 It is now time for question period. The leader of the masses. I just want to say off the top, this first question we've had since the untimely past of the Honourable Jim Flaherty. I think it moves us all to see so many members wearing green today in support of Jim and our first thoughts and hearts and all members of the Assembly are with the member from Whippy A. Jacks, Whippy Oshawa, Christine Elliott, and their sons, Gail and John Quinn. My question to the acting Premier. Acting Premier, we've seen taxes go up considerably under the Liberal government and we've seen a significant reduction in economic activity. We've lost jobs and our rate of growth is near the back of the pack in Canada. Do you agree that there is a correlation between tax increases and job losses? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Before addressing the leader's question on behalf of the Liberal caucus, the Government of Ontario, I too want to express our deepest condolences to the Flaherty family. In particular, of course, our colleague, the member from Whippy Oshawa. And also, I think, joined with the thousands of Canadians we saw over the weekend thanking Mr. Flaherty and indeed his family for his many, many years of public service. In terms of the question from the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. Speaker, no, I don't agree, Mr. Speaker. I think that what we have seen is a Premier and a Minister of Finance who have come forward with a plan, a plan that will be further enunciated in a budget in several weeks' time, a plan which is balanced, Mr. Speaker, which addresses the needs of more growth in this province. We've seen us rebound since the recession, Mr. Speaker, and I think we are on good course. We have a Premier who represents a safe pair of hands, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. To make sure that our province can... Thank you. Supplementary. Must be a safe tracker because he's robbing the people. That... Speaker, I guess in other words they never for rent through is correct. The only thing that's a safe bet about those hands is they're going to go back in the pockets of Ontario families and take more money out of their pockets. Look, I was disturbing to hear your answer. You seem to indicate that you think that there's no connection between increased taxes and job losses. I remind you of very basic rule of economics or common sense. You increase the price of something, you get less of it. You increase taxes, fewer products are sold, less people will create jobs in the province of Ontario. Quite frankly, the... Question? Are a textbook case of increased taxes, damaged economic activity. So I ask the deputy leader, will you now say no new tax increase or focus on job pressure instead? I actually don't care about taxes. Why do you want to increase? Thank you. You said it, please. Thank you. Acting Premier. Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Employment, Mr. Speaker. Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Employment. Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. The fact is that the combined federal, provincial, corporate, income tax rate in Ontario is lower than any U.S. state. In fact, it's lower than almost 10 percentage points by the next U.S. state. And the result is that we're creating jobs. We've created 460,000 net new jobs, all of them full-time, since the bottom of the recession. But let me talk about the leader of the official opposition and his scheme that will kill jobs and drive down wages and weaken pensions and frankly cut billions from schools and hospitals. You know, so in the right-to-work states, and this is what will happen if this individual becomes Premier, right-to-work states make the average worker makes almost $6,000 a year in the other states. And compared to the median household income in states with right-to-work, it's $6,400 less in the states. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The member from Northumberland, the member from Prince Edward Hastings. No, he didn't. I'm sorry. I tried to use just my ears. Come to work, please. Final supplementary. You know, it's, I guess, to the economic development minister now. You know, it's disturbing to hear you basically say you think taxes are too low in the province of Ontario. I think they're too high. And that's why my million jobs plan will actually lower taxes, have less debt, get energy rates under control. My plan is to create a million new middle-class jobs. The minister says that our tax rate on businesses is among the lowest in North America. But minister, you conveniently either ignore or not aware that income taxes are much higher in Ontario than the states or provinces that you mentioned. They certainly didn't bring the HST tax increase in the states that you mentioned. And let's not forget, you said that the HST tax increase would create $600,000 new jobs in the province of Ontario. Can the minister actually, well, the minister stand by that. You said you're spending the new tax on gas for your car and your hydro bill would create $600,000 jobs. Can you report back exactly how many new jobs did your HST tax create in the province of Ontario? Can you see the please? Can you see the please? Thank you. Minister? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, I think in the four or maybe five years since the HST was introduced, and that commitment was for $600 that estimate was $600,000 jobs over a 10-year period, we've already created 450,000 jobs since the bottom of the session since 2009. But let me talk, one of the things that concerns me the most, Mr. Speaker, quite frankly about the job scheme that the member opposite, the leader of the official opposition has is right to work for less. Because in those states where they have right to work, which is the direction that the member opposite wants to go in his attack on labour, the rate of workplace deaths is 36% higher in states with these laws, with these right to work laws, Mr. Speaker, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. We're not going that direction. We believe that it's a partnership between government, private sector, labour, and the representatives to continue to build jobs. We are building jobs in this province, right across the province, and we'll continue to do so. Question? Leader of the opposition? I'll go back to the Economic Development Minister. And again, I remind that your title is supposed to be creating jobs in the province of Ontario, not Michigan or Wisconsin or Indian. I don't know if you've got that quite right yet. But we had a revelation now from the minister who says that the 600,000 jobs he wanted to create through increasing the HST, that that was back in loaded, that that's to come in the last of the 10 years. So if we've lost 300,000 manufacturing jobs, we've got 600 to come. I guess it's another 900,000 jobs that you wanted to create in 2021. Minister, I remind you, I've got a million jobs planned to create jobs in the province of Ontario. Good name. They've put people to work in the province. No, not 10 years from now. I'll ask you this, too, minister, because you did campaign on this. Question? You've increased the HST. You've brought in an income tax increase. You've brought in new health tax. Leader. Before I go to the minister on both sides, even when the question is being put, I'm hearing people heckle from that side and it's hard to discipline somebody on that side when somebody's heckling their own leader. And in this case, when somebody gives the answer, I don't want to hear any heckling. Minister. Well, Mr. Speaker, I guess the leader of the official opposition didn't see the jobs created last year, last 95,000 last year. In fact, last month, 13,400 jobs were added, including... Member from Bruce Cree, all in sound, come to order. But I'll say... Member from Stormont, come to order. But I'll say, Mr. Speaker, just today, we're announcing two important investments by this government for job creation. And the member opposite is asking where. Well, in fact, they're in Tory writings, and I suspect that the conservatives that currently hold these writings, Classic Coconut in Simcoe, which is a fantastic company there are expanding their work in that important jurisdiction as well, which is, of course, a Tory writing and RBW graphics in Owen Sound. Another one creating jobs. Just today, we're making these two announcements. Member from here on Bruce, I mean... Continue to create jobs. I'll come to order. Second time. The opposition is getting his facts, but he's clearly not looking at the facts that are there for anybody to see. Supplementary. Well, you know, again, here's a major difference. The minister thinks we need to bribe businesses to stay in Ontario. I want to create an environment where they're knocking down the doors. They say it on top. I can accept that. Please withdraw. Carry on, please. So you want to give businesses money to try to get them to stay. I want actually lower taxes, get energy under control. Let's density knock down the doors. Million jobs. Plan. Now, I know that the Premier is making an announcement today that she wants to expand subways and she's going to increase taxes to pay for it. I think the last thing you want to do is to increase taxes. That's going to cause us to lose even more jobs. Question? You're at the back of the pack. We built 64 new subway stations. We didn't increase taxes because it grew the economy. Why are you going to increase taxes? Thank you. Minister. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the member opposite talks about subways built, but I talked about the subway that you didn't build. In fact, it's in my writing, the Eglinton subway in the 1990s. Subway was ready to be built and your government filled in that whole scheme, which would be his idea of what he wants to replace here. And I'm not going to talk about my words. I'm actually going to quote in the Toronto Star, Houdaq's plan is the collection of recycled ideas of dangerous policies that would kill jobs or drastically reduce wages and pensions. Or here in the Welland Trout Tribune as well, Grant LaFlesh, Houdaq's magical thinking. A member from Central North comes to order. He's just insulting to our collective intelligence. We've got Don Trump and the Globe and Mail. It's extremely unlikely to produce that many jobs. A few calculations should have made that evident, said economist Don Trump. Final supplementary. You know, I know the minister calls it magical thinking. I call my plan an ambitious turnaround plan to put people back to work in our province. It's called the Million Jobs Plan. It'll actually fire up our economy, give young people a chance to get their own home, to pay down the mortgage. And ask you again. We've heard this story now several times. I know you guys never use the words Dalton and McGinty in the same sentence anymore, even though the Premier famously campaigned on Dalton, Dalton, Dalton. But it's the same playbook. Before an election campaign, you see there'll be no increases on middle-class families. But after, you brought in the health tax. You brought in an HST tax crab. You brought in the eco tax. I could use up all the question for you with your tax increases. It hurts our economy. It hurts young people and their aspirations in the province. I believe taxes need to come down to create jobs. Why are you going to increase taxes on hard-working families again? Just say no. Thank you. Minister? Well, Mr. Speaker, of course, the Premier has already said that she's not going to increase the HST. She's not going to increase taxes for middle-income earners as well. But the Leader of the Opposition's plan would kill jobs. It would drive down wages. It would cut billions from our schools and our hospitals. And for quite frankly, at the Eglinton line that his party filled in, that hole that they filled in the 1990s, if it had to be completed, in fact, they spent $150 million, Mr. Speaker, filling in that hole. And then with the HST, the member opposite knows that he was against it until the election and then he flip-flopped and now he's in support of the HST changes that were made in this province. We're finding the progress made in creating jobs 460,000 since the recession. We're the number one destination for foreign direct investment. We have the lowest corporate provincial federal income tax rate in North America, Mr. Speaker. And so these improvements we're seeing at the unemployment rate is coming down. There's much more work to be done when we're on the right track. Thank you. New question from the Leader of the Senate Party. Thank you, Speaker. On behalf of new Democrats, I would like to begin by extending our condolences to the member for Whitby Oshawa and their children on the passing of Jim Flaherty, the husband and father that he was to that family. We also want to extend our condolences to the Conservative caucus, frankly, Mr. Speaker, who are, I'm sure, going through a difficult time in not only the loss of Mr. Flaherty but the support of their member from Whitby Oshawa. We also want to join with Canadians in noting Mr. Flaherty's many years of dedicated public service speaker as we mourn his passing. Speaker, my first question is to the Acting Premier. In the investigation into whether Liberal staff committed a criminal breach of trust, the OPP allege that the House Leaders Chief of Staff is one of many people who had their computer accessed and possibly wiped clean. Can the Minister confirm whether this is the case? Thank you, Acting Premier. Mr. Speaker, I can do nothing of the sort. This is an OPP investigation, Mr. Speaker. And I'm very happy, Mr. Speaker. I'm a very patient person to go over the facts of the situation. Several weeks ago, Mr. Speaker, a document was released through the courts which gave a glimpse of an ongoing investigation by the Ontario Provincial Police. And Mr. Speaker, the tradition of this legislature, something that was confirmed by an OPP officer who appeared in front of the Justice Committee is that politicians should stay out of OPP investigations. And Mr. Speaker, I will not be commenting on anything related to that investigation in the House or out there in a scrum with the press. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, for over two years the Minister has been tasked with stickhandling key questions about the waste of over a billion dollars from gas plant scandals and criminal investigations into the possible disappearance of information. Police believe the Minister's own Chief of Staff had her computer accessed. Now is the Minister curiously that he has never spoken with her about this. Mr. Speaker, I am not sure where she's going with this question but if we're going to start to get into drive-by smears against staffers here in the legislature because I think we all recognize the important role that's played by our staff the fact that they cannot defend themselves the fact of the matter is the Ontario Provincial Police have indicated that there is one person that is of interest in terms of this potential charge Mr. Speaker which has not been proven yet and that is the former Chief of Staff Mr. Speaker, to the former Premier if the Honourable Member wants to start to go through the list of people that they've interviewed as I've said Mr. Speaker if you look at the court document they list everyone from opposition MPPs to the local range of current and former staff and Mr. Speaker I think we should allow the Ontario Provincial Police to undertake their work Mr. Speaker, the question is actually to the Minister and it's about what the Minister did or didn't speak to his staff about it's not about the staff person specifically last week the Minister claimed not only that he knew nothing about the OPP investigation until it broke into the news he knew nothing about the investigation conducted by his own ministry Mr. Speaker now he's claiming he knows nothing about what's happening in his own office does the Minister think that that's incredible Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker again the fact that the Ontario Provincial Police was looking into the matter has been a matter of public record for quite some time Mr. Speaker there have been numerous articles that have been written in the media and statements I believe Commissioner Lewis even appeared in front of the Justice Committee the details of that that were released in a court document two weeks ago Mr. Speaker provided a glimpse into this investigation as Minister Mr. Speaker I have informed my Deputy Minister of the day that I did not want to be involved or informed as to what was going on in that OPP investigation because quite frankly Mr. Speaker that is the proper thing to do when you are a Minister and it is a proper thing to do when you are a member of this legislature Mr. Speaker allow the Ontario Provincial Police to undertake their work as the officer pointed out in committee it could even jeopardize an investigation to have a politician interfere final supplementary well Speaker it's pretty rich that the liberty it's a new question sorry it's a proper thing to do is something that they know they don't know what the proper thing to do is my question is for the acting Premier Speaker the government says they've learned their lessons frankly from the gas plant scandal but last week they confirmed that they're ready to cook up new even riskier private power deals can the acting Premier tell us how much of our hydro system the government's prepared to sell acting Premier Mr. Speaker excuse me Mr. Speaker again you know what we are talking about Mr. Speaker is a decision to cancel two gas plants that was supported by every single party in this legislature Mr. Speaker and the fact of the matter is Mr. Speaker that our efforts have been to make sure that that sort of error never happens again and our efforts have been to strengthen our power system here in the province of Ontario I commend the Minister of Energy for the good work that he's done Mr. Speaker and I commend members to look at the government's record Mr. Speaker which I would put up against the NDP's lack of a record or lack of position when it comes to energy any day of the week Member from Hamilton East Stony Creek will come to order supplementary Speaker as the acting Premier knows the PC caucus is very gung-ho on the same sort of sell-off yet here's what the Liberal Energy Minister at the time said about those plans just months ago and I quote that's just a creeping approach by the Tories we need to keep the whole asset in public hands public control working for families and businesses in the province of Ontario now is the acting Premier saying they agree with the creeping approach of the Tories or what with the Energy Minister said Minister of Training Colleges and Universities the Minister of Energy's comments today are exactly the same as they were last week and exactly the same as when the member quoted the Minister said last week to a similar question maintaining public ownership and key assets will continue to be a priority that's pretty clear Mr. Speaker of what our position is but why the NDP would be opposed to taking a look at our assets and trying to find better ways to get value is beyond me isn't that what all of us should be doing working together and trying to do that get better value for taxpayers investments and ratepayers investments why would the NDP be opposed to doing that Mr. Speaker they're so backwards in their philosophy Mr. Speaker they have no clue how to get better value for taxpayers thank you Mr. Speaker Ontario families are stuck paying some of the highest hydro bills in Canada and they don't see solutions coming from this government just the billion dollar tab for private power scandals and political games this government's made it clear they won't merge agencies to tackle bloat they won't put a hard cap on CEO salaries at twice the premier's pay they won't do anything to stop exporting electricity at discount rates and sticking people with the bill their only plan is to pull a page from the PC white papers does the acting premier think that's good enough Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker our commitment to low and middle income families has been proven through many years of hard work you look at our Ontario clean energy benefit Mr. Speaker 10% off of the energy best you look at our Ontario energy property tax credit Mr. Speaker saving a maximum over $1,000 for families across this province look at the northern Ontario energy tax credit saving families $210 a year Mr. Speaker we've been there for low and middle income families when it comes to this what they want to know is where they're going to get their power from under an NDP government Mr. Speaker they're against nuclear they're against gas they're against wind turbines they're against hydro there and against every form Mr. Speaker of energy provision in this province Mr. Speaker that's the question that ratepayers across this province ought to know where are we going to get the power from if God forbid you ever became premier thank you new question the leader my question is to the minister of government services as the minister who is constitutionally responsible for the public service I.T. department he has stood here in this place and defended a senior bureaucrat offering a super password to allegedly wipe out 24 hard drives in the premier's office and access to 24 of those computers which contains sensitive cabinet information to an outsider with no security or background check the role of the minister of government services is not to defend the alleged destruction of documents in order to avoid public scrutiny we're in the midst of a $1.1 billion gas plant scandal that saved five seats in the last election the hard drives documents and emails in question relate to that scandal to an obstructed information privacy commissioner report and an OPP investigation given the fact that the minister is the constitutionally responsible minister doesn't he think it's time that he accepts responsibility for the destruction of public security the minister of government services the minister of government services the minister of government services you know mr. Speaker I know the honorable members having some fun here playing a police officer and she's trying to she's trying to turn this chamber into some kind of law and order paper but the fact of the matter is mr. Speaker that there is an issue in front of the Ontario provincial police there is a document that went before the court mr. Speaker which outlines some allegations which outlines gives us a glimpse into where we are in terms of an investigation mr. Speaker there is nothing in that document that is that is proven mr. Speaker it is now up to the OPP to finish their work to draw conclusions and then if necessary take the next steps and mr. Speaker the advice that we receive from the OPP in front of the justice committee is that the prudent course for all of us mr. Speaker is not to play amateur detective it is to stand back mr. Speaker and allow the Ontario provincial police to undertake their work thank you supplementary mr. seems to be very fixated on law in order but from here it looks like we're watching the Sopranos because that's how they're running their government the minister has had an opportunity in internal investigation into the high level access given by David nickel to Peter faced and he didn't he had the opportunity to recover the deleted emails from servers in this billion dollar scandal and he didn't he had the opportunity to remove the rogue bureaucrat from heading up the IT department just two weeks ago and he didn't instead he stands by here day in and day out refusing to accept and acknowledge the fact he served in Dalton McGinty's cabinet holding this government to account is somehow in a front to democracy and of course he stands here expecting anyone in this province to believe that premier win is actually without repute in all of this we know speaker that question case this minister his premier and that government have been neglect negligent in protecting the public interest time and time again will he own up thank you Mr. Speaker there is absolutely nothing wrong with the opposition holding the government to account all we ask Mr. Speaker is that they use facts the fact of the matter is Mr. Speaker is there is a document that was tabled with the court Mr. Speaker in that document talks about one individual the former chief of staff to the former premier Mr. Speaker in actions that may or may not have taken under his watch have proven allegations Mr. Speaker and what we are asking is two things we are first of all asking that members stand back and allow the OPP to undertake their work and we are also asking for the opposition Mr. Speaker to deal with facts and that member of all who understands about blue draft dot com and the fact that she had to issue an apology Mr. Speaker when she didn't deal with facts should know very well the dangerous dangerous territory that she and her colleagues are getting involved with thank you new question remember from Toronto Danforth thank you speaker my question to the acting premier the acting premier claims that when he learned of an internal government investigation into the deletion of gas plant emails and wiping computers in the premier's office he didn't want to know anything about it it was also through the acting premier we learned the liberal party did an internal investigation that led to the firing of Peter Feist are there any other internal investigation being kept secret from Ontarians acting premier Mr. Speaker again I would direct members to the document that was table with the court it is now a public document Mr. Speaker where it outlines a number of activities that were undertaken by the Ontario provincial police including Mr. Speaker about the cooperation that it received from the ministry of government services as I stated in the legislature it was last week Mr. Speaker I was approached in a general way by my deputy minister who said that it was now a matter of public record at that point that the OPP was looking into this matter and that they had had some contact with my ministry did I want to know any details of it Mr. Speaker and I said that that would not be the prudent course Mr. Speaker that I would allow the OPP to take their work and I did not want to be briefed on it Mr. Speaker I give the same message to the member Toronto Danforth let us allow the OPP to undertake their work Thank you supplementary Well Speaker as is clear I was not asking about the OPP investigation but the liberal investigation the government has told Ontario that the Liberal Party conducted an internal investigation that led to Peter Feist being fired but they won't say what they were investigating or what they found Ontarians have learned that the ministry of government services conducted an internal forensic investigation into the wiping of the computers in the Premier's office but they are keeping the report secret is the acting Premier still going to insist that the government is open and transparent Mr. Speaker I will make no apologies by the fact that we are cooperating with the Ontario Provincial Police and the fact of the matter Mr. Speaker is I'm not sure where the NDP are going with these questions Mr. Speaker but it seems to me that the member from Toronto Danforth is asking us to interfere into an OPP investigation the fact is Mr. Speaker I'm getting a little bit trouble by the fact that we have the progressive Conservatives on the one hand telling us that we're not doing enough and on the other hand we have the NDP who are asking us that we're saying that too much is being done Mr. Speaker let us allow the Ontario Provincial Police to undertake their work Mr. Speaker that process and allow them to reach their own conclusions Thank you Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker my question is to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Last week I along with my colleagues from Vaughan Scarborough Asian Court and Mississauga East Cooksville were at the Standing Committee for Finance and Economic Affairs where we heard public deputations on Bill 20 we heard opinions and complaints and the role it plays in land use planning and we heard from city councillors in Toronto such as Adam Vaughan and Kristen Wong-Tam who suggested Toronto is constantly at the Ontario Municipal Board fighting against development plans for important planning decisions Speaker through you to the Minister can the Minister explain to this House whether the government believes that Bill 20 will adequately address these concerns Thank you Minister of Municipal Affairs Mr. Speaker thank you very much I want to thank the member for the question I also want to thank the members of our Toronto caucus who in my short time in this ministry have come to me with their interest in this particular issue Speaker there has been suggestion that developers always win and that Toronto is always in front of the OMB but the chief planner for the City of Toronto Jennifer Kiesmet doesn't agree she has said a couple of things that I think are worth noting one she doesn't agree that there are always there contrary to what some might believe the city is not beholden to the OMB she also goes on to say the following Speaker that only 4% of applications even end up at the OMB with the city winning about 50% of the appeals that do go to the OMB we do know Speaker that at some point not all decisions that are made at the council level would necessarily be viewed as good planning and we on this side of the House do in fact believe that we need some appeal mechanism the truth is on Bill 20 it does not force or legislate if it were to pass the appeals mechanism we believe one is necessary and I can speak more to that in the supplementary Thank you Speaker and thank you Minister I'm glad that our government will shortly be introducing changes to the land use planning system that would strengthen community involvement but I know many of my constituents work in our construction and building industries and they are worried about the proposed changes in this bill they're worried that these proposed changes could put their jobs on the line and the community groups are worried what removing the Ontario Municipal Board will mean for their communities in fact Kent McKeskell the President of the Friends of the Glen Davis Revene from the riding of beaches east York has said without some sort of intermediary between residents and developers it would be the Wild Wild West I know that many local groups are concerned about having their voices heard Speaker through you to the Minister will the Minister please explain what would happen if Bill 20 was to stop the law? Exactly Thank you Minister I do want to start by saying that in relatively short order we will be coming forward with a package of reforms on land use planning and OMB reform more specifically hopefully in the not too distant future based primarily upon the work that was done by former minister Linda Jeffery and I want to thank her for her efforts in that regard Fundamentally the problem is that there is no transition period and by default it will be transferring people's concerns from the OMB to the courts we don't understand in this side of the house how in any way that makes access to land use reform planning appeal systems any better for anybody the other part that's a problem should that bill pass there is no transition period immediately upon its passage should that have happened OMB would be gone there would be no transition period anything done transferring people to the court system is not a good way to deal with land use I don't know any judges for the planner Thank you Thank you Mr. Speaker we've been asking you specific questions about the deletion of emails in the premier's office we've asked you what you knew about the email destruction and when in response you repeat the same talking points about cooperating with the police investigation and then you've brought in new rules attention the archives and record keeping act was passed in 2006 so in other words it was in place in 2011 when liberal staff in the premier's office were routinely deleting their records at the end of the day if liberals followed the rules that were in place in 2011 we wouldn't be having this discussion here today so tell me acting premier what good is bringing in new rules and procedures when it's the same liberal thank you I think the member from Renfrew Nipissing Pembroke second time actually third but I'll give you a pass Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker through you I ask the honourable members since when is cooperating with the Ontario provincial police and not interfering in an investigation Mr. Speaker talking points is this Mr. Speaker is this Mr. Speaker what Ontarians can expect from the opposition should they ever form government Mr. Speaker that they will freely interfere in an OPP investigation Mr. Speaker this is serious business as to the second part of the question Mr. Speaker we are all aware of the report that came out from the information and privacy commissioner and we should also be all aware Mr. Speaker that we took non-legislative measures to ensure that we were complying Mr. Speaker with the act that she cited and at the same time we have legislation before this legislature which would in fact strengthen that legislation thank you supplementary Mr. Speaker they're the government that put the rule in in 2006 you didn't follow your government and the OPP you're the party that's being investigated by the OPP effort to find the guilty parties and bring them to justice but you didn't do that you've been claiming a conspiracy of silence has existed in your office since the day McGinty handed the keys to Kathleen Winn but the justice committee has established repeatedly that high level senior liberal staffers knew that gas plant information on hard drives was illegally erased either this premier didn't know her and her staff deliberately misled her or she knew and hasn't been up front with the people of Ontario when can the hardworking people of Ontario finally come clean about what you knew and stop making a mockery out of the office of the premier I was like one of Alex's questions on this side of the house we're not prepared to make a mockery of an Ontario provincial police investigation the fact of the matter is Mr. Speaker we allow the police to undertake their work but let me quote Mr. Speaker from the information and privacy commissioner Dr. Ann Kovukian about the election that's been taken by our government August 21st Mr. Speaker she had this to say about the premier she has been fully cooperative with me in my office in fairness to premier Winn she said you have my full cooperation whatever you want from us July 26th I think on a go forward basis the government really is looking to change things the government is dedicated to opening up access to government data on June 13th of last year I have commended premier Kathleen Winn's government's approach to this issue referencing the staff training program she instituted and the memo circulated by her chief of staff June 25th, 2013 I'm pleased now to report that the new government has acted proactively to address the recommendations made in my report Mr. Speaker we have taken the necessary steps thank you new question to member from Trinity East but I Mr. Speaker to the acting premier Ontario's one transit that works but they look back on the liberal and can only see years of waste delay and mismanagement Presto costs have soared by four hundred and fifty million dollars the government wants to run dirty diesel trains through our neighborhoods instead of clean electric trains come to order that's not helpful when I'm trying to get attention for your member along with the minister of Aboriginal always likes to inject finish please Metrolinx and the minister of transportation have cancelled more transit projects than they have completed putting short term politics ahead of the public interest Scarborough transit plans are in chaos how can the government expect the government to trust it with more money for transit when it has mismanaged this important file so badly Dr. Premier minister of training colleges and universities Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker we're the only party in this legislature that's been there for transit from day one nineteen billion dollars into transit I can almost guarantee you every one of those dollars you and your party opposed Mr. Speaker what in the NDP scoffs at our multi-billion dollar investments what we need to do is ask what are you going to build Mr. Speaker when are you going to build it and how are you going to fund it because over the last ten years you said nothing about any of those things with regard to building strong public transit in the GTA and across this country good supplementary four years ago the current premier caught four billion in transit funding saying and I quote her we need to slow down the cash flow it was the current premier who helped kill transit city because she and the former carry on please it was the current premier who helped kill transit city because she and the former premier Delta McGinty were afraid to say no to route forward and it's the current premier who's using our desperate need for transit to shift even more of Ontario's tax burden away from corporations from the Ontarians and on to every one of us and instead of dealing with these problems that government has wasted time attacking others does the government understand that it's time to stop attacking others and start fixing the problems it has created with transit thank you Mr. King college university we're not attacking others we're building transit that's what we're doing but we will attack those Mr. Speaker that we're making think about this we've put in funding Mr. Speaker to build the York line the NDP opposed that funding Mr. Speaker the air rank line the NDP are opposing that we're finally building a subway to the Scarborough city center after people like from Scarborough have been looking for that for 30 years who's standing in the way of that Mr. Speaker the NDP we're going to build transit we're going to keep on building transit we're going to fund it unlike the NDP who have no plan whatsoever we're going to get it done this premier is going to get it done and I'm looking forward to the budget because that's going to elaborate on that even further thank you Mr. Speaker my questions for the minister of citizenship and immigration newcomers from across around the world choose Ontario more specifically my riding of Scarborough agent corp to some of the best public education in the world also some of the best opportunity to build career and culture that promotes economic and social values of diversity our government recognize that when newcomers in Scarborough agent corp arrive they will benefit from classes English or French language classes specifically specialized language training programs help newcomers learn a language specific to their occupation it's employable when newcomers are successful in entering Ontario labour force it benefits all of us can he please share with us how the ministry facilitated the delivery of these ESL services to add on newcomers across Ontario Minister of citizenship and immigration thank you I'd like to thank the member for the important question Mr. Speaker all 72 school boards are eligible to deliver adult English and French language programs here in our province adult ESL and FSL funding is provided to Ontario school boards based on enrollment numbers and demand in the area and our government has invested $67 million this year so 120,000 learners can learn in our schools participants can learn and improve their English and French classes at their personal levels from beginners to advanced levels as well participants enroll in language training with a wide variety of goals in mind including improving their language skills for daily life for the labour market and to pursue higher education Mr. Speaker providing accessible publicly funded adult ESL and FSL courses as part of our government's commitment to improve the lives of newcomers because we know when newcomers succeed Ontario succeeds supplementary thank you minister for that information on the government's commitment to adult ESL education attaining Canadian citizenship highest honour for many of the Ontario's newcomers I encourage everyone to attend the Canadian citizenship ceremony in their life to fully appreciate how important citizenship is to a newcomer as an immigrant Mr. Speaker I know becoming a citizen is a privilege and one that many newcomers consider one of their ultimate goals upon arriving to this country recently I learned that the citizenship and immigration Canada ESL language training certificates as a proof of language proficiency in citizenship application Mr. Speaker, through you to the minister can he please tell us what this means for Ontario's newcomers what role our government has brought in in this initiative forward Thank you Mr. Speaker and again I'd like to thank the member for the question we've been working with the federal government in a collaborative way to make sure that we can get certificates, our certificates here are recognized when people apply for their citizenship here in the province of Ontario until now only those who are linked programs received a certificate demonstrating their language proficiency for citizenship purposes we're pleased to see that the federal government has finally listened to the province of Ontario and they'll allow for people who earn their certificates to our courses here in the province of Ontario when they apply for their citizenship this is a huge step for Ontario and it's great for our newcomers in the province of Ontario Mr. Speaker because we want our newcomers to be successful thank you so much New question? The morning speaker my question is for the minister of government services we have said all along that the deletion, destruction and denials would be a bigger scandal than the 1.1 billion gas plant cancellation it goes to expose the very DNA of the liberal party you went to great pains to block us from getting any evidence from ever coming forward you deliver some documents we fought for more you deleted emails, we got them restored you destroyed emails we brought in the OPP you've gone to great lengths to stop us from ever getting to the truth and now we know why we learn of the widespread destruction of documents in the very office of the liberal premier you stand there you've got lots of notes to us minister why not read us a note in those deleted emails minister of government services not surprisingly I disagree entirely with the characterization that's been put forth by the opposition critic the fact of the matter is under this premier's watch we brought in the justice committee we gave it extraordinary powers and if he wants to hear some of the stats we've provided 311,325 pages to the committee we've responded to 35 motions the committee has heard from 77 witnesses and had 117 hours of testimony Mr. Speaker there has been one gap in terms of the committee's hearings and that is when we ask the progressive conservative candidates to come forward from that area to talk about why they made commitment Mr. Speaker the fact of the matter is that the conservatives blocked them and would not Mr. Speaker encourage them to come forward so we are still Mr. Speaker anxious to hear from them from their analysis and their policy work Mr. Government Services delete, destroy, deny that's your new motto you had a chance to come clean with Ontarians and you chose to delete documents you had a chance to come clean with the gas plant scandal committee you destroyed emails you had a chance to come clean with the OPP you deny any knowledge these emails didn't just delete themselves they didn't just destroy themselves and now you sit there and deny any knowledge you spent 1.1 billion dollars to save liberal seats and you simply laugh it off well Ontarians aren't laughing they have the same question I have what else is it that you're hiding deny Mr. Speaker this was the party whose leader of the opposition went on YouTube and said the only way to get rid of the gas plant in Mrs. Saga was for him to become premier this was the party whose candidates went out and sent out robo calls and tweets and press releases saying the only way to get rid of these gas plants was to elect a progressive conservative government Mr. Speaker I have a wonderful member to the document that was tabled with the court by the OPP which states Mr. Speaker that despite the fact the progressive conservatives and new democrats made the exact same promise they actually criticised our government for going through with it as I have said many times Mr. Speaker it was a promise they made a promise we catch the member from Bramley Gore-Malton thank you very much Mr. Speaker my question is to the acting premier The Premier has stuck by her claim that she knew nothing about the allegations of computer wiping that took place between February 6th and March 20th, 2013. But after becoming the leader of the Liberal Party, the Premier enlisted the aid of an entire transition team. Will the acting Premier tell Ontarians when the transition team learned that the widespread deletion of emails and wiping of computers occurred in the Premier's office? Mr. Speaker, I think I'm tasked with the job of being acting Premier because I'm very patient person, Mr. Speaker. And I'm very, very happy, Mr. Speaker, to outline the situation that we find ourselves. In two weeks ago, Mr. Speaker, a document was made public by the courts. It was a document produced by the Ontario Provincial Police, which gives us glimpses into an ongoing investigation by the Ontario Provincial Police. Mr. Speaker, as we have been cautioned by OPP representatives of the Justice Committee, the best thing for politicians to do with an OPP investigation is to stand back, Mr. Speaker, and to allow them to do their work, to not comment on it, Mr. Speaker, to not try to play amateur detective, to not try, as I said earlier, to turn this place into law and order paper, Mr. Speaker, but allow the police to undertake their work. That is what we are doing on this side of the House, and I would encourage the honourable member to follow suit. Thank you. Supplementary. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I'm going to remind the acting Premier that my question did not involve the OPP whatsoever. It's about this government's investigation and what this government knew. The Premier has insisted that the current Liberal staffers whose computers were wiped have never spoken about this, including the three who worked in the Premier's office, a claim that a lot of people find pretty hard to believe. Will the acting Premier tell Ontarians when senior Premier's office staff learned that current staffers in their office had their computers wiped? Mr. Speaker, my patience knows no bounds. I will go back to the beginning, Mr. Speaker. The fact of the matter is, Mr. Speaker, it has been a matter of public record, I believe, since roughly last June, Mr. Speaker, that the Ontario Provincial Police have been looking into this issue in a broad way. That is what has been a matter of public record. We've even had Commissioner Lewis appear in front of the Justice Committee. About two weeks ago, Mr. Speaker, we learned several things, Mr. Speaker. We got a glimpse into the OPP investigation. We found out that it was ongoing, meaning politicians should not be commenting on it or speculating on it. We also learned, Mr. Speaker, that it was focused on one individual, the former chief of staff, to the former Premier. None of the allegations have been proven, Mr. Speaker. We are talking about a very serious situation. We have people's reputations on the line. Let us allow the Ontario Provincial Police to undertake their work. Can I have a question, a member from the Republican Party? Merci, Monsieur le Président. Ma question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Training in Colleges and Universities. The Tobacco North know well. Post-secondary education is crucial to a prosperous economic future. Many of the families that I speak with tell me that their children in high school are faced with tough decisions upon graduation. Students at the end of their high school careers, for example, must decide to attend either college or university. Some students worry that if they attend a college but later decide to attend university, transferring credits can be difficult. I also know that students face transfer credit challenges even when they move within the same university system to different divisions. And I use this opportunity, Minister, to once again welcome the 55 future doctors, medical students from all across Ontario, of the Ontario Medical Association. My question is this. Can the Minister please inform this Chamber what are we as a government doing to assist these students? Thank you, Minister of Training in Colleges and Universities. That is an excellent question. It's an important one, Mr. Speaker, for students across this province. How many of us in this legislature actually ended up going into the profession that we started out in our first year of college or university? Very few, Mr. Speaker. Students do change their minds, and there's fast-changing economy that we have. Students are often forced to change their minds to be able to adjust to the changes in the economy. So, Mr. Speaker, I'm really pleased that in January we announced the creation of a new course-to-course online guide and interactive database that lets students see how their credits are recognized at other institutions in order for them to be able to make informed decisions about the future of their education. Students can access this database through ontransfer.ca, a website designed to give more student flexibility and give them more choice in post-secondary studies. Mr. Speaker, this is going to be really helpful to students across this province. It moves us from a province, that was, I would say, in the middle of the road to once now a leader. That's a leader in credit transfers. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Secretary. Thank you, Minister. I appreciate the update. I believe that the steps, of course, are important and that we must ease transfer movements within the post-secondary system, particularly within the same university system. But as you've rightly cited, with an ever-changing global environment, business climate, and market economy, students must be empowered and be enabled to change their career paths should they choose. Speaker, as you'll appreciate, more and more of that educational access occurs on web-based learning platforms. Yet students also face barriers when trying to learn online. Many institutions across the province do not, in fact, recognize the courses that are available online, making it often difficult for students with unique circumstances to complete their degrees. So I ask you, Speaker, through you to the Minister, can the Minister please explain what steps are being taken to bring parity between classroom and online learning experiences? Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Minister. So another excellent question, Mr. Speaker. The fact of the matter is, Ontario is a leader. Some of our institutions are global leaders when it comes to online learning. But, Mr. Speaker, not all of them are. So some students in this province don't have access to the globally competitive quality online learning that they need to have access to. That's why, Mr. Speaker, in January we announced Ontario Online, an online center of excellence designed to enhance learning experience and provide greater access to our students for online learning experiences. Mr. Speaker, Ontario Online will offer students the flexibility to learn wherever and whenever it works best for them. High-quality learning experiences from new courses that use only the best online learning technology and world-class instruction, because that's what our students deserve. This will provide comprehensive 24-7 online supports. Mr. Speaker, we've moved again from a province that was a leader, but not the leader in North America, to a province that I believe soon will be the leader in online learning. Thank you. Thank you. And a question for you, Mr. Grenville. Thanks very much, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities. I'm proud of how Eastern Ontario has rallied since the University of Guelph announced it was shutting down the Kemple campus. Our community has made very positive steps already to ensure that agricultural and technological education continues in Kemple. But from the start, I've said it's critical to have an intake of new ag students in September. Here, here. Yesterday on Provincial Wide Radio, the Premier said, and I quote, I am hopeful that Brad and I will have an announcement soon. As well, a good solid statement about getting a first-year class in for the fall 2014 semester. Unquote. Minister, students are making those important decisions right now regarding education in the fall. Can you confirm today that a first-year class will be attending Kemple campus in September, and when are you going to tell us how this will all work? Thank you. Minister? I want to thank the member opposite and the member from Glen Gary Prescott, Russell, who I know have been working very hard and very closely with us on this issue, both of them have. Absolutely. Mr. Speaker, and I know the local community, I threw a number of different individuals from the mayor to the group that's been set up to try to find local solutions to help, have been doing a magnificent job as well. Mr. Speaker, the Premier has given me my marching orders on this, and that's to ensure we find a solution, and the members got his finger on a very important part of that solution, and that's ensuring, Mr. Speaker, that the September cohort proceeds so that students in Eastern Ontario and others that want to access Kemple campus, Mr. Speaker, have that opportunity. So we're working very hard with our post-secondary partners, and I hope that very soon we'll have some good news, but we're not quite there yet. We're working hard at it, and I'll let the member know as soon as there's something more to be said. Thank you. Back to the minister, Mr. Speaker. The other critical factor in continuing the 97-year tradition of agriculture excellence at Kemple is maintaining the assets. I was pleased the dairy farmers of Ontario responded positively to requests from myself and others to defer any decisions about moving the quota allotted to the Dairy Education and Innovation Centre. Dairy is a $1.6 billion industry that sustains over 20,000 jobs in Eastern Ontario, so it's obvious that we have to maintain that program in our region. But quota is only part of what makes that dairy program operate. We need the equipment and the herd too. Minister DFO has stepped up. What is your ministry doing to ensure the other assets, including those our community raised funds to purchase? Stay right in. Thank you. Minister. Speaker, I and the member from Glengarry Press, Scott Russell, and the member from Leeds Grenfell and the mayor of Kemple, among others, had the opportunity to tour the Kemple campus a number of weeks ago, and I got to tell you, I was impressed. I believe it's 800 acres of land there, Mr. Speaker. I believe there's about 70 buildings there. Some are in good shape, some are not so good shape. I think this is a gem of an asset that has incredible potential. Mr. Speaker, we've got to work on the short-term solution, as the member said, to ensure that as of September there's a cohort of students that can gain access to post-secondary education at that location, and that's what we're working towards on the short-term. On the long-term, Mr. Speaker, there's plenty of work to be done with the local community, with the Ontario Federation of Agriculture, with dairy farmers and others, as well as the local members, Mr. Speaker, to develop a vision for a long-term sustainability of that campus. That's what we're out to do, Mr. Speaker, and I thank the member for the question. Thank you. Let's get the member from Northumberland under control. New question. The member from Timmons James Bay. We know that the questions to the Deputy Premier, we know that the Ontario Energy Board approved an application to Union Gas for a 28% increase. Can you tell me why your government is standing on the sidelines while the OAB rubber stamps these huge rate increases? Thank you. Minister of Training Colleges and Universities, Mr. Speaker. Minister of Training Colleges and Universities. Good morning, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it's an important question. At the same time, one would think the NDP would understand the role of the Ontario Energy Board, Mr. Speaker. Their role, Mr. Speaker, is to receive input in terms of applications to whether to increase or decrease natural gas. And the member knows, Mr. Speaker, over the last 10 years, we've seen natural gas decreasing on a steady basis. Of late, Mr. Speaker, do many would say because of the weather there has been a spike in the Ontario Energy Board is doing the work that they do, Mr. Speaker. They're independent of the government. They're independent of this legislature. One would think the member would not want us to interfere in this independent hearing, Mr. Speaker. And certainly it's not our intention to interfere. As much as we do recognize the challenges that rate payers and users are facing. Supplementary. Minister, if you're not going to stand up for the average person who can't afford these rate increases, who else? That's my question. The reality is that we see coming down the pipe a 44% increase on hydro cost as a result of what it is that you guys have put forward. And now we see union gas and others coming to you and saying we need to have a rating increase. What people back home are saying, if this is all about what happened this winter, why is this rate, this rating increase permanent? People cannot afford to pay and they expect to see their government being there to assist them and not to stand on the sidelines. So I say again, will you take action as the minister and stand with the people of Ontario and not necessarily just those gas companies? Thank you, minister. It must be nice to have the magic wand that the NDP have to control the costs of natural gas in the continent of North America. That's not something that is within our control or yours. We have stepped up, Mr. Speaker, when it comes to being sensitive to energy costs for families. The member scoffs, but he scoffs because he didn't support this, Mr. Speaker. Our Ontario Clean Energy Benefit brought down costs by 10% for rate payers, Mr. Speaker. Our Ontario Energy and Property Tax Credit, saving individuals $963 a year. Mr. Speaker, we understand that times are tough. We understand that a spike in energy costs when it comes to natural gas is challenging, Mr. Speaker. At the same time, Mr. Speaker, we have to let the Ontario Energy Board do their work. They're an independent house like the AGC of the government, Mr. Speaker. And that needs to be respected. Absolutely. Thank you. There being no deferred votes, this House stands recessed until 1 PM this afternoon.