 It is now time for Question Period, the leader of the Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Thank you. My question is for the Premier. Premier, your government spent over $250 million of taxpayers' money on the Social Assistance Management System, or SAMS. The system was supposed to improve the delivery of social assistance for recipients of Ontario Works and the Ontario Disability Support Program. The Minister of Community and Social Services, in fact, said during a November 4, 2014 meeting of the Estimates Committee that she felt fairly confident that the new system will have a pretty seamless rollout. Premier, we don't need another e-health. So will your government recall the Estimates Committee so we can hear directly from witnesses and frontline workers to get to the bottom and to help you get out of this another liberal scandal? I appreciate the question from the member opposite. I want to step back and say that the reason that this new system is being implemented, Mr Speaker, is that there was an outdated computer system in place. This new system is designed ultimately to allow for better service to clients, Mr Speaker, to make sure that frontline workers will be able to spend more time with clients. That clients will have 24-hour a day, 7-day a week access to online information and more information about their cases. The reality is that there was a glitch. I understand that. There are 500,000 checks that go out every month, Mr Speaker. There was a problem with a portion of those. My understanding is that less than 1% now, a little over 100 checks still need to be dealt with, but that 99% of the error has been correct. Before we get going, I'm going to ask for the stop of the injections into this conversation. Supplementary. The Premier and Premier, the government continues to demonstrate an inability to manage Ontario's best interests. Your minister signed off on this expensive new system, a $250 million system that was flawed from the beginning and you were forewarned. A letter written by Opsu President Jackie Thomas in July to your minister, responsible, stated, quote, unless improvements are made to SAMS, the launch in late fall will be rife with problems, delays and poor service. Premier Ontario's most vulnerable rely on these payments. I don't believe you and I don't think anyone believes that 99% of the problems is fixed at this point. So what is your government going to do to make sure these people aren't left behind and that they have their money for Christmas? And I would welcome Smokey Thomas to the legislature today. He's here and I'm sure that he shares with me a desire to make sure that clients of the system get the very best service possible. The system that was in place was outdated, Mr. Speaker. There was an overpayment error. It was caught immediately, Mr. Speaker. Within 24 hours, about 99% of the payments were stopped or they were retracted immediately. There's about 1%, a little over 100 situations that still need to be dealt with, Mr. Speaker. But I'm sure the leader of the opposition is not saying that there should never be change. I'm sure he's not saying that we should never update a system and make sure that case workers would have more time with clients. Because that is what we are doing. We are in the business of improving service to the people of Ontario, Mr. Speaker, making sure that people get better service. And along the way, when there is a situation like this, we act quickly to rectify it. And that is what has happened in this situation, Mr. Speaker. Final supplementary? Yes. Premier, you only acted after the fact. Mr. Thomas warned you back in July, the president of the opposition. He told you his members were telling him that there would be major problems with the rollout. He was exactly right. So why didn't you heed his warnings? Why did you buy an expensive program that doesn't appear to work from the get-go? And why are you moving forward defending this when it's just going to turn out to be another liberal scandal? How much is this liberal scandal going to cost us? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'm pleased to have the opportunity to set the record straight on the error that occurred last week. I think it's worth knowing that SAMS is a technology that uses the Curem case management software, the same platform that is used in many jurisdictions globally, now owned by IBM. We have a contract with them to assist us through the transition of going live with SAMS. As the premier has stated, clearly this is a new system that is replacing a totally outdated computer system. It will bring our services into the 21st century. We have spent the last many months training the users on SAMS. Both some 11,000 users, both in municipal, O.W. offices as well as ODSP offices. Extremely extensive training. We thank the workers for all their hard work, but clearly the opposition is trying to make a mountain of very small molehill. Thank you. New question leader of the opposition. It's also for the premier. Premier, last week your health minister bowed to public outrage and provided the Erie St. Clair Community Care Access Center with an additional $1 million towards their deficit. Premier, there are 14 CCACs in Ontario. Throughout the province, CCACs are being forced to claw back health care services because of budgetary pressures. Earlier this year, my colleague, the member for Dufferin Caledon, brought to your attention the fact that the Central West CCAC would have to cut the number of new patients it could accept. That is, despite the fact that since 2010, the amount of patients needing the CCAC services has nearly doubled. Premier, is your health minister going to provide new funding for all CCACs? Well, Mr. Speaker, and I know that the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care will want to speak to this in the supplementary, but the fact is we're investing more than $4.3 billion in the community sector, Mr. Speaker, and we've increased that funding by $270 million this year, Mr. Speaker, in 2014-15. So we continue to invest more in the community sector, Mr. Speaker, and as I have said many times in this House, we are in a transition. There is no doubt about that. We are changing the way we deliver health services in Ontario. People want care in their homes, they want care in the community, and we are moving to a system that provides much more of that care in the community, Mr. Speaker. But we have to continue to work with the CCACs, work with the community or agencies, Mr. Speaker, to make sure that people get the care that they need when they need it. To that end, we continue to invest and increase funding to that sector. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Premier of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, QP, says there's been a 33% spike in the demand for home care. We can expect this trend to continue as our population ages. QP says the Southwest Community Care Access Centre, and the NDP obviously think this is funny, which increases patients in a large geographical area from London to Grey Bruce, is resorting to cutting care for some ill patients denying care to others altogether. Premier, do you believe the $250 million you squandered on the failed SAMS computer system could have been better used to help people who need care through our CCACs? Mr. Speaker, Mr. Health. Mr. Health, the long-term care. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the question. Mr. Speaker, we're investing $1.4 billion this year in home and community care across the province. That's an increase of more than $250 million from last year, but I want to talk about what we're particularly proud of. We've got a team that's being led right now by Gail Donner, and those in the home and community sector see this woman for the experience that she's gotten, the leadership that she's providing to help us look at our home and community sector as we continue to transform as a province and transform our healthcare system. We've been focusing, Mr. Speaker, with everyone in this legislature knows over the past several years on our acute care facilities. Now we're beginning to turn our attention in a very substantive way to home and community care. We know there are improvements that need to be made. We know that we need to make sure that we're providing the highest quality of care to people where they need it as close to home as possible. We're working on that, and with Gail Donner's leadership, I expect to report back in January. I'm sure that we're going to have solid recommendations to help us get back into the future. Thank you. Final supplementary. Premier, our CCACs have their backs against the wall. The reason they're not receiving adequate funding is because the government has dug a deep fiscal hole. Over a decade of liberal mismanagement means we're spending millions on servicing debt interest payments and waste. That money should be invested toward safeguarding frontline healthcare and providing for patients in need. Premier, your health minister even vowed to quote, personally address any issues with specific clients who say they are not getting the care they needed. And to quote, while we're hearing dozens of stories by the day, hundreds by the week. So Premier, have you asked your minister to directly report to you about these individual cases? And if so, how many house calls has a good doctor made? Minister? Well, Mr. Speaker, I'd be happy to make a few house calls if that is going to lead us down that important path of them continuing to improve our healthcare system. But I want the same thing that I did privately with the NDP last week. I want to do publicly not just with the Conservatives but with the NDP to actually implore them. If they have specific examples and I suspect if they have specific The member from Essex come to order. The member from Dufferin-Kelliden come to order. The member from Essex, second time. In fact, with my colleagues on this side of the legislature as well. It's an important part of my job. It's a responsibility as a minister of health and as a healthcare professional I take very, very seriously. So I would ask them if they are aware through their constituency offices or elsewhere, if they're aware of specific individuals whose health is being compromised because of what they perceive or a real or actual change in the support that they're providing at home in the community. I would ask them to bring those specific cases to my attention and I commit to working with them to resolve them. Thank you, Speaker. My question is for the Premier. Nearly a million people rely on social assistance to put food on the table and a roof over their head speaker. But the Liberals new software program is causing chaos for clients and staff. How could the Premier sign off on a quarter billion dollar lemon, frankly, having been warned in advance that it could turn into a nightmare for our province's most vulnerable speaker? Thank you, Premier. Well, Mr. Speaker, and I will answer this question again. The fact is there was an outdated system in place that needed to be upgraded, Mr. Speaker. We needed to improve the service to the people of the province who rely on social assistance. And we needed to have in place a system that was going to allow front line workers to have more time with their clients, case workers having more time with their clients. So that's what this system is about, Mr. Speaker. 500,000 checks go out every month. There was an error earlier in the month, Mr. Speaker, earlier this week. It was immediately caught. Within 24 hours, 99% of the payments were stopped or they were retracted, Mr. Speaker. Ministry officials are working to make sure that that final 1% of the cases gets dealt with. Thank you, supplementary. Speaker, folks on social assistance trust the government to get things right, but the Liberals rolled out a program full of bugs causing a 20 million dollar glitch. Payments are being lost, checks are being delayed, people are suffering and staff are at their wits, Mr. Speaker. Can the Premier tell me how many Ontarians faced empty checks this past weekend and what the government did to help them? The first question that I asked at my staff this morning was whether people who were relying on these checks did get their money. And my understanding is that they did, that there are still about 100 or so checks that need to be rectified. Not that people didn't get checks, but that the amounts need to be clarified, Mr. Speaker. So to my understanding, to the best of my ability, I asked this question and my understanding people did get their money and there were about 1% of the situations where there still needs to be some change, Mr. Speaker. But the fact is the ministry acted immediately and 99% of the cases were dealt with and all of that, Mr. Speaker, speaks to how important it is obviously that we be vigilant, but it does not suggest that there should never be change. It does not suggest that we shouldn't update systems. It does not suggest that we shouldn't put in place a system that allows case workers to spend more time with their clients. The Liberals Quarter billion dollar app is full of bugs and it's causing havoc for people on social assistance. The most vulnerable people deserve better than trial and error, Speaker. They deserve a social assistance program that actually works for them. How can the Premier allow the most vulnerable Ontarians to pay for the Liberals Thank you. You know those are broad sweeping generalizations that bear little or no resemblance to what's actually going on. The ministry trained 11,000 users to make sure that they knew what was required with the new system, Mr. Speaker. And in addition to that, because there was this error, there are now staff being deployed to go to offices to make sure that those final problems get worked out. So the fact is we made a change. Yeah. I am very, very clear, Mr. Speaker, that it was necessary to make a change to put a better system in place. And when there was an error, there was an immediate reaction and there continues to be a reaction, Mr. Speaker, that gives support to those frontline workers to make sure that people have the money that they need. And that, you know, that was my concern this morning was to make sure that people who were counting on those checks got them and that has happened, Mr. Speaker. My next question is also for the Premier. Will the Premier tell the parents of children in youth detention centres, mental health facilities, schools for the severely disabled, some of the most vulnerable kids in Ontario why she's preventing the child advocate from protecting the rights of their children? So Mr. Speaker, what I would say to the leader of the third party and to all of those people who are paying very close attention to advocacy and accountability in this province is that we are expanding the authority of the child advocate, Mr. Speaker. We are increasing the powers and in fact the measures that are contained in Bill 8 were ones that the child advocate was very positive about when we first brought them in, Mr. Speaker. My understanding is that the current requests are things that go beyond the mandate of the child advocate, but we've expanded the authority of the child advocate and we have done that in the bill, Mr. Speaker, and as that bill works through the legislature the child advocate will have more authority, not less authority, Mr. Speaker, and that is as it should be. Premier seems more interested in talking about accountability than she does about doing anything about it. Experts call Bill 8 troubling. Experts, Speaker, are calling Bill 8 troubling. They say it falls seriously short. Experts like the child advocate, Patience Canada and the Ontario Association of Children's Aid Society have some serious concerns about the gaps that are currently existing in Bill 8. So why isn't the Premier interested in what the experts have to say on transparency and accountability, Speaker? I'm sure of Children's Aid Services is going to want to comment on the final supplementary, but we have worked with many experts, Mr. Speaker, including the experts that the leader of the third party is talking about. We actively consulted with the child advocate as we drafted Bill 8, Mr. Speaker, and we appreciate the feedback that we got from him in his office. We've accepted amendments that the advocate brought forward. We've accepted amendments to the bill that we consulted with him about, Mr. Speaker. Now, the fact is Bill 8 expands the powers of the child advocate, Mr. Speaker. The NDP voted against our plans. I understand plans to vote against our legislation, but the fact is that we are expanding the authority of the child advocate. We are increasing his powers, Mr. Speaker, and we are creating advocacy and accountability in the healthcare system that didn't exist before, Mr. Speaker. So I hope that the third party would be able to work with us on that. Well, Speaker, the liberal so-called transparency bill seems to be more about slapping a nice name on a Stephen Harper type omnibus bill than it is about increasing transparency in our province, Speaker. When something as basic as addressing aboriginal children and youth being cared for. The member from Eglinton Lawrence might himself be withdrawn. Please finish. When something as basic, Speaker, as addressing aboriginal children and youth being cared for by children's aid societies is left out, people wonder what the heck is going on. Why is the Premier shutting out the advice of people like the child advocate? Thank you, Speaker. We are definitely not shutting out the advice of the provincial advocate. We have met with the advocate Speaker a number of times and the reason we're expanding powers we're recommending expansion of his investigatory powers to children's aid society because it's a natural fit. Children don't have a natural voice. We thought it's a perfect fit for the advocate oversee children's aid societies and we know there's been a general call for that. I want to also assure the member of the third party and everybody in this house that for every other ministry program under the Ministry of Children Youth Services, the Ombudsman has investigatory power, Speaker. I mentioned last week in the house that he does have powers to investigate things like youth justice facilities. We are extending the powers for children's aid society. We feel the advocate is well positioned for that given his background and he'll do a great job in the interest of children. Thank you. Please, a new question to the member from Eglinton. The minister of education. Bill 10 will likely pass this week after limited and sparse public debate and public consultation. Given the minister's personal commitment to Bill 10 and her desire, can she provide a detailed assessment of how many child care spaces have been impacted by her plan? In other words, can she tell us how many fewer child care spaces there will be in Ontario as a result of her bill? Thank you. Yes. Actually, the good news in child care is if you look at the number of spaces that have been created over the last several years not only have we created 130,000 since 2003, if you look at each of the last several years we've created on average 18,000 a year. We have no reason to think that that's going to change. We will see any slowdown in the creation of high quality spaces for our children. So we would anticipate that in fact we'll see in the next several years over 70,000 new spaces created. In particular, if the licensed child home operators take the advantage of the opportunities we could see 6,000 more spaces just in private home child care. Supplementary. In addition, this was the same minister over a year and a half ago who told me that reopening contracts didn't cost $500 million yet the auditor last week just did tell us that. The ministry knows the range to last child care spaces will be 140,000 child care spaces as a result of what the coalition of independent child care providers suggested, up to 180,000 if we follow the ombudsman's numbers. Bill 10 is not about safety. We should be talking about hiring more inspectors if that were the case or ensuring we had stronger enforcements and regulations or creating an independent registry but we're not. Instead we're talking about eliminating spaces, changing pedagogy of Montessori and private religious schools and eliminating parental choice. So I ask the minister finally and once and for all, in the name of transparency will she tell this assembly how many child care spaces her government is going to eliminate? Thank you. I would mention some of those safety factors because speaker I'd like to tell you what the Tories proposed to do to Bill 10 with their amendments. For example, they were going to limit the scope of child care to children under 10 years of age which would have had the effect of removing subsidies from a number of very needy children. That was what they were going to do. They were despite the evidence from Yellowwood actually going to increase the number of children above and beyond what we put in Bill 10 who are allowed in private home child care center despite all the problems we've had. They were going to remove the new administrative penalties from the bill. That's what actually allows us to go in and find people and they were going to limit the protection orders where you get to actually close places down. They were going to. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the minister of finance. Mr. Speaker, this government claims to be a government based on transparency and accountability. I hope we'll see that in the answer to this question. According to the fall economic statement in early November of this year, the first annual automobile insurance transparency and accountability expert report was delivered to the minister of finance. Now the whole point of this report was to let the public know why premiums were staying so high despite the fact that we had draconian benefit cutbacks in 2010 and subsequent years that reduced the cost for insurance companies. But despite promising over a week ago and I quote this to make the public make this report public momentarily, the government has refused to release it. What's in this report that the government does not want the 8 million dollars of Ontario to know about? Thank you Mr. Speaker. Yes, last year our government took leadership in launching the auto insurance cost and reduction rate strategy. Something that I thought that member opposite would have been supportive of, given that it would have initiated the ability for us to reduce the cost of claims enabling us to reduce the cost of premiums. And we are doing so obviously now without their support. We did commission a report. A report that would have been available to us much sooner of course had we not had an unwanted election again prompted by that party. So we will continue to do our work. We'll have the report out in due course. We're reviewing it now Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, the minister of finance weeks ago said this report would be out momentarily. Where is the report? The fact is you said you would release this report momentarily and you haven't. New Democrats have long argued that the insurance company has already pocketed billions of dollars of savings but none of those savings have been passed on to drivers. That's why we called for a 15% premium cutback. We're the ones who championed this cause for the people of Ontario. We voted against a bill that stripped the right to sue from people of Ontario. They stripped the right for people to stand up to insurance companies and we probably do too. Our question though very directly to the minister of finance is why would you release this transparency report? Why are you delaying and what's in this report that you don't want people to know about? So what the people should know Mr. Speaker is the history that's gone to get to where we are now and the constant obstacles that have been that we had to deal with primarily from the third party in many circumstances. Since 2003 we introduced the auto insurance rate stabilization. In 2005 we introduced regulations to prohibit auto insurance from using certain information such as credit scoring. In 2008 we completed our first five year review of the auto insurance system. In 2010 we provided new reforms for increased consumer choices to make stabilized rates. In 2011 we created the auto insurance anti-task force. In 2012 we strengthened fiscal authority to deal with unfair practices. In 2013 we made a commitment to reduce auto insurance rates by 50%. We introduced legislation this week so that we can get this underway and it was voted against by that member, by that party Mr. Speaker. Our report is in hand. Mr. Speaker, two questions. The member from Burlington. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. I have a question for the premier. It's an international organization of the Francophonie. It's an organization that's made of five member states and also associate members. Starting as a small group of northern French speaking countries the Francophonie has since evolved into a global organization whose numerous branches cooperate with its member states in the fields of culture, science, economy, justice and peace. Speaker as a Canadian I'm proud of our rich French heritage and our participation with the Francophonie. Premier yesterday Canadians heard the news that former Governor General Miquel Jean has been chosen as Secretary General of the Francophonie. The first women and the first Canadian to lead this vital organization. Madame Premier, what is your reaction concerning that historical news? Thank you. I'm going to congratulate Madame Miquel Jean. The new Secretary General of the Organization International de Francophonie as the first woman and the first Canadian to hold this position Madame Jean is breaking down barriers. Our Francophone community is a part of our history as Ontarians and Canadians in our past and in our future. The nomination of Mrs. Jean reflects this. So we are extremely proud for our Canadian. We are going to support Mrs. Jean and we have an international Francophonie that's going to show that we'll have more women and more young people and also the North and the South will be united. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Thank you Madame Premier. It's certainly a good news. Francophonie is not just an organization for international groups. Mr. Speaker, does the Premier in a role can tell us what is the role of Francophonie on the international scale? Thank you. The International Association de Francophonie is an organization that gathers together millions of people and it has made an excellent choice and we participated actively in the recent summit and I am very proud to congratulate my compatriot Michael John for her recent election and it is an honour for Madame Jean who was a candidate in spite of the obstacles to her candidacy and she will gather together the people of the Francophonie. The position of Secretary-General of the Francophonie is this is the first time that is a woman and a Canadian who is at the head of the organization. Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Infrastructure Minister, your sheer incompetence running the Government portfolio was having deep consequences for the people of Ontario. You wasted over 400 million on a building that was supposed to be dedicated to medical research. Instead you've invested that money into a comfy glass palace for your bureaucrats rather than frontline services. Simply put that money could have been invested in just about anything else and it would have been money better spent. Minister, do you not agree that the money you've blown on Mars should have been invested into improving our essential services? Thank you. Mr. Speaker, infrastructure, we've got to get it all over. Thank you Mr. Speaker. We struggle with this every time. We might have to shorten it eventually. I think it's very clear that what the member talks about is a loan not a grant a loan that is fully secured on a property that's worth more than what's been dedicated by the province. We've put forward over 700 documents Mr. Speaker that verify and confirm that. Now what we're looking for Mr. Speaker is advice from Michael Nobrega and Carol Stevenson on what's the best best pass forward on a project Mr. Speaker that had some challenges during the recession and Mr. Speaker we're looking for more advice. I'm not sure why the member continues to try to use question period just to hurl insults at us. We should take a look at what we've done and what we're trying to do to ensure that this project moves forward on a positive way. I've heard your excuses for many months now and nobody believes you and especially your fairy tale happy ending especially not a constituent of mine Jim Buchanan Jim Buchanan was told that even though he desperately needs a knee replacement there's no money left at the hospital. The quota for knee replacements has been reached. Let me repeat that again. Well a constituent of mine is told there is no money for a needed surgery. You and your government has blown millions on a glass palace for your bureaucrats. This sadly isn't a surprise anymore just a disturbing reality and trend of your government's terrible mismanagement. Minister I would not agree that the 400 million you've blown on Mars should have been better spent providing essential access to surgeries like knee replacements for Jim Buchanan and many others. Mr. Speaker we all feel a very strong amount of support for the Minister of Health's work that he's doing to ensure that we continue to invest more and more in health care and I think the Minister would tell you if I had referred the question to him that wait times are down for knee replacements across this province. As a result Mr. Speaker the efforts we've made for the member Mr. Speaker to compare a totally repayable secured loan with somehow Mr. Speaker money that's been spent either indicates that the member doesn't understand this issue after all the time we spent. Mr. Speaker he's trying to make his constituent think something that's simply incorrect Mr. Speaker the fact is what we've invested in Phase 2 with Mars is a loan that's fully repayable, fully secured. We will move forward on a positive basis on this issue and the member ought to start working constructively with us on this instead of inaccurate things like that. New question the member from Mr. Speaker my question for the Minister of Health and long-term care the ability to communicate is very important with residents in homes for the elderly. They should be able to communicate in their own language but Francophon were not able to communicate in their language they had to call on their children to interpret for them and transfer for them and this is not the only time that there's a case of Francophon not being able to receive care in their own language. How can it be that the ministry cannot answer a call in French in 2014? The member opposite it's important when we talk about French language services in this province it's an imperative that all of us and particularly us on the government side do everything we can in a responsible way to provide those services and I'm not sure if the reference was specifically to 9-1-1 and I know Mr. Speaker that the member opposite has already made myself and the Attorney General aware of some legitimate concerns concerning translation services and the ability for a citizen of this province to converse particularly as you can imagine in 9-1-1 situation in the language of their voice we are working on solving that particular issue but there's also no doubt and we've talked, I've talked with the member opposite about other issues where we need to continue to strengthen we need to make sure that we need our responsibility and it's our responsibility that I take very seriously that we provide French language services throughout the healthcare system for the people that need it during those times. Thank you. Supplementary. Thank you very much. A few years ago when the government subcontracted a service there was an exemption from the need to provide service in French and it's happened over and over again the government said that there is no longer any exception and starting in July 2014 government health services were subject to the law on services in French but it would seem that there are still exemptions the government said to the commissioner that if there is a health service subcontracted there is no need to be in conformity with the law. This situation has been called a serious threat and this is very right why does the minister call for so little commitment from the subcontracting services and why are they exempted for the requirement to provide a French language service. Minister responsible for the affairs. Yes, the member from Nickelbelt has a very good question. Services offered by the government and subcontracted to another organization must provide service in French. This has been a gap and we're improving the situation we've modified the measures in questions and any organization offering services for the government must provide services in French and however with regard to this particular question there is a time a transition period during which the subcontractors will have to adapt to the new situation I would like to congratulate the minister of health for his work to improve a French language service. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the minister responsible for seniors affairs. Seniors are our lifeline to the past and our future. They play an active and important role in our province's communities and economy. Ontario is home to approximately 2 million people over the age of 65. Mr. Speaker, in my own writing of Halton, seniors are a thriving, active and incredibly engaged group in our community. However, as we all know, there are challenges that our seniors face as they grow old. Mr. Speaker, I recently joined the minister for an important funding announcement for province-wide elderly person centres including one in my own writing. These centres promote the safety, well-being and health of seniors in Ontario. Mr. Speaker, can the minister please tell us about EPCs and why they are an important investment for our seniors? Mr. Speaker, thank you very much and I want to thank the member from Halton for a very thoughtful question. Mr. Speaker, investing into the elderly person centres is only one of the main ways helping our seniors stay active, engaged and connected in their own community. Mr. Speaker, indeed I'm very pleased to inform you and the environmental legislature that Ontario is investing over $11.5 million supporting 265 elderly person centres located throughout our province. Mr. Speaker, this is what I call investment at work for our seniors. Investment to improve the quality of life of our seniors, to live a healthy and more meaningful and fulfilling life. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Thank you Mr. Speaker and I would like to thank the minister for his response. Mr. Speaker, I recently had the pleasure of attending a coffee house social at the local Milton Senior Centre which is receiving over $54,000 this year. Mr. Speaker, this centre is incredibly important to the well-being of seniors in Halton. Each time I visit I am delighted to see firsthand the difference elderly person centres funding is making in my community. Mr. Speaker, the Milton Senior Centre has something for everyone. There are fitness classes, computer classes, arts and crafts and so much more. Mr. Speaker, can the minister please elaborate on how funding for EPC is a key component of Ontario's Action Plan for Seniors. Thank you minister. Thank you Mr. Speaker, again I want to thank the member from Halton for the question. The EPC it's only one indeed of the major components of the Ontario Action Plan for Senior Speaker. Out of the 265 elderly person centres more than 60% are run by non-profit organisation and some 40% are run by local municipalities. Speaker, indeed I visited the centre in Milton and I have to say that you are getting $54,000 in assisting them with the programs and if you really want to see our investment for seniors that's working you have to visit this particular centre in Milton which is called the Coffee House Social. Speaker, seniors enthusiastically bursting with activities, fitness classes for every level of mobility, one-on-one computer classes, arts, crafts and music. This is what I call speaker, this is what's all about caring and investing for our seniors. I thank you Speaker there's more to come. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Earlier today my leader, the member from Simcoe shared with us how he said a quarter of a billion dollars in four years is spent with a new system that's supposed to support those most needy in our society. We also learn that this system is wrought with bugs and exploitable weaknesses. We also learn that the minister knew about the computer problems all along but ignored... Sorry, I did not get who the question was too. To the Minister of Community and Social Services, Speaker. We also learn that the minister knew about the computer problems all along but ignored staff's warning who summed up the computer situation in one simple word, chaos. In fact, not only were they ignored but in estimates on November 4th the minister and I quote said I feel fairly confident that the new system will have a pretty seamless roll out next week. Fairly confident and pretty seamless doesn't seem to equate to the reality of today Mr. Speaker. Minister, it's your word against the front line. Who is telling the truth? Thank you very much Mr. Speaker and thank you to the member for Bruce Grayo and Sound to allow me the opportunity to reiterate what the Premier said so very clearly earlier in question period. This new computer system is state of the art. It is a very large and involved system clearly. It has taken many, many months of training of many staff to get into good working order. But I want to assure the member opposite that the concerns that were raised earlier in the summer by the presidents of QP and OPSU were taken extremely seriously by officials in my ministry and that's why we accelerated some of the training that was provided. Again, some 11,000 users were trained in some 257 offices. There is no chaos whatsoever. Individuals receive the final number we'll be getting them today. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Thank you Minister State of the Art, I think Sam should sadly be another money scandal coming at us. The minister was working out glitches until the billion dollar scandal surface. The fact is your government has a track record of a sleep at the switch oversight. In the case, this specific case of oversight mistaken payments were sent to 6,000 social service recipients to a tune of at least $300,000. Minister, we want to restrike the Standing Committee on Estimates so we can recall witnesses and get to the bottom of this and we hope you'll actually adhere to this this time so we can ensure that this does not turn into another e-health boondog. Minister will you support the striking of the Standing Committee on Estimates so we can get to the truth? Let's hear from the employee. Well again to set the record straight, the new system processed both the Ontario Works and Ontario Disability Support Program monthly payments to some 570,000 individuals totally successfully. As the Premier has stated earlier there were a small number of overpayments. Those on direct deposit some 90, 85% of individuals received their payments through direct deposit. Those were changed and the correct amount deposited within 24 hours. Of the few remaining who do receive paper checks, they are being issued new checks today. We are down to contacting some 119 people as of 1030 this morning. We have coped with this very small glitch in an extremely effective way and I'd like to in fact thank all the front line workers that were so diligent. Thank you, my question is for the Premier. In Sudbury there are 30 ton mining trucks that are constantly driving along the south boulevard a main shopping street because it's the only way that the trucks can travel between the mine site and the smelter. Sudbury officials want to extend Maly Drive so that the slurry trucks don't have to mix with shoppers and resident speakers. People of Sudbury have set aside millions of dollars for this top priority project. The government has repeatedly promised to fund the project. It was right there in their budget but so far not a single dollar has flowed. Once again we have a promise but no action. So when will the provincial government actually keep its promise to the people of Sudbury and fund the project? Thank you Premier. Minister of Economic Development and Infrastructure Minister of Economic Development and Infrastructure The leader of the third party would be aware that before the election we brought forward a budget that committed to moving forward on this project. She didn't support that. She made us go through an election so we brought forward the budget again so she had a second chance to support this project Mr. Speaker and she failed to do that because in the second budget we brought forward the project was clearly identified as a government priority as we recognize it was a priority for the community of Sudbury. Now you're getting up Mr. Speaker to tell us you support the project. Thank you for your support but Mr. Speaker we've got it in hand. It's a commitment we made in the budget. It's a commitment we will fulfill and we're looking forward to moving on it as soon as we can. Well thank you Speaker. Do you all that talk and still no action? The people of Sudbury have been waiting for it to be extended. They've waited long enough Speaker. Minister of Aboriginal Affairs come to order. The Minister of the Environment and Climate Change come to order. Please finish. The people of Sudbury have set aside their share of the project money. It's time for the government to pay its share. Will this government stop playing games, stop talking a good game and actually ante up the funding for the extension of Mealy Drive in Sudbury? Thank you Mr. Mr. Speaker I guess I want to know which budget you want me to refer to. The one that you rejected and sent us to an election on or the one that we passed with our majority here in this house that you oppose. Both of them Mr. Speaker referred to Mealy Drive as a commitment of 26.7 million for the first phase of expansion for Mealy Drive. Those of the project will be moving on the project Mr. Speaker. And I'm looking forward very soon Mr. Speaker to moving on it. We are in discussions with the federal government with regard to federal funding. It could be part of that Mr. Speaker. It may not be. It all depends. We've just received information after asking since March from the federal government with regard to the details of the federal program and we expect Mr. Speaker to be able to move forward soon. Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Transportation. Often in this house we speak about transit in the GTA. I know there are many investments being made here whether it's Eglinton Crosstown, UP Express or Go Transit. The problem Mr. Speaker is that there are those who say our government is only investing in Toronto Transit. Sending that those types of key investments aren't being made in other parts of the province. In my community of Ottawa South people care very much about their transit and transportation. They rely on OC Transport to get to work, school, doctors appointments, all those things people do in their daily lives. Mr. Speaker, my community wants to know that our government is committed to investing in transit all across the province including Ottawa South. Can the Minister please tell members of this house what the government is doing to invest in transit and transportation in other parts of Ontario. Thank you Minister of Transportation. Thank you very much. I appreciate the question because of course Mr. Speaker I've heard some of the same concerns and I know that Ontarians want to know that our government is investing right across the province not just here in the GTA. Speaker as you know we have a bold $29 billion 10 year plan called Moving Ontario Forward which will invest in transit and transportation infrastructure right across the province and we've already delivered in other ways. Using the members region in particular speaker our government is investing in the Ottawa LRT. We've invested $600 million in that project. This is the single largest investment ever made to that city's public transit system from the provincial government. But we're also investing in local transit all over Ontario Speaker by providing municipalities with permanent gas tax funding to support their transit road. Speaker whether it's Moving Ontario Forward or gas tax funding we are committed to building all of Ontario up. Thank you Mr. Speaker and thank the minister for his response. It's good to know that our government is committed to making transit investments count in Ottawa. The Ottawa LRT is a great project that will help commuters get moving across the city. Mr. Speaker the minister mentioned that our government is supporting local transit systems through gas tax funding. I know that Ottawa received over 33 million in gas tax funding this year to support public transit. Mr. Speaker could the minister please discuss more about the gas tax program and how it can help those living in our communities. Thank you minister. Thanks very much Speaker. I want to thank that member again for that outstanding question. Just a number of days ago I was happy to announce the amount of gas tax funding being provided to municipalities this year to support their local transit. The member mentioned that Ottawa is receiving over 33 million in gas tax funding but I want to highlight the fact that over 321 million dollars is being provided to communities all over Ontario. This means that municipalities whether it's Ottawa, Waterloo, Windsor or Sudbury Speaker will be able to continue investing in their local transit systems. Through the 2013 budget our government made 2 cents on every liter of gas a permanent source of funding for municipalities. This funding demonstrates that our government is committed to improving public transit all over Ontario and we'll continue to work with our municipal partners to make sure that wherever they are Speaker that we continue to make those investments that matter to Ontarians. Thanks very much Speaker. Minister of Health in responding to my leader's question earlier today you said you would quote personally address any issues with specific clients who say they are not getting the care they need. Minister I have a letter from you from last week saying you cannot intervene in matters concerning the provision of CCAC home care. So which is it you can address specific issues or you can't? Well Mr Speaker the member opposite knows that I'm happy to sit down any time with any member of this legislature and speak about individual cases that if they feel that that individual is not receiving the support that they require that's part of my job it's responsibility that I take very seriously so I'm happy to if there are specific instances with the member opposite I'm more than happy to sit down with her and see what we can do now obviously Mr Speaker from time to time reassessments are made of individuals in home care sometimes those individuals require more care based on the assessment and sometimes they require a little bit less so those are some of the changes that naturally occur within a home care system that we're continuing to fund and but Mr Speaker I certainly would offer I would encourage the member opposite to sit down with me discuss particulars thank you supplementary minister then you better block off a week because I deal with the CCAC questions all the time in the constituency office and we need to know when we write you that you're actually going to do something about it CCAC is funded 100% by your ministry our constituents need to know when they need home care it will be there will you commit to review the decision by Central West CCAC to ensure their budget is being used for frontline care and when MPP's write you on behalf of our constituents you will not dismiss us out of hand well you know Mr Speaker the members on all side of this legislature know those who have come forward and worked with me in a cooperative fashion on individual cases whether it's to do with home care or any situation with regards to health care they know that I work as hard as I can constructively party politics does not get into this in any fashion Mr Speaker and so I would again encourage the member to sit down with me and talk about the particulars but the reality the truth is Mr Speaker we are investing 4 billion plus dollars in home and community care we're doing the best that we can with our local lens the lens that of course are the objects the party the official opposition would have gotten rid of in the first place and the lens with our CCACs to make sure that we're providing the care to those who need it most now we obviously as with all that we do with with government we are we have budgets but the budget for our CCACs Mr Speaker is going up as we continue to move care closer to where people live thank you new question the member from topical north my question is for the Minister of Agriculture and the Minister of Agriculture and we are going to continue to feed cities and we in the government recognize that they are an integral part of our 34 billion dollar agri-food industry but if this already important industrial sector is going to continue to grow to flourish and to compete globally more needs to be done in partnership by both government and industry in October 2013 the premier challenged Ontario's agri-food industry to double its growth rate and create more than 120,000 this challenge is an opportunity to demonstrate how this sector makes an important and essential contribution to our economy and our quality of life minister can you update this house citing your own remarks industry leaders at the premier's annual agri-food summit what is the status of the challenge thank you thanks very much Mr Speaker and I want to thank the member from our topical court for a very thoughtful question this morning just last week the premier and I had the opportunity to participate in the ninth premier's agri-food summit along with many members from outside the house our government fully supports growth investment and innovation opportunities in the province agri-food sector I just want to give you a bit of an update since the premier issued the challenge last year Ontario has created 17,000 new jobs in the agri-food sector in Ontario and increased our exports by $1 billion there is always more to do our critical path to growth requires government and industry to play a role that's why we're working with our industry partners to establish a growth measurement system to help identify opportunities for measures progress to the new growth steering committee it will bring together industry and government leaders and experts to identify opportunities to help the industry meet the growth challenge thank you supplementary minister the numbers commitment and energy all demonstrate a formidable political will speaker it's apparent that in the year since the premier's agri-food challenge was issued the agri-food sector has done remarkable things building on the success of last year the new growth steering committee will assist in driving the agri-food industry's growth and create jobs right across the province nevertheless minister many Ontarians across the province are concerned about red tape what it means for Ontario farmers and how it might potentially stand in the way of the premier's challenge this is especially so in the light of the government's recent decision around neonicotinoids I repeat neonicotinoids which are a class of neurologically active insecticides similar in chemical structure to good old nicotine minister what is our response to people who claim that government is increasing regulation at time when we are tasked with growing the agri-food industry well Mr. Speaker I really want to thank the member from Etobicoke North and its great interest in the agricultural sector in the province of Ontario and I know all of us are always very concerned about regulatory burdens and what impact I might have on Ontario farmers as you know there's many people on Ontario today that are concerned about what the challenge we faced to reduce the use of neonix which we announced last week I want to be very clear and this is what premier Quinn said at the agri-food last week it's not about some kind of agenda that would lead to more regulatory burden for Ontario's farmers we are committed to addressing the challenges of producers as we develop and implement new controls we also remain committed to work with our farmers in Ontario with our very successful open for business form to reduce red tape for agricultural sector we've had many more successes on that front and we want to achieve more addressing red tape big environmental stewards and growing the industry together Mr. Speaker very important to us Mr. Speaker my question to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister you require all affordable housing corporations in Ontario to purchase services through the Housing Services Corporation which of course is your appointed corporation the problem is that this organization funds their operating expenses including almost $6.5 million in salary by charging social service housing organizations a premium on the services such as natural gas and insurance we've heard from multiple municipalities that they would save money by purchasing directly in some cases millions of dollars that could go into affordable housing they asked you if they could opt out so why are you forcing them to give money to the Housing Corporation and not let them buy it at the best price thank you well Mr. Speaker I'm only aware of one municipality that's asked for the option to opt out and we took a serious look at that and discovered that the economies of scale for all the other municipalities would be so discouragingly hurt by that that the decision was taken not to do that we've communicated that with the municipality that made that request and that's at the moment our position unless and until we get other information that may cause us to rethink it I appreciate the member from Hamilton East Tony Creek for his activities today and the fact that he's wearing his hat I'd like to give him permission to wear it for the whole day I'll stand to recess until 1 p.m. this afternoon