 is now time for oral questions. I recognize the leader of His Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Health. Speaker, yesterday the Minister of Health defended her government's recent decision to make seniors wait longer between iExams. She claimed canceling iExams for seniors is, and I'm going to quote her, actually going to increase care for people with ocular diseases. She claimed that their planned reductions in care will give, and I quote, again, the Minister here, better access to iExams. Through you, Speaker, could the Minister explain how making seniors wait longer leads to better care? Will the Deputy Premier and Minister of Health reply? Thank you, Speaker. Yesterday I was happy to applaud the efforts of the Ontario Optometrists Association and the Ministry of Health and finally getting an agreement. After 12 years, you know, in the province of Ontario, we have not had an agreement with the Ontario Association of Optometrists since 2011. It is very historic that we have been able to settle on something that is going to improve services for our seniors, for individuals on OW and ODSP, with individuals who have glocular glaucoma, making sure that individuals who actually have eye issues are getting in front of their optometrists and getting the services they need. So yes, I am incredibly proud of the agreement that we have settled on. Do you supplementary? Speaker, it's not just seniors that they're serving up. Yesterday we learned that adults aged 20 to 64 with lazy eye will lose OHIP coverage for iExams and will now be forced to pay out-of-pocket. Adults 20 to 64 with stra-business will lose their coverage and must now pay out-of-pocket unless it just develops suddenly. And Speaker, we found out people with cataracts are losing their iExam coverage unless they're referred for surgery or have clinically significant decreased vision, I think is how they what they say. Speaker, back to the Minister of Health again. How is reducing access to preventative eye care going to help anyone? Thank you, Speaker. If the member opposite actually understood the clinical reasoning behind the changes that we made, she would understand, as an example, that lazy eye in adults is something that is a stable condition that does not change once you're in adulthood. So we have actually listened to the experts, listened to the clinicians, listened to people who actually understand how these improvements are going to make a difference to the people who have emerging eye issues and for those infant adults who are stable and have the opportunity to access through their primary care or yes their optometrist, that will continue. As I said, I am incredibly proud of the work that the Interior Association of Optometrists did with the Ministry of Health. Thank you. The final supplementary. Speaker, yesterday the Minister bristled when we asked questions about her decision to cancel the physician and hospital services for uninsured persons program. She says listen to the experts, but doctors across the province continue to express real concern about this cancellation. One said, and I'm going to quote, it was a horrid affront to the values inherent in Canada's universal health system. This program cost an average of just $5 million a year. That's I got to tell you, Minister, that's the salary of just four OPG executives right there, right under this government. But the point is that this program helped more than 400,000 uninsured people since it was implemented, not just for quick math. That's $37 and 50 cents a person and it helped save lives. So my question to the minister is, will she reverse this callous decision and help save lives? So again, I must return to where we were pre pandemic. You know, this agreement made was to protect individuals who could not return to their home communities to access health care services. Ontario absolutely did the right thing, put some physician codes in to ensure that those individuals who because of travel restrictions speaker could not return home. Now we have gone to pre pandemic levels exactly identical to a program that has existed for many, many years in the province of Ontario, ensuring that individuals who are not order to foreign any number of reasons have access to an OHIP card, have it 75 community health care centers, have it, of course, there is not an individual in the province of Ontario who would ever be turned away at an emergency department in our hospitals. Those Thank you. The next question, leader, the opposition. Thank you, Speaker. I hope the next minister does does better. The ministry of children, community and social services is a very important file that affects the lives of some of the most vulnerable Ontarians. With a new minister in that role, it's a chance for a fresh start. Now we all know that this government refuses to make their mandate letters public. They've even gone so far as to waste public money by going to the Supreme Court to keep them secret. But Speaker, I want to ask the minister, the new minister, after years of mismanagement, what direction have you been given for this critical role? Children, community and social services. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. And I thank the Honourable Leader of the official opposition for the question, Mr Speaker. I am truly humbled and honoured to be entrusted with this position by the Premier, and I thank him for the opportunity. I also want to express my deepest gratitude to Dr. Millie Fullerton for all the great work. Mr Speaker, as as an individual who immigrated here to Canada for a better opportunity for my family and friends, I will make this very clear to the House and to my Honourable colleagues, every single person here. We live in the best province in the greatest country in the world. One, we can only remain that way if we leave no one behind. And I will promise to every single member here and everyone in this province, I will work night and day to make sure every individual, every child, every youth in this province is cared for, is looked after. I'll give you my question. Speaker, I got to tell you that's a real shame because I just heard that it's going to be more of the same, more of the same. The latest report from the Financial Accountability Office found that this government had budgeted but failed to spend nearly 500 million on social services by the third quarter of the last fiscal. That's half a billion dollars. That's half a billion dollars that this government planned to invest in Ontarians and then just didn't, just didn't do it. 500 million withheld from the critical services that people rely on at a time when Ontarians, when people in this province are really struggling. And so my question to the minister again is, are you going to stand up to this premier and fight for the people who need your help? Thank you very much, Speaker. And again, I thank the honourable colleague for the question, Mr Speaker. It's in fact under the leadership of this premier that we have brought in support for the people of this province like never before, Mr Speaker, and we're not going to stop there. Mr Speaker, again, I'll reassure this house and every single member of this house. I will give everything I've got every single day and I will come back the next day and try even harder for the people of this province, Mr Speaker. That means the record investment that we have made. If you look at the programs under the previous government, we've doubled funding under the autism program. Thanks for Mr Speaker, when there was only 8,500 people, children and youth receiving support, now there's more than 40,000 children and youth receiving support. Mr Speaker, one of the things that we are doing as a government and I will continue to do is make sure that the well-being of every single individual is a top priority for our government. That's why I thank the Minister of Health for the great work that they're doing. I thank the member from Brampton Centre for her leadership on when it comes to... Thank you. Thank you very much. The final supplementary. Supports? Look around you. Look at what's happening in our communities. Look at the line-ups at the food banks down the road in every community across this province. I really wonder about these figures that I'm hearing from the members opposite. This government has no problem finding $650 million hidden between seat cushions so they can pave over a public park and then hand it over to some Austrian corporate conglomerate to build a private spa. But they can't find an easily 5% increase. That's all they can find is 5% for people on ODSP or OW? Well below the cost of inflation, not nearly enough to help people put food on the table. Speaker, my question is to the Minister, will you commit to ending this legislated poverty by immediately doubling ODSP and OW? And to reply, the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services. Mr. Speaker, I will just remind my Honourable colleague and all members across that it was this government that increased ODSP by 5% since for decades it hadn't been done, Mr. Speaker. And again, I remind my Honourable colleague when the previous government was in power, they held the balance of power for years. They could have made that a priority. They didn't. This was the largest increase, Mr. Speaker, to ODSP support in decades, Mr. Speaker, and it doesn't end there. It's also tied to inflation beginning this July, Mr. Speaker. It will continue to increase, but it will go beyond that, Mr. Speaker. Those who can't are wrong. We have the jobs in this province for those who are able to, thanks to the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, Mr. Speaker. There's 300,000 plus jobs that are going unfilled. Respond. This is going to be my question to the Leader of the Official Opposition and all my Honourable colleagues across, I want them to come with us, to work with me, to make sure that we help people of this province so that we don't leave anyone behind, Mr. Speaker. Order. Restart the clock. The next question, the Member for Hamilton Mountain. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services. Speaker, the budget tabled on Thursday is over 200 pages and it did not even mention the Ontario Autism Program. I have stood in this House time after time sounding the alarms of the OAP because it is not working for families and we hear in all of our offices that it is not working for children. This government continues to use the same talking points and does nothing to address it. So through you, Speaker, to the new Minister, how are you going to set a new tone for your ministry and support families looking to access the OAP if there is no extra money in the budget? Members to make a comment through the Chair, the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services to reply. Thank you, my honourable colleague, for the question. Here's what I tell my colleague across. I'm telling you that I'm asking you for your help and support. Come by and actually support us so that we can help the people of this province instead of continuously objecting and opposing. Order. Mr. Speaker, as I mentioned to you, under this government, the Ontario Autism Program, the funding for this was doubled from $300 million to $600 million, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, before there were only 31,500 registered under the OAP program and only 8,500 were receiving support. Now, Mr. Speaker, over 40,000 have been registered and are receiving support, Mr. Speaker, almost five times the amount of before. And Mr. Speaker, it isn't just service to one service. There are multiple ways of now receiving service under the OAP. So I thank the honourable member and ask her once again to come help me to work with us to make sure that we support every single youth and child in this province who needs it. Supplementary question. Speaker, what I'm hearing is this minister is a new minister and is already feeling that he's not able to do the job. That is what I'm hearing. Order. We know that there are over 60,000 children on the wait list. I wish the members would listen. This is a serious question. Yes, Mr. Member to take a seat. I'm going to ask the government side to come to order. The member for Brampton North will come to order. The member for Kitchener Conestoga will come to order. Restart the clock. The member for Hamilton Mountain is the floor. Thank you, Speaker. The minister talks about doubling the budget. You also doubled the wait list for children's services. You talk about 40,000 children actually getting services, they're not getting core services is what these families need and deserve. I think the minister needs to really look at his speaking notes again, fight his government to ensure that there is real dollars available to families to actually do something to clear the wait list. Will this minister actually work hard within his own government to ensure that there is money in the budget to support families in need? Community and social services. Thank you very much, Speaker. I'm disappointed that the member across is once again going to just oppose. Never has any solutions. We'll never have anything positive to actually pull forward, Mr. Speaker. Here's the difference. Once again, when I I'll go back and I'll just remind the members, the NDP had the opportunity to make a difference in people's lives. The NDP had, they had the balance of power, Mr. Speaker. They failed to be able to deliver with the previous government didn't do enough. They had, they continuously supported them, Mr. Speaker. That's, it's not going to continue that way. As we've said before, we've double, as I said before, we not only double the funding, we make sure that more people are receiving support, better support. This is a program, Mr. Speaker, that was developed by the community for the community, Mr. Speaker. Respond. When it comes, when it comes to this side of the house and the majority middle over there, we will continue to fight for every single child, youth, every single person in this province, with or without the help of the opposition. I should remember for Scarborough center. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the associate minister of transportation. Love that guy. Many individual families in Scarborough count on GO train so they can get to work and attend appointments in downtown core or travel outside of the city. Previous liberal government left the public transit sector in a mess and ignored urgency needed for necessary improvement. Union station is a major transit hub in the city of Toronto. Under the leadership of premier and the ministry, we noted that the work is already underway at Union Station. Mr. Speaker, can the associate minister please provide an update about Union Station enhancement project? Thank you. To reply, the associate minister of transportation. Thank you, Speaker, and thank you to the member from Scarborough Center for his question and his non-stop work on behalf of everyone. Speaker, last week the minister of transportation and I toured Union Station to see the fantastic improvements that our government is delivering. Speaker, some of the terrific enhancements to Union Station include creating two new wider GO train platforms with canopies building two new south tracks and establishing a new self-passenger concourse spanning between Bay and York Street so that when the Raptors win the ship or the Leafs win the Cup, you can get in and out of the arena a lot easier. In short, Speaker, these improvements will make travel easier, safer, and faster for thousands of riders that rely on the GO transit network through Union Station each and every single day. Speaker, unlike the NDP who supported the Liberals when they did nothing to build transit, this government is getting it done for community. And these supplementary questions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the associate minister for your for that response. The Union Station improvement are great news for my constituency and for all who take GO train in and out of Union Station. However, it takes more than station upgrades to significantly improve the fast and reliable transit service. Our government must continue to invest in building transit infrastructure projects that will benefit our community now and for the future generations. Speaker, can the associate minister please explain how government in the future is further expanding transit service in our province? Thank you. The associate minister of transportation. Speaker, another great question whether you're coming from Barrie or Hamilton, Bowmanville, or from my fine friend from York Mills Collegiate, Go Titans, you should be able to get from point A to point B seamlessly. And, Speaker, we have a transit gap that was left by the opposition after decades of building zero transit. This government is filling that gap. Speaker, the Ontario line alone will have trains picking up passengers every 90 seconds. The Scarborough subway extension will make 34,000 jobs accessible within a 10-minute walk from transit. And the Edlington West extension, which will finally connect us to Pearson International, will reduce travel times. Young and Edlington to square one will be reduced by nearly 15 minutes, Speaker. What's more, Union Station improvements will enable two-way all-day rail service every 15 minutes or better along the Go Rail network. Speaker, unlike the opposition, we believe in building the biggest transit expansion in Canadian history. This government is going to get it done. Speaker, remember for Thunder Bay Superior North. Thank you, Speaker. Seven years ago, the Ontario Ombudsman published a disturbing report entitled, nowhere to turn. His report highlighted systemic issues faced by hundreds of adults with developmental disabilities, including many in hospital because no other placements were available. Yesterday, the Ombudsman announced a new investigation because so many adults with developmental disabilities are still being forced to live in hospitals because there's no appropriate housing for them in the community. The government can ensure adults with developmental disabilities have the quality of life they deserve and can free up much needed hospital space by investing in assisted living. Can the minister explain why they didn't include any new funding in the budget? Mr. Children, Community and Social Services. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. We'll continue to work with both the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Long-Term Care, Mr. Speaker, to transition adults with developmental disabilities who no longer require acute care into appropriate community-based settings and we'll work with the Ombudsman Office during their investigation, Mr. Speaker. When our government took office, it is important to note, Mr. Speaker, that we saw adults with developmental disabilities and service providers, Mr. Speaker, across the province were continuing to face many of the same challenges that they were facing 10 to 15 years ago and we're changing that and we're ensuring people with developmental disabilities can fully participate in their communities and we're doing that, Speaker, with our 10-year developmental services reform strategy journeying to belonging. Mr. Speaker. Thank you so much. Thank you to the members of the government who are here tonight. I remind the minister and the government that they have been in power for five years and nothing has been done to remediate the situation. That's right. One family has been waiting nine years to place their son in a group home. Like the other families caring for their developmentally disabled adult children, they are terrified of what will happen to their children as they themselves become too old to look after them. Speaker, things are far worse than they were seven years ago and distressingly and yet there's no additional funding for assisted living services in the new budget. The government table the bill that doesn't seem to recognize the urgency of this situation. When will they start prioritizing people with developmental disabilities by making meaningful investments in assisted living? Thank you. Minister. Thank you speaker and I thank my own old colleague for the question again and Mr Speaker I wanted to mention that we're also backing that strategy up with real investments Mr Speaker with funding over 2.9 billion dollars in developmental services including more than 1.8 billion dollar for residential supports. And Mr Speaker you saw thanks to the great work of the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and thanks to the Minister of Finance you saw that in the budget 2.2 million dollars will be invested for supportive housing. Mr Speaker the Minister has said that many many many times that we are in a housing supply crisis in the province of Ontario. One that affects every single person one that we're trying to address one that the opposition continuously votes against doesn't seem to understand. So in order to get housing right for everybody we need to address the supply crisis that we're in and I thank the Minister for your leadership. Next question the member for Thunder Bay Attic-Holken. Thank you Speaker my question is for the Minister of Infrastructure. All Ontarians need reliable and affordable high-speed internet no matter where they live. I hear from the business community including the agricultural industry across northern Ontario that access to high-speed internet services is essential to successfully managing and operating their businesses. Individuals and families living in rural remote and indigenous communities all need internet access for the day-to-day lives to improve access to health care and to keep connected with family and friends. Speaker can the Minister please explain how our government is connecting Ontarians in rural remote and northern regions of our province to pass reliable high-speed internet. Minister of Infrastructure. Thank you very much Mr Speaker and thank you to the member for the question. Mr Speaker we are making incredible progress in terms of connecting every single premise in the province of Ontario by the end of 2025. To date we have committed 2.2 billion dollars to nearly 200 high-speed internet and cellular projects across the province. This month the member from Brampton West in partnership with the federal government was able to announce 13 million dollars for high-speed internet projects in eastern Ontario and 48 million dollars in York Region. Mr Speaker this will connect 10,000 premises in 40 different communities and I just want to thank my parliamentary my parliamentary assistant for his help in making sure that no one is left behind. The supplementary question. Thank you Speaker and thanks to the minister for that response. Ensuring that individuals and families across our province have access to reliable high-speed internet is a necessity not a luxury. The previous liberal government failed to invest in priorities that are important to Ontarians living in rural remote and indigenous communities. Under the leadership of the Premier and this Minister we know that the plan for accessing high-speed internet is currently being implemented but the people in the north are seeking assurances that they can be confident in our government's ability to deliver on the promise to bring internet access to unserved and underserved communities. Speaker can the minister please elaborate on how our government is building high-speed internet infrastructure and connecting the communities in the north. Thank you. Minister of infrastructure Thank you very much Mr Speaker. Mr Speaker we as a government recognize how important access to high-speed internet is for everybody but particularly for the hardworking people in northern Ontario. This month we again joined the federal government in terms of announcing 61 million dollars to bring high-speed internet to 16,000 homes in 47 different communities including three first nation communities. Communities such as Pickle Lake Iroquois Falls and O'Connor will now be connected. Mr Speaker and I want to thank my northern members but in particular the MPP and Minister of Northern Development for his help working with my ministry to address challenges in the north and to make sure that we got it right Mr Speaker. Very good. Thank you. The next question November 4th Toronto Senate. Thank you Speaker. Last week Uganda passed a deadly law criminalizing LGBTQ plus people. On Sunday at an emergency meeting with 150 people I heard first hand about the homophobic violence until March 31st on Terrians status have access to health care because of the province's physician and hospital services for uninsured persons program. Will the Premier please listen to the Ontario Medical Association and reinstate health care for undocumented people set to expire in three days. Thank you. I want to be as clear as I can possibly be because it is deeply disturbing that the NDP continue to put a false narrative out there. Administrator Withdraw. We are returning to a funding model that existed pre-pandemic that ensured individuals who do not have an up-to-date OHIP card have access. That ensures 75 community health clinics that have funding models that ensure individuals without OHIP coverage get access. Individuals who appear at emergency departments in our Ontario hospitals get health coverage. It is deeply disturbing that we continue this narrative with the NDP opposition to suggest that there is a change that is not happening. We are returning to what we had in March of 2020. It was there under the Liberals. It was there because it assists people. Thank you. Supplementary question. Member for Nicole Bell. Thank you, Speaker. The Minister should know how disrespectful her answer was to the people that I represent who live four hours away from the nearest community health centre. Yesterday, I and the Minister received thousands of emails calling on the provincial government to ensure continued access to medically necessary services to people living in Ontario. These people are Ontarian like you and I, Speaker. They are not able to get a no-hip card because of systemic barriers. How is a homeless person supposed to go to service Ontario with a proof of address? They are homeless. But they deserve care, Speaker. What is the Minister going to do in the next three days to ensure that she removes barriers so that every Ontarian to qualify for a health question gets one. Minister of Health. Thank you. Again, I will remind the member opposite that community health care centres, midwifery care and emergency care all will continue whether that individual has an up-to-date OHIP card or not. You know, Health Eat 1-1 is another program that is available all across Ontario to ensure that individuals can speak to a registered nurse to find out about their health conditions and see what next steps is. You know, to suggest that as they have, Ukrainian refugees are suddenly going to be without health care coverage, completely and utterly false, Speaker. And if the member opposite really wants to have credibility in this field, she needs to stand up and say that in the province of Ontario, Ukrainian refugees, individuals without health care will have it as they had it March of 2020. Order. Start the clock. The next question. The member for Guelph. Good morning, Speaker. My question is for the Premier. The financial cost of sprawl is huge. One study determined that it cost 2.5 times more to service sprawl than to service a new built home in existing developed areas. Another study showed that when you factor in both tax revenue and servicing costs, homes constructed and built up areas pay for themselves while sprawl represents an ongoing cost for property taxpayers. Speaker, people are struggling with a cost of living crisis and a housing affordability crisis. So why is the Premier pursuing a sprawl agenda that paves over the green belt and makes housing and life less affordable for people in communities? Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Speaker, let's be clear. You know, I've said this in the House before and I'll say it again. Ontario municipalities still able to collect development charges on most market housing provided that these are increased at a reasonable and predictable rate. At the end of the day, more homes and growing communities make sense for taxpayers. They increase the tax base. They allow municipalities to be able to provide services to their local communities at a lower cost. That's something that our government prescribes to. Municipalities need to do the same. The supplementary question. Member for Guelph. Speaker, with all due respect, I wasn't talking about development charges though that's a problem as well. I'm talking about the cost of sprawl. There's overwhelming evidence that the cost of sprawling out will hit people, municipalities and taxpayers' pocketbooks hard. There's overwhelming evidence from the government's own housing task force that we do not need to open the green belt to address the housing crisis. Speaker, there's a whole generation of young people wondering if they'll ever be able to afford to own a home. And the government's sprawl agenda will result in more expensive homes, higher property taxes and elevated climate fueled flood risk. So, Speaker, will the government stand up for property taxpayers and people struggling to find an affordable home by cancelling their expensive sprawl agenda and keeping their promise not to develop the green belt? Mr. Mr. Thersenhausen. You know, Speaker, what I am going to do is I'm going to listen to this guy's mayor, Mayor Kam Guthrie from the City of Guelph, who spoke last Thursday about our budget. And here's his quote. Today's budget speaks directly to the homelessness, mental health and addictions issue our communities are facing. The government has listened to municipalities and stakeholders and they've responded by providing base funding increases to these programs by committing $202 million in additional funds on these issues. Budgets are for helping Ontarians and this budget will help dearly. The member for Sault Ste. Marie. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Northern Development and Indigenous Affairs. Under the previous Liberal Government Speaker so many opportunities for fostering economic growth across Northern Ontario were missed. They were ignored but frankly they were squandered. Unlike the previous Liberal Government Speaker our government must recognize the value and the potential that is present in rural, remote and Indigenous communities. The people of my riding and all the other communities across the North are counting on our government to deliver on the commitments that we made to invest in meaningful priorities that strengthen our local economies. Speaker can the Minister please explain how our government is building a stronger and a more inclusive Ontario. Thank you. Minister of Northern Development. Thank you Mr. Speaker and I want to thank the member for his question. I rise in this place often to talk about the modernization of the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund and the help that it's given to businesses in leveraging. It's time we started to chat about incredible opportunities it provides for job creation job protection and how internship programs support that. When we modernized the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund we committed to trying to understand better how our youth and young people could access jobs in their own communities. Mr. Speaker and to miscoming Cochran to the tune of almost a million dollars a medical recruiter to plan and implement physician recruitment strategy saving them money and allowing them to go out with somebody to go out and recruit physicians Mr. Speaker an economic development assistant the Northwood's recovery clinic a registered practical nurse intern respond and the Northern Policy Institute to hire a data analytics intern. Mr. Speaker 80 more than 80 percent of these people retain their jobs when they're an internship. I'm sure the member opposite supports this kind of experience. Thank you. The supplementary question. Thank you Speaker and to the minister for that response. It is evident that under our leadership the leadership of our premier and this minister investments made by our government through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation are resulting in positive tangible outcomes for the people of the North. Our government's respect for the people of the North and our well thought out plans are a sharp contrast to the pattern of neglect that was evident under the previous Liberal government and Speaker. You know I've knocked on thousands of doors throughout Sault St. Marie and other northern communities and when you just speak to the average person in Northern Ontario the message is always the same. They felt ignored by the former Liberal government. They felt like they didn't matter and now they're seeing a government that's putting them first putting a lot of attention on the North and in order to remain current and competitive our government must continue to focus on addressing the needs and the opportunities that will advance prosperity. Speaker can the minister please elaborate on how this funding will contribute to economic prosperity for communities in the North. Thank you. Northern development. Thank you Mr. Speaker and to Mr. Minkoch when we talked about almost a million dollars and 34 jobs or interns ships. Let's move a little farther northwest Mr. Speaker over into Kiwetnung and Mishigwok James Bay more than half a million dollars helped us create 14 jobs and or intern positions Mr. Speaker and listen to the diversity of these opportunities for young people. The municipality of Red Lake hired an infrastructure intern and recreation and activities programmer. We have a similar one in Vermilion Bay and it works great. The Institute de Récherche in Auvergneur to hire a psychometrics and administrative assistant Mr. Speaker smooth Rock Falls Hospital and Cochrane District hired a detox center program worker. Mr. Speaker those are just a few examples. What's really exciting is the indigenous response program. The Obashka Kong Resource Corporation hired an indigenous business service coordinator intern. These folks are keeping their jobs when they're finished their internship staying in their communities and providing a better opportunity for their community. Thank you. The next question is a member for Ottawa West Nipkea. Thank you Speaker. Violence in our schools is at deeply concerning levels. Students at York Memorial Collegiate have staged a walkout in protest while parents in Ottawa have picketed Vimy Ridge public school calling for action. Parents principals teachers and education workers are calling for increased mental health supports and staffing to keep students and staff safe. But even though half of our schools have no mental health resources this government voted against our motion to provide school boards with adequate resources. Instead they're forcing school boards to make cuts. Why is the government refusing to make investments to keep our children safe? Reply the Minister of Education. Mr. Speaker we are deeply concerned about the rise of violence in communities across this country and part of our response was to increase base funding and education in the most recent budget by an additional 1.3 billion dollars. Mr. Speaker we have added an expanded mental health funding by 400% compared to the former Liberals 10 million dollars more this year. 20 million in student nutrition programs an expansion of after school programs that we created the Black Graduation Coach program as well as expand the indigenous program to help those kids reach their full potential. Mr. Speaker we have increased support and staffing by a quantum of 7,000 more frontline workers to help reduce the risk and keep children safe and focus on learning in the classroom. So that's your question. Member for London North Centre. Speaker the minister doesn't even mention school violence and school violence does not show up once in this budget. My question is back to the premier. Violence impacts every student when there's an incident in the classroom. It impairs learning. It changes the culture of trust, respect and engagement. In their 2023 budget submission etfo Thames Valley teacher local reported that in London area schools the six months average is 636 violent incidents per month. 636 per month. The highest month almost a thousand violent incidents in a school. But most violent incidents go unreported. What is this government doing to directly address the rising tide of violence in schools and make sure that students are safe? Mr. Education. To answer the question we are increasing funding by 1.3 billion dollars this year. We have increased staffing by 7000 more education workers. Mr. Speaker the member opposite speaks of a gang to the root cause of crime. And therefore I would ask members opposite to stand with this government every provincial premier to urge the federal government to end the revolving door of justice and get tough on violent criminals that hold that keep too many of our children that put too many of our kids at risk. That's how we do it. The other way we do it Speaker is if we're prepared to stand with law enforcement against violent crime that's impacting too many children in our schools in our communities and across our country. We're going to increase investments we're going to support our kids and more importantly ensure they are safe when they're in our school premises. Next question the member for Don Valley East Mr. Speaker my question is for the minister of health who in three days plans to cut healthcare funding to the most vulnerable people in Ontario. In doing so the minister is sending the message that those without OHIP do not deserve the same care as the rest of us but this is Ontario this is Canada everyone deserves care. The reality is most uninsured people actually are entitled to health insurance but they face social and physical barriers that prevent them from getting an OHIP card. This government is singling out the people who need their help the most and telling them they would rather save a buck than fund their healthcare. Uninsured people will still get care once they are sick enough and it is downright sad and not in the least bit surprising that the minister is perfectly fine pushing the financial burden on to our already strained healthcare budgets. Why does the minister think it's a good idea to financially drain our public hospitals further and why must she do it by draining the dignity of our patients. Minister of Health Oh speaker, speaker, speaker that is really rich considering we are actually returning to a program that existed under the liberal government that ensured individuals who do not have an active and up-to-date OHIP card have access to service whether that is through Health 9811 where they can speak directly to a registered nurse whether it is through midwifery care community health centers 75 that operate within the province of Ontario and of course through our publicly funded hospitals it is very very challenging for me not to look at that member and say look at your party's history and say what was wrong with it in 2020 that suddenly doesn't make it sufficient today. Well I'll tell you one difference Mr. Speaker we've heard the minister insist that COVID-19 is no longer a factor and that therefore these programs no longer need to be in place well I'm sorry to break it to the minister but someone has to this isn't over our healthcare system remains strained beyond belief last fall our emergency wait times were the highest they've ever been the Red Cross had to save our ICU's and the surgical backlog is bigger than ever before the pandemic struck at the heart of our healthcare system and the wound is just beginning to heal now is not the time to be cutting programs that both hospitals and patients need the week of March 12th to 18th there were almost 4,000 COVID cases in Ontario 213 hospitalizations what happens when that number begins to rise again next fall and all of this funding is cut and none of these programs are in place no paid sick days no hospital funding no coverage for uninsured people Mr. Speaker who will pay for the minister's cruelty and recklessness then I'm going to caution the member on his language return to the minister of health to reply Speaker you know where was the member opposite when we were actually putting these programs in place where was the member they were voting against it where was the member opposite when we invested through the ministry of omafra 2.2 million dollars in southwestern Ontario that actually provides additional service for our international agricultural foreign workers where was the member opposite sitting up against those investments the next question member for Peterborough Corridor thank you speaker my question is for the minister of natural resources and forestry many rural and remote communities across Ontario have experienced difficulties and challenges as a result of extreme weather events these include fast and powerful storms known as the ratios such as what we witnessed in mail of last year as well as the tornado activity in July these events pose a significant threat to life and safety in several communities including my own individuals and families experienced first hand the mess that was left behind from downed trees as well as other debris we also know that downed trees can create other hazards including the risk for fires and flooding speaker can the minister please explain how our government is supporting communities across Ontario in responding to incidents of severe weather and the potential risks they create natural resources and forestry thank you speaker and thank you to the members of Peterborough Kawartha a riding that is part of the gods country network of ridings speaker you know we have seen terrible damage to property on crownland private forest forest access roads other public roads across Ontario and for the town of Peterborough and in eastern Ontario the rebuilding and repair are ongoing and sometimes that damage left behind from these natural disasters can actually pose new risks to public safety those downed trees and the debris on land and water can lead to an increased risk of flood and fire incidents today so even as you work and return things to normal last year severe weather continues to create concerns and I know from direct experience how small communities work hard to support one another in tough times like these and our government is committed to doing our part in building a strong Ontario for now and in the future so yesterday I was pleased to announce in the GTA the greater tweet area that the ministry will be providing 5.5 million dollars to municipalities impacted by last year's duration thank you very much supplementary question thank you thank you speaker I've never heard of the GTA being referred to as the greater tweet area before I want to thank the minister for his response Ontario communities have been hit that have been hit hard by flooding in the past are paying attention to major waterways in the anticipation of ice breakup which is expected to begin in early May flooding in Ontario is typically caused by a combination of factors that has included rapidly melting snow ice jams high lake levels and storm surges from heavy rain however last year's significant weather related events left debris that can also increase the risk of flooding speaker can the minister please elaborate on how the funding investments made by our government will reduce the risks that come with severe weather events good question Mr. natural resources and forestry again thank you very much speaker and thank you to the member again for the question you know during my time as mayor in brace bridge in 2013 and 2019 we saw the results of natural disasters when flooding led to a state of emergency so i'm speaking to you today with a keen awareness of the importance of community both here and across Ontario currently the province's surface water monitoring center continues to monitor water levels in other areas at risk throughout the province and the funding announced yesterday five point five million dollars ensures that the destruction caused by last year's severe weather events do not pose a threat to public safety that means that rivers that were once blocked by collapsed trees will now flow unobstructed and drying brush piles will be chipped and stored safely it will also help carry out forest regeneration and support the continued health and well being of those response speaker i'm confident that this funding will help towns affected by the weather events of last year to make meaningful progress towards recovery the next question the member for Parkdale High Park thank you speaker my questions to the premier this conservative government is expected to spend an estimated 650 million taxpayer dollars to build an underground parking lot at Ontario Place only to then hand it over to Thurma a private Austrian spa company in a secret agreement in the hearings at city hall last week we learned that this enormous price tag for taxpayers is being justified with a highly inflated estimate of 14,000 visitors per day that's 4,000 more than the sea and tower and the ROM combined 3,000 more per day than Canada's wonderland my question is will the premier make Ontario's agreement with Thurma public and explain to the people of Ontario what are we getting out of this deal Minister of infrastructure thank you very much for the question Mr. Speaker our government has been completely transparent with the public in terms of our intentions for Ontario Place in 2019 we told the public that we wanted to redevelop Ontario Place Mr. Speaker we have two choices before us we could just leave the site as it as is let it continue to be in bad state of repair let it continue to be flooded let it continue to not be enjoyed by the public Mr. Speaker or we can work with the City of Toronto and bring Ontario back to life I think the answer is very clear why are you against that supplementary member for Skadiah for work thank you Mr. Speaker I live near Ontario Place and I can tell you that it is well used in fact on Saturday I participated in a nature walk at Ontario Place put on by Ontario Place for all and the Toronto Field Naturalists and as well as the incredible array of birds and other wildlife there we I was able it was a good reminder of how Ontario Place was designed to showcase Ontario the original architect Deb Seidler and the landscape architect Michael Huff were both Ontario based the Sinosphere was the world's first movie theatre to feature IMAX movies and Ontario invention and Eric McMillan who designed the children's village invented the ball pit which has provided generations of children with a lot of fun your government is leasing out the land to an American event corporation and an Austrian spa company question with a hefty taxpayer funded donation that you refuse to disclose why doesn't your government believe in Ontario based businesses and why don't you work with Ontario companies to redevelop Ontario Place mind the members to make your comments see the chair Mr. Ventrestructure to reply thank you very much Mr. Speaker I will repeat the members words well used I have been the minister now for a little bit of time and every single time I have visited the site Mr. Speaker it is not enjoyed but by Torontonians or Ontarians Mr. Speaker we are leasing the lands the lands to a tenant and Mr. Speaker we are preserving the pods and the Sinosphere as part of the heritage pieces of Ontario Place but Mr. Speaker we are going to bring Ontario back to life back to what it was many years ago when millions of people would come to the site enjoy it with their families the next question the member for Windsor to come see thank you Speaker my question is for the minister of seniors and accessibility seniors in Ontario want the ability to live their lives independently and be active and socially connected in their communities in fact just last night I had a wonderful opportunity to listen to Nadia who lives in the East Riverside on how important support for seniors especially their ability to socialize really is across our province many seniors are currently struggling with the high cost of food everyday goods and services for seniors with limited incomes the current economic climate translates into ongoing hardship and difficulty seniors across Ontario are looking to our government to put forward measures that will provide them with the direct help and support that they need Speaker can the minister please explain how our government is working on behalf of seniors during these uncertain economic times Minister of seniors and accessibility thank you Mr Speaker thank you for asking that good question Mr Speaker the member for Windsor to come see is doing marbles job obtaining for seniors is arriving our government is working for all seniors in the province so they can live comfortably with the dignity thanks to the leadership of the premier we are proposing to expand the guaranteed annual income system program thanks to the leadership of the minister of finance and we are providing financial support to more low income seniors this program will make sure that when they come to go up because of inflation our support them will go up as well thank you a supplementary question thank you speaker and thank you to the minister for that response it is truly reassuring that our government is focusing on actions and investments that will support vulnerable low income seniors by expanding and annually indexing the gains program under the strong leadership of the premier and this minister our government is demonstrating respect for the hardworking men and women who built our province as Ontario's population continues to age our government must continue to respond to the needs of seniors and provide them with the support that will improve their overall quality of life Speaker can the minister please explain more about the expanded gains program Mr. seniors and accessibility thank you speaker thank you for asking other important question our government takes the well-being of seniors very seriously increasing our investment will help our vulnerable seniors they deserve to have a steady and reliable programs service and the income support that is why we are proposing through the budget to invest additional 1.5 million dollars into seniors community grants that's good our government always be here to provide service that build a strong Ontario that supports seniors thank you thank you the next question the member for Scarborough south west thank you very much speaker speaker my question is to the minister of labour last week we were all shocked to hear about the 64 Mexican nationals who were labour trafficked here in Ontario advocates across the province are calling for an end to the exclusion of migrant workers from Ontario labour laws and the minister when boasting about the new working for workers act 3 his legislation told the Toronto star that his ministry is establishing an anti-trafficking team of changes to ensure that workers like these in this story will be protected so can the minister clarify exactly how working for workers act 3 would have ensured that these migrant workers would have been protected thank you very much thank you very much speaker look this act is a continuation of a number of acts that we brought in place since forming government to improve working conditions for the people of the province of Ontario for the workers who are helping build a bigger better stronger province of Ontario the bill that is before the house right now of course strengthens that and as the minister said will will take serious actions on what the minister called scumbag employers who do not follow the rules look what we're doing when it comes to workers Mr Speaker is ensuring that we have a workforce by working with the minister of colleges and universities and the things that the minister of labour is doing we have a workforce that can support the incredible infrastructure investments that we are making across the province of Ontario and the workforce that is needed because of the investments that the minister of economic development job creation and training have brought to the province of Ontario now Mr Speaker that's over 600,000 jobs response that have been created in the province of Ontario because of the environment that we have have put in place we need 300,000 jobs that that are sterile unfilled and it's because of the hard work of this government that we will meet those targets Mr Speaker and continue to build the bill thank you just a moment is that your question Mr Speaker in case the government members are not aware those workers the 64 Mexican workers that I'm referring to fall under the purview of the foreign nationals act like international students that I spoke about last week for example who also don't qualify for many of the things in this bill as do temporary foreign workers like the Mexican workers that I just mentioned who are the victims of trafficking wage theft a broken system of injured workers they would not have had any rights from this government speaker these Mexican workers that the minister was using to boast his bill deserve an apology because they would not have been protected they would not have any new rights after what took place Speaker Mr Hussein from the Migrant Workers Alliance of for Change Canada told the Toronto Star that these workers are looking for rights not rescue so my question is speaker what is the minister doing to ensure that migrant workers like these who contribute to our province will be protected thank you very much Government outslater thank you Mr Speaker again this is working for workers three is a another piece of legislation meant to protect workers across the province of Ontario the member of course knows that the temporary foreign workers program is a program that we in cooperation with the federal government implement and that these workers are so important to the province of Ontario especially in our agricultural sector and that is why we have stepped up consistently to make sure that those workers are protected Mr Speaker but when it comes to the NDP and workers Mr Speaker let's talk about the NDP themselves and their own post-mortem of their election but let me see let me tell you what they said they said that they should have been they should have been better they outspent their rivals they had a diminished liberal party and yet the NDP dropped to 31 seats from 40 lost 813,000 votes Mr Speaker and we're the only party to do so and they have suggested that in order to get better they have to do a better job of connecting work with workers like the progressive conservative party of Ontario congratulations the next question member for Tamiskaming Cochran thank you speaker in his response to the government House here talked about temporary foreign worker program and it's very important for agriculture and for many sectors we acknowledge that but when we see news reports about workers being abused outside the temporary foreign workers we want to know what action is the government actually going to take to protect the foreign worker program from people who are abusing it thank you Speaker again here's the NDP right here's the NDP they talk about something they want to protect workers but every single piece of legislation that this government particularly the minister of labour has brought in to protect workers in the province of Ontario they have voted against it right every single time so like when the cameras are on you can always depend on the NDP to say something that is important they try to take credit for the things that we have done but when the cameras are off they vote against it whether it's on protecting workers whether it's on healthcare whether it's on bringing jobs to the province of Ontario they say one thing and do another now you don't have to take it from me their own 2000 their own postmortem from the last campaign suggested that they got it all wrong Mr. Speaker and they suggest that if they're ever to regain power which they've never had but one time they have to be more like the conservatives and listen to the people the province of Ontario and maybe then they'll do a better job of attracting vote thank you that concludes our question period for this morning