 It is now time for all questions. I recognize the leader of Her Majesty's loyal opposition. Thank you so much, Speaker. Speaker, my first question this morning is to the Premier. You know, Ontarians are anxious and rightfully so about the second wave of COVID-19. Thousands have lost their lives, businesses along main streets across our province have shut down, and families have struggled to make ends meet and to try to keep their kids learning. Yet the Premier insists that everything is going to plan. Yesterday he even claimed Ontario's testing was the envy of the country. And even as underfunded and overloaded labs reduced service and scrambled to try to meet demand. So does the Premier really think his bargain basement scheme is something to brag about? Well, Mr. Speaker, I'm proud of the testing that we're doing. And I just informed the leader of the opposition. I know it's kind of tough. They have trouble with numbers sometimes, but we are tested yesterday. 42,000 people. We're leading the entire country in testing. We're 38 percent of the population. We're 52 percent of the testing. We're doing well over four million tests so far. And Mr. Speaker, we have another 100 pharmacies coming on board to help out. So now people are happy. More and more people have talked to. They're happy about setting up a schedule that they can make an appointment. They don't have to wait in line. And again, Mr. Speaker, I can't wait for this rapid test to be approved from Health Canada. It's going to be a game changer, but we'll continue pumping out the test. 42,000 tests yesterday, 38,000 the day before. So we're increasing testing our goals to hit 50,000. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, Speaker, Toronto Public Health experts in the medical field across Ontario and the Ontario Hospital Association have pleaded with this premier to take a step back and actually listen to their advice. They want him to do what's right and take every measure possible to protect the lives of Ontarians. Dr. de Villa of Toronto Public Health said she sent suggestions all along to the premier and his officials. Yet instead of working with them, the premier is refusing to listen. Just as he did all summer while hospitals, labs and long term care homes were pleading for the government to prepare for the second wave. When is the premier going to start listening, Speaker? Premier, Mr. Speaker, we take everyone's advice. I respect the OHA, respect the nurses, respect all the information. I even respect the NDP and the Liberals when they come up with constructive ideas. Mr. Speaker, I can't sit back without seeing proper evidence. And they're supposed to be a party of helping the little guy. They want me to shut down restaurants that these families have put their life savings in that 99% of them, more probably even higher than 99% are falling the rules. They're practicing social distancing. They're putting hand sanitizer out. They're putting dividers out. We've made sure that when people go in, we have contact tracing of all the people. We've cut the tables down to six. We reduce the hours of serving alcohol at 11 o'clock. That's going to stop. Mr. Speaker, my job as premier is to protect the people, protect the little people that have sat there and opening their restaurants trying to survive. The NDP want to close them down. They want to ruin their lives. I'm not here to ruin their lives. Thank you. Well, Speaker, doing what Ontario needs to get through the second wave means doing more than just the bare minimum. The Premier's own public officials begged for a better testing and lab capacity plan. But the Premier and his team just didn't want to spend the money. Now the Premier is once again hoping to save a buck while the pandemic spreads. When will the Premier realize that his attempts to cut corners, delay decisions and save money are making the second wave worse than it needs to be? Here. Well, Mr. Speaker, there's one thing this government hasn't done. It's cut funding. We've increased funding. We're up over $30 billion now supporting businesses, supporting families in need. And that's what we're going to continue to do. But Mr. Speaker, the best way to help people, the very best way is for everyone to follow the guidelines. Everyone's in this together. We have to make sure, as long as the numbers maintain where they are, we have to or go lower because they dropped again, Mr. Speaker. I have to protect people's livelihood. And what they're forgetting, Mr. Speaker, is mental health. Have you ever run a business, the leader of the opposition? Have you ever had to meet a payroll? Have you ever had to meet a payroll for two people? Is your mortgage dependent? Is your rent dependent on them making sure that you get the sales? The answer is no, because you've been on the public bowl for the last 20 years down here. That's the reason. Mr. Speaker, the next question, the leader of the opposition. Thanks, Speaker. I have another serious question for the Premier. Perhaps he'll answer it in a serious way. Yesterday, the Premier said that he was avoiding new, desperately needed health measures because he, quote, wanted to exhaust every avenue before I ruin someone's life. Well, it's too late. COVID-19 has ruined thousands and thousands of lives in our province. And thousands of small businesses have also. Government side, come to order. Because the Premier bungled his response to COVID-19. And to make matters worse, he is failing to provide the support that mainstream businesses need to stay afloat. So if this Ford government is truly worried for small businesses and all those, you know, little guys that Mr. Ford, or the Premier likes to talk about, who work for those small businesses, why has he not put direct supports in place to protect small businesses during the second wave? Premier. Mr. Speaker, through the support of the federal government and ourselves, we put billions and billions of dollars for small businesses. I just want to remind the leader of the opposition. I personally led the charge to get more money off the federal government. And if I didn't keep pushing them, we wouldn't be getting the extra four bill, extra opposition. And about exhausting, absolutely. You know, Mr. Speaker, I'm not ready to go willy nilly and just make a decision and ruin tens of thousands of people's lives and shut down absolutely everything that the NDP want to do. You're right. You're 100% where there's one thing you're right, leader of the opposition is I will exhaust every thing that I have in you that I possibly can to be able to put food on people's tables, be able to pay the rent, pay their mortgage, take care of their kids while we go through this crisis. We're there to support them. We're there to get back on their feet and help them out any way we can. Mr. Speaker, talks cheap and apparently so is the Premier. Instead of offering a man to directly order, stop the clock. I'm going to ask all members to keep their language temperate. Start the clock. The leader of the opposition. Please please. Instead of offering a plan to directly help small businesses struggling with rent, which they have been asking for since April, the four government created a scheme that was impossible to access of the $3 billion that was supported by the NDP and the NDP and the NDP. The NDP is now able to access of the $3 billion that was supposed to help small businesses and protect jobs. Two billion of it is still in the bank. And now that program has actually completely expired. Small businesses and working people have been begging for direct supports to help with the rent and make the bills. Why has the Premier pinched pennies and refused to step up, step up? Thank you very much. Since the onset of this pandemic, we have ensured that we have been speaking to a listening to small business owners and based off of that consultation, we have been providing direct support to small businesses, whether it's in the form of the separate program emergency grant relief to the tune of almost a billion dollars in conjunction with the federal government, whether it's investing in programs like digital Main Street, $157 million investment, $2,500 grants for businesses to pivot to digital e-commerce models, whether it's providing electricity relief in the tune of $175 million, Mr. Speaker, this government remains committed to supporting small businesses, whether it was before the pandemic when we brought forward a 9% decrease in small business. Response? Whether it's during this pandemic, small businesses can always rely on this government to support them. The final supplement. Well, the support they've gotten so far, Speaker, has led to thousands and thousands of businesses having to close their doors permanently here in the province of Ontario at every single turn. The Ford government has dithered and delayed trying to save a buck instead of saving lives and jobs, whether it's hospitals, labs and long-term care homes waiting for investments to fight the second wave or working people and small businesses desperate for support to keep their doors open and pay the bills. If we want to beat back COVID-19 and flatten the curve, we need a government that actually steps up to the plate. When will we see the desperately needed direct investments to save Main Street and protect jobs during the second wave of COVID-19? Premier to reply. Mr. Speaker, the leader of the opposition is speaking out of her mouth. One second and the one question is close all the businesses and... I'm going to ask the Premier to withdraw. She's sending a message out there that close the businesses in one question and then we need to open them all up. And the other question, so I'm not too sure where the leader of the opposition is going. Our goal is to always make sure we do everything in our powers to keep businesses and support businesses. Everyone follow the guidelines. Everyone make sure that we bring down the numbers and we don't have to close anything down. But again, it goes back to these companies that are struggling, that are holding on by their fingernails, Mr. Speaker. We have to be there to support them. We have been there to support them no matter if it's making sure that they don't have to be threatened by their landlords that we stood up for to make sure that we don't have to fight them. We know that the government is doing it. They are going to kick the tenants out because they can't afford rent. We put in billions of dollars to do it. Thank you. Next question for Grant Simpson. Thank you, Speaker, and good morning. My question is for the Premier. Ontario's hospitals have been a cornerstone in keeping our communities safe and The Ontario Hospital Association is calling for the government to increase public health restrictions to stop the spread of COVID-19 and to keep hospital capacity at safe levels. Will the Premier listen to the best medical advice from our hospitals and do what is needed to keep Ontarians safe? Thank you. Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. Thank you very much Speaker and I thank the member very much for the question. In fact I am in regular communication with the Ontario Hospital Association as with the Ontario Medical Association, Nurses Association, many other groups out there as well as our public health officials. We understand that this is a difficult time for hospitals right now. Their capacity is increasing. We've got increased numbers of COVID. We've got flu season approaching. We're trying to carry on with the surgeries and procedures that were postponed during wave one but that is why we came forward with our comprehensive plan keeping Ontarians safe. It's a $2.8 billion plan that's going to make sure that we can carry on dealing with COVID, dealing with flu season, dealing with those surgeries, being ready to respond to surges and having the health human resources necessary because it's one thing to increase capacity in hospitals in terms of space but you also need the response to be able to run with that. So we are in regular contact with the hospital association. I speak with them almost every single day. I spoke with them this morning. Thank you, Speaker. Hospitals in Ontario are already struggling to keep capacity down and the second wave is still growing. In the community of Branton, Branton Civic Hospital had an occupancy rate of 93% in September and was in Code Gridlock eight times in just 12 days. Speaker, Code Gridlock means that there are more patients waiting in the ER than there are actual beds available. This is completely unacceptable and puts patients and our frontline workers at risk. What is the government prepared to commit today to ensure that Branton Civic stays out of gridlock in the second wave? The Minister of Health. We are very aware of the capacity challenges that many hospitals in Ontario are experiencing. I would say especially in some of the areas in Peel region, in Ottawa and in Toronto. In Toronto, they have the same issues with respect to capacity. We have a plan. We have the plan that we've set out keeping Ontarians safe and we're prepared to put the money into dealing with that as well. $2.8 billion dollars which will help hospitals which will deal with capacity challenges. We're working on that now and I hope to have more to say on that within the next several days. Question, the member for Oakville North Burlington. Speaker, my question is to the Premier. Premier, our government continues to champion all small business owners in this province. I'm proud of signature initiatives to support small business that our government has brought in. This includes cutting the small business income tax rate that delivered up to $1,500 in annual savings to more than 275,000 businesses as well as cutting red tape and excessive regulation. Also, during this time, our government has continued to provide much needed supports to business by way of tax deferrals, WSIB premiums relief and commercial rent assistance. Speaker, can the Premier please share with the legislature how we will continue to help small business, especially locally owned restaurants, continue to operate safely as we move into the winter months. Premier. I want to thank the great member from Oakville North Burlington for the great question. Every decision, Mr. Speaker, that we've made down here is based on health and science. We have some of the great medical leaders around Canada right here on our health table. We have a great minister of health and minister of long-term care that's been working around the clock, so we appreciate their work. People will say, what keeps you up on night? What keeps me up on night? Because I walk the mile in their shoes, coming from a family-run business and trying to meet payroll and trying to get customers in. It's difficult. And it can destroy lives. It can destroy tens of thousands of lives if we don't see the evidence. Our team, the health table, the command table, we just haven't seen the evidence for Toronto right now, so we want to do everything we can to work collaboratively with the Chief Medical Officer of Toronto, along with our Chief Medical Officer, along with the Mayor, which I talk to almost every single day. We need to keep their livelihoods moving forward and give them hope. Thank you. Supplementary question. Thank you, Speaker. My supplemental question is back to the Premier. Premier, I know that everyone in the legislature echoes your strong support for our small business owners and working women and men in the province. Our government continues to take targeted and strategic measures to address COVID outbreaks in hotspot regions. This includes additional guidelines to make sure that when you're going into a restaurant, there are six to a table, and that we get contact information for every single person. We've reduced the hours of serving alcohol. We've shut down strip joints. We've closed bars earlier. Can the Premier please share with the legislature what additional due diligence our government will undertake as we address hotspot regions while supporting small business? Premier. I want to thank the member and the health and safety of Ontarians as our top priority. And we're looking for the bad actors. And I'll be very frank. I think there's very few. I've been to a lot of restaurants. These folks are following the guidelines, Mr. Speaker. As I said earlier on, you know, we're looking for the people that are reckless and careless, and there's very few of them. And we can't paint a broad brush right across the whole industry. Mr. Speaker, I can't begin to tell you, and I don't know how to get my number, but I had endless calls yesterday from restaurant owners, little small businesses, mum and pop shops, saying thank you. Finally, someone standing up for us. Someone's voicing our opinion. We're following the guidelines. We're putting all the procedures and guidelines in place, no matter if it's dividing the table, six to a table, getting contact information. These people are working their backs off, and we're here to help them and save them and give them hope. The next question, the member for Tamisk Minkakra. Thank you. My question is to the Premier. The Premier's failure on testing has less thousands not only waiting for a test, but now even waiting for an appointment to get a test. An appointment that are even struggling to get this week. The backlog is terrible. And while some people wait for those appointments, the little people that the Premier claims to protect, other people jump to the head of the queue because they pay for a test. All it takes is to jump, is to pay for the test. So why is this government allowing private testing for COVID-19 at the same time other people wait in line even for an appointment? The Premier. Well, Mr. Speaker, again, we tested 42,000 people. People are happy that now they have certainty they get an appointment, they go in there. We're adding close to another 80 pharmacies along with our 151 assessment centres, along with our pop-up testing areas. Pop-up testing areas that we go around the province. And finally, finally, people who have certainty they know they're going to go in line, they know they're going to get a test, they know they're going to get the results. But I just don't know where they're getting their figures from because we're hammering out the testing. And by the way, the backlog, Mr. Speaker, of Ontario, we had a 90,000 backlog. Now we're down to 58 because the people are helping out. I asked for help. They're helping out over the last few days. We've dropped it down. We'll be down to 10 or 20,000 in the backlog in the next two days. So I want to thank the people of Ontario for just following and helping. And supplementary question. The Board of Governments continues, refuses to disallow people from jumping the queue. And what, maybe they don't realize, but what people realize is every private sector test, every time somebody jumps the queue, that's one less swab for the public sector. One less swab for the little people. Every time the regent is used, the reagent by the private sector for the $400 test, one less dose for the people waiting in the public line. And every time a technician does the work on that test, that's one less technician able to help the people standing in line. Why does this government refuse to support public health care and actually make everyone have to go through the public system and not anyone jump the queue, actually protect the little people instead of talking about it? Mr. Speaker, I've heard about this private sector. I don't know anyone who's doing it. I just don't. I know one thing with maxed out every diagnostic lab technician there is in the private sector, in the public sector, making sure that we reach out to the colleges and universities, and there's only so much reagent in the entire world. And by the way, I have to give a shout out to Premier King, a PEI, they're sending testing kits over to help us out in Nova Scotia. I got a call from Premier and Newfoundland. Everyone's pitching in that we're all in this together. We're proud Canadians and we're going to help our neighbors. Leader of the opposition, we see difficulties and that's why Ontario will always be there for the other provinces when they need help, Mr. Speaker. Order. The official opposition has to come to order. The next question, the member for Ottawa venue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the minister of children community as social services. Since the beginning of the pandemic, I've heard, you know, from people in my writing, we depend on the Ontario disability support program in Ontario works just to make a living and to get by. People on these programs are often forgotten members of our communities and many of them are extremely vulnerable to COVID-19. Access to testing is becoming more difficult because of insufficient capacity for these people and disabilities. The testing has been inaccessible from the beginning. For them, it means long trips by bus, expensive taxi rides or having to rely on volunteers for transportation. That's what happens in my writing where testing centers are very few and far in between. So, and further, many of these people with disabilities are immunocompromised or have mobility issues. Making a trip to a testing center becomes a real challenge. My question is, do the minister and the government have a plan to support municipalities to make testing more accessible for those in our communities that are struggling the most? Mr. Children Community and Social Services. Thank you very much to the member opposite for the question this morning. It's an important one and our government acted quickly and often to support members of Ontario's public with disabilities, including the ODSP program and Ontario Works, working alongside my colleague, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. We were out of the gates quickly on March 22nd with the Social Services Relief Fund. When it comes to testing, there has been many, many investments made in testing both in Ottawa where the member is from and across the province. The Minister of Health talks all the time of new assessment centers popping up in communities to make them more accessible to members with disabilities and the general public, Mr. Speaker. So we've been working extremely hard at making sure that when necessary, community paramedics are also there to go to homes where maybe it's not accessible for the individual to get out and get to the assessment center. Those community paramedics have been real champions during COVID-19 in getting out there and supporting individuals right across the province. Thank you. And the supplementary question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My supplementary question. The Minister of Youth and Social Services. So during the pandemic, the government has offered financial help that was very modest. For those who depend, we rely on the support program for disabled people in Ontario. This amount was not sufficient already. It was poorly communicated. It was ended prematurely. So we have to remind you that we're still in the middle of a pandemic. So even with that additional amount, the beneficiaries of the program received less than $2,000 from the federal government that was deemed necessary in order to find a housing and food. The pandemic has imposed a financial charge that threatens the poverty of those people who already get too little question. So from the government that they realize on their social services without it being their fault, will the minister commit himself to support financially those people from our communities that are now facing poverty? The minister. The public question. As I mentioned out of the gates to provide the social services relief fund to communities right across the province, along with my colleague, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, that first tranche in the SSRF was $200 million. There have been subsequent investments of $150 million on two different occasions, Mr. Speaker. And on top of that, we also brought in support for those on ODSP in the form of emergency assistance and in the form of emergency benefits, Mr. Speaker. Those emergency benefits were available $100 a month per individual, $200 per family throughout the pandemic, Mr. Speaker. Over 250,000 Ontarians signed up and received funding from the Ontario government during the pandemic, and we continue to make discretionary benefits available to individuals even though we are in Stage 3 now of our reopening plan in the province. There is funding available for those on ODSP to make the case for the support that they need, and your Ontario Government will be there for you during these times. Thank you. The next question, the member for Scarborough Agent Court. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Many Ontarians want to know that policing as well as police oversight is modern, efficient and of the highest possible quality. This is critically important to ensure that police services maintain the trust of the communities they serve. I understand that last Friday the government announced Devon Clunes as the first Inspector General of Policing in Ontario. As former Chief of Police in Winnipeg with a proven track record of transformative policing I am sure that Mr. Clunes will bring an important perspective to this important new aspect of Ontario's robust policing oversight system. Mr. Speaker with the government explain how the new role of the Inspector General of Policing will contribute to a robust oversight system. Thank you. I want to thank the member of Scarborough Agent Court for the question and yes, you are correct. I am pleased to share that Mr. Clunes will be joining the ministry as Ontario's first Inspector General of Policing. This new role will enhance police service delivery and increase public trust. The role of Inspector General which is a new position created under the Comprehensive Ontario Police Services Act passed by this house last year will perform a critical role in monitoring and conducting inspections in a number of areas including ensuring compliance with the new Community Safety and Policing Act when it is brought into force preventing police misconduct and imposing measures where necessary and investigating police complaints related to the provision of adequate and effective policing services. We look forward to leveraging Mr. Clunes' experiences as it comes to continued regulatory development required to bring the Community Safety and Policing Act together. Thank you Mr. Speaker. The Parliamentary Assistant to the Solicitor General mentioned that the Inspector General will have inspection powers under the Community Safety and Policing Act. As I am sure members will remember this house passed the Comprehensive Ontario Police Services Act in 2019 which includes the Community Safety and Policing Act and other key elements to modernize police and policing oversight. Considering that context Mr. Speaker, how does the role of the Inspector General fits into the broader framework that will be established throughout the Community Safety and Policing Act? The Parliamentary Assistant. Thank you again to the member of Scarborough Aging Court for that question. The nature of policing and community safety has changed as the Police Services Act was first introduced in 1990. The issues faced by our police services and their members today are much more complex. And this is why the Community Safety and Policing Act is such an important piece of legislation that will help transform policing throughout the province of Ontario. The creation of Ontario's first Inspector General of Policing is a key deliverable as we work to bring Community Safety and Policing Act into force. We have established the sustainable framework that provides tools necessary for police to do their jobs effectively, flexibility to ensure that community safety efforts can be tailored to local needs and standards, transparency and accountability expected by all Ontarians. Thank you very much. The next question, the member for London Fanshawe. Thank you Speaker, and my question is to the Premier. Janice Duffy recently spoke to me about her dad Doug. He lives in the village of Glendale Crossing which is a long-term care home in London. She said after her dad fell a couple of weeks ago he's been having adverse reactions to new medications he's received. Now he requires 24 hours care one to one. The home informed Janice and her family that they are to provide that care for him by either attending to him themselves or by paying a private caregiver for a cost of $14,000 a month. That is in addition to what they are already paying for their dad's stay in the home. The home says that this is because they are short-staffed. Janice is working full-time. She now has to find ways to work in between and caring full-time for her father. Families and their loved ones should not have to shoulder the burden of the government's lack of action of the decades of long-standing short-staffing crisis. Will the permanent wage increase ensuring full-time hours and benefits in order to recruit and retain PSWs in long-term care? Minister of long-term care to reply. Thank you Speaker and thank you for the question to the member opposite. Looking at our personal support workers in long-term care this whole sector has been neglected as the member opposite points out for decades and it is our government that has taken on the commitment to long-term care, rebuild and modernize long-term care and this includes addressing the needs of our staff and we began with the pandemic pay and we recently announced $540 million, over half a billion dollars towards efforts in long-term care to provide more support for staffing to provide more ways to allow minor capital investments to occur to provide the training programs for PSWs to recruit those personal support workers and staff to long-term care and to provide and create a culture and an environment where people want to stay and want to work. This is ongoing and we will persist and we will get the job done. Thank you. Back to the Premier, the village of Glendale Crossing is owned and operated by a for-profit company. Even with a raging pandemic that has devastated long-term care system for long-term care workers in for-profit long-term care homes have not seen loss in dividends. Families like Janice's on the other hand are left to spend more out-of-pocket for long-term care system that they already pay for through their taxes. Why are families forced to pay for additional staffing out of their own pockets while companies continue to profit off the public dollar? Will this government commit to taking profits out of care? Thank you, Speaker, and thanks again to the member for the question. I want to make sure everyone understands that long-term care is focused on the resident, making sure that we improve resident care, that we ensure that we have an environment where staff can be supported to provide that care, where the support for families is there. This is an ongoing effort and we understand that there is some confusion about the for-profit ownership aspect of it, and we recognize that really it is the areas where there is high levels of COVID that have caused the issues for many of the homes, including for-profit homes. But for-profit homes are restricted by the envelopes of funding that they have. There is really no room to take profit from that. And they must give back to the government, to our ministry funds that are not used in the vast majority of the envelopes. Thank you. The next question, the member for Lanark Frontenac Kingston. Thank you, Speaker. Seeing that the front benches have emptied, I'll pose my question to the Minister of Long-term Care. Over 1,300 public health scientists and 1,500 medical practitioners have said that he is not to make reference to the absence of other members. Place your question, please. The document is called The Great Barrington Declaration. It was drafted by professors from Harvard, Stanford and Oxford and they are the most respected epidemiologists in the world. Their concerns are singular in focus. The prevailing COVID policies are having damaging physical and mental impacts on the public. They are aghast that the public being provided to western governments is contrary to the science and what we now know about COVID. Minister, Nobel laureates and reputable leading world leading experts on infectious disease are telling governments what you're doing is causing more harm than good. Will you heed their advice and endorse The Great Barrington Declaration as I have? To reply, the Minister of Long-term Care. Thank you, Speaker, and thanks to the member for the question. As a physician for many, many years and studying science and evidence it's very clear that there are always differences of opinion and those differences of opinion have to be carefully considered and thought out and our government, my ministry of long-term care, we have been working with the science and the evidence of experts, many experts hundreds of experts and the chief medical officer of health being one of them. There is many, many areas of evidence that must be weighed and understood not only at a macro level but a micro level so there are many considerations being given and all of this evidence is emerging at the beginning of COVID there was very little information available now there is more than most people could ever manage to get through. So the essential caregiver piece I want to make sure that I repeat this that we are our essential caregivers are back into the homes they are there providing support the mental well-being of our long-term care. Thank you. Supplementary question. I do thank the minister for her response however these preeminent experts have stated government policies are resulting in lower childhood vaccination rates worsening cardiovascular disease outcomes fewer cancer screenings and the erosion of mental health they state that the current lockdown policy are devastating are short and long-term public health they are asking all governments to shift gears and move towards a focused protection model that protects those at risk while letting those who are healthy return to a normal life. Minister will you do the right thing follow the advice being given by the most preeminent world leaders in this field or should the people of Ontario prepare themselves for further lockdowns more bankruptcies further medical delays and now we see forced isolation and detention camps on the herald. Thank you. I reject much of the premise of that question but again I want to reinforce the concept of hope that we understand what we've been through we understand the dark days that we've had during COVID-19 the lack of information working as hard as everyone could to collaborate consult and create plan forward that's what we were doing as a government talking to our experts as the science emerged and that's what we need to go forward. We need a level of support for our long-term care homes for healthcare. I have tremendous hope and our government is working with that hope to understand how to make things better coming out of COVID-19 and we will come out of COVID-19 we will come out having lessons learned we will come out better Ontarians are all in this together they're doing their part we all need to do our part and we need to stay focused as we move through the next question the member for Stormont Dundas Southland Gary Thank you speaker my question is the minister of heritage, sport, tourism and cultural industries I'm extremely proud to call Canada home because it has built a strong cultural mosaic Terrio is no different all of us have helped build a rich history of different cultures and heritage that help define this province. Minister can you please tell us why Scottish Heritage Day is so important to you and to the province and Ontario as a whole It's sport, tourism and cultural industries. Thank you very much the speaker and to the member from Glen Gary Prescott and Russ no you're from Stormont Dundas Southland Gary Thank you very much the speaker and to the member from Glen Gary Prescott and Russ no you're from Stormont Dundas Southland Gary He and I have spent many many times at the Glen Gary Highland Games over the years and I know both of us were disappointed this year we couldn't continue that annual tradition As the minister who has responsibilities both for tourism and for culture I think this is a great idea for members particularly private members to bring forward bills to talk about the national importance of their respective communities I know myself and the member opposite from Ottawa South had the opportunity in the previous parliament to bring forward the National Lebanese Heritage Month so it's really important that we get to do that and talk about the wonderful commitment that new Canadians and old Canadians have brought to this community and I'd like just to point out with respect to him some of the greatest cultural contributions in this country have come from Scottish Canadians like Farley Mowat also James Nazemuth they found her a basketball he's originally a Scottish Canadian and of course in this ministry he talks about the rich cultural heritage that the indigenous population have taken over the years at Fort William in Thunder Bay I look forward to Thank you very much Thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you minister for your appreciation of all the different cultures that make this province so great in fact minister recently two other heritage bills passed third reading bill 180 an act will claim Somali Heritage Week and bill 131 the Tibetan Heritage Month Act these well-deserved bills they're significant in sharing and honoring the proud heritage of Somali and Tibetan Canadians minister as you know Ontario offers the world's cultural diversity in one province and that dust doesn't mean attractions the diversity of cultures is in fact what makes this province so great minister Somali and Tibetan Canadians have truly offered so much to Ontario they have made it cultural impacted as the identity of our province and we see it all around us every day so minister my question for you is what sort of impact of a Somali and Tibetan Canadians had in our province thank you minister Ontario is the world in one province and as a tourism minister it's really important that we continue to showcase our cultural diversity particularly as we come out of COVID-19 hopefully in the next couple of years I would like to first point out how proud we are to support butyla kibosh she is the first Tibetan elected in North America and she brought forward a very important piece of legislation showcasing the Tibetan people and I know that we're very proud of her in the work of her predecessor Sherri DeNovo I'd also like to say a thank you to Faisal Hassan for bringing an active proclaim Somali Heritage Week and he is the first Somali in this legislature and that's also what the legislature is when we work together and we recognize the strength of our diversity at the same time being unified and so I want to say thanks to the members who bring forward these important pieces of legislation to remind us of who we are and where we're going next question to the member for Parkdale High Park thank you speaker my question to the premier delays in testing are creating chaos for families across the province yesterday I heard from a mother in my riding Diane whose daughter was sent home from day care with a low grade fever in order to get the necessary tests for her daughter she had to try three different testing centres travel from Parkdale High Park all the way to Richmond Hill and wait over eight hours with a sick child the government had months to prepare for the increased demand in testing and lab capacity why did they fail to do so government house leader to reply thank you very much Mr. Speaker I think both the premier and the minister of health earlier outlined the tremendous progress that we're making with respect to testing capacity in the province of Ontario I know it's probably a little comfort to the members constituent that she had to wait as the member said eight hours but she should know that of course that we're doing everything that we possibly can to ensure that those waits are a thing of the past I know the president of the Treasury Board and the minister of finance have authorized large sums to support our healthcare system and that includes testing and I'm sure the province of Ontario will continue to lead the country and get better for its people as the second wave takes over and the supplementary question the nightmare of getting a test for her daughter was only half of it six days later and Diane still has no result the time away from work and childcare fees have cost this family $5,000 her husband is at risk of losing his job if he misses any more work how long with families like Diane's be forced to pay for this government's inadequate second wave plan at the outside let me just assure the members husband if I can that this legislature one of the first bills that it did pass was protection for individuals who found themselves in crisis because of covid so that job would be protected there is no way that somebody could be fired as a result of covid issues again it's one of the reasons why we put so much money into testing over the last number of months as we prepared for the second wave we knew that it would be very important to support the hard work that the minister of education has done to ensure that our kids can go back to school but equally important that our daycare centers remain open because as the premier just said earlier today it is vitally important that we keep this economy going for all of the small, medium, and large job creators who are relying on us it is through their efforts that we are able to fund supports for testing that we are able to put record amounts of money into a long-term care and so it is in our interest to get it done and we will continue to get the job done for the people of long care the next question the member for Ottawa said thank you speaker and so since at least last April the government's own experts have been telling them that with two million kids returning to school and opening up our economy that we needed to be somewhere between 75 and 100,000 tests since last April and they said it is going to take about at least three months to get it all ramped up now we are doing 40,000 tests a day and last Friday the backlog was 92,000 today was 58,000 Premier is proud of that we did have to shut down testing for about a day and a half BC has no backlog they are testing a bit less than their population than we are they have no backlog so my question is really simple to the Premier we had the time the money and the advice question how are we going to get to where we need to be in testing and when are we going to get there Government House later Mr. Speaker I think the Premier and the Minister of Health have been very very clear on that we have started through the first wave we learned a great deal through the first wave we have put in place a fall preparedness plan that I think will help us get to where we need to be on testing the Premier has been abundantly clear that we needed to get to 50,000 tests a day to ensure that the economy could keep going to ensure that we could support the hard work that the Minister of Education has put into ensuring that our kids can go back to school so that we can support our teachers our frontline workers also the Minister of Seniors have both told us how important it is to get testing in place are we there yet no we are not there yet but we are proceeding as quickly as we can to be there and I congratulate the people of the front lines who have been doing processing records amounts of testing we are leading the country I am proud of that we should all be proud of this is there more work to do absolutely and that's why the funding is in place to get us to the goal of supplementary question Speaker yesterday I said the Premier took his eye off the ball I was wrong he dropped the ball because if he had listened to what his own experts were telling him about the testing that we needed to do or he'd listened to experts about what we needed to do in schools wouldn't find ourselves in a position where Toronto Public Health, the OHA, the RNAO and countless other people are saying you got to shut things down we wouldn't have been there you know those things that are being advised to you and telling you where you need to be that's so we can keep the economy going and saying you're protecting the little guy doesn't mean anything when you don't take the advice that protects the little guy so I'm going to ask the question again for the fourth time when are we going to get to where we need to be in testing here in Ontario simple answer when Government House Leader Mr. Speaker I'll say that the member is absolutely completely positively wrong this government and all of the members of this legislature on both sides of this house have been working non-stop since the first wave since this house came down on March the 13th we have been working non-stop collaboratively to prepare not only for the second wave but to make sure that our small, medium and large enterprises could continue creating jobs so that the economy could keep going the Minister of Education has been working non-stop with all members on both sides of this house to make sure that our kids could go back to school the Minister of Health has been working non-stop to make sure that we had testing capacity to meet the needs of the Minister of Education to meet the needs of the Minister of Long-Term Care to meet the needs of the Minister of Responsible for Seniors to make sure that the people that the Minister of Children and Community Services the people that he protects all have the resources that they need in place, Mr. Speaker we are leading the country as opposed to talking down about everything that the people of the province of Ontario have accomplished let's celebrate the fact that our front-line workers have done an incredible job and that we continue to lead the country and we will continue to do so Thank you The next question the member for Hamilton West and Castor Dundas Thank you Mr. Speaker my question this morning is to the Premier to temporarily close after an employee tested positive for COVID-19 these businesses are doing the right thing they are doing everything that they can to keep their employees safe their customers and their community all safe but given the long wait to get tests and receive results there is no clear timeline for when these businesses will be able to reopen so my question can the Premier tell small businesses in my riding and across Ontario how long is too long to wait for COVID-19 test results Well Mr. Speaker one of the reasons why we put so much resources into increasing the testing capacity one of the reasons why the Premier did not stop after March in asking the federal government to help us with the rapid testing we have been on top of this rapid testing for months we have put record amounts of money into healthcare Mr. Speaker the reason that we are doing that is not only to keep our students safe but it is to keep our economy going Mr. Speaker we cannot pay for increased spending on healthcare increased spending on long-term care if the economy does not continue to grow Mr. Speaker and it is precisely for those small business people that we have put all of this money and resources into testing Mr. Speaker we have said that we want to get to 50,000 we will get to 50,000 we have turned all of the resources of government to get us at that goal precisely for the people that you are talking about and for the kids in our school system Mr. Speaker thank you to the Premier so this morning, Tuesday morning when I checked the online booking site the earliest available appointment at the west end, the east end St. Joe's Mountain Arena was Friday that is three days from now and that is just the test it is not clear to anyone when they can expect the results to come back small businesses are working hard they are following all the protocols they are even doing their own contract tracing but the government is refusing to provide financial supports and now they failed to provide the timely COVID-19 testing that businesses need to stay open does the Premier not understand that businesses need reliable efficient and timely testing program to keep their doors open Dan the government host thank you Mr. Speaker ironically enough just as I was answering that question I received a text from a constituent of mine who would be happy to share with the member opposite I called Mark from Stovall Hospital and got an appointment window within two hours this morning for testing the service was stellar on the phone no issues at all thank you for all that your government is doing which is fine but we have to get that level of service across the entire province that is why we are putting so much funding into ensuring that we get testing to a level that remains the highest in all of Canada but we understood that is why we have been so hard on making sure that we get these rapid tests in place Mr. Speaker and we asked the federal government it's great that they have made some purchases of rapid tests but it's time to get these tests approved so that we can start rolling so that we can make sure that the small and medium job creators in this province have all of the resources that they need to continue growing the economy thank you the next question the member for Cambridge thank you very much Mr. Speaker good morning my question is for the Premier I want to thank you for the great friendship he has developed with the Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Deputy Prime Minister Christia Freeland last month the Premier said the Prime Minister did an incredible job as Prime Minister and he called the Deputy amazing four days ago his friends announced that extended family members and international students would be allowed to re-enter Canada even while all non-essential travel remains closed my question is does the Premier support his friend Prime Minister Trudeau in the decision to allow extended family and international students to travel into Canada during this time while all non-essential travel remains closed I'll recognize the Minister of Colleges and Universities thank you Mr. Speaker and thanks for the opportunity to respond to the question we take international student travel into this province extremely seriously we have put in a number of conditions and we've been working very closely with our institutions to ensure the safety of our students and our faculty and all members of staff on all of our campuses across all of this province we have been working so closely Mr. Speaker with our institutions over the last several months I've been in consultations with our sector over the last several months we worked on a pilot program as you'll remember in early June which allowed us to reintroduce our students in a very safe way into our campuses and it was an exceptional program that allowed us to work towards building our program as we moved forward in the remainder of the school year we continue to work very closely with our institutions continue to have daily conversations and our institutions are right there at the forefront ready to support our province in every possible way thank you Mr. Speaker the supplementary question thank you so much Mr. Speaker it's great to see the Premier get along with others even if it means it can only be done with politicians who don't serve in his own caucus Mr. Speaker the position being taken by the Prime Minister seems to conflict or be at odds with the position of the Premier taken on the exact same day on the same day that travel restrictions were eased by Prime Minister Trudeau the Premier announced new social gathering restrictions for the people of Ontario the Premier ordered that Ontarians be restricted to only spending time with people living in their own household even for Thanksgiving can the Premier explain whether this government believes the federal government's easing travel restrictions conflicts with and even undermines this government's own decision to order that Ontarians cannot visit any family immediate or extended that do not live within their own home government house leader thank you very much Mr. Speaker look Mr. Speaker we have been very deliberate on this the people of the province of Ontario in fact people across this country have said has said very clearly to us put down your partisan swords it's time for us to have disagreements on the things that we feel passionately about but we are faced with a global health and economic crisis so are we going to continue to work with the federal government even though they are liberal absolutely are we going to continue to work with British Columbia because even though they have an NDP government absolutely we're going to do whatever that we can including working including working with the members on both sides we passed a number of pieces of legislation with unanimous support of all the members of this House and we're going to continue to do that because it's in the best interest of the people of the province of Ontario Mr. Speaker it's in the best interest of the response because when we defeat Covid we defeat it together and that's before it's a bigger better stronger Canada thank you the next question the member please St. Catherine thank you speaker to the premier I have a resident St. Catherine who is trying to get a Covid-19 test in order to see her dying grandmother in a nursing home calling the only St. Catherine's pharmacy that provides Covid-19 tests she cannot get a test until October the 23rd so under distress she called the Niagara Assessment Centre last Friday and the voicemail said that they would return her message in 48 hours yesterday she called again however somehow quietly over the weekend the time it takes to get a return call had doubled yes, doubled the Niagara Assessment Centre is now returning phone calls in three to four days three to four days that's just to get a return call this certainly does not guarantee a fast appointment and this is so unacceptable for Niagara residents that have to wait three to four days for testing for a test Mr. Premier, tell me how this government can continue to say their plan is working when someone in Niagara has to wait up to four days to just get a call back for such an important test thank you government house leaders reply thank you very much Mr. Speaker from the beginning we are very proud of what we've put in place so far it has been a North American leading effort with respect to COVID 19 is there more work to be done absolutely there's more work to be done Mr. Speaker that's why it's so important that this house continued to function that's why it is so important that we work together in order to address some of the issues across the province Mr. Speaker but make no mistake about it we have put in significant amount of resources across this province Mr. Speaker we will continue to do that and I congratulate all of those frontline workers who have been working non-stop day and night to ensure that the people of this province remain safe Mr. Speaker to the people of Niagara I tell them very very clearly your government understands what you're going through we hear you and that is why we're going to move mountains to make sure that all Ontarians remain safe that concludes our question period this morning so stands in recess until 3pm