 It is now time for a question period. The member from Cambridge. Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Premier. In the Privacy Commissioner's report released this morning, the truth about the culture of the Liberal Party of Ontario was finally revealed. Our suspicions have finally been confirmed. Government business is no longer the business of the people, and it hasn't been since that party has been in power. Crucial decisions about how public money will be spent are being made in secret. In the realm of private emails and blackberries, only to be wiped from drives and computer memory, never to be seen again. Premier, this is your party's MO. There is the public realm where we're told the government is operating. Then there's the secret world. The world hidden from the opposition, the media, and the public eye. The report is only the tip of the iceberg, Premier. People are breaking the law. Let the people pass judgment on your party's record, where billions are spent and no one is to blame. Will you call an election now and let the people finally pass judgment on your scandal-plated government? Tina, please. Thank you. Premier? Very much, Mr. Speaker. And first of all, I want to thank the member for the question, and I want to thank Dr. The member from Leeds, Grenville, will withdraw. Thank you. Premier? I want to say thank you. Your Kavuki and for her report. We're examining her recommendations very closely, Mr. Speaker. But I want to be clear that from the moment that I have been in this office, Mr. Speaker, we have been following, well, we've been following all of the rules in terms of retention of documents, Mr. Speaker. We have trained staff. We have made it clear what the expectations are, Mr. Speaker. And we have taken a number of steps to ensure that additional steps to make sure that staff are aware of their responsibilities, Mr. Speaker. As I said, we've improved the orientation for new employees and we have put in place mandatory training so that everyone knows exactly what the rules are, Mr. Speaker. I would have it no other way, and we will continue in that game, Mr. Speaker. Are you supplementary? Mr. Speaker, back to the Premier. So badly did your government want to obfuscate the fact that they have been only acting in the interest of the Liberal Party, that they have deleted countless emails. Now, apparently, Mr. Speaker, the files that existed on government computers have been transferred to USB memory sticks to avoid any scrutiny. The privacy commissioner found that your party's protocol was to transfer files off computers, and I quote, once this transfer is complete, original records should then be erased in such a way that they cannot be recreated. This protocol, Premier, is against the law. For months, the Liberals have been saying that they have acted in good faith, that they have been acting to protect the public interest. Sadly, a great deal of these records are irretrievably lost. Will you do what you can to salvage what little is left of your reputation and immediately provide us with any and all remaining documents on secret drives and secret USB keys? So, Mr. Speaker, let me be clear. The practice in my office and in the office of my caucus and my cabinet, Mr. Speaker. I'm going to go right to the member's writings. The member from Renfrew come to order. The member from Prince Edward Eastings come to order. Finish, please. Practice, Mr. Speaker, has been to follow the rules. We have done that from the moment that we came into office, Mr. Speaker. And I just want to read what the privacy commissioner said in her report. Throughout this entire investigation, my office received full cooperation of all parties involved, including the Premier's office, Cabinet Office, and the MGS. So we have been following the rules. We have made it very clear that the practices that will be in place, that have been in place since we came into this role, Mr. Speaker, have been in full compliance with the rules, and we will continue in that manner, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, this falls directly on this Premier and this government. In the report released earlier today, the commissioner speaks of, and I quote, an inappropriate deletion of emails by the former Premier staff as part of the transition to the new Premier Singh. And I quote again from the privacy commissioner, it's difficult to escape that conclusion. You handpicked your staff, Premier. Your adults in McGinty era, two email account staff, have made the decision to delete emails to avoid incrimination and to blur the line between government and liberal partisan interests to the point where it doesn't exist. The privacy commissioner was clear. Your government broke law, and the private Gmail accounts were uncovered last week further prove the point. So I ask again, will you hand over the USP keys for the information you tried to bury from Ontarians, or will this only end when the OPP break down the doors of the Premier's office and cough his... Thank you. Mr. Speaker, the tenor of the question, notwithstanding, let me repeat that since February, Mr. Speaker, we have been committed to making changes to make sure that all staff in all of our offices are complying with the rules, Mr. Speaker. We have provided 130,000 documents to the Justice Committee, Mr. Speaker. 30,000 documents to the Justice Committee from my office, Mr. Speaker. We will continue to comply with the requests, and we will continue to make sure that all of the rules are followed by my office. Member from Cameron, do you want to ask the question? Listen. Thank you. New question. Mr. Speaker, my question is also for the Premier. Premier Commissioner Kabukin has stated in a report that in early 2013, staff in the former Premier's office had approached the Secretary of Cabinet about how to permanently delete emails and other electronic documents such as attached briefing notes. We also have found that members of your staff have been using private non-FOIable email accounts to communicate regarding government business. Premier, the buck stops with you. People in your former Premier's office, people who have worked for you, people who work in this government are breaking the law. It is not good enough to say it won't happen again. Who will be facing criminal charges and who will be resigning? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I think I've addressed the issues around Dr. Kabukin's report, and we will continue to work with the privacy commissioner. And as I've said, we have taken extraordinary steps to make sure that all of our staff that are following the rules. Mr. Speaker, in terms of the email, let me be very clear. Matters not related to government business should not be dealt with on government computers, Mr. Speaker. Government business is obviously susceptible to and subject to freedom of information, Mr. Speaker. What I have said in public is that where private emails might be used are examples like in a period of transition, there were many volunteers, Mr. Speaker, who were working on their private emails, new employees who might not have had a government account, certain transitory records, certain legislative deliberations, Mr. Speaker, and instances of political partisan activity that should not be using government accounts. But, Mr. Speaker, all of those rules will be followed. Thank you. Supplementary. Well, it's lovely for the Premier to quote the way it should work. But that's not the way it has worked with her government. People in the transition team from one Premier to another have broken the law. They use private emails to talk about government business. You've spoken so many hollow words about how you wanted this to be a transparent and open process. But your actions belie that promise. You have done everything you can to prevent us from getting to the bottom of this scandal. We know that your words are completely disingenuous. Will you now admit... It's not parliamentary withdrawal, please. A judicial inquiry, Premier, is the only thing that will get to the bottom of your scandal. Will you now simply admit that your thirst to cling to power has corrupted you beyond repair? For attention, I'm not getting it. While I did not find that exactly unparliamentary, I'm going to ask all members, because of the heatedness of this particular nature, to guard your words and raise to the top. So I'm just going to leave it at that. And I don't need the editorials after the speaker makes a ruling. Premier, please answer. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I just want to address the personal motivation that the member opposite seems to be attacking. My personal motivation for being in this place, Mr. Speaker, is to make sure that we deliver the services that are necessary in the lives of people in this province. I'm only here, Mr. Speaker, because I believe in publicly funded education. I believe in public health care. I believe in making sure that government delivers the services that people need. Here, Mr. Speaker. I believe that we have a lot of work to do in terms of continuing to deliver those services, Mr. Speaker, and continue to strengthen them. The member from the community in Carleton will come to order. I appreciate Dr. Kovukin's report. We are working to make sure that every law is followed. Since February, we have taken measures to make sure that those are in place, Mr. Speaker. Final supplementary. That's a lovely story, Premier, but you're the boss and the buck stops you. You are responsible. You deserve better than this. The commissioners made it very clear. You broke the law. Staff were taught how to break the law and then went on to break the law. The stain of the scandal is on you and... Ask the government to come to order and now I end up having to ask you to come to order. I... I'll wait. Premier. I'm... You're always in a hurry. The team has got me excited. The member finish your question please. I said the stain is on you and every member of your government, the people of Ontario, no longer have confidence in you. Even the third party must be reconsidering their decision. What's wrong, please? What's wrong? Kevukin has given us some recommendations on practices that need to be changed, Mr. Speaker. When we came into office, when I took on this role, Mr. Speaker, we put in place rules. We made it clear. We put training in place to make it clear what the rules were and make sure that all staff followed those rules, Mr. Speaker. We will continue in that manner. I have done everything in my power since I came into this role to make sure that information that was asked for was provided, to open up a process, to make sure that the questions could be asked and information could be received. We will continue in that manner, Mr. Speaker. And as I said, we are working with the Privacy Commissioner's office. She has appreciated how we have worked with her. We will continue to do that as we look at the recommendations and I appreciate that she has made the recommendations, Mr. Speaker. Your question. Here is the third party. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Premier and I think it's a pretty obvious one. Does the Premier agree that it was wrong and likely illegal for senior Liberal political staff to actually destroy information about the gas plants? Premier? The practice is in my office and I have been clear from the day that we came into office that all of the rules will be followed and the... As I turned my head to look for the stop clock, please. I heard somebody say something unparliamentary and I would offer the member an opportunity to withdraw it, whoever that was and if not, we watch it. Premier? So, Mr. Speaker, might... People have taken the moment to say things that they're not by convention supposed to say and some people continue to talk while I'm trying to get attention. Okay. Wrap up, please. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So, since February, we took steps to make sure that all political staff were aware of their responsibilities of what the rules were and that that's why we put training in place. That's why we've changed the practices in the office. Thank you, supplementary. Information and Privacy Commissioner said that destroying information quote, undermined key legislation as well as transparency and accountability. Will the Premier tell Ontarians what the government was trying to hide when senior Liberal political staff were destroying information, Speaker? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. As I have said a number of times, we have provided all of the documents, Mr. Speaker, that we have been asked for. My office has provided 30,000 documents, 130,000 documents across government. So, Mr. Speaker, we are working to make sure that all of the information that's being asked for is provided. We are following the rules in the office. We have put training in place, Mr. Speaker, and we will work with the Privacy Commissioner as she has put forward some recommendations that we want to work on with her. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Final supplementary. Speaker, Ontario's Information and Privacy Commissioner said she has, quote, trouble accepting that deleting emails was simply part of a benign attempt to efficiently manage one's email accounts. She's raising serious questions, Speaker. Does the Premier really believe that when the Minister of Energy's chief of staff, the former Premier's chief of staff, his principal secretary, and his energy adviser were destroying all of these documents that they were simply trying to keep their inboxes clean, Speaker? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. As I said, Dr. Kabukin has raised some serious concerns. She's put recommendations forward. We have taken proactive steps since we've been here in February to make sure that all the rules are being followed and information is available and is retained and all of those protocols are in place, Mr. Speaker. We will continue to work with the Privacy Commissioner because I think the recommendations that she has put forward are very important and they come out of legitimate concerns that she has raised. So we will continue to work with her. Thank you for your question. The question is after the Premier. Thank you. When the Premier took control of the Liberal Party in January, the cancelled private power deals and the impending hearings were one of the key challenges that were facing her party. And at the heart of that issue was whether documents were being hidden. Did the Premier ask any question or raise any concerns at all? Excuse me. I'll hold the question and stop the clock please. The member from Bruce Scrao and Sound will withdraw. Thank you. You put your question. You finished? Any questions or raise any concerns at all about emails being deleted in the Premier's office? Mr. Speaker, let me remind the leader of the third party of what happened in terms of the gas plant situation when the new Premier took over. The member from Newmark and Aurora come to order. The member from Halton come to order. And the member from Durham come to order. Mr. Speaker, it was this Premier that offered a special committee to the opposition which they rejected. So then when they decided to go after a former member of the House she worked to have the committees mandate broadened. It was this Premier who wrote to the Auditor General and asked him to look into the Oakville situation. It was this Premier who asked Liberal members of the committee to ask for a government-wide search for documents which the opposition rejected. It's been under this Premier's watch that we have seen 130,000 documents go to the committee. Supplementary. Asking questions about missing emails long before this Premier took control of the Liberal Party. There were serious questions about the senior Liberal staff deleting emails and destroying information and the Liberal leader knew or should have known what was happening when she took over. When the Premier was sworn in did she ask any questions at all about why this information had been destroyed or was it simply a case of don't ask, don't tell. Mr. Speaker, there have been 130,000 documents that have been provided to the committee including 30,000 from the Premier's office. In terms of the practices that are cited by the IPC in her report the Premier has addressed that. She has talked about the measures this government has taken to make sure that we have tighter controls. She is also outlined and Mr. Speaker I can inform the House that in my capacity as Minister of Government Services I have asked this morning for a meeting with the IPC to make sure that we can strengthen our safeguards to make sure that this situation does not happen again and the rules and regulations are followed. The Commissioner reports that it is difficult to escape the conclusion that records were destroyed during the transition phase yet as new leader of the Liberal Party the Premier didn't ask any questions or raise any issues why didn't the Premier ask any basic questions that anyone who is genuinely concerned about missing documents would have asked? Mr. Speaker we have a committee of the legislature which has been constituted to be called at the call of the chair meaning that it is up to the members themselves of which they have a majority of when it can meet they can summon any witnesses they want my understanding is they have had 33 plus witnesses have come forward including the present Premier Minister of Energy, former Ministers of Energy they have also been provided with 130,000 documents including 30,000 from the Premier's office Mr. Speaker, the current Premier has gone to great lengths to be open and transparent as possible on this issue and again Mr. Speaker we have charged the committee of this legislature which is completely unfettered and allowed them to look into any aspect of this situation my question is to the Minister of Finance Minister, I have been surprised with your reaction to the release of a list of proposals on how to further pick the pockets of Ontarians to raise the money you need to balance your budget here you are a former bank executive facing me a former corporate executive we have had to ask our subordinates to cut costs they had complained but they do it 10% really difficult 2% or 3% was a walk in the park so here we are talking about moving towards balance and make no mistake Minister, talking about it is mostly what you people do and we discover that you have a nickel and dime list aimed at grabbing more and pulling it out of the economy we have offered to assist with the select committee but you are dismissive of wanting to find savings if you had a list of new revenue tools there should be a companion list asking ministries where they could cut costs like we both had to do in our private sector lives is there such a memorandum Minister? Thank you Minister Finance Thank you Mr. Speaker, thank you for the question it gives me the opportunity to reaffirm the outstanding work that we are doing in controlling our spending being disciplined and determined that's why our spending growth is less than 1% year over year, it's why we have exceeded our targets for the 4 years running by $21 billion last year alone it was a $5 billion reduction in our deficit we'll continue to do that and of course we've reviewed and we've assessed all of the fees that are applicable to government and we've rejected many of them that the member opposite makes reference to we'll continue to do our job we look forward to the members opposite to support our budget as well I'm beginning to get the idea that we in Ontario have seen Tweedledum and Tweedledee replaced by Frick and Frack I'm beginning to think you haven't got any bright ideas on how to move this province toward balance maybe no ideas at all except grabbing all you can or settling with unions like Opsu only to have their leader laugh at you and I'm beginning to think you better fess up you may not like my party's plan but we're the only party in this house that has advanced any plan at all the third party wants whatever it wants and you just give it to them and you wonder why we are not willing participants in your budget process the answer is because we don't want to be your accomplices Minister Ontarians want to know how much more you're going to make them pay for your government spending because of you Ontario is now the 7th highest borrower in the world that isn't actually a country are you or aren't you capable of balancing the budget by reducing costs thank you Minister of Finance the clock please do you see any place do you see any place before I start the clock I'm getting a little anxious with some of the armchair quarterbacks who all continually ask me to do somebody else's job I will do my job and what's frustrating is that for those individuals who try to watch the clock for me and tell me how to do that two seconds off in question period and I check every day so for those that claim that people are getting way too much time knock it off and for those that have decided that they know how to do it better here knock it off Minister of Finance Mr. Speaker the member opposite just reference his plan his plan doesn't add up it's fraught with mistakes even the mathematics of his plans are incorrect and we've stated that and we've showed it to them and now they have the audacity to suggest that they have a better plan well I can assure the member opposite that during my discussions and deliberations with bond holders and rating agencies they are very satisfied with what it is that we are doing Ontario is being well received because of the strong economic fundamentals that we have because of the plan that we have to balance the methodical way in which we are doing it and the member opposite should know Ontario is the only province that has not only met those targets basically exceeded them when the others have not and we will continue on this path of being disciplined in our spending and we are going to do everything possible to increase Thank you Speaker to the Premier long before the Premier was sworn in as liberal leader there were questions about emails that seemed to be missing from the Premier's office when the Premier became liberal leader did she raise any questions about what was missing and why Thank you very much Mr. Speaker so I want to address this question and it speaks to the issue that was raised by the leader as well I have said repeatedly Mr. Speaker that as soon as I came into this office we put in place protocols to ensure that staff understood what the rules were Mr. Speaker I did ask questions about what protocols were being followed Mr. Speaker which is why there is extra training that has been done when new staff come in they know what the rules are Mr. Speaker we are following the rules we have turned over information 30,000 documents from our office Mr. Speaker and that has been all part of our commitment my personal commitment that was being asked for was received by the people who were asking for it Thank you supplementary Premier you still haven't answered that question you've talked about what your office has done but when you came to office you didn't investigate the destruction of emails the absence of information the inability to respond to a freedom of information request documents were destroyed it seemed to care why didn't you ask the basic questions that anyone concerned about the facts would have asked Thank you very much Mr. Speaker I asked the questions about what our practice was going to be and how we were going to conduct our office Mr. Speaker and how we were going to open up the process the government house leader has outlined what we did Mr. Speaker in terms of asking that there be a select committee put in place which was rejected by the opposition opening up the mandate of the Justice Committee to ensure that there was a forum for all the questions to be asked and answered Mr. Speaker we have worked with the Privacy Commissioner we will continue to work with her we have asked the Auditor General to look at both situations he has and is doing that Mr. Speaker we are doing everything in our power to comply with the rules to make sure that information is provided and to make sure that this is an open and transparent process going forward Mr. Speaker Thank you Mr. Speaker my question through you is for the Minister of Energy Minister Ontario is a leader in clean energy thanks to our government's investment we created 31,000 jobs a resilient renewable energy sector across the province I know we have also been listening to municipalities to hear their ideas to prove how we cite renewable energy projects and how we can better engage local communities from the beginning through you and the Minister of Energy Mr. Speaker our government is solidly committed to investing in renewable energy it creates good jobs eliminates dirty coal fire generation and cleans up our air and we have listened to communities and mayors for large renewable projects the Ontario Power Authority is creating a new bidding process for renewable energy for renewable energy for renewable energy creating a new bidding process where priority approval is given to projects that have prior municipal approval making it extremely difficult for contracts to be awarded without an arrangement with the municipality the new rules also empower and give to municipalities and other public entities extra power to engage as owners and partners in projects moving forward we are providing funding small and medium sized municipalities to promote municipal energy plans and we are increasing property taxes on wind turbines to provide revenue to municipalities Mr. Speaker Thank you Supplementary Thank you Speaker and thank you to the Minister of Energy for that update I know my constituents will be pleased to hear our government remains committed to investing in clean renewable energy our investments have held enough clean energy for 900,000 homes as we move forward these changes will help strengthen our green energy economy by bringing stability and predictability to the system providing communities with increased local control over the planning and siting of renewable energy projects is a responsible thing to do it will not only ensure communities have a voice it will make sure all areas benefit from continued development Speaker I know that there have been specific concerns in many of Ontario's rural areas regarding renewable energy but the Minister please update this House what the government is doing to address the concerns of Ontario Thank you Minister Minister of Rural Affairs Minister of Rural Affairs Thank you very much Mr. Speaker our government has proposed new rules for setting renewable energy projects I respect rural communities and give them a stronger voice we have struck the right analysis to provide what residents and municipalities want and what the industry needs to do to create jobs but don't take my word for here's some of our five rural bears of what they're saying it's good news for municipalities Kingsville Bear, Nelson Santos absolutely it's a step forward leaving to bear John Patterson I will continue to work with rural communities across Ontario and my colleagues here at Queen's Park to identify opportunities to further strengthen rural Ontario because Mr. Speaker Ontario succeeds all Ontario is stronger Mr. Speaker Thank you Mr. Speaker Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Minister Ontario already has the highest processing fees in all of Canada for employers who want to hire skilled immigrants through the provincial nominee program yet according to your Treasury Board document you want to increase these fees by yet another $500 Minister will you ensure that Ontario businesses many of which are already facing significant obstacles to growth will not be faced with another $500 fee hike Thank you Mr. Speaker I'd like to thank the member for the question as the member knows immigration is a shared responsibility between the provincial government and the federal government and the temporary foreign worker agreement is an agreement between the provincial government today Mr. Speaker we've only had 30 people last year who have gone through the temporary foreign worker application process here in our province through our government and we have this mechanism there to allow for organizations that work with agriculture that work to fill specific needs to fill in those gaps that are necessary to make sure that Ontario is successful this is a proposal that is currently in process and it hasn't been approved and it's something we're exploring but we need to make sure that at the end of the day that Ontario is set up for success and temporary foreign workers through the P&P program is a mechanism we'll use As the minister will know the fees associated with the P&P program are entirely provincial and let's go over some of the fees applicable in other jurisdictions currently in order to process a skilled worker in BC New Brunswick $250 Newfoundland $150 Prince Edward Island $150 Alberta who's also facing skilled labour charges but through the P&P have seen their immigration rates doubled does not charge a fee for this service but what does Ontario do Mr. Speaker charges $2,000 already Ontario's business is to compete with the rest of Canada when your government's current processing fee is about four times higher than its nearest competitor What do you want to do? We want to make sure that Ontario set up for success if we compare our P&P programs we compare our provincial nominee programs to other provinces Member from Halton come to order Thank you If we compare our P&P program in Ontario to other provinces we know that Alberta and Manitoba have $5,000 each we need to make sure that we get to that $5,000 so we can attract the best and brightest people here to our province so we can continue to be successful this is a proposal that we're moving forward that we want to move forward on it's something that we believe is right for the province and Mr. Speaker I just want to remind the member opposite that this is a cost recovery program 98% of the actual cost of this proposal is cost recovery Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Minister of Infrastructure Last week I asked the Minister of Infrastructure about his department's decision to more than double the rent paid by the Mary Birkeland Community Health Centre in Ignace In response he stated that they were paying $5 a square foot for basic rent He neglected to point out that his figure fails to include the compulsory O&M fees realty tax and management fees and all of the repair costs which brings their triple net lease to $222.63 and translates to $23.77 per square foot but the Minister should know this because he has access to the same information My question is simple Is the Minister prepared to make this situation right instead of continuing to deny the facts Mr. Chairman Thank you very much Mr. Speaker I don't think we disagree The base rent is $5 it was $3.50 Every other health centre, the ones in my constituency pay base rents much higher than $5.12, $20, $25 plus have to pay on top of that I have said many times to the member that we are trying to work with them and there has been a significant communication between my office and Mary Birkeland to try and sort through how we can do that Obviously $3.50 which was the base rent before it was raised it was raised to $5 as a relatively modest rent I appreciate the challenges that the health centre is facing we are working with the Ministry of Health right now who have correspondedly increased their grants to do that, to try and figure out a way in which either by looking at the amount of space or the storage space to find a solution to it but they are not paying or ordinarily higher rents compared to other health Thank you Mr. Chairman C.H.C. has been trying to resolve this issue for three years raised in question period or through letters to ministry officials the response from the government is never grounded in accurate information or correct figures this rent is so unaffordable that already they have been forced to lay off staff and the executive director has voluntarily given herself a pay cut to help pay the bills the executive director is so desperate to resolve the situation and protect the viability of her C.H.C. that she has travelled to Queens Park today and she is sitting with a board member in the gallery will the ministers of infrastructure and health and long-term care meet with the executive director today after question period to finally resolve this issue Mr. Speaker the short answer is yes of course I had committed to the member from Kenora Rainey River that as soon as this house rises I would come to her constituency to meet with if it wasn't solved by that time and I will maintain that commitment if we cannot resolve it before the house rises I will I will come up and view the situation personally I would also be interested in the details of the funding formula because the Linn funds increases to health centers and if there is a gap there or there is information that we may be missing I would be quite happy to be so informed the challenge is and this is a challenge across government Mr. Speaker I want to say this so all members again we were charging historically over the last many decades different rents so there were hidden subsidies the idea now is to get to a full cost recovery members so that everything is fair and transparent if in that process there has been problems we will correct thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the minister of environment this week is a Canadian environmental week which is an opportunity to people across Canada to celebrate our natural environment the theme this year is water working together and it is fitting tribute to 2013 being designated as an international water cooperation considering our province borders on four great lakes and is home to more than a quarter of million lakes rivers and streams working together to restore and protect our water it is critical to maintain our natural wealth Mr. Speaker through you to the minister can you please tell the House how the people in their communities working together to protect their local water sources Mr. Speaker I am pleased to acknowledge in the gallery a former environment minister Norm Sterling this year's scene for Canadian environmental week provides an excellent opportunity for people to reflect on the excellent work we have achieved together protecting such a valuable resource called water our government is helping people come together through their communities and local organizations to play a role in protecting their local source of water our great lakes guardian community fund supports local cooperative activities that aim to restore and safeguard areas across the great lakes and the St. Lawrence river basin the lake partner program is a volunteer based water quality monitoring program which helps us monitor more than 600 in land lakes and the showcasing water innovation program fosters innovation by funding partners across the province who are finding innovative and cost effective solutions for managing drinking water systems wastewater and storm water systems this is the people working together for the environment I would like to thank the minister for providing the house with details about the various great programs and valuable volunteer efforts people undertaking across the province cooperating and working together to protect our water I'm also pleased to see our government taking continued action to foster community cooperation and facilitate a collaboration that is required to restore our fresh water back to environmental health speaker to you to the minister can he please elaborate on future initiatives our government will be undertaking to support local efforts to protect Ontario's fresh water sources thank you minister yes again I'd like to thank the member for the question 2013 Ontario budget is building upon the successful leadership role that communities have taken protecting local drinking water sources across Ontario the budget have passed will provide 13.5 million dollars to protect the quality and quantity of drinking water sources for the people of Ontario working in partnership with small and rural municipalities we have to remember where this all started we can draw a straight line from the Walkerton tragedy to Justice O'Connor's recommendation to the work of the source protection committees our government has already invested 200 million dollars in the local development of the source water protection plans and we look forward with anticipation to continuing to support our small and rural municipalities with the support of my opposition colleagues in passing the budget thank you for your question my question is to the premier all throughout this gas plant scandal you have maintained that this is a problem you're going to want to hear this that you have maintained that this is all Dalton McGinty's fault your house leader today issued a statement saying since February you have put new rules in place speaker our party has emails from Manik Smith the premier's head of transition and a senior advisor in the premier's office and a former MPP of this assembly in this email she is discussing government business about privileged gas plant documents and questioning the speakers ruling into the contempt of parliament I'll provide those to you speaker do you know the date of those emails speaker from Manik Smith on March 6, 2013 speaker the premier's most senior transition advisor is clearly implicated in the gas plant scandal will you fire Manik Smith today and will you call the OPP in to investigate thank you thank you very much the member opposite has that email member opposite has that information as I have said we have done everything in our power to answer the questions provide the information that has been asked for there are instances when private email needs to be used in partisan situations in situations where it's non-government there are instances in transition Mr. Speaker where private email was used by volunteers by people who are part of the transition we are working Mr. Speaker very hard to make sure that all the information is provided witness the fact that the member opposite has the information that she was asked very nice problem speaker yesterday her minister of intergovernmental affairs said that the liberal campaign team and the government were the same thing that's a type of arrogance and hypocrisy that is astounding to the people who I represent now I have another email speaker and it is from the premier herself this one on February 10th 2013 it's from Manik Smith who is using her premier's office email account which meant if she had one on February 10th 2013 she certainly had one on March 6 when she was conducting her government business on her gmail account what's curious about Manik Smith February 10th 2013 email is that this one is sent to Kathleen Owen at gmail.com premier that's your email it's your personal email used in this gas plant cover up can you tell me what other government business you're doing on your private email account thank you very much Mr. Speaker as I have said the member opposite has that information the member opposite has the email and has the content of the email Mr. Speaker what I will do and have done Mr. Speaker is make sure that when there are questions where there is relevant information that we provide that information we provide the answers it has the email and question Mr. Speaker thank you this is a third party thank you Speaker my question is for the Minister of Health families with loved ones in long-term care homes expect these homes to be safe Speaker yesterday the minister said that all of these homes receive annual inspections but she neglected to mention that these are related to complaints and critical incidents in communities like Windsor 90% of long-term care homes will receive inspection as required by this government's own rule will the minister commit to providing the full resident quality inspections for every home so that families don't have to wait for a tragic incident to occur before seeing an inspector in their long-term care thank you Mr. Speaker well thank you Speaker yes let me be very clear there are three different kinds of inspections there are the critical incident and complaint related inspections and last year there were 2,347 of those inspections Speaker there are also the RQI the more thorough intensive inspections Speaker and in addition there are inspections that are done in homes where there are no complaints received in that year Speaker so there is an inspector in every home in every year I look forward to the supplementary because I think we've been over these numbers a few times I do want to talk about some of the other excellent work that is happening in long-term care homes to improve the quality of care thank you supplementary families have placed their trust in this government to do their job and make sure that long-term care homes for seniors are inspected annually when 90% of long-term care homes it's clear this government is failing at its job to protect seniors the government has already missed their first deadline of December 31st, 2011 will the minister provide a new timeline of when every long-term care home in Windsor and in Ontario will actually receive I have asked ministry officials to come forward with some options on how to strengthen inspections in long-term care homes and the other things that are happening I am particularly proud of behavioral supports Ontario and you've heard me talk about that but I thought it might be interesting to hear specifically there's now a mobile outreach team in the Waterloo Wellington Lynn they're following 818 residents in long-term care homes who have behavioral challenges speaker since they have become active they've seen an 81% reduction in observed behaviors recorded for those particular patients an 81% reduction in addition there's been a 63% reduction in transfers to hospital for people with mental health challenges this is a remarkable success that is coming from specific investment to provide better care for people with behavioral challenges most often dementia speaker new question from Ajax Pickering thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration my writing of Ajax Pickering is home to many constituents who take time out of their busy schedules to volunteer their knowledge time and service for the betterment of our community Mr. Speaker Ontario can even boost a slightly higher volunteer rate than Canada as a whole at an individual level volunteer engagement a sense of belonging to my community at the community level volunteer engagement promotes incursion and unity Mr. Speaker through a year to the Minister how is the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration recognizing these tremendous individuals and organizations thank you Mr. Speaker I'd like to thank the honourable member for his question each year Ontario benefits from the work of volunteers these volunteers collectively contribute more than 860 million hours annually and our province is a long and proud tradition of volunteerism this spring I was privileged to attend the June Calwood Outstanding Achievement Awards for volunteerism throughout her life the late Miss Calwood was a tireless champion for the most vulnerable people in our society she was a fearless activist advocate and writer of every community that she touched through her passion to serve the most disadvantaged people in our province she helped convince others to take care of one another as such she forged a long lasting legacy here in Ontario named in her honour this award recognizes individuals who donate their knowledge, their energy, their spirit and most importantly their time to make their communities a better place to live Mr. Speaker these volunteers remind me of what it means to be a great citizen here in our great province I was honored to present this award supplementary thank you minister it's great to hear one of the examples of our government recognizing Ontario's outstanding volunteers while it is important to celebrate the hard work of these volunteers it's also important to engage the not-for-profit sector where many of our volunteers leave their mark not-for-profit organizations deliver many vital government services promote social inclusion economically and socially vibrant communities including my community of Ajax Pickering excluding hospitals universities and colleges the impact of not-for-profit sector on the economy is close to $29 billion in combined revenue annually Mr. Speaker through you to the minister what is our government doing to support not-for-profit sector thank you Mr. Speaker I'd like to thank the member for bringing to light the not-for-profit sector as the minister responsible for this sector I'm proud of the 46,000 organizations serving every region and demographic in our province the not-for-profit sector creates jobs and helps attract new investments to Ontario communities by providing strong recreational cultural and social infrastructure the government and the not-for-profit sector share similar goals Mr. Speaker that's why we launched the partnership project two years ago that we could do to support the not-for-profit organizations and strengthen our relationship with that sector to this end we've developed a number of initiatives for example Mr. Speaker through our partnership grant program we're investing $7.3 million over three years to help 27 organizations find ways to operate more efficiently extend their reach and promote volunteerism this government will continue to recognize the valuable contributions of thousands of organizations that make up the not-for-profit sector and will strengthen our relationship Mr. Speaker and I add questions to the Premier Premier in April you joined a long list of senior Liberals who've gone out on a limb to defend the eco-tax scheme cooked up by your government five years ago despite the PC parties repeated calls for these needless taxes to be scrapped you told on terrains that eco-taxes were quote just the cost of dealing with waste is unacceptable consumers shouldn't be built $200 million a year to fund liberal recycling cartels now that you're forcing the environment minister to table recycling bill tomorrow to make up for five years of liberal failure on the environment can you assure Ontarians that your government will meet the PC parties demand to scrap eco-taxes which were curated by the godfather of this tax scheme Dalton McGinty Premier, Minister of the Environment one almost doesn't know how to answer that particular question other than to say if there were a paternity suit that would be launched on this issue it would go to the Progressive Conservative Party that brought in the bill in the year 2002 which has caused so much problems which allowed the establishment of what we would describe as cartels I cannot believe that you can be asking a question of this kind when the real godfather of eco fees is your leader the member for Niagara West Glenbrook who when he was Minister of Consumer and Commercial Relations as I think it was called then and criticized by the way by the former member for Owen Sound very severely did nothing about eco fees or the possibility of preventing them our government is a government that's going to tackle this issue and ensure that it is simply a cost of doing business and not an additional fee it's quite humorous to hear the environment minister blame a 10 year old piece of legislation when Ontario's current problems all stand from the decisions made by your government we all know liberal regulations cooked up by Ontario's godfather of eco taxes the former Premier forces consumers to pick up the tap for recycling fires, electronics, paint cans and batteries after being surprised by these additional charges at the cash register it is this system that's created the mess that we're in today so Premier when the environment minister tables his recycling bill tomorrow can we expect to see a commitment to undo five years of liberal damage that has cost Ontario consumers hundreds of millions of dollars and left the provinces recycling rate parked at just three percent Minister of the environment I have consulted widely with a number of groups and organizations and individuals on legislation that could be brought forward in the house at a future date bringing forward a new bill to replace the bill the flawed bill that was passed by the Conservative government when it was in majority and almost to a person they have indicated the real problem that exists is the original bill and all of the problems that have arisen from that they have made recommendations to me I happen to believe for instance the Ontario Waste Management Association and others have some great ideas that I want to see incorporated in any legislation that might be introduced in this house and the last thing I want to do is wonder if the former minister of the environment's scars on his back have healed your question Thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the minister of health and long-term career from Baxter the company that makes intravenous cancer drugs for Ontario hospital for 27 years prior to Marquesi being awarded the contract that led to the diluted chemo drug tragedy Baxter told us that it would have been impossible for them to prepare those chemotherapy drugs at the Marquesi bidding price my question is simple is the minister certain that the lower price was in the main deciding factor for Med-Buy when they awarded the contract to Marquesi and this has helped a long-term care well thank you speaker and I'm very pleased to see that he's doing a very thorough job when it comes to investigating this situation I think it's important speaker that we let Dr. Jake Teason who is doing a review of the cancer drug safety system in Ontario that we let him do his work he will be coming forward with recommendations we have moved forward on some initial initiatives to improve oversight speaker but I do think it's very important that we let Jake Teason do his report that we let the committee do their work and that we review the entire knowledge that is gained through this process Thank you Mr. Speaker well the committee is doing their work and it is becoming more and more obvious that what the committee has been told about price being a minor factor in the decision making is actually not the case after weeks of hearing that the contract was awarded without any certainty of process communication or clarity for that matter what we do know is that Med-Buy needs to find savings to justify its existence that's why they exist Marquesi's price was less and this seems to have carried the most weight in the decision that was made will the minister admit that her system of outsourcing privatization is in desperate need of stronger guidelines and protection and is she prepared to take this responsibility seriously and provide comprehensive oversight of that sector Mr. Speaker unfortunately the member opposite has already determined the outcome of this work and that is unfortunate because others have testified speaker let me quote Sandy Jensen from the pharmacy services at London health sciences centre she said outsourcing these two agents was not in any way an effort to save money it was absolutely around efficiency around safety that is one quote Christine Donaldson director of pharmacy at Windsor regional hospital testified in that case really cost didn't come into it as a factor it was more safety and risk that had actually motivated us from any other outside buyer speaker we have heard various testimony at the committee I think it's important that people understand this is being taken very seriously we have acted and we will continue to act as so recommended thank you new question thank you speaker my questions for the minister of community and social services minister in my writing of thunder bay out of coke and both my constituency offices actually the one in thunder bay out of coke and proved to me to be the best vehicle through which I get information relative to the concerns of the people in my communities and the constituents that I represent I'd say it's probably the case for most of the members here one of the one of the issues that I have consistently heard about from my constituents in thunder bay out of coke and is in regard to the supports and the programming the services the financial investments that we made when it comes to people with disabilities that we can recount for the legislature what we have done since being elected in 2003 Mr. Speaker and I appreciate the members question and given it's clearly coming from a place of caring I will respond as best I can our government Mr. Speaker remains strongly committed to assisting folk in this sector last year our government invested some 1.7 billions of dollars on developmental services an increase of over half a billion since 2003 that's important to note that 98% of that funding goes directly to services the answer to the members question our 2013 budget proposes to add 42.5 million additional dollars a year for services and we estimate that this will help some 1.104 families with various supports with this new investment our government Mr. Speaker will have invested more than 620 million more that's a 63% increase since 2003 we got some tough work ahead but we're committed to getting the job done supplementary Mr. Speaker thank you very much thank the minister for that response I know that my constituents and most of the constituents across the province will be very proud of what we've managed to do when it comes to that sector I will say though however that the 42 million dollars of course that you've just mentioned as being included in this year's budget is going to require passing of the budget for that 42 million dollars to flow I know my constituents are very interested and hopeful that both of the opposition parties will find the capacity to and second support the budget so Speaker through you to the minister once again can you define for me please what that 42 million dollars should we get the budget passed will be used for to support people with developmental disabilities not only in my riding of Thunder Bay out of coke but right across the province thank you Mr. Speaker those investment dollars will support a wide range of supports that are needed and like the member I'm obviously hopeful that the budget will pass we hear a lot of concern about the sector from all all parties in this house and we do need to move ahead with this and doing that through you Mr. Speaker the quickest way to do that through the budget I just want to emphasize Mr. Speaker that this is this is new money it's money that's bad we needed there's much more to be done of course and we'll continue to work with Ontario's developmental services sector and families and others to make sure we have a more fair and sustainable system thanks Mr. Speaker I beg to inform the house that I have today laid upon the table an annual greenhouse gas progress report progress report from the environmental commissioner of Ontario member from the Pee and Carleton on a point of order. Mr. Speaker I know the time for introductions has passed but one of my close friends one of my mentors and one of our former members of this assembly and cabinet minister Norm Sterling was here earlier and I just wanted to apologize Mr. Sterling was recognized in the house but I appreciate your point of order the member from consumer services on a point of order. My sister here today Jill McCharles Crane from AJAX who has seen me through thick and thin I'm just thrilled to have an important family member here with me today. Mr. Speaker I would like to correct my record in my question today I implied that the premiere release to the documents I would like the record to be corrected to say that the PCs and the NDP order the documents release should be ashamed to comply. Thank you Mr. Speaker Before I do that I'm going to remind all members that there is an opportunity and it is a point of order to correct your record but any other editorial is to be vacated from that correction of the record the member from the Kanora Rainey River on the boarder. I just wanted to formally welcome to the legislature Gloria Pronger who's the executive director of the Mary Birkeland Community Health Center and also her board member Chiqui Pazola so welcome Member from London Fanshawe Thank you Speaker I would like to formally welcome as well to the legislature Linda Zimmerman and Richard Lewis from London they're here today visiting the legislature and I hope they have a great time We have a deferred vote on Mr. Hillier's amendment to Mr. Wilson's amendment to the motion to apply a time of certain business of the House calling the members this will be a five minute bill Members take their seats please Members take their seats please Mr. Hillier has moved that Mr. Wilson's amendment to the motion to apply a timetable to certain businesses of the House be amended by adding the following that in the event of a propagation before the want of confidence motion standing in the name of the member from Simcoe Gray is called the motion shall be placed on the orders and notices paper on the second day of the subsequent session and shall be called on the fifth session of the new session all those members of the amendment will please rise one at a time and be recognized by the clerk Mr. Hillier Mr. Wilson Mr. Wilson Mr. Arnott Mr. Arnott Mr. Hardiman Mr. Hardiman Mr. Sherman Mr. Sherman Mrs. Elliott Mrs. Elliott Mr. Yacobusky Mrs. Yacobusky Mrs. McLeod Mr. McLeod Mr. Miller Perry Sound Mascoka Mr. Miller Perry Sound Mascoka Mr. Cleese Mr. Cleese Mr. Bailey Mr. Bailey Mr. Barrett Mr. Barrett Mr. Dunlop Mr. Dunlop Mrs. Jones Mrs. Jones Mrs. Monroe Mr. Chudley Mr. Chudley Mr. Clark Mr. Clark Mr. O'Toole Mr. O'Toole Mr. Smith Mr. Smith Mr. Harris Mr. Harris Mr. Thompson Mr. Thompson Mr. Fidelli Mr. Fidelli Sorry, Mr. Yurick Mr. Yurick Mr. Scott Mr. Scott Mrs. McKenna Mr. McKenna Mr. McNaughton Mr. McNaughton Mr. Leone Mr. Leone Mr. McDonnell Mr. McDonnell Mr. McDonnell Mr. Pettipies Mr. Pettipies Mr. Milligan Mr. Milligan Mr. Walker Mr. Walker Mr. Jackson Mr. Jackson Mr. McLaren Mr. McLaren Mr. Nichols Mr. Nichols All those opposed to the amendment will please rise one at a time and be recognized by the members. Mr. Morris Mr. Black Mr. Musk Mr. Gardner Mr. White Mr. Bulkasen, Mr. Quadri, Mr. McNeely, Mr. Moreedie, Mr. Cotó, Mr. Sergio, Mr. Nakvi, Mr. Leah, Mr. Zehmer, Mr. Zimmer, Mr. Moro, Mr. Flynn, Mr. Dylan, Mr. Dylan, Mr. Delaney, Mr. Del Duca, Mr. Del Duca, Ms. Wong, Ms. Dahmerlach, Mr. Crack, Mrs. Mangat, Ms. Jassett, Mr. Dickson, Ms. Albanese, Ms. Albanese, this should be song. The eyes being 34 and the nays being 64, I need to clear the motion lost, there are no further deferred votes, this house stands recessed until 3 p.m. this afternoon.