 Thank you and good morning all. It's time for question period. The member for Nippon Nippon call to the Minister of Energy Minister. Good morning. On Monday you released a 33 to 50% rate hike on Ontario families and small businesses. When I asked you two days ago what that impact would have from the gas plant scandal in Mississauga and Oakville you said it hadn't been included yet. Then after the question period you had to retract that statement and correct your record what is clear is that this government doesn't know what its energy policy actually means to the people across this province. That's why earlier today I put forward a substantial motion asking your government to go back one year to provide us all documents with respect to the gas plant cancellation and its impact on the rate payer base as it is seen on the energy plan. Question is simple will you cooperate with the committee to ensure those documents are in our hands within six weeks from today. Minister of Energy. Mr. Speaker the member for Nippon Carlton is on another wish hunt. W.I.S.H. Mr. Speaker. She's wishing that her imaginations come true. The information was provided in committee and provided to the auditor general was quite clear and she chooses to misconstrue it. Now misconstrue is not unparliamentmentary Mr. Speaker because I actually looked it up in the dictionary. Terrific. And the word misconstrue means to fail to understand the true or actual meaning. And there are a number of synonyms. The other synonyms are to misapprehend. Wow. To misconstrue. Yes. To misinterpret. Right. To misknow. Wow. To misperceive. Wow. To misread. Interesting. To mis or a mistake. I would choose the word mistake because. Good choice. The chair of the OPA was at committee and he prepared showed the calculations. Said it over. And they actually amount to one to two dollars per year over 20 years Mr. Speaker. She doesn't want to admit it. She chooses to misconstrue it. And she wants to obfuscate the truth. Why is the minister to withdraw. Obfuscate the truth. Yeah I withdraw. Thank you. Speaker is very clear that the minister still doesn't understand the implications of his long term energy act and its cost on the rape base in this province. He doesn't seem to understand that it is a job killer. He doesn't understand that he actually has to respond to this assembly and that is why we put forward a very sensible substantive motion to prove to the rape payers of Ontario that that government stole one billion. Would ask the member to withdraw. With drawn. Minister. Sometimes the best defense is a good offense Mr. Speaker. And we're seeing a tremendous offense here from the critic. What she's trying to not talk about is a comment of her leader from a couple of days ago. That was interesting. When the leader of the opposition was asked if he could promise lower electricity rates he said the answer is no on that. Oh so I would like to know what your policy is. He's very very clearly on the record. And Mr. Speaker in the next supplementary I'm going to provide some other useful information for the public. Oh thank you. Thank you. Listen the problem is credibility. There's a massive gap between this minister. What he says. An actual fact. He's the only minister of energy in the province's history who has said. Top the clock. All of you are making it most difficult. I have to hear the question and I will try to hear the answer. And we're not doing very good for a Thursday question. It is very hard to try and speak over the callers of the Liberal Party because of their credibility the credibility that they have lost. They have mismanaged 1.1 billion dollars of people's money in this province. They chose to sit out. I would ask you to withdraw again. Miss May withdraw. Minister you don't know your next six weeks. The minister of environment is this quiet enough. Minister. Mr. Speaker let's look at some facts. According to the National Energy Board. Stop the clock. I can stand here all morning. Minister. Mr. Speaker according to the National Energy Board. These are the price increases that are projected over the next 20 years for five of the larger provinces. These are 20 year projections Alberta 3.7% per year BC 3.0% per year. That's 60% over 20 years. 60% over 20 years. Our long term energy over 20 years projects the cost increases to be 2.8% Mr. Speaker. We're better than all of those other provinces for the next 20 years Mr. Speaker. Acting Premier. Acting Premier it seems your government is particularly good at writing press releases but very lacking in following through on what they promise. When you proclaim quote thousands of jobs coming to Northern Ontario from press release issued on May 9th 2012 with regard to the Ring of Fire your government failed to deliver. It's clear now that there was no concrete plan to back up this empty promise. Only weeks ago you rushed to announce that a development corporation had been established. I don't disagree with the concept although you've been talking about the Ring of Fire for years and thrown speeches budgets and economic updates. So acting Premier if you're really serious about creating jobs shouldn't your government have created this development corporation four years ago. Mr. Speaker I appreciate the question because it speaks about something critical to the province of Ontario and for that matter to all of Canada. The Ring of Fire and the development of the Chromite deposits is critical to the livelihood of every Canadian not just Ontarians and we have taken actions that we have put forward the development corporation as well as put forward a number of stakeholders partnering with the First Nations community as well as the Métis Nation to ensure that we have access to these Chromite deposits. A number of proponents are interested and will continue to work with them. On board to make this happen Mr. Speaker. It's one of the reasons the Premier is now in Ottawa. Thank you. Supplementary. Well so far you've failed miserably on the Ring of Fire. Acting Premier your lack of answers on the development corporation is troubling it so it does appear to be yet another empty press release. And before you go looking for money from the federal government don't you think you should have a plan of your own? A transportation link for the Ring of Fire is critical to the success of the project and for the First Nations communities in the area. So now that Tliff's has pulled the plug on the Ring of Fire are you talking with other miners in the region including Norrott who has their proposed east-west connection. So Mr. Speaker as noted the province of Ontario has been taking leadership on the issues around developing the Ring of Fire for some years now. We've recognized the importance of this development for all of Canada and we make we must make note the member opposite feels it's not necessary to engage the federal government on this critically important issue. It should they should be at the table from the start and they have not. In fact I find it I find that it's all but passing. Strange infrastructure projects on a national level are made in British Columbia. They're made in the Northwest transmission line of British Columbia. They're made in the lower Churchill hydroelectric plant in Labrador. They're made in Alberta and they haven't been made in Ontario. It is critical that we get all ores of government on board. Ontario has been the only level of government that's taken that leadership. We will continue to do so and it's why Mr. Speaker so many other proponents are still interested in making that development happen. I didn't say you should engage the federal government. I said you should have a plan before you engage. You know the premier is in Ottawa today meeting with the prime minister and we know you like to blame the federal government for your failures but is your government that is sending all the wrong signals. Mining companies are suing your government in fact one is currently in court for over $100 billion for not fulfilling your duties. Acting premier thousands of potential jobs are at stake. We have cleared the ducks here in this legislature. You've had plenty of time to work on this. When are you going to get your act together and show us your jobs plan for the ring of fire. W premier Mr. Speaker they have cleared the deck. They completely cleared themselves of any plan whatsoever. In fact over the course of what they discussed has been a very regressive. I say to the member with progressive nature of the Conservative Party on that side of the house you have not put forward a positive plan to support jobs in our province. We will continue to invest in the skills of our people to promote the ring of fire. We'll continue to invest in infrastructure project to enable projects like the ring of fire to come to fruition. We're investing while you're suggesting we should make cuts all across the board. In fact Mr. Speaker we know when we speak to other stakeholders and so forth they make note of the fact that Ontario is an attractive place to invest because of the investments that we're making in our future and because of the way we're stimulating economic growth and attracting that investment to Ontario including the ring of fire. Thank you new question. The leader of the third party. Thank you Speaker my question is for the acting premier. People in Ontario haven't seen a raise in years but electricity bills are going up by 40 percent to pay for growing private power deals. People are telling us that they think the premier just doesn't get it. Can the acting premier explain to people why the Liberal government is more interested in their own political power than in getting power bills under control. Oh Mr. Speaker the province is it's necessary to invest in transmission it's necessary to invest in our electricity integrity and it's something that has been neglected and wasn't neglected for many years. Fortunately our government has now built well over 20 new power plants in this province. We will continue to invest in infrastructure to support that integrity in our electricity system to maintain our competitiveness in future and that requires a mix of all products. And Mr. Speaker the member opposite makes claims about the pricing that's exactly why we need to have a long-term solution provided by the Minister of Energy to support that competitiveness in the future which is now as competitive as any of the great lake states and other provinces in this province. Thank you supplementary. Well Speaker liberal power schemes have padded the profit margins of private interests and left people and businesses in this province with the bill. $150 million that people are paying to US hedge funds for the Mississauga gas plant cancellation or the hundreds of millions wasted on the Oakville gas plant. The fact is the private power interests are watching the checks roll in while people are worried about the bills rolling in. Can the acting premier explain why the liberal government doesn't seem to care that people are worried about making ends meet? Mr. Speaker we've taken a number of steps to support consumers by providing the clean energy benefit. We've taken steps to provide clean energy in this province. As a result the member opposite has yet to show us their plan. In fact they have denied any support for nuclear. They're opposed to refurbishing a 50% of our base supply as it stands now. They haven't supported the green energy initiatives to provide for another 30,000 more jobs not to mention cleaner energy and they have yet to decide how it is they want to promote and provide for that integrity because we need to invest in infrastructure and distribution and they have also opposed those initiatives. Mr. Speaker those are critical for our long-term competitiveness and to ensure that both consumers and industry have reliability of power in our province. The minister of energy said it's just a fact of life that the bills keep going up. The fact of life is that people can't afford the bills that keep going up. They're feeling squeezed and no matter what they do the bills keep getting bigger Does the Liberal government not get how important this is to the people or do they simply not care? So Mr. Speaker the the NDP are supporting and promoting the elimination of private investment in our province and that's essential for Ontario and for our competitiveness and that would create thousands of jobs. They want instead to create an energy super bureaucracy. That doesn't encourage investment in Ontario and in fact it's Ontario's hybrid system a mix of both publicly owned and private investments that help drive our economy create tens of thousands of jobs for Ontarians and we must always consider the implications of creating jobs in our province and that's what this is about and maintaining competitiveness and reliability is essential not for just consumers but for industry and in fact quote here from the Canadian Automotive Partnership Council the highest priority for large industrial consumers is access to reliable electricity infrastructure something Ontario didn't have during the brownout era of Mike Harris as well. Thank you Mr. Speaker New question for the acting Premier Speaker Every time the Liberals had a chance to get the hydro bills under control they chose to help out private power companies instead. The Premier couldn't explain why she signed an arbitration agreement that the Auditor General said gave the upper hand to TransCanada. When the Premier had a chance to get a better deal for Ontarians she chose to be a good Liberal and not rock the boat. Does the Liberal government even care that the Premier helped TransCanada get the upper hand over Ontario families? Mr. Speaker we have three priorities and are equal priorities in managing the energy system one is reliability two is clean three is affordable we spent 31 billion dollars over 10 years making it reliable from deficit to surplus and making it clean from dirty coal to clean energy Mr. Speaker there are pressures on prices as a result of that 31 billion dollars of investment but what we have done to transition Mr. Speaker is create some support for the people of Ontario by creating the Ontario clean energy benefit 10% discount the Ontario energy and property tax credit saving qualifying individuals up to 963 dollars per year with a maximum of a thousand dollars per year for qualifying seniors the Northern Ontario energy credit Mr. Speaker the low-income energy assistance program save on energy home assistance program that party voted for some of these for the people of Ontario Mr. Speaker they should be ashamed of themselves thank you supplementary you know talking points simply don't help people pay the bills with this government instead of asking whether there's a business case for nuclear refurbishments that's worth millions and millions of dollars billions in fact the government instead has a long-term energy plan that makes it clear that they're blindly charging ahead no matter what the cost is going to be does the acting premier even care is even interested in how much this is going to cost Ontarians minister mr. Speaker i answered this question yesterday to her critic she wants us to tell the public what it's going to cost for the first stage the member for oxford come forward entered into the procurement we're going to tell all the bidders what our estimate of the cost is will totally destroy the competition on the member who's gray one song comes to order the question is premised on an irresponsible idea to tell the world what the cost is going to be before the report of procurement won't do it we won't do it that way thank you thank you final supplementary speaker the liberal power plan should be called the liberal political power plan when the liberals realize that they could get a good deal on the oakville plant but it would have to be in the news or they could spend hundreds of millions more and get it done on the qt what did they choose they chose the expensive route that helped them politically when the premier wants to make a splashy announcements to help their friends in private nuclear who just happened to throw a hundred thousand dollar fundraiser for them all of a sudden ontario is plunging into a nuclear refurbishment without even knowing what the final price tag is going to be will the acting premier admit that the long-term energy plan is in fact just a liberal political power plan mr speaker refurbishment is going to generate 25 000 jobs both from bruce which is a private company and from opg which is a public company we have a hybrid system that works extremely well but the reality is mr speaker the ndp want to create an energy super bureaucracy instead of encouraging competitive investment in the economy in ontario the fact is that ontario has a hybrid system a mix of both publicly owned generation and private investments that drive our economy does the leader of the third party know the job structure creation structure from refurbishment no as i asked you on the thunderbay question do you have any evidence you don't have any evidence you don't have any research to back up your questions please come forward with a plan tell us what your answer is remember for your simcoe north north yeah thank you very much mr speaker and i'm my question is for my my colleague the minister of training college at the universities minister you have said over and over again that a major part of the job of the interior college of trades is consumer protection if that is so can you explain to me why college of trades enforcement cops would be investigating and complaint on who is responsible to unload pipe off a truck at a construction site minister of training college at the universities mr speaker i appreciate the question from the member opposite and i also understand the fact that look he never supported the college of trades when we brought it in and i expect that it's going to be hard to convince him to support it now but mr speaker every time an enforcement officer goes out there to ensure that our tradespeople's professions are being respected preserved from that underground economy we can have this member coming at us every single time mr speaker we know that you don't support consumer protection of the college of trades is bringing to ensure that consumers when they hire somebody to do a job that requires skilled trades mr speaker know that that person's qualified we know that you don't support the skilled trades sector taking a self-governance approach and governing themselves for some reason you don't think skilled tradespeople are as qualified as other of the 44 regulatory bodies across the province so mr speaker we know where the member is coming from we know at every turn he's going to try to to discredit the college of trades mr speaker they're doing a good job they're out there during the job they're supposed to be doing to ensure that we have a very good trade sector to ensure that consumers thank you well that that was quite an answer uh so minister i have a letter here from liona local 1089 to bob anichuk director of regulation enforcement in which he explains that two interior college of trades enforcement officials have nothing better to do than investigate a complaint by ua local 663 about liona and i quote on whose job it is to unload pipe on the construction site is this for real are we kidding here every day another horror story comes to my office about the interior college of trades this nonsense does not protect the public or protect the trades in any way shape or form it is simply mr speaker a waste of taxpayers money and the membership money is nothing but a bloody tax graph how long are you going to stand by and put up with this nonsense it is out of control and a moratorium should be should be placed on further action until after we abolish it when you have the courage to call an election the minister of trading colleges and university my question is how long is the member going to rail against an organization that's cracking down on the underground economy how long is the member mr speaker going to rail against an organization that's reduced ratios between apprentices and journey persons mr speaker by 14 when his government when they were empowered did zero reductions in ratios they're proving their worth mr speaker how long is this member going to rail against the fact that skilled trade workers mr speaker in this sector have the right the opportunity in the wisdom to govern themselves a heck of a lot better than that sector was governed when his party was in power mr speaker this party continues to attack organized labor we see it in their right to work uh approach mr speaker we're going to reduce wages for everyday ordinary skills people and all ontarians mr speaker and union jobs we take a different approach mr speaker and we're going to continue to rebuild our economy we're continuing to support support skilled trade workers and we're continuing to support mr speaker unionized workers that are working really hard to build that strong economy the member for nick abel thank you mr speaker my question is for the minister of finance 2011 the minister of health asked the ministry of finance to conduct a forensic audit at orange we know that this audit found serious financial irregularity and significant discrepancy in terms of dr mazer reported in actual pay the minister of health decided not to read the report did the minister of finance take the time to read the forensic audit of orange minister so mr speaker it's uh it's critical that um and and i applaud the minister of health for taking the initiative to to order this forensic audit the moment she was aware of some of uh the discussions that were occurring she immediately did so she brought for the forensic audit finance went in there as well as some of the officials to do the controls and found some of these and that was sent to the opp and those initiatives are underway and we will certainly make every effort to provide as much information as possible to the opp to enable them with that investigation to go forward and that is what has been taken place mr speaker thank you supplementary i'll take it that means that he did not read the report yet he is responsible for managing the financial affair of our province the minister is also responsible for the sunshine list and his ministry's audit found that dr's mazer's salary was actually three times higher than what was reported on the sunshine list the serious financial irregularity at orange continued to astound us all and it cast a doubt on the integrity of all financial disclosures can the minister tell us why like his minister of health he did not want to know just how much money dr mazer was making why he was not interested in learning from the financial wrongdoing of orange and why he is not interested in making sure that it never happens again minister of finance so mr speaker that's that's the farthest thing from the truth the moment we found out what was happening at orange the moment those eight that agency went rogue in effect we went in we clapped down we took corrective action we the minister of health completely removed the board we removed mr maza dr maza from his role and we provide a proper oversight and subsequently to that we've actually implemented greater measures of transparency and accountability and oversight on all agencies mr speaker and will continue to do that we must make clear that the issue before us was unique and and and his actions uh is the reasons why the OPP and the police are investigating mr speaker so we will continue to be as i open and as transparent and provide the proper oversight on all broader public sector to ensure these initiatives and these issues never happen again thank you the member for scarborough gildwood thank you speaker my question is to the minister of training colleges and universities as a former university of toronto scarborough campus student and a proud representative of scarborough gildwood a riding that neighbors on the utsc campus i know that flat tuition fees are a huge issue for students and i've heard about this from many of my constituents i also know speaker from personal experience not every student takes a full course load many take fewer courses to account for a part-time job or other personal circumstances and yet many students across the province taking as little as two-thirds of a course load are currently charged the same tuition as a student taking a full course load speaker this is an issue that student leaders have been raising for some time and is an essential issue of fairness for our students and their families we must do everything we can to make post-secondary education more accessible and affordable speaker through you to the minister what is the government doing about this ongoing issue of flat tuition fees thank you to minister training colleges and universities i want to thank the member for her question but most of all for her inspired choice of schools i'm a utsc grad myself i agree that that fairness for students should be top priority for this government i've often said and we've often said mr speaker that we must see our post-secondary system through the eyes of our students that's exactly why mr speaker we announced today that we're we're moving forward with our commitment to tackle flat fees for undergraduate students this new policy will ensure university students across the province taking less than an 80 percent course load will be charged on a per credit basis this will be fairer to students that for whatever personal reason choose to take less than 80 percent of a course load but are charged for that full course load at the same time universities that adopted a flat fee approach will need some time to adjust because there's a revenue impact for them so we're going to give them about three years to face the answer mr speaker i want to thank the student leaders that are here today i want to thank student leaders that have brought this issue to our attention we're pleased to respond on their behalf supplementary thank you speaker and thank you to the minister it's important to hear that this government is taking the initiative to tackle flat fee tuition billing in ontario this will make a difference in the lives of students in my riding and help make post-secondary education more affordable making it possible for more young people to pursue post-secondary goals like the students here from my riding and from west hill collegiate but speaker flat fees are not the only issue facing our post-secondary students when they pay their tuition fees each year many students are relying on financial assistance and they face the deferrals or late charges when their tuition fees are due prior to receiving their osa funding speaker this just isn't fair to those students receiving financial assistance students are being hit with late charges when they have no control on when there are received can the minister outline any actions he plans to take to address this unfairness minister speaker i'm pleased to report that we announced early today as well that we're removing the unnecessary this unnecessary burden to students across the province in fact we're making significant improvements to the process in which students pay for their tuition our new policies will ensure that all students will be able to pay tuition in per term installments without paying deferral fees or interest charges tuition deposits will be capped and applied against tuition fees not on top of fees owed students tuition fees will will not be due before the beginning of august and students receiving financial aid and this is one of the important pieces students receiving financial financial aid will not be charged late fees and will not be expected to pay tuition until their osap assistance arrives mr speaker we've listened carefully to students and again i want to acknowledge the voice that we've heard of our student leaders that are here across the province we've heard their voices we've continued to respond to their concerns and mr speaker we're very very pleased and we should be proud of the input that they've had in public policy thank you the member for president hasty thank you very much speaker my questions for the energy minister this morning the monthly hydro bill at sigma stretch film in bellville in january of 2011 that's about two and a half years ago was 143 thousand dollars today the monthly hydro bill is 325 thousand dollars it's a company that employs 123 people in my riding by the time minister your 42 percent raise increase kicks in the monthly hydro bill at sigma is going to be 461 thousand dollars a month that's an increase all thanks to the liberal energy plan last month your government gave sigma 237 thousand dollar grant which will cover about half a month's hydro bill by 2017 minister the management at sigma admits it's less expensive to do business in new jersey than it is in ontario when is your government going to stop picking the pocket of ontario businesses admit that you've screwed up our electricity system so badly that we can't recover mr minister mr speaker i'd like to deal with some facts ontario's industrial rates compare favorably with other jurisdictions the member for the autumnal and quinty west your war is claimed mr speaker industrial rates in northern ontario among the lowest in canada and lower than 44 american states industrial rates in southern ontario are lower than in alberta michigan new jersey and california new jersey mentioned new jersey and in line with states like new york virginia and tennessee and mr remember her storm on the last of legendary your war as an example for an industrial consumer with a demand of five megawatts per month our 2010 ltp long-term energy plan had projected that in 2014 they would be paying 109 dollars per megawatt hour under this current plan mr speaker the third pay 87 dollars per megawatt hour in 2014 that is a significant reduction mr speaker they don't know the facts they don't know the final they are spinning the public and these are the true facts these are the independent third parties supplementary minister the liberal wind turbines continue to spin but nobody in ontario was buying that liberal spin you climbed up on your high horse you told the ontario people that it was their responsibility to understand why your government has turned the lowest hydro rates in north america into the highest in all of north america for months hydro one and i've written you a letter on this has been forcing upper canada minerals that's an employer of almost 30 people in the maydock and vancroft area and center and north hastings to use what they call minister dirty power made up of your intermittent power sources your wind and solar it's causing fluctuations in their power rates and it's doing damage to their very expensive equipment and slowing down productivity the problem is occurring at upper canada minerals show that your rhetoric about improving the hydro grid is nothing but a liberal illusion minister after driving up rates and now having problems with the grid when are you going to finally admit that you failed why don't you stand up today and resign the minister of environment and the minister and the member for rent for nipas and pembro come to order and when i stand you're supposed to stay quiet the member from north america and quinty west and the member for storm and dundas out glen gary maybe because of the noise you haven't heard me you've both been warned minister mr speaker i really want to refer this to the minister of economic development and change thank you and i appreciate the referral mr speaker i can't believe what i'm hearing from the member from prince edward hastens who knows the last month i had the proud opportunity to visit sigma scratch films announcing a new investment from the eastern ontario development because he was at the company with me for the announcement mr speaker and in fact it wasn't the first investment it was the second investment that this government has made and i can tell you that among manufacturers in the in the in the province that i visited this is one of the most successful promising companies and he doesn't have to take my word for it he simply needs to talk to the member for prince edward hasten he likes the question they've gone from a company in just about 10 years from eight employees up to now i think they're about 120 answer it's a beautiful example of advanced manufacturing i don't know where he gets his information but he's definitely not talking to the same company that i visited just a few weeks ago the minister of rural affairs i've asked you to come to order more than once the member for timis james me my question is to the minister of energy list minister across northern ontario people are hopping mad in regards to what they're going to see their hydro bills increased by with the announcement you made on monday in your long-term energy plan it is not good news for citizens to hear that their hydro rates over the next three years are going to go up by 33 percent and we're getting a lot of response i've got this particular person andrea heward from north bay writes i am a homeowner i work full-time and i'm disabled electricity is very important in my day-to-day living i have an electric wheelchair that has to be plugged in on a daily and nightly basis so i can go out to work the next day without having to worry about the battery i'm paying 3600 dollars a year in hydro minimum and i only make 32 000 dollars a year which means i'm paying more than 10 percent of my annual household income in hydro she can't have question your hydro bill minister and you're raising the rates how do you see that as being fair to mrs heward in north bay minister of energy as i said earlier mr speaker we have made very significant investments in the system in order to be reliable uh and it would have been a bit of a pressure on rates as a result of that pressure we took some transitional steps mr speaker that includes the ontario clean energy benefit that would take 10 percent off the bottom line on the bill the ontario energy and property tax credit good says qualifying individuals up to 963 dollars per year probably applies to that person with a maximum of 1097 per year for qualifying seniors the northern ontario energy credit saves families up to 210 dollars per year and individuals up to 137 dollars per year in addition we have the low income energy assistance program and the save on energy home assistance program these are cumulative mr speaker that particular answer electricity consumer can access all of these programs and i assume he'll will be applied most of them will help her if she needs supplementary well minister i think this consumer knows very well how to apply and that's including that that she's having to pay a high her hydro bill i have another email here from donald bates from thunder bay who says i've been living at my current address in thunder bay ontario for the past 10 years i have over past 10 years purchased new appliance all of which are energy efficient i have installed energy efficient lights each year my energy consumption has been going down however for years now i've been pre i've been preached by government to conserve yet the more i conserve the more i pay so i see you again minister people across the north are hopping mad that they're no matter what they do no matter how they try to prepare themselves no matter how much they try to conserve their hydro rates have gone up and now they're going to go up another 33 percent how do you square that off as being fair for people that need hydro on a day-to-day basis for the life minister the announcement of the long-term energy plan several days ago provided the opportunity for a lot of people to express their opinions on the plan and one of the questions that was asked of both the leader of the third party and the leader of the opposition was could you promise to lower electricity rates and the answer from both of them was no mr. speaker so i'd like to know what the plan is mr. speaker they had no plan the reality is that when you compare the rates uh for a 20 year period that have been been revealed by the national energy board alberta's 20 year projection is 3.7 percent british columbia 3.0 percent that's 60 over the 20 years mr. speaker ontario's under this long-term energy plan over 20 years is a 2.8 percent average increase that's an improvement and sir from 2010 mr. speaker it's programs plus we have all those other support programs for members of the public thank you mr. speaker thank you the member for etobicoke north mr. president thank you i have a question to the minister of education the quality publicly funded education including so many of ontario's teachers who are here with us today it was reassuring to witness earlier this week the passage of bill 122 the school board's collective bargaining act which passed second reading after 14 hours of debate speaker is one of the earliest educational philosophers Plato said rather a long time ago one of the measures of a society is the care it devotes to its youth in that spirit speaker the win government has worked tirelessly and perseveringly to rebuild our commitment and relationships with our partners in the education communities we all aspire to move forward with a common purpose to improve student achievement and ultimately build a more prosperous and just society speaker can the minister please inform this question what are the next steps for moving this important piece of legislation through the parliamentary process the minister of education yes thank you speaker and thank you to the member from etobicoke north for raising this important question and i too was extremely pleased to have bill 122 the school board's collective bargaining act passed second reading this week this is an important step forward and how we work with our partners in education some of whom are joining us here today and i know many of my colleagues MPPs will be meeting with representatives from the ontario secondary school teacher federation today to talk about how we can all work together to build on the progress we have made in student achievement over the past 10 years part of this is ensuring that we provide the education sector with a clear process with defined roles for the parties as we approach the next round sir the next step is to send the bill 122 to committee for public hearings and clause by clause examination and then hopefully back to the legislature for third reading and i look forward to support from members so we can get this important new collective bargaining scheme in place thank you thank you speaker first of all on behalf of all the students and parents of my own writing of etobicoke north i'd like to commend the minister for stewardship of this important file in face-to-face meetings today we'll hear from our partners in the education communities not only about bill 122 but of course other ideas measures and initiatives to strengthen education in ontario speaker our government remains focused as the minister has declared repeatedly on student achievement ontario has already recognized around the world as having one of the best publicly funded education systems in the english speaking world yet as always speaker there is more work to be done we continue to strive for the best for our students speaker would the minister please inform this chamber what are the next measures she will adopt to further fortify education in ontario minister thank you very much speaker and speaker today is an excellent opportunity to hear directly from our partners at ostf about their vision of for the future of our education system here in ontario i've had the pleasure over this last few months of traveling all around the province to hear directly from ontarians about what they think the future of education looks like to them education workers from all over the province have been part of that have been very active participants in the consultation and they've been very in-person they've provided digital and written in feedback what we've heard is that we need to broaden our approach our understanding of what does student success mean and we need to provide engaging learning opportunities that develop the skills needed to answer contribute to the 21st century economy and society we look forward to releasing this new vision earlier in the new year but as the member said we have a lot to be proud of in creating with our partners a great education system now we need the opportunity thank you excellent system need member for fridt wellington thank you speaker my question is for the acting premier speaker the liberal government made a short sighted decision to close the slots at the fort ear erase track and of course we know this decision was enabled by the ndp when they abstained from the vote on the two half of the 12 budget speaker the fort ear erase track has put together a festival plan like the government's transition panel told them to the festival will celebrate the chinese new year the year of the horse they submitted their plan to the premier the olg and the media last week minister this proposal is is time sensitive if you don't want to answer them will you tell us today what your plan is minister of rural affairs mr. speaker of rural affairs well thanks very much mr. speaker and i appreciate the question from the member for perth wellington and of course as you know our government put together a five-year plan in place 400 million dollars under the direction of three former very distinguished cabinet ministers in the province of ontario the honorable john snowblood the honorable elbert Buchanan and the honorable john welkinson so we depended on their good guidance and i fear for the opposition there's a five-point plan the three-point plan and their half-baked but we have a five-year plan 400 million dollars and mr. speaker let me tell you what we're doing for fort erie i'm encouraging that fort erie is continued discussions to develop a festival type race vote assistance is available to track operators to develop plans that include new ideas new partnerships and new sources of revenue i understand that fort erie live racing consortium has indicated that they'll be applying for funding assistance from the ministry of agriculture food to hire an outside consultant to help them develop a solid race plan speaker obviously nothing is the answer that's the answer minister your horse your plan for horse racing has destroyed this proud industry he had hurt families at a time when they can least afford it they're short on time they need an answer by the second week of january to coincide with the chinese new year we have a plan to save the horse racing industry including the fort erie racetrack it's a plan that will strengthen partnerships and create jobs rather than destroy communities absolute minister what action will you take to save the fort erie racetrack well thanks very much mr. speaker to paraphrase a former prime minister of canada don drubin if necessary but not necessarily don drubin so when you look at the drubin report the drubin report said the sar's program was not accountable not transparent and poor public policy mr. speaker don't take my word for it take the word of a former calling of theirs the honorable john snowblatt who said the sar program wasn't accountable not transparent poor public policy need to be replaced we've replaced that mr. speaker with a five-year four hundred million dollar program and i take no lessons from the opposition with their half bank plan the leader of the third party thank you speaker my question is for the acting premier this government has left the for the horse racing industry and fort erie in critical condition it left it with only one option to stay alive after it cancelled its main revenue source through the slots at racetrack program cancellation that option was to come up with a plan for a seasonal festival well the four-tiered racetrack has actually submitted a detailed year of the horse festival plan to the government they need to know however by the end of the year if they're going to get funding so that they can actually get go ahead with the planning of this festival my question is a simple one speaker when will the government respond to this proposal thank you the acting premier minister of rural affairs mr. speaker well thanks very much mr. speaker so excited to answer that question i got up a little early before my colleague the minister of finance but i just responded to the member from berth wellington we are in the process right now we're encouraging the wonderful people of ford erie in their discussions to develop a festival tripe racing beat assistance is available to track operators to develop plans that include new ideas new partnerships and new sources of revenue i understand that the ford erie live racing consortium as indicated will be applied for funding assistance for the minister of agriculture food to hire an outside consultant to help them develop a solid plan mr. speaker but i want to know from the third party why did they stall the appointment of the honorable albergue canum a former very distinguished agriculture minister from 1990 to 1995 a great advocate a member of the ndp with great distinction and when they got his appointment for the committee they turned him down through under the bus mr. speaker thank you supplementary well speaker my question is not about well connected insiders it's about the people of ford erie and their speciality in the short term for the long-term viability of the racetrack uh future is in fact there's lots at racetrack program being reinstated obviously that's something that uh they're not interested in doing but the ford erie track urgently needs an answer on this proposal speaker the year of the horse in the chinese calendar starts in late january with the chinese new year will this government announce its support for this proposal by the end of this month so that they can actually get to planning of the year of the horse festival meet at the ford erie horse racetrack minister well mr. speaker i find it rather unusual that anybody in the third party will insult a former distinguished member of this parliament the honorable albubu cannon a gentleman who was considered one of the finest agricultural ministers in the province of itarial when they took the opportunity they threw up under the bus shame shame shame but let me tell you what we're doing for ford erie mr. speaker we're working with the ford erie live racing commission we've asked them to submit a plan we were providing them for financial support and to get that plan in and you know when you talk about contradictions with the ntp why did they accept 18 500 from bruce power and what are their fundraising events thank you new question do you remember mr. speaker my question is for the attorney general mr. speaker through through you to the stop the clock the member from ottawa leaves thank you again speaker mr. speaker through you to the attorney general i know that our government's decision in 2003 to regulate the paralegals has been extremely successful i'm pleased to know that nearly 5000 paralegals are licensed and insured in ontario providing consumers throughout the province with more choice and improved access to justice i know that ontario is the only jurisdiction in canada that regulates paralegals mr. speaker could the attorney general please tell us about the changes to the regulation of the paralegal industry specifically the amendments to the rules of the small claims court minister of the attorney general well thank you very much your speaker and first of all i'd like to congratulate the members advocacy on behalf of the paralegals in ontario speaker he's quite correct that our government's commitment to strengthen the paralegal profession has been ongoing since 2003 as a matter of fact as he mentioned there are 5000 paralegals in the province now and when the program first started in 2003 there were only 2200 and the reason for that is is that people need a legal representation before administrative tribunals and before those bodies that paralegals can can appear in front of and that's why it's so important to pass the new law that we're bringing forward in a bill that's currently before the house that would amend the law society act to increase the number of licensed paralegals on the board of governors of the law society namely convocation from two to five to give a greater representation it would also have meant the solicitors act speaker to confirm that licensed paralegals can represent a person in a legal proceeding and receive payment for these services and i'll continue with this in my supplementary supplementary thank you speaker i thank the attorney general for that answer i'm happy to hear of our government's commitment to improving access to justice through the good work of paralegals i know these changes have taken place through extensive consultations but are also a demonstration of our government's taking action on recommendations that have been made and set out by the law society of upper canada mr speaker in addition to the great work that has been done with amending rules of the small claims court could the attorney general please comment on the work that has been done by our government to recognize the importance of paralegals in the court system attorney general well the rule changes that have taken place within the small claims court make it easier and more convenient for people to both submit claims as well as defenses to claim that may have been issued against them speaker it's an online service that's available to everyone including obviously paralegals but speaker what is truly truly important is that this bill gets passed by december the 31st of this year which is less than a month away right now and the reason for that is is that there's an election cycle for both benches and paralegal benches that will take place in march of next year that election cycle only takes place every four years and if we don't take the opportunity and i know all the members in the house agree on this bill so why don't we get on with it pass the bill so that the elections can take place and the paralegals will not will not will not have to wait another four years before the representation will increase from two to five as the people of Ontario have a right and proper legal representation whether it's through paralegals or through lawyers access to justice is the main issue facing the justices thank you today speaker new question my question to the deputy minister minister esprit is a medication used for the treatment of mild to moderate forms of idiopathic pulmonary five roses deputy minister's ipf it was approved by the ministry of health in ottawa in 2012 based on scientific evidence and yet these studies concluded that 30 000 canadian citizens are suffering with ipf and the canadian pulmonary foundation estimates that 5 000 patients in otario or in canada will die this year patients like byron miles from northumberland and barb skinner from wellington halton hills virginia curry from my riding of durham you dexler from pure on bruce your government and the ministry of health have let these families down and left them suffering with ipf minister governments in europe and the u k public fund access to aspirate to improve their lives minister the eap process is not working will you help or look into relieving the patients that are suffering with ipf in an otario just just just look you said you asked the question to deputy minister i want to make sure it's a deputy premier deputy yeah i think we understood mr speaker i recognize that ontarians want to have access to new and effective drug therapies as quickly as possible our ontario drug program offers as you may know more than 3 800 drugs now new drugs approved by the use of health canada our first reviewed by the canadian drug expert committee with regards to aspirate the canadian drug expert committee recommended that experts should not be funded because of inconsistent results it is then up to each province to decide whether they want to fund the drug as the members now asking we've established a process for approving drugs an expert advisory committee that makes a recommendation based on the best available evidence all brand name drugs that come forward for review are now also considered through the pan canadian pricing alliance given the concerns raised by the drug expert committee participating provinces and territories have decided not to engage in negotiations through the pan canadian process at this time supplementary i don't thank you for the answer because i don't think you're actually listening these are families that are suffering with ipf and you're not listening your eap process does not work no a medical specialist in tron or dr binny from tron strongly states that aspirate should be publicly funded in ontario as it is in other jurisdictions why are you denying the patients in ontario access to a drug that is strongly recommended by experts your process is nothing but a block to access to health care in ontario and i'm asking you today to look at those studies and fund this for the people of ontario well thank you mr speaker and uh it's critical to to appreciate the concerns that we all in this house share for families and those that are suffering it is why we want to make sure that the proper drugs are being administered and are being approved by the experts who are providing it and mr speaker to the members question i am told that the ministry of health is gladly and appropriately reviewing any new evidence that may make that that's available to manufacturing this said drug for submission so we are taking the actions and the proper steps necessary to protect those families ensure that everyone receives the proper care at the right time thank you mr speaker the member of park deal i park thank you mr speaker my question is to the minister responsible for women's issues every six days a woman in canada is murdered by her current or former partner ontario shelters like cornerstone are turning away more and more women and children every year because of lack of funding in the first five months of this year alone at cornerstone a record number of 72 abused women have been turned away to potentially lethal results so my question also is about toronto's victim services the only agency that provides immediate assistance to domestic violence victims their funding per victim has dropped from 286 dollars in 1990 to 31 dollars in 2010 today in acknowledging the 24th anniversary of the montreal massacre this government will voice its concern but how many more women have to die before this government acts minister thank you very much speaker and i know that the member opposite brings up a very important issue and one that's important to all of that all of us in this house not only to myself as the minister and to our government as well i will be rising later this afternoon in recognition of december 6 on the national day of remembrance where we remember that day and what it means to us we know that domestic violence is a serious issue and we've done quite a bit on this side of that house speaker over the last number of years we introduced the domestic violence action plan we've trained more than 28 000 front line workers and in fact there are thousands that go through our shelter system every year do we need to do more i think we can all agree speaker that we do this is a very critical issue one that we all think is a priority one that we will continue to work on thank you thank you the time for question period has expired there being no deferred votes this house stands adjourned until 1 p.m