 It is now time for questions here. The Leader of the Majesty's Law and Opposition. Thank you, Speaker. Before I begin, Speaker, I do want to extend on behalf of the Ontario PC Caucus, our deepest condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of Peter Worthington. The man was a giant in media. He was a leader. He is a great Canadian and he will be deeply deeply missing his province of Ontario. Question to the Finance Minister. Minister, last year's budget by your predecessor claimed $2 billion in annual savings from a wage freeze on all government workers. This year's budget removes any reference whatsoever to a mandatory wage freeze. Instead, you use soft terms like you propose to, quote, work together to get outcomes. I ask the Finance Minister, without a wage freeze, how are you going to find that $2 billion in annual savings? Thank you. Mr. Speaker, I think he actually read part of the budget. Mr. Speaker, and he makes reference to the tone of working together and collaborating and working for the benefit of the people of Ontario. That's right. That's exactly what we're doing, Mr. Speaker. And we've proven that we're able to control spending at below 1% year over year. It's why we exceeded our targets last year by $5 billion, Mr. Speaker. We've negotiated and collaborated with the broader public sector and we're dealing with our compensation review by maintaining our envelope at zero. That's very clear in the budget. We're working together for the benefit of the people. You should be working with us as well. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, Speaker, there's not much to work with in the Finance Minister's budget. Quite frankly, you, sir, chose to increase the amount that should have gone down. You're piling on $20 billion more in debt, putting more of a burden on the back of a newborn here in Ontario because you cannot make the decisions necessary to hold line on spending. In fact, Minister, you've gone in the opposite direction by ramping up spending and throwing out the window, even the small steps we finally got Premier McGinty and Minister Duncan to come around to. That was in a cross-bord mandatory wage freeze and arbitration reform. I did read your budget in detail my economics background, Speaker, budgets are actually pleasure reading for somebody like me, but I took no pleasure in the fact that they dropped the wage freeze altogether. Why did you throw out a mandatory wage freeze? I could save us $2 billion a year that you yourself had previously voted for. So, Mr. Speaker, the budget is all about creating jobs, helping people in their everyday lives and tackling and eliminating the deficit in a very pragmatic, practical way. We're not taking extreme positions we're trying to our utmost to collaborate and initiate those positive changes for the benefit of the people. But the leader of the opposition just talks about his economics background. Well, it's interesting because not long ago the critic of the opposition sent me a package of their projections. Projections which would necessitate mathematics. Well, it's just so, and I'll, if I could give this to the page, please, and if you can provide it to the leader of the opposition. Here is their projections. It is over a billion dollars off. It doesn't add up. He himself has been cut off by his own party for reckless spending. And now with these projections that don't even equate, he's now anticipating that he can not only balance the budget earlier, he pretends that he's going to be able to The member from Prince Edward Hastings come to order. Final supplementary. I really don't know what to say about the increasingly bizarre performance of the Finance Minister. Quite frankly, I put into question his competence to take on such an important matter of actually getting the books back and balance the province of Ontario. Make sure we actually reduce spending, not increase it. The deficit actually comes down so you can balance the books, but you've gone in the other direction. And that's clearly why the party believes the only way to get Ontario back on track to bring good jobs back to our province, to get government to live within its means, just like families do every day, is to actually change the team to change the government. Let me try a third time minister and I appreciate anything you send across to me, but what I appreciate is a yes or no answer on a very basic question. If you want to write it down, you want to answer my question. How are you going to actually balance the books? Did you actually toss out the window of a page freeze? Yes or no? Thank you. And we need to find the $2 billion. Mr. Speaker, the only bizarre issue here is the numbers presented by the opposition which don't add up. He has put this... A member from Prince Edward Hastings will come to order. Mr. Speaker, this is in fact very serious. It requires serious leadership and it requires numbers that add up. The member opposite has put forward a YouTube to talk about their projections which don't equate by over $1 billion. And furthermore, they're estimating that they're going to be able to balance the books knowing the challenges ahead by cutting their revenues by $5 billion. And somehow they're going to be able to balance the books. That is fantasy, Mr. Speaker. We on this side of the house are doing what's necessary to control our spending. We're being disciplined. We're being determined. We've proven that for years running. Next year's deficit is $1 billion lower because of the steps that we're taking. Read the budget. It's very clear what we're doing. You should be supporting. Thank you. New question? The leader of the opposition. Thank you, Speaker. Back to the finance minister. No, we're not going to support a liberal budget that digs a hole deeper. My concern again, the finance minister not answering my question if he's cancelling the mandatory wage by $2 billion. That will dig the hole deeper. The word arbitration appears nowhere in the 300 plus words in the budget papers either. So you've obviously tossed out binding arbitration reform. Given that you've tossed out two cost control measures that we finally got your predecessor to come around to before they closed down the legislature. Why is it finance minister that you in fact go the opposite direction with 20 new spending initiatives? How is that affordable for people who are already deep in debt? Mr. Speaker, this is very much a budget for Ontario by Ontarians. We have sought out a lot of input from a lot of people. We have a lot of issues that we share in common. There's a lot of fiscal matters that are before us. We're doing everything necessary to tackle and eliminate the budget and the deficit and we're on target. We're on a path to balance and it's very clear one of them is to maintain and restrain our compensation. We've made it clear that it's at zero going forward. We can work within that envelope but what we need to do is be determined and be disciplined to control our spending growth and we're doing that. More importantly, the investments that are being made in our youth, in our infrastructure that's stimulating jobs, that's stimulating economic growth. That is what's going to make us competitive in the long term. That you should be supporting Mr. Speaker because it's for the benefit of all of us. Finance Minister, this is a budget written by the Liberals to buy NDP support. Try to maintain your grips on power to maintain your office space and I think of the young graduates from college university who are deep in tuition debt they're back home with mom and dad with no job to go to and they thought they'd better off to buy now. Hold on their own Mr. Speaker, buying their own home, their own career. Because their budget goal is to buy support of the NDP to maintain office. And last time we saw this Speaker, last time we saw the Liberal NDP coalition, we had a credit downgrade. We actually added on 48,000 jobs to the public payroll and lost 5,000 manufacturing jobs. Minister, people don't want to see a bidding war for more spending. They want to see a chance and plan for spending less. Why do you disagree? So Mr. Speaker, this is very much a budget about helping create jobs and promoting economic growth. It's very clear how we achieve that. It's also a budget about helping people in their everyday lives. So what's at stake, Mr. Speaker, is this. Here we are helping rural and northern communities with a dedicated fund to help them. I'll reign it in. Finish please. Here we have a dedicated fund to help rural communities with their roads and bridges and infrastructure. We also have a gas tax that we're making permanent and dedicated to the municipalities. The member opposite just spoke about the youth and he wants to cut off our youth fund, which is there to support an integration of businesses with young people helping them build on their skills, provide for entrepreneurial training and enabling them to succeed so that they can be at work more quickly for the benefit of their future. Mr. Speaker, they should be supporting this budget for that. Well, Speaker, our plan will actually bring jobs back to the province of Ontario. You're a government bureaucracy. You know, there's an expression, Minister, you've heard, I know that says basically that time is money and we're rapidly running out of both. You made a deliberate decision in your budget to dig the hole deeper. You're adding $20 billion to debt and you actually have made the deficit larger than the previous fiscal year and quite frankly this ongoing dance last couple weeks of budget bribery between Liberals and the NDP, that's not going to bring one new job back to the province of Ontario. I know what I'm doing. It's on the edge so I would ask him to be cautious of how he uses his words, please. Speaker, you've already caved in to a billion dollars in new spending for the NDP. This dance is continuing. You've not said no to date. Finance Minister, are you going to say no to any more spending that will dig the hole even deeper? Thank you, Minister. So, Mr. Speaker, let's be clear. We have over 400,000 net new jobs since the recession. We're taking steps in this budget to create even more jobs and it's highlighted as how we're going to achieve just that. Opposition don't have a plan. Their plan, Mr. Speaker, is across the board cuts slash and burn policy that will hamper our economic recovery. That is very sensitive right now. What is necessary is not more government and I agree it's about more opportunity and we're providing more opportunity in this budget. We are doing transformational changes to help Ontarians succeed. The member opposite by his own admission is intent on creating havoc and destroy labor relations and enabling cuts that will hinder our recovery. We won't stand for that. We're there to support Ontarians. The leader of the third party. Thank you, Speaker. I want to start also on behalf of new Democrats wishing our condolences to the friends and family of Peter Worthington and also in fact to Mr. Takkar, the member for, I don't know what he's talking about, Mr. who of course has had lost with his mother's death and is suffering some ill health. We wish him a speedy recovery, Speaker. My questions to the Deputy Premier. People have had their faith shaken by scandals and billions of dollars of waste at eHealth, at Orange and on the gas plants. Does the Deputy Premier agree that Ontarians are going to need to see something different in the trust of government again? Deputy Premier. What I think that the, thank you, Speaker, and what I think the people of this province really want is a decision to be made on whether this budget is moving forward or not. It is time for the leader of the third party to sit down with the Premier and talk about supporting this budget, Speaker. You know who's waiting? I can tell you who's waiting for these answers. We've got nine million drivers in this country to see whether or not we're going to be addressing the cost of their insurance premiums. We've got 30,000 young people who are really struggling to find that first job, who are waiting for the leader of the third party to determine whether or not they're going to get the help they need to get established in their careers. Speaker, 46,000 seniors and their loved ones are waiting for the NDP to find out whether they're going to get access to their insurance premiums. Well, Speaker, I would say there's over 13 million Ontarians that want to see a government they can trust for a change in this province. It's have been very clear. We are focused on delivering real results for families. People have heard governments make promises before, but they've seen those promises broken. And they're also seeing scarce resources wasted. They want to see a government in place that will ensure that accountability, Speaker. Is the minister ready to consider this? Well, Speaker, what I can tell you is that we are absolutely ready to have that conversation that we've been waiting for a couple of months to have with the leader of the third party. But in the meantime, other Ontarians are waiting for answers, Speaker. You know who else is waiting? The parents of kids in low-income families who are waiting to see whether their Ontario child benefit is going to be increased this year. People are waiting. Those almost one million children who benefit from the Ontario child benefit are waiting for an answer. Speaker, people on social assistance are waiting for an answer. Are they going to be able to keep more of their earnings? Are they going to be able to have that opportunity to move off social assistance and into employment where they desperately want to go? Speaker, people in northern and rural communities are waiting for an answer. Are they going to get the money they need to take pressure off their municipal taxes to build the roads, to build the bridges? People are waiting for an answer. This time we have one. Final supplementary. Speaker, what people are waiting for is real results and that's what new Democrats are determined to get them. Ontarians want to have their voices heard, Speaker, and they told us that they don't think that the government is going to stop these scandals before they start. And Ombudsman Oversight into the healthcare system will stop the next chemotherapy crisis before it happens. Does the acting Premier agree that more oversight is needed or does she think that the status of the next chemotherapy crisis is going to be the same? Speaker, people on social assistance are waiting for an answer. Are they going to be able to get the money needed or does she think that the status quo is good enough for the people of Ontario? Speaker, I think it's very important that we move forward on accountability measures and that's exactly what we are doing. I also think it's time for the leader of the third party to have that face to face conversation that the Premier has been asking for for some time. We can have the conversations in question period. We can have them through the media, Speaker. I think people of this province are waiting for an answer. Are we going forward with the initiatives in this budget that are very, very meaningful to everyday people in their everyday lives? Or are we going to continue to play the game of let's play this out in the media and in question period? It's time for a decision, Speaker. The time is now. Thank you. New question leader of the third party. My next question is for the acting Premier. Is the minister ready to give the last few years in hospitals and those receiving home care access to the same oversight and protection as people have in our prison system, Speaker. Speaker is very important that people when they need healthcare have the assurance that they are getting high quality healthcare. They're also people of this province deserve to know that they're getting the best value for the money that they're spending in healthcare on healthcare, Speaker. We're moving forward with transforming the way the healthcare system is funded and how healthcare is delivered. And our budget really speaks to this, Speaker. We are moving resources into the community sector so people can get home care faster. They can get home care, the home care that they need so they can get out of hospital, back home where they want to be, where they can stay home, Speaker, longer than so that they don't have to move prematurely. Speaker, this budget speaks to the healthcare needs of the people of this province. Thank you. Supplementary. Well, Speaker, Ontario's ombudsman provides accountability in our prison system, but he doesn't have oversight in our healthcare system in every other province. Provincial ombuds persons have the power to advocate for patients and provide them with accountability. Will the minister consider doing the same for Ontario patients? Well, Speaker, as the Premier has said, the leader of the NDP has put forward some interesting ideas and she wants to talk about those ideas, Speaker. It's time to have that face-to-face conversation. We've responded to a number of the NDP requests that overlapped with our priorities to, Speaker, because we are absolutely committed to addressing issues that are facing the province. The leader of the third party continues to add to the list of requests. I think it's time for a conversation between the Premier and the leader of the third party. Thank you. Final supplementary. Well, Speaker, it's disturbing. I really don't think that the acting Premier gets it. Families watched as governments drop the ball at orange and wasted a billion dollars at e-health helping their friends. Then Ontarians watched as over a thousand people were given the wrong cancer medication. Now the government is promising that they're going to hit a target of five days wait time for home care and that the quality of hospital care is not going to suffer as hospitals close facilities and layoff staff. Will the minister admit that people actually deserve some real oversight, some real accountability when it comes to their health care the ombudsman of Ontario the power to provide that accountability for patients. As I have said the Premier has acknowledged that the leader of the third party has some interesting ideas that she's continuing to put forward and she's prepared to have that conversation where it belongs in a face-to-face meeting with the leader of the third party. In the meantime, we need to move forward with this budget speaker because people are counting on us to get this job done. There are people who are waiting too long for home care. We acknowledge that and we've got a we're on our way to address that challenge speaker through this budget 46,000 more people. Think about that for a minute 46,000 more people will be able to access the home care they need so they can get back on their feet faster they can get home from hospital faster they can avoid going into long-term care but we need this budget to pass to be able to increase that access to home care. Thank you, my question is for the Deputy Premier Deputy, the Premier likes to take credit for starting the auditor's investigation into the Oakville debacle but the truth of the matter is our public accounts committee tried to get the auditor to probe both Mississauga and Oakville last September 5th however the Liberal members blocked that through procedures and committee they ran the clock out on the committee allowing only the Mississauga investigation we should have known speaker then just how bad Oakville was going to be the truth is that if it weren't for the Liberal tactics followed by prorogation we'd have the auditor's report on Oakville by now the Liberal party continues to put their own interests ahead of taxpayers and must be put to a test of confidence. Will you support our motion for non-confidence to be held in this legislature? Mr. Speaker I like to inform members that on February 7th of this year the new Premier in fact she had just become the new Premier wrote the auditor general into the Oakville situation I would also remind members that it was the new Premier who offered a select committee on this issue which they rejected in favour of a witch hunt against a former member of the legislature it was the new Premier who asked Liberal members of the committee to put forward a motion to have a very wide document search across this province and to my astonishment Mr. Speaker that very member his colleagues and the colleagues in the Democratic I thought the picture Mr. Speaker the Premier has been forthcoming she has appeared in front of the committee something we haven't heard from the leader of the opposition yet I understand he may be there tomorrow morning we certainly look forward to that but Mr. Speaker there are no apologies when it comes to the openness of the Premier of this province when it comes to this issue It's amazing how the Liberals talk about the race to the moon but lead the race to the bottom gas plant cancellations is telling a snap decision 11 days before an election to save Liberal seats side deals totaling tens of millions of dollars to keep the proponents from exposing you a deliberate move to withhold documents requested by members of this house and finally sworn testimony Speaker of documents being destroyed if this is the Liberal idea of responsible government I can tell you no one else in Ontario shares that view this scandal should not be rewarded certainly not by the third party will you bring our non-confidence motion to the floor this week Mr. Speaker when the Honourable Member spoke about a snap decision before an election to support the cancellation of the plant I think he was talking about his own party because if I recall correctly it was the leader of the opposition the star of that famous YouTube video who came out and talked about their support for the cancellation of the project it was the candidates in the various writings that were affected who put out robo-calls, drop leaflets put out press releases put out statements on Twitter saying the only way to see the end of this plant was to elect the progressive conservative to government and the question Mr. Speaker is why are they blocking their own candidates from coming before the committee so that they can answer questions about why they made that decision what motivated that decision the types of costing that was put in place as I said Mr. Speaker we may hopefully serve the leader of the opposition in front of the committee tomorrow and we look forward to him discussing with us why he made that decision and why he so aggressively opposed the plant Mrs. Saga My question is to the Minister of Transportation last week I asked the Minister for details about his government's plan to implement high occupancy toll lanes but I don't think I got an answer so I'm going to ask it again the KPMG report to Metrolinx said it cost about $700,000 to implement one kilometer of high occupancy toll lanes that means we're talking about over 300 million to create 450 kilometers of hot lanes and that's if everything goes perfectly but Metrolinx puts the initial revenue from HOTs at a mere $25 million a year and says that the HOT lanes are not a significant source of revenue for transit why is the province building a risky, costly and complicated new payment system for the sake of a mere $25 million a year My question, thank you Minister of Transportation infrastructure Thank you Mr. Speaker the budget elaborates two things the budget elaborates a very dramatic expansion of HOV lanes which are for high occupancy vehicles only Mr. Speaker the budget also says that we are going to explore and develop I guess the race for the bottom is continuing Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker we are also looking at HOV lanes we are looking at the experiences of other jurisdictions in some places they've been very successful at alleviating congestion in certain conditions Mr. Speaker we are not rushing into anything we are carefully looking at the experience of other jurisdictions and Metrolinx will be looking at the optimum implementation of these in locations and places where they make changes also serve the full purposes of an HOV lane in addition to opening it up to additional drivers supplementary I mentioned that it would cost over $300 million to implement the government's new tolling scheme if everything goes perfectly well but such schemes have not gone perfectly with this government and I'm reminded of Presto was originally budgeted at $250 million but the costs have now ballooned to over $700 million a big cost to the taxpayer but a wonderful benefit to the government's partners in the private sector and we have already begun the process of integrating Presto with the TTC why should we believe that the government's new tolling scheme will not join eHealth change the gas plant scandal and Presto on the growing list of this government's wasteful private sector misadventures Mr. Speaker this government's spending on services is the lowest per capita in Canada which means that it's lower than any of the provinces in which the third party is in power second Mr. Speaker the HOT lane proposals have not been developed yet there has been no preparation in detail about where or how or what technologies would be used so it's a little premature to jump to those conclusions Mr. Speaker finally Mr. Speaker I remember the good old days when my friends in the NDP liked transit when they actually understood that subways and LRTs actually cost money Mr. Speaker we have the member from the PN Carlton come to order please please finish I know the official opposition really gets a little cranky Mr. Speaker we talk about subways because their only record in doing them is filling them in and they like to say they like go transit Mr. Speaker they just never fund it Mr. Speaker if we actually going to deal with the congestion problems governments are going to have to be honest with the people of Ontario and work with them to find the right funding tools to move this forward Mr. Speaker this party will do Thank you Speaker this question is for the minister of municipal affairs and housing the 2013-14 Ontario budget is a forward looking document that moves Ontario steadily toward a balanced budget much of the conversation on the budget has focused on issues affecting cities and southern Ontario municipalities such as Toronto Mississauga, Brampton, Windsor, Kingston and Ottawa and the Ontario budget is also a document that speaks to the concerns of northern Ontarians Northern needs include stable and affordable electricity secure jobs and a reliable infrastructure would the minister tell the house what Ontario's budget does to help municipalities in northern Ontario become stronger more sustainable more prosperous places to live, work and raise a family Thank you Minister of municipal affairs and housing Thank you Speaker and I want to thank my colleague for the question There's far too much interaction going on between the ways and also within themselves Please bring it down Thank you Minister Again Speaker I'd like to thank my colleague for the question and I'd like to reassure this chamber to all of the people of Ontario and we continue that dialogue on last Friday when I and the ministers of natural resources northern development and mines rural affairs, Aboriginal affairs and the premier attended the federation of northern Ontario municipalities 53rd annual conference and general meeting which was held in Perry Sound and we let them know that we heard their concerns that's why if the parties opposite support our budget in 2013 and 14 $553 million on northern highways and we will create a $1 million fund for small rural and northern municipalities to help them build roads bridges and other critical infrastructure and spend $360 million to extend the northern industrial electricity rate Supplementary Minister northern Ontarians need an update on how this province has acted to reverse the downloading of the 1990s have these costs been uploaded again to the province where they belong and removed from the tax base of northern Ontario municipalities where they never belong what does the recent Ontario budget mean for northern Ontario municipalities and the pressure they face on their municipal tax bases would you give property owners, rate payers and members of the more than 400 municipal councils in northern Ontario an indication of what the 2013-14 Ontario budget holds in store for them thank you minister thank you speaker and I want to thank the member again for the question I firmly believe that what the premier has said on numerous times that in order for Ontario to be prosperous that all of our communities need to be prosperous that's why we've continued our conversation with northern municipalities about how we can help them out and we've heard what they've told us and we've acted that's why in 2012 and 13 municipalities will benefit from $337 million in municipal sports through the Ontario Municipal Partnership Fund and our commitment to uploading this means real relief for municipal budgets and it's taking a huge burden of property taxes across the north our budget will continue to provide assistance to northern communities and for all municipalities across Ontario and I look forward to working with 444 municipalities across the province to be stronger and more prosperous thank you speaker thank you new question we know that the premier is now preparing to give further ground to the new democrats in secret budget vote negotiations and we know that his government passed out a checklist of NDP demands on budget day and we know that the premier likes to keep secret negotiations and backroom deals after we saw what happened with the gas plants of course so given all that can you tell us here today how much more spending we can expect in order for the new democratic party to prop your government up municipal finance so Mr. Speaker we're very clear that our spending is being controlled it's being disciplined it's less than 1% year over year it's how we're achieving results but my question to the member opposite how do you justify how do you justify a leader who's put out information from your party that talks about these very issues that you're telling me and it doesn't add up and you're promoting numbers that don't equate and you want the legitimacy of somehow telling the people of Ontario that you can lead when you can't even add answer me that Mr. Speaker I'm quite comfortable standing behind Tim Houdak when he becomes premier of Ontario in a few short months and the only spending that's being controlled today's speaker in this assembly is by the new democratic party and they're telling you what to spend on and you're saying yes I'll give you a little bit more this is an NDP budget for the NDP so that this government can be propped up but speaker let's talk a second about the economy there's an old expression it's the economy SUSE let's get back on track here speaker but let's be perfectly honest here this is a government that only values democracy in so far as saving their own political skins after negotiations with rogue union leaders we know that there is not enough money in this world that they can say no to we know that they only value the truth when they have been caught so I want to know what dirty deal has this government cooked up with the NDP in order for the NDP to continue calling this shot and this government to continue to be propped up so Mr. Speaker the only deal that we're making here is a deal with the people of Ontario this is a budget that speaks to the people of Ontario the contribution that they have made because what they want is leadership and what they don't want is extreme views they do not want to see an excessive slash and burn policy that puts things at risk and they do want and they do not want excessive spending they want control they want discipline we're offering that and Mr. Speaker it is about the economy the members opposite don't seem to understand the economy's recovery is challenged and we need to take steps to stimulate that growth so there are occasions when you have to provide support for our youth for our infrastructure for those most vulnerable for the things that we all share in common in this house it boggles my mind that you would put that at risk Mr. Speaker you should be supporting this budget thank you very much Mr. Speaker my question is to the deputy Mr. as racetracks across Ontario close down it's clear that your OLG privatization plan is in shambles one day Toronto's getting a special deal to host a downtown casino the next day it isn't one day there's a transition program for the horse racing industry the next day there's a new committee that's going to start the process all over again will this government admit that it's OLG privatization strategy was a disaster from day one and that it's time to put this complete stop to this mess to the minister of finance so Mr. Speaker we all know that transforming OLG is an essential part of trying to enhance our revenue support our schools and our education and ensure that we continue to be socially conscious and socially responsible in those initiatives this modernization plan we need to fight track to take those and to deliver on that promise but Mr. Speaker in regard to transition around racing in regard to our transition around service delivery we need to be methodical we need to be careful we recognize that those initiatives were initially brought forward by the opposition in terms of an OLG component but now we need to transform them and we're taking those appropriate steps to ensure that we protect the people of Ontario supplementary I really don't think the government has any clue what they're doing in terms of their modernization strategy because rural Ontario has been dealt a massive blow with the decision to cancel the slots at race track program thousands of jobs have been lost in rural Ontario and thousands more will be lost in the near future meanwhile the OLG invited gambling operations to bid on a downtown casino and tried to entice Toronto City Council members to deal on a hosting formula will this government admit that its privatization plan is a complete disaster and end this sorry spectacle once and for all the minister of rural affairs minister of rural affairs well thanks very much Mr. Speaker and you know our government is committed for a sustainable horse racing industry the province of Ontario we appointed three very distinguished former members of this house Mr. Buchanan and in fact I had the opportunity he served on the benches over there one of Ontario's most successful ag ministers from 1990 to 1995 I actually spoke to Mr. Buchanan last Saturday I was in Halflock, Ontario for celebrate Halflock and Mr. Buchanan and Mr. Snowblood and Mr. Wilkinson are doing an incredible job to provide a framework for the state race for the answer Mr. Speaker I invite my friends opposite to join me this Saturday at Quarthenown's in Peterborough for the first race I recommend that they bet Yankee Dick into six I think that's a very hot prospect Mr. Speaker Thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the minister of Aboriginal Affairs across Ontario in my riding of Scarborough agent court we are concerned about the most recognized as Canada's fastest growing potential workforce almost half of Aboriginal people First Nations, Inuits and Métis in Canada are under the age of 24 Mr. Speaker constantly we're hearing the concerns of high dropout rates for the First Nations youth living off reserve Métis and Inuits were used at 22.6% more than two and a half times the rate of non-Aboriginal youth we need to ensure that all youths have equal and fair opportunity to be successful Mr. Speaker through you to the minister can the minister inform the house what Ontario is doing to narrowing the gaps Minister of Aboriginal Affairs Thank you for that question Properly educating and providing for the proper education and closing the education gaps between our Aboriginal communities both on and off reserves is absolutely crucial to developing the health and well-being of the Aboriginal community in that regard I was in Winnipeg about a month ago at the Aboriginal Affairs Working Group Ontario had chaired that for the past four years Manitoba is the chair this year one of the issues that we discussed at that conference was this whole issue of closing the dropout rates and the educational achievement metrics of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities there was a recognition across the board by all of the provinces and all of the territories that this had to be done this was the right thing to do but you know Mr. Speaker who was missing from that meeting in Winnipeg was the federal government the federal government was not there this is a gap supplementary it is good to know that actions taken on this very important issue another very important issue of violence again the member from Renfrew I've been tolerant of you continually shouting people's names out and I'm not going to be tolerant any longer would you please either call them by their title or their writing thank you another very important issue is the violence against Aboriginal women and girls I heard that about 15% of Aboriginal women in Canada had a spouse or common law partners in the past five years reporting being a victim twice to a proportion among the non-Aboriginal women the missing and murdered Aboriginal women represent about 10% of female homicides in Canada despite the fact that Aboriginal women made only 3% of the total female population in Canada Mr. Speaker through you to the minister what is Ontario doing to address this issue in Ontario in the context of the national context thank you speaker first let me put a human face to those statistics at a recent meeting I think it was in Sault Ste. Marie and we heard about this in Winnipeg there was a meeting of some 230 231 women the speaker at that conference asked the non-Aboriginal women to stand up and about 200 of them stood up and then she said please raise your hand if any of you have had a sister or a grandmother or a wife who has been murdered one person put up their hand she then asked the 31 Aboriginal women in the audience to stand up and ask the same question of the 31 of you how many have a female relative who has been murdered or is missing and of the 31 who stood up 29 raised their hands 29 out of 31 one out of 200 for the non-Aboriginal community this is a tragedy this has to stop the Aboriginal Affairs Working Group in Winnipeg has called on a national inquiry into this issue of violence and missing Aboriginal women Ontario is pleased to support that call Thank you No questions? The member from Haldeman local Speaker to the Deputy Premier I was at US Steel in Anticoke last night a thousand steel workers locked out third lock out in three years Hamilton works a thousand steel jobs support 4,000 others and up to 9,000 jobs can be affected Ontario has already lost 300,000 manufacturing jobs look at London Deputy Premier what are you doing about these lockouts a government mediator was involved I asked your government what does the mediator do and I was told that can't be divulged what is he doing what are you doing have you talked to the company have you talked to the union what steps are you taking to get steel workers back to work Thank you Minister of Labor Thank you very much Speaker and I thank the member opposite for raising an important question Speaker I think as we all know some negotiations are very challenging and some take place in the public eye I want to comment I want to represent employers and unions at the negotiating table they've come together to develop a strategy that could work for both of them we know Speaker that agreements that are reached around the negotiating table are the best one and we really encourage in this situation for both parties to come back to the table as the member opposite noted and Ministry of Labor mediator has been engaged in the negotiations the mediator has been assisting the parties and has met with the parties on seven different occasions our services are still available we encourage the parties to come back to the negotiating table we are willing to facilitate that conversation and come up with a negotiated settlement that will be in the best interest of all parties Thank you Speaker Thank you Supplementary Well Ontario's got 600,000 people out of work jobs are fleeing the province they're closed electomotive and moved to Indiana now they're closing Toronto moving to Michigan and here we have the third U.S. Steel lockout in three years what have you learned from that what have you done I've been talking to the union I've been talking to the company we have government for a reason will you personally pull all sides together at least call a meeting change your approach has not changed you're getting rusty please explain what are you doing to deal with this new reality not only in the steel business but in Ontario's manufacturing in general Thank you very much Speaker and I think the member opposite knows exactly how the labour relations process works where both parties needs to come together on their own well around the table and be able to negotiate a settlement I think the member opposite also knows that the role of the government or that of the ministry of labour is that to facilitate that conversation and our mediators are available they have participated in the process on seven different occasions and they are willing to get the parties back but the both parties have to agree to do so what's concerning is the approach used to raise and that is their right to work for less strategy we know that approach does not work either so I asked the member to stop advocating for a system that will take a raise to the bottom for workers but ensure that we have a robust labour relations process like we have in the Ontario Labour Relations Act and I encourage both parties in the case of US Steel Canada to come together and negotiate a final settlement thank you my question is to the minister of health and long-term care just over a week ago in London Andrea Horvath and I met with a group of distraught Londoners who are the victims of yet another damaging cut to health care despite all the talk about health care transformation this Liberal government's cuts to health care has led to the closure of St Joseph's hydrotherapy pool a unique and vital therapy service for all patients will the minister explain how she can encourage people to be active then cut hydrotherapy then cut this hydrotherapy program with no regard for the consequences good minister of health and long-term care well speaker thanks to the member from London for that question and this hospital of course is in my writing so I know this issue well we are embarking in a very serious transformation of our health care system we are committed to moving services that are currently delivered in hospital to the community whenever possible we're changing how we fund hospitals so that going forward hospitals are going to get the money that their budget is going to depend on how many people they serve what their community is and how many actual procedures that they perform speaker there are changes underway it's all about delivering the best possible highest quality care in the most appropriate place speaker hospitals are making different decisions I understand that but the goal speaker is better care for the people of this province and that includes the people of London back in supplementary speaker St Joseph's hydrotherapy pool is health care too patients in London and across Ontario want to see accountability in our health care system accountability measures like the Ombudsman oversight over the health care system that would prevent harmful cuts like this one will the minister please explain to Londoners why her government can spend recklessly billions of dollars on standals like eHealth, Orange, Mississauga and Oakville fast plants but can't afford to keep St Joseph's hydrotherapy pool open thank you speaker the the member opposite unfortunately is not looking at the whole picture this budget that we have presented in this house that her party is so far dithering on whether or not they will support speaker speaks to improving health care for the people of this province including the people she represents this budget expands home care to 46,000 more Ontarians speaker this is the kind of transformation that we must all support because our patients of this province if they're ready to go home from hospital speaker that's where they want to be and we need to be there to support them at home speaker people want to be home they want to be in the comfort community with the people that they love and this budget is going to help more people get the care they need so they can be where they want to be thank you a new question my question is to the minister of training colleges and universities minister in a few weeks families in my riding on mississauga east cooks will celebrate the fact that young men and women are about to graduate from universities and colleges and regardless of whether they are graduating from a university or a college I know that these kids are really well positioned for the job market because they have a post second reeducation but minister not every young graduate wants to look for a job instead they want to go into business for themselves what I want to know is if you're going into business for yourself you cannot be worried about having to pay your osaplone before payment on their osaplones minister of training colleges and universities that's a really good question there's nothing more inspiring than this new next generation of young ontario entrepreneurs coming out of our colleges and universities when you see some of these young people and you go around the world today they're seen as some of the best and brightest young entrepreneurs anywhere in the world today when you think about a business up as you're graduating from university it's not only tough physically it's tough financially as well so we want to give our young entrepreneurs a break the 2013 budget will if passed allow graduates choosing to start a business in Ontario to defer paying off osaplones and payment of interest until one year after completing post secondary education rather than the standard six month grace period young entrepreneurs across the province as they work to build their careers turning them from job seekers to job creators but Mr. Speaker we need to get this budget passed in order to achieve that thank you supplementary thank you minister for that great answer for making sure that our young people have the opportunity not just to see jobs but to also create jobs there's also a lot of young people looking for jobs in my writing of mississauga east cookswell has been working hard to help these young bright graduates can the minister tell this legislature what we are doing to help young graduates find jobs minister absolutely Mr. Speaker one of the barriers our graduates and young people face upon entering the job market is lack of experience and it's the old adage we've heard before you know you can't get a job without experience and you can't get experience without having a job so it's kind of tough they're kind of in that situation we need to take action to help our young people get the opportunity to enter the work force this is a top priority in our 2013 budget and I urge all members all sides of the house to pass this budget Mr. Speaker because our budget will launch ontario's youth job strategy including a youth employment fund of 195 million dollars over two years the province would provide hiring incentives to employers to offer young people in all regions of the province entry point to long term employment the fund would use ontario's employment ontario extensive network of employment training services across the province to find appropriate job placements Mr. Speaker we've got to get this budget passed in order to implement this thank you very much Mr. Speaker my question is for the deputy premier four months ago liberal insiders in special interest coronated ontario's premier at that time ontario's unemployment stood at 565,000 people fast forward to today and sadly you will know that ontario's unemployment situation is even more dismal we're still over the past 12 months ontario's government sector has grown by 48,000 people but we haven't added one net new job to the ontario economy in fact during this time 5,000 well-paying manufacturing jobs which the premier often refers to as a myth do you think it's right to force unemployed ontario residents to pay for your political decision to move gas plants in Mississauga and Oakville to save a few liberal jobs and buy the last provincial election deputy premier Mr. Speaker the minister of economic development trade employment thank you Mr. Speaker and I know he might not say it in here but I know outside of the legislature the member opposite believes that we're on the right track because the reality is that he knows this that last month along we created 9,000 new manufacturing jobs in this province and the and the member opposite knows as well that in the last few years since thank you so not only 9,000 new manufacturing jobs last month alone created in this province but we're on the right track because we've created over 400,000 new jobs since the bottom of the recession we've brought back Mr. Speaker all of the jobs that were launched 50% more and you compare that with other jurisdictions like the United States that has only brought back 70% of their jobs we're doing better than the United States like states around us as well that's great well clearly minister you need to get out of Queens Park more back to the deputy premier sadly the numbers in London are even more devastating the unemployment rate in London soared from a dismal 8.6% in January to a devastating 9.9% last month giving London the highest big city unemployment rate in the country for the second month in a row in Windsor the unemployment rate is now at 9.2% minister the stats don't lie job creators in southwestern Ontario no longer of confidence in your liberal government's ability to help create jobs and grow our economy with 1 in 10 London residents unemployed do you think it's right to ask unemployed Londoners to pay for your political decision to move the Oakville Mississauga power plants to buy liberal seats in the last election Mr. Speaker again I know just how difficult it was for the member opposite to actually express that question because he knows as well as I do that the reason we created the southwestern Ontario development fund was to address important issues like this and I hate to embarrass him but I got to bring up again the first project that was funded in fact by the southwestern Ontario development fund a fund that the members and the official opposition voted against in your writing I'm sorry it was in your writing it was in Lampton Kent middle sex and I'm so proud that Lampton can there with support from the Ontario government through this very fund is not only doubling its workforce doubling wow but it is contributing to an important local economy and I know the member opposite and his heart of hearts agrees with me thank you speaker my question is to the minister of transportation the weatherman was calling for snow across northeastern Ontario and a heavy snow is not uncommon in our part of the world and they got in Timman's 26 centimetres wow the OPP closed many highways across the north after a dozen accidents fortunately there were no fatalities there were a couple cruisers in the ditch they didn't close the highways because of the snow they closed the highways because of the total lack of snow clearing there was no snow plowing there was one snow plow between Highway 144 and Matheson that's an area bigger than some countries there was no maintenance at all once again snow in the spring is not that uncommon this is the second time that we've had to ask that question you know are the contracts not up to snuff are the contractors not following the rules are they not being paid enough or is the privatization scheme not thank you Minister of Transportation thank you very much Mr. Speaker I will be very very happy to review what happened on the weekend I appreciate the members question I think it was sincerely asked it was very unusual whether this weekend Mr. Speaker in my neighbourhood we had hail three times and rain and snow this was not kind of weather that one is used to Mr. Speaker I have raised this when I was at meeting with mayors in the north and they have all said to me very clearly that this was one of the most difficult winters for municipal snow removal services Mr. Speaker because of the irregularity of the weather and the challenges of the weather so we know we've been dealing with some difficult matters Mr. Speaker the members question is a sincere one I will look into it and get back to him I appreciate him raising it Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing on a point of order I wish to correct my record earlier I spoke at an answer to the member with regards to a million dollar funds for small rural northern municipalities to build road bridges and other critical infrastructure in fact our budget speaks to a hundred million dollars to do that work thank you Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker there are no deferred votes this house stands deferred until 1 p.m. this afternoon recessed deferred recessed