 It is now time for oral questions, and I recognize the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Thank you so much, Speaker. Speaker, in every corner of this province, people are watching with dread as COVID-19 surges back. And once again, the province scrambles to react. On July 14th, nearly 70 days ago, the Premier declared that he had a detailed plan to deal with a likely second wave. In fact, he said, and I quote, I just got off a call with our health team and some of the best medical minds in the entire country, and that will be rolling out very shortly over the next little while. We are prepared. 70 days ago, that's what he said. Why did the Premier claim he had a detailed plan and then fail to produce one? Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. Well, thank the leader very much for the official opposition for the question. We are prepared. We have had a plan prepared since July 30th. This was a long time ago. Of course, we are ready to roll it out imminently. It is dealing with all of the issues that people are concerned about, dealing with testing, dealing with lab volumes, making sure that we can continue with the policies and the procedures and surgeries that had to be postponed during wave one, dealing with the upcoming flu season, and making sure that we have the health human resources to be able to deal with a surge in cases, both in our hospitals, in our long-term care homes, as well as in home and community care. There is a plan. It is ready to go and it is going to be released immediately. The supplementary question. Well, Speaker, parents missing a day of work to stand in line with children for eight hours to get tested, or learning this week that their child's school is yet the latest one to be in an outbreak, don't need a government that promises a plan. They need a government that has a plan. The Premier claimed that he was ready with the plan months ago. The minister is claiming that there is a plan that was ready months ago. So why then does the government claim that they would be rolling out this plan back in July, and yet to this very moment we have yet to see a plan? Well, kids are going to school and outbreaks are happening, and while parents are waiting literally hours and hours and sometimes days on end in lines for testing. There is a plan, a complete comprehensive plan dealing with all of the issues that we need to face for potential wave two of COVID-19. It is ready to go and as a matter of fact it is being implemented as we speak. One of the issues that has arisen is the need for further testing. We are doing further testing as I indicated. Last week we are prepared to move up to 50,000 tests within the next week or so if we need to. On Saturday we reached 40,000 tests in one day. That is a record for Ontario. We are moving forward. We have increased. We exceeded our capacity at 25,000 tests. We are now at 40,000 and we will be very shortly at 50,000 tests. But with respect to the issue that the member has raised concerning the long lineups in testing, I can speak to the fact that we have significantly increased our capacity in a number of areas. I will deal with the east region because I have heard a lot about Ottawa. We have increased significantly. I will speak further about that in my supplementary. Thank you. The final supplementary. Well, Speaker, when parents have to line up with sick children for hours and hours on end just at a chance to get a test result, something is absolutely not working. On July 7, in a response to an NDP question, the Minister of Health admitted that we would need much more testing come the fall. And promised, promised that as part of that second wave, their detailed second wave plan for the fall, that testing would be increased by 50 or up to rather 50,000 tests a day. And we're not there yet. So there's something wrong with the minister's claims and the Premier's claims that they made back in July. If the government had a detailed plan, Speaker, why are parents waiting and waiting and waiting in eight-hour lineups with their kids and sometimes still not getting the test they need? Response? Well, the plan is substantive. It is comprehensive. It is actually being rolled out. Witnessed by the fact that we reached 40,000 tests on Saturday. We are well on our way to getting to 50,000 tests. And we're going to increase from there. But with respect to the issue of the lineups, we have increased significantly. We are planning a new location for Campville. Throughout the region, we have additional paramedic crews for surge testing and assessment. The Brewer Park Arena, which serves both Chihua and the Ottawa hospital, it's a new location and increased capacity, plus 33% by October 1st, plus 63% by October 31st. Mount General Hospital has increased capacity hours and is up by 140%. We anticipate that we will have a 133% increase in testing by September 30th and a 60% increase planned for the whole region very shortly thereafter. So the plan is there. The plan is working. We are getting to the testing that we need and we are shortening the lineups. Very much. Next question. Again, the leader of the opposition. I'm sure it's September 21st and I hope the minister realizes that the plan should have been in place and acted upon already. But, Speaker, my next question is also for the Premier. You know, thousands of people with loved ones in long-term care were told this spring that they were going to have no expense spared to protect their loved ones. This was a promise that the Premier made back in the spring. No money would be spared to protect people in long-term care. Today, the Globe and Mail reports that for three months the government has refused to act on recommendations from senior experts in infectious disease in order to build what we need in terms of prevention and infection control in our long-term care homes. My question to the Premier is, can the Premier explain why he has not acted on the recommendations of his own experts? Minister of Long-Term Care. Thank you, Speaker, and thank you for that question. I want to assure all Ontarians that action is being taken. It is actually, we have a situation in Ottawa where three homes, two particularly of concern. And I want to make sure that Ontarians understand that 99.7% of our homes are managing very well with COVID-19. So our attention is focused in an integrated effort with the Ottawa hospital, the medical officer of health in Ottawa, taking every measure possible and making sure that the dollars flow, the $243 million that was set aside and allocated for improved staffing, surge capacity, infection and prevention control. We've taken regulatory amendments, three packages of those, four emergency orders. And our IPAC specialists going in, April 15th is we had an action plan ready to go. And I can start to list the homes and the hospital partnerships. I'd be happy to clarify this misunderstanding. A supplementary question. Well, Speaker, there can be no doubt whatsoever that we are definitely in the midst of a second wave. And once again, long-term care homes are largely unprotected. Three months, rather three more residents, you'll know I spoke about this last week, three more residents have died at West End Villa in Ottawa just over this past weekend. That brings the number to 11 deaths in that facility. 61 residents now have COVID-19 in that facility. Facilities across the province are scrambling, scrambling to find enough staff. You know, experts have been clear on the need for infection control within long-term care and a plan to deal with the dangerous, dangerous lack of staffing that has existed for a very long time in long-term care. So why are seniors in long-term care, Speaker, still waiting, still waiting for the government to act on recommendations that were made three months ago, three months ago by their own experts on long-term care? Thank you, Speaker, and thank you for the question. Actions are being taken and they have been taken all along. Our IPAC program, part of our action plan from April, are absolutely clear and proof that our homes are getting infection prevention and control efforts and getting the expertise from the local hospitals. I have said many times here in this chamber this is an integrated response between hospitals, Medical Officers of Health, Public Health Ontario, the Chief Medical Officer of Health, Ontario Health, the Ministry of Long-Term Care, the Ministry of Health. And so for a few examples, I can tell you that the homes are getting support and over the last few months Downsview and Humber River Hospital have been partnered. River Glenholm and Southlake, Forest Heights and Mary's Hospital, Woodbridge, Vista and William Osler, Altamont and Scarborough Health Network. Response? Eatonville, Unity Health, Extendicare, Guildwood, Orchardville, Lakeridge, Villa Colombo, Humber River Hospital, Hawthorne, Place, North York General, the Ottawa Hospital and our homes in Ottawa. So I can tell you. Thank you. Thank you very much. And the final supplementary. Speaker, with all due respect, hospitals are scrambling to take care of procedures and surgeries that were cancelled during the first wave. They are concerned about the flu that's coming forward soon. This minister seems to not realize that hospitals are not going to be there to save the day like they were last time because they have so much on their plate right now with a broken hospital system that existed before. But over 1,850 people have lost their lives to COVID-19 in long-term care during this pandemic thus far. This wasn't inevitable by any mean speaker. It was the result of a long, broken long-term care system. The Premier has talked about fixing that system, but spent the summer campaigning instead of preparing and implementing a plan that his own health experts, his own infectious controls experts have provided him back in three months ago. And at what point then, Speaker, at what point will this Premier actually understand that families desperately need a government that doesn't wait for disaster to hit but they actually start planning for that disaster before it hits? Again, the minister of long-term care. Thank you, Speaker. And thank you once again for the question. The plan is ongoing. We are continuing to be adaptable and vigilant. There is ongoing surveillance in our long-term care homes. We are increasing the layers of protection for our homes, whether it is a mandatory management order or a volunteer management agreement or whether it's getting infection and prevention and control and making sure that our staff in long-term care have N95s and access to those, making sure that our communications and the homes have proper communication with family members, getting our caregivers back into the homes. But I remind you, only three homes out of 626 long-term care homes in Ontario have more than three cases. And in two of those three, we are actively engaged. That's 99.7% of long-term care homes in Ontario are managing very, very well. The homes that are not, we are making sure every bit of effort, every time that we have, is focused on those homes. It is an integrated effort, and we will continue to fight COVID. Thank you very much. The next question, the member for Nickel Belt. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Premier. Over the weekend, we learned of three more tragic deaths at West End Villa, a long-term care home in Ottawa, operated by Extended Care, a for-profit corporation. Workers at the homes are coming forward telling us that they could not and cannot access proper personal protective equipment. The Premier has been told over and over that overworked staff in long-term care homes were not able to access the equipment they needed to protect themselves and their residents. And he promised that it would never happen again. Why is it that the staff at this long-term care home are still coming forward telling us that they are not able to access the personal protective equipment that they need to stay safe? Mr. Long-term Care. Thank you, Speaker, and thank you once again for that question. And my heart goes out to everyone who has lost a loved one. And I can assure this Chamber and Ontarians that West End Villa has the PPE that it requires, including N95s, available to the staff to use. We are absolutely 24 hours a day helping this home, making sure that it has staffing. The Public Health Ontario, our Medical Officer of Health, I've been in constant contact over the weekend and for weeks, making sure that this home has the support that it needs. And I'm going to mention again the comment that I made here in this Chamber last week, that what is happening in our long-term care homes in terms of the spread of COVID and COVID getting into our homes is a reflection of what's happening in the community. Ottawa is struggling to keep its numbers down. Our Medical Officer of Health is doing everything possible. We will continue to have an integrated approach and long-term care will stay our focus and we will fight COVID in those homes. Thank you very much. And the supplementary question. Thank you, Speaker. When the cameras were on, the Premier talked about the changes that are needed in our long-term care home. But once the cameras were off, he seems to listen to the well-connected Conservative lobbyists working for a corporation like Extended Care. Meanwhile, staff are left scrambling, overwork, underpaid, and without the PPE they needed to stay safe. On Friday, the Premier told us he said, I wanted long-term care operator to take responsibility. But what about the Premier taking his responsibility? When will the Premier take any responsibility at all for the fact that, first, workers still cannot access proper protective equipment? And second, seniors or loved ones are still dying of COVID in our long-term care homes. Minister of Long-Term Care. Thank you, Speaker, and thank you for the question. We need to deal with the facts. And the fact is that our long-term care homes in Ontario are receiving the PPE they need. They have the PPE they require, including N95s. I have been absolutely clear on this over the weekend, making sure that that is the case, despite the politics done by the opposition, I want to deal with the facts. And the facts are that our long-term care homes have the PPE that they need. Most of them have a weak supply, and we are making sure that that is absolutely accurate. I have been on this. I know what is true. And despite the politicking that is going on in this chamber, I will continue to tell that Stop the clock. Ask the Premier to withdraw his unparliamentary remark. Who me? Yeah, okay. Withdraw. I don't know what I'm withdrawing, but I'm withdrawing. So the procedure for withdrawal is to stand in your place and withdraw without qualifications. I'm going to ask the Premier again to withdraw without qualifications. Order. Order. Order. Order. Order. Order. Order. Order. Order. Order. Order. Order. Order. Order. Order. Order. social media showed something out of a movie with rows and rows of packed car and individual crowds this was reckless dangerous selfish by this person to the health and the safety and the sacrifice and endured for month by my constituents and all individuals who have displayed discipline in stopping the spread unfortunately since that time we have seen and heard the most stories like this from many young individuals across this province premier with 425 cases reported question the highest since June 6 what is our government doing to ensure that the wild house parts like this we have seen are stopped and those who think they're above the law thank you very much supreme here to reply I want to I want to thank the member from Miss Saga Malton for doing such a great job and I appreciate what they're doing I hear an echo mr. Speaker but I guess they get away with it as I stated previously when individuals are reckless and there's a small group there's always a small group of bad apples out there that want to ignore the health and safety of the people in peel and right across this province by recklessly holding these backyard barbecues and I'm not talking about 10 or 12 or 13 people mr. Speaker I'm talking a hundred and 150 people out there hooting and hollering having a great old time that's fine I'm not against having great old time what I'm against is when they're having great old time not socially distancing not masking and not not following the guidelines from the chief medical officer what we've done we've introduced amendments to the re-opening Ontario act to set a minimum fine at $10,000 for any organizer that's holding these parties and anyone that attends a seven hundred and fifty dollar fine mr. Speaker and hopefully that will we the party doors thank you thank you mr. Speaker my supplement question is also to the premier premier I want to echo your statement as well we need everyone to be pulling in the same direction and thank you for your leadership during this tough times any increase or search in a case number means that more resources are required in the hospital put our seniors and most vulnerable at risk and hurts our businesses and everyone who have sacrificed so much during this time this represents real impact to everyone involved and those we care deeply since the stricter enforcement measures were put in place Brampton alone in have seen 59 individuals receive summons for fines up to 100,000 and the city has issued over 700 tickets for the infractions related to COVID violations just this past Saturday Hamilton and GTA police officers had to take time in a coordinated effort to shut down a 500 person important car show that had been organized speaker question can the premier please share the legislature further information about what these measures will mean for our fight against COVID-19 thank you the premier well again thank thank the member from Malton and I agree with the mr. Speaker vast majority of everyone is pushing in the same direction you have a couple bad apples that don't want to follow the rules some other people want to play politics instead of supporting her but that that's here and there no there mr. Speaker this targeted action is a direct response to the latest data which we've seen that tells us that increased cases are result of private and social gatherings large social gatherings and the new limits don't apply they don't apply to law-abiding responsible restaurant owners banquet halls any other organizations or companies that fall the guidelines I think we've all went in to support a restaurant and the guidelines are incredible they're following the guidelines following the protocols that this is what we need the rest of the public to do stop on the massive social gatherings as we saw in a encaster and I'll be addressing that at my press conference thank you thank you speaker my question is to the premier according to the peel district school boards website as of today there are total 30 reported infections at public schools across the region and those numbers are increasing daily speaker all of us parents educators and students tried to go into the new school year hoping for the best the government knew that kids were going back to class in September but the reality is that they were unprepared for this return to the classroom peel region and the city of brampton simply do not have the dedicated resources they need from the province to fight this crisis and to prevent the crisis that's unfolding in our classrooms every day speaker I receive calls and I know people across the province are receiving calls from students and parents who are upset and confused by this government's broken back to school plan in our community they're waiting hours in in line for tests question and this government so unprepared to manage the crisis in our classrooms thank you very much Mr. Speaker and thank you to member opposite for the question over the weekend I joined Dr. Yaffe where I facilitated calls with the directors of education the chairs of education and the local health authority we spoke with Dr. Lowe Dr. Mao as well from the as the associate medical officers of health and peel likewise the directors the public and Catholic school boards and chairs the message was one of unanimity that we are working together to reduce the risk of transmission our community which by extension can and will enter our schools what we've heard from the chief medical officers and peel was a message that the system of outbreak is working our outbreak protocols working if I could listen to other medical officers across the province Dr. Charles Carter of Simcoe, Muskoka Medical Officer of Health said and I quote I think the outbreak protocol plan is well-crafted for example speaker Dr. Kergy of Ottawa says the issues of returning our schools is something we could all agree is unanimous and extended support for outbreak management protocol we put the resources response training in place and we will continue to everything we possibly can including growing our testing capacity to respond to the risk within our communities and the supplementary question. Thank you speaker we all want our kids to be able to go back to school but this is simply not happening parents also thought that they had option speaker if they didn't feel safe enough to send their children to school they had the option to enroll them online in peel we saw numbers of 10,000 plus students enrolling online and now what we're hearing is that those students are waiting until late November in order to access virtual learning options because of this government's backlog and lack of resources people are waiting too long to access education in our communities the opposition has been asking the premier and this government for weeks and yet there is still no plan in place reducing social gatherings but still cramming 30 plus students into our classrooms is not the answer to stop the second wave why won't this premier cap class sizes so that 15 students are what is limited inside of our schools thank you well mr. Speaker was this government that stood very strongly in support of online learning it was our party that stood alone in the defense of having online learning option through the negotiations we continue to believe that that capacity is a strength in this province we have virtual schools being developed we have allocated 30 million dollars to higher principles for those schools create a accountability and we've set a very high standard 75% of each and every day of those 300 minutes of instruction must be live synchronous zoom style learning and I hope that all members will agree now upon reflection when they oppose us in the spring that that standard meets the needs of our kids who deserve nothing but the best the continuity of learning is important in Renfrew where we saw a school most regrettably closed because of outbreak in that school within 24-hour speaker they pivoted immediately to online learning and we grateful to that board we expect that right across his province speaker and the next question the member for Ottawa so thank you very much speaker my questions for the premier speaker the government's response to the first wave of COVID-19 and long-term care can best be described as flat-footed and we're now into the second wave at Ottawa's West End Villa they're experiencing the biggest outbreak since the first wave 52 residents 26 staff have COVID-19 11 residents have died and families staff and home operators across this province are all begging for the government's help Donna Duncan of the Ontario long-term care association has been calling for the government's wave to plan action plan since July and described the situation as terrifying geriatrician dr. Nathan Stahl from women's college hospital calls it very scary we said we would never let this happen again speaker through you can premier explain why Ontario's long-term care homes are so unprepared for the second wave recognize the minister of long-term care to reply on behalf of the government thank you speaker and thank you for the question 99.99.7% of our long-term care homes in Ontario are managing very well there are three homes that have more than three cases in the Ottawa area it is public public knowledge that Ottawa Toronto and Peel have larger numbers of COVID positive cases our efforts are on supporting the homes in Ottawa in conjunction with the medical officer of health in Ottawa with Ontario health with public health Ontario taking the advice of the chief medical officer of health this is an evolving science and evolution of understanding of this virus and we continue to consult our experts to consult with our state response and the sector to understand what more we can do we have acted all the way through the first wave and we will continue to take action through this pending second wave we will continue to thank you very much and the supplementary question thank you speaker I don't know how we find ourselves here there is no plan for a second wave in long-term care no plan to address chronic staff shortages those who helped during the first wave and from hospitals as close well they're not available and a month ago pandemic pay ended so PSW wages went down not up and the government is not even listening to their own infection disease experts calling for better prevention and control measures Dr. Jeff Powis medical director of infection prevention and control at Michael Garan hospital said we should have been doing this work well before now the premier promised an iron ring that's quite an image sadly that image hasn't appeared just empty hollow words speaker through you to the premier how is it we find ourselves unprepared yet again to protect our most vulnerable from COVID-19 thank you minister of long-term care thank you speaker and thank you for the question clearly you've highlighted staffing and our government ministry of long-term care has been working on the staffing issue ever since we became a ministry we have an expert panel that provided a report which we are acting on and in the process of acting on that working in conjunction with the ministry of health and other ministries to make sure that we address the issues as much as possible that are recommended in that report in terms of the I pack that has been going on since a real heavy focus since the middle of April on that understanding how COVID spreads whether it's through surveillance active screening enhanced testing improved I pack and relationships across the sector with hospitals to provide the expertise this continues we will continue to take as much as possible and I remind you that 99.7% of our long-term care homes are managing very well our focus right now is on the homes that are in difficulties we will continue to take every measure and take additional measures as needed and I want to make you thank you very much the next question the member for Willowdale thank you very much mr. Speaker my question is for the minister of energy northern development and mines speaker the vast majority of Willowdale's and Ontarians have done the right thing to stop the spread of COVID-19 by staying at home working from home of course mr. Speaker that means a lot more time at home cooking meals lunch from home leisure time at home with family and that means that they're using more energy hydro at home mr. Speaker through you minister can you tell us what our government is doing to support those individuals who continue to do the right thing to stop the spread of COVID-19 thank you mr. Speaker and I want to thank the member from Willowdale for his work and his representation in his constituency mr. Speaker indeed it's a father of two young children at home for almost 70 days there were a lot more lot more laundry to do dishwasher was running more frequently we knew mr. Speaker that millions of people across the province were at home they were at home working small businesses were facing challenges with their revenue streams but still had commitments to have their lights on mr. Speaker similarly farmers were preparing for a season so 70 days later mr. Speaker after the heart and soul of the most profound shutdown Ontario had provided more than 175 million dollars worth of relief to family small businesses and farmers mr. Speaker by providing them with the off-peak rate and then moving response rate to provide certainty mr. Speaker as we move as we moved forward and continue to provide certainty and value for the price of electricity mr. Speaker for our homes families and small thank you very much and the supplementary question thank you very much mr. Speaker and the minister highlights some very important points in his response you know the people of Willowdale have told me how difficult this pandemic has been on on not just their work life but their home life as well and many people don't have that choice mr. Speaker of shifting their consumption to off-peak hours like doing their laundry late at night or Mrs. Park at Drury convenience who she can't shut down her store in the middle of the day when time of use rates were mandatory mr. Speaker through you minister can you please tell the house what you're doing for Ontarians who've been negatively impacted by the time of use program in the past mr. Speaker indeed this had been a challenge prior to COVID so took swift action mr. Speaker to understand that there were indeed families that would struggle paying their bills through COVID that's why we put nine million dollars into a program for them more than eight million dollars support program for small businesses mr. Speaker and when it came to time of use obviously mr. Speaker we needed to focus on a rate that was competitive and fair for families that were still going to be home in fact there are many as we speak the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said that they welcomed the leadership of the Premier for bringing an end to time of use electricity pricing for small business owners as of November 1st this year mr. Speaker we'll be rolling out a comprehensive energy plan that the province can actually look forward to mr. Speaker and I look forward to providing industrial a class and be class mr. Speaker response lawyers who will put people back to work in this province as part of our COVID recovery response for fair certain prices mr. Speaker that provide great value for the people about thank you very much the next question the members from James Bay thank you hello mr. President mr. as of last night there was 10 COVID-19 active cases in northern first nations there are six in Casablanca Lake one in Sandy Lake one in Paginjicum and two in Moose Factory Island speaker as an terror enters a second wave this series of cases in remote first nation is beyond alarming with the housing crisis chronic problems with clean water drinking water enduring illness affecting remote first nation this government should have acted proactively instead it remains passive only reacting to reality speaker why has this government continues to drag its feet and fail to preempt this situation that risk of spreading like wildfire and remote first nation in Ontario thank you I think the member very much for the question I know this is a matter of serious concern to you as it is for us as well this is something that we have worked throughout this pandemic with members of first nations communities with the federal government with the provincial government working in tripartite manner to try and protect and contain any outbreaks in the first nations communities because we know they are particularly vulnerable for a number of reasons but I can assure the people of Ontario and the member that this is something that we are working on right now through dr. Durkhire with the outbreak management team to make sure first of all that they have the supplies that they need in order to provide people with the equipment they need we're doing testing we're doing isolation where in the situations where that's possible and moving people around to hospitals and other locations but this is something that we do take very seriously and have been working on this throughout particularly now the supplementary question speaker back in March the minister of health team James Bay area as low risk for dealing with COVID-19 this mean that the conservative government had put one of the most vulnerable population in the province at the bottom of the list so they had to wait for over three months to receive critical equipment like ventilators to prepare for today in today's what is today a reality and as Ms. Gigwock grand chief chief Solomon mentioned this week the test coming from James Bay are taken to laboratories and timmins processing processing that in 300 kilometers south of moose factory island results have taken four days to reach back to James to James Bay which has delayed contact tracing speaker is the minister satisfied with this for the waiting time question and why has she failed to provide rapid testing to first nations as it was promised months ago thank you speaker and I would say three speaker to the member that we have always considered all of our indigenous communities to be subject to particular vulnerability with respect to COVID-19 that has always been the situation and we have always worked throughout including regular engagements with the minister of minister of indigenous affairs as well as with myself having close contact with members of the communities to make sure that they have the supplies to make sure that the testing is being done to make sure that they are protected because we knew that this was a community that could be susceptible to COVID-19 that is continued throughout and we have worked with the federal government as well to make sure that they are doing their part as well but I would also indicate that we have spent money we know that we need to provide additional services we provided 37 million dollars to these communities in the face of COVID-19 includes 16 port 4 million to help with the distribution of goods transportation support for urban indigenous people self isolation prevention awareness and pandemic planning we have also spent 10 million to ensure continuity of services 7.4 million to ensure that social service providers have the thank you very much thank you remember for Orlean very much mr. Speaker my questions for the minister of health Ottawa's chief medical officer has declared that our city is in a second wave of COVID-19 case counts that we haven't seen for months and a testing strategy so flawed that people stand in line for hours before the centers open and align one kilometer long on Moody Drive last week mr. Speaker 11 new tragic deaths at the West End Villa long-term care facility and now an elementary school the first in the province is going to be closed for two weeks because of extensive COVID-19 exposure the government is sitting on billions in federal COVID-19 assistance and they've promised for months that they have a fall second wave plan fall begins tomorrow the second wave is here where is the plan minister of health well thank you I think the member very much for the question we have already taken action with respect to some of the long lineups in Ottawa as I indicated earlier that we have increased capacity by extending the hours of a number of the assessment centers there are 41 assessment centers in the entire east region total daily average visits 5100 people we've already taken action by having those assessment centers expand their hours of service and we also have some mobile testing services that are available in pop-up centers in those areas where the greatest lineups are occurring we're also looking at bringing others on we are looking at expanding capacity by having other organizations provide service that is being taken care of with respect to the advent of a second wave we have prepared for a second wave we have a plan that is about to be released it's going to be released but that doesn't mean we're not already implementing parts of the plan we will be discussing that with the members of the public but the plan is being implemented as we speak thank you very much my supplementary results for the minister if the government has a plan for a second wave of COVID-19 how does the premier role into Ottawa last week and immediately contradict the chief medical officer of health on who needs a COVID-19 test they don't have a plan to improve physical distancing in schools we know this for a fact because they voted against it last week the iron ring around long-term care has crumbled and despite what we've heard earlier from the minister of long-term care i want to quote an employee at the west end villa workers are going from room to room working with these residents caring for them and they do not have the proper n95 masks to use the financial accountability officer has confirmed that the government has only contributed three cents on the dollar for COVID-19 supports yet there remains billions in federal dollars available to the government in their accounts mr. Speaker we've known that a fall second wave is coming question where is the plan and why won't they show it to ontarians minister of health thank you well as i indicated earlier there is a plan it is being implemented and it is going to be released immediately but it does address all of the issues that you have referred to our government is putting hundreds of millions of dollars into protecting ontarians health and well-being and we have been in discussions with the federal government with respect to the monies that are available to us for expanding our testing and lab facilities for contact tracing and for mental health facilities all of these options are being developed they are ready to go they are in our plan they are being brought forward we have already substantially increased our testing capacity which was at 25,000 we're now at easily 35,000 and close to 40,000 we will be at 50,000 available tests in a very short order so we are fulfilling our plan we are increasing testing and our lab capacity we are ready for the fall and everything else that will bring with it including the flu and making sure we can continue with the surgeries and procedures that were postponed thank you very much thank you the next question the member for mrs august center thank you mr speaker my question is for the president of the treasury board due to the COVID-19 pandemic government and businesses in ontario have had to adapt by using digital tools and technology we all had to adapt our work routines for example using zoom or stream yard to conduct meetings or town halls business owners in my writing are telling me that purchases are increasingly being done online business meetings are conducted through video chat and e-signatures have replaced pen and ink many of these changes have proven to improve the quality and speed of doing business the government and the public service as well has had to change with the times we have seen over the past several months the use of virtual doctors visits online core tools and several products rolled out by the ontario digital service mr speaker my question is for the president of the treasury board could the honorable member inform this house about the recent work of the ontario digital services president of the treasury board reply thank you mr speaker and i thank the fine member from mississauga center including her work as a registered nurse on the front line you know i'm very proud of the work of the ontario digital service which is now part of the treasury board and they're working along over the last couple of months they are digital experts there data scientists and they are working to make things simpler and faster and better to help protect ontarians and all health and safety for everyone mr speaker just last week the minister of education through the ontario ontario digital services work created a screening tool to allow parents and students to check on on the website to find out whether they should be coming to school or not mr speaker if some of the others had actually done that screening they might not have gone to school so mr speaker we are embracing technology for the lives response ontarians and the health and safety for ontarians and we'll continue to do that on behalf of all ontarians thank you and the supplementary question thank you speaker and thank you to the president for his answer it's great to hear about the work of the ontario digital service i understand that ontario digital service worked with the canadian digital service to develop and learn and launch the free covet alert app the app notifies users who may have been exposed to someone who tested positive for covet 19 and by doing so supports early detection testing and self-isolation this made in ontario tool is a growing success with newfoundland and labrador suscatchewan and new brunswick actively supporting the use of it with more provinces to come it's great to see that more than 2.6 million people have downloaded the covet alert app can the president of the treasury board tell the house more about this new innovative digital tool again the president thank you again mr speaker for the question and i just checked and i've got a green thumb on my app i'm not sure if i'm allowed to do that but i just did and uh you're not but you can conclude your answer thank you mr speaker for that intervention mr speaker though i will say without using any material that the app is working more than 2.6 million people have downloaded the app and i'm very pleased to say that suscatchewan and new brunswick have just joined the family of covet alert apps across this country that started in ontario and made in ontario app mr speaker in fact last week or a few weeks ago the ctv reported that earlier this summer an individual was notified through the app that they were exposed to covet 19 that individual and their friend both got tested and both were positive for covet 19 let's all do our part i encourage all ontarians member of this house to do all their part to protect others protect yourselves and protect ontario download the covet app today thank you very much the next question member uh thank you speaker my question is to the premier speaker on labor day one day before the start of school subree family's learned that 25 school bus routes have been cancelled you can only imagine how angry upset students and parents in subree were when they found out the day before school started when reached by the subree star the executive director of the subree student services had this to say speakers for some drivers when they found out that the return will be a regular capacity on our school buses with only children from grade 4 to 12 needing to mask they decide not to come back speaker if the conservative back to school plan is so amazing why are so many school bus drivers deciding not to come back to the profession that they love to respond minister of education well thank you speaker in the province of ontario for many many years we have faced a class this country has faced a shortage of drivers uh within our schools this has been a real challenge that the former government this government faces well we have done to help counter that trend given many of these workers are older and of course i could appreciate their own considerations and their own health in the context of being in returning to work we have provided the extension of the driver retention program of 40 million dollar allocation essential wage enhancement to incentivize these workers to stay we provided a full suite of pp the complete offering of pp including face shields and masks we provided more latitude for cleaning in fact we've mandated order a higher standard of cleaning within our buses we're doing everything we can working with the ontario school bus drivers association to ensure that our school bus drivers are there for moms and dads of this province that ultimately kids could get to class safely each and every day the supplementary question thank you speaker the government in fact is providing everything but limiting the amount of kids on schools speaker during the first week of school 25 routes cancelled in subree last week parents found out that 19 bus routes were cancelled i checked two days ago on saturday no routes were cancelled i checked again this morning 15 school bus routes were cancelled in subree imagine the uncertainty for subree families the root cause of this speaker is school bus drivers don't trust the conservatives flawed back to school plan they simply don't no matter what the minister says speaker the majority of our bus drivers are either vulnerable seniors or parents with preschool age children they want to work they absolutely want to work but they can't risk their health or the health of their families bus drivers and parents want to know why COVID-19 best practices like social distancing are enforced everywhere but on the school buses that transport our children speaker will the question commit today to capping school buses at 50 capacity that could be the everything that you've done 50 capacity protect better protect students and drivers while preventing the spread of COVID-19 minister of education well speaker we have provided school boards with an additional 75 million dollars in support for transportation recognizing the difficulty this year especially but the difficulty that has existed in this country for all provinces and really for all parents for all over a decade what we have done speaker as i affirmed is provided root protection funding to to the extent possible for school boards that deliver buses and bus transportation to parents that they have more funding to help backstop them we've also provided an extension of the driver retention program to help retain these workers within our border remember for david's word come to order pp and training for these workers and we continue to be there for them it's why just a few weeks ago the premier and i announced an additional investment for school bus cleaning speaker we have ensured all layers of prevention are in place we've also ensured a signed seating within our buses from a contact management process so that that could be the integrity of that process has retained one and if these channels rise in every area we follow the public health advice we'll continue to be there for parents for school boards and of course for the children of our province the next question remember for kerf wellington thank you speaker my question is to the minister of natural resources and forestry speaker as a province continues to safely and gradually reopen our government is committed to encouraging economic growth and job creation in the forest sector sustainable growth ontario's forest sector strategy couldn't come at a better time it is our government's plan to create jobs supporting the indigenous uh and northern and rural communities that depend on the sector while ensuring provinces forests are managed sustainably for generations to come all around the world people are looking to industries and products that are sustainable my question to the minister speaker is how sustainable are ontario ontario's forest management practices the minister of natural resources and forestry thank you very much speaker and i'd like to thank the member for perth wellington from perth wellington for that great question and what a better time to talk about forestry than during the 100th anniversary of forest week here across canada stewardship and sustainability is the number one pillar of our new forest sector strategy which people have been waiting for for years in the province of ontario a province where so many people so many communities depend on this bedrock industry one this was a staff one there was one of the ones that established this province and here in ontario here's our pitch if you harvest trees you replant trees for every tree that we harvest three are planted three take root we have 71 million hectares of forest in on province of ontario of which 28 million hectares are crown managed and you know we harvest less than one half of one percent of that crown managed forest response every year under our program the way that we consider sustainability a bedrock principle we will have forestry to supply provide those jobs for generations to come and the supplementary question i want to thank the minister for that response it's great to hear how sustainable our forestry practices are but we are all wondering these days about our job prospects COVID-19 has been challenging for us all and we in this government are focused on a recovery that puts our health and safety right on par with job creation ontario's forest industry is critical to the provincial economy and many communities generating over 18 billion dollars in revenue and supporting approximately 147,000 direct and indirect jobs in regions with few other industries our province is home to an abundance of renewable natural resources but we know that it can be difficult to get them to market as many are found in the northernmost parts of the province speaker what specific actions has has our government taken to make it easier question forestry to grow and thrive minister of natural resources and forest thanks again to the member for that question and you know the united nations has predicted that demand for forestry products will grow by 30 percent between now and the year 2030 and i think through this COVID crisis we've seen how important our forest industry is that you know try to get some lumber these days because it's in short supply and we're going to make sure that ontario can sustainably harvest more timber than it used to it's only been harvesting about half of what it did only 20 years ago yet we plant 73 million trees a year in ontario and drop 365 million seeds to ensure regeneration our forests are sustainable 147 000 direct and indirect jobs in the province of ontario products now that we could replace so many single-use plastics because of modernization in our forestry industry good times ahead in forestry our forest sector strategy supports that i want the people of ontario know that forestry in ontario is a great business great today great for the future the next question the member for london fan shop thank you speaker my question is to the premier recently i received an email from a constituent after exhibiting symptoms he visited carling heights testing center in london in hopes of getting tested he arrived at 10 45 a.m he was there till 3 p.m when he finally got to the preliminary testing when he was told they would take three hours to get tested he had to go to work so he left without getting tested he couldn't afford to miss work a six hour wait time to get tested is unreasonable both testing centers in london have routinely been over capacity and one is closed on the weekend will the government commit to adequately funding the resource and resourcing public health units to decrease the wait times at testing centers minister of health to apply thank you speaker and thank you to the member for the question we are certainly aware that there are parts of ontario where there are long lineups for assessments but we are taking steps immediately to reduce those lineups because we want everybody who feels that they have symptoms that may have been exposed to somebody with COVID-19 can get a test and have a timely response to it that applies both to students who are returning to school now or to colleges and universities or people who are returning to work right now there are 36 assessment centers in western ontario that are a total daily average number of visits 5600 but we are increasing both the hours for these assessment centers to be open so that they can deal with and test more people without having to wait in a long lineup and we're also opening new centers and pop-up centers to allow people to be able to have a test in a more timely manner just as specifics there is a new location planned for the Norfolk general hospital as of September 21st northern bruce peninsula increase of thank you very much thank you supplementary question thank you speaker with people across the province going back to work and kids going back to school the increased demand for testing was inevitable the government had months to fully prepare for the second wave people feel like this government is throwing away all the hard work Ontarians have done these past six months to keep the spread of COVID low with rising case counts and longer than ever lineups for testing the anxiety in London is growing what is the government doing to protect the people of London well first speaker let me say to the member through you that the health and well-being of all Ontarians is our top priority always has been since the this pandemic first struck us we are taking every step that we can to make sure that they are protected we are increasing our resources to make sure that we can increase our testing our lab capacity so that once the tests are taken that they can process quickly to be prepared for upcoming flu season to make sure that we can have the health human resources that we need both in hospitals long-term care homes and home and community care we are doing all of that we have a plan the plan is going to be released immediately we are spending more money we have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to increase this capacity we have increased the number of tests to 40 000 we are well in our way to 50 000 tests we are going to make sure response people across the province and including as the members suggested in western Ontario but it will be across the entire province thank you very much the next member for Scarborough Centre thank you speaker and my question is for the minister of education speaker i have heard time and time again from parents in my writing how concerned they are with the decline in math education that they're seeing in their children's schools over the last several years kids are struggling with basic math concepts and their parents well their parents are at their wits end they know how important math is for their children and they know that their children are falling behind their international counterparts when it comes to mathematical scores in ways that are both substantial and very worrisome can the minister please share some details of how we are preparing our children to get the math skills that they need to succeed and why it is so very important that we tackle this problem immediately minister of education well thank you very much mr speaker i want to thank the member from Scarborough Centre i want to thank the member from Scarborough Centre for her leadership and also for her insight as an educator as a parent here in Toronto speaker as we respond to this pandemic i think we cannot lose sight of what we are here to do in the ministry of education yes to keep kids safe but to ensure quality learning continues that is our obligation and when 48 percent over half the student population of grade six are not meeting the provincial math centre in this province at a time when we see massive economic disruption to labour market and more fierce competition for good paying jobs we have to do more and step it up when it comes to math performance and really embracing that area of STEM education it's why this government announced a four-year math strategy 200 million dollars focusing on the foundations of math and numeracy skills are going to give our kids a leg up and a competitive advantage response our focus speaker is providing is improving performance it's about solving everyday problems and increasing employability in the labour market we're going to continue to focus on raising the standard of math in our province entry question i'm so pleased to hear that our government is taking math education so seriously after years of liberal mismanagement our government is doing what is right we are prioritizing math education speaker part of our math strategy is to ensure that educators have fundamental knowledge of the math and quarter skills that are embedded within our provincial curricular documents can the minister tell me why this is so very important to our children and to the parents of ontario mr pinch case well thank you i'm mr speaker obviously it was this government that introduced a new elementary math curriculum from grade one to eight we did that knowing speaker that this september more than ever our kids need to have a heightened level of education in a more modern education given in 2005 speaker we had two different expectations in english and french different curriculums we had a curriculum that did not focus on coding at all this curriculum embeds it and codifies it all the way down to grade one in coding in financial literacy we've strengthened that giving so the fundamental math skills bring that down to grade one learning skills like a household budget these are vital when it comes to enabling our kids to succeed and obviously enhancing problem solving mental math this is the back-to-basics commitment we made in the election that we're following through our commitment speakers to raise the bar of educators for investing in professional elements and raising the bar of our students by giving them every opportunity to learn math in this province using a modern curriculum thank you that concludes our question period for this morning i understand the member for tronel st. paul's has a point of order thank you mr speaker and it's a very very happy one as we know of course the arts have been saving our mental souls during this difficult time and i just wanted to take a chance and say congratulations to shits creek our our made in canada comedy show that won seven seven emmy awards in the comedy category a first in emmy's history so uh congratulations to the cast and crew of shits creek thank you very much pursuant to standing order 36a the member for ottawa south has given notice of his dissatisfaction with the answer to his question given by the minister of long-term care concerning a second wave of covet 19 in long-term care homes this matter will be debated Tuesday at 6 p.m. there being no further business this morning this house stands in recess until 1 p.m.