 It is now time for question period the member from Whitby, Oshawa Premier approximately 350,000 people over the age of 65 are currently receiving home care services in Ontario, which of course keeps them out of Hospital health care providers stakeholders and most importantly patients and their families however have told you that our home care system is broken as It stands home care services in Ontario are inadequate and inconsistent at best and with an aging Population and your fiscal mismanagement Nobody believes that the system will be equipped to handle future needs Service quality and accessibility continues to deteriorate Premier how much longer do seniors and their families have to wait for you to make the necessary changes to our home care system? Thank you very much mr. Speaker and I know that the Minister of Health and long-term care is going to want to comment on specifics But I want to just say to the the member opposite as I have said many times in this house We are in a transition period There's no doubt about that that the the way home the way health care has been delivered in the past in the face of An aging demographic and different demands from people in terms of the kind of care They want and where they want it there have to be changes made mr. Speaker and one of the reasons that we put money in last year's budget mr. Speaker to increase the Wages of personal support work number from Prince Edward Hastings come to work exactly the reason that the member opposite is talking about We need a more stable sector We need that part of the health care workforce to have more reliable income mr. Speaker answer Enough hours and enough stability in their job to be able to do the job mr. Speaker I will note that the member opposite never supported any of those initiatives mr. Speaker The fact of the matter is our population is aging rapidly and your lead expert gail Donner the former dean of nursing at the University of Toronto said in her recent report bringing home bringing care home and I quote Everyone is frustrated with a system that fails to meet the needs of clients and families No one thinks the status quo is an option Primera this frustration is being felt by the 75 year old that cannot get a personal support worker following a hip replacement This frustration is felt by a daughter trying to get physiotherapy for her father who recently suffered a stroke And this frustration is being felt by the thousands of people who cannot get home care services Then that they need because of your inaction and the web of bureaucracy that your government has created Premier why do you continue to fail these families? One of the reasons that we put money into the budget last year to increase personal support worker salaries One of the reasons that we put two hundred and seventy million dollars more The budget for home care is because we know that we're in a transition and we need to make those changes So we will continue to make changes I would note mr. Speaker that the member opposite who is in the middle of a leadership race has said that she will cut a Billion dollars out of the budget Healthcare costs would have to go down mr. Speaker, so I just think that the member opposite needs to needs to recognize She can't have it both ways I would appreciate the quiet when a question is put and the quiet when an answer is put Am I am I still I just I just wanted to say you can't have it both ways mr. Speak you can't on the one hand say there needs to be more change and more investment than the other hand say You're going to make a tax that'll take a billion dollars out of the system The member from simple north will come to order the member from Bruce Graham and sound will come to order Final supplementary. Well. Thank you mr. Speaker. I would appreciate that the premier would stop trying to put words in my mouth And I never said however the premier's own expert panel has highlighted that the two biggest issues with our home care Order our excessive bureaucracy and a lack of accountability for system outcomes. Remember. This is nothing new You've heard this for years and years from experts from stakeholders and most importantly from patients and their families Yet you continue to ignore the obvious Remember the pts caucus is so far given you two ideas that you could put into a responsible budget our third ask deputy House leader will you follow the recommendations of the donor report which you have endorsed? Will you make the functional changes to our system that we need to improve patient care? And will you tie funding to the community care access centers? We can have improved outcomes and patient results Thank you Mr. Health long-term care Beaker and mr. Speaker we are doing all of those things. We are increasing our investments to home and community care $270 million this year Approximately the same amount next year in addition and the third year as well That's precisely why we had gale donner and a team of experts come together and they presented their report to me at The end of January we have endorsed their recommendations I have endorsed their recommendations on behalf of the government and indicated that it will guide our decisions moving forward And I'm working hard with the ministry right now as we speak to actually put the changes in place Which will further strengthen the home and community care that we provide to all Ontarians including our seniors But we've done many other things in the past several years. We've increased our investments in physiotherapy We're 200,000 more seniors are getting physiotherapy or exercise services. We're increasing investments through a whole variety of Thank you to actually make sure that seniors Two weeks ago minister I raised the issue of debt at the Ontario electricity financing corporation The OEFC has 27 billion dollars in outstanding debt largely paid for By hydro one revenue revenue that will be lost if you sell hydro one But minister there's a larger problem here than just a loss of revenue The entire value of hydro one is already mortgaged to the OEFC All 16 billion dollars of hydro ones value has already been claimed by the OEFC to pay down its debt That's why the law requires that all sale proceeds from any share of hydro one must go to pay down the electricity debt So minister, how can you sell any part of hydro one given that it is already full of Mr. Speaker The reason that Ontarians are still paying for stranded debt is because of the mess that the pc government Minister and mr. Speaker we've been very open and transparent about getting it reduced I've been reducing the stranded debt I'm prepared to get my exercise Minister of Aboriginal Affairs Please finish And mr. Speaker as a result of the work that Ontarians have been doing and getting it reduced And as we have said and as we have outlined every year in our fall economic statement and in our budget We've detailed how that's being done and we have committed by the end of this year to remove the residual stranded debt fees Paid by residential by the end of this year and so we continue. Thank you, mr. Speaker Well again the minister of energy or whatever minister wants to start telling the truth over there The member will withdraw With drums that minister of energy minister when you sell your house and it's mortgage to the bank You can't pocket the sale price Pay off the mortgage if you did that you'd be charged with fraud Any profit from a sale of hydro one has already been That profit is owed to the Ontario electricity financial corporation hydro ones banker Minister your government keeps talking about unlocking the value of government assets Will you finally admit that all of the value of tourism in hydro one? The biggest asset you plan on putting on the auction block is completely mortgaged already to the oefc It's already spoken for a minute member from eggington lords minister The leftover of ontario hydro is oefc and what did the pcs leave oefc debt? And that's all that's been left over As a result we've been taking steps to remove that debt from the rate payer And in fact the approach has been working last year was about 1.5 billion dollars in further reduction of stranded debt This is a tenth consecutive year that strand that has been reduced communitively by carry on please And then and over the last number of years it's gone down by 10.8 billion But mr. Speaker the reason stranded debt even gotten up in the residual portion of stranded debt went up is because they Themselves artificially froze the rates because they went up by 30 percent Which causes a little standout to go up even higher We're making sure taking corrective action to make sure that it gets removed from the system. Thank you, mr. Speaker You need a you need a real good briefing on the history of hydro Because you don't know what you're talking about 38 billion dollars The reason I broke up hydro is that had 38 billion dollars in debt minister and we couldn't continue to go that way We got that debt down to a residual stranded debt Remember from egglington lorenz come on How in the world you guys over 12 years brought it back up to 27 billion dollars But i'm bloody walking out and we're going to find out I suspect a lot of it's your high-priced windmills and your green energy act Which is driving jobs out of the province and prices up So minister will you finally tell be honest with the people of ontario? What are you going to do with the 27 billion dollars in debt? Are you going to do it for the ratepayers And taxpayers are the future to pay for that will mean skyrocketing hydro rates again Thank you minister Mr. Speaker I appreciate the fact that I am glad that the member opposite has admitted that he left Just substantial debt at the oafc as a result of a mess up that they put forward A member from sarnia lampton will come to order And i'm going to fast track the names that I take Including anyone injecting while i'm speaking Please finish during those days when the economy was actually prospering Not only that they try and mess up the hostel They messed up the sale of 407 and still left a deficit of 5.6 billion dollars in our coffers Which we had to correct since going forward Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker the ontario government New question Leader of the third party Thanks very much speaker my questions for the premier in 2003 when the premier first won her seat her leader Dalton McGinty took a progressive stand calling the sale of hydro one quote a disaster for consumers More than a decade later the liberals have made a sharp turn to the right speaker Now they're the ones planning to privatize hydro one So my question is who is the right-wing ideologue in the liberal cabinet that is pushing to privatize hydro one Thank you very much mr. Speaker The leader of the third party first of all of the reason that we are Under by we undertook a review of the assets mr. Speaker and that that the the sole reason that we wanted to do that Mr. Speaker is that we knew that investing in new assets investing in new infrastructure transit roads bridges around the province Mr. Speaker that that is necessary In order for our economy to thrive and mr. Speaker I would say secondly that the leader of the third party took a look at what we said we were going to do And then ran on it mr. Speaker because part of her fiscal assumptions part of her investment assumptions, mr. Speaker in her form Were exactly the assumptions that were in our budget mr. Speaker and we're in our platform So I would say to the leader of the third party We are now executing that review mr. Speaker because we know that making the investments that we commit to is necessary Mr. Speaker Speaker the decision to privatize hydro one marks a hard right turn The premier has made a right turn that is so hard that she's now got her back to ontarians The premier must know deep down that privatizing hydro one is a short-sighted Goes both ways Please finish However After more than 10 years of taking the progressive position that hydro one should remain in public hands The liberals have decided it's time for them to privatize even more of our hydro system The minister of economic development Come to order leaves managed to do will the premier talentarians? What's behind her sharp question right right turn towards privatization. Thank you. Well, mr. Speaker I understand why the leader of the third party would want to get into an ideological debate right now because she it's necessary for her to Reposition herself as a progressive mr. Speaker because she lost that brand completely when she decided not to support a budget That was going to invest in the people and the economy mr. Speaker I have never I have never suggested that Ideology or polling is the way that that I would govern mr. Speaker I made practical decisions mr. Speaker and we put those into our budget We put those into our platform and mr. Speaker at this point what I will say to the leader of the third party is We're sticking to those decisions that we're made We're sticking to those practical solutions to the to the problems that are confronting us as an economy and as a province right now You see that please Lincoln final supplementary this premier who has insisted over and over and over again that she is leading the most Progressive Aboriginal affairs second time humanity speaker and yet she is turning harder right than urney eaves and mike harris Even urney eaves backed off the plan to sell off hydro one speaker Can the premier square that circle for us today? Can she explain how going further right than urney eaves and mike harris is possibly in any way Progressive and what she claimed to have been a progressive direction that the liberals were supposed to Mr. Speaker say to the leader of the third party That she is the member of this legislature along with her caucus who didn't support a minimum wage hike Who didn't support our pension plan mr. Speaker who who in fact as as recently as the last couple of days Can't actually decide whether she supports fighting climate change or not, mr. Speaker So in fact, mr. Speaker I would say to the leader of the third party if you want to look at practical solutions That's great. But if you want to have a conversation about ideology, you're going to be on the losing end of that every time New question the leader of the third party my next question is for the premier You know, I wouldn't be surprised if ontarians are getting deja vu all over again Their government has made a right wing decision to sell hydro one They were never consulted speaker about that decision. They were never asked whether they want higher hydro bill And the loss of a very important strategic Asset that belongs to them and now Mr. National resources and some legal experts the premier's plan might not even be legal speaker It is 2002 all over again. How did the premier premier lose her way speaker? Mr. Speaker I say the leader of the third party. I understand why she's trying to find her way because Mr. Speaker the initiatives that we've taken on this side of the house to invest in infrastructure to put in place a retirement pension plan To move on climate change mr. Speaker I know that waffling on those and not having a position on those has been very painful for her But what I will say to her mr. Speaker is that we ran on the necessity to review the assets of this province Mr. Speaker to ensure that we can invest in new assets We are taking a practical approach to that mr. Speaker ed. Clark is bringing out the details Shortly, mr. Speaker He will be talking about how we can approach these things in a way that will Preserve the interests of the people of Ontario that will preserve ownership mr. Speaker and will preserve the interests in terms of regulatory And right control the leader of the third party hasn't seen those details. We'll wait mr. Speaker until the details supplementary I think it's important to talk to ontarians for a minute The liberal government the premier is planning to sell off your hydro one It's going to mean that your electricity bills are going to go up It's very possible according to legal experts that in fact her plan is not even legal Here in the province of ontario and once we privatize hydro one. Let's not forget. There are no do-overs There are no mulligans That is going to be a situation that we can never take back hydro one Your hydro one will be gone forever It's a bad deal for every single ontarian Can the premier tell the people of ontario speaker how it is that she is going to be ramming this Bad deal down the throat of ontarians without even once asking them what they think about this idea Thank you First of all the leader of the third party has absolutely no idea what we are going to do mr. Speaker She has she has no details mr. Speaker because those announcements have not been made ed Clark and his Group of experts mr. Speaker are going to be bringing forward a report and we will at that point have that discussion Mr. Speaker, but I will say to the man I will say to the member opposite I'm hearing a familiar voice that I can't quite see and I know that if I could find him He would know I would tell him to come to order The member opposite mr. Speaker that she has put forward no plan to make the investments that we know are necessary in this province Mr. Speaker she has come forward with no practical solutions to the to the infrastructure deficit that we're facing mr. Speaker She has no plan for how we can build the roads and the bridges and the infrastructure the transit that we need in this province If our economy is going to thrive Thank you Final supplementary Speaker the premier was first elected on a plan to keep hydro one in public hands She knows that selling hydro one will mean a disaster for consumers She knows this speaker fundamentally. She knows that what she's doing might not even be legal speaker She knows that it's a short-term decision that will have long-term Aftershocks for people and businesses across ontario not only soon But for generations The premier has never asked ontarians not once what they think about this plan And now she's treating it like it's a done deal Will the premier shut down the right wing ideologues that are driving this and do the right thing For ontarians Do you see that please? Thank you Premier Speaker I do not believe nor does anyone who has looked at the economy of ontario Nor do people who are looking to invest in ontario Believe that unless we invest in infrastructure in this province We will be able to compete in the 21st century We're just not going to be able to mr. Speaker and so in our platform when we ran we said We are going to look at the assets that are owned by the people of ontario. We are going to Maybe I should stay standing all the time We're going to ask people with experience to look at those assets and to work with us to optimize the value of those assets Mr. Speaker so that we can invest in the infrastructure and the assets that are needed for the 21st century What we're not going to do is we're not going to sell off the way the 407 was sold off, mr. Speaker So that there would be no future return The member from bruce cradle and sound is warned And your time is up Thanks Premier just 10 months ago you told ontarians very clearly that a carbon tax wasn't in your plan I remember then just this week you introduced a carbon pricing scheme that you yourself admitted was a tax on everything Now ontario's independent petroleum marketers are sounding the alarm bell that the impact of your carbon tax will actually drive prices At the pump up much higher than you've claimed you clearly know the impact of your scheme But you've told ontarians they must wait for mr. Saga streetsville come to order details Premier why do you not think that ontarians don't deserve to have the truth about your job job killing carbon tax today? Thank you very much mr. Speaker I wish that I wish that More members of this legislature had had the opportunity to be with the minister of Environment and climate change and and I in kebek over the last Couple of days mr. Speaker because had they been there they would have heard Leaders from across this country from every province mr. Speaker with the exception of alberta and peahen Hastings from orders from all party stripes saying that it is critical that we move now mr. Speaker It is important that we move to do our part to reduce greenhouse gas emissions mr. Speaker And it's critical not for political reasons. It's not for partisan reasons mr. Speaker It's for the future of the planet It's for the future of our children and our grandchildren mr. Speaker to make sure that we have sustainable economy And sustainable environment going forward. That's what this is about mr. Speaker Thank you You know, it's not about the environment. It's really about the money. It's about the money No one believes you anymore premier You say you say carbon tax is not in your plan then we find out it is You've ruled out the bait and switch that the tax will be reinvested into transit When other reports indicate that you've not determined whether it will actually flow into general revenues Premier you can't tell us where the money is going because you're making it up as you go You can't tell us the cost because you have no idea of the cost To voters to industry to consumers. I remember the health premium. You just know that after driving us into debt This is your ticket to raise revenue I need to hear it as much as I need to hear the answer Please finish leave that line just so you do get to hear it You just know that after driving us into debt This is your ticket to raise revenue in the backs of hardworking on tax Premier will you do the right thing today and provide Ontarians with the details on how much Job killing carbon tax is going to cost those hardworking Ontarians Thanks, mr. Speaker actually we're now into a six month design process So we're looking for for input from the members opposite and we have lots of experience to go on mr. Speaker And this will be a very democratic and fair process But mr. Speaker I have to tell you I'm perplexed that a member of the official opposition would be asking such a question Mr. Speaker because this isn't the first First of all I've been hearing things. I'm not appreciating so the member from Lanark will come to order The member for a Kitchener connoisseur with a question was asked listen to the answer So not only is this going to tolerate responses And the minister of that original affairs will come to order and this is uh This is precisely the reason why I get emails asking me why we can't get control here It's yo not me Any member has an opportunity to withdraw at any time Thank you Thank you, uh, just speaker. Uh, hopefully I can get my answer because I think the member deserves an answer on this And we're a little perplexed because this isn't the first cap and trade system in Ontario. Mr. Speaker This is the third. We have cap and trade on knocks. We have cap and trade on socks and mr. Speaker What party introduced those? And they don't read because it Is it your question? The member from Toronto Danforth Speaker my question to the premier Today legal experts came to queen's park and told ontarians that the liberal plan to privatize hydro one probably isn't legal Public sector workers who believe in public ownership have made it clear They're going to fight the liberals in court on this Can the premier tell ontarians whether she's planning to wage a long expensive legal battle with public money Or is she going to change the laws of the land? Just so she can privatize hydro one leaving ontarians with higher bills Thank you, mr. Speaker to speak on behalf of the people of ontario the government Is hydro ones sole shareholder and as with a shareholder the province has the right to broaden the ownership of hydro one And following the lower court decision in 2002 the government passed legislation that amended the electricity act that clarified its position And the electricity act of 1998 it's amended to repeal section 48.1 And replace it with section 49.1 which authorizes the minister to acquire Hold dispose of an otherwise deal with securities of debt obligations of or any interest in hydro one On behalf of its subsidiary or on a subsidiary so finding ways to generate revenue to help ontario invest in its Launcher of infrastructure needs is is badly needed for highways transit Projects like ring of fire and other things that we must replace this Mr. Speaker is an opportunity to realize on the true potential of hydro one to reinvest those assets where necessary and we're doing it legally Thank you Speaker again to the premier. I want to read something from the legal opinion released today Experts say quote there are grounds to challenge a decision by the minister of energy to sell securities Debt or any provincial interest in hydro one as being an unreasonable or irrational exercise of the minister's discretion under the act And according to these experts selling 60 percent of ontario hydro's Distribution assets would actually reduce the province's income by 133 million dollars per year The premiums plan is irrational It's bad for families and businesses It's bad for economic growth. It's bad for energy conservation and a green economy And it will actually mean less money for investments in hospitals schools and roads Will the premier pull the plug on this unreasonable and irrational plan? Thank you Thank you minister finance minister of energy Mr. Speaker This particular issue has been raised over the course of the last day or so And in every single case the so-called legal opinion has said may or might be illegal. Mr. Speaker and the the critic on the other side Mr. Speaker talks about The the plan that we have finally got it. Mr. Speaker. There's no plan has been put out there We have a concept we've been working on. Mr. Speaker. There's no particular plan There's no details upon which any lawyer can make an opinion based on not having seen what we're going to be doing Mr. Speaker. We're broadening the ownership in hydro one. Mr. Speaker. We're limiting other shareholders to less than 10 percent If we go forward with any deal, Mr. Speaker The rate pair will be protected. The taxpayers of Ontario will be protected, Mr. Speaker And it will be done legally properly on behalf of the people of Ontario Thank you. Any question? Remember from Cambridge Thank you. Speaker. My question is to the minister of economic development employment and infrastructure Toyota has been a great partner and contributor to Ontario's economy since first opening here almost 30 years ago And since that time they have invested almost 7 billion dollars creating thousands of jobs To remind the house Cambridge is the own is home to the only lexus plant outside of japan A testament to the quality of ontario's auto manufacturing sector Toyota has been a staple of my community in cambridge for almost 30 years Not only cambridge's largest employer. Toyota has given much back to my community Just as recently as 2012 Toyota announced that it was investing over 100 million dollars to increase lexus rx capacity It's its cambridge assembly question Through you speaker with the minister Please update the house on the announcement that Toyota just made today. Thank you Thank you minister of economic development employment Thank you very much, mr. Speaker. I want to thank the member for the question and this is indeed good news today for cambridge Good news for ontario's auto sector once again, mr. Speaker. We have a an auto Sector partner that's going to be making some very significant investments here in ontario We've been assured with today's announcements that in fact the The worker footprint in cambridge and woodstock in an ontario will remain in totally intact We've also received assurances that indeed further investments are going to be made in those plants to ramp them up Mr. Speaker, and this is the good news so that they will then by 2019 be able to To manufacture some higher end vehicles in those plants and that mr. Speaker is better value for manufacturing here in ontario Answer what it speaks to is the fact that we have some of the best quality workers Some of the best quality plants here in ontario, and that's why ontario is being used Thank you supplementary update Toyota's ontario plants have won 12 JD power quality awards including the 2014 platinum award for the highest quality amongst assembly plants worldwide Toyota's cambridge facility has received more awards than any other assembly plant in the world I am extremely proud of the work that's being done in my community And I know that the employers at Toyota take a lot of pride in their work As I understand it Toyota is not the only ontario auto manufacturer that has made recent announcements Through you speaker with the minister of economic development employment and infrastructure Please inform the house on new developments in ontario's otter sector Thank you minister And mr. Speaker while we recognize that the environment for auto investments remains very competitive Since november we've seen four billion dollars of investment here in the province of ontario Read across the province from allison where we saw 857 million dollar investment from anda To linimar and wealth where we saw a half a billion dollar investment by linimar To mark them where they're building the sexiest car in north america the four gt Which is incredibly innovative the car they're building now in mark them To a two billion dollar investment in winzer by prisler Which is great news And indeed this announcement by toyota that they're going to continue to invest in ontario and build even higher end vehicles here in this province Great news for the auto sector. Mr. Speaker. We still have lots of work to do We're going to work tirelessly to keep building this sector in this province Millions of ontarians with workplace pension plans are facing uncertainty you have created this uncertainty By ignoring the concerns of the deputations at committee people are left with no answers Ontarians don't know who will be forced into your plan And who will be exempt People need to know businesses need to know It is time that you treat ontarians with the respect they deserve and stop running from the details So premier the question who is in and who is out? Thank you speaker I want to thank the member opposite for this question It is an extremely important question that we're asking ourselves about the future of this province And how people are going to be able to afford their retirement. Mr. Speaker I have visited 10 communities across this province talking to people in round tables in stakeholder forums And what people are telling us mr. Speaker is that they are concerned about their retirement two-thirds Of workers in ontario do not have a pension plan when we look at the private sector It's at 28 percent mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker, I want to actually thank the efforts of the the committee For their work in looking at the framework legislation in bill 56 Which sets out the government's commitment to implementing the ontarian retirement pension plan by january 2017 Mr. Speaker, this is about the future of this province This is about people affording their retirement in a 21st century economy Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker Ontarians need a mutually acceptable definition of comparable a definition to provide certainty They need to know how your legislation will affect their future By your refusal to consider amendments to your proposal only Contributes to the uncertainty Without concise transparent details ontarians fear The consequences of this legislation Ontarians want to know what pension plans you consider good enough to be exempt from the ontario registered pension plan Member from trinity spadina from the order When are ontarians going to have the confidence that their defined contribution workplace pension plan will be safe Question Mr. Speaker In fact, the ontario retirement pension plan is about providing more certainty for the retirement futures Of the people of this province and that they can continue to spend and consume in their communities That relied so much on retirement and pension income Mr. Speaker the member opposite knows full well that we actually accepted an amendment from your party for bill 56 So we are working on the details of this plan the ministry officials are reviewing all of the submissions that have come in Through our consultation process, which has gone right across this province asking the people of ontario You're absolutely right. It is about Assuring people that when they retire that they can retire with security and with dignity and that's what the rpp is You see this New question member from kitchen or waterloo very much to the premier Yesterday the the liberal finance minister was asked about whether he'd released the full clark report But he wouldn't give a simple answer let alone a sophisticated answer to this important question The premier commit to making all of ed clark's recommendations public So the premier's hard turn to the right and her plan to privatize hydro makes it clear It makes it clear that she doesn't care about good Please put your supplementary very much Again to the premier so the premier's hard turn to the right and her plan to privatize hydro makes it clear That she doesn't care about good or fair policy or even what's in the best interests of the people of this province She only cares about putting politics first and the short-term interests of the liberal party And it's clear that the liberals don't want to take any responsibility for the privatization of hydro one or public utilities We're hearing that the clark report might come out on thursday We hear that we might hear everything but you can't blame the people of this province for having doubts In the last year's budget, they snuck in cuts to hospitals and to education So will the premier promise in this house that all of ed clark's recommendations will be released for full public scrutiny in a single report to war? My answer is yes again that all of the recommendations will be made public But mr. Speaker, I just I just want to go back to the the genesis of this whole conversation What this is about is making sure that we have the capacity to invest in the infrastructure that is needed in this province Mr. Speaker, that's the starting point for this discussion I know and I think the member opposite knows she lives in a part of this province, mr. Speaker that needs more transit Mr. Speaker, she knows in her region there needs to be more connectivity to toronto She knows that the businesses and the innovators in the kitchen or waterloo region They want to be able to move back and forth from toronto. Mr. Speaker. She knows She knows that in order for that to happen there has to be more investment in public transit. So that's what this is about That's the solution that we're looking for and the report's recommendations will be made public mr. Speaker Thank you, mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker. My question is for the minister responsible for the poverty reduction strategy Mr. Speaker poverty is an issue of concern for many in the province including the residents in my riding of halton In fact, it's estimated that one in 10 people are affected by poverty in my riding groups like poverty free halton community development halton and the halton poverty round table are working hard to address local poverty issues through a series of initiatives Including building social awareness and calling for increased engagement from the local business community But more can always be done That's why i'm proud that our government launched ontario second poverty reduction strategy in september Mr. Speaker through you to the minister What is our government doing to ensure that we build our local solutions to reach people battling poverty? Good. Thank you minister responsible for poverty reduction strategy To the fantastic member from halton for this question For this government since our election in 2003 We are making a real difference to the lives of people But we know that we are just beginning this journey. There is much more work ahead of us We also know that fighting poverty is not just a top-down initiative speaker We've i've always said we need all hands on deck. We need all levels of government We need community member from hamlin east goni creek. We need the business community the nonprofit sector All of us need to work together to really make a difference I also know that poverty looks different in different parts of this for this great province And that's what we've announced the launch of the local poverty reduction fund 50 million dollars over six years to support grassroots Partners as they help lift people out of poverty It will fund innovative programs that target disproportionately affected by poverty supplementary Thank you, mr. Speaker and thank you to the minister for that question of that answer My constituents in halton will be happy to know that the government is partnering with different communities to combat poverty Local organizations have taken innovative steps to educate residents and leverage community assets to maximize poverty reduction strategies The halton sport leadership program for example Is a program that empowers young people facing economic hardships and teaches the skills required to enter the job market By working with organization organizations like these we can help people become healthier and ready for employment Mr. Speaker through you to the minister How can organizations apply for the local poverty reduction fund? Thank you minister Well, thank you speaker and last week in uh with the mpp from northumberland quinty west We launched the first part of a two-stage application process for the local poverty reduction fund right now We're inviting organizations to to submit an expression of interest for a sustainable poverty reduction project They're interested in evaluating In may there will be a formal call for proposals to determine the first round of community organizations to access the fund A wide variety of groups are eligible to apply not for profit organizations registered charities Aboriginal communities Fostering collaborative partnerships across Ontario and building the body of evidence to guide future decisions speaking Are invaluable in our collective poverty reduction efforts and a key component of the poverty reduction strategy And I especially look forward to uh to see what comes out of the great community of hamilton Who are real leaders in this? Thank you Very much mr. Speaker My questions to the minister of finance this morning minister back on february 26th The house passed my bill to raise a glass to ontario act at second reading with support from the government and the official opposition members However, when the bill could have been given hearings at committee So that some of ontario's great small businesses like our craft breweries and our sideries and our wineries Could be given a chance to comment on the reforms. They want to see in the beverage alcohol sector The government blocked it. Oh minister once the standing committee is done dealing with bill 40 Will you commit to giving hearings to the razor glass to ontario act so that we can have a public discussion here in the Legislature where it belongs and not just in ed clark's office Good question House leader mr. Speaker Well, thank you speaker I find the question really odd because I think the member opposite knows and i'm sure his This is in the craft beer and wine and spirits sector They depend on these reforms Both to show how they can sell their product and remove red tape From the procedure, especially in areas like transportation and warehousing So what i'm asking is will you commit to giving my bill committee hearings so that these businesses can actually speak Their piece to mpp's in committee Or will you continue to keep this process secret and wait for the next edict to come down in ed clark's report good question Well clearly, I think I think speaker anybody who's not been kept in the loop is is the member opposite from his own house leader So maybe they want to they want to be able to have a change But speaker I think in all seriousness, we know that there needs to be changes Changes that needs to be made in the in the beer sector in the province of ontario The speaker and the minister of finance has spoken to it at many times We also know that mr. Clark is is looking into that issue and he'll be releasing his report shortly So I encourage all members To await for the results of the recommendations that will come out of mr. Clark's report Of course, the the minister of finance will be speaking to it as well next thursday in his in his budget That will allow for us to have sufficient conversation On this very important topic and we look forward to mr. Clark's report. Thank you speaker Thank you new question the member from park fail high park Thank you, mr. Speaker by a question is to the minister of the environment and climate change The province of ontario has vital interests on toronto's waterfront Our stake in waterfront toronto is worth more than a billion dollars And we're investing millions in a new urban park at ontario place The province also has an interest in protecting the ecological health of lake ontario Post ports toronto recently revealed plans for billy bishop toronto city airport That would allow large jets and a massive expansion of the airport infrastructure and operations Torontonians are extremely concerned about the impact of these proposed plans on the city's waterfront revitalization ontario place and lake ontario These plans are proceeding based on a pseudo quotes unquotes environmental assessment That has no legal recognition under the federal nor the provincial environmental assessment acts Speaker will the government protect provincial interests on toronto's waterfront and insist on a proper legal environmentalism Mr. Speaker i'm very pleased to get the question from the member opposite and appreciate her sincere concern The city of toronto Is the authority responsible for this and for zoning and for the waterfront having been a mayor I have always been very happy when provincial governments did not try to second guess My role or that of my city council and we're not about to do that, mr. Speaker We'll allow the proper environmental assessment process to go through We'll we'll look to the city council for proper stewardship because we trust mayor torianist council have this well at hand And as a party of the waterfront toronto agreement We will Continue to support the waterfront plan that we signed with the other two orders of government with this government is very important We're also happy and pleased with the over 500 million dollars that we've invested the investments that we've made in george brown Mr. Speaker In the waterfront parks and that we're making right now my colleagues are making and we will continue to make those investments, mr. Thank you, mr. Speaker back to the minister the environment in fact progressive councillors are looking to you for action, mr. Minister And also of course, he knows that airpot ports fall under federal jurisdiction But that does not justify silence from the provincial government not when Ontario's interests are threatened and that's what we're talking about mr. Speaker Ontario's interests in fact under section 32 of the canadian environmental assessment act the provincial government may substitute a provincial ea process to ensure that provincial interests are properly addressed prominent torontonians paul bedford david crombie jack diamond and golden ken greenberg as well as community groups like no jets to Code blue to have pointed out that ports toronto's phony review will not Torontonians the facts they need with so many vital provincial interests at stake Will the government end its silence stand up for toronto's waterfront and toronto and get that environmental assessment done Thank you, uh, mr. Speaker This government is doing more than stand up for toronto's waterfront. It is doing unprecedented investments and anyone And we're laying over the pan am games which my colleague at there is more exciting stuff happening on the toronto waterfront Since we were elected in the entire history of this province mr. Speaker. We're very proud of that We also I also know my city councillors councillor mcconnell and councillor longtown I have an excellent relationship with them neither of them have phoned me and said minister We want the provincial government to substitute an alternative process to the federal and municipal process None of them. We have no No request from the mayor and we have no request from council So maybe the third party thinks that provincial government should insert their politics and their political agenda to municipal politics Or the waterfront, but we don't mr. Speaker We also have a very clear environmental assessment process that asks the minister of environment It's just stay out of politicizing it and let the public servants and a fair-minded evidence-based review Are my ministry is already doing that mr. Speaker and they will complete that work Thank you speaker Speaker my questions to the minister of community safety and correctional services Ministry many people in my community and communities across this province may not be aware of the risks Carbon monoxide poses through their families and loved ones Carbon monoxide is an odorless colorless gas. There's often referred to as a silent killer More than 50 people in Canada die from carbon monoxide poisoning each year But mr. Speaker the real tragedy is that each and every one of these deaths is preventable Today new regulations surround this use of carbon monoxide alarms In multi-unit dwelling come into the force with new rules in place We hope to better protect Ontarians from this silent killer Mr. Speaker through you can the minister please question this new regulation and share with us How it could save lives in Ontario Minister of community safety and correctional services. Thank you. Thank you speaker I want to thank the member from northumberland quinty west for raising such an important issue Speaker as the member mentioned carbon monoxide gas is a silent killer that continues to claim too many lives And in this province speaker want to thank you and the member from oxford for your leadership on this very Important issue speaker as of today car carbon monoxide alarms must be installed in the service rooms in their all sleeping areas In all residential buildings from your average family home to small apartment buildings with up to six living units The rules speaker also include annual testing Battery replacement and other requirements to ensure that carbon monoxide alarms in these residences are in good working order Speaker large buildings such as condos hotels and high-rise apartments will have until this october To come into compliance with the new rules and installing a carbon monoxide alarm Is perhaps one of the simplest and most effective ways to alert you and your family to the presence of this lethal gas Which would help them escape in the event of a leak. Thank you supplementary Thank you, mr. Speaker and thank you. Thank you minister for your action on this important issue I'm certain the many I'm certain the making seal alarms mandatory from homeowners and landlords for help save lives within My community and across ontario Co alarms are very important tool for alerting our families in an emergency But often a working co or smoke alarm is not enough on its own to protect our loved ones from danger In the event of an emergency when co or smoke alarms sound We must all know that to do and where to go After all we would only want to leave the safety of our loved ones to chance Mr. Speaker through you. Can the minister please share some information on that? We should probably prepare for carbon monoxide or fire emergency in our homes Thank you, sir Thank you, speaker It is truly important speaker that we install carbon monoxide alarms in our homes and test the batteries regularly But the member is absolutely right that we need to do more in order to make sure that our homes and our families are safe Speaker in order to protect our loved ones during an emergency We must go farther than installing and testing carbon monoxide and smoke alarm Every one of us should take a few minutes with their households to make an emergency escape plan Draw a floor plan include all possible emergency exits Show two ways out of every room if possible and decide who will require assistance And as the acting district chief for Toronto fire services said recently speaker setting up Set up a safe meeting spot outside the front of your home where you can then call the fire department The best way to ensure the safety of yourself and your family in an emergency Is to have a practice plan of action in place because emergency safety is everybody's responsibility Speaker, I encourage everybody to go to emergency management ontario.ca for more information And draft of those emergency plans. Thank you. Second new question the member from the lead sprinkle Thanks very much speaker. My question is to the premier On february 26 the greater Sudbury police service board asked the ontario civilian police commission for direction From several requests for the removal of jerry lahey jr. The request not only came from the opposition But also from members of the public Despite the request from the Sudbury board the ocpc Cancelled its march meeting. Oh the ocpc was scheduled to meet yesterday They cancelled that meeting Let me remind everyone that under section 25 subsection one of the police services act Your minister can request the ocpc to investigate Inquire into and report on the conduct of a member of the board premier Will you agree with me? It's time for the ocpc to stop cancelling meetings and start doing their work Thank you very much speaker. I think the member opposite knows very well that there is a defined process by which A police service board can refer a matter To the ontario civilian police commission the ocpc There is a code of conduct also outlined by way of regulation through the police services board that allows Outlines the obligations of a member of the police services board member speaker as we understand the matter By the Sudbury police service board has been referred to the ontario civilian police commission But speaker what I want to remind the member opposite and all members that the ocpc is not an arm of the government It's independent of government. It's like a court And we the government do not dictate the ocpc to take any particular action It will be it will be wrong speaker It will be breaking the law and will let the ocpc to do their independent work. Thank you But thanks speaker back to back to the premier listen The Sudbury bribery scandal is a very serious issue The chief electoral officer tabled a historic report that highlighted apparent contraventions of the election act Despite a request from the greater Sudbury police services board the ocpc has cancelled Two meetings in a row when we asked them why the meetings were cancelled. They referred us to their lawyer Something's not right speaker. This doesn't pass the smell test Premier has anyone from your office or your minister's office Spoken to or met with the opc in any way in regard to the Sudbury bribery scandal and the request From the Sudbury police services board I Want to be absolutely clear that ocpc is an independent body In fact, it falls under the ministry of the attorney general so that we can maintain the arm's land nature of ocpc To make allegations the kind that this the member office is making Is it's not fitting speaker because we respect and we've been saying this from the very first day speaker We respect the independent work of the investigative bodies In this matter and we should we should let that process Continue and we will not interfere in that process at any time whatsoever So I want to be absolutely clear speaker that ocpc is independent from the government We should let ocpc do its its work. We do not direct ocpc We do not tell them where to schedule the meeting and we're not to schedule meeting and we want to respect that independent Educative process. Thank you Question member from Simmons James Bay Thank you, mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Northern Development and Mayans. Hearst as you know is connected to Thunder Bay Via a bus system this private bus system has canceled its services and I asked you yesterday as I'm doing today Is the minister prepared to intervene In order to find a solution that we can put into place so we can put into place bus services between Hearst and Thunder Bay So that people don't have to drive for 17 hours in order to go to a medical appointment in Thunder Bay Thank you very much appreciate the question We did have an opportunity to discuss it yesterday One of the things I do want to say is I was uh, I'm very proud of the fact that our government has made a commitment to Keep four of the five lines of the ontc in public hands a little over a year ago We made that that decision in that announcement and earlier this week We have we put our we have put a new board in place The chair is tom lochrin the former mayor timmons who is uh, who is the chair of the ontc And I know that these are the kinds of matters that they will want to be a part of discussing as well So I appreciate the challenge that's being faced with that That operation it's an operational decision may I say so it's one that I will be pursuing and following up with the The ontc cao uh an interim president as well as the board would encourage you to do the same Thanks very much. Thank you point of order from member from uh, Toronto Danforth I'd like to recognize dr. Andy cereopolis a dentist from my riding who's here with us today Yes, mr. Speaker. I'd just like to correct my record. I I think I misspoke earlier The cap and trade systems introduced by the conservative government were on nitrix oxide and sulfur oxide I think I said sulfuric oxide. Thank you The member from Member from leeds grindle on a point of order. Thanks speaker. I just want to recognize a local dentist from my riding kim hansen Welcome to queen's park. Thank you Just a reminder for all members Please wait until I recognize the questioner and the person giving the answer before you stand up and start answering It's not helpful to the microphones because they are instructed to wait until I recognize the person on either side Um, it is there are no deferred votes this house stand recess until 3 p.m. This afternoon