 Therefore, it's time for Question Period, the leader of Her Majesty's Royal Opposition. Mr. Speaker, to the acting Premier, this government has handed out $1.4 billion from the Ministry of Economic Development. 80% which went to companies that either didn't apply or told the application was simply a formality. That's $1.1 billion handed out to Liberal friends. What happened to the government that rode in on a white horse promising openness and transparency? Mr. Speaker, does the acting Premier believe it's acceptable to hand out $1 billion without an application process? Simple question. Is that acceptable, yes or no? Thank you. Well, thank you, Speaker, and I know the Minister will want to take supplementary questions, but I do want to say thank you to the auditor general for her report. It's a very important part of our democratic institution that we have the auditor general give us advice on what we need to do to make government better for the people of this province, Speaker. And I was very pleased that the auditor general herself noted that the actions we've taken on our follow-up audits, she said she's pleased to report that 76% of these actions have either been fully implemented or were in the process of being implemented. And she went on to say, I want especially to note the exemplary performance of the Ministry of Education, Ontario Power Generation, Service Ontario, and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care in implementing recommendations from our audit two years ago, Speaker. I look forward to the supplementary. We take this seriously. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, again to the acting Premier, this government will not ask for receipts. First it was millions of dollars to teachers' unions. Next it's bailing out private companies for snow plows. Now we find out that after handing out billions of dollars in the name of economic development, this government can't prove they've created a single job. This government can't prove a single dollar return on their investments. They can't prove it because they never studied the economic impact. All the Minister does is write a check, stage a photo-up, then forgets the company exists until the next time he needs to send out a press release. Mr. Speaker, why can't the Liberals prove one job was ever created? Was it because this was simply an opportunity to hand out checks to their friends? Welcome to the Minister of Economic Development. Minister of Economic Development. Mr. Speaker, I've got... That's not helpful. Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Employment. I want to share two numbers, Mr. Speaker, with the Leader of the Opposition. 145,000 jobs created or retained in this province since 2004. 145,000 Ontarians working today because we've had the courage to partner with our business sector. 145,000 jobs that if you and your party had their way... I'm not going to allow shouting matches to go back and forth. And the member from Leeds, Grenville, in case he didn't hear me, I asked him to come to order because he was continuing to shout. And I hope the Minister gets the message, too. Nice and easy. Mr. Speaker, I'm just responding. The fact of the matter is, we've had $26 billion of private sector investment since 2004 that's flowed into this province. And Mr. Speaker, the party opposite has opposed every one of... Well, I will take the exercise. The member from Leeds, Grenville, second time. The member from Dufferin, Caledon come to order. Finish, please. We've had the courage, Mr. Speaker, to make these investments. 145,000 Ontarians, jobs retained are created in this province. Jobs that that party, Mr. Speaker, would like to see in Mexico. We'd like to see in the deep south. We'd like to see... That's enough. The member from Leeds, Grenville, is born. Supplementary. Mr. Speaker. Radgate. Again to the acting Premier or to the Minister of Handouts. The Liberals got caught with a slush fund. It turned out that they were handing over checks to companies run by lifelong Liberals and Liberal staffers. Mr. Speaker, can the acting Premier verify how many of these companies received... that received these grants donated to the Liberal Party? Or was there an expectation they would donate after they received a grant? So a very clear and direct question, did any of the companies that received these grants also donate to the Liberal Party before or after? You seated, please. Thank you. Minister. Mr. Speaker, here are the jobs that that party and that leader are opposing. 5,000 high-tech jobs within the next 10 years in the GTA through Cisco. You oppose that. 4,000 jobs in Alastair and for Honda. Retain, Mr. Speaker. They oppose that. 8,000 jobs in Guelph through Linnamar. They oppose that. 3,000 jobs in Oakville through Ford, Mr. Speaker. They oppose that. 7,500 jobs in Cambridge. They oppose that. 800 jobs in Napadi through Goodyear, Mr. Speaker. They oppose that. We are partnering with businesses to grow this economy in a fiercely competitive global economy. We have the courage to make those investments. Clearly, they don't. 145,000 out there have jobs or have had their jobs retained as a result of these investments. Mr. Speaker, we're proud of these investments. We're going to continue to grow this economy in spite of the opposition. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, again to the acting Premier, and since the Minister of Economic Development will not answer whether there is donations to Liberal parties after these grants, I'm going to try a different angle. The Minister of Economic Development has doled out $1.4 billion through grants to Ontario businesses. Last week, the Auditor General to use her words, the government gave most of the money to the companies it had chosen with no public competition. She told us there was no criteria on how they were picked. That sounds an awful lot like the Colgate Slush Fund scandal that cost the member from Eglinton Lawrence his cabinet job. Mr. Speaker, is the Auditor General correct? Did the government give out grants with no criteria or competition? Is this Bradgate? Thank you. The Minister of Economic Development Trade and Employment of Researcher. Minister of Economic Development. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Let me share with you some of the investments that we've made across this province that the members opposite actually have taken an interest in despite the fact that their leaders don't support it. In Lampedon Kent, Middlesex, Mr. Speaker, a regional economic development fund provided nearly $2 million, leveraging $15 million or sustaining 400 jobs. Mr. Speaker, the members of the party opposite talk about not supporting these funds, but when it comes to their own writings, they're very supportive. Perth Wellington, I received a letter from that member, Mr. Speaker, requesting Southwestern Ontario Development support for a business in his riding. On November 7th, 2012, the member for St. Go Gray wrote me requesting funding for his riding through the Southwestern Ontario Development Fund. On October 22nd. Order, please. The member from Renfrew, Nipsey, Pembroke come to order. The leader of the third party come to order. Finish, please. Bruce Gray, Owen Sound, wrote me asking for funding for a local airport through the Southwestern Ontario Development Fund. The member for Wellington Halton wrote me, Mr. Speaker, and said some very glowing things about the importance of this fund. Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter Mr. Speaker, again to the acting premier and to the minister of slush funds, this government picked companies to receive... The member knows or should know that's not appropriate. Withdraw, please. Withdraw. The government picked companies to receive grants... Stop the clock. Close both ways. I want attention for questions and answers. Please finish. This government picked companies to receive grants behind closed doors for the purpose of press release politics. The auditor general told us 80% of the investments were made through unadvertised and non-transparent processes. She told us that only selected companies were invited to apply. That sounds like the minister was just calling up his friends and making them an offer they couldn't refuse. Mr. Speaker, can the acting premier explain why it's appropriate to hand out multi-million dollar checks with no competition? This wouldn't fly anywhere on tarot. Thank you. Why does it fly with this government? Thank you. The member from Renfrew come to order second time. I'm not standing up for you to get a cheap shot in when I get quiet. That's going to stop. Mr. Speaker, the fact of the matter is the process for consideration of the allocation of these funds is among the toughest processes anywhere in the world today. The matter is, Mr. Speaker, one out of 100 of the companies that have requested funding under these proposals actually get through the very tough criteria to get there. Mr. Speaker, any company in this province, in this country, anywhere in the world globally can simply go under our website and contact our ministry to get into consideration of these funds. So what the leader of the opposition is saying, Mr. Speaker, is unmitigated nonsense. These funds are offered to any company to apply to. But Mr. Speaker, we need to use these funds strategically to grow jobs. $145,000. Final supplementary. Again to the acting Premier, I will trust the Auditor General's report. Ten times out of ten by the ministry there was a noticeable lack of funding for forestry and mining projects. If you actually want to engage in a part of the province that needs it, there is a noticeable lack of funding for Northern Ontario. I guess the Premier or the minister didn't seem to want to invite Northern companies to apply. The ministry hasn't funded a Northern project for economic development through this fund since 2008. Mr. Speaker, why did the government ignore Northern Ontario? Was it because there was no liberal friendly companies in Northern Ontario? Minister, we have Northern Ontario Heritage Fund that continues to invest in the North. The member from Cinco Grave come to order and the member from Renfrew and Nipissing, Pam Brook, is warned. Finish, please. Enough fund, Mr. Speaker, continues to make investments in the North. Mr. Speaker, our Northern members have done a tremendous job in supporting the North. But the fact of the matter is, Mr. Speaker, I ask the Leader of the Opposition, take a look to the members on his right, the members on his left. Take a look around them. Not one of those members supported the $2.6 billion that we've invested to leverage $26 billion of private sector investment and create or retain 145,000 jobs in this province. That Leader of the Opposition has a tendency to change his mind from time to time. Are you with us in creating those 145,000 jobs? Are you with your colleagues, Mr. Speaker, who have opposed a reference to build this economy and create jobs every step of the way? Thank you. New question. The Leader of the Third Party. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Acting Premier. Can the Acting Premier tell Ontarians why she thinks Hydro One does not need public watchdogs? Good question. Thank you. Well, thank you, Speaker. I think we've had this debate in this House many times. We are committed to, Speaker, is building the infrastructure that this province needs, Speaker. And if you talk to municipal leaders across the province, if you talk to businesses across the province, if you talk to labour organisations whose members will be put to work because of these investments, you will all hear that we need to make the investments in infrastructure. We do have assets, Speaker. We are prepared to get the maximum costs so we can build new assets that are needed for today. That's an important initiative of this government, and we will continue to do it in a thoughtful, responsible way. Thank you. Ontario's Auditor General says that the government is keeping Ontarians in the dark about hydro costs. She says there's a lack of transparency, and the government isn't being upfront about why hydro costs so much. Now the Liberals, of course, are selling off and that's going to push bills even higher, Speaker. And instead of more oversight so that Ontarians get all the facts, the premier is shutting every public watch dog out of Hydro One. Can this acting premier explain how getting rid of public oversight will help what the auditor calls a lack of transparency? Wow. Mr. Energy. Mr. Speaker, with respect to the new modern Hydro One, in terms of how accountable they are to the public, one of the first things they were able to announce, Mr. Speaker, was that the timely issuance of accurate bills is the highest that has been in the history of Hydro One at a success rate of 99.8% Mr. Speaker. Wow. In addition, the number of customers currently experiencing delayed buildings has been reduced to 340 as of June from the peak of over 50,000 during the height of the billing issues, Mr. Speaker. In addition, Mr. Speaker, the present Hydro One under new management has a new CEO, has a new CFO, has a new chair of the board, Mr. Speaker, and they are extremely extremely sensitive to serving the public and putting customers first. Thank you. Supplementary. Mr. Speaker, how ironic. The minister gets up and lays all of these numbers out and he knows darn well that there is no opportunity whatsoever, forever for independent verification of what he says in the house because they took all of the watch stocks out of Hydro One. The government likes to go on and on for example and see that the OEB will protect the public interest speaker. I'd like to direct the acting premier's attention to page 219 of the auditor's report where it says, quote, the OEB, the protector of consumer interest, was not consulted with the sell off of Hydro One. Can the acting premier explain why this government is doing everything in its power to limit public oversight of Hydro One? Mr. Speaker, the Ontario Energy Board in addition to controlling the rates, Mr. Speaker also checks on the reliability factors, Mr. Speaker, the efficiency factors of Hydro One. Mr. Speaker, for those LDC's which Hydro One remains, Mr. Speaker they've increased the fine for non-compliance to $1 million per day, Mr. Speaker should Hydro One not be compliant in terms of reliability or under any other service requirements Mr. Speaker. There's tremendous accountability. There is a new ombudsman in place, Mr. Speaker who will report directly to the board and who can appeal to the Ontario Energy Board as a particular individual who complains, Mr. Speaker. So there is accountability. There's accountability under the securities which requires disclosure of salaries of senior managers, Mr. Speaker and many other accountability which I'll deal with later, Mr. Speaker. New question, the leader of the third party. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My next question is also for the acting premier. I have some other questions about the Auditor General's report. She said her significant concerns were over the context of the federal election campaign and the verbal exchanges between the premier and the prime minister and the fact that the advertising campaign was set to run right up to the federal election voting day that she was concerned that this added up to government funded partisan ads that ran during the federal election. Will this acting premier tell Ontarians did Ontario families pay for advertising that was helping the Liberal Party of Canada? Good question, Mr. Speaker. Well, thank you, Speaker and you know that as part of the 2015 budget we did make changes to the government advertising act, Speaker. We are very proud that we have banned partisan ads in this province and now we have clearly defined what a partisan ad is. I think all of us will remember back to the days when the government of Ontario, the taxpayers of Ontario paid for the then year of the province to attack teachers on television. I think we remember when Mike Harris stood in front of the camera and insulted those who teach our students, Speaker that kind of advertising is not allowed in this province anymore and I'm very proud of the changes that we have made, Speaker. So you will not see the premier will you will not see elected people in ads, there are other changes that we have made so that we do not have government funded taxpayer funded partisan ads. Thank you. Well, Speaker, it's a matter of government priorities. In 2013 new democrats fought to ensure that there was a five day home care guarantee. Instead the premier promised Ontarians a five day home care target but now we learn from the Auditor General that seniors are waiting 200 days for home care. We're used to this government talking about the health of Ontarians most vulnerable. Will the acting premier tell Ontarians why the government isn't keeping their promise of a five day home care wait time? How? Well, Mr Speaker, I think I missed the two supplementals from the first question but it seems like a completely different question. I'm happy to address the leader, the third party. So we are making important investments in home and community care, Mr Speaker. We're making more than $250 million of new investments in home and community care this year, next year, the year after. That's an important commitment as we transition Ontarians from hospitals into the home and community where they can be well cared for and where they want to be quite frankly. So these investments are important. The Auditor General, I welcome her report. As I welcomed her report on her CCACs earlier this year, I've indicated in the case of the September report, we're going to be implementing all of her recommendations we accept and are already working on the recommendations that she's provided in this update, Mr Speaker. Let me tie it all in for the Minister of Health and the acting premier and in fact the government. The Liberals spent public money on partisan ads to help the Federal Liberal Party, so says the Auditor. They are leaving seniors waiting 200 days for home care. They aren't protecting children at risk of child abuse in this province. They're causing energy rates to skyrocket, Speaker, and they're not protecting rate payers. This is one of the most damning Auditor reports I've seen at my time in Queens Park. The Liberals are failing on the fundamentals that people expect of their government, Speaker, while at the same time they're helping their own friends. When will this government take priority straight and start working for Ontario families? Be seated, please. Be seated, please. Thank you. The Minister of Economic Development and Infrastructure Employment will come to order and the Minister of Health has the floor. Well, thank you, Mr Speaker and Mr Speaker, we've as a result of guidance and reports and good advice including from Senator General, we've already begun to make important changes in our home and community care sector. 60% of those who benefit from home care in this province are seniors and that's an important constituency to make sure that we're providing the best possible, the highest quality of care for them. But I find it ironic this question coming from the leader of the third party, the same party when in government in the 1990s actually delisted home care from OHIP, Mr Speaker. and the party that took that move. I'm going to actually look at the advice that we got from experts like Gail Donner and Kevin Smith and others that provided us with advice earlier this year. The auditor general who provided those important recommendations. We're putting new money into home and community care to make sure that we're taking advantage of innovation and new technologies to provide that highest quality of care that we can that Ontarians deserve. Thank you. My question is for the recent reports that have come out which raised some serious questions about the lack of judgment, oversight and long term planning within the Ministry of Economic Development. The auditor general's report shows that this ministry is handing out taxpayer grants to companies up to $130,000 per job and doesn't even bother to monitor whether those jobs are retained or if the company is providing any economic value to the province of Ontario. Mr Speaker, this is your own fall economic statement slash jobs projections by 53,000 positions over the next two years alone. Will the minister admit that his scheme to pick winners and losers in its lack of oversight and judgment is costing Ontario jobs? The Ministry of Economic Development Employment and Infrastructure. Mr. Speaker, the allegations the members making are patently false. The fact of the matter is every contract we get into every dollar we put out in business supports is totally tied to job creation or job retention or the investments that the private sector partner is making. If they don't comply with their end of the bargain either the money doesn't flow because it often flows in phases or it gets clawed back. 94% of the investments we've made that have helped create 145,000 jobs in this province have met their objectives. That's a pretty good track record. Every one of those agreements comes with full accountability so the members' allegations are patently false Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Member from Hamilton Mountain come to order. Supplementary. Mr. Speaker, again to the minister in estimate committee two weeks ago the minister reassured myself and other members of our caucus had a stringent process for deciding on project funding yet the auditor's report clearly shows us that over 90% of companies never submitted documentation to show they even needed taxpayer money. It also highlighted numerous instances of companies closing soon after receiving funding or the government even writing off loans. Mr. Speaker using taxpayer dollars to hand out big checks to big companies that don't even need them to benefit the people of Ontario. It benefits liberal politicians who like favorable press releases. Mr. Speaker, how can people trust this government with their money when this minister is practicing crony capitalism instead of sound economic management? Mr. Speaker we've put into place a very stringent level of accountability both within the prioritization of these projects Mr. Speaker and the amount of information that companies have to share with us before they get approved only one in a hundred companies that have inquired through these funds actually makes it through the screen. We look at everything from whether the company would have made the investment in the first place to the rate of return for taxpayers to the level of investment that goes into productivity improvement to the level of investment that goes towards innovation to the level of investment that goes towards exporting. Mr. Speaker there is probably not a jurisdiction anywhere in North America if not anywhere in the world today that has a process Mr. Speaker that's that stringent. Mr. Speaker we continue to make these investments we're going to create jobs in this province the opposition might not be on site but workers in Ontario are Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker my question is for the Minister of Health the report from the Auditor General is a stinging indictment that this government's failure to protect our residents in long-term care homes the Auditor General said that the ministry takes up to nine months to investigate high-risk complaint which should be resolved in three days the backlog of critical inspection has more than double in the last two years and the result is that the Liberal Government is putting long-term care residents at risk and failing to ensure that their rights are protected those are not my word speakers those are the words of the Auditor General herself after so many warnings after so many promises to do better after so many excuses how can the minister defend the failures to protect our loved ones living in long-term care homes Mr. Speaker to the Associate Minister of Health and long-term care Thank you Mr. Speaker and I want to thank the member opposite for the question I also want to thank the Auditor General for her findings on the long-term care quality inspection programs Mr. Speaker we not only take the Auditor General's findings and recommendations seriously we have accepted all of her recommendations furthermore Mr. Speaker we have not only accepted all of her recommendations we are already implementing all of her recommendations we are doing this Mr. Speaker because we take the safety of our long-term care residents seriously I'm committed to improving on our performance and I'm pleased to report that all of her outstanding high-risk complaints as determined by the Auditor General have been inspected I just want to reiterate I want the people of Ontario to know the way to introduce the Auditor General Thank you Mr. Speaker the Liberals are failing some of the most vulnerable seniors in their province and their family who trust that the government should be looking out for their well-being of long-term care residents it should never take months and close to a year to follow up on high-risk complaints those are complaints of sexual harassment complaints of physical abuse it should never be the case that a residence actually passed away before the Ministry Act on their concern and when complaints increased by 47% like it is the case in London this government should not shrug his shoulders and say all is good they should figure out what was wrong when will the Minister stop trying to defend the failures of this Liberal government and start standing up for the right of long-term care residents Thank you Mr. Speaker Associate Minister Thank you Mr. Speaker again as I said we not only take the Auditor General's recommendations seriously we are already implementing those recommendations and work has been well under way on this and the reason we are already implementing these recommendations is we do find us finding seriously we take them seriously and we are committed to the safety of our long-term care residents Mr. Speaker I also want to take the opportunity to thank our frontline inspectors for their work in inspecting our long-term care homes while we acknowledge we must do better Mr. Speaker I am pleased that the Auditor General has acknowledged and I quote the Ministry's new comprehensive inspection process was an improvement over its previous inspection program and that the inspection process is more extensive than those in other provinces That said Mr. Speaker we must do better and we will do better Thank you Thank you Mr. Speaker Thank you Mr. Speaker My question is for the Minister of Economic Development Employment and Infrastructure in Paris will conclude this week on December 11 and while putting a price on carbon has become a priority for countries and jurisdictions around the world I of course believe that there is more that we need to be doing acting collectively to deal with the trajectory of climate change As a physician I know particularly about the effects on human health of unregulated emissions water pollution and air that is slowly being poisoned I believe there are also economic opportunities for our province if we find ways to lead in the development of clean technology Speaker what is the Minister doing to tackle these issues Thank you Minister of Economic Development Employment and Infrastructure is absolutely right tackling climate change will require more than the efforts of our government to put a price on carbon I'm with Bill Gates on this and commend him and business leaders around the world for forming an international business coalition called the Breakthrough Energy Coalition Their goal is to invest a billion dollars in technologies that will help solve the climate change challenge When this government made the decision to eliminate coal and move Ontario's power efforts fostered a clean tech sector in Ontario Ontario now is one of the fastest growing and competitive clean tech sectors in the world and we've taken a number of measures Mr. Speaker that support the growth in this area the Ontario Innovation Demonstration Fund the Ontario Emerging Technologies Fund Advanced Manufacturing Fund are just a few Mr. Speaker of the areas where we've worked in this sector I'm excited about the growth of Ontario's clean tech sector in Ontario Thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you Minister for your action on this file in fact the clean tech industry is a notable economic growth opportunity for Ontario we're home to about 3,000 clean technology companies that employ more than 65,000 people Speaker we are already global leaders in this developing field Our partnership with clean tech venture capitalists for example Tom Rand has also been beneficial along with Green Energy and Economy Act the most progressive piece of climate change legislation in North America but the opportunity speaker in this industry for Ontario continue to accelerate what is this government doing speaker to help our clean tech industry go global Thank you Minister I think the members absolutely right to mention the important contribution that innovators like Tom Rand are making in growing our clean tech sector I firmly believe that supporting Ontario's clean tech sector will not only help solve climate change it will also grow a globally competitive clean tech sector here in Ontario and going global is absolutely crucial to those efforts in our recent trade missions to China we've helped advance that goal the advanced energy centre and water tap signed important agreements to open doors to deploy Ontario energy and water technologies in China Canadian solar signed an agreement worth over $700 million with Chinese officials that makes the member from Guelph very happy hydrogenic signed agreements to supply fuel cell technology for public transportation buses in China we're committed to building a highly competitive clean tech sector in Ontario and we're committed to taking it global Thank you Thank you Mr Speaker my question is for the Minister of Economic Development the minister has a wide reach of responsibility to ensure that sound business decisions are made to grow Ontario's economy, overall employment and infrastructure the Auditor General's report remarked that the minister has a mandate to cover all of Ontario the minister's own mandate letter from the Premier task him to support communities still suffering from the global recession and listen to this part particularly in northern Ontario Well Speaker I guess the minister missed the mark on this front the ministry funded a business project in northern Ontario was 2008 that's so long that this minister can't even take credit for Mr Speaker it's been seven years since this government used the economic development capital fund to fund a project in northern Ontario How much longer do people in businesses of northern Ontario have to wait I think I better refer this to the minister of economic development in minds Minister northern development in minds First of all our ministry works incredibly closely with the ministry of economic development infrastructure and employment on a number of projects that is certainly our long term vision for the economic growth in northern Ontario but what we are most proud of is the northern Ontario heritage fund a 100 million dollar fund that has been put in place from $60 million a year to $100 million a year that over the last 10 years we've been able to create or retain over 25,000 jobs 25,000 jobs as a result of a private sector capital expansion public sector projects that have gone in place the member for Perry Salomon knows that very well he hasn't always been 100% supportive of the projects that have even gone into his own life thank you supplementary the speaker qualifying for an NOHFC grant does not disqualify northern Ontario businesses from accessing economic development fund dollars according to the auditor general's report the ministry does not consider northern companies big enough to warrant funding nor do they generally fund projects in the important northern sectors of mining and forestry what does this mean for northern speaker it means that last year Arcland closed its doors in north bay means Sudbury's unemployment rate rose by 2% last year and means cliffs left millions of dollars invested in the ring of fire on the table just to get out of Ontario I would hardly call that economic development speaker will the minister commit to fulfilling the mandate spelled out by the premier to provide economic development funding to northern Ontario thank you thank you I am tempted to give the minister natural resources and forestry an opportunity to respond because I know what he would want to say is how pleased he is that the ministry of natural resources and forestry is now part of the jobs and prosperity fund all across the province a huge commitment for our government 200 million dollars indeed and may I say when one looks at the commitment we made on the northern highways program 1 billion dollars over the last 10 years that's gone to northern Ontario the member across there the hall here or whatever he understands how important that is in terms of economic development all across the north and again we are so proud over 1 billion dollars over the last 10 years invested through the northern Ontario heritage fund corporation which has actually leveraged about 3.1 billion dollars in dollars spent on northern projects and the private sector which that party actually withdrew from entirely or the public sector which we contain as a thank you new question the member from Hamilton my question is for the minister of Children and New Services last week when I asked about children being placed in homes with people who have a history of child abuse the minister said she is going to issue another directive well speaker if the issue we have a hard time believing that simply issuing another directive is going to fix these very serious problems not to mention the minister claimed that she was surprised by the AG's findings speaker it's the minister's responsibility to know what's going on in her own portfolio we need real action to protect our most vulnerable kids in care not more talk will the minister please explain to vulnerable kids how issuing another directive is going to keep them safe thank you minister responsible children and new services thank you speaker and again I want to say I take the recommendations of the auditor general very seriously and while she has noted significant progress since the last audit I fully recognize there's more work to do and we are already addressing a number of things with respect to improving the child welfare system with respect to the registry checks although directors were previously issued it is most unfortunate that that does not seem to be happening in some cases and and anything less than that is not good enough speaker so I'll be instructing boards of all CAS's to develop a quality improvement plan regarding a number of issues associated with the auditor general's report and requiring that they supply those plans to the ministry and if I'm not satisfied with that there will be more action taken I should hear from the minister's response she absolutely has no idea what's going on in this file the same issues were highlighted in the 2006 auditor general's report and they've gotten worse this government is failing kids in Ontario that are in care they're placing them with known child abusers not implementing recommendations that follow the death of child in care not doing background you should pay attention not doing background tax for people who work with kids in care closing cases too soon taking seven months to complete investigations of abuse speaker the ministry needs to end the minister need to take responsibility over this file and ensure that they are protecting kids in care in this province which she has failed to do I take my job extremely seriously as the minister of children use services and nothing of more computer systems so there's one record for every child in this province we've introduced performance indicators and speaker I will be following up on the very specific things the auditor general talked about last week how long does it take investigations to be completed why are they being released what's going on with checking the child registry these are the questions I'm putting before the child children's aid societies I'll be meeting with the association of children's aid societies a week today and I'll be taking further action Mr. Speaker my question is to the Associate Minister of Finance Minister my constituents are very pleased to see our governments continued progress on building the Ontario retirement pension plan many individuals including my children and their friends are spoken to me about the challenges they face in saving for retirement and the ways they will benefit from the ORPP they know the plan will help ease the anxiety they have about achieving financial security in their golden years Mr. Speaker last week's fall economic statement highlighted a number of important steps our government is taking to build a best in class plan that will enhance retirement security for Ontarians Mr. Speaker through you to the Minister could you please update the House on the recent progress made in the ORPP Thank you Thank you Mr. Speaker and I want to thank the member from Barrie for this important question in the recent fall economic statement our government announced the appointment of the initial board of directors for the Ontario retirement pension plan administrative corporation which will be a professional and arms length entity the board will be led by Susan Walberg-Jenna who will serve as chair Murray Gold and Richard Nesbitt members of the initial board were recruited based on their expertise, experience and leadership each board member brings a diversity of experience in key areas including investment and asset management pension administration legal and regulatory compliance and financial operations and management Mr. Speaker we are very pleased to put in place the strong leadership that will be instrumental to strengthening retirement security for the people of Ontario Thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you to the Minister for that response I know my constituents will be pleased to learn that our government has a highly skilled and experienced initial board at the helm of this very important administrative entity Mr. Speaker again through you to the Associate Minister of Finance I know the government passed legislation to establish the ORPPAC earlier this spring this legislation outlined a number of responsibilities of the ORPPAC with regards to administering the plan in conversation I've had with people in my writing some people still think that the government will be responsible for managing the ORPP contributions I know the government has corrected the record on this myth a number of times Mr. Speaker can the Minister please confirm what role the ORPP AC will have with regards to the administration and implementation of the ORPP Thank you Minister I want to once again thank the hardworking member from Barrie for that question the ORPP AC as an independent arms length entity will be responsible for the administration of the plan for the benefit of the members of the plan it will be responsible for the eligible employers collecting and investing contributions administering benefits and communicating with employers and members the board will oversee the start-up activities of the administrative corporation this is central to achieving our goal of ensuring that by 2020 all Ontario workers are covered by the ORPP or a comparable workplace plan Mr. Speaker we believe that after a lifetime of hard work and contributing to the economy of our retirement I am confident that these individuals with their skills and expertise will be able to help millions of Ontarians achieve just that Thank you My question to the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services Minister you continue to have a crisis in corrections Last Wednesday inmates at the Toronto South Detention Center fired throwing fireballs at officers and setting cells of fire causing five correctional officers to be hospitalized and dozens of staff treated for smoke inhalation smoke filled all 10 floors of tower A to quote a reliable source we were very fortunate that no one died in the incident Minister emergency safeguards were not working the building automation system was inactive the fire suppression system while being reset prevented the Toronto fire service from responding immediately fast acting staff and bypass management delays to rescue and separate inmates can the minister finally take the situation seriously and put in place management that will respect the staff and inmates in an act required safety protocols Thank you very much our entire correctional staff both the management and correctional officers who work extremely hard every single day and in that particular instance they may show that all safety protocols were followed to make sure that nobody was seriously hurt that is why we of course focus so much on training and ensuring that when incidents like these occur that as they could occur in any large facility that there is appropriate steps that are taken immediately to ensure that both to protect the health and safety of our correctional staff but also that of inmates and in this particular instance speaker I thank all our correctional staff both management and correctional officers for the right steps they took to ensure that the facility is safe and inmates and staff are safe as well thank you Thank you speaker back to the minister taking time bombs continue to explode at TSDC late November an officer had a harrowing experience the officer had just stepped into the elevator when she was thrown into darkness with a power failure that caused the elevator to drop three floors with great speed and then suddenly stop the elevator doors didn't open as they should have in a power failure instead the elevator dropped further the elevator was quite shaken and could only think that the elevator would plummet the entire 10 stories speaker the minister's government is not taking these issues seriously instead of doing the right thing they put a gag order on staff so the public does not hear these horror stories speaker when will the minister do his job to get this place fixed up to the standards it was designed to be at level let me make it absolutely very clear that I and this government take our job extremely seriously and when it comes to the health and safety of our correctional staff and that of inmates there's nothing more important element than that and that is why speaker we make appropriate investments in training in fact speaker as you as I mentioned before in this house our big focus is around information of correctional services just last Friday speaker we hired another hired and trained another 92 correctional officers they came through our college speaker which are being dispersed all across the province speaker that brings the total of hiring in last two years to 571 new correctional officers and will be hiring more with appropriate training speaker thank you and your question the leader of the third party thank you speaker my questions for the premier on Wednesday we learned that the liberals freeze on hospital funding will force st. joseph's hospital st. joseph's health care in hamilton to cut a staggering $26 million from next year's budget there is no way to cut another $26 million from the hospital's budget without hurting patient care and on friday we saw only the first sign of these deep cuts when we learned that the seven bed mental health unit will be shut down and 12 full time jobs will be eliminated it's just the start of deep cuts to the health care services that families in hamilton rely on will this liberal government do the right thing and stop the $26 million cut to st. joseph's health care and start supporting mental health services instead of cutting them speaker this was health long term care well thank you mr speaker I appreciate the question because it allows me to provide additional clarity to the decision that has been made by st. joseph's hospital in hamilton and to start off it's important to note very specifically that the beds in question remain fully available to the health care system on a go forward basis these beds will be added to the system as patient demand rises and also if there becomes a need in acute or in long term care within the hospital these beds can and will also be made available for that purpose so the greater flexibility with regards to these beds in question which will remain available actually will allow the hospital to provide the important care for the individual that needs it at that moment in time mr speaker this government is squeezing the hospitals and putting them between a rock and a hard place when it comes to patient care the liberals talk a good game about mental health but here's what people see forced by the liberals to cut 26 million dollars st. joseph says it's entering a period of quote extreme cost restraint and frontline health care workers say they are quote being crushed by these provincial funding cuts we all know that the most vulnerable patients and their families will pay the price for deep health care cuts it means longer wait times and more stress for workers but the liberals don't seem to care speaker when will this liberal government wake up to the damage that it is causing do the right thing for families and put a stop to these deep cuts to frontline health care in hamilton and right across the province of Ontario well mr speaker in fact in the last decade we have in hamilton alone we've increased the number of mental health beds forensic mental health beds by 42 percent in that location alone and our investment province wide and mental health has almost doubled from half a billion dollars to a billion dollars mr speaker we're absolutely committed to mental health and addictions programs and support we're increasing that on an annual basis mr speaker and in fact i think the member opposite would agree that often outcomes are better within the community and so supporting those community mental health organizations and the beds that they provide is also important we've increased that amount significantly to 62 million dollars in hamilton we've opened 498 new beds in hamilton mr speaker and redeveloped an additional 224 beds in hamilton in the last decade sometimes the community is the best place to take care of these individuals and provide the supports that they need thank you new question the member from Davenport thank you mr speaker and my question is about transportation quite often in this house we speak about the importance of transit for those living in our communities in my own community of Davenport using transit is a way of life we use it to get to work every day and back home to our families in the evenings but mr speaker transit is not only an important mode of transportation for those living in my community it is also a critical instrument that we can use as a government to help combat climate change the minister recently made an important announcement about the gas tax program can the minister please tell members of this house more about this announcement and how it will positively impact the environment thank you minister transportation thanks very much speaker i want to begin by thanking the outstanding member from Davenport for her question for her champion for her community and for her advocacy speaker it's a very important question she's a hundred percent right speaker just a number of days ago i was in Durham to announce that our government yes Durham Durham which includes the wonderful communities of Dopey and Ajax and Pickering and other speaker in Clarrington and Bowmanville i was happy to be there to announce that our government is providing Ontario municipalities with over three hundred and thirty two million dollars in gas tax funding this year that's eleven million more this year speaker versus last year our gas tax program speaker helps eligible municipalities improve and expand their transit services specifically it allows them to increase accessibility by more transit vehicles add more routes and extend hours of service making it easier for people to use public transit and make new choices last year alone speaker there was an increase of more than two hundred and seventeen million passenger trips on municipal transit systems compared to two thousand thank you supplementary thank you speaker and i want to thank the minister for his response i know that those living in my community will be glad to hear that our government is both investing in Ontario municipalities and helping the environment through the gas tax program but mr speaker we know that there is always a risk that transportation related emissions could increase if we do not help Ontarians make greener choices my community of Davenport wants to know that our government is committed to making those investments in transit and transportation that will help protect our environment mr speaker minister please tell members of this house what other investments our government is making to help us reach our sustainability targets thank you minister thank you very much speaker i thank the member from Davenport for her follow-up question our government is committed to making those crucial investments that support ghg emission speaker reduction speaker through the use of public transit and other congestion reducing measures that's why we continue to deliver on this province promise by investing in transit and other services that we have to do with our infrastructure and the infrastructure that we are is off our roads whether it's added go service on the kitchen or line speaker from mount pleasant to union station which will turn more drivers into transit users or through important initiatives like cycle on which are helping to reduce emissions and keep Ontarians active we've also introduced the electric vehicle incentive program and the electric vehicle charging incentive to reduce how important public transit is to managing congestion which is why we will continue to make those investments that will make a positive impact on our environment and I thank the member from Davenport for her advocacy on behalf of her constituents thank you speaker my questions to the minister of transportation this morning the transportation minister unveiled his liberal government's latest plan to dig into our wallets to pay on the backs of Ontario motorists asking us to pay again for the privilege of driving on our own roads the minister can frame it whatever way he says to motorist options but when it comes down to it the lanes he is designating for tools are the same lanes taxpayers have already paid for minister why are you making Ontarians pay twice to drive on roads that we've already paid for well mr. Speaker I know that I made the announcement about two hours ago it's unfortunate that the member from Kitchener Conestugo didn't take the time to actually look at the announcement itself speaker and would rather as is typical for that member and for that conservative party play politics with an important issue what I announced this morning speaker is that no general purpose lanes in the provincial highway network will be removed or converted in order to deliver on our HOT plane that means that any individual who currently drives in a general purpose lane will continue to have that opportunity going forward speaker at the same time anybody who chooses to carpool speaker will be and that's carpooling with two or more people in the vehicle will be able to use the HOT lanes just as they can currently use HOVs for a free speaker what this announcement is all about today speaker is making sure that motorists across our region have more options for the congestion challenge that we have in the GTHA and across the province our government under our premier has a plan to move the province forward I'd love one day thank you speaker it may be it may be the QEW today but we all know we'll be seeing HOT lanes on our 400 series as the minister pushes his latest revenue tool down our roads the minister may want to boast about their hot lane bling the Ontario residents shouldn't have to pay for it speaker in the last year we've been told the wind liberal transit plan will be funded by everything from the hydro one sell off to green bonds today we're told it's hot lanes but we all know when the tolls start rolling in they'll be headed to pay for government mismanagement and excess will the minister guarantee us today that not one cent of these highway tolls will pay for anything other than transit thank you well speaker as I said this morning when I made the announcement I'll be back in the spring with an update regarding the QEW pilot that we're going to be running as it relates to high occupancy tolls speaker but what's interesting I think for everybody here in this chamber and of course those watching at home speaker is that in his opportunity to stand up in a supplementary and shine speaker and to show the people of his own caucus and to show his leader that that member from Kitchener has a plan to build this province up in terms of infrastructure and transit or that that leader speaker has an opportunity to present a plan for building the province up that time after time after time day after day in this legislature and in talking to media they refuse to talk about what their plan is to move the province forward speaker we're investing in transportation we're investing in infrastructure we're putting more choices on the road we're alleviating congestion and we've got the right premier one day maybe that member will stand up and do the same thing can you see anything a member from Prince Edward Hastings new question the member from Welling my question to the acting premier in the 2015 speech from the throne the Trudeau government committed to not and I quote unquote resort to devices like omnibus bills to avoid scrutiny that wasn't the case with the liberals here speaker instead the liberal government buried what they knew was going to be a problem into their harper style omnibus budget bill by introducing conservative legislation that releases a single company corporate giant alistan from its 60 year obligation to hire unionized workers in this province speaker the thousands of affected trades people here in the province are and should likely be concerned when the minister of labor continually refers to an agreement that was never ratified well the acting premier strike down the alistan schedule from bill 144 thank you minister of labor thanks once again to the member that's taken such an interest in this issue as we all are what we've done with this legislation speaker is address an anonymity an anonymous anomaly that impacts a single company and no other in this province speaker what we brought forward is a practical solution a way of achieving that solution after consultation with the parties that are involved in this speaker in the past what we would have had go forward is a solution to this problem that would have served the interests of one side but gave nothing to the other side I think most people in this house agree speaker that if we're going to resolve this issue that's been around since the 1950s we need to do it in a way that both sides come out of this with something speaker what we put forward in the bill what I propose to put in the regulation as it moves forward speaker is formed on the basis of what was an arbitrator's report to me I plan to frame the regulation around that arbitrator's report thank you thank you speaker yes earlier the member from Essex introduced two members of Unifor local 444 visiting from Windsor they've been joined by a third I'd like to welcome Manny Cardoso here welcome to Queen's Park time for question period is over there being no deferred votes this house stands recessed until 1pm this afternoon