 Now time for question period, the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Mr. Speaker, for the acting Premier, today is the day. The day the Liberals can't turn back from. They're going to give away an asset that produces $700 million in revenue for the people of Ontario. All of which will amount to just two years of revenue from Hydro-1. In the end, the Liberals will get $14 billion of new cash from the Hydro-1 sale. An amount that won't even cover the cost of one new significant transit project. Mr. Speaker, why has the Liberal government mortgaged Ontario's short term... Why has the Liberal government mortgaged Ontario's future for such a short-sighted and short-term gain? Thank you. Thank you very much. Well, thank you, Speaker. And I appreciate the question on this day, Speaker. Indeed, Ontario is generating significant returns from broadening the ownership of Hydro-1. And we do remain on track to realize our budget target of $9 billion from this Speaker, generated through the IPO. That's $4 billion for infrastructure, $5 billion for debt. This move, Speaker, supports the single largest investment in transit and transportation infrastructure in the province's history, Speaker. Remember from the IPO, the Hydro-1 common share, Speaker. And it will begin trading today. Remember from Leeds-Grindle. Answer, thank you. Supplementary. Mr. Speaker, again to the acting Premier. I'm surprised that acting Premier demonstrate no remorse, no regret. And I'm certain that will come later. Nearly 80% of the people of Ontario oppose the sale. And the FAO has said that those 80% know what we've said all along, that this is a bad deal for Ontario. The sale will raise the cost of Hydro and make life even more unaffordable for Ontario's residents. I know that every member on the government side is sharing the same concerns we're hearing from your constituents. They're scared what this deal is going to mean for Ontario. Mr. Speaker, my question for acting Premier is this. Real leadership is recognizing when you've made a mistake to correct course. After hearing everything, you have to do the right thing. Will you reverse course and stop this bad deal for Ontario? Mr. Speaker, remember from Newmarket Aurora, come to order. Deputy Premier. Thank you, Speaker. And I think real leadership means telling, giving accurate information to the people of this province. If you haven't caught the message, I'm going to be jumping on this. The member from Stormont Dundas and Southland, Gary, come to order. Here we are. Speaker, the member opposite, in fact the members opposite, continue to perpetuate the inaccurate sense that Hydro-White rights are somehow going to be impacted by the broadening the ownership of Hydro-1. That is absolutely false. And the member opposite knows that the Ontario Energy Board regulates rates today and will regulate rates in the future. To make the link between this move and increasing rates is simply intended to frighten people. Final supplementary. Vaccine. Premier, you want to talk about accurate information. We'll read the financial accountability officers report into this disaster sale of Hydro-1. Because that report confirmed what we've been saying all along that the government's mythical infrastructure plans from the proceeds of Hydro-1 won't amount to any new money for infrastructure. The infrastructure plan stood at $130 billion for 10 years before the sale. Now it's $130 billion post-sale. You're not putting any money into infrastructure. At best, it's $1.4 billion. With the 2015 budget, you haven't made no correction for infrastructure. So don't say it's about infrastructure when everyone sees that it's not as little as $1.4 billion. You're mortgaging our future. It's not in the best interest of Ontario. So my question, Mr. Speaker, is hearing all the evidence. Will you do the right thing? Finally, insane. Enough is enough. This is a bad deal for Ontario. Thank you. Thank you. Deputy Premier. This is an absolutely ludicrous question. We have put in our budget the $130 billion for infrastructure investment, and we have laid out a plan on how we're going to pay for that. Paying for the infrastructure includes maximizing the value of our assets. That's what we're doing, because this province needs those investments in infrastructure. And if you think that you want to cancel those, the way you cancel Diego's and Crosstown, while I tell you the people of Ontario are looking to leadership, are looking to government, to build the infrastructure that our economy needs and that our people need. Thank you. This is a question. The Leader of the Opposition. Mr. Speaker, to the acting Premier, I've always said that when the government acts in the best interest of Ontario, we'll be the first to applaud them. And you know what? When the government committed $1 billion to develop the economic potential of the Ring of Fire, I acknowledged that was a great announcement. But what I'm concerned about is there's no timelines for getting shovels into the ground. This Liberal promise appears like many before. It's all about election time and not about an actual implementation of that idea. It's about photo ops. And because this government's dithering, investors in the Ring of Fire, like Norant Resources, Remember from Barry, Mr. Speaker, will this Liberal government today give Norant and the people of Northern Ontario a firm timeline for its promise commitment to the Ring of Fire? Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Northern Development of Mines. Minister of Northern Development of Mines. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Glad to have an opportunity to respond to that question. And I think the Leader of the Opposition knows that Norant Resources made it very clear that they remain very committed to the project and we're working very closely with them. In fact, they announced that they are moving forward on an exploration project within the Ring of Fire area themselves. And as a government, we remain absolutely committed to the project. We have got our commitment of $1 billion locked in thanks to the Minister of Finance for the Transportation Infrastructure Corridor. We are looking forward to having an opportunity to have a discussion with the new federal government to engage in a process that was not very successful in the past with the previous government. We are engaged with the regional framework discussed within our first nations and we have set up a development preparation to move that forward. And we have made very positive progress. Supplementary. Mr. Speaker, again to the acting Premier, the time for talk is over. It's time for action in the north. Northerners and investors are tired of this government's wait-and-see attitude towards the development of the Ring of Fire. As noted in yesterday's national post, this government's lack of action on its billion-dollar infrastructure promised to the Ring of Fire leaves investors worried and frustrated. The platitudes and photo ops don't get shovels in the ground. They don't get people working. Only a firm timeline for construction of a transportation corridor in the Ring of Fire will give investors the confidence they need. Mr. Speaker, will the government do the right thing? Will they give us a timeline and give the people of Northern Ontario the confidence that you're actually going to honour this election commitment? Mr. Speaker, I would certainly invite the leader of the official opposition and other members of this party to have a conversation with certainly the Mr. Coots of Northerners Resources who obviously is very keen to move forward. We all are very keen to move the project forward and within the last year and a half, Mr. Speaker, a number of significant measures that have taken place. We have the historic President setting a regional framework agreement signed with the Metalliferous Nations, something that others will say we need to focus on and indeed we do. In order to recognize in order for this project to move forward, it needs to be embraced by the First Nations and there needs to be an assurance that they will be seeing benefits from this major resource development project. A project, Mr. Speaker, that I think probably the opposition needs to be reminded of is in a remote part of the province that has never seen development before. So that's why our recognition that indeed we need to remember from the P.N. Carlson corridor we've been closely with the companies, with First Nations and going forward to a much better election. Final supplementary. Mr. Speaker, again for the acting Premier, I'm tired of these excuses. It's been eight years since the Ring of Fires. Eight. Order please. Please finish. Mr. Speaker, it's been eight years to do nothing. It's been five years since the government haven't seen a shovel in the ground. In fact, the government can't even commit to a start date for the development. What we've seen described as Ontario's own oil sands is estimated to create 9.4 billion economic boon for all of Ontario at the least. Let's start the clock. Finish please. Mr. Speaker, I guess we've hit a nerve with their record of all talk and no action. They've spent eight years blaming other people, blaming the federal government, blaming previous governments. There is no one for you to blame now. The reality is these are fountains. Thank you. I had already said answer. Minister. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I truly do not mean to be impolite, but I do think the Leader of the Opposition is betraying a true lack of understanding about the mining process works in the province. And we can look at this. Again, I will remind him is a huge resource development opportunity. Yes, a remarkable opportunity in a remote part of the province that requires us for all the right reasons to work very, very closely. The member from Leeds, Granville, second time. Finish please. The progress and the commitments that we've made related to this major resource development project are unprecedented. The work that we're doing with the Motawa First Nations, the regional framework agreement, is an important part of the process. And we're going to work closely with them related to regional infrastructure, resource revenue sharing, all those aspects that are so important to we show you. Thank you. Stop the clock for me. Two things are happening here that I suspect are rather frustrating for the majority is that we've got comments going back and forth that raise the ire of each side and then individuals decide that they can jump in and make comments that are not what we consider here to be appropriate in terms of names and elevating the debate and the heat of the debate. All of the other processes that are in place are rational. They make sense. So you address the chair in your question and you address the chair in your answer. It helps to lower the temperature, not raise it. If not, anyone wants to make a comment about what I'm seeing. If they say it, I'll let you go. So let's just finish with a wrap up please and we'll move on to the next question. There are $1 billion walking commitment to the trash infrastructure is extraordinary and significant. Thank you. New question. The leader of the third party. My question is for the acting premier. On Tuesday, the acting premier told this house and I quote, looking at other assets. Is the Liberal government going to sell more revenue generating assets? Speaker. The minister of finance. It is appropriate for us to look at all of the opportunities that are available to the province of Ontario to create opportunities and to seize upon them. At this point in time we made it clear in our budget that we are looking at our real a number of our agencies and we've determined that Hydro One was one of those organizations that could be improved upon and hence we've taken the step necessary to broaden its ownership and make it a much more effective customer service organization for the benefit of all Ontarians and get to reinvest some of that money into new projects. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Thank you. The Liberals like to tell a story about how they campaigned on selling Hydro One. And of course, selling off Hydro One wasn't anywhere in their platform, instead they talked about asset optimization and then they act shocked that Ontarians didn't think it was obvious that this actually meant selling off Hydro One. On Tuesday the Acting Premier told this House that quote, we are looking at other assets. I'm hoping that the Acting Premier can clarify exactly what she meant this time for the people of Ontario is looking at other assets, liberal code for putting even more revenue generating assets on the auction block in the future. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, I remind the member opposite that we put in our budget the paragraph round asset optimization. Our plan was clearly stated in the 2014 budget and in our election platform and it was supported ultimately by a majority mandate and in it we talked about our four pillar economic plan including unlocking our value of our assets to optimize the necessity to enable us to reinvest money to make even more opportunity for the province of Ontario by investing in the Trillium Trust. The NDP make a claim that they would have done exactly the same thing Mr. Speaker. They did that in their nine page platform. They talked about how they were going to make the cuts necessary to balance the books and they were going to invest all this money with the very same assumption that we made in ours. We laid it out. The member opposite actually talked about it during that election campaign and there's no secret Mr. Speaker. The bottom line is that the Premier did not run on selling off Hydro One but here we are. The Premier didn't run on selling other revenue generating assets but earlier this week the Deputy Premier, the second most senior minister in the Liberal government said more public assets could be going on the auction block. Maybe that's our nuclear reactors and the rest of the OPG. Maybe that's the LCBO. It could be the OLG. These assets bring in significant revenues which help us invest in health care, in education, in transit, in poverty reduction, in our environment. You name it. Will the Liberals do the right thing, stop any further sale of Hydro One and commit that they will not sell off any more of our revenue generating assets here in the province of Ontario? Thank you. Minister. Mr. Speaker, the government will do the right thing. We will do everything necessary to maximize the potential of our assets, ensure that we create greater value for the consumers and rate payers and taxpayers, Mr. Speaker, and ensure that we reinvest it into new assets to make more opportunity so that we can reinvest and create a more competitive province. The member opposite recognizes that assets were identified in the budget very clearly. We named them. We actually said what assets we were looking at and we ultimately saw a greater opportunity to maximize value for Hydro One, a component of the electricity system that's in a competitive environment with others. It's trading today and I look forward to the market reaction as we proceed forward, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. New question. The leader of the third party. Your next question is also to the acting Premier. Hydro One shares our trading on the TSX today and it's funny because I don't recall the Premier running on a plan to sell off Hydro One. Ontario's financial accountability officer, Speaker, confirmed that selling Hydro One will mean Ontario's financial situation will be, quote, worse than it would have been without the sale. Will this government do the right thing, come to its senses and hit the brakes on selling off any more of Hydro One? Thank you. Deputy Premier, sorry. Okay. Well, thank you, Speaker. And, you know, what I can tell you, I think we need to remind ourselves why we are doing this, Speaker, and we're doing it so we can build the transit, the transportation, the schools, the highways that this is going to be, Speaker. The member opposite might think we can do that without taking any action, but the reality is we need to pay for that infrastructure, Speaker. And those broadening the ownership of Hydro One allows us to make those infrastructure investments now when they are needed. Speaker, there are experts who have argued that we're actually not spending enough on infrastructure. We need to create those jobs. We need to keep up with population growth. We need to maintain the infrastructure that we have. Experts have called for us to increase our infrastructure investment up to 5% of our GDP, up from 3.5%, Speaker. And broadening the ownership of Hydro One helps us get there. Thank you. The financial accountability officer, an independent officer of this legislature, told this government that the sell-off of Hydro One is the absolute worst way, the worst way, Speaker, to find a decision when it chose to sell off a part of Hydro One. Now the first block of shares have been sold on the markets, but it is not too late to stop the next block of shares from going to market. Selling 15% is bad, Speaker, but selling 60% is a disaster. Will the Liberals listen to the facts put forward by the FAO, come to their senses, Speaker, and stop further selling off of Hydro One? Thank you. Thank you. Deputy Premier. Well, Speaker, instead of putting words in the mouth of the financial accountability officer, let me read what he actually wrote in his report, which I have read, Speaker. On page 9, he says this report does not seek to assess the merits of the decision to sell Hydro One. Let me repeat that. This report does not seek to assess the merits of the decision to sell Hydro One. And he goes on to say that there are conditions around his report. The fact is he looked at one part of this decision. He did not look at the benefits of actually investing in infrastructure. We're talking about 100,000 jobs to build the infrastructure that we need. Now is the time to build infrastructure. And we have to use the resources that we have to be able to do that now, Speaker. Thank you. Final supplementary. Speaker, as a public asset, Hydro One had 13 million owners. Today, that ownership is getting smaller. The government isn't broadening ownership, Speaker. It's handing the ownership to a small group of private shareholders, Speaker. These are the facts. The FAO report proved that this will mean less money in the long term for transit and other services. 185 municipalities and counting, Speaker, have told the Premier to keep Hydro Public. The Premier shut First Nations out of the process, Speaker. 8 out of 10 Ontarians want to keep Hydro One public, Speaker. Will the Liberals hit the brakes before even more of Hydro One ends up being helping the Premier's powerful friends instead of helping Ontarians. Questions? Thank you. Speaker, the member's question underlines her lack of understanding of what this deal is. Speaker, Ontarians, all 13.5 million of us still own 85% of Hydro One, Speaker. When this is complete, we will still be able to make the big decisions that are important to the public interest. We are protecting the public interest as we generate the revenue that is necessary to build infrastructure. Speaker, more people own Hydro One today than did this morning, Speaker, because we are broadening the ownership. But rest assured, every person in this province will continue to own significant ownership in Hydro One. Thank you. Thank you, and good morning, Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Finance. When De Beers was well underway building Ontario's only diamond mine, the Liberal government introduced a diamond royalty. This new tax shocked the owners of the Victor mine as they had already spent over a billion dollars in development. They were literally, Speaker, in too deep to cancel their project. Last year, Cliff's Resources, one of the senior mining companies exploring in the Ring of Fire, did cancel their project. In fact, not only did they sell off their Ring of Fire property, they actually left Ontario. Speaker, I ask the Minister, did the Liberal government ever propose a chromite royalty? Is that why Cliff's left Ontario? Question. Minister of Finance. Minister of Northern Development Mines, Mr. Speaker. Minister of Northern Development Mines. For the question, I think the member of the question, and the reality is, of course, that we have an extraordinarily positive working relationship with De Beers, and one of the great opportunities we have in the province was the Victor Diamond Mine, which opened up in 2008, and I know that De Beers has continued to look to how they can operate and find another extension of their property, so that's going to be good news in the future, and we're going to keep working with them. As for the work that we're doing right now on the Ring of Fire, the member knows well, and it would be certainly helpful if rather than always trying to talk down the great economic opportunity we have in the Ring of Fire, that they worked with us to support the work that we're doing, which includes the work that Noam Resources is doing, includes the extraordinarily real effort we're making with the First Nations to bring everything together so we can see real partnership on this opportunity, this great resource development opportunity for all of the province of Ontario. Supplementary. Speaker, again to the minister, it's interesting that he avoided the answer about the chromite tax, but it's also an interesting byproduct of the gas plant scandal. Hearings were the documents the government had to release. Here's page 2156 under the heading Confidential Commercially Sensitive Material. The sectional slits mean, quote, the province created a mine, a chromite royalty, quote, expected revenue from the new chromite royalty, which was created for this Ring of Fire project, ranged from 6.6 million to 34.4 million per year. A major mining discovery is made in the very first thing this Liberal government thought of was, how can we tax them more? Well, they taxed them right out of Ontario. Speaker, will the minister now admit their failed policies and new tax meant that thousands of people aren't working in the Ring of Fire today? You see the case? You see the case? Thank you. Yeah, right. Answer please. We've been very clear about it, and I think it's shared by everyone who wants to see this project move forward, is it's absolutely vital that we do this right. And that is why we've engaged so closely, obviously with industry, to make sure that they are partners with us in moving forward on the project. The member knows full well as whoever that in many ways the markets will also be a very real factor in terms of making that decision that this is going to be, we are actually in an era of a very, very difficult commodity pricing as well. But that doesn't change the fact that this extraordinary $60 billion deposit, and obviously Chrome might be one of the exciting metals that's up there, are going to move forward. But we need to make sure that we do it right. And again, I'm sure that everyone would agree. The one of the things that we need to do is to work with the communities most directly will impact it by this potential development. Communities that have never seen any reserves developed before, which is why we are working so closely on the regional framework agreement and the regional process. Thank you. And that's the work we're doing. Thank you. Any questions? The member from Welling. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Labor. Today we're joined by a number of doctors who have come to QP, to Queens Park, to support injured workers in a report called Prescription Overruled, which highlights that WSIB is intentionally and systematically ignoring the advice of medical professionals. They're here today to question WSIB practices and policies that are a systemic interference with the claims of injured workers. Will the Minister launch an investigation immediately into WSIB practices for injured workers' claims? Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. And I thank the honorable member for the question. Very, very important question. Something we take very, very seriously. I am aware that the report was released this morning. I have a copy of it myself. I think my staff are meeting with the authors of the report, some of the people associated with the report. As we speak, I continue to meet with injured workers. I want to thank the OFL for this report, because I think we know it's critical for people who suffer from injuries to receive the help they need in a timely manner as quickly as possible. I think we've been able to, for the most part, address the issues that are physical in nature. What the report today is outlining, or the allegations that are being made, is that often there's a psychological connection to that. I think we as a society, this house, this government, previous governments, institutions are starting to come to grips with the importance of the psychological aspect of this. I look forward to examining this report, Speaker, and making sure that I understand it properly. Two supplementary. Well, unfortunately, timely means three to five years in Ontario. Speaker, these WCIP denials are now the subject of a whistleblower report by the OFL and the Ontario injured workers. The doctors are here today to sound the alarm bells and to ensure that necessary steps are taken by WCIP to stop the re-victimization of injured workers. It's unconscionable where medical advice of doctors and clinical psychologists is being ignored so that WCIP can ensure that their claims numbers look good. To be clear, WCIP is re-victimizing the very workers that it was mandated to help. Will the minister commit to reviewing the report, recommendations to launching an investigation and to ensuring that WCIP accepts the independent professional opinions of Ontario's medical experts? Thank you. Thank you, Speaker, and thank you once again to the member for that question. I thought I was clear the first time around that absolutely I will review this report. Every member of this House should review this report. It's an organization that's being brought forward. It's a report that's being brought forward by an organization that I think a lot of people look to to receive advice when it comes to how things can impact upon working people in the province of Ontario. It's a report we take very, very seriously. Whether an inquiry should come as a result of that speaker would be, I think, prejudging what is in the report. But I can tell you that I go out of my way speaker to meet with injured workers in this province. I connect with the OFL. I don't always agree with the OFL. They understand that. We have an open door policy. I look forward to receiving the information that's in this report and doing the best thing so that injured workers in this province receive the care and the health care that they deserve, Speaker. Thank you. New question. Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, my question. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change. Many Ontarians are very concerned about the change of policy and the effects on air pollution. Our children and grandchildren's world will not be good if we don't act on climate change. In this critical challenge and other levels of government in Canada have had to step up to fill this void. More specifically, there has been an unprecedented level of cooperation and collaboration between our government and the government of Quebec. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister please advise on the status of the cooperation that came out of the Joint Cabinet Meeting in September? Right here. Thank you, Minister of the Environment and Climate Change. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to my colleague. We work very hard in collaboration with Quebec. That's our main partner in the fight against climate change. It's very important because we have the same economy. Both economies are similar. We have the same sectors and the same forests, the St. Lawrence River. So the consequences of climate change are similar as well. Both cabinets have been discussing our targets for 2030. We have a goal of 37 percent 35 percent for that year. Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Once again, my question is for the Minister of the Environment. In his answer, the Minister said that it was crucial to move forward on climate change by raising awareness in bringing attention to the challenges of climate change and the need for collaboration among all levels of government. With any issue, proper awareness of the challenge is as key as the solution. Climate change is no different. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister please inform the House on how the public awareness campaign of the component of the MOU and what is being done to raise awareness of this important challenge? Thank you, Minister. Merci. Thank you very much. The communication project is extremely important. The carbon market is extremely complicated. Quebec is more advanced in that field. We are working together in French and English to involve our citizens and to raise awareness among the population. It's also very important because when Ontario shut down the coal coal plants we reduced significantly our emissions. So this partnership with Quebec is more important because we have the same objectives. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and thank you to the member as well because collaboration is key. Thank you, Speaker. My question is for the Deputy Premier. The Kraft Heinz plant in St. Mary's has been a major employer in that community for decades. But yesterday afternoon we learned the company will close its doors. For the 214 employees who will lose their jobs, this news is absolutely devastating. My question is this. What will the government do to help them and the people of St. Mary's in the days ahead? Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. And this was indeed very disappointing news that came out of St. Mary's yesterday but no St. Mary's is very close to my home in London and I expect that many of the people who were laid off are in fact constituents of mine. Our first concern is for these workers for their families affected by the layoffs. The Ministry of Training Colleges and Universities will be providing training programs to help support workers through these very difficult times. We are monitoring the situation. We'll continue working with other levels of government to assure coordinated service. I tell you, Speaker, we in the Southwest know too well that it is very difficult for communities when things like this happen and we must be there to support those workers as they transition to jobs of the future Speaker. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. We appreciate the Deputy Premier's interest and sympathy but there are a few things we need even more. First, we need an immediate commitment from St. Mary's to help the affected employees. That's what the Ministry of Training and Colleges University has done in similar situations. Second, we need the government to work cooperatively with the town to attract and retain new employers for the area. Third, we desperately need an effective manufacturing strategy to restore Ontario's competitiveness and restore hope for those in the sector. When will the government do these things? Deputy Premier. Mr. Training College is in University. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the member for bringing this question forward. When something like this happens our hearts goes on to hard-working employers who have been working very hard and they're committed to supporting not only their families but also supporting our economy. When something like this happens the layoffs happen, my Ministry acts very quickly through rapid re-employment and training services. In this particular case, the office manager was informed at the St. Mary's plant about the possibilities and also facilities which the Ministry offers to layoff workers and we will continue to support the layoff workers at St. Mary's plant. Thank you. Thank you. My question is to the Minister of Transportation. Two days ago the government announced a 30-year deal with the private consortium to maintain the Eglinton Crosstown LRT. The value of the privatised maintenance deal is 3.8 billion almost as much as the cost of building the line itself. Even though Infrastructure Ontario released several self-promoting press releases on Tuesday it still refuses to release details that would explain exactly how much control over transit the government has handed over to the private sector for the next three decades. The private bidders have had this information for almost two years, Mr. Speaker. Why is the Minister keeping it from the public? Thank you. Mr. President. Thanks very much, Speaker. I thank the member from Parkdale High Park for the question. It always delights me to have the opportunity, Speaker, to talk about how transformational the Eglinton Crosstown project will be, Speaker. 19 kilometres of LRT 25 stops connecting Weston all the way to Scarborough here in the GTHA, Speaker. It's a fantastic project. In fact, what the member opposite is referring to is just a couple of days ago this government through Infrastructure Ontario and Metrolinx partnering with the successful project consortium for this landmark infrastructure project, a consortium known as Crosslinx, Speaker. We announced publicly that $1 billion for a 30-year contract to design, build, finance and maintain. That is a project, Speaker, that came in at $2 billion less than originally anticipated by the government, Speaker. That speaks exactly to why it's so important for us to continue to leverage the innovation and creativity of the private sector. I look forward to having a chance to follow up. Supplementary. We have asked the government for the Eglinton Crosstown that was given to private bidders almost two years ago. The government won't release it. We asked for documents concerning the government's plans a few years ago to fully privatise the Eglinton Crosstown. All we got back, Mr Speaker, was 2,500 blank pages. The private corporations controlling the Eglinton Crosstown will need to work with the TTC City of Toronto to ensure the new LRT interacts properly with local transit. We have no idea, Mr Speaker, how this will even work. When will the Minister finally release all the documents showing what control over transit he has given away to private interests? Thank you. Thanks very much, Speaker. Again, I thank the member for the supplementary question. I find it curious, Speaker, that many months ago here in this legislature this exact same member on this exact same topic stood in the house and asked me a question about the Eglinton Crosstown and in her question that day, Speaker, she suggested that because there were only two bidders for this particular project, Speaker, that of course inevitably that the taxpayers would pay more because there wasn't enough competition. And in fact, Speaker, and in fact, Speaker, as I mentioned in my original answer just earlier this week, we were able to go out and say that the Crosslinks organization or project team has now successfully, we've done the financial close, a 30-year contract to design, build, finance, and maintain this, Speaker, at a cost that is $2 billion less than was originally anticipated, contrary to what that member and the NDP caucus seem to believe in their fictional world when it comes to not building infrastructure, in their case, instead we are getting the job done. Thanks very much. New question, the member from Prince Edward Hastings. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My question this morning is for the Minister of Finance. Today, the crown jewel of Ontario's electricity system is on the market. But if you believe the Premier's man behind the curtain, Mr. Speaker, the company stopped being 100% publicly owned last week. In an interview he gave to BNN, Ed Clark bragged about Hydra 1 being quote, the perfect flavor for the market and said, we got the big players that we wanted confirming what we've long said on this side of the house that the Hydra 1 sale is just a way for liberals to give a big payout to their well-heeled friends. They don't even care about the $500 million hole in their plan to balance the budget. Speaker, is the Minister of Finance really content to keep up the Wizard of Oz routine here in the house while the man behind the curtain sells off Hydra 1 for the Premier? Mr. Speaker, interesting question I appreciate the theatrics but I think what's really important here is the results of this transaction. And today the market will give you exactly the result of what we are doing. And Mr. Clark, I give him a lot of credit for enabling the ability to do a transaction at a much lower cost than has otherwise been done in the past. I also recognize that the work that's being done is only a staged approach that's being taken very carefully to mitigate the risks of what happened in the previous transaction done by the opposition. The member opposite may recall that they hit a deficit of $5.6 billion and still they sold one of our precious assets and gave us the O in 407, Mr. Speaker. We are not allowing that to happen. We are going to reimpass $1 in our... Mr. Speaker, please. Mr. Speaker, please. Thank you. Supplementary. Mr. Speaker, he's fine playing the Wizard of Oz apparently. Smokey Thomas has told committee that every single liberal NPP that he's talked to is against... every single backbencher over there is against the sale of Hydro-1 privately but they're all taking their instructions from the corner office. The FAO pointed out last week that it's a bad deal for Ontario. He pointed out that it's simply holding on to Hydro-1 for a couple of years and... Thank you. Minister of Finance. Well, Mr. Speaker, every member on that side I think is supportive because they wanted to sell it 100%. And they put it in some of their platforms. But let me take this opportunity now to state the following. I'm pleased to see that it is being well received in the marketplace. Every uptick on the market is an indication that the future offerings will not even greater proceeds benefiting all Ontarians. It will mean, Mr. Speaker, billions of dollars being reinvested into our economy, into building new assets, into producing greater revenues in the net benefit for all of us concerned. At the same time, transforming this corporation to be better performer for the consumer and for the customers, Mr. Speaker, we are all we're doing is maximizing its potential, seizing on that opportunity and enabling all of us to continue owning a better proportionate amount of Hydro-1 and future assets. Mr. Speaker, and good morning to you. My question is to the Minister of Northern Development and Mines. You signed the Mead to Miners date and you boasted your government's commitment to the mining, for mining in Ontario. Last year, mining giant Cliffs, who spent 550 million in the Ring of Fire, said they can no longer do business with this Liberal Government and sold their claims at a massive loss to Noron for 20 million. Cliffs said they had zero hope for the Ring of Fire and that the project was beyond the point of no return. made here was a disaster. Sources inside Noram now have threatened to suspend work in a ring of fire due to lack of government leadership. Minister, how can you still sit there and watch as the remaining few companies threaten to leave taking good jobs with them? Thank you. Well, last time Mr. Speaker, I'm sure he was at meet the matters with my colleague from the New Democratic Party, and indeed he was there when we were having good conversations with representatives of Noram Resources who remain committed to this project in a very, very significant and real way. And certainly with the way he characterizes the history, we all know that also may I say that Cliffs National Resources as a company had some other significant challenges. What's important is that we now have a company which is Noram Resources working very closely with First Nations, working very much on new assets they've been able to acquire with a commitment to moving this project forward. So once again, I found myself doing this with some frequency with a member saying we need to work together in a positive fashion as opposed to seeing the actual challenges being insurmountable. The bottom line is we're moving forward on the project, we're working closely with industry, with First Nations, looking forward to our working with our federal government as well. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, NORAM is expected to halt spending by years in and if it doesn't see any progress causing them to lay off most of all of their workers. You've had eight years minister, you failed to come up with a plan that will create good jobs, build infrastructure, reduce the high price of electricity and work with First Nations. NORAM and its investors are increasingly frustrated with the lack of movement on your government infrastructure commitment and First Nation agreements. Cliffs warned you, you did not listen. They're gone. Now NORAM is warning you. Minister, will your government take action now? Will you listen before NORAM's investors bail and you are responsible for killing a 60 billion dollar project in this province? Thank you. Mr. Speaker, it's a little rich to be listening to a representative of party that allocated $0 to the regular fire. Let alone the official opposition should have mentioned this earlier. We're actually voting against our billion. The member from Prince Edward Hastings, second time. Finish, please. Let alone the official opposition who gets up and asks questions again instead of working with us, a party that actually voted against the $1 billion commitment that our government has made to our transportation infrastructure. The long and short is that we have got an extremely positive working relationship certainly with NORAM resources, with many other companies in the ring of fire. We're working very, very engaged in working with First Nations in order to make sure that they see the benefits of your approach. Be helpful to address the chair. New question to the member from Cambridge. Thank you, Speaker. My questions for the minister responsible for poverty reduction. As part of the poverty reduction strategy, the minister set a bold goal to end homelessness in Ontario. Earlier this year, this minister and the minister of municipal affairs and housing established the expert advisory panel on homelessness. As a former nurse, I knew several chronically homeless people that made frequent visits to the emergency room, often stating that they had nowhere else to go. They were sometimes not eligible for community health-related services, as they had no fixed address, and would return to the emergency room for care and shelter in the cold weather. Adequate housing is one of the most fundamental determinants of health. Due largely to its role in creating a stable living environment, research has shown that people who are adequately housed require fewer and less expensive medical interventions. Question? Speaker, could the minister please give us an update on the expert advisory panel on homelessness? Thank you. Thank you, Speaker, and thank you to the member from Cambridge for a very important question. When we released our poverty reduction strategy last fall, we did set an ambitious and an aspirational goal to end homelessness in Ontario. We set that goal because it's the right thing to do. There simply is no excuse in a province as rich as Ontario that anyone goes without a home speaker. We set that target because it's the smart thing to do. Homelessness is, in fact, very expensive, as we heard from the member from Cambridge. We did establish an expert panel co-chaired by the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and myself to get advice on how to move from that aspirational goal to the more concrete goal of actually ending homelessness. We heard from people living much of their lives with undiagnosed mental health issues. We heard from young people who had no place to call home. We heard from survivors. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. It sounds like the expert panel on homelessness has done some excellent work making sure that the voices of some of the most vulnerable people in our society are heard. Studies have shown that homeless people experience a much greater rate of physical and mental health issues than a general population. Several years ago, the citizens of my community of Cambridge built the Bridges, a shelter that houses men, women, and families experiencing homelessness. And it provides a range of programs designed to assist in making a smooth transition back into the community. Having a safe and secure place to live has been found to be a significant part of recovering from mental illness and addiction, in gaining employment, food security, access to social services, and access to health care. Speaker, through you to the minister. I'd like to hear more about the panel's report and how our government is planning to tackle homelessness. Thank you, Speaker. I was pleased yesterday to be the keynote speaker at the National Lines and Homelessness Conference in Montreal, where I updated those people from across the country on our plan to move forward. Speaker, for too long we haven't challenged ourselves to address this problem. We can't turn a blind eye anymore and we're not going to. So here are the things that we are moving on, Speaker. We're adopting the panel's definition of homelessness. We're adopting the four priority areas that the panel identified, aboriginal homelessness, youth homelessness, people transitioning from provincially funded institutions and programs, and, fourthly, chronic homelessness, Speaker. The third thing we're doing is we're acting on the panel's advice and we're setting an aggressive but achievable target to end chronic homelessness in 10 years. We're requiring municipalities to enumerate homelessness in their communities and develop plans to end it. And we're setting aside $10 million of the local... Thank you. Thank you for your question. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Attorney General. With four OPP investigations regarding liberal misconduct, plus a multimillion dollar lawsuit by T-Boom Pickens against the IESO and the U.S. Justice Department investigation under the corrupt Business Practices Act regarding NECSTERRA. It appears your seatmate, the Energy Minister, is complicit in many of these cases. The minister knows that the U.S. Justice Department is investigating U.S. companies that are promising Ontario municipality's money in exchange for municipal support which financially benefits these very same companies. It appears that the Attorney General's seatmate is facilitating and encouraging this financial impropriety under the Green Energy Act between foreign businesses and our municipal partners. Speaker, does the Attorney General condone foreign businesses offering bribes on condition that the municipal government passes a resolution to support and promote those businesses? Attorney General, the Minister of Energy. Mr. Speaker, the member will know that in different sectors in Ontario, for example, in the municipal sector, in the development industry, municipalities, in fact, can obtain benefits from developers who are building subdivisions, apartment buildings, et cetera. There are provisions in the municipal act that enable that to happen, Mr. Speaker, and they work extremely well. In this particular case, Mr. Speaker, for a party that has been complaining, Mr. Speaker, that they were being ignored in the renewable energy sector, Mr. Speaker, we have created a process that gives them tremendous, tremendous same whether they go forward or not, Mr. Speaker. We do have a point system, Mr. Speaker, that enables our components to negotiate with the municipality for particular benefits, Mr. Speaker. It's working extremely well. And in that, I'll do it in a... I assure you certainly will. Before we progress, I'd like to caution the member not to get too close to making an accusation that he knows would be unparliamentary. Carry on. Mr. Speaker, again, to the Attorney General. And although the Energy Minister may condone this, this I'm asking to the Attorney General. In my writing, Added-in Highlands has been offered millions of dollars if they help liberal-friendly Nextera score hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts from the IESO. The deal requires the municipality to act in manners contrary to the expressed public interest and allows foreign-owned Nextera to squeeze more money out of taxpayers. These aren't typical community vibrancy funds, Mr. Speaker. They coerce municipal governments to enact resolutions that promote foreign-owned companies. Speaker, why does the Attorney General, Ontario's chief law officer, allow and permit her seatmate to tarnish Ontario's reputation and bring the administration of law into disrepute? Speaker, will the Attorney General initiate an investigation into these corrupt practices? Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker. Thanks for their leader being here. Mr. Speaker, the member is so disrespecting rural municipalities it's beyond belief. What are you saying, Mr. Speaker? I challenge him to identify the councils and the councillors that have been bribed in the province of Ontario. Order. Finish, please. I challenge the member to identify the councils and the councillors who have passed unanimous resolutions who are being bribed, Mr. Speaker. He is showing so much disrespect from municipal councils in rural Ontario and beyond belief, Mr. Speaker. He should be apologising to every single rural municipality in the province of Ontario. The member from London Fanshawe. Thank you, Speaker. My questions to the Acting Premier. Londoners should be able to trust that they can access the care they need every step of the way. But as the Attorney General found, this province still doesn't have an integrated palliative care system. Now, in London, families and front-line nurses are worried about the transfer of acute palliative care beds out of Victoria Hospital and the loss of thousands of nursing care hours. St. Joseph's Health Care agrees that there are gaps in palliative care services in London and, quote, a more comprehensive government-supported approach is needed. Speaker, when will the Liberal Government step up, stop further cuts to acute care and increase the palliative care supports that Londoners and patients deserve? Thank you, Mr. Premier. Minister of Health, long-term care. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, it's important to clarify that we aren't making any cuts to acute care as the member opposite has alleged. In fact, our budget in healthcare continues to increase year after year and we're making important investments across the healthcare spectrum. And palliative care, of course, is a critical element of that. I know that the new hospice in London is going to be an important addition as well. My parliamentary assistant, John Fraser, has taken on the task ably with confidence to actually follow through on the government's commitment to fund 20 more hospices around this province, Mr. Speaker. We were the first in Ontario with the first government to ever fund our hospices. We're proud of that fact. We're proud of the commitment that we've made to extend that funding and I'd be happy to talk more about palliative care and the supplementary. Thank you. Supplementary. Mr. Speaker, back to the acting premier. The need for palliative care is growing across this province. But across the province, palliative care services are a patchwork at best. And seniors and frontline nurses in London are worried that acute palliative care services are being cut in hospitals which are already grappling with four year frozen budgets under the Liberal government. Speaker, why won't the acting premier admit that London needs more palliative care beds and more support for families not just shuffling of the beds at the expense of acute care in hospitals. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, I'm sure that the member opposite would agree with me when I say that for the provision of palliative care it's important that we provide that care where it is as close to the patient as possible. Often that's in the community. Often it's in a hospice environment. Sometimes it's in a hospital environment. But what we need to do is work to make sure that that care is of the highest quality. And in fact, despite the fact that when the NDP were a government, they had no end of life strategy, Mr. Speaker. We were the first government in Ontario's history to develop several years ago an end of life strategy for Ontarians. Again, I've tasked the Parliamentary Assistant Minister, John Fraser, to which is what he's doing is entertaining consultations across his province to develop, to update our end of life strategy to develop a specific palliative care strategy as well, Mr. Speaker. That includes additional funding and includes making sure that we're providing the best quality of care for Ontarians. Thank you. Your question, the member for the Springdale. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Transportation. Minister Brampton Springdale, I know how important transit and transportation are for those living in my community. Time and time again, I have constituents tell me that we need to continue to invest in critical infrastructure projects that will keep Ontario moving. Mr. Speaker, my constituents want to know what their government is making those investments in that truly count. Can the Minister please tell members of this House what our government is doing to invest in transit and transportation infrastructure across the province? I want to thank the member from Brampton for that wonderful question and I want to thank her for her advocacy on behalf of her constituents. Of course, Speaker, our government is making the single largest infrastructure investment in Ontario's history. We are moving forward with our plan to unlock the value of certain public assets as we committed to, Speaker, and use the proceeds of these to help support investments in transit and transportation infrastructure projects through the Moving Ontario Forward Plan, Speaker. These kinds of projects will be available inside the GTHA, making service enhancements to the Go Transit Network and Lata Foundation for Regional Express Rail, and provide funding for projects like Hamilton's LRT Speaker. Outside the GTHA, these funds will allow the province to launch a new connecting links program, Speaker, which will provide funding for northern and rural municipalities along with a wide range of other crucial public infrastructure projects. Thank you. I have two quick announcements. Number one, in the members west gallery, from a former member from Riverdale in the 35th, 36th, Broadview Greenwood in the 37th, Toronto Danforth in the 37th and 38th, and the first female deputy speaker in Ontario's history, Marilyn Shirley. My friends, before we dismiss, I have sad news. Our pages are finished today. Thank you for your appreciation to these wonderful hardworking students. Thank you, Speaker. Yesterday we found out that another Canadian has fallen in combat. John Robert Gallagher grew up in rural Ontario, Wheatley in Exxos County. He grew up into be a man of courage and conviction. He was a former member of the Second Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian family. He left the safety and security of Canada and volunteered to help defend women and children in Syria and Iraq from the tyranny of IS. I would like to recognize, and I'm sure this house would like to recognize both his courage and his virtue and express our condolences to John Gallagher's family. Thank you. I've got points of order all the way so I guess we're here early, but I just want to say I'm very delighted to welcome to Queens Park students from the Ecole Secondaire, Gabriel Dumont, a French school in my riding of London Fanshawe, and their teacher, Pierre Orzarek. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, and it gives me great pleasure to stand on this point of order to wish my great colleagues a happy birthday. Two wonderful ministers celebrating birthdays next week will be celebrating a birthday, so happy birthday to that. I believe we have everyone covered. We have a deferred vote on the motion to second reading of Bill 115, an act to enact the Representation Act of 2015 Reveals of Representation Act 2005 and amend the Election Act, the Election Finances Act, and the Legislative Assembly Act. Please call in the members. This will be a five minute vote. All members please take their seats. On September 15, 2015, Madam, your move second reading of Bill 115, an act to enact the Representation Act 2015, repeal the Representation Act 2005 and amend the Election Act, the Election Finances Act, and the Legislative Assembly Act. All those in favour, please rise, one of the time be recognised by the clerk. Madam Mayor. Mr. Bradley. Mr. Shirelli. Mr. Hoskins. Mr. Hoskins. Mr. Habard. Mr. Boulevard Mr. Darrell. Mr. lass. Mr. Evans. Mr. Ms. Sattler, Ms. Taylor, Ms. Taylor, Mr. Natascha, Ms. Armstrong, Ms. Armstrong, Ms. Angelina, Ms. Fight, Ms. Forrester, Ms. Forrester, Mr. Montau, Mr. Hatfield, Ms. Gretzky, Ms. Gretzky, Mr. Gates, Ms. French, Ms. Campbell, Ms. Campbell. All those opposed, please rise, and be recognized by the clerk. The ayes are 95. The nays are zero. The ayes are 95. The nays are zero. Are you ready? All those opposed, please rise, and be recognized by the clerk.