 It is now time for Question Period, the leader of Her Majesty's loyal opposition. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Premier. Public elementary and French teachers are still without a contract, and this government has walked away from the table. And yesterday it became clear that government has made no progress in ending the education chaos they've created. Parents of young children are left in the dark. Five days isn't enough time to make different childcare arrangements to find a daycare space. Parents deserve certainty. Children do not deserve this uncertainty. And that's exactly what the Liberal government is giving them. Mr. Speaker, after a year without a contract, how can the Premier... And that will end it. Thank you. Please finish. Mr. Speaker, after a year without a contract, how can the Premier continue to leave parents wondering if their children will be in the classroom? Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I think that everyone in this House knows that we were all pleased that all of our students were in school, like teachers and support staff. And we've worked very, very hard to find agreements with all the federations. We are in a situation where there are tentative agreements with OECD, Mr. Speaker, and with the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation, and that's a very, very good thing. Mr. Speaker, we have worked hard to negotiate with the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario. There are dates that have been set for the French teachers' negotiations, for those to continue, Mr. Speaker. We will continue to work hard to find those agreements within the parameters of what has been put in place for the other teachers, Mr. Speaker. I think that that's reasonable. That is exactly what we said. We said that there was a difficult fiscal situation. We've been able to find agreements with the secondary teachers in OECD. Thank you. Supplementary. Mr. Speaker, again to the Premier, the government walked away from the table. We don't know how long before a full-blown strike. We don't know how long before extracurriculars are cancelled. The Liberals continue to use students and parents as their pawns. It won't be long before elementary schools will cancel services the kids cherish, like sports clubs, plays, field trips. All will be gone. All gone because the government is not in it for the students. Mr. Speaker, we don't need a part-time Premier. Instead of spending her time being distracted by partisan federal campaign activities. Mr. Speaker, when will the Premier do her job and get a deal done? Premier? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I will just... It goes both ways. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I will say to the leader of the opposition, I think he will know that I had a meeting in the middle of the summer with all of the components... You know, Mr. Speaker, the heckling from across the way about the federal election, I just want to be perfectly clear. This has absolutely nothing to do with the federal elections. Our children being in school is about our kids having the opportunity to learn. The education system in this province, Mr. Speaker, is one of the most important things that this government has responsibility for. In this caucus are involved in provincial politics because of the turmoil that was in place when my children were in school, Mr. Speaker. That's what compelled... This gentleman has been there. Start the clock. Government House Leader, come to order. Opposition House Leader, come to order. You could get one too, that would be two. Mr. Speaker, again to the Premier. The Liberal government is responsible for the longest strike in over 25 years. And before that, just two years ago, thousands of students lost their extracurricular activities. Now parents and children are left wondering what other hardships the Liberal government... Liberal government has slashed thousands of daycare spots, leaving parents with nowhere to turn the need cancelled. Ontario families deserve certainty. Stop being distracted and focus on doing her job. Mr. Speaker, why does the Premier care so little about parents who are scrambling to find daycare spots? This has been to try to ask for quiet in a very quiet way. So from now on I'm going to move immediately into warnings of individuals. That's it. You ask for it, you're getting it. Premier. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. I think my helpful team said, told me that I misspoke. A member from Nippian, Carlton, is warned. Premier. I said that this issue had nothing to do with the provincial election. I meant with the federal election, Mr. Speaker. This has to do with children being in school, Mr. Speaker. You know, I have a granddaughter who started grade one this year and I have a granddaughter who started junior kindergarten, full day kindergarten. This is her first week of full day kindergarten. And Mr. Speaker, there's nothing dearer to my heart than making sure that our publicly funded education system is working, Mr. Speaker. The Minister of Agriculture is warned. Carry on. It's having all of our kids in school. It means having all of our teachers and all of our support staff in school, which is why I was so pleased that we were able to come to tentative agreement. Answer. We'll get there with the elements. A member from Dublin, Carlton, is warned. New question. New question. Leader of the opposition. Simcoe North, I heard a common theme. Trust. And the Premier has lost the trust of families in Ontario because of her fire sale of Hydro One. By turning the back on independent oversight, the Premier has lost the province's trust. The Premier barred eight independent officers from doing their jobs before the Hydro One fire sale even began. The Premier, isn't this deal for taxpayers, Mr. Speaker? The Premier has turned the lights off on accountability. Will the Premier restore independent oversight to her fire sale of Hydro One? Let me just go through the ways that this has been a transparent process and that oversight is in place. Mr. Speaker, I would say to the member opposite, as I said yesterday, that the broadening of the ownership of Hydro One is about finding a way to invest in the infrastructure that we know we need across this province, Mr. Speaker. I understand that the leader of the opposition doesn't support the investment in infrastructure, but we know it's necessary, whether it's roads, bridges or transit across the province. Throughout this entire process, we have been open and transparent. Let me just start. The plan was included in our 2014 budget and in the 2014 liberal platform, Mr. Speaker. The advisory council that we asked to give us advice on this issued an interim report and a final report. The leader of the third party has warned. Finish. Both were publicly available and we held a technical briefing, Mr. Speaker, for both opposition parties and for the media to give them the technical information about this process. Mr. Speaker, again to the Premier. The people of Ontario should be able to trust their government. Sadly, that trust has been eroded by years of shady deals, gas plants, orange, e-health. In fact, I don't think the Premier even has the trust of her own cabinet, especially when hearing the words of the chair of cabinet, the deputy house leader, the member from St. Catharines, who said anyone who looks at the Hydro One would recognize that it's best cut in public ownership and public hands. Anyone who sells one of their largest revenue tools is headed towards bankruptcy. Mr. Speaker, if the Premier can't gain the confidence of her own cabinet, how can the people of Ontario expect her to manage this fire sale? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Well, as I think I said to the leader of the third party at one point, I think we should all just deal with our own teams, Mr. Speaker, and we have a very cohesive team. I want to talk a little bit more about the transparency and oversight that we've put in place. I'm going to need to tell Mr. Speaker, who is the former Auditor-General of Canada, oversee the IPO. The member opposite knows that publicly traded companies are subject to different oversight mechanisms than Crown corporations. I think he knows that full well, because he in the past has been very supportive of the private sector, Mr. Speaker. In fact, he has said that he believes that the private sector often works better than government and knows how to run business, Mr. Speaker. Hydro One will be regulated by the Business Corporations Act, the Ontario Securities Act, and the Ontario Energy Board. They'll have to file information with the Ontario Securities Commission and disclose the compensation to their top executives. Mr. Speaker, there are oversight provisions in place. They are solid, Mr. Speaker. They will provide the information that the people of Ontario need. Mr. Speaker, again to the Premier. It's not just the independent officers concerned. Over 70% of the people of the province have made it clear they don't welcome the Hydro One fire sale. The people of Ontario do not approve of a deal being done in secret while you delay the prospectus. The people of Ontario deserve to have their government watchdogs at work. The protection the watchdogs offered in the past fell millions and over billions, discovered the billions squandered with the smart meters. Those same watchdogs deserve to be able to do their job to protect taxpayers under this fire sale. Mr. Speaker, when will the Premier return oversight, real oversight by the independent officers of Parliament to her fire sale? Premier. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Well, you know, the leader of the opposition uses an interesting term when he talks about a fire sale. And I'll just say, Mr. Speaker, that one of the guiding principles that we held on to as we went into this process was that we would not do what had been done by that party with the 407, Mr. Speaker. We made Mr. Speaker retaining 40% ownership, making sure that we retained control of the board, Mr. Speaker, in terms of being able to remove the board, being able to remove the CEO and making sure that no entity could own more than 10%, Mr. Speaker. None of those provisions was in place when the 407 deal was put in place, Mr. Speaker. None of those protections, Mr. Speaker, the regulation of the sector in terms of the OEB setting rates, that remains in place. I'm not going to take lessons from the opposition, Mr. Speaker. How about that? Thank you. Time does not arrest my original words. New question. The leader of the third party. Thank you so much, Speaker. My question is for the Premier. The Premier has promised again and again to be open and transparent with the people of Ontario, Speaker. But the sale of Hydro-1 is shrouded in secrecy. Only the Premier and her powerful friends know the details behind this sale. And only the Premier and her powerful friends know how fast Hydro rates will skyrocket. Why is this Premier breaking her promise to be open, transparent and accountable to the people of Ontario, the very people, Speaker, who own Hydro-1? So, Mr. Speaker, again, let me just address the two parts of that question. First of all, the leader of the third party knows full well that the way electricity rates are set now is the way electricity rates will be set in the future. And that is the Ontario Energy Board sets those rates, Mr. Speaker, and she knows full well that the Ontario Energy Board has received applications for rate reductions, has received applications for rate increases, and the Ontario Energy Board makes those decisions. But on the transparency of this process, Mr. Speaker, let me just again go through what we have done to ensure that there is transparency, that there is openness. Mr. Speaker, we have put in place the Denis Dezotel, who was the former AG of Canada, oversee the IPO. Hydro-1 will be regulated and, Mr. Speaker, I know the leader of the third party knows this, by Ontario Business Corporations Act, the Ontario Securities Act, and the Ontario Energy Board. They will have to file information with the Ontario Securities Commission. Mr. Speaker, there are protections in place, oversight in place, and that is as it should be. Has pulled an iron curtain over Hydro-1. Now, those aren't my words, Mr. Speaker. Those are not my words. That is how the Globe and Mail described it on June the 2nd. Accountability that all of the independent officers of this legislature, save for the electoral officer, stood up to her move and said that this was the wrong thing to do. They said this was an unprecedented plan and that it was the wrong thing to do. Now, she's refusing to listen to the Chamber of Commerce speaker and provide concrete evidence that Hydro-8 will not rise as a result of this sell-off scheme. So why is the Premier doing everything that she can to avoid transparency and accountability when it comes to the privatisation of Hydro-1? Mr. Speaker, ownership of Hydro-1. The people of Ontario and the government will retain 40% ownership, Mr. Speaker. No entity will be able to own more than 10%. We are doing that, Mr. Speaker, because we know that it is critical at this point in our history in this province to invest in infrastructure around the province. It is critical that we invest in the roads and the bridges and the other large infrastructure across the province that is needed by communities in order for them to grow. Now, the leader of the third party doesn't like that investment. She has not been supportive of the transit investments. She has not been supportive of the infrastructure investments across the province. But the fact is, Mr. Speaker, that we know that those are needed. We know that the Hamilton LR team, Mr. Speaker, we know that roads and bridges in Canora and in Thunder Bay, Mr. Speaker, in Sudbury that those are all needed if those communities are going to thrive. We're going to do that, Mr. Speaker. Final supplementary. In the last election, the Premier's platform said that strong leadership means making Ontario more open and democratic. But the Premier's leadership has meant breaking promises and ignoring Ontarians who overwhelmingly reject this scheme to sell off Hydro 1. This is the Premier who stripped Hydro 1 from public oversight. This is the Premier who removed the ombudsman's power to help consumers at Hydro 1. And this is the Premier who refuses to fully cooperate with the financial accountability officer Speaker. Will this Premier admit that accountability and transparency are only the first things that Ontarians are going to lose with the sell off of Hydro 1? You know, Mr. Speaker, the leader of the party understands, I know because she supported the legislation when we talk about the financial accountability officer. She supported the legislation that gave the financial accountability officer authority within parameters. And we're operating within those parameters, Mr. Speaker. We are following all of the rules around that accountability to the financial accountability officer. And when he has asked for information, we have given him information within those parameters. And she knows that full well, Mr. Speaker. I know she doesn't like the idea of broadening the ownership of Hydro 1. I get that. I absolutely get that. But the fact is, Mr. Speaker, that we had as government to make a choice, we had to make a choice about whether we were going to go ahead and make investments in infrastructure or not. And we know that for the economic well-being of this province, we need to make those investments. We're not going to go across the country, but we are going ahead and... Thank you. Leader of the third party. So for the premier, public opposition, not just my opposition speaker, but public opposition to Hydro 1 is growing by the day in this province. People are disappointed by this premier's broken promises and frustrated by her refusal to hear what Ontarians said within this month. But so far, it's nowhere to be seen. And the owners of Hydro 1, the actual people of Ontario who own Hydro 1, still have no idea what they're going to find when that prospectus is finally released, Speaker. Why does this premier think that the owners of Hydro 1 should be in that position? Why does she think that the owners of Hydro 1 should be left in the dark? Well, Mr. Speaker, they won't be. And I think again, we've always said that the Hydro 1 prospectus would be filed with the OSC this fiscal year and it will be, Mr. Speaker. That was our commitment and it will be filed. I guess the question I would want to ask the leader of the third party is why she doesn't support the investment of infrastructure, Mr. Speaker? Why she doesn't understand that if we don't take this opportunity right now to have a vision for the economic viability and competitiveness and prosperity of this province, Mr. Speaker? Why she doesn't understand that that will shortchange our children and our grandchildren, Mr. Speaker? That will not set us up to be competitive globally. When I traveled to China last year, Mr. Speaker, I heard over and over again concerns about our investments in infrastructure and were we going to be able to were we going to be able to compete and were we going to be able to continue and make those investments. We're going to make those investments, Mr. Speaker. Part of that was reviewing our assets and that's what we did, Mr. Speaker. It's sadly embarrassing to be the only premier in the history of this province that can't keep Hydro-1 public while at the same time investing in infrastructure in de facto control over a privatised Hydro-1. But Ed Clark promised private investors that they will be in control, and her special adviser says exactly the opposite, Mr. Speaker. So when will the premier finally show us in writing who it is we should believe? Mr. Speaker, you know, again, the leader of the third party ran pretty much on our fiscal plan in the last election and she actually said on May 7th of this year, and I quote Andrew Horvath, so there's no doubt we did talk in our platform about some of the physical assets that the province owns. I mean, you can never be closed-minded about that. I quote, but Mr. Speaker. Member from Renfrew, Nipissing, Pembroke is warned. Let history judge our government on our investments. So when the historians look back and see that we electrified the Barrie Line, the Kitchener Line, the Lakeshore East Line, Mr. Speaker, that we built, the Hamilton LRT that we built, the Monument of Highway 7 between Kitchener and Guelph that we put improvements in place in Highway 417 in Ottawa and in London that we built the Mealy Drive extension in Sudbury that we four-lane the highway between Thunder Bay and Nipissing, Mr. Speaker, and we put the second phase of the operation. Thank you. Final supplementary. For Ontarians overwhelmingly reject the Premier's sell-off information, and they want the Premier to stop this $9 billion privatisation scheme. This morning, I agreed that I would meet with the Premier to talk about these concerns and explore how together we can actually ensure that this is a fully informed public debate on the sale of Hydro-1 including public hearing, Speaker, including independent analysis of Ontario's decision. That's what I would like to see and I'm hoping that we can have that meeting to discuss those very things because that's what Ontarians expect, Speaker. They expect to be heard, they expect public processes, they deserve that, Speaker. So, will the Premier agree to meet with me to talk about this issue before this sale goes any further? Thank you. Mr. Speaker. Do you see it, please? Thank you. Premier? Speaker, since I sent the leader of the third party the letter asking for the meeting, yes, I will meet with her. Happy to talk, Mr. Speaker, about the investments that we are making in infrastructure and I hope that the leader of the third party will be willing to talk to me about her vision for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, Mr. Speaker, for investing in transit and transportation infrastructure to help us along that way, Mr. Speaker, and will allow for the economic prosperity of communities around the province. Those are very important parts of our plan, Mr. Speaker, and I'd be interested to see her perspective on those. Thank you. My question is for the Premier. All summer long fiscal alarm bells were ringing. Here's a sample of media headlines from just over a one-week period in July. The Times magazine. S&P downgrades Ontario credit rating. Financial Post. Ontario's job killer. Business sounds the alarm over soaring electricity prices. Globe and Mail. Fiat Chrysler, CEO. Fires warning shot at Ontario. Toronto Sun. Hydro One goes dark. The Toronto Star. Ontario falls short on auto insurance. That was a heck of a week, Premier. Business, family, and seniors in jeopardy. Why can everyone see this but you? Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the question because the member opposite is talking about where Ontario is going. Recognizing the challenges that Ontario and Canada and the world have faced over the last number of years through the global recession, and yet economists now predict that Ontario will lead Canada. We recognize that Ontario has got a tremendous job of increasing employment. Over 565,000 net new jobs in civil society. And Canada recognizes that we must stimulate growth. The federal government and the member of the Leader of the Opposition wasn't there for us when we needed that stimulus. Ontario did stand up. Ontario did invest and now we have the lowest unemployment in relation to the rest of Canada. And we will do so. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Back to the Premier. On your fifth downgrade, S&P warned, quote, Ontario is a sustained and projected underperformer. The Ontario Chamber cautioned that soaring electricity prices have reached a crisis point. The member from Trinity Spadina has warned. Finished. Ontario is expected to shut their doors. The CEO of Fiat Chrysler told you that Ontario risks further reducing its competitive position with your pension tax and your cap and trade tax. And instead of achieving a 15% insurance rate reduction, you failed to even hit 7%. Ontario was once the economic engine of confederation. But liberal bungling of every single financial issue reduced us to a half-not-province speaker. When are you going to stop driving business out of Ontario and start listening to the experts? Minister. Thank you. Well, here's what some experts have to say. And the most important expert of all, Mr. Speaker, are the investors. Ontario has become the top destination anywhere in North America for foreign direct investment. And here's what some of the rating agencies do have to say. And they said as far as Fitch stated, Ontario has demonstrated the ability to exert considerable ongoing expenditure restraint while instituting revenue changes as necessary to achieve its deficit reduction objectives. Moody stated, noted that our prudent debt management, large diversified economy and significant flexibility of financial management. And DBRS said that our rating of affirmation of fiscal recovery plan targets and DBRS belief that it is increasingly likely that our fiscal balance will be restored as planned. Ontario will continue to address the deficit, will continue to stimulate the economy, and we balance by 2017-18, Mr. Speaker, because people of Ontario expect their government to be there with them as we proceed going forward. Thank you. Thank you. No question. Member from Windsor West. For over a year, this Liberal government has failed to reach new collective agreements with thousands of teachers and education workers across Ontario. And now, the Liberals have failed again by allowing talks to collapse with elementary teachers. Real negotiating means being at the table. It means working in a genuine and meaningful way to reach a deal. It doesn't mean that a government tries to impose deals and it doesn't mean that a government walks away from bargaining. So, Mr. Speaker, I would like to thank the Minister of Education to get back to the table and get back to meaningful negotiations before the end of today. Thank you. Minister of Education. Yes, thank you very much. So, let me tell you what's been going on over the last year. In fact, over the last year, we spent well over a thousand hours negotiating with OECDA, a tentative agreement. We spent well over a thousand hours negotiating with OSSTF and we have a tentative agreement. So, I totally reject the notion that we haven't been negotiating, we have been negotiating and we have got a tentative agreement. We also will be resuming our negotiations tomorrow with our Francophone teachers. We've spent hundreds and hundreds of hundreds of hours with our Francophone teachers. We have been working with anybody who wanted to come to the table to make sure that we have agreed. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. I'd like to note that the Education Minister has also neglected 55,000 education workers with CUPI this last year. Parents and students are frustrated and disappointed with the Premier. For over a year, this liberal government has failed to reach new agreements that protect the quality of our children's education and respect all of our teachers and education workers. The only way to reach those agreements is to show leadership, get back to the bargaining table and negotiate in a genuine and meaningful way. Why won't the Premier do the right thing? Restart negotiations and send her minister back to the bargaining table. Thank you very much. I do want to note that we do value our relationship with our education workers. We in fact have been actively negotiating with CUPI which represents a number of the education workers. We continue to negotiate with CUPI. We've had a lot of hours, a lot of days with CUPI over the last several weeks. We're actively negotiating with our education workers. We are concerned that in the case of the elementary teachers in the English public system that they did leave the table last May 11th. They have come back recently. They came back September 1st. When we had a chance to talk to them, we wanted to have a very expedite process to make sure we protect our students' education. We did offer them a settlement similar. Thank you. Mr Speaker, my question this morning is for the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry. This summer, my riding of Sudbury on the surrounding area has seen a significant increase in black bear sightings. Already this year, there have been over 2,000 calls this year. This is an increase from the 1,400 calls reported in 2014. Mr Speaker, last week I organized a meeting with the local municipal leaders, the police service and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry to discuss black bear management. Constituents in my riding are concerned about the increase in bear sightings in the community and want to know what is being done by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry. Can the Minister please explain what is your ministry's role when it comes to managing black bear encounters? Mr Speaker, thank you. I want to thank the Speaker, the member for his question. I know that this has been a difficult summer for him and for his community of Sudbury in regard to this particular issue. I want to thank the minister for the priority for the black bear management in the province of Ontario. You, your family, your property, in any circumstance where you feel threatened, the first and appropriate response is 9-1-1. There has been no equivocation from our government under any circumstances. That is absolutely the first thing that you should do. Once they are on the scene speaker, the police have the ability where they feel that happens on occasion. But we want to be clear, Speaker, the police agency is absolutely the appropriate response as a first and seconder in any emergency situation including black bearers. I want to thank the member for his advocacy on this issue. There is more to say in the supplementary. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I would like to thank the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry for that answer. Recent meetings with municipal leaders in the local police and forestry departments are a positive step in coordinating our response efforts to bear encounters in my community. Mr Speaker, constituents in my writing have asked what options are available to address bear counters. Some have suggested that trapping is an option. Others claim that MNRF needs more resources. Mr Speaker, I understand that our government has invested over $35.3 million to educate bear encounters and no other jurisdiction has invested as much as Ontario in teaching people about how to prevent bear encounters. So, Mr Speaker, through you to the Minister, can the Minister please explain what his ministry is doing to address all of these bear encounters? Thank you, Mr Speaker. I want to start by addressing the resourcing issue. I know that the third party has been in Northern Ontario this summer suggesting that the issue related to black bears is a result of declining resources from our ministry. I would remind, especially Northern Ontario, that it was the NDP when in government that cut the MNR budget by some 21 percent, Speaker. I would further remind people that when the conservatives came into power, they additionally cut a further 21 percent from MNRF budget. Speaker, since 2003 or 2004, our liberal government has spent some $200 million. So I think it's important for people to know that. Speaker, obviously I would add in terms of the member's question, on the trapping issue, some see this as a response. The science has been pretty clear. It is not effective and effective bear management tool. Oftentimes the animals are trapped and relocated, returned to the area from which they came. And, Speaker, quite frankly, trapping does not deal with the emerging situation when people feel they're threatened and the health and safety is threatened. Thank you. Before I entertain the next question, the bantering that's going on is disruptive and somebody has a W, so I don't think I would want to continue. Member from Elgin, middle sex language. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. Minister, on October 1st, the ministry will slash another $235 million from physician services at a time when Ontario's population is growing and struggling to find a doctor. At a time when the population requires more help, more time with front-line services and more complex care. Minister, you're turning your back on doctors and the patients they care for. How can you continue to insist you're fully funding health care when you continue to make cuts to doctors, nurses and pharmacists? Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the first question coming from my new PC party health critic. I welcome the questions, I welcome the ones to come. And I think the member opposite knows, because he's from the health sector himself, that we negotiated with our doctors for more than a year and we used a framework, in fact, for those negotiations that was agreed to by both parties. We brought in a facilitator, Dr. David Naylor, to try and bring the two parties together. We brought in retired Judge Warren Winkler to try to reach an agreement. And in fact, it was Warren Winkler's recommendation to the government and to the OMA that the OMA accept the government's reasonable offer. Unfortunately, the OMA decided not to accept that offer. And as the framework that both parties have agreed to provides for, we continued to implement that framework and made the changes that Warren Winkler had actually recommended to both parties. Thank you. You're asking doctors to foot the bill for medical care your government should be covering. We know you tried to hide the $54 million cut in the health care budget. The deal you forced on Ontario's doctors is restricting access to care for those in need. Doctors know how much their patients need them and you aren't allowing them to do their job. These cuts will impact care in the future as doctors will retire or leave the province instead of continuing to work in Ontario. Minister, how can you provide these cuts when so many patients are in need? Mr. Speaker, as this legislature knows, not only am I a physician but I have nothing but the greatest respect for the doctors that practice in this province. They are the best in Canada and they are among the best in terms of compensation in Canada as well as they should be. But what I think disturbs me a little bit is the OMA has characterised this about the provision of health services to patients who somehow were cutting services that are available to Ontarians and nothing could be further from the truth in fact these negotiations have only been about one thing they've been about compensation to physicians compensation that over the past 10 years roughly we've seen an increase in compensation from the government of roughly 70%. So we're asking our physicians to take a pause in that. We've had to make a modest reduction to the compensation that they received but it enables us to continue to fund and indeed expand our funding to areas like home care, our personal support workers and others. We've got a new question. A member from Essex. Thank you very much Speaker. My question is to the Premier Speaker today the Globe and Mail reported that an Infrastructure Ontario Executive admitted in February 2011 to taking part in a $1.2 million kickback scheme and at least one senior official executive at Infrastructure Ontario knew about compensation. Despite this the executive was later hired to oversee St. Michael's Hospital's $300 million patient center construction project. Apparently the hospital was unaware of this executive's admitted role and involvement in the kickback scheme. Speaker why didn't the Infrastructure Ontario executives let anybody know that one of their top executives had admitted to fraud. Minister of Economic Development and Employment and Infrastructure thank you very much Mr. Speaker and I thank the member for the question it is a question I think that's a very serious one and one that we take very seriously. I can assure you that Infrastructure Ontario also shares those concerns and they've taken action right from learning of this particular challenge. The first thing they did is retain an external law firm to review the procurement process with St. Michael's Hospital project which is important. They immediately informed the chair and vice chair of their board of directors which was important. They immediately informed my ministry which was also an important act for them to take. They've written to the CEO of St. Michael's Hospital requesting that the employee in question be removed from the project which has since been done and just as importantly IO has also just initiated a process to retain an independent firm to investigate the employment and the employment. I thank the member for the question it's a serious issue. Thank you. It seems unfortunately Infrastructure Ontario has taken action immediately four years after the fact which is a serious problem. The global investigation revealed that Infrastructure Ontario's chief risk officer knew about the kickback scheme as early as January 2012. The risk officer reported directly to the CEO of Infrastructure Ontario David Livingston. In May of 2012 Mr. Livingston left Infrastructure Ontario to become Dalton McGinty's chief of staff. Speaker did Mr. Livingston or anybody else in Infrastructure Ontario know anything about this kickback scheme and did they inform anybody within the ministry? I think the question is raised by the member legitimate questions that's why it's important that Infrastructure Ontario has brought forward an independent advisor, an independent firm to investigate the issue. There are serious issues here and to the best of our knowledge the board had not been informed of the particular circumstances around this individual which is something that I think is open to question. So I take the matter seriously. Infrastructure Ontario takes the matter seriously and indeed we look forward to determining while the actions taken by this individual the alleged actions were outside of his capacity as an employee of IO. The fact is he was an employee of IO at the time and we want to make sure there are no discrepancies during his time employed by IO. Thank you. New question the member from Eglinton Morris. Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is for the minister responsible for poverty reduction. This morning minister you made an important announcement at FoodShare a non-profit that works with communities in schools to deliver healthy food and food education as part of the local poverty reduction fund. Minister you announced that the fund will help FoodShare evaluate two existing programs the good food program and the urban agricultural program and measure their success in improving the quality of life for those living in poverty. This will help FoodShare determine how it can expand this program and bring good healthy food to more communities in need. I know that the fund is an important part of our second poverty reduction program that will make sure programs improve people's lives and better focus our poverty reduction target. Speaker could the minister please tell the house about this new local poverty reduction fund. Minister responsible for poverty reduction. That is an excellent question and I do want to thank the member from Angleson Lords for his ongoing commitment to improving the lives of people in his community and well beyond. I was delighted this morning to be in the riding of Davenport with the member at FoodShare to announce one of the successful projects in our local poverty reduction fund. Speaker the local poverty reduction fund was established as part of the second poverty reduction strategy. It's a $50 million investment over six years in innovative community based projects that measurably improve the lives of people. We announced the fund in April with an initial expression of interest followed by a formal call for proposals in May. We've made quick progress. 233 applications were received and we are now starting to announce the successful 41 projects. Speaker these community based projects we've heard are strong and we want to measure. Thank you supplementary. With this poverty reduction fund it seems it will help non-profits like FoodShare make a significant difference in people's lives across Ontario and with this fund offering help for people living in poverty. You emphasize evaluation and gathering evidence about poverty reduction strategies. The fund emphasized importance of reviewing and focusing our poverty programs which will help us deliver results in our communities. Minister why is it so important that the local poverty reduction fund focus on results and outcomes. Thank you minister. Speaker and the member from Eglinton Lawrence is correct this fund is unique with this funds we will do things differently. We want to tap into innovative local solutions we want to build unlikely community partnerships and ultimately and ultimately establish a new way of tackling poverty one that's rooted investment. In short speaker this is about impact investing it's about spending our precious dollars where they make the difference. Member from Tavits James Bay is warned. Finish please. Where those investments will make the biggest difference in the lives of individuals. Reducing poverty means investing in the right supports. It's more important than ever to make sure that our dollars are getting measurable results to focus on evidence-based funding for initiatives that work. That's why we're placing a strong emphasis on evaluation and evidence with this fund. Many studies have been conducted on poverty speaker but what we're lacking is evaluation. Thank you. Your question? Thank you. Minister you are the chief law officer of the province of Ontario responsible for the administration of justice in all our courts. Your ministry is spending millions on programs to improve access and efficiency such as the Better Justice Together program. Last week the City of Toronto dismissed over 800,000 provincial offenses dating back to 2002. Another reason these cases were dismissed was that it would cost 23 million dollars to collect the outstanding 20 million in fines. Municipalities require these revenues to pay for needed services to the public. These cases demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that the administration of justice your responsibility is failing. Minister will you correct these failings or can we expect more provincial offenses to be dismissed? Your question? Thank you. First of all I wanted to thank my friend for being my critic and I hope that I will make your job easy. This is a very important matter that my friend is raising. This is a process that is administered by the municipality. The municipality took the decision to not proceed with those because they made an administrative decision that it was more costly for them to pursue these parking tickets and they decided to just write it off so it's their decision to make it easier for people to access to justice and I'm going to continue to work with the municipality to do exactly that. Thank you. Again to the Attorney General. Minister the administration of justice is being brought into disrepute. It is clear that either we have too few courts or far too many laws for your ministry to administer in a competent and able fashion. Earlier this year your ministry proposed creating an administrative monetary penalty system Amps for short which would deny people access to the courts and prevent them from defending themselves when charged with a provincial offence. Minister is this how you intend to solve the problem of costly administration and lack of court space by eroding and removing the hallmark of our justice system the right to defend oneself before an impartial judge. Thank you. Mr. Speaker the member is raising a good question but I can assure you that in we first of all just launched a consultation we have received numerous numerous opinion on it so we are reviewing all these comments and I want to thank all of those who participated and one thing that I want to ensure you that everybody will be treated fairly and if they wanted to challenge the decision of this tribunal or we have not decided where we are moving forward but I can assure them that we are able to appeal the decision. Thank you very much. Mr. Speaker my question is to the Premier 12,000 pensioners of U.S. Steel formerly Stelco and their families who have been building lives in communities for decades and Hamilton, Stony Creek, Welland and Nanoco are under threat they have been told by the judge overseeing the credit protection process that the court has no ability to ensure that the pensioners will get what's owed to them ahead of the U.S. parent company which in a terrible situation as predicted is raiding the corporation, removing parts heading back to the States and scrapping the parts in Hamilton outrageous many of these pensioners may not outlive this process and are living in fear for their retirement security what is this government to stop the further raid of U.S. Steel's Canadian operations Thank you Mr. Speaker I sincerely appreciate the question coming from the member who I know has intimate relations with those affected by this situation and it is a tragedy and it is why the government of Ontario has stepped forward to protect the interests of the workers pensioners from the very beginning and we will continue to do so as the member often as we know the government has been working with the company we know that what we want to achieve is the best possible outcome for the pensioners it is before the courts there are procedures that are taking place we are going to work towards doing everything possible to support the people of Hamilton and more importantly the pensioners and those we know that are being affected and we are arm in arm to try to do everything we can to protect their interests Thank you Mr. Speaker Minister to the Speaker to the Speaker to you the pensioners who put 30 to 40 years of their lives deserve every penny of what U.S. Steel owes them these employees agreed in good faith their part of their compensation to be in the form of company pension contributions that is Minister deferred wages which they negotiated they accepted lower wages then as part of their deal and now U.S. Steel is effectively trying to steal the remainder of their wages and their benefits and their retirement security this is theft Minister so how is this government going to protect those pensioners I'm not sure and what is this government doing to ensure that any future foreign owned guarantees that pension funds will be there when needed for the people of Ontario the people of Canada that they will be protected in their retirement thank you sir the member I believe knows that Ontario is the only province in Canada that actually has a pension guaranteed fund to protect those that are affected in the case of bankruptcies which is what's being what's occurring here today so it is before the courts processes are in their way he should also know and I think the people of Ontario know by way of loans to enable that company to continue to provide services for the benefit of the pensioners and that's also a question so we're all at the table we all recognize that everyone is being affected and we're trying to minimize the adverse effects of that process please stay in touch with us and I appreciate the ongoing discussions that we've had over the last number of months on this issue we want to support the pensioners and the people of Ontario thank you thank you Mr. Speaker my question is to the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities Minister, post secondary education is a big investment for Ontario families and with the start of the new school year many students in my riding of Etobicoke Lakeshore and throughout the province want to know about the different financial aid programs that are available to them to complete their studies I understand that Ontario has one of the most generous student financial assistance programs in Canada when we entered office in 2003 almost zero grant programs were in place for students but we've worked hard to make the financial aid system more progressive now low and middle income students pay substantially less than they did just 10 years ago Minister, can you please inform the members of the House on how our government is making post secondary education accessible for students across Ontario thank you Mr. Speaker I want to thank the member for that question the member from Etobicoke Lakeshore our government is committed to ensuring that our students in Ontario have access to best quality of post secondary education and post secondary education is accessible, affordable based on their ability to learn not on their ability to pay that's why we have made a number of key investments to help make our post secondary education more accessible and affordable to our young people Mr. Speaker, last year we invested 1.3 billion dollars in grants and loans for our students across the province of Ontario 70% of that funding was non-repayable non-repayable by the students Mr. Speaker, we capped tuition fees increases by 3% which saves the students about $1200 over 4 years and this year, 30% of tuition grant will help students save up to $1000 in tuition fees when Mr. Speaker, you can't thank you Mr. Speaker thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you to the minister for that answer it's reassuring to know that our government remains committed to supporting students across post secondary education on the basis of their ability to learn and not to pay students in my riding of Etobicoke Lakeshore heavily rely on the Ontario student aid program to cover the costs of their post secondary tuition and I understand that more than 380,000 more than half of all full time students received financial aid last year alone Minister, when our government passed the 2015 budget I was happy to learn that we were in fact announcing several changes to the OSAP program with additional financial support to students attending college or university Minister, can you please inform the members of the house about the most recent changes the Ontario student aid program that were announced in the 2015 budget Mr. Speaker, again I want to thank the member from Etobicoke Lakeshore for that question Mr. Speaker, we are modernizing OSAP by indexing the maximum student loan limit to inflation helping students save up to $1000 we are launching the Ontario student loan rehabilitation program we are also capping the student not more than $7400 per two term year we are also making OSAP assessment process more transparent and easier for our students exempting vehicle from as an asset also giving students an option to take out as much as loan as they can not the full maximum of loan also by exempting the first $3000 student assets when you are taking into account tuition fees in Ontario and those financial assistance which students receive from the government the cost of post secondary in Ontario is one of the lowest in this country and we are very proud of that we have learned and listened to our students and we have acted based on their recommendations that's why we are modernizing Thank you for your question Mr. Speaker, my question a constituent in my riding needs two surgeries but neither surgery can be done unless she receives physiotherapy treatment first to regain mobility Minister, your rules say because she is 53 years old and not on old ESP she does not qualify and has to wait 12 years before she can access physiotherapy will you address this concern and we will be straight with the people of Ontario and tell them why there is money for liberal friends and scandals but no money for the many insurance you need access to rehabilitation services That's the real question Thank you Mr. Speaker I appreciate the question from the member opposite and I think or I would certainly hope that the member knows that the changes that we made recently a couple of years back the result of that was it doubled the number of publicly funded physiotherapy clinics publicly funded physiotherapy clinics in the province and in addition to that we expanded the coverage not simply to include those clinics but to specifically target our seniors and I think the member opposite would appreciate the importance of that to where 200,000 additional seniors in this province are receiving publicly funded physiotherapy services as a result of those changes that we made but Mr. Speaker as well we rely on our CCACs to make that determination to be the single point if you will access that information with regards to a patient's needs including for physiotherapy Thank you Mr. Speaker back to the Minister of Health and what we do know is that lots of people are going without care Here's the truth you've been laying off nurses, you're asking medical residency spaces and you're cutting funding for surgeries diabetic strips and physiotherapy treatments Minister will you stand up today and give insurance an honest answer will you say why you're denying my constituent and many others access to physiotherapy and surgery across this great province the member opposite knows that his constituents for example in Owen Sound up until a couple of years ago had to travel to London for their physiotherapy services but as a result of the changes that we made there's now publicly funded physiotherapy services existing in Owen Sound Mr. Speaker these are the types of changes that we've made to benefit the people not just of his constituents not just of his riding but across the province and we've increased the funding $156 million to be or we're investing rather $156 million annually to expand those services to those who need them but again we rely on our CCACs to make that individual determination with regard to an individual's need for physiotherapy services services now that are publicly available in Owen Sound the member from Cambridge on the point of order Mr. Speaker I wanted to introduce a couple of guests today in the members gallery our grandmother of my great legislative assistant Leo Lehmann so we've got Debbie Lehmann and Penny Ray in the gallery with us please welcome them Thank you very much Mr. Speaker I ask all members of the legislature to join me in welcoming Page Captain Grace Mully-Sankbaugh's mother Jackie Shwey who's in the gallery today We have a deferred vote on the motion of second reading of Bill 52 and an act to amend the Courts of Justice Act Lander Act and the statutory powers procedure act in order to protect expressions of matter of public engines calling the members this would be a 5 minute bill Would all members please take their seats I always watch to see who wants to be the last I don't believe you On December 10th 2014 Madame Mully-Sankbaugh second reading of Bill 52 All those in favor please rise one at a time to be recognized by the clerk Madame Mayor Mr. Bradley Mr. Shirelli Mr. Matthew Mr. Hoskins Mr. Dugard Mr. McCharles Mr. Cole Mr. Takar Mr. Brardinetti Mr. Dylan Mr. Dillon Mr. Razzetti Mr. McMeakin Mr. Murray Mr. Moriti Mr. Couto Mr. Crack Mr. Moro Mr. Dalduca Mr. Domerl Mr. Frazer Mr. Anderson Mr. Baker Mr. Ballard Ms. Hogarth Ms. Mollie Ms. McGarry Mr. Milchin Mr. Poth Mr. Rinaldi Mr. Tebow Mr. Hillier Mr. Arnott Mr. Hardiman Mr. Wilson Mr. Jones Mr. Clark Mr. McNaughton Mr. Thompson Mr. Urik Mr. Bailey Mr. Walker Mr. Smith Mr. Harris Mr. McDonnell Mr. Pettipiece Mr. Singh Ms. Horvath Mr. Vantoff Mr. DeNovo Mr. Miller Hamilton Mr. Stoney Cree Mr. Natashka Ms. Armstrong Ms. Angelina Mr. Montau Mr. Hadfield Mr. Gretzky Ms. Campbell Ms. Campbell Mr. Brown Mr. Fidella Mr. Yakibusky Mr. Miller Mr. Miscocca Ms. Scott Mr. Barrett Mr. Huda Mr. McLaren Mr. Miscocca Mr. Miscocca Mr. Miscocca Mr. Law Result to the order the House dated June 2nd, 2015 Will The bill is the standing committee on justice policy We have a deferred vote on the motion of second reading of bill .32 will be a 5 minute vote On 21 December Mr. Moran Hardwood Mr. Moran Mr. Bradley Mr. Shirelli Mr. Shirelli Mr. Mayur Mr. Suza Mr. Matthews Mr. Hoskins Mr. Hoskins Mr. Sanders Mr. Sander Mr. Sander Mr. Dugas Mr. Dugas Mr. McCharles Mr. McDonald Mr. Cole Mr. DeCar Mr. Tkar Mr. Tkar Mr. Brardinetti Mr. DeLin Mr. Dillon Mr. Arzetti Mr. Gravel Mr. Gravel Mr. McMeekon Mr. McMeekon Mr. Murray Mr. Tebow. Mr. McLaren. Mr. Harmonyne. Mr. Hartamon. Mr. Hartamon. Mr. McLeod. Mr. McLeod. Mr. Wilson. Mr. Willsons. Mr. Jones. Mr. Brown. Mr. Brown. Mr. Clark. Mr. Clark. Mr. Fideli. Mr. Fidelli. Mr. Jacobyski. Mr. Hiliar. Mr. Hiliar. Mr. Miller Parison Maskoker. Mr. Miller Pairson Maskoker. Mr. McNotty. Mr. Macknaught mix. Mr. Scott. Mr. Thompson. Mr. Thompson. Mr. Barratt. Mr. Smith Mr. Harris Mr. Nikols Mr. Mikdenal Mr. Petipis Mr. Bisson Mr. Singh Ms. Horvath Mr. Vantah Ms. De Novo Mr. Miller Hamilton Mr. Stony Crease Mr. Miller Hamilton Mr. Stony Crease Mr. Nadishak Ms. Armstrong Ms. Angelina Ms. Fight Ms. Forster Heshamanta Ms. Hattfield Ms. Gretsky Ms. Gretsky Mr. Gates Ms. Gates gage his friends his friends his camel all those opposed please rise one at a time be in recognize by the clerk the eyes are 95 the nays are zero the eyes being 95 the nays being zero I declare the motion carried second reading of the bill does he make you approach it a lot pursuant to the order of the house dated June 2nd 2015 the bill is ordered referred to the standing committee on social policy there are no further deferred votes I am going to recognize the minister of training college universities thank you mr. speaker mr. speaker I want to correct my record in my remarks I've mentioned that our 30 percent of tuition grant saves students up to $1,000 in fact it does save the students up to $1,830 as we all know members are allowed to correct their own record and that is appropriate there be no deferred votes this house stands recess until 3 p.m. this afternoon