in despair They know that things will keep getting worse if this government fails to act to reduce workplace spread Speaker when will this government give Ontario workers the paid sick days that they and we So desperately need Well, thank you very much and the member opposite knows that the very first measure our government took decisive action to Bring in job protected leave if any worker needs to be in self-isolation and quarantine if they need time off to get a vaccination They can't be fired for that Furthermore, mr. Speaker. We continued since day one to advocate on behalf of workers to the federal government There's now 20 paid sick days available to workers in Ontario They can apply at canada.ca forward slash COVID-19 in fact, mr. Speaker well over 300 000 workers Have either received this benefit or are receiving it today, but as a member opposite knows We've been raising issues to the federal government. There will be a federal budget this afternoon We want to see improvements to the paid sick day program The supplementary question Speaker unpaid leave does nothing to help workers pay the bills The government's own science table stated that the federal program is not good enough They said that without a provincial paid sick days program things will keep getting worse speaker a retroactive federal program That requires workers to go online to apply to wait days sometimes a week or more without pay And then that doesn't even come close to replacing their salary while they stay home Is not going to keep anyone safe, which is why Ontario workers aren't applying Workers need help today. They needed it last year when the premier first rejected the inadequate federal program So again to the premier When will this government pass my bill and stop forcing ontarians to put their lives at risk? Mr. Labour mr. Speaker we're going to continue to Ensure that the health and safety of workers is protected. In fact, mr. Speaker our government has invested more than 51 billion dollars providing additional investment into the health care system billions of dollars to help Individuals and families and businesses to get through this pandemic Mr. Speaker is because of the advocacy of this premier that we have 20 paid sick days here in Ontario For all workers and the member opposite knows more than 300 000 workers Have either received the benefit through the federal program or are receiving it as we speak furthermore 2.3 million workers in this province have paid sick days through their employers All the provinces mr. Speaker ensured that there was a job protected leave. That's what we've done But we've gone further. We've advocated to the federal government to improve the program The federal budget's at four o'clock today. We'll see what improvements they bring forward The next question the member for Ottawa said very much speaker my question is for the premier The premier's announcement on friday evoked a lot of emotions Mostly people are losing hope Announcing that playgrounds would be shuttered And police would conduct street checks Was met without rage the people rose up and said not every child has a backyard they can play in and the police said It's a pandemic and we're here to help people not to hinder them And for a year now Reasonable people have been calling on the premier to reinstate paid sick days because they save lives Everyone knows there's a gap and the premier kid hide behind the csrb because last june We wouldn't have had that program if the premier had had his way Ontario's need a premier that's going to fill that gap That he created in june in 2018 when he took paid sick days away So the premier do the right thing today and re-institute paid sick days in ontario To apply minister labor, mr. Speaker the member opposite knows That the very first measure our government took was to bring in job protected leave for every worker In fact, we were the first jurisdiction in the country to do that if you're a worker in self-isolation in quarantine If your mom or a dad that can't stay home and look after a son or a daughter because of the disruptions To the school system. You can't be fired for that furthermore. Mr. Speaker We were the first jurisdiction to bring in job protected leave for vaccinations So workers are protected so they can go and get vaccinated But mr. Speaker the member opposite has a responsibility to the people of ontario to let them know That there's four weeks of paid sick days through the federal government Which is the same for all workers across the entire country All workers need to go to canada.ca Forward slash cova 19 to ensure that they receive the benefit and mr. Speaker response 300 000 workers in ontario Have either received this benefit or are receiving it today The supplementary question Speaker the minister knows there's a gap So I want you to think about this imagine. You're a low wage worker Maybe you work two jobs you work in a warehouse You've got three kids and your wife and your mother-in-law at home and they depend on you For rent and food and maybe medication and you have no benefits. You wake up sick one morning You're not feeling well, but you're not sure So do you stay home? Or do you do what you need to do to make sure your family can survive and we know firsthand that Too many people are going to work in that situation The gap exists The federal program doesn't cover you if you're off for a couple of days. It doesn't come on your paycheck What we're asking for is for the premier to stand behind essential workers He's not doing that. He's not filling that gap And last june if he had his way We wouldn't have had the csrb So stop saying that's the solution because you know, what's not you need to do something so Speaker through you Well the premier commit To debating this thursday MPP cotos bill 247 on paid sick days And pass it here in this legislature and I'll remind members to make their comments through the chair government house To the bill mr. Speaker, I know that's in front of the legislature. I believe thursday and and we will see but look it was this Premier who negotiated a comprehensive return to work protocol, which included sick days, mr. Speaker at the same time I note that it was the Former ndp member of provincial parliament and now the leader of the federal ndp who claimed credit that this is a benefit That would cover all entero workers and frankly it has but it needs to be improved We have said that right from the beginning. So there is a first federal budget today in two years It should include Payment for those who want to get vaccinated essential workers who need to get vaccinated And it should include the include the elimination of the waiting period Given that there is such surplus in the ontario account I hope the member opposite will join with us in ensuring that that is in there And I hope the ndp will ensure that if it's not in there that their leader will do the right thing and vote against a Federal budget that does not include these members. I anxiously await Commentary from the member opposite if those measures aren't in there, but we fully expect that those Will be there which includes filling the gap mr. Speaker That concludes our question period for this morning. I beg to