 It is now time for all questions, the member of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Mr. Speaker, to the acting Premier, we all know there's money coming in from the Hydro One fire sale, but what we really know is that money is not going for infrastructure. The plan that Premier Toutz was announced in a budget a full year prior without the sale of Hydro One. It cost $130 billion in 2014. That was a planning for the infrastructure over 10 years. In 2015, it was still $130 billion, not a single cent added for infrastructure. There is no new money. This is a shell game. Mr. Speaker, is the government willing to explain why the infrastructure budget hasn't changed by one cent? Well, Speaker, I am delighted to answer this question, and I have to say I'm a bit surprised by it, because we are making a historic investment in infrastructure, and we do have to pay for that infrastructure. We have always been very clear that the revenue that will pay for the new infrastructure will come from a variety of sources, including maximizing the value of our assets. So I'm very pleased that we've generated almost $3 billion so far on the Hydro One IPO. We will be making other decisions that will pay for the infrastructure that this province so desperately needs. Mr. Speaker, again to the acting Premier, even if the government does spend $1.4 billion from the fire sale on infrastructure, it would only account for one per cent of the infrastructure budget. This isn't about infrastructure. The FAO actually said it would be cheaper to borrow money, yet the Liberal government plowed ahead with this plan anyways. The Hydro One fire sale, I'll repeat, it's not about infrastructure. There is no new infrastructure money. It is a ruse. Mr. Speaker, I'm hearing it on both sides, and I'm going to have to kind of tighten it up. If you don't do it, I will. Please finish. Mr. Speaker, given there is no changes in the infrastructure budget, will the government tell the House, no more shell games, no more distractions, is the money going to pay for your next scandal or was it the last one? This is a bizarre line of questioning. We've always been very, very clear. We're committed to making those investments in infrastructure. We're not going to do it by raising taxes, and we're not going to do it by slashing services. The way forward that we have chosen to make is to get maximum value from the infrastructure, the assets that we already have. So we will be investing in infrastructure, including infrastructure that I think should be very important to the member from Barrie. One of the projects, Speaker, that we will be expanding significantly is the Barrie line from 70 trips a week to over 200 trips a week. If the member from Barrie doesn't think we should be making this investment for the people of Barrie, then I think he's got some slainer to do. Thank you. Final supplementary. Mr. Speaker, again to the acting Premier, I get a sense that your own caucus doesn't buy this spin, doesn't buy this ridiculous assertion that's for infrastructure. Let me share you a few examples. The member for York West once said, there is nothing the public of Ontario will benefit with from the sale of Hydro One. The member from Peterborough said, we've been pretty clear the Liberals will keep Hydro One in public hands as it should be. The member from St. Catharines is on the record saying, I think anyone who looks objectively at the Hydro One fire sale would recognize this is best kept in public hands. Mr. Speaker, how does the Premier justify having those members in her cabinet publicly disagree with her? And why does she ignore them at the cabinet table? Listen to your own caucus members. Deputy? Well, Speaker, when it comes to listening to one's caucus, I'm not inclined to take lessons from that member. I think our caucus is absolutely committed to building the infrastructure of the future of this province. Here's from the municipal leaders about the need for investments in infrastructure. When we talk to our municipal councils, when we talk to our business people, they are unanimous in saying we need to invest in infrastructure. The party opposite had the chance to invest in infrastructure. Instead of building infrastructure, they filled in the hole that was already being dug for the eggless and subway. That's their attitude on infrastructure. It sure is not ours. Thank you. Question. Leader of the opposition. Mr. Speaker, again to the acting Premier, since this government doesn't want to talk why there's no new money for infrastructure, let's talk about the skills mismatch. I know this government is well aware the surplus of young enteros graduating from teachers college to graduates for every one job, but their solution for extending teachers college by a year simply won't make a dent in the larger problem. The amount of new teachers is just one example of the growing skills gap in our province. Two things I hear regularly are that employers can't find qualified candidates and the young enteros don't have the skills for the jobs available today. Some people are forced to leave Ontario because they can't find work because of the skills gap. The gap is even costing Ontario's economy $24.3 billion a year and $3.7 billion in foregone tax revenue. Mr. Speaker, will the government tell us what they're doing to deal with the significant skills mismatch that exists in Ontario? Thank you. Well, Speaker, we're making the unprecedented investments in skills and trainings and I have to say, Speaker, that our record on education is an extraordinary record. Even the member of the opposite party, I think, have to acknowledge that when our graduation rate has gone from 68% to 84% for graduation, since they were in charge of our education system, kids are getting an opportunity that they never would have had had they dropped out of high school. Our investments in education are having a profound impact on the success of our young people. We're continuing to make investments. We built a very strong foundation cleaning up the mess that was left behind by the Conservatives when they had the chance. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the acting Premier answering a different question so I'll try again and be a bit more specific. While Ontario graduates 4,000 new teachers each year without a job for them after they graduate, I visit places like Canberra and College where there are more jobs available than there are graduates in their power line program. The skilled gap exists in this province. It is real. As much as 52% of engineering and infrastructure firms have difficulty hiring someone with the qualifications they need. Employers shouldn't have to go beyond Ontario to find workers and frankly young people shouldn't have to leave Ontario to find jobs. Mr. Speaker, can the government outline to us what plans they have to deal with the skills gap? Don't say it doesn't exist. It exists. What are you going to do to solve the problem? Minister of training colleges and universities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the leader of the opposition for that question. Mr. Speaker, I'm proud to report to the House that our universities and the colleges they have been doing the best job in the world. We have the best universities, we have the best colleges in the world and this year our University of Queens University produced a Nobel Prize winner in physics. We are very proud of our graduates and around the world, Mr. Speaker, the graduates of our universities and colleges are very well thought of. This is something we have to be very proud of. In relation to the teachers profession, we are aware of that and we have now in the future the demand and the supply of teachers will be balanced. Of course, during the years when the NDP and the Conservatives, they were in office, they were enormous shortage of teachers. We have met that demand. Now there is a supply and demand discrepancy somehow, but that will be verified in the coming years. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, back to the acting Premier. Another gap exists in education on tarot and that relates to Francophone education. The Francophone community has told me that we must create a new French language university in Ontario. Throughout Ontario, Francophones would like to manage their own university programs in a university for Francophones. And this is the case for school boards and universities. This is why our party is supporting the bill and we are asking the government to act quickly to support this important project. When will the government respond to the request of the Francophone community and commit to establishing this institution? Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to providing post-secondary education in French language. That's why we have two bilingual universities in Ontario and we have two fully French language colleges in our province of Ontario. We are committed to providing post-secondary education today, Mr. Speaker. There are 22,000 students in our province of Ontario that receive post-secondary education in French language in our universities and colleges and in 2014-15, Mr. Speaker, we invested $90 million to support French language training in our universities and colleges. Mr. Speaker, I am aware of the aspirations and desire of our Francophone community. I have been talking with student groups and community groups and we have also established an administrative advisory committee on French language, which the report is due next March. Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the acting Premier. More than 185 municipalities have called on this Premier of our province to keep Hydro-1 public. But yesterday, every Liberal in the House voted to ignore municipalities. Why is this Liberal government refusing to listen to people everywhere, from Atacocan to Zora, who want the hydro-cell-off stop? Thank you. Thank you. Well, Mr. Speaker, I must say that everyone from Atacocan to Zora also want investments in infrastructure. That is exactly what this is about, Speaker. We have assets. We need different kinds of assets for the future. The assets in infrastructure must be built, Speaker. They must be built now. We have a plan to build those and to pay for them. And so, Speaker, municipalities have spoken to every single member of our caucus. I expect every single member in this House has heard from municipalities loud and clear that these investments in infrastructure must be made. They must be made now, Speaker, and that is what we are delivering on. Thank you. Supplementary. Speaker, over 80% of Ontarians, over 80% of Ontarians, want the Premier to keep Hydro-1 public. But yesterday, every Liberal in the House voted to ignore Ontarians. And trust me, Speaker, Ontarians are going to be hearing about that. Why is this Liberal government refusing to listen to such an overwhelming majority of Ontarians who want the sell-off of Hydro-1 stopped, Speaker? Thank you. Minister of Transportation. Minister of Transportation. Well, thanks very much, Speaker. You know, it's interesting. I had the privilege to speak yesterday afternoon to the motion of the Leader of the NDP's talking about. And in the debate yesterday afternoon or in the discussion, I asked a question of her and her party, which, of course, didn't get an answer. I guess I would put that question back to her. Given how many, and it's also delightful that she asks about caucus members on this side of the House, given how many of her caucus colleagues have significant requests for infrastructure investments in their communities, whether it's Hamilton, or it's London, or it's the North, or it's Windsor, or it's Durham, any of those regions across the, or Kitchener, any of those regions across the province want more investments. And I wonder if the Leader of the NDP will come clean and tell her caucus colleagues which of their projects would she cancel if she had the choice. Speaker, businesses know that the Hydro-1 sell-off is bad for them. But yesterday, every Liberal in this House voted to ignore small business, big business, manufacturing, the agricultural industry, the mining industry. Do name it, Speaker, every one of those sectors does not want to see any more sell-off of Hydro-1. Why is this Liberal government refusing to listen to the job creators in this province? Why are they refusing to listen? Why will they not stop the sell-off of Hydro-1? Well, thanks very much, Mr. Speaker. I think it's unfortunate that the Leader of the NDP has a different perspective on this. What every single member in this government caucus voted for yesterday, Speaker, what we voted for was continuing to build this province up and moving it forward. And specifically, Speaker, we voted for a re-established Connecting Links Fund. We voted for extended GO service to Hamilton, specifically to Stony Creek. We voted for two-way all-day GO service across all of our seven corridors. We even voted for yesterday the potential to extend GO trains to Niagara Region, to support the North, to support the Southwest, to support all regions of this province. That's what we voted for. The question is, why won't you? Thank you. New question? Just hold on. Order. New question. The Leader of the NDP. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. But I must say, I think it's funny that the Minister of Transportation has no idea that that big list of projects that he just mentioned, each of them will likely cause more than the 1.4 billion they're getting. That's about integrity and honesty. Just over a year ago, the Premier stood right here in this house in her place, and she said to me, quote, there is not a sell-off of these companies, end quote. But here we are, Speaker. Can the Acting Premier explain why anyone, anyone in this province should trust the current Premier and the current Liberal government? Thank you. Thank you. I'm happy to take it, though. I apologize. It's a new question. Same question, new question. The answer remains the same, Speaker. We will be raising $9 billion through the sale of a portion of Hydro-1. That number was confirmed by the Financial Accountability Officer. The Leader of the Opposition wants to pretend that that is not the right number, but that is the number that was confirmed by the Financial Accountability Officer. In fact, we have already collected almost $3 billion cash in hand received through the IPO Speaker. We are going to use that money to pay our debt and to build badly needed infrastructure. We know the NDP doesn't think that's a good idea. We also know that the NDP has no idea how they would pay for it. Thank you. She is actually going to the integrity of this government. In October of 2014, the Minister of Finance, the Minister of Finance who is sitting right there now looked me in the eye and said, and I quote, we have made it clear that we are not going to sell off our assets. That's what he said in this chamber, in this House, but last week they issued a press release bragging about the province's sale of Hydro-1. It is time, Speaker, for this government to take a step towards regaining the trust of the people of this province, Speaker. Will the Liberals stand by their previous commitments and stop any further sell off of Hydro-1 or any other revenue generating asset in this province? Thank you. Mr. Finance. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, that's interesting. We have put the notion and the reason as to why we're looking at our assets, all of it for that matter, to do a full review as have to maximize the value for the public and the people of Ontario. Put it in the 2014 budget, which that member didn't even have the decency to respond to or even talk to the press. In fact, they turned their back on Ontarians when they voted it down the second time around where I had the option and the opportunity to again reinforce the review of our assets, including real estate, including passive shares, including Hydro-1. And, Mr. Speaker, in the 2015 budget, we reaffirmed the increases on the optimization of those assets, the dedication of increases to the Moving Forward Ontario plan, equivalent to the amount of asset valuation increases, again to be reinvested dollar for dollar for the people of Ontario and for our future generations, Mr. Speaker. In October of 2014, the Premier of this province said here in this house, and I quote, we are not selling off the assets. Put simply, the Premier has broken trust with the people of Ontario. She didn't run on selling assets. She promised then thereafter that she wasn't going to sell the assets. And then, Speaker, she proceeded to start selling off the assets of the people of this province. Will the acting Premier show that integrity, keep the promises that the Premier and this Liberal government has made, and stop any further sell-off of Hydro-1 and any other revenue-generating asset that the people of this province own? Mr. Speaker, we promised that we would increase the valuation of our assets for the benefit of the people of Ontario, and we did that in the IPO for only 15% of that transaction, which equated to a net of $3 billion to reinvest in Trillium Trust, to reinvest in infrastructure, and an additional $1 billion to pay down debt. But, Mr. Speaker, we said that, and this is what the leader of the opposition said in July 6th of 2014, where she read the same budget apparently that the rest of us did, and she says this, the budget says in black and white that the government is looking at the sale of assets, including Crown Corporation, such as Ontario Power Generation, Hydro-1, and the Liberal Control Board of Ontario. She said, Mr. Speaker, we are going forward with maximizing value for the people of Ontario and reinvesting those funds, dollar-for-dollar, as is stipulated in our budget. Thank you. New question. The member for Nippison. Thank you, and good morning, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Deputy Premier. Now, all we've seen from this Liberal government is one scandal after another. The recurring theme is they can never get their stories straight. During the gas-plant scandal, they couldn't get their stories straight on who paid Peter Feist to delete the files off the government computers. Turns out the taxpayers paid the $10,000. Now the government can't get their stories straight on the Sudbury bribery scandal. First, they didn't know who paid Jerry Lawheed's legal bills, then it wasn't the government, and now we know the Liberals paid the bills until he was charged. But the Premier stated that Jerry Lawheed doesn't speak for the Liberal Party. So my question is, Speaker, why did the Liberals pay his legal fees in the first place? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Premier made it very clear yesterday that the government has not paid anything towards the legal bills here, Speaker. The party is not paying anything, Speaker. This is an issue that's in the courts, and we'll have no further comment on that, Speaker. Given supplementary. Well, well, back to the Deputy Premier. The recurring theme with the scandal-plague government is they can never get their stories straight. In the teachers union scandal, it was a million. It was for pizzas. No way it's three million. It's for negotiating. No way it's for labor peace. Every single day, the story changed. Now in the Sudbury bribery scandal, it's obvious many Liberals are going to be subpoenaed by the Crown or by Mr. Lawheed's lawyers. They better get their stories straight before they swear an oath, Speaker. But I'm curious, will they be in court standing up for Ontario's taxpayers or for the Liberal Party? My question is, will the Premier and her Deputy Chief of Staff be testifying for the Crown or for the defence? Thank you. Deputy? Speaker, we're not going to speculate on an issue that's before the courts. New questions? New questions? The members from Bramble League or Maldives? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Acting Premier. Canada has promised to welcome 25,000 Syrians and new Democrats are proud to support this commitment. We are proud to stand with Ontarians to welcome Syrian refugees to our community. It's a part of our strong tradition of respecting the importance of bringing immigration and standing up for the global community and respecting the refugees in our society. But a promise is not enough alone. We also need a plan. This government needs to come forward with a plan to ensure that these people receive the adequate services that they so desperately need. What is this government's plan when it comes to housing, support services, language services for these refugees who so desperately need assistance in addition to just promises? Well, Speaker, thank you for that question. And I think we are united in the understanding that Ontario is a welcoming place, that we are a place where people from around the world can find a safe haven. I am delighted that Ontario is stepping up to create the conditions for successful integration into our communities from these refugees coming from Syria. We have established a group, an ad hoc group of ministers co-chaired by the Minister of Health and Long-Trip Care and the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and International Trade. I am honoured to be a member of that committee. I will give the supplementary to the Minister of Health who can talk about the issues that we are dealing with, Speaker. Thank you very much, Mr. Stiegel. I am encouraged by the fact that our province has made a strong commitment. I am encouraged by the fact that our country has made a strong commitment. We also need a strong plan to back up this commitment. We need an actual plan with respect to affordable housing to ensure that refugees are housed. We need an actual plan to ensure that the health services to ensure that people are adequately taken care of. We need to ensure that there is language support services. In addition, we have heard today from our press conference that there is a growing backlash against Islamophobia. There is a growing backlash against community members that will be coming in against refugees. We need a provincial strategy to ensure that this is responded to with strong language that we support refugees that we have a security plan in place. Will the Acting Premier provide a clear plan that how our province will address all of these important areas so that we can have an actual committed way to bring in these refugees, not just an empty promise? Thank you. Mr. Health, long-term care. Mr. Health, long-term care. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I think the member opposite realises that we have yet to get the specific details in terms of the numbers of refugees that will be coming to Ontario as well as where and when, the timetable. So, given that, that we expect in the coming days to receive more detailed information, we are working hard in a coordinated way, not just across government, Mr. Speaker, but with civil society and our many, many partners, whether it's in the education system, housing, settlement agencies that have tremendous expertise in this area, the health care system, where I'm quite frankly amazed at the enthusiasm and confidence that all of these sectors have, that we have the capacity to get the job done. We have a big responsibility, but a tremendous opportunity, particularly at this time of year, Mr. Speaker, to welcome these, as we always do, welcome these refugees that come from the most horrible circumstances to bring them into the safety and security of this province. We have a committee across government that's working with our partners in civil society and our public institution to make sure we get the job done right. Thank you. New question and members from Davenport. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And my question is for the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. This Sunday, November 22nd is National Housing Day. National Housing Day recognizes the importance of people having a home to call their own. Our government knows that stable, affordable housing can improve a person's health and the prospects for a good job and education. National Housing Day is an important time to reflect on how much more work we have in front of us because the challenges are real and they are growing. And Mr. Speaker, access to affordable housing is a real issue in my writing of Davenport and one that I often hear about in my constituency office. And as housing costs rise, available affordable housing units decline and wait lists for social housing continue to grow. I know that when I speak to many of the fantastic social housing organizations in Davenport, like Perth Avenue Co-op, Tamil Co-op, they are really feeling the pressure. Mr. Speaker, through you to the Minister, how has our government responded to the demands of affordable housing in our province? Mr. Minister for Affairs and Housing. Well, Mr. Speaker. Minister. Mr. Speaker, thanks. I appreciate the question. And it's my interest as Minister to ensure that affordable housing is understood as a crucial component of social infrastructure. To do that, we're having a number of conversations with the municipalities to AMO and other vehicles, the private sector and a number of agencies that are advocates for housing. I'm proud, Speaker, that our government is committed to the goal of ending homelessness, which we arrived at by working with our expert panel. I'm also proud of Ontario supporting the creation of 20,000 affordable rental housing units, more than 275,000 repairs and improvements and providing rental and down payment assistance to over 90,000 households in needs. We're going to work also with a federal government and I look forward to presenting more about our long-term housing standard very soon. Mr. Speaker, I know the Minister agrees that this year National Housing Day feels different from past years. Unfortunately, National Housing Day has historically served as a reminder that Canada is the only G8 country that lacks a national housing strategy. While I understand that you and your ministry staff work closely with our municipal partners and local service managers to flow funds from the investment in an affordable housing program, a comprehensive affordable housing strategy in Ontario really requires all levels of government to work collaboratively. Now with the new federal government, there is hope for a renewed and strengthened partnership that goes beyond this commitment to address the growing needs of our province. Mr. Speaker, through you to the Minister, what does the Minister look forward to building with our new federal partners? Thank you, Minister. Mr. Speaker, I look forward first and foremost to actually working with a federal government that gets it and is prepared to make a commitment to working not only with Ontario, but all the provinces with respect to important issues to them. We have started conversations and we're proceeding with those. The feds have made, the new federal government has made some incredible commitments in the area of social infrastructure and urban infrastructure, something that's new to federal governments and we'll be working with them. Our shared sense of purpose is to achieve a sustainable supply of affordable housing and a first system of housing assistance for those who need it most. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. My question to the Deputy Premier. Yesterday, the Canadian Taxpayers' Federation Freedom of Information Request revealed that not only did this government's Pan-M HOV lanes make motorist stew an hour-long traffic tie-ups that directly led to a 73% increase in accidents, but they made motors pay $3.2 million for that privilege. Minister, how do you justify the spending of $3.2 million on accident-inviting, slap-and-dash, peel-and-stick HOV lanes? Big success. Thanks very much, Speaker. I thank the member for that question. Of course, Speaker, as I said to media yesterday, the transportation plan for the Pan-Am Parapan-Am Games had a budget that was estimated to be $61 million completing the Pan-Am Parapan-Am Games. In fact, we came in $23 million below that $60 million. I think it's also important to stress, Speaker, that within that budget of $61 million, we included resources to make sure that we appropriately signed and delineated where the temporary HOV lanes would be in place for the game, Speaker. And we were very happy to listen to law enforcement, one of our most important partners in the transportation plan, the temporary HOV lanes for Pan-Am Parapan-Am, well in advance of the games to give motorists and people visiting. An opportunity to become accustomed to the change that would be coming, Speaker. I look forward to following up on this in the supplementary. Thank you. Thank you. These were temporary lane markings that were quite literally flying away in the wind days after they were applied due to the shoddy stick-on plan. The taxpayer's $3.2 million. Will the minister at least acknowledge his $3.2 million HOV rollout for the costly traffic tying debacle it was before he doubles down and transformed HOVs into even more costly HOTs? Learn your lesson. Don't do it again. Thank you very much, Speaker. I thank the member opposite, of course, for his follow-up. I just want to stress one more time, not sure members on that side of the house heard of caucus heard exactly what I said in the first round, Speaker. Of course, and I would only assume that they would want to have an opportunity to stand up and clap for the fact that the transportation budget came in $23 million below the original estimate, Speaker. But, Speaker, even more important than that is that member, I think, would know because I believe he actually took the opportunity to attend a number of venues and see the sporting events that were taking place, Speaker. The most successful Pan Am pair of Pan Am games in history, Speaker. More than one million tickets sold, Speaker. We had more than 1.4 million people attend Pan Am and Pan Am celebrations at seven sites including Pan Amania Live at Nathan Phillips Square and Ontario Celebration Zone. Over the course of both games, more than 31 million Canadians tuned into radio and TV covered of competition, Speaker. With our transportation plan, Speaker, we kept the region moving. There are some of the little interjections that are taking place. The new question to the member from Toronto, Danforth. Thank you, Speaker. My question to the acting Premier. Every Ontarian pays a debt retirement charge on their electricity bill to pay down the residual stranded debt left over from the old Ontario Hydro. The government keeps the amount of that debt a secret. But we know it was being paid down at a rate of $1.3 billion a year and stood at $2.6 billion in March of 2014. Simple math says that debt should be almost paid off by now. But the financial accountability officer showed that because the government is privatizing Hydro 1, the residual stranded debt will increase and businesses will have to keep paying $600 million a year in debt retirement charges. Why must Ontario businesses pay $600 million a year to subsidize the government's sell-off of Hydro 1? Thank you. Mr. Speaker the member will know that we're actually accelerating the removal of the debt retirement charge from businesses by nine months. He also knows that it's already been accelerated starting the end of this year for residential homeowners. He also knows that we've been very, very sensitive to creating mitigation measures for customers and great pairs across the province. He knows as well particularly for businesses that we've expanded the industrial electricity incentive program which gives up to 50% off their bill. If they're creating jobs new in the province or expanding their businesses including businesses right across the province. We've also made available the ICI program for large industrial producers to many more businesses across the province which takes 20% off their electricity bill Mr. Speaker. We're very sensitive, we're very responsive to the business community with respect to rates Mr. Speaker. Thank you. You're still sticking them with an extra $600 million a year for this. At the rate the residual stranded debt was being paid down it should nearly be paid off by now. But according to the financial accountability officer by selling Hydro 1 the government has made the debt bigger. If the government hadn't privatized Hydro 1 it could have eliminated the debt retirement charge for everyone in 2016. Instead businesses will keep paying $600 million a year until 2018. Why should Ontario businesses keep paying that $600 million for the government's sell off of Hydro 1? Thank you. Mr. Speaker. So let's understand what this is. This is a state debt, a legacy of the Harris government which left $21 billion on our books. We have since paid that down even though the Harris government actually increased the amount of residual stranded debt over that period. It has been going down continuously we have outlined how it is more recently a stranded debt of $9.8 billion remains and currently we are from Simcoe Gray, the member from Lattark and the member from Leeds Grant will come to order. Finish please. In fact the financial accountability officer indicated as a result of the transaction that we are putting forward to provide an additional amount towards the residual stranded debt we are now going to be able to provide certainty to businesses that we are going to do away with residual stranded debt nine months earlier notwithstanding the fact that stranded debt will continue which will have to be answered. The financial accountability officer made it clear that as a result of the way it operates it is never certain as to how much it will be we are making it certain. Thank you. Well thank you Speaker and my question is to the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs so on Monday I had the pleasure of joining the Minister and many other members of this House including you Mr. Speaker to raise a flag for the Métis here at the Ontario Legislature in celebration of Louis Rial Day Mr. Speaker you spoke quite pastately about your Métis heritage and you spoke and said you were very proud to call yourself Métis. My good friend Stuart Kiff who is known to so many of us in the House and is undergoing some personal challenges is also very proud to call himself Métis. In my own family my father regularly spoke of Jerry Potts the great Métis guide who helped lead the CN surveyors across the foothills of the mountains of the Rockies and Railroad. Minister in your remarks or the Minister in his remarks on Monday spoke at length about the significance of our Government's strong relationship with Métis peoples. Will the Minister then Speaker tell us more about the significance and what we are doing to support Métis in Ontario. Thank you. I would like to thank the member from Beaches East York for that question. The Métis are an important part of the richness of Ontario when we observe Louis Rialde on November 16th each year we honour the distinct heritage of Métis communities in Ontario. They are recognised as one of our country's founding peoples and recognised as one of the Aboriginal peoples of Canada by the Constitution Act of 1982. They built a new culture taking the traditions of First Nations and European fur traders to create something unique. Louis Rialde is a time to recognise and respect the history, culture and identity of Métis people. We are grateful for their historic and their ongoing contributions to Ontario and Canada. Thank you. Well thank you Speaker and I know all members of this House would congratulate the Minister all the great work he's doing forging strong relationships with First Nations peoples in Ontario. And it's great to hear that our Government recognises how significant the culture is for the Métis people to our shared history. And I applaud the Minister for doing such great work building those ties between the Government and the Métis peoples. This was certainly reflected in the very warm reception that we all received in the South Lawn on Monday. So the Minister has often heard to say that when the Aboriginal peoples of Canada prosper, Ontario prospers. And I'm sure that is especially true and equally true for the Métis people. So Speaker, will the Minister tell us more about what the Ministry is doing to create new opportunities for the Métis people in Ontario and our work to promote their distant heritage? Minister? Speaker, last year I had the privilege of renewing our Government's commitment to the Métis nation of Ontario by signing a new five year freeing work agreement. The agreement sets out how we will work together over the next five years to improve the wellbeing of Métis children, families and their communities. We will do this by facilitating the recognition and advancement of Métis people in Ontario. We will provide a forum for discussion on matters of mutual concern. We will establish a coordinating committee which will identify priority activities on an annual basis to support the goals and objectives of the new agreement. Together Speaker, we will continue working to build a successful, compassionate and united province where everyone has the opportunity to connect, contribute and enjoy the highest quality of light. Thank you Speaker. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. Sorry, I'm losing my voice. In honour of today's Francophone guest I'm going to ask my question first in French and then in English. Pour le Ministre de la Santé to the Minister of Health with our growing population and aging population our healthcare system in Ontario suffers from a lot of pressure. Could the Minister explain how he can provide excellent care to Ontario residents and which they deserve at the same time as he cuts doctor's remuneration. Care system is under immense strain. Will the Minister please explain how cutting residency spots and slashing physician fees will provide the top notch healthcare that Ontario residents need and deserve. Thank you Mr. Speaker and I appreciate this question. It gives me the opportunity to speak about this important aspect of ensuring that we have the right mix and supply of physicians in this province to attend to Ontario's healthcare needs and it's important clearly that since 2003 we've actually almost doubled the number of residency positions for physicians in this province from just over 600 to roughly 1200 today and as a result of those investments in fact we're seeing tremendous progress where this year alone 700 net new doctors will be practicing in this province and our projections are that that growth rate of new doctors will be at three times the rate of new population growth so but we felt that it was prudent after doubling the number of residency spots in this province that we actually use science and evidence and health resource modeling to determine what we should do going forward and I'll speak to that in the supplementary. Thank you Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker could the minister explain how the government will provide good healthcare for more residents with an aging population and facilities that are not proper. This government expects to provide healthcare for more residents more seniors and more treatments with an adequate budgetary increase to the global healthcare budget and yes we're seeing an aging population and newer treatments which it's not just about population growth it's about those increased population growth and it's also about the population growth. Thank you Mr. Speaker just to finish off on the residency spots so we felt it was prudent through health resource modeling going forward to make sure that we have an adequate number of physicians and specialists that we look at this and so we've made a modest reduction of less than 5% in the number of spots because of what we've been told by our epidemiologists but the point Mr. Speaker is that we are continuing to invest in our healthcare system. Our healthcare budget went up this year as it did last year as it will next year including the physician services component we're also investing more in home care $250 million more that will benefit generally Mr. Speaker our seniors population we're continuing to broaden the scope of practice of our healthcare professionals so that they can do the hard work that they do day in and day out making sure we're providing as high quality of care to our seniors but to all Ontarians. My question is to the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Speaker the people of Hamilton are worried about a proposal to build a garbage gasification plant using unproven technology on Hamilton's waterfront but instead of a full environmental assessment the risky project has only had an environmental screening a much weaker process only for projects that have predictable environmental effects that can be readily mitigated that's ministry language speaker a year ago I asked the Minister to ensure that Hamiltonians have a full environmental assessment to ensure them that that environmental assessment would take place. A year has passed and the Minister is still waffling over whether to elevate the environmental screening to a full EA when will this Minister finally decide that an experimental project of this nature and scale requires full environmental assessment. Thank you. Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Thank you very much and I appreciate the member from Hamilton Centre's question the law of Ontario and I want to be very clear about this does not allow in the case of these types of bump up requests any involvement by the Minister at all these are director level decisions of which I am prohibited from interfering in there was a huge volume of activity on this the Ministry received an overwhelming number of concerns I think articulated by that I can't prejudice the process by expressing my views on this particular issue because the director ultimately reports to the Deputy Minister and I can't interfere in monitoring it very carefully and I am I am assured by the Ministry that they are near making a decision on the bump up request and I think I will do my job on behalf of this House to ensure that's not politically interfered with a proper adjudicated due process supplementary that watered down the requirements for an EA process on energy facilities this company is gaming the system they won't apply for a license as a waste facility because a waste facility actually requires a full EA but an energy facility does not require a full so this Minister does have a responsibility to the people of Hamilton to make sure that a full environmental assessment is taking place on this waste facility speaker as it should be I want to say very clearly that Hamilton City Council has asked for a bump up to a full EA that the neighbourhood people want a full EA environment Hamilton has asked for a full EA I personally have asked the Minister to bump this up to a full EA the bottom line is an independent study showed the screening process is not adequate for this kind of facility will this Minister step up to the plate as a Minister for environment and climate change the full EA of this waste facility takes place in Hamilton thank you Minister you know Mr. Speaker I have I've been here for about five six years which probably puts me in the lower 25% of members with experience around here and I would expect that a member who's been here longer than I would know the basic law of this legislature which she and I have to uphold what she's asking me to do is legally impossible and illegal if I went to try to bump up this request as an interfere politically in the process there is no legal basis for that Mr. Speaker I'm accountable to the House to ensure that as a Minister of the Crown I support the law of the land as a member of this assembly I am responsible to be familiar with the law does the NDP want Ministers to break the law and politically interfere in independent adjudicated processes not the public service Mr. Speaker thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the Minister responsible for women's issues last night I had the pleasure of attending the opening reception for it's never okay the 2015 Provincial Summit on sexual violence and harassment Mr. Speaker this was a remarkable event and I had the opportunity to meet with women and men who are working in the field of sexual violence not only in Ontario but in fact from around the world and it was very encouraging to see colleagues there including some members of the opposition who are there this summit was a commitment that was made in the sexual violence and harassment action plan announced by the Minister and the Premier of this year Mr. Speaker can the Minister please inform this House of the goals of the summit thank you Minister responsible for women's issues thank you Speaker and I want to thank the member for the great question and for her hard work on the select committee on sexual violence and harassment I was pleased to be with her last night at the opening reception and I'm glad that she's connected with some familiar folks and some contacts as well in the sector and Speaker there are well over 600 people at this summit as we stand here today they're registered to attend the summit includes members of our roundtable on violence against women and of our joint working group on violence against Aboriginal women also includes I'm pleased to say our new Federal Minister on the status of women the Honourable Patty Haidu from Thunder Bay and there are so many more presenters panelists who are in Toronto for the summit and we people from across the country Speaker and across our nation including from Ireland and New Zealand so everyone's gathered together because they share commitment to and sexual violence thank you supplementary thank you very much Mr. Speaker and I'd like to thank the Minister for her answer and for her hard work and that of her staff and putting the summit together this summit is an opportunity for people who are working in the sexual violence sector to collaborate and to share best practices with their colleagues and it's an important opportunity to hear about the innovative work that's going on with these different organizations I know that many of them these groups and these individuals have appeared before the select committee on sexual violence and harassment and they shared compelling testimony with us Mr. Speaker can the Minister explain the outcomes that she hopes to hear from the summit Thank you Minister Thank you Speaker and again I want to thank the member for the question and she's right having people together from across the sector to hear the latest research and best practices is an incredible credible opportunity we've organized speakers and sessions on best practices to end sexual violence and harassment and to support survivors in the best and most ways when the summit is over tomorrow's speaker will be positioned to continue the important work we've begun with the action plan working even more closely with our partners in the sector I want to thank everybody who's attending the summit today and tomorrow and for those who were unable there are webcasts going on simultaneously so people can access a summit but mainly I want to thank people for the commitment to ending sexual violence and harassment whether it's non-schools or communities or workplaces everyone will go back from the summit I think with strength and capabilities and continue to support our survivors and victims Thank you Thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services I've asked about the horrendous murders in Renfrew County far too many times the Attorney General couldn't say how many offenders are let go when they refuse to sign their probation officers or why Crown attorneys aren't notified when this happens the families of three innocent women have suffered because of the inadequate support for over 800 probation and parole officers the government is far too silent about the gaping holes in our criminal justice system this week the Minister and the legislature said that he cherishes the work of probation and parole officers despite the fact that this government won't provide the resources to monitor the 51,000 released offenders so Mr. Speaker how can the Minister defend his empty words when this government is spending on monitoring offenders is the second lowest in the country Let me first start by expressing I think all of our condolences to the family and friends of the communities of the victims I've said this before the events that took place in Atlanta County were shocking brutal and disturbing as criminal charges have been laid and the police investigation is continuing I cannot comment on any details of this case and can only speak more generally that is a point that I think everybody should be quite sensitive about because we want justice to be served and to be able to complete their work and the investigation that they're doing everybody has the right to feel safe in their homes and their communities Ontario's probation and parole officers are committed to supervising offenders and holding offenders accountable they are comprehensive pre-release planning that is undertaken before an offender is released I will provide more details in my supplementary Mr. Speaker the question is about saving lives what happened in Renfrew County was not just a tragedy it was the depraved violence of a dangerous man and it just doesn't make any sense why this government couldn't be more vigilant we know that probation orders are enforceable whether or not they're signed but it scares me to think what will happen when other offenders are let go and the resources for better monitoring just aren't there Bill 130 introduced by my colleague the member from Renfrew is addressing part of that issue but the fact remains that the likelihood for very high risk offenders to re-offend is more than 60% so when will the minister face Ontarians to say that's just not good enough finally start supporting the needs of our probation officers and assessing high risk offenders before they are released Mr. Speaker our probation and parole officers Mr. Speaker please thank you because our probation and parole officers work extremely hard they develop community supervision plans for offenders that outlines the types of programs and services that are required for their safer return to the community in the community speaker ongoing monitoring and assessment tools are used to ensure that the offender can be safely managed in the community and as speaker but I fully recognize we all recognize who are in public service that there's always more work that can be done in reducing probation and parole officer case laws ensuring that our community is safe and that is why Speaker we are committed to supporting our probation and parole officers by working collaboratively through a joint working committee our probation and parole officers and their work load I'm personally committed to continue to work and make sure that women and all members of our community are safe at all times thank you Thank you Speaker my question is to the minister for poverty reduction today a report by an Ontario White Coalition over 90 labour and community groups confirms what new democrats have been warning for years that Ontario falls last in the pack of provinces when it comes to jobs social programs income equality Ontario families are facing longer wait times for social housing the highest day care costs in Canada seniors still faced some of the lengthy wait times for long term care beds students have the highest debt and the least funding for post-secondary education what's worse is this government has been in power for 12 years Speaker when will this government accept responsibility for its policies and priorities that have left Ontario's most vulnerable behind Thank you Thank you Speaker I am enormously proud of the work that we have done so far to address issues of poverty in this province there is absolutely more to do and that's why we by legislation have an ongoing commitment to poverty reduction but I do want to remind the House and Ontarians since the recession we've created 590,600 jobs the vast majority of those are full time and 77% are industries that have above average wages Speaker we've indexed minimum wage we've raised it from $6.85 to $11.25 is the highest of any province in the country Speaker we are looking at taking the precarious employment issue very seriously and that's why our Minister of Labour is leading the emerging workplaces review since 2003 social service spending has increased from 8.3 million to 14 points Thank you, supplementary This government's priorities are loud and clear we have the lowest social program spending per capita in the country long term unemployment is one of the worst in the country the precarious low wage work is ballooned to 8% more than other provinces income disparity between the richest and the poorest Canadians has nearly doubled instead of focusing Speaker on this matter the government is privatizing our public assets driving up hydro cost and continuing to make life unaffordable for Ontario families why won't this government admit that after 12 years it will go up the most Thank you Speaker we introduced the Ontario child benefit it has gone from zero to $1336 per child speaker per year our childcare funding has almost doubled we've introduced full day kindergarten so four or five year olds get that education speaker saving families $6500 on childcare costs we've increased per student funding speaker we're investing more in financial aid speaker this government has done more on poverty reduction work than any government has ever done before we are committed for the member opposite to suggest nothing has happened simply discourages those who are working very very hard for a better Ontario there are no deferred votes this house stands recess until about 1pm this afternoon