 It is now time for Question Period, the leader of Her Majesty's Law and Opposition. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Premier. The top three highest-paid energy executives in British Columbia are the managing director of PowerX, the president and CEO of PowerX, and the president and CEO of BC Hydro. Combined, those three executives are paid just under $2 million a year in compensation. But here in Ontario, the Premier agreed to pay the new hydro-CEO over $4 million. Mr. Speaker, can the Premier explain why BC is able to pay their top three hydro-executes less than half that Ontario is paying their new hydro-CEO? Thank you. So thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I know that the Minister of Energy is going to want to speak to the details of the company right now, Hydro-1, Mr. Speaker. But what I want to do is just to make it clear that our intention in broadening the ownership of Hydro-1 is to leverage a current asset and allow us as a government to invest in the infrastructure and the new assets that are needed for the 21st century, Mr. Speaker. Now, I know that the leader of the opposition is not supportive of that. But the fact is, Mr. Speaker, that if we do not make those investments, if we don't invest in roads and bridges and hospitals and schools and transit infrastructure, we're not going to be competitive. We're not going to be able to compete with other jurisdictions in the world, Mr. Speaker. And we're not going to be as productive as we need to be. People and goods are not going to be able to move in the way that they need to. We're making those investments for the future productivity of this province, Mr. Speaker. The question again for the Premier and the question was on Hydro-1 executive compensation. In B.C., Hydro-Bills are half of what they are in Ontario. B.C. Liberal's government isn't forcing seniors to choose between heating and eating. Hydro-1's new multimillion-dollar executive salaries will have to be paid through through higher and hydro-hydro-bills. Citizens on fixed incomes cannot afford to pay higher and higher hydro-bills. But that is what is going to happen. Mr. Speaker, why is it Premier making life more and more difficult for people in Ontario just so that she can hand out lavish executive compensation for Hydro-1? Thank you. Premier? Well, Mr. Speaker, I heard someone heckling that I hadn't understood the first question. I actually had understood the first question perfectly because, Mr. Speaker, it is impossible to talk about Hydro-1 and what we're doing in the broadening of the ownership without talking about investments in infrastructure. That's what it's about, Mr. Speaker. The reason we are doing this and we are doing it in a... Finish, please. Mr. Speaker, we're committed to building infrastructure. The party opposite had no plan to build infrastructure, Mr. Speaker. When they were in office, they didn't build infrastructure. They filled in holes that had already been dug, Mr. Speaker, for transit. They didn't invest. We have been investing and we're going to continue to do that. The leader of the opposition knows that Hydro-1 will be regulated by the Ontario Business Corporations Act, the Ontario Securities Act, and the Ontario Energy Board, Mr. Speaker. He knows that executives will have to file information with the Ontario Securities Commission, and that information will be disclosed. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, again for the Premier, Hydro-1 executive pay is out of line with the rest of Canada. The CEO of BC Hydro is paid $495,000. The annual compensation for the President of SAAS Power is $482,000. Last year, the head of Manitoba Hydro was paid just shy of $500,000. The new CEO of Hydro-Quebec will be paid $480,000. The combined salaries of the six hydro executives in four provinces is still less than the $4 million being paid to the new Hydro-1 CEO. And not surprisingly, ratepayers in those four provinces are paying less than they are in Ontario. The Premier could have issued a directive to the Hydro-1 board setting limits on executive compensation, but she chose not to. Mr. Speaker, why did the Premier set limits on Hydro-1 salaries when so many people in Ontario are struggling with their Hydro-1? Mr. Speaker, when we look at comparable Toronto stock exchange companies, the pay will actually be set at the medium to low range, Mr. Speaker. And the base salary for the new CEO, Mr. Speaker, is $850,000 with some incentives. Mr. Speaker, the Premier is right. The issue is infrastructure, and we are able to access by broadening ownership billions of dollars, Mr. Speaker, without coming from taxes, without reducing services, and without raising debt. Mr. Speaker, that government doesn't know anything about infrastructure either in the general economy or in energy, Mr. Speaker. The energy invested in infrastructure, Mr. Speaker, when they were in government was $2 billion a year. They under-invested in the energy sector, so we went into deficit. We were imparting $1 billion a year, Mr. Speaker, and we lost transmission service. We lost distribution service, and we had to invest $34 billion to make up for their... Thank you. New question? Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Premier. People in Ontario are tired of watching the Premier spin an evade question after question on the Sudbury by-election corruption scandal. They've been writing to me, calling my office, and posting online asking when will the Premier answer a direct question. On tape, Jerry Lahi Jr. told Andrew Olivier that Pat Cerbera and the Premier would talk to him about job options available to him in exchange for stepping aside. People deserve to know if the Premier instructed Jerry Lahi Jr. to say what he said. Mr. Speaker, yes or no, will the Premier testify at the corruption scandal at the trial to deal with allegations that everyone in Ontario are talking about? Yes or no? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I have a lot of faith in the process that is in place. I have faith in the authorities. We have... Regrettably, it looks like I'm going to have to get... I'll let you finish the sentence. With the authorities, I will continue to work with the authorities, Mr. Speaker. The Parliamentary Commission knows full well that there is an issue that is now in front of the courts, and I'm not going to comment any further. I've answered 107 questions in the House. I've talked to the media and I've talked to the outside of the House, Mr. Speaker. I'll continue to work with the authorities. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, again to the Premier. A prominent Liberal recently said, it's really frustrating to see the level of mistrust and disgust people have with parliamentarians. He said that someone must show some leadership and actually come clean. And the only way to be able to do that is for everybody to testify under oath. The Premier must hear this a lot because the person who said this was the Federal Liberal Leader. Because of course, those were his words. Mr. Speaker, will the Premier take her friend's advice and testify under oath, yes or no? Thank you. Premier? Well, Speaker, again, I think I remind the member opposite about the Convention in this House and the Convention, the Constitutional Convention that exists when it comes to matters relating to... I'm going to remind the member from Renfrew he's out of order. Please come door. Finish, please. Because I've stated before many times in this House that there is a Constitutional Convention in our country where even the Supreme Court have indicated very clearly that if a matter is before the course that it should not be discussed within the parliament and the kind of questions that the member's opposite and the leader of the official opposition continues to ask, is it a direct interference in issues that may come before the course? The Premier, a speaker doing the course of this matter has been transparent to Ontarians, the Legislature, she has answered almost 110 questions relating to this matter and we will leave it to that speaker. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, again to the Premier. It's a simple question and yet the Premier continues to avoid answering it. I'm not asking the Premier to tell us specifics. I'm not asking the Premier to tell us what she will say on stand at court. I'm simply asking the Premier to answer a straightforward question. I'm asking the Premier, Mr. Speaker if she will wait for parliamentary privilege and testify at the trial of Jerry Lahi Jr. Yes or no? Thank you. Thank you. Government House Leader. I will again give a very simple answer to the member opposite and I hope he really carefully listens to the advice that his own deputy leader, the member from Leeds Grandville gave once to us in this legislature where the member from Leeds Grandville said stop interfering in an ongoing investigation and let it run its course. I think the member from Leeds Grandville was correct. Casey didn't hear at the member from Leeds Grandville and if he did hear it and he chooses to continue I'll warn him. Carry on. Just like he's trying to speak to me across the hall maybe the member from Leeds Grandville can just whisper in his leader's ears that we shouldn't be interfering in a matter that is before the court and again I remind the leader of the opposition who I'm sure have a high regard and respect for the Supreme Court of Canada which said clearly that a well-known rule of parliamentary practice holds that no member of the House of Commons should comment upon any matter that is pending before the court. New question to the leader of the third party. Thank you Speaker. My question is for the Premier. This Liberal government's record is one of scandal with money and disappointment. It is no wonder that Ontarians don't trust the Liberals and it is no wonder that more than 80% of Ontarians don't want this Premier to sell off Hydro One. When the Liberals last experimented with privatisation we got the orange and e-health scandals. Billions of dollars down the drain and literally nothing to show for it. Why should Ontarians trust the privatisation of Hydro One won't be yet another Liberal disaster? Thank you. The question that I would put back to the leader of the third party because she knows full well that the reason that we are broadening the ownership of Hydro One is to build infrastructure. She knows that and what she doesn't talk about in her questions and I'm assuming in her town halls is what we are able to buy and invest in by doing this. By making this very hard decision. So I would ask the leader of the third party which part of the $130 billion over the next 10 years that we are investing, would she not invest? Which projects Mr. Speaker, so would it be the barry line that we're electrifying so that weekly trips will increase from 70 to 200 plus Mr. Speaker, the go transit? Would it be the Kitchener line which will increase weekly trips from 80 to 250? Would it be the Lake Cheryl East Line that will ridership up from 10 million to 32 million Mr. Speaker? Are those the lines that she would cut if we did not make this decision? Supplementary. Every single time people open their hydro bills they are reminded about how badly the liberals have handled the energy file. Hydro rates have nearly quadrupled since 2003 Mr. Speaker. $2 billion wasted on smart meters and another billion dollars wasted on the moving of gas plant speaker. Ontarians also remember that it was this Premier who said that she would be surprised if the liberal gas plants cost even 40 million 40 million dollar speaker. Now with this record why should Ontarians trust that this Premier will sell off our hydro system in a way that makes sense to Ontarians? Well Mr. Speaker, the third party has full access to the information about the protections that we have put in place. She knows that the people of Ontario will retain 40% ownership of the asset Mr. Speaker. She knows that we have put protections in place in terms of the ability to remove the board, the ability to remove the CEO and she knows that the Ontario energy board who she has described as an independent body Mr. Speaker has been setting hydro rates to set electricity rates. Sorry I said hydro, I meant electricity rates Mr. Speaker. But I would ask the leader of the third party again would she cut the Stovill line that we are increasing trains on Mr. Speaker? Would she cut the line increase or the ride increase on the Richmond Hill line? Would she cut Mr. Speaker the LRT in Hamilton a billion dollars that we are investing in Hamilton? Does she think that that is a project that should be cut? Because those are the things that we are investing in Mr. Speaker and presumably those are the things she doesn't think need to be done. Thank you. Final supplementary. Speaker this premier continues to present Ontarians with a false choice between infrastructure and public hydro. Everyone knows everyone knows except perhaps the premier and the others over there that drink the same bathwater that this choice is absolute nonsense. But what is particularly troubling Speaker is that the auditor general said that this government managed to waste 8.2 billion dollars on their infrastructure financing scheme Speaker. And now infrastructure Ontario is embroiled in a fraud scandal. Given the premier's record Speaker on waste, on energy on privatization why should anyone trust her to sell off our most public asset hydro? Mr. Speaker the leader of the third party knows that we made it clear in our budget and in our platform that it was going to be necessary for us to leverage assets in order to invest in new assets and in fact she's acknowledged that she knew that Mr. Speaker and in fact she ran on the same plan fiscally financially that we had in place Mr. Speaker and acknowledged in public that she was going to have to that she would look at assets Mr. Speaker so she understands that it is very important for us to have the money to invest in these assets Mr. Speaker it's not possible to just continue borrowing so I'd ask her again would it be the project which is the new alignment of Highway 7 between Kitchener and Guelph that she would cut Mr. Speaker would it be the melee drive extension in Sudbury that she would cut Mr. Speaker or maybe it's the planning of Highway 1117 between Thunder Bay and Nippagon Mr. Speaker again those are all projects in which we're investing that apparently she doesn't think her nest is Thank you My next questions for the Premier People's trust in this government speaker is badly shaken this Premier promised to do things differently but now they see Liberal Insider criminally charged for doing the Premier's dirty work but all rather so that the Premier could get a win for the Liberal Party Will the Premier begin rebuilding people's trust in her government and tell Ontarians exactly what her role was in the Sudbury bribery scandal Thank you Well Mr. Speaker I've been very open with the legislature and the media and the public about the allegations related to the Sudbury by-election the leader of the third party knows that in fact I've answered 107 questions from each of them now it's 110 111 questions Mr. Speaker I've addressed these questions in dozens of interactions with the media Mr. Speaker there is a process in place I have faith in that process I've cooperated with the authorities I will continue to cooperate with the authorities Mr. Speaker and she knows that this is a matter that's now before the courts and I'm not going to comment further on it but I will go with 110 questions but really no answer that the people don't trust this Premier in what she's saying she is a speaker to rebuild the broken public trust that's what she came in here saying she was going to do and I would say she has failed miserably in that regard Speaker she could have been up front about getting Mr. Loughy to offer a bribe to the former Liberal candidate in Sudbury she could have asked her Deputy Chief for the bribery scandal but instead this Premier has arrogantly absolved herself of any responsibility whatsoever why should the people of Ontario trust this Premier when she has refused to take responsibility for the bribery Sudbury scandal so Mr. Speaker as I've said this is a matter that's before the courts and I have answered many many questions about this Mr. Speaker about the situation from my perspective and I'm not going to comment further but Mr. Speaker when I ran in the election and when we put forward our plan what we said we were going to do Mr. Speaker was we were going to invest in people in this province and their talent and skills we said we were going to invest in infrastructure that's exactly what we're doing we said that we were going to increase the wages of some of the lowest paid people in this province personal support workers Mr. Speaker early childhood educators we were doing that Mr. Speaker we said we were going to index the minimum wage we're doing that Mr. Speaker we have followed through on the commitments that we made to the people of this province we will continue to do so Mr. Speaker that is what we're doing beautiful beautiful thank you final supplementary Speaker the public trust is important for any government and yet this Premier seems determined to not be the one without a mandate or being implicated on tape ordering a bribe the trust of the people of Ontario Speaker has been very much shaken and I agree with the Chief Electoral Officer if I heard what I thought I heard I'm going to ask the member to withdraw I did you tell me that but I will withdraw Speaker thank you I don't expect that to happen again please finish and I agree with the Chief Electoral Officer Speaker who said that references to the Premier on submarine tapes quote threatens the government's integrity why should Ontarians trust anything that this Premier said thank you thank you very much Mr. Speaker this province is at a very important juncture in terms of our economic viability Mr. Speaker the commitment that I made to the people of this province is that we would make the investments that will allow us to compete globally Mr. Speaker that we will build the infrastructure that is necessary that we will make sure that our young people have every opportunity to get full secondary education to get the training and we said that we will make sure that people in this province have retirement security even if we don't have a federal government that will work with us Mr. Speaker those should be working with us on she should be supporting Mr. Speaker and if she's not then I think she has to explain to the people of Ontario why building a future for this province that is bright and prosperous is not something she would say start the clock no question member from Oxford Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing could the minister explain how his independent review of the Housing Services Corporation failed to turn up the fact that Housing Services Corporation paid a board member to go on a luxury eight day night sightseeing trip with private driver winery tours whale watching a visit to a nature reserve and meals at award winning restaurants in Cape Town South Africa Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing well I think the member opposite insists on two stricter paradox to have this government act and do what their government to put the Housing Services Corporation refused to do the member opposite member opposite refers to this as a rogue agency it's not a rogue agency it's an agency that you sir when you to the chair please to the chair please rogue agency that they put in place so Mr. Speaker we're proud to work with the Housing Services Corporation finish please to work with the Housing Services Corporation and do an independent review to lead to a changing of a number of their practices answer legitimate we share the concerns we have different choices we choose to look at what's broken thank you supplementary well Mr. Speaker if the minister can explain how a luxury South Africa sightseeing trip slipped through perhaps he can explain why his review failed to report that Toronto Community Housing is losing 1.3 million 6.3 million a year because the minister is forcing them to purchase through the Housing Services Corporation and why the review failed to turn up that housing money is going to pay for trips to England Australia, California or alcohol or $300 and meals in fancy restaurants including $8 for water how many more of these examples do we have to find before he calls in the auditor and have her open the book so we can get this mass cleaned up thank you Minister it's from the party that downloaded social housing but no support we got a lot of money Mr. Speaker I could share with the House that the independent review order please finish independent review of the HSC to refine its business practices streamline the organizational structure reduce overhead and administrative costs enhance corporate reporting and transparency revise board enumeration to be consistent with cabinet guidelines and a number of other choices including a revisit by the group that did the study now the new leader of the opposition the member from Simcoe North when the government does things that are right he's standing upon well sir if you want to stand and applaud you can start anytime you want thank you I love the idea of throwing anyone out new question my question to the Premier a little over a week ago the government quietly released a supplemental to its budget estimates there was an additional unbudgeted expense that wasn't mentioned in the original estimates and it's big the government has agreed to pay a $2.6 billion tax bill owed by Hydro One to the Ontario Electricity Financial Corporation which will use the cash to pay down the debt this means there will be $2.6 billion less cash available for things like infrastructure why is the government spending the transit money on an unbudgeted $2.6 billion tax break for Hydro One's new private owners Mr. Vanerjee Mr. Speaker under the tax provisions if an LDC were to sell their assets over 10% Mr. Speaker there was a departure tax that was paid by the vendor not the purchaser the vendor in this particular case Mr. Speaker the Hydro One is required as a vendor to pay itself $2.6 billion Mr. Speaker in tax that $2.6 billion Mr. Speaker is being reinvested in its own corporation it's a total wash Mr. Speaker it's a total equalization of receiving from one hand and returning with the other hand Mr. Speaker the implications from the member and he knows Mr. Speaker he knows Mr. Speaker but in this particular show and here Mr. Speaker he decides he's going to try to put an implication of some wrongdoing Mr. Speaker it's perfectly normal and perfectly appropriate supplementary Speaker Ontarians are paying a $2.6 billion tax bill owed by Hydro One this expense wasn't accounted for by the budget Barter please finish in exchange for $2.6 billion in cash according to the Hydro One prospectus the government gets $2.6 billion worth of shares in Hydro One except Speaker we already own 100% of Hydro One the minister says this transaction is quote fiscally neutral to me it looks like an accounting trick Mr. Speaker $2.6 billion in real cash is leaving leaving the Treasury to pay off Hydro Bond holders in return the government will get $2.6 billion worth of shares in a company that it already owns 100% of how can this be fiscally neutral second Mr. Speaker it can be fiscally neutral just by that member listening to what I said in answer to the first question that is quite simply that a departure tax is payable by any utility that sells more than 10% the member from Hamilton East Stony Creek the member from Eglinton Lawrence finish please Mr. Speaker the government is the people of Ontario we're paying $2.6 billion to the government the people of Ontario Mr. Speaker and that is being put back into Hydro 1 Mr. Speaker as it moves forward it's a total wash Mr. Speaker and I really don't understand the emotion and the diatribe that we're getting from this member Mr. Speaker because it's clear it's also been cleared by the auditors Mr. Speaker thank you the member from Burlington thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the Minister of Transportation this summer the Halton Regional Police initiated the reducing rural speeds project to the north end of Burlington the safety initiative aims to reduce the speeds of vehicles travelling along rural roads in order to promote safer driving habits as part of this initiative police conducted a summer safety blitz which saw them hand out twice as many tickets to drivers this year than last of the almost 100 non-speeding related ticket speaker handed out by the police the vast majority were for distracted driving Mr. Speaker distracted driving truly is an epidemic that not only affects my community but indeed all Ontarians can the Minister please tell members of this House what our government is doing to help prevent the senseless and preventable crime Thank you Minister of Transportation Thanks very much Mr. Speaker I want to begin by thanking the member from Burlington for the question but also for being an outstanding champion for road safety not only in Burlington but for right across the province of Ontario Mr. Speaker the evidence truly speaks for itself a driver who uses a cell phone is four times more likely to be in an accident than drivers who are focused on the road and that's why our government is leading the charge against distracted driving as of February 2010 police began issuing tickets for this completely preventable offense and with the passing of Bill 31 the making Ontario road safer act in June of this year drivers now faced stiffer fines and penalties upon conviction in fact Ontario now has the high among the highest fine ranges in Canada our government also made regulatory changes by three demerit points upon conviction for distracted driving there is no easy solution to changing inappropriate driver behaviour but our government has and will continue to work as hard as possible to discourage texting behind the wheel Thank you Thank you Mr. Speaker and I want to thank the minister for his response we've all seen how distracted driving can negatively impact the lives of others but it is not just drivers who are affected by this behaviour but also by the choices Speaker all members of this house know that Ontario's roads are amongst the safest in North America but it is extremely important that we consider the safety of everyone using our roads this means keeping our roads safe for drivers yes but in particular our most vulnerable road users cyclists and pedestrians in the minister's response he mentioned the passage of Bill 31 Mr. Speaker can the minister please provide members of this house with further information on Ontario's roads safer for all road users Thank you minister Thanks very much Speaker again I thank the member for her follow-up question she's 100% right our government takes the safety of all road users very very seriously in addition to the distracted driving provisions contained in Bill 31 we've taken significant steps towards improving the safety of pedestrians and cyclists on our roads this includes requiring drivers of motor vehicles to maintain a minimum distance of cyclists on highways increasing the fine for those who improperly open or leave open the doors of motor vehicles and requiring drivers to remain stopped at pedestrian crossovers or school crossings until those crossing the street are off the roadway I was very pleased speaker to see that Bill 31 this past June passed here in this legislature with all party support these provisions combined with stiffer distracted driving penalties will help ensure the safety of drivers cyclists and pedestrians Thank you Mr. Speaker this truly is another great example of how we can work together to keep all Ontarians safer on our roads Thank you Speaker my question is for the Premier there are new discoveries in a recent report by Philip Cross the title Ontario no longer a place to prosper sums up the facts revealed by the former chief economic analyst for Statscan please finish it turns out the liberal spending spree was in full swing years before the recession and growth fell just as much in the years before the recession as it did afterwards so all their excuses blaming their tax and spend policies on the recession have now been debunked the fact is Ontario's declining economy is a direct result of failed liberal economic policy the liberals who raised costs hurting families and seniors and businesses when will the Premier realize that she is the one keeping Ontario from realizing it's full potential Thank you very much Mr. Speaker I'm very pleased Mr. Speaker that the Fraser Institute report ranked Ontario number one in North America for foreign direct investment wonderful that since August 2014 Ontario gained 64,000 net new jobs we're increasing the job number in this province Mr. Speaker our investment Ontario is 6.8% which is under the national average of 7% Mr. Speaker so we are making investments in order to be able to compete globally you know I introduced the Premier's Youth Advisory Council at the beginning of the day Mr. Speaker and it's very important to me that we hear from young people they are the people who are going to be looking for those jobs Mr. Speaker they are the people who are going to be creating those jobs that's why the investments that we're making are so important Mr. Speaker well Mr. Speaker that response tells us this liberal government has absolutely no intention to listen to the experts if the Fraser report is not enough we've heard the same facts the Ontario Chamber the Federation of Business the Manufacturers Association the list goes on they all told us the same facts since the Liberals took office all of our numbers and our jobs have headed south and it's unfortunate they didn't listen to the auditor general last year she told us that if the Liberals continue down this destructive path they will crowd out the services Ontarians deserve in town of North Bay where they just fired 158 frontline healthcare workers half of which were nurses when will this government realize it's their own mismanagement that is costing people of Ontario their jobs thank you Minister of Health and Long-term Care well thank you Mr. Speaker and I really appreciate the opportunity that the member opposite gave me to talk about North Bay Regional Hospital and we know that there are some changes underway there's nothing that's being finalized in fact we're expecting the Linn is expecting the hospital's improvement plan the final version of that on October the 16th in just about a weeks time and they're going to review that they're going to continue to discuss with the hospital it's not true at all that 50% of the individuals or nursing staff it's far less in fact many of them will be through nutrition but even more important it's not even decided yet to be approved by the Linn and the ministry as well and it's important and prudent I would suggest that the member opposite read the CEO of the hospital's op-ed of a week ago where he explained specifically why the changes are being made thank you Mr. President my question for the minister thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the minister of health and long-term care 39% of the CCAC budget that is supposed to go to patient care actually never reaches any patients that's almost one billion dollars of public money that never finds its way to patients home to provide the home care that people need and depend on I've asked the minister before if he knew this but he did not have an answer so I'll ask him again today did the minister know that nearly one billion dollars of the money that he sends to CCAC the money that he oversees never really gets to the patient that needs home care thank you minister of health long-term care well Mr. Speaker what I will do is stand up and defend the hard work of our frontline healthcare workers in our CCACs including Mr. Speaker the thousands of individuals that work as care coordinators that develop patient plans which they purchase equipment and services for individuals at home the member opposite describes that as overhead I actually think that's an insult to the hard working nurses and nurse practitioners who are our care coordinators who are providing that patient care and making a difference to the more than 800,000 individuals around this province that do receive services but Mr. Speaker I've accepted and endorsed and agreed with the recommendations of the auditor general this government intends on implementing every single one of our recommendations thank you supplementary thank you speaker as you read through the auditor's report you clearly see the government's failure the home care system in Ontario is failing patients on eligibility it is failing us on weight list it is failing on care level and on quality of care our home care system is broken it is broken and it needs to be fixed the auditor general recommendation is that the entire structure of home care delivery needs to change does the minister agree that it is the structure that needs to change because none of his 10 point plans talks about structure wow thank you Mr. Speaker the 10 point action plan that I released earlier this year which was all of the recommendations from Gail Donner and her expert panel that advised us on what to do she said very importantly that form follows function we maintain 10 changes that will improve the quality of care the auditor general has now given us a roadmap to allow us to make those structural and governance changes if required Mr. Speaker but I have to say that I'm not going to take lessons from the party opposite from the third party the party that delisted home care from OHIP when they were government thank you new question remember from Ajax Pickering thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the associate minister of finance over the past few months there has been a growing awareness in my community about the Ontario retirement pension plan my constituents are pleased to see our government taking action to close retirement savings gap for millions of Ontarians particularly seniors businesses in my writing are eager to learn more about our province plans to enhance retirement security across the province businesses are already beginning to make plans for the implementation of the ORPP some businesses owners have spoken and have asked how the government will be phasing in the enrollment of the plan when different employers will begin making contributions I know the minister recently announced the enrollment schedule for the ORPP Mr. Speaker can the minister please update the house and when businesses will be enrolled in the plan associate minister of finance thank you Mr. Speaker and I want to thank the member for that very important and timely question Mr. Speaker our goal is by 2020 every employee in Ontario would be part of the ORPP or a comparable work place pension plan we know that businesses need time to plan in order to implement the ORPP my consultations with businesses particularly small businesses Mr. Speaker our staged approach will help ease the transition for business large businesses without registered work place plans will be the first to start making contributions in January 2017 medium size businesses will begin in the following year and small businesses without work place plans will begin making contributions in 2019 as well Mr. Speaker we will see their contribution rates phased in gradually over three years this is a reasonable responsible approach that ensures that we balance the retirement security of Ontarians with the needs of business Mr. Speaker and thank you to the minister for that response I know that business owners in my writing will be glad to hear about the steps our government to help business plan for the implementation of the ORPP I know small businesses such as my own in my writing will appreciate that they have additional time to adjust the introduction of the ORPP Mr. Speaker again through you to the minister some businesses in my writing offer their employers a defined contribution that plan and just falls below the compatibility task put forward by our government they are curious what different options are available to them and they're wondering whether they automatically enrolled in the ORPP or if their plans do not meet a comparability test or are there ways for them to adjust their plans to be exempt from the ORPP Mr. Minister Madam Minister I was thinking of Mr. Speaker he's always on my mind could you please outline the options available to Ontario business we're from Ajax we're agreeing for that great question and the work he's doing on behalf of his constituents that employers who offer registered workplace pension plans that don't meet our comparability threshold will start in 2020 Mr. Speaker this gives these employers well over four years to adjust their plans if they choose to do so for example a company with an existing DC plan would have two options they would increase the contribution rates to 8% or they could alternatively contribute to the ORPP either way they would have until 2020 to decide what to do with their existing plan Mr. Speaker this is a responsible reason and proven approach that balances the needs of businesses today with the needs of workers in the future like our young people here from the Premier's advisory council Thank you Thank you to the Speaker Mr. Speaker the Premier has said that the mandatory Ontario pension plan will be good for the province yet recent studies show that 90% of small business owners are opposed to the ORPP That's right An employee making $45,000 a year would pay just shy of $800 towards the ORPP with their employer contributing an equal amount While larger businesses may be able to absorb these added costs smaller businesses will be forced to either reduce the size of their workforce or hours those employees are able to work Mr. Speaker we all know it's impossible to save our retirement if you don't have a job How many job losses will it take for this Premier to ask her job killing Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker what a great question from the opposition because it is important that we talk about retirement security in this province Mr. Speaker just last week we heard that the numbers of Speaker we know that our population is aging we know that two-thirds of Ontarians do not have a workplace pension plan today that's why we're taking leadership to implement the Ontario retirement pension plan the member opposite knows full well that the ORPP is not a payroll tax let's look at the evidence the global mail calls this idea bogus phrasing and said this money is really deferred salary for workers to access in retirement Mr. Speaker when people retire they need to have the opportunity to continue to consume in retirement that's what we're doing by strengthening retirement security with the ORPP thank you new question supplementary yes thank you Mr. Speaker again through you to the Premier Premier the ORPP's administrative costs are expected to range between $130 and $200 per member per year so a worker who contributes $80 per year will lose up to 25% of their contributions off the top in fees alone that doesn't sound like a very good return on investment to me Ontarians won't be saving more they will be just losing more off their payroll stuff let me remind you when you feel the strong hand of government in your pocket taking the money that's a tax Mr. Speaker will the Premier commit to job to saving jobs and abandoning the poorly planned killing job payroll tax Mr. Speaker as I was saying the member opposite knows full well that this is not a payroll tax this is deferred compensation for the members who contribute to the plan Mr. Speaker we're ensuring shouting people down is not impressive at all nor making comments while I'm trying to get control Mr. Speaker from the Canadian payroll association it is not a payroll tax it's a pension plan not a tax people making this plan should be required to take economics 101 and ensure that we can manage this plan as efficiently as possible this will be better for the people the member from Prince Edward Hastings is Warren new question the member from Algoma Manitou thank you Mr. Speaker and good morning to you my question is to the Minister of Northern Development and Mines today Northern Superior Resources has gone to trial with the Ontario government over its failure to set real guidelines on the mining process in Ontario NSR North Mining Company since 2009 to bring legal action against the government over the exact same issue the failure to get consultations under way demonstrate the misguided priorities of the Liberal government and is paving the path for further disputes why has this government failed to do their job in creating a plan for resource development and jobs in the north Mr. Chairman thank you very much Mr. Speaker I think the member understands I certainly can't speak about a specific case that may be before the courts but I will certainly say that we endeavor as in every way and work as hard as we can to work as closely as we can with the companies that are bringing potential opportunities forward in the province of Ontario as we do work very closely with the First Nations and try to bring organizations and groups and communities together for that purpose as well to make our continued goal and something that we have had great success with in so many many ways supplementary I get to the minister Mr. Speaker from 2005 until it lost access to the area of the claims in 2012 NSR spent over 12 million in acquisition maintenance and exploration other companies like Cliff Noron and KWG have equally spent tens of millions that are extremely frustrated or given up entirely leaving the province all stating that the Liberal government has not set any real guidelines on development if the government continues to mismanage mining development in the north we will see the lawsuits pile up and the jobs will be lost gone forever I ask again as I've asked several times before will the minister act now to actually develop a plan for good value at a job creation that treats First Nations as partners Thank you We are very proud of the work that we're doing with consultations with First Nations as we are with the mining companies and the province of Ontario and we have got a great story to tell and it's unfortunate that the members choosing to focus on some of the challenges that we have when there are such great stories to tell we continue to be the number one jurisdiction for exploration in the country alone in North America we continue to have an increasing mineral production of $11 billion in 2014 we continue to open up new mines the member knows that well as they're all members of the house and those opportunities will continue to happen whether we're talking about the expansion of Gold corp the kosher expansion or the Rubicon Minerals the new opportunities at New Gold the Greenstone Gold these are opportunities that will require us to work closely together in a very positive way of course that's something I continue to do with my colleague across the house Thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and International Trade Speaker, Ontario is home to many of the top ranked post-secondary institutions in the world our universities and colleges are known for their prestigious faculty dedicated students in innovative programs I like many others enjoy watching to see what new and exciting things will come from our schools each year I see one of Ontario's great innovators Ryerson University achieve international recognition and some phenomenal opportunities with the help of the Ministry of Citizenship Immigration and International Trade in August of this year the CEO for the UK based organization Innovation Birmingham visited Ryerson and after six months of communications fostered by the Ontario International offices in the United Kingdom in September on your trade mission to the UK I saw that Ryerson signed a memorandum of understanding with Innovation Birmingham Speaker, through you to the Minister Can the Minister provide more information about this MOU? Thank you Minister, Citizenship Immigration and International Trade Thank you Thank you Speaker for the question I want to thank the member from Brampton Springdale for asking the question Speaker, it's a very strong tie economic tie between Ontario and the UK We have a shared political and also cultural heritage and a similar economic growth pattern One thing in engaging the world and expanding trade and investment opportunity is building relationships Ontario is eager to develop mutually beneficial commercial relationships with Birmingham companies and organizations As the member noted on my last mission to UK Ryerson University signed a partnership agreement with Innovation Birmingham Under the agreement, Ryerson and IB will launch a next big idea contest and showcase the possibility of virtual incubation and collaboration Speaker, it is already clear that great things will be coming out of this mission Thank you Thank you I'd like to thank the Minister for his answer I know the Ministry has been working diligently to promote Ontario's trade interests around the world It is great to hear that an emphasis is also being placed on competitive relationships in various countries as well I'm sure that these efforts will bring out even more beneficial partnerships between countries and allow for further innovation like what we're seeing at Ryerson I'm particularly excited to hear about the next big idea contest Future relationships can be modeled on the relationship we saw in the UK Two cutting edge innovators Innovation Birmingham and Ryerson University teaming up with the major UK bank and with the Ontario government to help companies, organizations go global Speaker, could the Minister provide more information about the next big idea contest and how it will help foster relationships in the future? Thank you Thank you Speaker The next big idea contest is intended to discover innovative IT companies and provide them with the opportunity to scale up internationally It has been running in India for three years and it has been an interation in the UK The first outcome of the agreement between Birmingham and Ryerson is proposed to be the second addition of this contest It will open to existing Ontario and Birmingham digital media and IT companies whose services and products can be scaled to reach the global audience There will be one winner in Ontario ready to grow and one winner from Birmingham looking to invest in Ontario I am excited to see what answers partnerships and even better ideas come out of this contest Thank you Thank you very much Mr Speaker My question is the Associate Minister of long-term care The provincial auditor tells us the two ministers responsible for health care in Ontario are failing miserably when it comes living up to protect Ontario's senior citizens Here are the facts You have not brought in standards of care in home care and you have no standards of care in our nursing homes This minister is supposed to be the one protecting our seniors standing on guard for them and implementing tough standards On the other hand she has missed inspection deadlines issued zero work orders and as a result long-term care residents have died from neglect or abuse I ask will the minister bring in the standards of care yes or no Thank you Thank you Mr Speaker and I thank the member opposite for his question The fact is Mr Speaker that we have been making a number of taking a number of steps to beef up our implementation and our inspections For example Mr Speaker in 2014 for the very first time we inspected every single home in Ontario across the province What's more Mr Speaker than this in 2015 What's really egregious here is the fact that the party opposite when they were in power forgot to inspect homes at all for long periods of time and for them to say that we are not inspecting is a little rich Mr Speaker Thank you Thank you Mr Speaker back to the associate minister of long-term care These people are our parents our grandparents and the minister continues to neglect them and they are the same diapers developing broken skins and bed sores It's been 10 years since an inquest made the specific recommendation to this government to bring in standards of care at long-term care homes but it has done nothing As a result neglect and death continue to happen Most recently and sadly it happened a Fatima had Moratti and it happened a Dorothy Benson who died from bed sore complications I ask why will the minister not stand up here and admit that when it comes to living up to her responsibilities to protect Ontario's she has been nothing short of a very very bad failure Thank you Mr Speaker Thank you Mr Speaker and again thank the member opposite for his question and I just want to assure Ontarians and this house that the safety of our residents in our long-term care homes is my number one priority When our seniors, when our families place their seniors in our long-term care homes they do so with the trust that we will look after them I'm very conscious of this trust and I take that very seriously and that is why Mr Speaker we are committed to providing increased support to long-term care home operators in fact this year Mr Speaker we increased funding to long-term care homes by 2.5% and since coming to office we have increased funding for long-term care homes by 85% and Mr Speaker I just want to continue and say that the safety of our long-term care residents continues to be a priority Thank you Thank you The member from London Fairchild Thank you Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Health and Long-term Care constituents have been contacting my office in London and have been telling us that they have been waiting for years Speaker to get an appointment at London Health Science Centre for surgery or to see medical specialists for diagnosis London surgery wait times for diagnostic scans and surgeries are significantly higher than the provincial wait times Michael Allen, a two-time cancer survivor was diagnosed in January of 2015 as high risk for heart attack and stroke and he only got into surgery last week Speaker after he suffered a stroke in September Gail Cervestro had to go to Storathroy to see a specialist due to London's wait times and now will be waiting at least a year for surgery in order for her to be able to walk The people of London Speaker are tired of waiting for this government to take action and when will this government stop failing the people of this province putting lives and well-being at risk and with appalling long wait times for surgical surgeries Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the question and the member opposite didn't have the opportunity to mention we were the first government in the history of this province to actually begin measuring wait times for important surgeries as well as ER wait times when we began in 2003 to measure wait times because we inherited the legacy of cuts from the progressive conservatives we were the worst wait times in all of Canada when we came into office now Mr. Speaker we have the best wait times the shortest wait times in all of Canada so we continue to work on this we're making hundreds of millions of dollars of investments to continue to decrease those wait times whether they're for surgeries or for ER other processes and services that's an obligation and a responsibility extremely seriously Mr. Speaker Thank you Pursue understanding order 38A the member from Oxford has given notice of his dissatisfaction with the answer to his question given by the Minister Municipal Affairs and Housing concerning the Housing Services Corporation and this matter will be debated tomorrow at 6pm there are no further deferred votes this House stands adjourned until recess until 1pm this afternoon