 It is now time for question period, the leader of the Magistrate's Royal Opposition. Speaker, my question to the acting Premier. Acting Premier, every morning when I wake up, I ask my self a question, what can we do to create more jobs? More opportunities that better take home pay for Ontarians. Those who are out of work and those who are struggling to get by on a part-time job. And on this side of the house, we believe that the first step towards providing a more prosperous province of Ontario's better jobs is to balance the books, to spend with our means, not to put more debt on the back of the next generation. We're concerned that you're going in the opposite direction, that you have a belief on that side of the house that you're going to try to spend your way out of deficit. I have documents here that my colleague Mr. Fidelli from Manipucing found called Fiscal Plan Information. It appears to be a cabinet briefing of February 13th, 2013, which indicates that the Liberal plan to balance the budget, according to finance officials, is a sham. Was the minister present on this document? Thank you. You say it, please. Thank you. Deputy Premier? Well, thank you, Speaker. And before I respond to the question, I do want to extend my condolences to the family of Herb Gray. For four decades, Herb Gray dedicated his life to public service. He served as a minister under three prime ministers, deputy prime minister himself. And on behalf of the Liberal caucus, and I think all members of this House, we extend our condolences. Speaker, to the question, I mean, this is a clear division between the Conservative Party and the Liberal Party. The Conservative Party thinks that they can cut their way to prosperity. On this side, we believe in investing in people. We believe in investing in infrastructures. Speaker, we've seen this before. And let's just remind ourselves how many jobs were lost the last time they had the opportunity to do that. Thank you. Thank you. Supplementary? Well, thank you, Speaker. Of course, we echo condolences to the family of Herb Gray, a great Canadian, a great public official. We also extend our condolences to the family of Kim Fletcher, who sadly, the speaker, passed away. And my colleague, Mr. Chudley, my health critic, Christine Elliott, we're fighting hard for Ms. Fletcher. I'm going to pass on through one of the pages that I could, the document minister that you would have been briefed on. Again, it's confidential advice to cabinet from February 13th. I'll refer you to page nine. Page nine in this document indicates that you have no problem with the fact that you have no problem with the fact that you have no problem with the fact that you have no problem with the fact that you have no problem with move forward. Page nine in this document indicates that you have no plan to balance the budget. You know the numbers are no more than a fiction. Page nine also will tell you that the finance officials, this is not us, not Mr. Fidele. He would put the same thing to indicate it was going to take potentially another six years to balance the budget. Could the minister confirm that it's actually a plan? If the member leader of the opposition is sincere when he says he wakes up every morning wondering how he can create more jobs, he's demonstrating that in a pretty bizarre way because his promise is he wants to fire 10,000 education workers gone, fire 2,000 healthcare workers gone, he wants to cancel full day kindergarten, he wants to end the 30% tuition grant. He doesn't want to move forward with the investments we're making for children or people with developmental disabilities, he wants to cancel job creating partnerships, for example, OpenTex 1200 job speaker, the member of the leader of the opposition, his jobs plan is to kill jobs. Our jobs plan is to invest in jobs. We are on track for a balanced speaker but we will not do that at the expense of the people of Ontario. I know the page bringing over the minister, I think I've been absolutely clear each and every day. I've got a plan to create a million good jobs in the province of Ontario. The minister wants to know more about my plan, I'm glad to send a copy across the way against the speaker. I think I've been very clear. Now, the concern I have is that the minister have been briefed, the premier, the finance minister have these documents over a year ago, you've buried them, Mr. Fidelli, the member for Nipissing has done a good job at uncovering them. This is serious advice from finance officials that have said that you have no plan to balance and in fact we're risking another six years. Finance officials have briefed you, the premier, the finance minister. And I worry that when you're using these types of fiscal slights of hand, these card tricks that undermines confidence in our province, people are watching, job creators, investors, minister, if you have no plan to create jobs in the province of Ontario but put us farther in debt, isn't it time to change a team that leads this province? Thank you. Deputy Premier. Well, Speaker Rob, people won't need a great memory to remember that the last time they had the chance, Speaker, they actually hid the deficit from the people of the province. 5.6, that deficit was hidden from the people of this province. So we are going to deliver a budget on Thursday. It will be a budget that invests in people, that invests in prosperity, invests in infrastructure. Speaker, the party opposite last time filled in the hole for the Eglinton Crossdown Subway. I just hope they're not planning to halt production at the Cambridge Morrill Hospital. Thank you. One question. The Leader of the Opposition. You know, it is telling, Speaker, when the Deputy Premier won't even come close to answering a very direct question. She won't acknowledge if she was briefed on this document as the Premier and the Finance Minister. Where I suspect it were, it is a confidence in cabinet document that we've now made public. I'm going to refer the Deputy Premier to page 5 of the document that she read at least last year, if not more recently. Page 5 also from finance officials, it indicates that the economy has still not yet regained the strength of 2008. Pre, there are fewer jobs relative to population and more unemployed in our province. And per capita output of the economy remains below the pre-session level. Now when I hear the Premier, the Finance Minister, they say the opposite. Quite frankly, Speaker, based on this track record, the gas plan scandal, I believe the finance officials. I think they're on the money here. Question. Do you agree or disagree with the Ministry of Finance officials that we're still behind where we were as recently as 2008? Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. As Speaker, we are on target to balance. And what I can tell you is that we have implemented. That's enough. Minister, carry on. Speaker, we're moving forward with 80 percent of Don Drummond's recommendations. We're the first government since 1996 to actually reduce spending. We've got the leanest government in the country, Speaker, with the lowest programs. The member from Bruce Grio and Sal, come to order. As I said, there is a stark difference between their plan and our plan. For them, the whole plan is to balance the books as quickly as possible and for unipassing Pembroke to the people of this province. We are committed to investing in people. Answer. We are committed to making those investments that will create a prosperous economy for all to be able to. Thank you. Supplementary. Well, I'll point out a very stark difference. The minister uses that term. Minister, as you know, every province and the federal government will be in balance before the province of Ontario. Six of those provinces and the federal government are already there. That talk about a stark difference. We all were hit by the same international circumstance as 2008, but everybody else is back on track. Another stark difference? We will balance the budget to pave the way for job creation and put people back to work in the province of Ontario. Take this point. Again, these are finance officials that are pointing out that your job numbers are not even above where we were six years ago, six years ago going backwards. So tell me who's right and who's wrong. The finance minister and the Premier say one thing. The finance officials say the opposite. My money is on the objective advice of senior civil servants. Why aren't you putting the facts on the table? Why won't you admit they're right? You're wrong. It's time to do this. Thank you. Deputy Speaker. I think it's very important that the people in this province understand what's at stake. The Leader of the Opposition has made it very clear his only priority is to get to deficit. I can only assume that means he will halt the infrastructure projects that are moving forward, including Cambridge Memorial Hospital. Speaker, I can only assume that means he will not support increased support for families caring for people with developmental disabilities. Speaker, we are moving forward with a plan that creates a bright future for the people of this province. We are not going to accept the slash and burn, get to balance, take it right to work for less attitude of that party, Speaker. It's not the right way forward. And we will continue to do what we know needs to be done. Thank you. Colonel Sopramentry. Well, it's true. I have a plan to put a million people back to work in the fight if they want to stay on the current path or force boldly forward a more prosperous province. Let me give one last point on the document that you were briefed upon. I think what's important in the document to advise the cabinet fiscal plan information was that it ties the lack of job creation with the fact that you're increasing debt in the province of Ontario. And it's an important economic lesson that the Liberal Party seems to miss. We just fundamentally believe that if you spend within your means just like families do every day, you send a signal of confidence that Ontario is a place to be. And make no mistake, we are bound and determined to put less debt on the back of the next generation. Thank you. Deputy Premier. Speaker, with respect, the Leader of the Opposition doesn't have a plan. But he has as a sound bite. And anyone who has looked at the plan very quickly discovers it is no plan at all, Speaker. It is a sound bite and only a sound bite. Let me repeat. The jobs that he's already committed to cutting, 10,000 education workers, 2,000 health care workers. Remember from Hamilton, Stony Creek. He's not supporting families with developmental disabilities, Speaker. And I'm just curious about whether canceling the expansion of Joe Brandt Hospital is in your plan as well. Thank you. New question. The member from Windsor to come see. Thank you, Speaker. My question this morning is to the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure. Good morning, Minister. Thank you for acknowledging the birth of my granddaughter, Katana. Speaker, the minister has said that as soon as he found out that the girders on the Herb Gray Parkway were faulted, he acted immediately. Does the minister still stand by that statement? Thank you. Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure. Yes, Mr. Speaker. It's interesting that the gentleman opposite put out a statement, but he left one page out of all the documents he released. He neglected to share with the media this one note. Although the note reflects that the Minister's office staff were present in meetings, it should be noted that discussions at those meetings focused on project milestones and evolving issues related to the project agreement. There was not sufficient information during the time period's reference in the note to make definitive recommendations to Mr. Orr's staff regarding the safety and durability of the girders. Further, the Minister's office staff were briefed on the safety and durability issues regarding girders of the Herb Gray Parkway on June 14, 2013, and the Minister briefed on June 19, 2013. For the first time, Mr. Speaker, that's the piece of paper you kind of forgot. The other reason is, Mr. Speaker, I actually heard about this outside of government in the month previous, and when I researched it, I addressed this with my deputy minister the first week of June, which is when she organized the review and discovered them. Thank you. Well, according to documents released through a freedom of information request, both the offices of the Premier and the Minister knew that girders were not up to code and posed a threat to safety before they were installed. The Minister's office learned about the substandard girders in December of 2012. High-level bi-weekly meetings were held afterwards to discuss them. The meetings included senior staff within the Minister's office, and as early as in April, the Executive Director of Policy in the Premier's office was sent the minutes of these meetings. Is the Minister saying that senior staff in his own office, the same people, the same senior staff the Minister Shirelli held before, did not tell him about public safety concerns on the largest infrastructure project in Ontario's history that he's responsible for? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm saying even more than that. Not only is that wrong, Mr. Speaker, it was my office that first heard of the problem from people outside of government. When I went to my Deputy Minister the first week of June, she told me she was unaware of the problem. As was the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, it never actually landed. As a result of my inquiries, Mr. Speaker, a briefing was held for my staff on the 14th. I'll even go further for the Honourable Member. If you actually go through the paperwork, you will find that the public administration was divided about whether there was a safety issue until late August when I ordered independent destructive testing and it was revealed that one of the burgers was faulty. That was the last week of August, Mr. Speaker. There's your paper trail. If you want to tell the whole paper trail, then I think just for integrity reasons, you would release all the information, Mr. Speaker. Final supplement, please. Thank you, Speaker, again to the Minister. We know that senior advisers from the Minister's Office were in meetings that discussed the problem of girders and that senior advisers in the Premier's Office were being sent minutes of the bi-weekly girder meetings as early as in April and possibly even earlier. Does the Minister expect people of this province to believe that senior advisers or the Premier's senior advisers didn't alert him to a potential scandal surrounding faulty girders being installed on this project? Thank you, Minister. So, Mr. Speaker, I have respect for the member opposite and I think the truth matters, Mr. Speaker. The note which I have here, Mr. Speaker, and I will gladly send over it to him clearly and explicitly says that any discussions prior to June 14th were not about safety issues. They were about commercial applications of the project and had nothing to do with safety issues and the member knows that. The member also knows that it wasn't until the last week of August that there was even a consensus amongst public officials that there in fact was a safety problem and it wasn't until I ordered independent testing in late July that resulted in the girders being destroyed that we actually discovered that. My question, Mr. Speaker, is where was the opposition? I was doing your job. The member from Windsor West, Mr. Speaker, raised this issue before and it sounds like the member for Tecumseh is trying to play catch up, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. New question. Thank you, Speaker. I got it. The member from Tecumseh, Windsor. Ah, thank you. Somebody's got to do the job of the government. In a July 21st, 2013, confidential memo to the Premier on the girder issue, it states and I quote, there has been some chatter about this situation in Windsor construction circles and we understand that Windsor's star may be coming out with a story in this matter this week. It may break during the Premier's visit to Windsor on July 22nd, end of quotes. Minister, why did this government fail to take action for months on public safety and allow the faulty girders to be installed and only act it when a scandal was about to break that could put five liberal seats at risk in impending by-elections? Minister? Thank you. I'm going to try this again really slowly, Mr. Speaker. It's very clear as are the discussions. There were active conversations about this project and any other. To be very clear, there was no discussion, not a word I owed a discussion of safety issues or briefings until June 19th with politicians because I was the first one. The reason those discussions happened is because I heard rumors in May that there may be a problem. I did not hear those rumors inside government. I heard it from meeting with stakeholder groups who asked me to investigate. The first week of June, I went to my deputy ministers, both of them, and asked them if they knew anything. They both said clearly that they were not aware of any particular safety concerns. Both of them undertook a review and two weeks later I'm sure that the things I had heard may have merit. Finally, Mr. Speaker, we had an independent review which tried to decide whether or not those safety issues were consequential. Thank you. And that was very public, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Supplementary? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We know from internal correspondence that this government didn't act on public safety concerns for seven months after it knew girders and the Herb Gray Park way were faulty. This government only acted after political staff found out that the Windsor Star was asking questions about girder safety, and the Premier might be confronted with a question on her scheduled visit to Windsor. Had the Windsor Star not been investigating these girders, would these unsafe girders continue to be quietly installed to this very day? Minister? Mr. Speaker, you know, there is, both of us come from a municipal background. In a municipal background you do not attribute motive. As a matter of fact, you're thrown out of a council chamber for attributing motive. So, I'll just say, I had almost no weekends away with my family through this period of time because I was working on this through the entire summer. Mr. Speaker, as late as August, senior officials were not convinced that there were safety concerns, including the engineering. It was only when we did the destructive testing. But, Mr. Speaker, the member has the note from the officials that he did not release that tells the public that what you're saying is so inaccurate it bears no resemblance to the actual events, Mr. Speaker. So, in turn, I want to read this document where the officials say, prior to June, there was no zero, not a word of discussion. Member from Mookie and Carleton will come to order, and now we'll hear a new question. Oh, sorry, final supplementary. Thank you, Speaker. The Premier, when she was the Minister of Transportation, awarded the project agreement for the Windsor Essex Parkway through alternate financing procurement, a fancy name for privatizing public projects. According to internal documents, this government prioritized the Premier's contract with the private consortium over the ability for MTO to enforce public safety rules. Why did this government set up a project agreement that threatened public safety? Minister? The reality is, first, patently inaccurate. I don't want to use unparliamentary language, but there's another word that's floating around in my head, Mr. Speaker. Don't use it, Glenn. The reality is, there were absolutely no concerns around safety through that particular period of time. The first person to raise a safety issue at the ministerial level was myself based on concerns that were given. I will not read into the record again the bureaucrat note, the officials note on this. Mr. Speaker, the member has been given a full and honest answer. I've always respected him as a person with integrity. To point out, documentation shows that the first safety discussion with me was on June 19th, and I took more than strong action and more than immediately, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. This week, the Gas Plants Committee, Injustice Committee, has the opportunity to sit on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday morning. We have requested that the former government house leader and the former transition chair to Premier Wynn testify. Manik Smith, however, is unwilling to do that, and we are experiencing very much difficulty trying to get into the committee. Order? Order? Let me be very clear. The former government house leader would have known about Peter Feist contract with the Liberal Caucus Bureau, and Peter Wall, as said and testified under oath that Manik Smith, as the transition team chair, would have known about the Gas Plant emails and passwords. So, given that she is a crucial piece of the Gas Plant puzzle, will you compel Manik Smith to testify? You've got her appointed to a government job. Thank you. Bring her back to Ontario. The member from Cambridge will come to order. Before we proceed, it's always helpful to address your questions to this speaker. Deputy Premier. Member from Prince Edward Hastings will come to order. The Honourable Member is wrong. Ms. Smith was asked to appear in front of the committee. She has agreed to appear in front of the committee. She has given several dates to the clerk, and I am advised, in fact, that she's able to attend the week of May 5th or May 12th. There have been two timelines that she has been given. I think members would appreciate that Ms. Smith is actually located in Washington, D.C., and has to make travel arrangements. And, Mr. Speaker, I would remind the Honourable Member that we asked the Leader of the Opposition to appear in front of the committee. It went on for week after week after week after week, and he's in the same building, Mr. Speaker. And when it comes to the Conservative candidates, Mr. Speaker. The Minister from Rural Affairs is not being helpful. The member from Leeds-Grenville is not helpful. The member from Kitchener-Conestoga is not helpful. And the member from Chatham-Cant Essex is not helpful. You did just it. Carry on. Mr. Speaker, when it comes to the Conservative candidates, the same ones that said elect Dawson will get rid of the Gosplan, Mr. Speaker. We're still a leader on them. In fact, we've asked one of them, Mr. Speaker, over 16 times to allow. Supplementary. Well, I would like to remind the Government House Leader it is his party under an OPP investigation, not mine. It was their foreign transition team, Chair, that was responsible for dealing with the Gasplan scandal during a certain period of time, not the leader of the official opposition. And it is his party that sent my next Smith to Washington during the OPP investigation and the search and seizure warrant where she is outside the Speaker's jurisdiction for a Speaker's warrant. I ask him again, we are sitting this week. My next Smith is key and pivotal to getting the answers that the Committee needs in order to complete its work. Will you compel her on her Government job to come back to Ontario this week and appear before the Committee on Thursday morning yes or no? Thank you. Government House Leader. Again, Mr. Speaker, the Honourable Member is wrong. That'll just be the end of it. You ask the question, listen to the answer. The Minister of Aboriginal Affairs is not helpful. The Member from Renfrew, Nipissing, Pembroke, Second Time. Carry on. Mr. Speaker, the Honourable Member is wrong. She stood up and said, Miss Smith will not appear in front of the Committee. She will appear in front of the Committee. She is travelling related to her job, a very important job, Mr. Speaker, and she has given a series of dates over the next several weeks. In fact, when she will appear in front of the Committee, where she is also wrong, Mr. Speaker, is when she notes Peter Wallace in his testimony. In fact, what Mr. Wallace said is that he did not brief the transition team on this matter, Mr. Speaker. So two strikes, Mr. Speaker, and I think she's out. But again, Mr. Speaker, we are looking for the PC candidates to come forward, Mr. Speaker. We are looking for them to explain their policy analysis and their costing. Thank you. Any questions? The Member from London West. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure. Despite the Minister's office knowing the safety risks, the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure allowed faulty girders to be installed and construction to proceed for months and only took action to halt construction on July 21, 2013. My question is this. What prompted the Minister to take action in July? Minister of Construction and Transportation. Mr. Speaker, what prompted me to take action was I, when I became Minister, which was only a couple of minutes before that, I invited all of the stakeholders into my office. I started meeting with all of the construction parties in Windsor and London and Ottawa, and I asked them each. And Mr. Speaker, you always hear people raising concerns. All the people who didn't get the contracts complained about the people who did. So you have to take a lot of what you hear with a grain of salt. But what I did start hearing, Mr. Speaker, was repeated concerns about the process and the installation of girders. What I validated that that was, in fact, a concern that had some legitimacy and was different than the background noise that someone hears about in the construction industry, I called in the CEOs of four different construction companies and asked them for their advice. Based on the advice of different individuals, Mr. Speaker, I went to my Deputy Minister the first week of June. Both Deputy Ministers said they had not heard of any safety concerns, nor had staff raised them with them. Based on that, I asked them to investigate, Mr. Speaker. That's what happened. Speaker, the Minister's office knew by December of 2012 that girders to be installed were not up to safety standards. During a February 14, 2013 meeting in the Minister's office, girders were on the agenda, and the Minister's office staff confirmed that they would not be intervening or speaking to the issue directly. The Minister says he didn't find out about the girders safety issue until May 2013. Is the Minister saying that senior staff in his own office who knew about girders safety concerns for months never spoke to him about it at all? Thank you, Minister. I am saying much more than that, Mr. Speaker. I'm saying they did not know about it. The Deputy Ministers in infrastructure and the Deputy Ministers in transportation both did not know about it. A matter of fact, after I raised this issue with my officials in June, I had dissenting views in the ministries where people felt still as late as August that there were no safety concerns. It was not until the destructive testing which I ordered quite frankly and quite assertively in late August that they were convinced and you've heard their testimony and if you look at all the paper, you'll know that. And Mr. Speaker, both of you and I have worked the member opposite of worked in universities. We know the importance of searching for the truth and getting accurate information and not, I hope, when we get into politics the rigor of that review and evaluation. I am quite happy to provide you with any documentation as far as I can tell you. There was not even consensus that there was a safety problem until the last week of August. Thank you. Any questions? The member from RLSR. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport. Minister, in the coming months from May to October communities will open doors of some of Ontario's most intriguing and charming heritage sites as part of a great program called Doors Open Ontario. This provides all Ontarians with a chance to visit many of the heritage sites and heritage homes in our province. Mr. Speaker, there are many sites in my hometown of Ottawa to visit, especially the buildings at State National Historic Site in my riding of Ottawa South. Doors Open Ontario was a great initiative of the Ontario Heritage Trust as it's important to remember our past to appreciate the present. Mr. Speaker, through you to the Minister, can you please tell us more about the Doors Open Ontario? Great question. Thank you, Minister. Doors and Culture and Sport. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the member from Ottawa South for asking the question. He's a passionate protector of our heritage and I want to thank him for that. Mr. Speaker, in 2002, Ontario Heritage Trust launched the Doors Open Ontario, the first province-wide event of the sky in our country. The last 12 years, great success. Mr. Speaker, over five million visits have been made to heritage sites participating in this exciting initiative. It has grown to over 55 events in 170 communities with over 1,200 sites and 500,000 annual visits as of last year. And it will keep growing, Mr. Speaker. Residents and visitors are invited to discover firsthand our province-hidden heritage traces, some of which have never been opened to the public. And best of all, that mission is free, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Thank you, Minister, for that response. The Ontario Heritage Trust efforts to organize and support such a wonderful program for all Ontarians to participate in is commendable. In fact, through Doors Open Ontario, visitors will learn that the Billings Estate in my riding of Ottawa South is Ottawa's oldest wood frame house and was built between 1827 and 1829. Mr. Speaker, the Ontario Heritage Trust most recognizable symbol is its blue and gold plaque or the blue and gold plaques that have been unveiled at over 1,200 sites in our province that tells the stories of the people, places and events that help shape Ontario. Mr. Speaker, again through you to the Minister, could you please tell us about the important work the Ontario Heritage Trust engages in? Thank you, Minister. Thank you for the question again. Mr. Speaker, since 2003, our government has invested 74 million to the Ontario Heritage Trust to support and protect heritage across the province. Some of the other programs include the Provincial Resources Programme which over 6,300 bylaws and 15,000 properties enter from heritage conservation districts. Mr. Speaker, trails open Ontario which provides province-wide profile of 48 partner organizations and opportunities for the public to explore trails during 56 events in 54 communities and to coincide with the World War 1 Centennial this year. Mr. Speaker, on February the 14th we launched Ontario Heritage Week at CNU Boulder. Mr. Speaker, last we forget. Thank you. Thank you for your question. Acting Premier, last week our party learned that Patrick Dillon of the Working Families Coalition is preparing a lawsuit against Her Majesty's Royal Opposition for alleged defamation. That letter coincides with your action against our party leader Tim Hudak and the member of MP and Carl Tim. Working Families spends millions of union dollars on personal tax and misrepresenting our party's policies. Isn't this just another example of Working Families a well-connected special interest group in hand and glove with the Liberal government to silence the opposition? I would ask the member I would like to provide the member with an opportunity to tie that into government policy or to maybe reword that so that the government can answer a question that's based on excuse me I'm I'm quite concerned with the personal conversations that are going on while I'm trying to do a ruling. I would ask and I don't need the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs injecting his own wisdom any time while it's not considered unparliamentary it sure is disrespectful. I'll give you an opportunity to fix that question please. So I'll retract with Patrick Dillon was appointed by your government to the Ontario College of Trades and Multiple Agencies. My question is about a loss and the question is about that circumstance I'd like you to see if you can do that if not you'll have to redirect. Try again. How many agencies does Patrick Dillon sit on? Good question. That's appropriate. Acting Deputy Premier Minister of Training of Colleges and Universities Minister of Training of Colleges and Universities That's an interesting question Patrick Dillon said Mr. Speaker I know he sits on the referral board for the College of Trades Mr. Speaker I think that Ontarians get tired when politicians start raising individuals and they're not in a position Mr. Speaker to be able to defend. The member from Simple North come to order please and I don't need assistance on this side. Finish please. Mr. Speaker if my memory serves me right as I recall the first people to appoint Patrick Dillon to anything around here was the PC party when people dedicate their lives to public service Mr. Speaker when people dedicate their lives to serving on boards and committees they really deserve better than that Mr. Speaker. Supplementary. Didn't answer the question. How many? I'm told sufferings and wasted billions with the member from New Market Aurora had gargantly entered troops that you want to bury. Today Orange is a subject of an OPP investigation Taxpayers might have believed the Liberals 40 million estimated cost to cancel two gas plants had the member from North Bay not demanded an accurate account billion dollars Your government's evasions have led to a second OPP investigation Our questions are serious these lawsuits are frivolous What makes you think the courts will back your schemes to silence opposition's critics and stop us from telling the truth? Good question. Given the circumstances that we were faced I think I'm going to allow that question to be asked as a question of government whether or not they believe that what they're the member from the PN Carlton is very close so I'm going to allow that to happen so the Minister of Training calls the Universities Well Mr. Speaker any question about healthcare in a supplementary to a question that involves something completely different kind of puts the Minister at a bit of a disadvantage because I'm not the Minister of Healthcare but Mr. Speaker I'll respond to this very curtly and very shortly Mr. Speaker referring to the first question it's very easy Mr. Speaker people don't have to worry about others whether anywhere being concerned about lawsuits Mr. Speaker if they simply tell the truth my question is to the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure despite the fact that bi-weekly meetings were occurring on the girder issue from December 2012 onwards within his Minister's office that included his Minister's political staff his Chief of Staff the Deputy Minister Deputy Minister's staff within minutes and with minutes forward to the Premier's office and despite the fact that the decision was made in the Minister's own office on February 14th not to take action on safety issues surrounding these girders is the Minister telling this legislature that not one single member of his political staff briefed the Minister or sought guidance from the Minister on this public safety issue the biggest infrastructure project the Minister was responsible for Thank you Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation Yes that's exactly what I'm saying and that's exactly the truth Mr. Speaker and I'm going to be very clear about this there have been discussions about every single project ongoing there was no discussions at all with me and when I asked my deputy in early June that there had been any issues with the girders requiring safety or concern there wasn't when I did become aware of it I took extremely strong action including an independent review hiring independent legal counsel much of that work going on with the review of those events still continues on looking at how to improve oversight on projects and this government will be advancing ways to do that Mr. Speaker the public safety concern is always number one that's why we paneled the leading engineers in the country that's why we did an independent review that's why there were two studies that were done and the government acted once it understood the situation supplementary is it true that the minister of transportation infrastructure tried to quietly sweep the issue under the carpet and allow substandard girders to be installed and only to stop the installation when the Windsor Star was going to expose the safety concerns minister sweet boy sweet boy it's probably more easy to report I think it would be easier if I answered in French because she didn't seem to understand in English it's been two weeks and there was no safety concern about these girders they were not about the safety of the girders there is such a public inquiry two supplementary reports there is more paper on this no prior to June there were no discussions in my office relating to safety of girders there were many discussions about girders biweekly because it's a big project it would be pretty hard to go through years not talking about the project in French I believe if I say it in French she will be great for you thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the minister of citizenship and immigration there are more than 50,000 non-for-profit organizations that deliver vital services and help build prosperous and vibrant communities in my writing of Scarborough Aging Court Aging Court Community Service Association is a non-for-profit organization that provides quality services for children, youth, homeless and newcomer Canadians and I know our government recognized contribution of the Ontario non-for-profit sector and our government and the non-for-profit sector is one of the goals over the past few years our government has launched several initiatives to better understand the government in terms of strengthening the relationship with this sector Speaker, through you to the minister can he please share with the House the information about the volunteer strategy consultation what is the goal and who is participating thank you thank you and I'd like to thank the hardworking member from Scarborough Aging Court for that excellent question I really enjoy this aspect of the ministry because I get to see what Ontarians can do at their best the non-for-profit sector is filled with individuals who embody true active citizenship in 2011 our government released the partnership project report it included six key recommendations to create a stronger relationship between the non-for-profit sector and government and in this spirit we've launched an Ontario volunteer strategy consultations consultations have taken place in Ajax Thunder Bay, Mississauga, Ottawa Arcom, London and Toronto consultation participants were not only from the non-for-profit sector but also from the private sector and also from education we spoke to other ministries and other provinces in fact we consulted with other countries Mr. Speaker, we know that the non-for-profit sector here in this province are filled with individuals who invest their time, energy and skill and we are proud of our non-for-profit volunteers here in Ontario thank you thank you Speaker for its response and for helping to build an important social infrastructure in our province through the 2010 partnership project round table discussions almost all of the non-profit participant told us that it often has some difficulty accessing relevant government information this information is important for their operations, administration and annual charitable status reporting I also know that non-for-profit needs information that is easy available and comprehensive when it comes to government programs resources and funding opportunities Speaker, I know the minister have been working very hard and passionately over the passion on this file Speaker, through you to the minister can he please tell the House more about the initiative that our government has undertaken to support the non-for-profit sector in Ontario thank you Mr. Speaker and again I'd like to thank the member for that great question and I do have some great news along with partners in service in Ontario we're putting final touches on online channel for non-for-profit sector that provide easy access information on funding regulations and legal information and at a great time earlier this month taking part in the launch of the provinces PAN and PARA PANM volunteer legacy we've created a certificate program that recognizes skills acquired through volunteer placement as well as first stop gateway for volunteers looking for opportunities in the games additionally we're working with other ministries to find ways to reduce the administrative burden and ensure the government initiatives consider the business needs for the non-for-profit sector for example we're participating in the government's open for business strategy in the non-for-profit sector in various ministries to find ways to simplify the transfer payment process for the non-for-profit agencies Mr. Speaker, our government prioritizes what's most important to our citizens the right to the health care and education but we also know that we have to make investments in the non-for-profit sector for the sales plan and we're proud of the work we're doing on this side of the House Mr. Speaker Thank you, you have a question the member from Grantham Kent Middlesex Thank you very much Speaker my question this morning is to the Acting Premier Acting Premier over the weekend Ontario residents learned that your government gave the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario the Registered Practical Nurses Association of Ontario the nursing families coalition member union the Ontario Nurses Association $40 million supposedly to assist nurses your government is firing get retrained and find new employment this money was given using an extremely unorthodox trust arrangement which allows two of the nursing groups to keep any unspent money in other words you created an incentive for them to not spend this money on frontline nurses and minister they didn't in fact they only spent $236,000 on frontline nursing jobs but racked up $6 million in expenses Acting Premier what are you doing right now to get the $40 million back to the people of this province you see it please you see it please you see it please thank you thank you the member from Halton will withdraw withdraw Deputy Premier thank you speaker and I appreciate the opportunity to respond to that allegation speaker I think it's important to remember where we were back in 2005 speaker we were nurses 6000 nurses had been fired by the previous government and in fact their plan is to do the same again if they have that chance the nursing workforce was unstable and I think we would all agree that there was an instability there that was resulting in nurses leaving Ontario there were hospitals were running massive deficits they were projecting that they would need to lay off 750 nurses this fund was was created and it is a protected fund that money must be used to retrain nurses moving from one area of specialty to another that fund is protected it turns out that the need that was at that time expected to be used within a year speaker turns out that need was not there because of other changes we have made I'll speak more on the supplementary supplementary well Acting Premier the most generous possible interpretation of the nursing retention fund Boondoggle is that the RNAO and ONA are utterly incompetent project managers and cannot be trusted to serve as stewards of taxpayer money Deputy Premier according to public accounts Volume 3 from 2012 to 2013 the RNAO and RPNAO received over 18 million dollars of taxpayer money combined ostensibly to run various programs given their terrible performance with the nursing retention fund Acting Premier will your environment immediately freeze the flow of taxpayers money to the RNAO and RPNAO in order immediate value for money audience of all these programs Deputy Premier if anyone had any doubt that the attack on nurses would continue that doubt is now erased Retention fund speaker I have met with the management committee and asked them to come back I've met with them in January they have until the end of May to come back with an idea speaker on how that money can be used to support the transformation in our healthcare system that is now underway on this side of the house we value our nurses we understand we are in a time of transition that's a difficult transition we are there to support our nurses as we move from acute care hospitals into the community Thank you any questions Thank you very much Mr. Speaker my question is to the Minister of Infrastructure According to the Premier's own press release during the Liberal leadership race she bragged that as Minister of Transportation she oversaw the construction of the Windsor Essex Parkway The current Minister in July wrote the agreement negotiated and I quote you directly from your own writing we may have compromised our ability to enforce the law by negotiating our authority away end of quote why did the Minister fail to act when he knew that he was compromising public safety on the Herb Grey Parkway by negotiating away any kind of authority you had question thank you Minister of Infrastructure Transportation so Mr. Speaker I'm going to read very slowly again from the note the one piece of paper that the members opposite didn't want to have the public see Minister's office staff were first briefed on the safety and durability issues regarding girders on the Herb Grey Parkway on June 14th 2013 and the Minister was briefed on June 19th 2013 this is a piece of paper written in the file by officials independently of any apologize to the Minister to make it very clear that all the other references to the Herb Grey Parkway were not discussions about the girders now I know that fact is unpleasant and uncomfortable for the third party but it is a fact that is really pretty hard to discuss Mr. Speaker as we went through over the summer the review and we looked at who was overseeing this project a lot of decisions were made that caused me concern which led me to the independent including the negotiation of the project agreement Mr. Speaker and that is all well documented but that is all long after June thank you this Minister wrote you again we may have compromised our ability to enforce the law by negotiating our authority away you wrote that yourself documents released through the freedom of information repeatedly show the Ministry of Transportation being critical of the project agreement because it does not allow the MTO to exercise its role and responsibilities as the legislative road authority and puts the public interest at risk why did the Minister hide the fact he knew that the project agreement on the Herb Gray Parkway put the safety of people in this province at risk Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker there is a review going on right now as you probably know of the AFP process because we've discussed this before on how we can prove it and because we do an innovative project and when we do you an innovative thing Mr. Speaker there is a dispute resolution process in there it was something that I have commented on the entire time I was Minister that is a full stop it is not relating to the issues that the member is confusing it with I first raised this issue in early June with my deputy my deputy said very clear to me no specific issues have been raised around the girder's safety with her I went to the deputy of infrastructure I asked the same question he told me the same thing I asked them to review June 19th I got a briefing based on that review they looked into it and they discovered the same issues that the members are making reference to I think that is clear Mr. Speaker I hope I won't have to repeat this in French again but I hope this will be clear in French thank you my question is for the Minister of Government Services every member in this House knows how donations make a big difference Ontarians contribute generously to a variety of causes their donations can do anything from feeding an empty stomach to saving a life without the thoughtful contributions of countless Ontarians so many would do without I have seen this generosity extended in my riding of Scarborough Gildwood as a province we do our best to help those in need and to extend that help as far as our reach can go including the global community I understand that the Government of Ontario recently donated firefighting equipment to the Dominican Republic Speaker will the Minister inform this House and residents in my riding about this important initiative thank you Minister of Government Services I thank the member for the question Mr. Speaker it was through a surplus asset distribution program in Ontario Shared Services the Ontario Government was able to donate surplus firefighting equipment to the Dominican Republic Ontario Shared Services first received a request from firefighters without borders Canada in January this is a registered charity whose goal is to assist emergency services worldwide working with firefighters without borders the ministry of community safety and correctional services identified about 270 coats 282 pants 46 boots and 42 helmets that will be donated to the Dominican Republic to help fight fires these items come from the ministry of community safety and correctional services fire protection services in Thunder Bay firefighters without borders Canada is in the process of shipping them to the Dominican Republic thank you for that helpful update I commend the minister and the government for their generosity and firefighters without borders Canada for all the great work they do around the world the Ontario Government's commitment to helping its neighbours around the world is admirable as is the active role Ontario plays in the global community supporting those in need here at home we appreciate the hard work of the Toronto Firefighter Services in Scarborough Guildwood stations 231 and 234 providing comfort and security to our residents so I know that this donation of firefighting equipment will help save the lives of Dominican firefighters and the people they protect Speaker, I have heard that similar donations to countries around the world it's a wonderful way to help minister have other provinces in Canada made similar donations thank you Mr. Speaker, I'm pleased to say that Ontario is not the only province to donate firefighting goods to countries in need through partnerships with firefighters without borders Canada New Brunswick has donated approximately 60 sets of firefighting gear to date British Columbia has donated 8 pallets of firefighting gear and Quebec has two departments that are also making donations we certainly recognize Mr. Speaker here in Ontario the great impact of such generosity and know that again with other provinces our impact can be even greater programs such as this exist so that surplus assets are not thrown away when others can make use of them recognizing the needs of others such as the Dominican Republic can help save lives Mr. Speaker, we are proud to help the Dominican Republic and we are grateful for our partnership with firefighters without borders Canada Thank you Mr. Speaker my question is to the minister of education the Northumberland Child Development Centre has operated in my riding for over two decades and has always had an excellent record of service and care they have built trusting relationships with the families they serve and have helped the children they work with take great strides in becoming valued members in our community these relationships are vital to the development of these individuals and jeopardizing those established relationships would be hugely detrimental to their progress Minister, would you agree with this Yes, thank you very much and one of the things that we do to help support child care and I take it that this is a related to child care question but one of the things that we do to help support special needs children in child care is to provide funding for special needs resourcing but the funding for special needs resourcing is actually managed by the local service manager because in fact money for child care flows not directly from the ministry of education to the child care operator it flows from the ministry of education to the municipal service manager and it's actually the municipal service manager that makes all decisions about which agency realize various services back to the minister this government can waste billions of dollars on gas plant scandals orange and e-health that has led to several OPP investigations but when it comes to the reallocation of funds your government has attacked our most vulnerable the NCDC's integrated funding model formally allocated $1.6 million for roughly 500 children receiving child care services in Northumberland this plan was supported by the ministry of children and youth services for years after the transfer to your ministry though the integrated model has been done away with now $1.3 million will be going to fund roughly 100 children in child care with only $167,000 left to service almost 450 remaining children since your ministry took over 90% of the funding is now servicing 20% of our most vulnerable this is liberal nomics and it's worth minister will you finally get a handle on the development services portfolio step in and reallocate the municipal education thank you very much and one of the things actually that has happened since the child care funding child care came to the ministry of education is that we actually have been working quite extensively on modernizing that file now part of that has been the transition to all of our four and five year olds being in full day kindergarten but we've also been working with our municipal service managers to modernize the whole child care sector part of that has actually been putting for the first time ever an actual funding model in place the previous to the this portfolio coming to the minister of education there actually wasn't a foreign model we now have a funding model but there has been significant transitional funding allocated to each of the service managers thank you there being no deferred votes this house stands recessed I'm in the process of dismissal I'm sorry we didn't have a chance to get a hold of it okay this afternoon thank you this house stands recessed until one p.m. this afternoon