 It is now time for oral questions and I recognize the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Thank you so much. Thank you so much Mr. Speaker. Our sources are telling, my first question is for the Premier this morning Speaker, our sources are telling us that momentarily the government is going to announce new limits on the number of people allowed indoors and outdoors in gatherings. In Toronto, Peel and Ottawa people will be asked to limit their indoor gatherings to 10 people. My question to the Premier is does this limit of 10 people in an indoor space include our classrooms in Ontario? Questions to the Premier? Well to the leader of the opposition, I'm glad the rumours are half right but again you'll stay tuned at one o'clock and we'll talk about that then. But our number one priority is to protect the people right across this province but especially protect the people in the outbreak areas that we've seen be it Ottawa, Toronto and Peel. And Mr. Speaker we always go to the advice of our Chief Medical Officer and the other Chief Medical Officers around the province and most importantly we listen to the mayors because no one understands their communities better than the mayors. And when we have a request from the Mayor, the local Chief Medical Officer and the Ontario Chief Medical Officer we listen and we follow medical advice and science and we're always going to continue following medical advice and science so thank you. Supplementary question? Well Speaker for months the Premier has been insisting that having students crammed into classrooms by the dozens up to 30 kids in a classroom is perfectly safe. Now in Ottawa, Peel and Toronto the government's suggesting that that's not safe that people need to be restricted to only 10 in an indoor space. School buses as the Premier also knows are jam-packed with up to 70 kids in a small space. The Premier now saying as I said that it's unsafe to do so. How can he possibly then justify continuing to allow in Peel, Ottawa and Toronto and other locations 10 more than 10 children in a school classroom? Why is it okay to have 70 kids on a bus and 30 kids in a classroom when he's saying that it's unsafe to have 10 people in an indoor space? Members will please take their seats. To reply for the government, the Minister of Education. Well thank you very much Mr Speaker and thank you to the member opposite for the question just to provide some granular data on what we're doing in Ottawa and Peel and Toronto. Speaker in Toronto District School Board, 366 more educators are being hired in real time because this government has allocated 200 million dollars to ensure distancing in all schools in the province of Ontario. In Peel District School Board, on track to hire additional 58 new educators, many more to come using federal, provincial and reserve funding. And in Ottawa, in Ottawa Carlton, 33 million dollars has been unlocked for that board to do more hiring, 45 more public health nurses in each and every community. We are taking a targeted approach working with public health to limit the risk and increase the safety of all students in Ontario Speaker. The final supplementary. Well Speaker, none of this makes much sense at all. The government's own experts have been very clear. It is impossible to practice safe social distancing when you have 20 or 30 students in a classroom. The Premier is now saying that a gathering of more than 10 indoors is a health risk. But he's still letting kids cram into crowded classrooms and crowded school buses. Later today I have a motion to put a concrete cap on the number of students in every single classroom. My question to the Premier is finally, will he do the right thing by our kids and cap the number of children in the classroom to prevent the COVID spread throughout not only our schools, but also our families and the rest of the community. Minister of Education. Thank you Speaker. Our plan has been informed by medical evidence and been endorsed by the Chief Medical Officer of Health of this province. And Speaker, what I can assure you is in the context of putting students first that is exactly what the government is doing. We have put a four week pause on any future expansion of social circles in the province. We have committed to expanding capacity of testing, getting up to 50,000 Speaker. We are taking further action to reduce the spread in those particular communities and in our schools. A 1.3 billion dollar allocation supported by the doubling of public health. Order. More custodians, more educators and more testing Speaker. In every realm we lead the nation, but we recognize we have to be responsive to the risk. Moms and dads that are pending on us to do that and we will be there for our schools and for our parents. The next question, once again the leader of the opposition. Thank you Speaker. My next question is also for the Premier. You know over the last weeks families have had growing concerns about the increasing numbers of COVID-19 in our communities. They've been worried about the second wave at the very same time as they're ushering their children into schools with overcrowded classrooms. At the very same time as they're ushering their kids onto buses that are also jam-packed with 60 to 70 kids. At the same time as we know that they're worried about the spread that's starting to happen in long-term care once again. The lines for testing are growing longer and longer. You know the four government promised some time ago that they had a detailed contingency plan in place for the second wave. That's what they called it. A detailed contingency plan. They promised that detailed contingency plan again this week. My question is where the heck is it? Thank you very much Speaker. Well I can assure the leader of the official opposition as well as all of the people of Ontario that we do have a very comprehensive fall preparedness plan to deal with a potential second wave of COVID-19 which is going to be released imminently. It's going to take into consideration the upcoming wave of COVID-19 in whatever form it's going to take whether it's going to be a sharp peak or smaller peaks and valleys. We are preparing for the worst and we are ready for it. We also have flu season approaching. We also have an increasing number of people coming into our hospitals because of the reductions we've needed to make in long-term care homes to reduce transmission in those homes. We also are trying to catch up on all of the surgeries and procedures that we had to postpone during the first wave. So the preparation for the second wave is more detailed and comprehensive than the first wave. We are ready for it and we will deal with it. The supplementary question. Well Speaker, maybe the government didn't realize that fall comes after summer. Maybe they didn't realize that. I mean it's ridiculous to say that they're prepared when we see the line-ups that we're seeing right now for testing across the province. That parents sending their kids back to school and people going back to work were going to want to see testing to make sure that they're safe and that they can keep others safe. The hospital for sick kids actually flagged this in their advice to the government months ago when they talked about the return to school plans. Yet it looks like the government in this case was caught entirely off guard or maybe they just didn't care that people were going to want testing and they didn't feel like it was necessary to actually put the testing in place. You know if the government actually had a plan we wouldn't see line-ups stretching for kilometres in many centres in our province. Order. If the government had a plan to quote them a detailed contingency plan then why have we been so unprepared for September? Stop the clock. There's some audible noise emanating from the northeast corner of the legislature, the chamber, and I'm going to ask the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry to come to order, the Minister of Colleges and Universities to come to order and the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks to come to order. Now I was saying that you're wearing the mask so I can hear your voices and recognise it. Start the clock. To respond for the government, the Minister of Health. Thank you Speaker and through you Speaker I can certainly advise the leader of the official opposition that we are prepared for the fall. We have already put many measures in place. We are already increasing capacity in our hospitals. We are already prepared for the flu season. We have obtained additional numbers of flu vaccines and we are prepared for COVID-19 increases. We have seen a 30% increase in demand for testing in the last three weeks and in answer to the questions that have been posed by the members of the official opposition and by others in the last few days I can advise that we have reacted immediately. We have increased in peel. One assessment has increased capacity and hours and four pop-ups are planned for the week of September 21. In Toronto, two assessment centres have increased capacity and hours. We have one pop-up plan for the week of September 21 with a 25% service increase by the end of September. In Ottawa, four assessment centres have increased capacity and hours and three pop-ups are beginning to start operations tomorrow. So we are prepared. We are taking action. We can assure the people of Ontario that we are ready for any pop-up. Thank you very much. Final supplementary. Thanks, Speaker. I have to say that the Minister of Health just identified the biggest problem with this four government. They are once again reacting to a crisis instead of preparing and ensuring that things were in place before the crisis is upon us. That is the problem here and that has been the problem all along. And now what are we dealing with? Families who are stuck waiting in testing lines literally for hours. Putting kids on crowded school buses. The lack of readiness is astounding. The fact that long-term care is once again experiencing outbreaks that are leading to the people who live there losing their lives. This is not readiness, Speaker. It is reaction to a crisis that is already upon us once again. This morning the CBC reported that the public health units don't know where people caught COVID-19 in 54% of the cases. So that means that contact tracing is also not up to snuff for the people of Ontario Speaker. So the question for the Minister and for the Premier, frankly, is that although they claimed that there was a contingency plan in place, where the heck is it and when will we see it? Members will please take their seats. Premier to reply. Well, Mr. Speaker, I'm sitting across the aisle here and listening to the Leader of the Opposition go on and on and on. As everyone has been working their back off the Minister of Health has been around the clock standing side by side with me for over five months. My question is, as the Leader of the Opposition is missing in action for five months nowhere to be found, nowhere to be heard everyone is cooperating across the country. No matter what political stripe you are everyone's pitching in and then we have the armchair quarterback over there pretending they have all the answers. You know, Mr. Speaker, I can assure the people of Ontario we're using every single resource. We're using every single tool at our disposal to make life a lot easier. And when the Leader of the Opposition criticizes, it's not just criticizing us it's criticizing the frontline healthcare workers criticizing the doctors that helped put the plan together the people on the grocery line that were checking people out as you were in hiding in your basement for the last five months. Thank you. Restart the clock. The next question, the member for Davenport. Well, Mr. Speaker, good morning. This question is for the Premier. Speaker, at the start of this week I pointed out that large class sizes coupled with the rising COVID numbers across the province were putting a safe return to school in jeopardy. The minister has stood here and refused again and again and again to admit that class sizes in many most schools in this province are exactly the same size or even larger than they were before COVID. And just three days later we have at least 41 cases in schools and our first school closure in Renfrew County. This afternoon the minister and all PC MPPs will have a chance to do something about it when they debate, we all are going to debate here the leader of the official opposition's motion to cap class sizes at a maximum of 15. We know now that your government thinks a gathering of more than 10 indoors is a health risk. Don't our kids matter? Don't our kids matter? Will the premier join us in passing and implementing this motion today? Will the premier join us so we can ensure our children, their families, our communities remain safe? Thank you very much. To respond, the minister of education. Well thank you very much Mr. Speaker. When we developed the plan to respond to COVID-19 for our schools we did so listening to the public health advice every step of the way. What they have informed us about is that the government needs to emerge on the issue of transmission for children is that you need to have layers of prevention in place to mitigate risk. That is obviously the consensus position the medical community endorsed by Dr. Kahn at Sick Kids as well. The message has been received loud and clear. We have introduced measures to improve the environment by improving air quality. Measures to improve the cleaning of schools and buses. Additional $100 million influx of funding to co hoarding, staggering schools and of course taking action speaker in the context of hiring more educators more yeas and more ECs. In every realm we lead this nation we are fully committed to the protection of our kids and we will continue to be there to respond to the risk including the influenza where this government has dedicated $50 million set aside to respond to that challenge. Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker I mean if the numbers that we're seeing every day is not a wake up call for this government I don't know what is. Every day this week it's increased and they may not like the fact that we're raising these questions but it is our job, our responsibility as legislators to do that to bring the voices of the parents and the children of the education workers into this space. Sorry it's so inconvenient. Speaker on Monday the minister claimed school boards were hiring thousands of teachers and education workers. We hear it over and over but in a school board the minister's own backyard it's been reported that library workers are actually being laid off with reports of empty classrooms overcrowded, collapsed classrooms in the same schools it is inconceivable that any education workers are being thrown out of work. Speaker the minister has said the government will be responsive to the risk and take fruit action. Will he do that today? Support boards to hire and keep staff and pass our motion to cap class sizes. The government has allocated $200 million to hire more educators in all boards in Ontario, in York in Peel, in Durham and likewise in Toronto we are seeing hundreds of new educators being hired that is because this government has provided boards the financial latitude, the funding they need to ensure these classrooms are safe. I will also take the opportunity to reaffirm the importance of adhering to public health advice staff members when they are being asked to be tested and stay home we encourage them to do so for students likewise to adhere to public health advice we have a duty as a province collectively to respond to the advice of public health and more importantly to follow it to the team and we encourage all staff all students and all parents to continue to exercise hidden vigilance as we respond to this challenge speaker. The next question the member for Brampton West Thank you Mr. Speaker my question is to the premier our government worked hand in hand with the chief medical officer of health and with the best medical experts our number one priority is the health and safety of our students, teachers and staff Public health units across the province have completed the hiring of our 500 additional nurses for our schools and we are well on our way to hiring the full 625 positions schools are focused on hiring up to 1300 cleaning staff and up to 2600 additional teachers and education staff we have put in $1.3 billion in critical supports more than any other province in the country for ventilation, staffing PPE, cleaning supplies mental health and remote learning Speaker can the premier please share with the legislature what further measures our government are undertaking as the school year resumes Premier I want to thank the great member from Brampton West thank you for that question I want to thank the premier and the schools that will help stop COVID right in its tracks and we heard from parents we heard from educators that they need more help identifying symptoms in managing the cases so Mr. Speaker we are providing the supports during COVID as further due diligence measures we announced yesterday a launch of the new interactive COVID-19 screening app for students, parents my friends it's free it's voluntary and it's easy to use and now available on our website at Ontario.ca COVID-19 I encourage the parents go on there and educators go on there and it's an excellent tool to keep our kids safe or educators safe and it puts the parents to ease a little bit, thank you and the supplementary question thank you speaker my supplemental question is to the premier as well premier I want to echo your sentiment as well this new measure along with our previously announced new online case tracker for our students and childcare centers are important steps as we restart schools and ensure our students are kept safe our school reopening plan supported by the chief medical officer of health is comprehensive it is nation leading fully funded and evidence informed we have placed our students in cohorts staggered re-entry to our schools we have provided clear marking we have increased hand hygiene routines we require screening before entering schools and ongoing work to improve air quality speaker these are critical programs that our government has taken for this school year can the premier share about further help our government is providing during this time Dan the premier thank you to the member from Brampton I first want to underscore the need for understanding and the patience for your workers and to parents and so any employers out there please have patience if one of your workers come in and their kids are sick be understanding we're going to get through this and I just appreciate the employers out there working side by side with their great team we need parents to be able to pull their kids out of school any time if they're showing mild symptoms we have the money set aside to respond for the flu season and mr. speaker it's almost like the perfect storm we still have the lowest cases anywhere in North America per capita per 100,000 people so everyone in Ontario and I always say the government doesn't need the credit we play the smallest part it's the people out there it's the frontline folks essential service people that are working day in and day out to keep our province safe and we're going to continue working across all political stripes federally municipally and provincially to make sure we get through this pandemic as safely as possible and I just want to give a big thanks to the 14.5 million people in this province for supporting each other and their neighbors and friends and family members thank you next question the member for Parkdale High Park thank you speaker my questions to the premier one of my constituents Karen has been going to St. Joe's for testing every two weeks so that she can visit her 97 year old mother who lives in a retirement home this week however she went to get her test and she had to wait almost two and a half hours in the cold despite showing up before 8 a.m. Karen is over 70 years old and she said that she has felt the chill and cold ever since premier it's only going to get colder and the rate of increase of cases keeps growing how many people are going to have to potentially put themselves at risk just because the conservatives can get a handle on testing the minister thank you speaker well as indicated we have seen an increase in the request for testing and we are preparing for that in Toronto region to specifically address your concern women's college hospital it has increased capacity and hours as of September 15th Sunnybrook hospital increased capacity and hours as of September 16th Michael Garan hospital short-term pop-up testing as of September 17th Humber Finch increased capacity and hours as of September 21st Mount Sinai increased capacity and hours as of September 21st UHN Toronto western short-term pop-up testing as of September 22nd and Humber church assessment centre a new location opening up September 28th so we are responding to the request for increased testing and we are preparing of course for colder weather but that won't continue well into the future so we are preparing for future assessment centres and to make sure that people can be inside as of weather grows thank you very much the supplementary question thank you speaker back to the premier and it's not just Karen who can't get quick and safe access to testing yesterday the wait times of the local testing centre was four hours long with more than 100 people in line speaker the government knew people were returning to work and that there was going to be an increased demand in testing these resources should have already been in place we warned the government that they weren't ready for a second wave local public health units testing centres have the capacity they have the skills they know what to do what they need and what they're asking for is more resources so when is the premier going to step up and provide the desperately needed resources to address testing before more people get infected thank you well I can certainly advise the member that we are prepared for an increase in the request for testing and we are increasing our assessment centres their times and hours and increasing locations pop-up locations mobile testing units we're also looking for other community partners they're going to be able to provide testing this is in the works we are working on this but of course along with the testing centres we also have to have the lab resources because you want to have a task that you're going to be able to do within a reasonable period of time not four days to a week it needs to be done much faster for that especially for people that are having the children tested for going back to school purposes or for going back to work so we are increasing that we have made significant strides since we first started with this with wave one we started off with just public health Ontario doing the lab testing we now have a response that is coordinated with federal labs also with community labs they're also helping out in terms of the assessment centres we've gone from just testing in a few centres to 148 centres so we've increased with wave one we are increasing with wave two as well to get up to 50,000 tests per day we're already doing over 25 to 30,000 tests per day thank you very much thank you the next question the member for Ottawa staff my question is for the premier so can we know the spread of COVID-19 is increasing in communities across Ontario and it's rising in our long-term care homes too at Ottawa's west end villa 55 residents and staff have tested positive for COVID-19 six residents have died it's not the only home residents, families, staff and home operators are very concerned there's no plan for a second wave in Ontario's long-term care homes pandemic pay ended a month ago there's been no move to raise the wages of PSWs there's no promised increase in the standard of care Donna Duncan the head of Ontario's long-term care association described the situation as terrifying so speaker through you how is it the premier how is it premier that residents in long-term care homes are finding themselves in the same spot they were last March minister of long-term care I want to make sure that everyone here knows that out of the 22 homes that are in outbreak right now 15 have no resident cases none and our attention is focused on the homes that are suffering from having a community spread increase that is coming into the homes despite all our best efforts we are looking at making sure that we are creating a best-enhanced testing system that all our homes have the necessary PPEs that N95s are included in that equation that our staff staff issues in our homes are being supported by hospitals that we will continue to issue mandatory management orders or volunteer management contracts as necessary that we are engaging response our expert health advice through the chief medical officer of health public health in Ontario, Ottawa public health we will continue to do everything in our power to ensure the safety of residents and staff thank you very much a supplementary question Mr. Speaker it's deja vu last March the premier waited a month longer than British Columbia and Quebec to raise the wages of PSWs and to stop them from working more than one home and that decision caused and what it looks like to me is that there was a decision to wait for the federal government to give Ontario money which other provinces didn't wait for they took action that delay came at a cost and we find ourselves now in exactly the same spot except for one thing there are billions of dollars available in federal safe care funds and the premier's own contingencies so speaker through you can the premier explain to families and staff why he's failed to prepare Ontario's long-term care homes for a second wave and the minister of long-term care thank you speaker and thank you for that important question this has been an ongoing effort to shore up the staffing in our long-term care homes ever since we became a new ministry the commitment that this government has a dedicated ministry to identify long-standing issues neglected by the previous government and supported by the opposition and when we look at at the other opposite who was the PA to the minister of health and long-term care for many many years this is the reality that we are dealing with we understand the nature of the personal support worker issues and I thank them from the bottom of my heart for the work that they do every day to address the pay the nature of their work integrate the care that they provide with career ladder member for Ottawa South will come to order minister of long-term care when the speaker stands the members of the floor will take their seat the house will come to order the next question to the minister of environmental conservation and parks the Great Lakes supply water to our communities sustained traditional activities of indigenous people support Ontario's economy and provide healthy ecosystems for recreation and tourism North America's Great Lakes are important natural habitats for native species and support thousands of different plants and animals however these lakes are facing pollutants excess nutrients and invasive species our government is committed to restoring the Great Lakes for future generations can the minister share what our government is doing to protect and restore our Great Lakes Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks thanks for much Mr. Speaker and thanks to the neighbouring MP from northern Norfolk a long time member of this legislature and a very strong conservationist in this province the Great Lakes are an important part of our province's economic prosperity and the well-being of our communities our government is committed to working with our partners and investing in on the ground projects that will improve the health of the Great Lakes so they are safe and beautiful for everybody to enjoy we are funding approximately 65 projects run by local communities academics and digital communities and various organizations across Ontario that focus on improving water quality supporting Great Lakes actions that protects and restores the Great Lakes are key commitments to our made in Ontario environment plan we are fulfilling the promise that we made to the people of Ontario to protect the Great Lakes which are so vital to our natural heritage and to the unparalleled quality of life thank you the supplementary question thanks and I want to thank the minister for his continued work to protect Ontario's water not only do our Great Lakes attract millions of residents and visitors every year they also provide safe drinking water for over 70% of the people in Ontario their watershed support 4,000 species of fish birds and other living things however they are facing challenges such as plastic pollution salt pollution we all know that restoration conservation and protection are critical minister what investments are you making to benefit the health of our Great Lakes and the ecosystems that they support Mr. Environment thanks again for that follow up question Mr. Speaker we made a commitment to the people of Ontario and our made in Ontario environment plan to work with our partners and take real actions to continue to protect the Great Lakes last summer Ontario and the Canadian government released a draft of the new Canada Ontario agreement on Great Lakes water quality and ecosystem health this agreement coordinates efforts to protect Great Lakes water quality building on those efforts we are also investing up to 1.67 million dollars for the new Great Lakes to provide up to 50,000 dollars for projects led by local groups to protect and restore coastal shoreline in near shore areas of the Great Lakes and the rivers and streams that feed into them Mr. Speaker supporting local actions that protect and restore the Great Lakes are key commitments in our made in Ontario environment plan to ensure water resources and ecosystems are enjoyed now and into the future the next question the member for Waterloo thank you very much Mr. Speaker my question to the minister of finance during yesterday's question period the minister touted his listening skills as a reminder it's his job to not only listen but also take action and listen to people like Michael Wood the marketing director at Ottawa Special Events he has been fighting for small businesses every day including at our finance committee hearings this summer in fact he emailed each and every one of us earlier this week and he wants action and deserves it including providing commercial rent relief directly to tenants on a sliding scale based on revenue loss and compelling insurance companies to honour business interruption insurance claims and provide liability coverage in Michael's words certain industries can pivot while others just cannot small businesses like Michael's and countless others are relying on this government to do more minister what's next where's the plan and when can businesses expect the support that they deserve Mr. Finance Mr. Speaker thank you to the member and thank you to Michael for that feedback it gives me an opportunity to update the legislature on the progress of the rent relief that this government in cooperation with the federal government has provided and these are new numbers just today so I'm pleased to share them over 296 million dollars that has been provided into support to 55,000 businesses in Ontario alone Mr. Speaker that represents 544,792 employees that work for those businesses that's the support that we've provided so far Mr. Speaker we are also in discussions and I've spoken about this publicly with Minister Freeland with the federal government about a revision to that program we believe that a better program can be put in place and we provided those suggestions and they provided this support along with 10 billion dollars of tax deferrals Mr. Speaker along with 355 million dollars in tax reductions for employer health taxes but Mr. Speaker we continue to listen there are important issues in front of us and we will make sure that we listen as this government always had to the backbone of our economy small business Supplementary question Mr. Speaker pushing down the road does not help businesses today it doesn't keep them open talking points and so are businesses the province is staring down a serious economic crisis people like Michael Wood and organizations like Save Small Business know this that's why they fought so hard for small business relief programs Save Small Business recently announced that they were done their advocacy here are some other departing words in the end the policies we were advocating were delayed, watered down and over complicated Mr. Speaker the government should learn it's not double down on failed policies no one is buying what you are selling they can't afford it and businesses can only wait so long Speaker to the minister when will this government come forward with a made in Ontario real plan for economic relief and stop relying on the federal government to do your job for you Mr. Speaker this government continues to listen and it's just like the opposition to a little government that's supporting 544,000 jobs in this province we will never do that in the member's own riding I had the chance to talk to Bogdan who is a small business operator who talks about how this government's programs have supported what they are doing supported their ability to build their business we are listening I made the request in this legislature for all members of the legislature with ideas directly and I'm of course not surprised that dozens of my member for Waterloo will come to order my colleagues on our side have provided that and I'd like to thank the three members of the opposition who provided the member for Waterloo will come to order the associate minister for energy will come to order the minister of children community and social services will come to order minister finance conclude his response so just to conclude my thanks to the three members of the opposition who provided input from the member did provide direct input we appreciate that from the riding of Sudbury very much appreciated and from the riding of Windsor to come see and I'd ask the question of the rest of the members of the opposition why they didn't take the opportunity to provide that input into our November budget which will support small business and which will make sure that we order two thirds of the way through question period we've got a ways to go at the clock try again next question the member for Scarborough Gilbert thank you speaker my question is for the minister of education not surprisingly the numbers of COVID infections in Ontario are exploding just yesterday the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada Aaron O'Toole and his family were turned away from testing in Ottawa and got tested today in Gatineau just as schools are reopening we know the demand is there a growing number of schools have confirmed positive cases in staff and it is a matter of time before COVID spreads within schools forcing classrooms and schools to self isolate this is why I received an inquiry from a concerned family who can no longer send their children to school in good faith but are being prevented now from enrolling in virtual learning if and when there is an outbreak students need will need to stay home from classrooms and continue with online learning school boards are doing all they can with everything they've got even draining their contingency funds Mr. Speaker question how is the minister going to ensure continuity of education while keeping our students and our communities safe minister of education reply thank you very much Mr. Speaker Speaker it was this government that in the spring when students were sent home as the province sent students home because of the pandemic the first problems in the country it was this government that stood strongly in the defense of live synchronous learning for students I do not recall a solitary opposition member who stood with parents to insist that the quality and continuity of learning continues during that period instead they were absolutely silent and that is unacceptable to parents of the province to parents of the province that wants to ensure that their child gets access to the curriculum it is this government that order will ask the minister of education to wind up his response it is most regrettable when parents want their child to learn have access to a teacher and have a community with their students we did not have unanimity of purpose in this legislature there was silence by the members opposite today our government sent a 75% standard of live synchronous learning we've mandated training for all educators in this province any supplementary questions well speaker if we've been silent you have been MIA because the boards the federations everyone have been asking where are you and why isn't there an actual table to deal with the integration of schools Mr. Speaker enrollment in Ontario schools classroom learning is down because the minister of education has not given families a reason to be confident that schools will be safe some of the schools with the lowest enrollment are in my riding and they are also in the poorest neighborhoods in our city where school nutrition programs provide invaluable food security to students Mr. Speaker there is a myriad of ways in which COVID-19 pandemic has exasperated inequality in our education system for students who rely on these programs before food security hasn't improved under COVID-19 in fact it has gotten worse this government has spent a mere 1% of all of the COVID funding that has been provided federally and provincially on education and child care minister what is your plan to keep students on the margins safe and providing for the needs thank you very much minister of education to reply well thank you speaker obviously from an equity lens speaker we're in the classroom for our students and that's why earlier in this process minister Smith announced an additional million dollars for the student nutrition program to ensure the continuity of food programs within our schools speaker in the context of higher risk communities in Scarborough and Tobacco and other regions of Toronto for example the board working with public health in the ministry of imposed caps to reduce the number of children in those classrooms 15 for kindergarten to reduce the number of children in those classrooms 15 for schools right across the province utilizing provincial funding hiring hundreds of teachers in Toronto's case redeploying hundreds of educators to the front lines we are absolutely committed to working with all school boards I met with the leadership of Scarborough general hospital along with my caucus colleagues from Scarborough speak about the synergies between education and our health care next question the member for mississauga lake shore thank you my question is for the minister responsible for small business and red tape reduction minister during this pandemic thousands of small businesses across Ontario and in my riding of mississauga lake shore had to close their doors to help stop the spread of COVID-19 unfortunately many small business were not equipped to deal with the loss of physical sales as many businesses did not have the online presence can the house what tools the government is providing to help small business go digital the associate minister small business and red tape reduction good morning Mr. Speaker and thank you to the member from mississauga lake shore for that question through the digital main street program announced this past June we are providing 57 million dollars to help support small businesses go digital this is going to help approximately 22,900 businesses and create jobs for approximately 1,400 students this is the single largest investment for businesses to go digital in the history of this country about 60% of small businesses have a website but only 7% of businesses actually have an online payment solution digitally Canadian businesses are two years behind their US counterparts this past May we set a record according to statistics Canada and e-commerce sales of over 3.9 billion dollars it is now more important than ever to make sure our businesses can pivot and move digitally to operate in new marketplaces and offer solutions to businesses across and consumers this province thank you and the supplementary question thank you very much minister for all your hard work can you please update the house on and the government will continue to bridge the digital divide for underserved households in Ontario and extend new digital opportunities for rural and remote communities in Ontario the association minister thank you for that again along with the digital main street program we were working hand in hand to ensure that businesses have reliable and accessible internet especially in remote areas along with the infrastructure who has released significant plans we know that fast and reliable internet will be critical to small businesses as they adjust to the new realities in the new marketplaces and how they will recover in the next phase as many as 12% of households in Ontario are underserved or unserved we want to create greater opportunities for small business owners and providing reliable and fast internet will help bridge digital divide in Ontario the global marketplace is rapidly changing and in order for Ontario businesses to compete we need to ensure they have the tools so this along with the $57 million investment into digital main street will ensure that our small businesses have the resources they require to ensure that they can compete in today's economy thank you Mr. Speaker very much the next question I'll send it thank you speaker my question is to the premier a few weeks ago I held a virtual town hall with parents, trustees and experts about this government's back to school plan during that town hall Masita a parent in Regent Park shared her concern that this government is ignoring the advice of sick kids and health experts Masita and other parents in our community are alarmed that their children are returning to class sizes of 27 or more where it will be speaker my writing is the most densely populated area in all of Canada and we have some of the highest rates of poverty in the country the risk factors for my communities is unbearably high Masita is worried that without urgent action to cap class sizes for all schools that the health and well being of students staff and our community could be severely at risk Masita is asking this government to stop cutting in corners and invest in smaller class sizes will the minister of education thank you speaker thank you member opposite for the question indeed the province is investing over 200 million dollars to school boards the province of Ontario to allow school boards to hire more educators that is what is happening on the ground and every single school board Ontario that's utilizing those dollars provided by government in addition to the 496 million dollars that the province unlocked and reserve funds by boards they could allow for an additional 5000 more educators should they choose to use those dollars and to be fair to boards many of them have we are absolutely committed to following public health advice on introducing multiple layers of prevention to mitigate the spread from hand hygiene from distancing by hiring more educators likewise better cleaning practices within our schools enhance testing as well speaker as a cohort protocol that ensures we minimize the contact of students we will continue to follow public health advice and as noted speaker this plan has been implemented by the federal officer of this province the supplementary question thank you speaker and respectfully back to the minister that's not what's happening in my community and kids in my community in Toronto's downtown east are being left behind by your plan parents and education workers are panicking I've also heard from teachers including Kara who's unbelievably stressed by the current back to school scheme she's working in jammed classrooms 60 centimetres between desks I've heard from parents who are outraged that the funding formula has forced schools to redistribute classes resulting in class sizes of over 30 students in some cases those are larger class sizes than before the pandemic even started parents feel like this government simply do not care about the health of children and you don't care enough to fund a plan that's going to actually work and cap class sizes why won't the government get smaller class sizes for a safe return to school minister of education well thank you speaker it was just yesterday that the TDSB director of education said that any school with larger class sizes will be given extra teachers to bring numbers down because the province of Ontario has provided them the financing and the support and the latitude to higher more educators and ultimately to reduce the risk we are doing that is important to target those higher risk communities of transmission that is precisely why we work with for example TDSB Toronto Public Health and others to provide a plan that is very local granular and they reduce the amount of children in those classrooms from elementary to high school will continue to follow the advice of public health and support our teachers our frontline principals and all students as they get back to school next question my question is for the solicitor general the tragic death of any first responder is traumatic for their family and loved ones and can take a toll on the mental well-being of their co-workers occupational stress injuries can take a major toll on first responders as well and when they take their own lives we know how much more needs to be done back in March I asked the solicitor general about the government's independent review panel into workplace culture of the Ontario provincial police as well as the number of tragic officer suicides among the force when I asked the solicitor general indicated that a large majority of the recommendations have been implemented but that more work needed to be done can she provide an update as to the status of these recommendations solicitor general thank you member from Burlington for this very important question you know she's absolutely right any time first responder takes their own life it's a tragedy which is why very on early on in our government's mandate we commissioned an independent review panel to help support the Ontario provincial police when I last updated the house I indicated that nearly two thirds of the recommendations provided by the panel were already complete near complete or well underway and I'm pleased to share that in terms of the recommendations when it comes to the pressures faced by OPP officers in response to staff shortages we were able to announce last month the hiring of 200 additional OPP officers these new hires build on our government's investment in a new OPP psychologist and other mental health clinicians part of a landmark 3.8 billion dollar investment in mental health we've also worked collaboratively with the association partners to launch an integrated mental health support program to assist the existing members thank you thank you speaker I'm glad to hear that the government has been working to implement the recommendations of the independent review panel in support the mental health and well-being of frontline officers I'm also confident that this investment into the frontline will make a difference when it comes as Ontario continues the fight against COVID-19 in our communities people across Burlington and Hulton region remain concerned about community safety speaker during these challenging times nobody deserves to live in fear of prime impacting their lives and livelihood can the solicitor general share how the government's investment into frontline OPP officers builds on investment to protect the safety and security of people in Burlington and across Hulton region thank you solicitor general this work really isn't just being done in silos with the OPP or with solicitor general it's pretty incredible and shows the commitment our government has that we have the very first minister responsible for mental health it is an indication frankly of the commitment that we have as a government to make sure that we get this right and we are steadfast in that commitment I'm also pleased to share that the members writing in Burlington of course she would know the Hulton regional police service is receiving nearly six million dollars in funding through both the community safety and policing grant and proceeds of crime grant which reinvest assets and from seized criminals this funding helps support the region's commitment to engaging the public and mobilizing community partnerships through a regional community mobilization bureau this project supports community safety across the region including a local situation table that contributes to mental health crisis intervention and dedicated participation in the region's community safety and well-being planning process these are just a couple of very specific examples but it's happening across Ontario. Thank you. Next question member for Sutter Bay out of Capeham. Thank you speaker the Lakehead district school board wrote to the minister of education the question is for the minister we are fighting a virus she wrote we are fighting a virus 10,000 times smaller than a grain of salt with an empty wallet you have responded to the need for more funds by unlocking funds from school boards reserves while this sounds great in a sound bite the reality of boards is far more difficult the lakehead board requested the provincial government fully fund ventilation updates health and safety equipment and proper physical distancing in classroom and buses premier minister when will this government finally decide to fund a safe start to school. Good question Minister of education. Well thank you speaker and thank you to member opposite the question I know there's many school boards that represent in thunder bay for example for the district school board they have an additional $4.7 million has been provided for them to hire more educators and ultimately just to ensure the greatest learning experience the safest experience for their kids there's also eight more public health nurses we've doubled that capacity we've invested in internet expansion because we realize in remote and northern parts of the province that they continue to have a gap working with the minister of infrastructure to ensure that more communities schools are connected to the internet which will be very important for remote learning and for all learning in the province of Ontario we provide an additional $51,000 to buy over 103 more devices an additional $400,000 specifically for remote learning for that school board to enhance their capacity to reach as many students as possible as we get through this challenge speaker and the supplementary question thank you minister Raymond thank you speaker and minister thank you for that response Raymond Roy chair of the rainy river district school board also wrote the minister of education Mr. Roy acknowledges the $302,000 they had received but stated it fell short of the $1.9 million needed for a safe start to remote schools and the $188,000 available from their reserve was not enough he concluded in his letter the extraordinary cost associated with safely reopening schools should be covered by the province in order to respond to the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19 what is the government waiting for minister of education we provided $4.7 million more to the lake head district school board enabling them to hire more educators $508,000 more for education staff $500,000 for other priorities to respond to COVID including $200,000 to hire more custodians in this particular board an additional $200,000 for mental health staff and of course special education receiving an additional $83,000 speaker what we're doing for that board and for those students is what we're doing for all students of the province providing more resources, more staffing and ultimately more capacity to respond to the challenge of COVID-19 the next question the member for Perth Wellington thank you speaker and speaker through you I want to thank those who gave me that tremendous ovations it's great to be back anyway, Mr. Speaker my questions to the associate minister of transportation speaker the COVID-19 pandemic has hit municipalities hard and it is especially taking a toll on municipal transit agencies here in the province of Ontario and across Canada as people stayed home local buses and ridership declined accordingly although ridership is going up as the province gradually and cautiously reopens many municipal transit agencies will need help in order to make sure that they can keep buses running for those who need them speaker my question to the minister what is the province doing to ensure transit remains a safe and reliable option for commuters in Perth Wellington and across Ontario the associate minister of transportation thank you very much speaker and thank you very much to the very hardworking member from Perth Wellington since the early days of the pandemic we have been talking with our municipal partners about how could we best support them earlier in the summer we released our provincial transit guidance document that outlined best practices for transit agencies operators as well as passengers later we allocated 15 million to transit agencies through the provinces transit cleaning fund to help with the added cost of enhanced cleaning we supported our premier who negotiated our safe restart agreement with the federal government which will provide up to 2 billion to support municipal transit agencies to reduce their budgetary pressures we are working all together to make sure we keep transit safe for all Ontarians I want to thank the minister for that great answer I was grateful to see the 7.5 million dollars of that 2 billion dollars was allocated to 11 different agencies in municipalities across Perth Wellington to the safe restart agreement that you just mentioned whether it was the city of Stratford who received over 487,000 dollars or the municipality of West Perth who received over 16,000 dollars transit agencies across my riding were certainly relieved to see that some relief is on the way speaker can the minister please tell us when the municipalities can expect to receive the money and if the 7.5 million that is being provided will be enough for municipalities in Perth Wellington associate minister thank you very much and through you we recognize that transit agencies are seeing lower ridership and additional costs associated with enhanced cleaning this funding is just the first step we are working very hard right now with the ministry to sign agreements with local municipalities so that we can get them the relief they need as soon as possible at the end of the fiscal year we are going to have another phase of funding that will go out after they have provided us with additional information on their estimated COVID-19 financial pressures Mr. Speaker we want to make sure whether you are taking transit right here in Toronto or in Stratford that it is safe and reliable next question thank you Mr. Speaker to the premier last Monday in the school board in my constituency said that they could close classrooms for one day because there's no replacement teachers so if a teacher gets ill or if a teacher's kids has a runny nose tens of kids won't be able to go to school and parents will have to stay out of work however the minister of education has told us again and again that school boards were able to hire more staff I believe he forgot francophone school boards especially in northern Ontario what can you tell people in the north to parents students who will probably miss school days because there won't be any teachers Mr. Speaker thank you Speaker and thank you to member opposite for the question we are very much aware of a long standing shortage of French teachers in this country we've been working very closely with the minister of francophone affairs as well with a variety of francophone partners in the province to ensure that we have access to French educators working with the Ontario College of Teachers as well as with faculties of education and likewise with the French Consul General to support immigration of French speaking educators in the province of Ontario in the context of access to supply of teachers we've ensured that every teacher likewise an occasional teacher in the province of Ontario has undergone vigorous health and safety training we've provided 10 million dollars to do that we're the only province to do that ahead of the school year speaker we'll continue to work closely with that school board we're providing a variety of the French schools boards in the north with new resources to do more hiring and likewise to ensure that students get access to a positive education through COVID-19 thank you that concludes our question period for this morning and for this week I beg to inform the house that pursuant to standing order 101C a change has been made to the order of precedence on the ballot list for private members public business such that Mr. Kramp assumes ballot item number 19 and Mr. Babiki assumes ballot item number 62 pursuant to standing order 36A the member for Ottawa South has given notice of his dissatisfaction with the answer to his question given by the minister of long-term care concerning the second wave of COVID-19 this matter will be debated Tuesday at 6 p.m government house leader has informed me that he has a point of order he'd like to raise Mr. Speaker, I appreciate that pursuant to standing order 59 I would like to announce the business for the next week Bill 182 to amend the Franco-Ontario and Emblemax standing in the name of Ms. Krusinova from Mississauga Center government notice of motion number 88 government notice of motion number 89 Bill 202 the Soldiers Aid Commission standing in the name of the minister Smith Bill 131 Tibetan Heritage Month standing in the name of Boutilla Carpocha from Parkdale High Park and a bill that will be introduced this afternoon. Thank you Mr. Speaker Thank you very much there being no further business this morning this house stands in recess until 1 p.m