 It is now time for oral questions and I recognize the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Thanks very much, Speaker. Thanks very much. My first question this morning is to the Premier. Following the Armed Forces report back around the end of May last year, the Premier pledged this, and I quote, As soon as we received this report on Monday, we launched a full investigation and the results of our investigation will be turned over to the police. Yesterday it was made clear by this Mr. General, in fact, in her media scrum that there was no investigation launched. The investigation, he promised, never in fact took place. Why not? Minister of Long-Term Care. Thank you, Speaker, and thank you to the member opposite for the question. The patient Ombudsman, the Auditor General, and the Long-Term Care Commissioners have scrutinized the events of the COVID-19 pandemic in Long-Term Care. And the Ontario Ombudsman is currently examining and investigating as well. All deaths in Long-Term Care homes are required to be reported to the corner and where appropriate he also investigates. The Premier promised an investigation in the wake of the Canadian Armed Forces report and that investigation took place. Each home was inspected by two or more inspectors, some of those lasting over a month. Those reports were posted publicly. Had inspectors found potentially criminal conduct, they would have passed that information onto the police. Leader of the Opposition, supplementary. Speaker, there's just no evidence that the Premier actually followed through on his promise for an investigation. There was no investigation. There were no police charges. The Commission, in fact, we all know, found that 26 people in Long-Term Care died not of COVID-19, but of dehydration and neglect. In fact, for the last several days, the Premier and the Minister have refused to tell Ontarians when they learned of this horrifying fact, but they knew and when. So the Premier promised, he promised the people of this Ontario, he promised grieving families that there would be an investigation, that there would be accountability, that there would be justice. Why, at the time of these families, greatest pain did the Premier decide to lie to them? Would the Opposition withdraw the unparliamentary remark? I withdraw, Speaker. Why did the Premier make the promise to families that he had no intention of keeping? Minister of Long-Term Care, respond. Thank you, Speaker. Once again, I reject the premise of this statement that's been included in the question. The virus moved faster than any government could have, and in April of last year, we were being updated daily with the situation in Long-Term Care homes across the province. A whole structure had been created to address this issue. What we did know is that several homes were in very dire circumstances. Their staffing was collapsing. They had critical problems in the delivery of care to residents, and we moved quickly to activate the request for the Canadian Armed Forces. These homes had a large number of staff that were either sick off because of potential contact with COVID or afraid. The remaining staff were overwhelmed, and the homes were spiraling down, and we knew these homes were in dire situation, and that's why we called in the Canadian Armed Forces, and the Armed Forces did their preparation, and we're in the homes by April 26th. We knew it was needed, and that's why we stepped up, along with all the other measures that we had taken. Thank you. Final supplementary. Speaker, sadly, families have learned that the Premier's words are meaningless. There was no investigation, as he promised. There were no criminal charges laid. The second wave of COVID-19 took more lives than the first wave, because there was no plan to protect seniors. Speaker, after breaking the promise about the iron ring around long-term care, after breaking the promise of an investigation after the Canadian Armed Forces report was released, why would anybody in Ontario believe a word this Premier says about fixing long-term care? Minister of Long-Term Care. Thank you, Speaker. Before the pandemic hit, our government was addressing the long-standing issues that both the Auditor General report have pointed to, as well as the Commission on Long-Term Care. Long-standing structural issues, both with the capacity and the staffing and the crowding in long-term care. The government's proceeding for 30 years did not address. What we did during the pandemic was absolutely put every resource possible, whether it was the integration with the acute care sector, getting the public health units into the homes immediately, monitoring these homes in a structure that was intended to know in detail what these homes were going through, integrating with the acute care sector, using the staffing like the Ontario resident support aids, and also the pandemic pay, the temporary wage increases, making sure that we were getting the IPAC teams into the homes, including the expertise. And really, looking at our commitment to an unprecedented four hours of direct care, billions of dollars to develop the capacity and the staffing, 27,000 staff to be hired. There is a plan, we're acting on it, and we've been doing this all along, even through the pandemic. The next question, once again, the Leader of the Opposition. Thanks, Speaker. My next question is also to the Premier. The Commission report that was released last Friday was horrific in its detailing of the situation in long-term care, neglect, dehydration, COVID-19, running rampant. Yesterday, the Premier said, and I quote, the buck stops with me. But it looks like the only thing that this Premier is taking responsibility for is passing that buck. In fact, back in April of last year, on April 23rd of last year, he said pretty much the same thing. At the end of the day, the buck stops with me. He's not here to get that buck, but it stops with him. The Leader of the Opposition knows full well she can't make reference to the absence of any member. Please don't do it again. And conclude your question. Since that day, when he made that claim last year, 3,136 seniors died from COVID-19 in long-term care. So the question is, is it really meaningful at all when the Premier claims that the buck stops with him? Because the Commission said, and I quote, there was no plan to protect residents in long-term care. Does the Premier take responsibility for that? Thank you, Speaker. Again, I've said repeatedly that I take full responsibility for the well-being of residents, staff, their families. I was doing this long before I became Minister of Long-Term Care as a family doctor, serving the vulnerable, serving our community, and providing, in some instances, life-saving care. Every government for over 30 years has failed our seniors. The Ray government, Harris, Eves, McGinty, and Wynn. And it is this government that began, as soon as we were elected, to understand the need, the overcrowding, the capacity issues in long-term care, and to understand what could be done, creating a standalone ministry, making sure that we had a focus on the needs of residents, putting them at the centre, addressing these issues with a monumental commitment, with dollars behind it for four hours of daily direct care, which no previous government had ever done, which would put us leaders in the country. The 27,000 staff needed to do that. Rebuilding the homes, rebuilding the staff, all new... Leader of the Opposition. Speaker, as I've already said, the families in this province have learned the hard way that the Premier's words are meaningless. On March 30th of 2020, the Premier said, and I quote, there was an iron ring of protection around long-term care. The Commission report says clearly there was no iron ring. It was a fallacy. The majority of those who died in the first wave of COVID-19 died between March 22nd and April 22nd, when this supposed iron ring was supposed to be in place. In fact, the Commission said this, and I quote, no plan to provide a surge of workers to replace those who inevitably could not or would not come to work in a pandemic. No plan, again quoting, for infection control. Does the Premier take responsibility for that? Mr. Long-term Care. Thank you, Speaker. Despite the remarks from the member opposite, there was a plan. There was a plan even before the pandemic. As I've mentioned, and during the pandemic, we were taking every measure to shore up the staffing. Ontario resident support aids that pandemic pay, the temporary wage increase. We were able to hire into long-term care over 8,600 staff members. We were also making sure that we were integrating with the acute care sector to get that expertise into the home, the infection prevention and control expertise, the public health expertise. And we were making emergency orders and amending regulations as quickly as was possible to address these issues. And then we also maintained during this the imperative of making sure that we could redevelop and modernize this sector with a plan to rebuild the staffing that had been so long neglected and rebuild the capacity, create the integration into the community, create the integration of the public health. And, you know, the Premier said, we stand here and point to all the problems we inherited. We stand here and point to 30 years of under-investment from government, Liberal, Conservative and NDP. None of that matters because we are the government today and we do not want them to look back in 20 years and say what more we could do. Thank you. The final supplementary. Well, Speaker, shockingly, shockingly, tragically, in fact, avoidably, the second wave was worse than the first wave. On September 24th, this minister said this, quote, we have a comprehensive plan that will address the issues in long-term care to stabilize homes, to stabilize the staffing. There is a robust plan. There are dollars behind it. And then she went on to say 99.7% of our long-term care homes in Ontario are managing very well. I think she was taking lessons from the Minister of Education when she said that. But, Speaker, 1,902 seniors lost their lives to COVID-19 in long-term care after the minister made those claims. The commission was clear. There was no staffing plan. There was no infection control plan. There was no iron ring. Will the Premier of this province take responsibility for that? And if he won't, will he stop saying that he's taking responsibility? Minister of Long-term Care. Thank you, Speaker. And thank you to the member opposite for allowing me the time to clarify that statement. There definitely was a plan. The pandemic pay was able to achieve over 8,600 people into long-term care at a critical time. The long-standing staffing crisis that preceded the pandemic was certainly a stumbling block and certainly put us behind where we would have liked to have been. We were working with the Chief Medical Officer of Health, the public health units, Ontario Health, public health Ontario, our public health units, our medical officers of health. All of this was a coordinated effort. And really, the IPAC, the infection prevention control, we got dollars to our homes and support the IPAC hubs, the training for the staff, the infection prevention and control leads in the homes, making sure that we integrated with the expertise that was available. And this was being done rapidly because of the long-standing issues that had been left behind by the previous governments. And the Commission and the Auditor General reports are very clear on that. These were structural deficits. The magnitude of the second wave was so enormous that it was very difficult to overcome. And we worked as- Thank you. Thank you very much. The next question, the member for Brampton Centre. Thank you. Good day, Speaker. My question is for the Premier. Ontarians are sick and tired of empty words and broken promises. They're sick and tired of liberal governments and conservative governments promising the moon to get elected but when it comes time to actually delivering, nothing. Speaker, we can't let another report on long-term care sit on the shelf and gather dust. Too many Ontarians have already paid the price because liberals and conservatives spent years doing just that. So my question, Speaker, to the Premier is will he commit to implementing the recommendations in the long-term care report and will he commit to doing so immediately? To apply for the government, the Minister of Long-Term Care. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. I thank you for the question. We take the recommendations from the Commission on Long-Term Care extremely seriously and we thank the commissioners for their insights and their good work. As I said, there's 85 recommendations. Some of those are already being acted on and also with their interim recommendations. After many, many years of neglect, the commissioners report is a guide to help us move forward, to help us understand objectively what happened in the past, the long-standing issues, what we're doing that is effective and what we can do in the future. They've made very important recommendations in terms of staffing and capacity issues and infection prevention and control and we will continue to address the recommendations. We will have a very public reporting on this to make sure that the public is aware of our progress as we move through these recommendations to understand more fully how we can implement them. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. Taking those recommendations seriously means implementing them immediately, Speaker. Conservatives can flip-flop all they want is that no one, no one in the province of Ontario believes a word that they are saying. They promised an iron ring, never delivered on that. They promised to investigate the horrors in long-term care and make sure that neglect never happened. They didn't deliver on that either, Speaker. And they voted against every single motion in this House that we on this side of the House presented. Why? We're all unsure of that either. Speaker, so my question again to the Minister of Long-Term Care and the Premier. Will the Premier and the Minister of Long-Term Care commit to implementing the recommendations in the Long-Term Care Commission's report no more delays. They need to fix long-term care, hire more PSWs and make sure that that permanent pandemic pay is made available. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. And once again, I appreciate the comments from the opposition and the opportunity to say what we have done and we will do. During the pandemic, there was no doubt that we were moving to address all the issues that were creating the problems, the staffing, the overcrowding, creating the Specialized Care Centre that would allow us to create capacity in the long-term care homes. And I thank the Grace Hospital for being involved in that. And we have made sure to get dollars over $2 billion to our homes for infection prevention and control, the staffing needs, the capacity issues and measures that would help shore up these homes during the attack by COVID. And after that, we made sure to have the dollars behind our commitment to four hours of on average daily care per resident, the 27,000 staff that we're hiring into our long-term care homes as they graduate through our college programs across Ontario through the career colleges and through the district school boards. This will be more than 10,000 people. And I ask, you know, the opposition, you know, consider why you voted against our $2 billion into long-term care to fight the pandemic. Why you voted against the measures that we were taking to shore up these homes. You should ask yourself that. Yeah. Next question. The member for Mississauga East Cooksville. Thank you, Speaker. Speaker, our government has maintained an unwavering commitment to protecting the health and safety of all Ontarians. And yet, the people of the province continue to be placed at an unnecessarily higher risk of the introduction and spread of COVID variants due to a failure. Mr. Speaker, a failure of the federal government to protect our border. Can the Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape reduction tell this House what steps the government has taken to urge Ottawa to finally, get serious about protecting our borders? The Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape production. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the member from Mississauga East Cooksville for that question. Since December, our government led by Premier Ford has been urging the Prime Minister to take stronger actions at our border. We have sent three official letters to Minister Belair and the federal government asking them to take action to protect Ontarians. Unfortunately, we have received no response. Mr. Speaker, since February, we know that over 5,000 air passenger travels have tested positive for COVID-19. We need to ensure that the people of Ontario are protected from these variants. We now have confirmation of the B1617 variant in Quebec. In Ontario, we have sent a message to the Prime Minister and the Ottawa now as of yesterday as the Chief Medical Officer for Ottawa had mentioned. We need to ensure that we do everything we can to get through this third wave and for that, we need the Prime Ministers to step up and secure our borders. And the supplementary question. Thank you, Speaker. Clearly, these variants are not swimming into Ontario. We know that these variants in other countries are now the dominant form of the virus in Canada. When it comes to international travel, border protection is a federal duty and they have a responsibility, responsibility to protect Ontarians. Speaker, can the Minister please explain why strict measures at our borders including a ban on non-essential travel would help protect Ontarians from variants of concern? Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. We know that 90% of cases today are variants of concern. We know that Premier Ford was the first Premier in all of Canada to implement testing at our borders after the federal government refused to do so. Mr. Speaker, we have three simple asks. Ban all non-essential travel into the province of Ontario and country. Close the loopholes at the borders and ensure that there is pre-departure PCR testing before landing in Ontario for domestic flights as well. Mr. Speaker, we know that people are flying into the United States in Buffalo or Windsor walking across our borders so they can circumvent mandatory requirements for border crossings. This is unacceptable, Mr. Speaker. In this case, the third wave here in the province of Ontario, we need stronger measures and we need the federal government to act now. Thank you. After a very difficult year, parents were looking for a bit of hope this week. They hoped to hear about a fully funded plan to safely reopen schools to get our kids off of screens and back in classrooms. What they got instead was a minister on safe schools and introduced a plan to make painful online learning permanent. Mr. Speaker, why is this government using the cover of the pandemic to try to force this radical change on our public education system now of all times? Instead of supporting our kids, our educators, our families where they need it most back face to face in smaller, safer classrooms? Mr. Speaker, I'm proud that under our Progressive Conservative Government we are investing more than any government in the history of this province. $1.6 billion specifically in COVID-19 resources. After months of the members' opposite and the teacher unions asserting that there would be a reduction, I'm proud that there is a $2 billion enhancement for next year to ensure we continue to have public health versus in our schools more PPE, more staffing, more cleaning, enhanced screening. These are the investments that the medical community have called for that our premier is delivering. In fact, Speaker, a targeted plan of $85 million to help support learning recovery. And yes, we believe on this side of the House the choice for parents at a time of still unknown where this pandemic will take us in the coming months. Giving parents the choice of remote learning is a strength knowing full well that we've invested in this recent budget to hire more staff to expand our infrastructure to build upon the nearly 200,000 more tablets internet connection supporting families. We're going to be there for students to make sure schools reopen in September safely while maintaining excellence within our classroom. The supplementary question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll tell you what's historic. What's historic is this minister's exaggeration and the Ontarians across this province are just tired of it. A closer look at school board funding shows an actual increase of just 0.28 percent over last year's grants and I want to point out that is way below inflation. The pupil foundation grant is down despite a projected increase in enrollment and boards are going to be forced to get into their depleted reserves once again. This flatlining of funding means real cuts to classrooms and parents know that this absurd plan for permanent online learning is about moving more dollars out of schools into private companies and undermining public education. That's no choice at all. Our kids need care not cuts, safe schools not more screen time. How can this premier and this minister possibly justify this? Mr. Speaker, let's hear from some of the stakeholders that have commented on the matter. The head of the Ontario Public School Board Association said they are pleased that the government will continue to provide funding for many pandemic related items including PPE, public health nurses and the renewal of technology devices and the words of Lawrence Barnes the president CEO of the Learning Disabilities Association of Ontario by resourcing educators to better meet the needs of all students Ontario's advancing more accessible caring inclusive learning in our education system in the words of Catherine Hay the president CEO of kids help phone we are grateful to the government and to the Ministry of Education for continuing to provide critical funds to support the mental health of our youth in this province. Mr. Speaker, our commitment is to ensure schools reopen in September safely with a $1.6 billion plan that has been designed following the best medical expert advice giving choice to parents in class and online and maintaining the high standards within our schools. That's our commitment. Thank you. Next question, the member for Ottawa South. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Premier. There are two ongoing investigations connected to the Premier's friends, FON's working families and his pick for OLG chair. There is however one investigation that hasn't happened yet. So last May after the Canadian Armed Forces filed their final report into the conditions and long-term care the Premier told all of us a full investigation had been launched and the results would be turned over to police. Never happened. Solicitor General confirmed that yesterday. Despite 26 residents dying from dehydration, malnourishment and, Speaker, other horrific findings in the report no investigation was launched. So speakers through you will the Premier explain to families who lost a loved one why the investigation you said he launched never happened. And to reply on behalf of the Government Minister of Long-Term Care. Thank you, Speaker. I certainly refute the accusations of the member opposite. The patient Ommasman the Auditor General and the commissioners have all scrutinized the events of COVID-19 pandemic in long-term care. The Ontario Ommasman is still investigating all deaths in long-term care homes are required to be reported to the coroner and where appropriate the coroner investigates. The Premier promised an investigation in the wake of the Canadian Armed Forces report and that investigation took place. Each home was also inspected by two or more inspectors some of those lasting over a month. Those reports were posted publicly. Had inspectors found potentially criminal conduct they would have passed that information on to the police. Supplementary question. Well, Speaker, perhaps the Minister should speak to the solicitor general because it hasn't happened and if she actually read the commission's report and saw some of the things that were in there and also understood the commission's lawyers' remarks afterwards you know that failing to provide necessities of life or death from negligence could trigger criminal charges against home operators of the people who own it. In November of last year the government passed legislation that would shield itself and long-term care home operators from COVID-19 related lawsuits. The government also failed to enact provisions in bill 160 that would have made it easier to take over a home or to suspend a license and also would have increased fines for home operators and directors and corporations that were found to be a non-compliance. So, Speaker, can the Premier explain why it's more important to protect his friends in large long-term care home for-profit operations than it is to find justice for families who've lost a loved one? Thank you, Speaker. I want to be clear that this has been devastating for families, residents, staff and for many long-term care homes and you know getting the Canadian Armed Forces into the homes using the hospitals the local public health units Ontario Health and working across government and the sector to shore up these homes no one will deny the tragedy that occurred but it does not automatically mean that someone broke the law and the appropriate people to determine whether a crime has taken place are the police and the courts not politicians and I don't think it's appropriate for the opposition to politicize our courts our police services or this tragedy the member for Guelph said the other day taking responsibility is taking action and that's exactly what we've done throughout this pandemic and that's what we're doing as we move forward with our plans to modernize long-term care and bring it into the 21st century we have a plan and we will commit to that plan thank you next question the member for Mississauga East Cooksville thank you speaker stricter border measures stop and slow the spread of COVID-19 this is a fact backed by the science and data and our respected allies around the world have implemented them with great success while our government continues to ask for real action to secure our borders this is not a priority for our minister it is even more disappointing to see Steven del Duca and the provincial liberals resort to ugly attacks in order to score cheap political points speaker I was offended by the liberal leaders racial remarks order can the associate minister of small business and red tape reduction tell this house if the government's policy on securing our borders are somehow xenophobic or an attack on Ontarians as Mr. del Duca suggests thank you order the reply the associate minister for small business and red tape reduction very much Mr. Speaker and I agree with the member from Mississauga East Cooksville it's I don't understand why certain members of the opposition are making light of serious concerns about our safety and engaging in this divisive and hurtful rhetoric over a two week period we know that at Pearson international airport 35 international flights and 23 domestic flights have landed at Pearson we know that over 150,000 people in that same two week period have crossed our land borders in April the region of Peel and the city of Brampton passed unanimous motions to call on the federal government to secure or restrict flights into Pearson international given that Peel is a hot spot and is suffering from many of these variants is a leader of the liberal party suggesting that the region of Peel or the city of Brampton councillors are racist this is absurd Mr. Speaker and we will continue to call on the federal government to have stronger actions to protect the supplementary thank you speaker I know many of my constituents and people around Ontario continue to follow the rules and make sacrifices in order to help defeat Covid within their community can the minister share what he is hearing from his constituents in Brampton one of the most diverse and fastest growing parts of Ontario thank you thank you very much Mr. Speaker we know that these new variants are not originating in Ontario or in Canada they are not swimming across the ocean Mr. Speaker and people continue to use loopholes to circumvent the rules that have been put in place to protect Ontarians and secure the safety of all especially in Brampton and Peel region my constituents are frustrated they are doing their part to protect the health advice that has been put forward but the federal government after three official requests has refused to take actions that the premier of this province has put forward and put to the federal government Mr. Speaker we need to ensure that our borders are secure we have three simple asks ban all non-essential travel into the province of Ontario and Canada close the loopholes at our land borders and implement PCR testing and supply even domestically into the province of Ontario we must secure our borders thank you the next question my question is to the premier yesterday the premier emerged from a 14-day quarantine after a close contact in his office tested positive for COVID-19 unlike the thousands of essential workers in Ontario who can't work from home and who don't have paid sick days the premier collected his full salary while he was in self-isolation thank goodness he didn't develop COVID but if he had he would still have collected his full salary he wouldn't have had to rely on three paid sick days capped at $200 a day then apply to the federal program and wait to see if he qualified for a weekly benefit of $500 why does the premier think that he deserves 14 days of full pay while following public health advice but the essential workers he likes to call heroes don't members of police who apply the parliamentary assistant member for Burlington thank you so much Mr. Speaker let me remind the member opposite that we announced that we want to double the federal program to $1,000 per week for four weeks plus three paid sick days this is the most comprehensive plan in Canada to take time off to vaccinate to get vaccinated they can be paid if a worker needs to take time off to recover for a vaccination they can be paid if a mum or dad has a sick child at home or symptoms related to COVID-19 they can stay home and be paid if a worker in Ontario is suffering from mental health challenges related to COVID-19 they can stay home and get paid Mr. Speaker this is the most generous open and flexible plan for businesses and employers thank you supplementary question Speaker not only did the Premier ignore the experts calling for 14 paid sick days but he has also made things worse for the lowest paid Ontario workers if low wage workers are sick and need a full week off to recover this government's program only pays them for three days which is $300 at minimum wage under the federal program $500 for the week but to access the federal program workers must notify their employer in writing that they will be taking unpaid sick days apply for CRSB and hope they qualify more barriers to prevent workers from staying home if they are sick Speaker why won't this government give all workers the ability to stay home if they are sick without losing their pay members please take your seats at the end of this round member for Burlington just to be clear without any help from you helping us at all we work diligently with the minister and our government to go from 12 to 14 days down to three to five days and from 10 to 20 10 to 20 days so right now we have three paid sick days so you keep talking about 14 days and the top of that is 23 days it's the most comprehensive plan in Canada thank you very much and the next question the member for Cambridge thank you Mr. Speaker good morning my question is for the premier freedom of religion, religious liberty is a fundamental principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community in public or private to manifest its beliefs in teaching practice worship and observance support when looking for votes at campaign time but last Sunday Trinity Bible Chapel in Willich Township had its religious liberty attacked its doors locked no service, no prayer, no congregation as a result of the Attorney General going to court to get an injunction to take over the property and the building and shut the church down what is the government's justification for being the first government in Ontario history to attack religious liberty to control and shutting down a church from congregating and meeting in prayer and to reply the member for Durham and parliamentary assistant thank you speaker and everyone in this house respects freedom of religion that's never a question in this particular case I understand church services were held at Trinity Bible Chapel on Sunday April 4th April 11th and April 25th 2021 in injunction order as this matters before the courts it would be inappropriate for me to comment further at this time supplement your question thank you speaker in addition to the injunction the church potentially faces millions in fines and possible jail time for the church as well as its pastors and elders it is my understanding that the government this week is attempting to ask the court to also grant its injunction request that would give the Attorney General to the church building and property as long as this government keeps emergency orders in place my question does this government plan on taking control of any and all church buildings of any church that congregates with more than 10 individuals while emergency orders are in place member for Durham thank you speaker the court granted interim relief in the form of an order directing the sheriff to lock the doors of the church on time limited basis the doors were ordered to be locked before midnight May 1st 2021 for one week on May 1st the sheriff locked the doors of the church on May 6th the parties will attend a court actually this morning for hearing to determine whether the order of April 30th 2021 should continue to or be varied of course because there's an ongoing court matter it's really inappropriate to comment further the next question the member for Mississauga East Cooksville thank you speaker students and their families are dealing with great social and financial uncertainty and due to the COVID-19 pandemic I know that our government has always put students at the center of our education policies and that was why I was so pleased to hear that our government is continuing the pandemic plan to help increase access to post-secondary education by ensuring its affordability for all Ontario residents speaker would the minister of colleges and universities please tell the house what the government is doing to help students with more financial certainty during these difficult times to reply the member for Northumberland Peterborough South thank you speaker and thank you to the member for that great question a speaker we understand that students and their families make great sacrifice to pursue higher education in our post-secondary institutes across this province that's why we're extending the tuition freeze for all post-secondary students in Ontario this builds speaker on the historic 10% tuition cut that this government introduced when we first took office under the uncertainty of COVID-19 pandemic as we navigate this together when it comes to the tuition for students across this province we understand that this uncertain times you need a government that's here for you and that's working with you and that's why Mr. Speaker my message to the students of Ontario is as you embark on the 2021-2022 student year your tuition will not change thank you speaker the supplementary question I know that our government has always put students first and that has not changed with this pandemic I'm glad that our government is ensuring the affordability of post-secondary education in our province for another year I know that this is welcome news for students and their families in my writing in my writing because clear commitments like these will help increase the predictability and ease the financial strain on family pocket books Speaker would the minister please elaborate on why this important announcement is so needed for students in Ontario thank you speaker and again thank you to the member for that question after a decade in which Ontario students and their families saw the largest tuition increase in Canadian history under the previous liberal government our government took historic steps to lower tuition by 10% across the board for all students in this province this Mr. Speaker was the first of its kind in Ontario saving students and families an estimated $450 million Mr. Speaker after 15 years of unchecked tuition growth that made summers all the more hard for the hardworking students in this province our government stepped up in 2019-20 that scan shows Ontario was the only province in this federation to introduce a tuition decrease while tuition concurrently grew in eight other provinces and one other territory before I was elected tuition was the highest in Ontario across this country well Mr. Speaker that's no longer the case students in this province understand that this government thank you very much the next question thank you so much Speaker my questions for the Premier small businesses in Toronto Centre are fed up they've been closed for more than six months many have had to permanently close because they can't hold out any longer our once vibrant main streets have been replaced with empty bordered up storefronts the supports that this government promised have not materialized some business owners in my writing who applied for the small business grant have yet to see the money actually arrive and many have been denied without any explanation even those that are accepted are telling me that the grants don't cover the tens of thousands of dollars it costs to pay their rent hydro and insurance why isn't this government fixing the flawed grant program that is leaving so many of our small businesses behind to apply to the appreciate minister of small business in Toronto thank you very much Mr. Speaker we recognize that this is a significantly difficult time for many small businesses across the province and that is why we put forward the largest program in all of Canada to help support small businesses get through this very difficult time to date over 108,000 businesses totaling over $1.5 billion of direct payments have been made from the first Ontario business support grant applications there's also been over 73,000 second automatic payments that have been made to small business owners automatically into their accounts because we recognize that this is a significantly difficult time for them that's another $1.1 billion that have flowed into the accounts of small business owners that's a total of $2.6 billion for small businesses that is also in place to cover 100% of their energy costs 100% of their property tax costs and then they can also access digital main street grants of up to $2,500 to help them pivot digitally because we know that during this time strong e-commerce platforms are needed to support businesses and we'll continue to do whatever we can to get that money flowing into businesses as quickly as possible thank you very much back to the minister Andrew is a small business owner in my writing and told me he was hopeful when the government announced the business support grant program he runs a store and during COVID it has been incredibly difficult and he desperately needs the help but for weeks he heard nothing back from your program and then was denied with no explanation despite making several calls and sending emails to ask why his application for the only lifeline this government willing to offer him was rejected he has yet to receive a reply the stress of having absolutely no safety net after two lockdowns is getting too hard to carry why is this government refusing to help small business owners like Andrew and how how do you expect these businesses to have a fighting chance of making it through this third wave thank you very much we have tripled the support staff behind this program to ensure that business owners get responses as quickly as possible I would love to ask the member to provide some more information to me afterwards so we can look into this case all eligible businesses that can apply to this program will receive the funding as we have noted over 108,000 first payments totaling over $1.5 billion have been paid out $2.6 billion in direct supports to small businesses to date we will do anything and everything we can to support these small businesses including the 100% property tax relief the 100% energy cost relief that is still out there for these businesses to access so I will ask the member afterwards to alert me to some of the response I will take it back and ensure that we get a response for Andrew and his business thank you very much Mr. Speaker the next question Member for York Centre last Thursday the College of Physicians and Surgeons issued a notice and warning to the medical profession regarding the alleged spread of misinformation physicians hold a unique position of trust with the public and have a professional responsibility not to communicate anti-vaccine anti-distancing and anti-lockdown statements and further physicians who put the public at risk may face an investigation by the CPSO and disciplinary action when warranted this is a frightening and unacceptable it carries the risk of initiating informed consent it dangerously infringes on the doctor-patient relationship the CPSO is governed by the Regulated Health Professions Act a provincial legislation will the minister support Ontario's doctors and publicly disavow the statement by the CPSO Minister of Health Thank you Speaker and as you know the CPSO is the regulator for physicians and they are simply indicating that they want physicians to be informed and to answer any questions that people have and to provide people with accurate advice I don't see anything wrong with that Speaker there is no room for ambiguity here the statement of the CPSO speaks for itself and it shocked many doctors in the medical profession COVID or no COVID we're still a western democracy this government, this minister have a responsibility to defend speech we're talking about doctors duly licensed in the province of Ontario not rogue dissidents who are threatening the regime a doctor should be able to say that a lockdown is harmful a doctor should be able to say that masks outside make no sense even if public health recommends them in some outdoor situations censoring medical speech because it's dangerous to people's safety is something you'd expect from a totalitarian regime is there a line that we will not cross so I ask the minister again will she stand up for Ontario's doctors and disavow the threat they made against Ontario's doctors last Thursday Minister of Health Thank you very much Wolf I would say to the member through you Mr Speaker I don't understand what your significant concern here is this is something that the College of Physicians and Surgeons is simply advising the doctors to rely on their own medical information and knowledge and experience and speak to anybody asking questions of them and providing them with accurate medical advice that's what the college should advise the physicians to do and that is what they are doing now so I don't believe that there's any concern with this whatsoever next question the member for University Rosedale My question is to the Premier I have surveyed local businesses to find out how the Ontario small business support grant program is helping the business community of University Rosedale now many businesses aren't even eligible for the program but for those who are eligible and who have applied for aid 85% of the businesses have not received their money 85% of eligible businesses who have applied to the government's small business program have not received their money Premier I have a list of over 150 eligible businesses that have applied for the program and have been approved who have not received their money can the Premier commit to helping them the associate minister of small business and red tape production thank you very much Mr Speaker and yes we will definitely if the member opposite could pass over that list of eligible businesses that have applied to this program will definitely get the supports that they need as I noted over 108,000 businesses to date have received their first payment that's $1.5 billion in direct payments and support to small businesses on top of that we have done an automatic doubling of those first payments and of those 73,000 businesses have received the support that's another $1.1 billion that is $2.6 billion that has been paid out by this government to support small businesses that we recognize have had significant challenges during this time and we also encourage those business owners to apply for the property tax a rebate of 100% the energy cost rebate of 100% to apply to other programs they can get 90% of their rent covered they can get their wage subsidy covered up to 75% so Mr Speaker we will definitely work with the member opposite to look into the concerns that she has raised about the specific applications supplementary thank you Speaker I have the list of all the businesses where their contacts names, email and phone number have requested that I give this letter to you with the information to follow up so I will be handing this to you after question period back to the Premier there is no question that this government is failing to help the small business community in my writing it's taken 11 months and two province wide shutdowns and we are now in this third state of emergency and quite frankly there is not enough money flowing into University of Rosedale to help these businesses get by there is no money from Maria Gallipo of Sicilian Sidewalk Cafe who said that her application process was incredibly stressful the staff in the program were uninformed and unable to help there was no money for people like a meal a medical equipment manufacturer who told me that they are at complete breaking point and worried about paying the rent and there is no money for Jason of Runplant Kensington Market who just wants to know when the money is going to arrive he's applied, he's been approved he just wants to know when it's going to apply Premier when will you fix this small business grant program so businesses can get the support they need again the Associate Minister thank you very much Mr Speaker since the start of this pandemic we have put forward significant resources to help support small businesses that we know have been struggling during this time that started with the first month in ensuring that they got rent relief in March, April, May and that program has continued to date we have ensured that we put forward the main street relief grant that was a $60 million program to support PPE costs that businesses were facing we have ensured that's those in red zones and those in lock down zones have always had their property tax covered to 100% that they have had their energy cost covered to 100% the small business support grant the largest support grant program for businesses and anywhere in Canada has put forward already $2.6 billion of direct support into the accounts of small business owners now we recognize that there are some business owners that haven't received it and we will work with the member opposite and others and ensure that those small businesses that need the support and direct payments into their account thank you very much Mr. Speaker next question the member for Scarborough Gateway my question is to the Premier this past year the pandemic has been difficult for Ontario families to navigate the uncertainty of businesses opening and closing has been an unpredictable experience shared by schools and childcare facilities not everyone can work from home it is even more challenging for parents if their children are at home as well it is mostly women who bear the burden of caring for and educating their children at home and it is their careers that suffer this has been established as a major characteristic of the C.C.C. session and yet we hear nothing from the government about a C.C.Covery Speaker the federal government has budgeted for a $10 a day daycare plan and today Stephen Del Duca and the Ontario Liberals have promised to do the same will the Premier work with the Liberals the federal government and the women of Ontario to provide the economic infrastructure of affordable daycare and quality early learning so everyone in Ontario can build back better to reply the Minister of Education thank you very much Mr. Speaker you know the Del Duca Liberals announced within the first 100 days action but for 15 years for 5000 days the legacy they left is income stagnation the highest child care cost in the nation as well as rising costs of living it was one of the most expensive child care systems in the world under your watch and it really is regrettable with 800 child care centres closing over a 4 year period under your watch and I think the sharp contrast is under our Premier where we have a $2 billion investment on a one size basis creating 30,000 new spaces within our schools last year alone 16,000 more spaces were created and in our most recent budget a top up to the child care tax credit providing up to $1500 per child in the pockets of parents with maximum flexibility recognising that a one size fits all a system does not work for moms and dads in all parts of this problem yes we're going to work with the federal government in collaboration make life affordable but we'll take no lessons from the Del Duca Liberals after this and speaker you know I urge this government to take lessons from the experience of parents I just talked to a mom of three who has two toddlers under her arm and one school aged child outside working online on his own it is so unfortunate that this government cannot look past their own partisan agenda and govern invest and support women in Ontario my writing of Scarborough Guildwood faces an affordable child care crisis and a before and after school deficit there simply just aren't enough programs available in the writing without an expansion of child care and early learning and before and after school care women cannot break the cycle of having to take lower paying part time jobs the Ontario Liberal Party has committed to cutting the cost of before and after school care by 50% it could help inject $7 billion every year into our economy and increase women's participation in the labour market speaker does the premier want to invest in these programs or will he continue to transfer those costs to women Mr. Education we're going to continue to make life affordable for working moms and dads in this province but we will not follow the approach and the policy program of the former government under Steven Del Ducco where under their leadership child care became almost the most expensive program in the nation that is not a metric by which you should be or any one of us should be proud of and so what do we do in our first budget we introduce a child care tax credit we're up to 75% of eligible expenses are supporting 300,000 parents we topped it up in the most recent budget under the Minister of Finance's leadership a 20% top up 16,000 more spaces were created and in contrast to their government where we had 800 child care centres closed over the last four years of their government and the most expensive child care system it's obviously something most distressing what parents deserve is choice affordability and access and our premium delivery next question the member for Hamilton West and Castor Dundas my question is for the Minister of long-term care the auditor general's damning report on the government's response illustrated a serious concern that long-term care and retirement homes are being used to warehouse alternative level care patients patients like my constituent John who was in hospital recovering from a second leg amputation when the minister gave the edict to clear patients out to create room for COVID patients John was sent to a new ALC wing in a long-term care home and his family was assured that he would have access to the same level of care that he received in the hospital he's stuck in the ALC wing since August 2020 he's being billed $1,000 and $34 a day I have a bill here for nearly a quarter of a million dollars $241,956 to be exact so this minister keeps saying that she takes full responsibility but my question to the minister through you Mr. Speaker is can the minister explain how she has allowed this to happen to John and the tens of thousands of people in the long-term care bed in the province of Ontario Thank the honourable member for her question I'm of course not familiar with the specifics of the case that she raises but if she would like to send it over after question period we'll certainly take a look Point of order the member for Scarborough Guildwood Thank you Speaker I'd like to take this opportunity to welcome and to congratulate my brother Andrew Hunter and his wife Ildiko Horvath on the birth of Jordan Isaac Oscar Hunter who is five months old today Question periods concluded Big to inform the house that pursuant to standing order 98C a change has been made to the order of precedence on the ballot list for private members public business such that on the ballot list draw of November 4th 2019 Mr. Smith Peterborough Quartha assumes ballot item number 83 and the ballot list draw of May 5th 2021 Ms. Fee assumes ballot item number 85 pursuant to standing order 36A the member for Ottawa South has given notice of his dissatisfaction with the answer to his question given by the minister of long-term care concerning the investigation into Canadian Armed Forces report this matter will be debated Tuesday May 11th 2021 following private members public business there being no further business at this time the house stands in recess until 1pm