 It is now time for a question period. The member from Nipissing. Thank you and good morning, Speaker. My question is for the Premier. Today your budget bill comes up for a third reading. The Premier, there is a giant loophole, one that you had a chance to close yesterday at committee, but chose not to. The Trillium Trust Act, which will put proceeds from government asset sales first into general revenues, not directly into the trust. There is no guarantee that any money will ever make it to the trust and not be used just to offset your deficit. Once you sell an asset, only you, without this legislature ever knowing, gets to decide whether that money is quote, qualified to go into the trust, and if so, how much will actually ever make it into the trust. We brought amendments that would increase the transparency and reporting of asset sales. Premier, why did your government vote against the amendments for openness and transparency? Premier. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I know that the Minister of Finance is going to want to talk about the technicalities of the Trillium Trust. But, Mr. Speaker, let me just say this. We are committed and have been from the time that we introduced the plan and, in fact, before, Mr. Speaker, we have been committed to building transportation infrastructure, including transit. And we have committed to creating trust funds, Mr. Speaker, so that the people of Ontario will know how much money is going into transit and transportation infrastructure building, Mr. Speaker, and how that money is being spent. We've committed $29 billion, $15 billion for the Greater Toronto Hamilton Area, $14 billion for outside of the Greater Toronto Hamilton Area, Mr. Speaker. And I am pleased that the member opposite is showing an interest in building transit, Mr. Speaker. I hope that means that maybe he'll support the budget. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, sadly, Premier, your handling of the gas plant money gives us $1 billion reasons not to trust, not to take your word for it. So, let's run through this again. First, you sell an asset, but only you decide with criteria unknown to anybody else whether that asset is, quote, qualified to go into the trust. Then, according to the Act, you may require, not must require, a portion of the proceeds, not all of the proceeds, to go into the trust. There's nothing to stop you from simply diverting that money into reducing your deficit, and we'll never know about it. That's why we asked for an amendment that has the Auditor General identify how the money from the sale of assets is distributed. Why did you instruct your committee to vote against our transparency? Mr. Finance? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, it's pretty rich to hear a member from the opposition talk about transparency, especially when they sold the 407 for pennies, Mr. Speaker, without any revelation. In our budget, we have a chapter dedicated to transparency and accountability, and we'll continue to do exactly what's necessary to advise the public of what it is that we're doing. We've already stated that any sale of assets... Stop the clock, please. Too much noise on all sites. Please finish. Glenn Gary, Prescott Russell, come to order. Mr. Speaker, we will continue to provide that openness and transparency in the work that we do. That whatever is being reviewed and assessed will be made public. And we've already dedicated, and we've said that we'll dedicate all those to the Trillium Trust to be used specifically for transportation and infrastructure, Mr. Speaker. We'll continue to do what's in the best interest of the public and of the people of Ontario. Thank you, Premier. Yesterday your members voted against the open and transparent sale of those very assets. Look, let's be clear. We're not against the sale of assets, but we're against using one-time money to pay for your operating expenses. Yesterday the Liberals told the committee that bringing in the Auditor General was redundant. This is the same Auditor General's office that discovered and revealed to this legislature the Liberals' abuse of another file, the debt retirement charge. We learned that back in 2004, $4 billion more was added to the debt without being disclosed until 2012, a full eight years later, and we're still paying for that today. That money went straight into general revenue to artificially lower your deficit. Is that what you're going to do with the Trillium Trust fund? Is that why you voted against transparency? Mr. Speaker, the debt retirement charge was a product of that party. They left us a legacy of billions and billions of dollars because of an electricity scheme that went awry that the public has had to pay for. I've said it a second time now and that is the noise is coming from all sides while the answer is being given and the question being put. I will now move to warnings direct and then after that it's naming. Please finish. Mr. Speaker, as a result of those mistakes the very issues that the member is speaking about that we have made corrections and that we're continuing to do. We have put in place in this budget accountability measures were being more transparent. Each of these situations have different circumstances by each transaction. There are different types of assets that are involved. There are different types of accounting treatment. So we will disclose and indicate exactly what we're doing and the member opposite and his party did not do that Mr. Speaker. We are the ones that impose those transparency measures. We're the ones that are being held accountable and what C.D. Howard student and others have indicated the integrity. Mr. Speaker, please. New question from the member of the team. Thank you very much. The question is with troublesome economic indicators on the horizon such as a negative out lack by credit rating agencies and upcoming labor negotiations under the cloud of a $12 billion deficit. Could the Premier tell us which is her priority, avoiding labor strikes at all costs or meeting her deficit reduction targets? Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. The reality of governing is that there are complexities that mean that it's not either or Mr. Speaker. You don't choose between making sure that we have an excellent education system that we have good working partnerships with the people who are in our schools, the teachers the support staff, the administrators with the school boards Mr. Speaker. We don't choose between that and making sure that we meet our fiscal targets. We have to do both Mr. Speaker and our plan lays out our path to do exactly that to do both of those things and to do them in a balanced way Mr. Speaker. Thank you supplementary. The Premier's confidence in her balancing skills it's clear that with the metro links 8.5% to wage hike precedent that further negotiations with teachers and doctors this fall will be hampered like probably compromised similar to a Frito-Lay commercial if I give one to you I have to give one to everyone else. It's clear that they can't meet their spending targets while increasing housing is worn. They like to talk about net zeroes over there but I ask the Premier what does net zero compensation actually mean to her? Is it higher pay with fewer workers? Is it higher pay with fewer benefits? Is it higher pay with less services? Or will the Premier just admit it really is just a higher pay that Ontarians are going to have to pay for because it will mean a higher deficit with no real clear spending priorities or reductions priorities in place? Thank you Premier. Well Mr. Speaker you know there are some fundamental differences that underlie the question that the leader of the member of the opposition is asking Mr. Speaker and one of those fundamental differences between us and them is this we believe in the collective bargaining process we believe that it should be respected Mr. Speaker and we believe that it is the best way for the agreements to be put in place Mr. Speaker so that collective bargaining process will be honoured by us. Having said that we have been very clear that there is no new money for those settlements. There is no new money for benefits for salaries or wages Mr. Speaker and so those collective bargaining processes will take place within the funding that is in place as they did in the Metrolinx situation. What the Premier fails to mention is that there are always consequences to these higher pay increases so if the government through Metrolinx cuts the deficit we take to workers while talking about quote 0 net zeros it means either raising fees on riders or cutting from somewhere else in their budget possibly from other services or finally that the deficit will increase similarly with teacher contract negotiations do this fall a 2% increase for elementary teachers will either come with a cut elsewhere in education, bigger class sizes and or fewer teachers even the liberal priority is waving the white flag on wage freezes will the Premier admit she is not interested in all in meeting her deficit reduction targets and Ontarians are going to pay higher taxes as a result of it. Mr. Speaker well that's just not true I am very interested in meeting our deficit targets Mr. Speaker and we will do that and you know the priority of the party opposite is to enter into conflict with organised labour that is the fundamental belief that that is a good way to govern. We saw it when they were in office previous to 2003 we saw it during their campaign that they believe that having disruptive, conflicted relationships with the people who deliver healthcare and education and the services that people need in this province that they believe that that is the way to go well we don't believe that Mr. Speaker we believe the transforming systems the work that has been done in healthcare to provide for better and different delivery of service that is the focus of our government Mr. Speaker those kinds of transformations as well as continuing to have good working relationships with the people who deliver those essential services in Ontario. Thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the Premier for weeks the Premier has refused to answer questions about asset sales for asset sales and her cuts to public services so far the Premier has also refused to allow an independent review of her fiscal plan the very same independent review that she supported in 2004 and since she's choosing to ignore the fact that only in election years can the auditor review the government's estimates, assumptions and projections and report to the public on whether the fiscal plan is reasonable or whether it is not will the Premier tell us why she believes every election budget needs independent oversight except her own Well Mr. Speaker I've answered every one of the questions that the leader of the third party has put to me and I will say again Mr. Speaker that we were on track to have that review of our budget Mr. Speaker the NDP in particular decided that they did not support the budget Mr. Speaker and plunged us into an election Mr. Speaker that was the choice of the third party and the opposition so Mr. Speaker we went into an election we brought the plan that we had introduced at the beginning of May in our budget Mr. Speaker we have reintroduced that budget and the auditor general as we speak is looking at the finances of this province and her report will be tabled in the fall Speaker I will make mention of this only once as a sidebar to my other comment about warning somebody the debate that goes on at the back between questions will stop if it doesn't you'll be warned you can point your finger all you want you'll be included and I advise the member from Hamilton East Stony Creek to pay attention this way and not to the person invoking you next question please Speaker the premier is remarkably adamant she will stand in the way of fiscal transparency and actually prevent an independent review of the fiscal plan by the auditor general now that she's in charge she sees no need for a public report by the auditor on this year's election budget if the premier won't allow a public review speaker will she at least tell the house whether the auditor general has been privately consulted about any of the details in her fiscal plan Speaker the leader of the third party is remarkably adamant and was remarkably adamant that she was going to stand in the way of a budget that would put money into eliminating wait lists for developmental services would put more money into the hands of personal support workers would put more money into the hands of municipalities for housing and housing and that's what she's been adamant about is that we do all of those things that we actually make those investments that are necessary Mr. Speaker including in transit and transportation which the leader of the third party has also been adamant that she will stand in the way of Mr. Speaker our plan is has been laid out for the people of Ontario we were on schedule to have a pre-election our plan is open and clear for everyone in the province to see Mr. Speaker Speaker families have a right to know whether their government is making prudent and reasonable assumptions about the province's future state of affairs that is pretty basic stuff that's pretty basic when it comes to transparency and accountability they have a right to know speaker because the services that they have are at stake services like public transit speaker will the premier confirm that the ministry of finance is working with the auditor general to address concerns surrounding the treatment of gas tax revenues for transit Mr. Speaker the all of our ministries work with the auditor general as she makes inquiries and ask questions Mr. Speaker and the ministry of finance is absolutely no exception the fiscal plan that we put forward is the fiscal plan that the NDP ran on Mr. Speaker it was the foundation of their platform what I believe is happening right now is that the leader of the third party is looking for any reason she can find and she's grasping at any straw to justify why she will not support a budget that will put more money into the hands of the people who are most in this province she is looking for a reason not to vote for the budget that will put money into the hands of personal support workers who are among our lowest paid workers and our most valued in terms of transformation of the health care system she's looking for an excuse not to support a budget that will put $810 million into developmental services Mr. Speaker any questions the leader of the third party Mr. Speaker my next question is also for the premier the need for an independent review by the auditor is becoming more and more clear every time the premier tries to brush off our concerns if there are any discussions going on between this government and the auditor about the numbers and how those numbers shape up it is the responsibility of the premier to be open and frank with the public I remember this premier used to talk about that all the time it seems that she forgot that was one of her fundamental beliefs in the past will the premier inform this minister whether the auditor general has contacted or been contacted by the ministry of finance concerning the accounting methods being used for transit funding and if so when will the public be told about the auditor's concerns Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker just to the question on the gas tax you know the gas tax the two cents in the gas tax that is dedicated to transit across the province is about $320 million a year Mr. Speaker that is dedicated funding that goes to municipalities according to ridership and population Mr. Speaker that formula has been in place for a number of years and it remains in place so actually I don't understand the concern on the part of the leader of the third party about this because we are seeing that that gas tax funding in place but you know if she is so concerned about our fiscal plan she maybe should go back and reread page two of her own platform and what that said was and I quote we will balance Ontario's books by 2017 18 with significantly more fiscal space than the liberal plan Mr. Speaker and then it goes on to say our plan will provide an additional fiscal cushion of over 700 million annually so Mr. Speaker the plan on our plan and then they went further they said thank you supplementary Mr. Speaker every time the premier refuses to answer straightforward questions she raises even more doubts about the prudence of the assumptions behind her austerity budget and that is the bottom line because if the actual budget speaker truly reflects the story that the government tells then the premier should be welcoming the auditor's oversight with open arms it begs the question speaker what reason could possibly be there to explain why the premier determined to so determined rather to avoid public review of the numbers behind her fiscal plan Mr. Speaker I welcome I do welcome the auditor general's questions I welcome her scrutiny at any point in any one of our ministries Mr. Speaker I believe that the auditor general's work is extremely important to the functioning of government and the improvement of government and its delivery of services so I welcome the scrutiny of the auditor general Mr. Speaker you know the fact is that the standard and pours just this week Mr. Speaker has said that Ontario's financial management is strong in our view the level of transparency and disclosure in its financial statements is high notes and schedule provide detailed information about core government agencies and boards and business enterprises the independent auditor general audits the province's financial statements that's an ongoing process Mr. Speaker her report the auditor general's report will be tabled in the fall and as I say I welcome that scrutiny thank you Mr. Speaker yesterday the premier said that she actually doesn't think that Dalton McGinty's transparency and accountability measures are too good for her own government that's a relief but it also means that the premier needs to stop dragging her heels on an independent review the former premier ensured his fiscal plans received independent oversight in election years even in 2011 Speaker when the auditor raised serious doubts about the government's assumptions will the premier simply follow her mentor's lead and request an independent review of her fiscal plan by the auditor general to be made public before the end of this year thank you premier for the end of this year well Mr. Speaker the report of the auditor general will be tabled in the fall and the leader of the third party made a comment earlier about what I used to or didn't use to talk about and here is Mr. Speaker what the NDP used to talk about the NDP used to talk about issues like poverty so increasing the child benefit would have been something that they would have supported in the past Mr. Speaker they used to talk about the need for increases in social assistance benefits so they would have supported a budget conceivably that included those increases as our budget does Mr. Speaker they used to talk about the need for a systemic approach to dealing with developmental services so they would have supported a budget that included $810 million for developmental services they used to talk just as recently as in the election campaign they used to talk about the need for expansion of student nutrition programs so you would have thought that they would have supported a budget that included $20 million for that expansion the leader of the third party is looking for any reason not to support our budget thank you Mr. Speaker my question is to the minister of health minister as you know orange air ambulance has been charged with 17 offences under the Canada labour code these charges are as a result of the May 31, 2013 crash that claimed the lives of four dedicated orange employees that occurred under your government's watch after appointing new leadership minister the documents show that the pilot of the flight was that I quote without adequate training in the operation of that specific aircraft and orange failed to provide the pilots a quote a means to enable them to maintain visual reference while operating at night even with repeated warnings dating back to September 2012 as a result orange is now being charged with failure to employ ensure employee safety minister there are still clearly systemic problems at orange that your government has failed to collect what we are going to do to make sure that orange employees and their patients are being travelling safely on orange aircraft thank you thank you Mr. Speaker and I know the member opposite appreciates because there is a process under way that involves the potential of real issue of court action that it would be inappropriate for me to speak about those details but I am happy and in fact I'm very proud to speak of the progress that's been made by orange over the past number of years in a whole set of issues and I want to give my commitment to the member opposite that we have been and we are and will continue to work on virtually all of the recommendations that have been put forward by the various entities in terms of continuing to improve the performance of orange and we need to remember those hard working individuals that perform such a vital function every single day so whether it's on issues like concerning the governance of orange we put steps into place for increasing government oversight in a very strong board which has made exceptional progress over the last number of years that I'm happy to speak to in the supplementary I would say Mr. Speaker I would say to the minister that this is a very serious issue four people have died and now orange is facing some very serious charges so clearly whatever changes you have made haven't worked we need to make sure that these people are going to be kept safely despite opposition inquiries and a committee of an investigation the minister of health insisted to this house on numerous occasions that everything was fine in fact on April 19, 2013 less than two months before the crash the minister stated that orange is a much, much stronger organization now new leadership, new protocols and so on however these protocols clearly failed to protect orange employees and their patients minister major changes need to be made at orange to make sure that no more lives are lost in fact even a few weeks ago there was a potential incident involving a near miss near Ottawa minister can you tell us specifically what you are prepared to do to ensure that orange employees and their patients are traveling safely thank you Mr. Speaker I was as all members of this legislature were absolutely devastated to hear of that tragedy just over one year ago when two pilots and two paramedics regrettably lost their lives in that tragic incident and to this day our hearts our thoughts go to the family and the friends and the colleagues of those four individuals who unfortunately perished and I again want to to indicate to the member opposite and I know this is an issue which is important to her as well that we take the recommendations before is very, very seriously we take these charges very seriously as well as does orange and their leadership Mr. Speaker and I have to also point out that before this tragic incident as well as subsequent to that we have been working very closely with Transport Canada a number of measures to improve and not just patients safety and the overall performance of orange but particularly as was demonstrated by this case to ensure the safety of the workers at Orange New question from London Thank you Speaker my question is to the Minister of Labor yesterday I introduced a private members bill the greater protection for interns and vulnerable workers act that was first introduced by my former colleague Jonas Shine I want to make it clear that this bill goes significantly beyond the rather weak measures included in your bill 18 for example one provision of my bill requires that employers notify the Minister of Labor when they bring in interns and clearly spell out expectations such as job description and hours of work Speaker there is no reason for the continued exploitation of unpaid interns in this province so I ask the Minister will this government be supporting my bill Thank you Thank you Speaker it's a pleasure to rise on this important issue and I thank the member for a question and let me be very very very clear right from the start it doesn't matter what your job title is it doesn't matter what your position is if you perform work for somebody in the province of Ontario you're covered by the employment standards act and you deserve to be paid there's a very narrow exemption for those people that are enrolled in educational institutions co-op students or the self employed or trainees but certainly if you're performing work for somebody in this province you deserve to be paid we have proactive enforcement on this issue we've been out to a number of employers we've talked to the post-secondary institutions and we're making sure that people in the province of Ontario understand that we're very serious about this issue and we're going to continue the inspections and that we're going to ensure as I said from the start you work in Ontario you get paid in Ontario Thank you Speaker in response to the exemptions I wanted to point out that another measure in my bill would bring co-op students, interns and other trainees who are currently exempted under the Employment Standards Act so that they would be entitled to some basic workplace protection too many workers are exempted from the Employment Standards Act and this provision takes a small step to close those loopholes my bill is supported by students and labour law experts so I ask again will this government support my bill and end the exploitation of unpaid interns in Ontario Thank you Speaker the bill will make its way through the house like every other private member's bill but let me tell you in the last term of government before that party caused the election bill 146 was before this house which will extend coverage to co-op students we've reintroduced that now the bill 18 so it's back on the books again Speaker I want to tell you though that on average the Ministry of Labour receives just over 18,000 employment claims each year we've got 150 Employment Standards Officers who are carrying out both proactive inspections and they investigate claims on all types of violations including internships I want to also tell the people out there on TV and the people that are in the chamber if they have a concern with internships there's a hotline 1-800-531-5551 call that number we'll investigate give it a call Mr Speaker this question is for the Minister of Community and Social Services Minister the Select Committee on Developmental Services tabled its final report yesterday to the House this committee's job is to tell us about the Developmental Services System and the coordination of supports for people in our province with developmental disabilities I have met with many of these families in my writing of Kitchener Centre and I can tell you that we were very pleased to learn that this committee was restruck and that the House has now received its very important recommendations Mr Speaker there are many people who are very interested in hearing from the Minister on her views of the committee and its work so could she please share that with us Minister Thank you Mr Speaker and thank you for that question to the member for Kitchener Centre and first of all Mr Speaker I would like to acknowledge the excellent work by the members from all sides of this House on the Select Committee for Developmental Services I think it's very clear when we put partisan ideology aside and we work together in the public interest that we can come up with some very very strong recommendations and that's exactly what this committee has done and also of course I'd like to thank all the people who made submissions both in person and written submissions they were very thoughtful and clearly there is a sense of urgency in the community that we need to address the concerns now many of the issues that were raised in the report were issues of which my ministry was very well aware the Honourable Dr. Meakin did put a lot of pieces in place to address these issues including of course the $810 million over the next four Thank you Thank you Minister well it's very encouraging to hear that you and your officials welcome this report and that the recommendations are being considered now in the budget which was tabled last week you mentioned this unprecedented infusion of $10 million for developmental services and that by 2016-2017 these new funds are going to climb to over $2 billion for developmental services Mr. Speaker money alone is not enough to deal with the urgent needs and challenges that the developmentally disabled and their families have to deal with every day along with the funding could the Minister please inform this House of the actions that she is taking to continue the work and in developmental services in Ontario Thank you Minister Well thank you again to the member for the question and of course as she has explained certainly the $810 million over three years is not the whole story investments are important but our government understands that addressing the significant issues facing families are not just about more funding and so that's why I'm very pleased to announce that we will be meeting a housing task force in the very near future to recommend innovative housing solutions for a broader set of residential options for people with developmental disabilities we're also talking with staff at Developmental Services Ontario about some of the practices that they have introduced that are particularly positive I think it's worth recognizing that we do have some 18,000 adults receiving residential supports at this point in time here in Ontario and there are more than 15,000 that receive direct funding through the passport program so while we have serious issues we also need to find our best practices in this regard Thank you Thank you Mr Speaker My question is for the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport Minister Ontario used to be yours to discover but that won't be the case for much longer with your government's decision to increase the province's aviation fuel tax by 148% The National Airlines Council of Canada projects this tax increase will drive away 400,000 more air travelers and greatly impact hotels restaurants, travel agents and tour operators among others who support this industry Minister, do you have any idea how many jobs that will cost those working in the tourism industry? Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport Minister of Finance Thank you Mr Speaker I think the member opposite also recognized in order to promote tourism economic growth, the vitality of our province we must make those investments in infrastructure and investments that make us competitive they want to make certain that we have an air rail link from Union Station to the airport they want to make certain that we eliminate gridlock which is costing $6 billion annually they want to make certain that when we attract tourism we will see the province in all its glory and so doing Mr Speaker we are raising aviation tax by one penny per liter that is modest in comparison to the lion's share of taxes and services and fees that are being charged by the federal government I would recommend the member opposite talk to Lisa rate and the federal government to reduce their taxes Supplementary It's always hard for us to call Well Minister, I guess the shuffle to Buffalo will just increase You know, in 2012 British Columbia as part of its jobs plan and despite facing budget constraints actually decided to eliminate its fuel tax on international flights to attract new services and create new jobs and it has worked they have 22 airlines adding new flights out of Vancouver while injecting millions into the BC economy each new daily international flight creates between 150 and 200 new jobs and another 400 jobs are created in hotels restaurants and other businesses The proof is in the numbers Your government's proposed tax increase will threaten at least 3,000 jobs Will you commit today to stop this lead-ness tax hype until you study the full implication that the job losses will have for tourism industry So Mr Speaker, we have a comparison between Ontario versus and the Ontario airport the major one being of course Pearson International Airport compared to the other national airports around the world and Ontario continues to be more competitive than they are so we will continue to do so this hasn't changed since 1992 but when you look at the tax that we're talking about 2.7 cents versus what's being paid in London at 69 cents Mr Speaker or Paris at 54 cents New York The member from the PN Carlton is warned Finish please Chicago and even other provinces like Manitoba Ontario will still be more competitive than they are but I again the member opposite talks about balancing the budget making certain that we take the necessary steps to increase our revenue where possible to invest in those things that matter that's the balance approach that we're taking the member opposite should also be like again talk to your federal cousins who are saying to increase our revenues and take advantage of those things that we can to improve our bottom line that's exactly what we're doing to your cousins and get them to Thank you The member is taking a tightrope walk New question Member from Toronto Danforth Thank you Speaker My question to the Minister of Education Under the Education Act the Minister is required to ensure that all exceptional children in Ontario have available to them appropriate special education programs and special education services but parents of kids who require special education can find themselves fighting every day to get supports their children need too often despite the best efforts of staff our education system fails to provide appropriate assistance that these children require Will the Minister tell parents why this government is failing to ensure all schools can meet the special education needs of Ontario students Minister of Education Thank you very much Speaker and of course we are committed to making sure that special needs students all over the province are receiving special education services and in fact as the member has noted boards are actually required to provide special education services for those who are identified It might be interesting to note Speaker that actually boards go beyond in their provision of special education services actually go beyond those who have been formally identified and provide special education services for many students who haven't been formally identified simply because the teacher and the principal have identified in need in fact our records show that about a third of the students in the province who are receiving special education supports are doing so without formal identification because the principal recognizes the need. The ministry has a legal obligation to ensure that special education programs and services are available to students when and where they need them. Parents shouldn't have to fight just to get the services that they're legally entitled to and in spite of what the minister says far too many parents continue to be told that their local school boards just don't have the resources that the special education supports their children need. Will the minister tell the house exactly how many schools are currently not able to meet their legal obligations to provide these special services? Thank you Minister I'm actually very pleased to report to the legislature that if you look at our special education funding it has actually increased by 2.7 billion billion dollars so that it's up to 2.7 billion dollars this year that actually is an increase of 1 billion dollars over it was in 2002 we've had an increase of 67 percent since our government came into office in the amount of funding that we provide to school boards for special education obviously it is up to the local school board to allocate that money to provide for needs but as I have noted here in a time when enrollment is declining we have increased the funding for special education by 67 percent thank you by over 1 billion dollars thank you the member from Cambridge my question is for the minister of health and long-term care anybody here who remembers the tainted blood crisis of the 1980s understands the profound importance of maintaining the integrity of Canada's blood system as a nurse and as a parent I can really relate to this I recall the fear of getting a letter advising that our sons already fragile health was at risk because he may have received tainted blood while hospitalized in the 1980s recently extensive testing revealed that he did not suffer consequences of that life-saving blood transfusion the principle of voluntary donation is one of the pillars of that system but is being threatened in Ontario by the possibility of plasma collection sites that would pay people for their plasma citizens in my riding of Cambridge are also concerned about that could the minister through you speaker inform this house of what steps protect the integrity of Ontario's blood system thank you I want to thank the member from Cambridge for this timely important question and I was pleased yesterday to stand up in this house and introduce the safeguarding health care integrity act for its first reading and this proposed legislation combines two bills that our government brought forward this past spring one of which directly addresses concerns and these concerns have been echoed for some time by health care professionals and organizations patient advocates and ordinary Ontarians who are opposed to private for profit plasma collection I agree and our government agrees and that's why I was proud to introduce this proposed legislation I urge all members of this house to stand together against the payment for blood or plasma donations in Ontario this will build on steps that our government has already taken to protect the integrity of our public blood donation system thank you supplementary thank you minister speaker as a nurse who has been asked about the safety of our blood supply by former patients I'm pleased and relieved that the minister has reintroduced this bill and I hope that all members will support its passage the gift of blood is the gift of life and I know that we are all grateful to the thousands of Ontarians who voluntarily give blood and plasma every single year their donations help others to survive accidents surgery as well as life-threatening conditions I've seen many patients in hospitals as well as our own son recover due to the generosity of these selfless citizens Ontarians who need blood and plasma products can take comfort in the strength and the safety of our blood supply today but they also need to know that life-living blood and plasma products will be available when they need it could the minister tell this house whether this legislation if passed might negatively in fact the availability of blood and plasma products in Ontario minister well thank you Mr. Speaker and thanks again to the member from Cambridge our government takes the supply of blood plasma and plasma based products very very seriously and this proposed legislation would not reduce that supply for Ontarians in any way there's simply no need for a parallel private for-profit blood system in Canada the demand for plasma used in transfusions is actually decreasing in Canada and we are completely self-sufficient in this area for-profit clinics would likely sell their plasma that they collect for a profit on the international market to manufacture plasma products for pharmaceutical use and the quality that this plasma would even come back to Ontario Speaker for more than 15 years our blood system has been ably managed by Canadian blood services a public not-for-profit organization I remain confident in their ability to manage a national blood system that meets all of Ontarians needs thank you thank you thank you thank you members from all sides of this house and the difficulties many families have in accessing support and services for their family members living with a developmental disability one family in Dufferin Callet and recently had a terrible experience with the local developmental services office or the DSO this family has been looking after their child with a physical and developmental disability for over 30 years but because the parents own health is declining they called the DSO to update them and ask for assistance from the DSO was anything but helpful they displayed an appalling lack of empathy to my constituent going so far as to say they were lucky to receive any funding at all do you believe this is how DSO staff should be responding to families who have reached out to them for help thank you very much Mr Speaker and thank you to the member for the question in general obviously in response to the story that we have just been told I would be most distressed and my heart goes out to that family to have received that kind of response to a genuine request for help I think we need to remember however that DSOs are very new in terms of their establishment by our government they were established in 2011 with the very purpose of providing a one window so that applications by families could be made in a consistent way so that we could ensure that a single application was made and that there was consistency across the province in that way and so we are aware that there have been some growing pains we want to renew an emphasis on customer service as we go forward thank you minister for your candor I know you understand the challenges facing this sector and I believe you want to see improvements but fundamental changes need to be made at the DSOs to improve their service the select committee on developmental services made seven recommendations specifically related to improving the work of the DSOs not every recommendation involves spending more money but all of them requires leadership from you these recommendations can start making a difference immediately minister will you end the way adopt the select committee's recommendations and improve customer service at DSO offices across Ontario thank you Mr. Speaker and quite clearly we put a plan in place outlined in the budget to invest some $810 million over three years this is going to have a dramatic impact on those needing developmental services it will provide direct funding for some 21,000 people support more than 4,200 people as they navigate key life transitions such as going to post secondary school or getting a job they will provide support for approximately 1,400 people with urgent residential needs they will promote community living partnerships through expanded host family and supported independent living programs this is our plan this is introduced not only May the 1st but reintroduced there's a chance at redemption for the opposition parties to stand with us and vote for the budget the member from Oshawa wins or west wins or west thank you speaker my question is the minister of transportation in late April the government announced plans to expand the high speed rail line that would run from Toronto to London in Windsor many of us wondered why we had been left out of the new plans since we had been included in earlier plans well a couple weeks later the election was called and the liberal candidate in Windsor west who was also a cabinet minister suddenly promised that the province would expand high speed rail to Windsor after all now with the election over the government seems to have forgotten its promise to the people of Windsor and talks only of a line from Toronto to London not to Windsor Mr. Speaker I would like a yes or no answer when the government says it will open a high speed rail line within 10 years does this line include Windsor thank you very much Mr. Speaker and I want to thank the member from Windsor for this question I don't recall if this is the first opportunity that I've had to respond to a question from this new member but I do appreciate hearing this issue that I know is very very important to not only her community but also communities like London Kitchener and Toronto of course I think it's important to recognize Speaker that in order for us to accomplish achieving this kind of ambitious plan that we have for transit and for transportation that it is important to recognize that we can only accomplish that if we have support for the budget that's before the house this week Speaker the 29 billion dollars that are included for transportation and transit infrastructure are crucial to making sure that not only do we deal with high speed rail for communities like Kitchener like London and potentially for Windsor as well but it's also important to make sure that we keep the province moving forward part of that 29 billion dollars Speaker is roughly 14 billion dollars for communities that fall outside the GTHA we are in the we are in the process the ministry is in the process of working to complete the business case and launch the EA Speaker I look forward to talking to this member and others about how we can move forward with our plan to benefit our community and all other communities across southwestern Ontario Windsor voters Windsor voters were promised high speed rail by this government not another study it was right there in big letters on their candidates billboards but clearly the government has no intention of including Windsor in its 10 year high speed rail plan in fact it's hard to believe the government is serious about high speed rail at all it is mentioned nowhere in the government's budget and the government refuses to release the study that supposedly shows that it can open this line in less than 10 years from now at an unbelievable net cost of just 500 million dollars will the government finally admit that high speed rail is nothing more than an empty election promise Thank you very much Mr. Speaker and I thank the member from Windsor for that supplementary question I don't want to be presumptuous speaker and from my particular vantage point talk about what the people of Windsor may or may not have voted for but my guess is speaker the people of Windsor like people in London and Kitchener and Toronto and my riding of Vaughan speaker I'm pretty sure those people voted for the very thoughtful and ambitious plan that we have as a government that's laid out on our platform it's laid out on our budget it's also really important to recognize speaker that the high speed rail project and this is a project that the Ministry of Transportation is working hard to finalize the business case for and then launch the EA and get on with that work that project over the next 10 years speaker will create tens of thousands of jobs and has the potential speaker especially if we have the cooperation and the hard work and the opportunity to work with members on all sides of the house it will also help re-energize the entire south western economy I call on that member to support our budget so we can get on with these very important projects Thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the Minister for Francophone Affairs the Honourable Madeleine Meier on July 10 the French Language Services Commissioner table is annual report in this report it's important it's a first report as an officer of the legislature Mr. Speaker the Minister responsible for Francophone Affairs what is the question from the government thank you the Minister thank you I would like to thank the member for Etobicoke now for his question our government is very proud of having tabled bill making the Commissioner an independent officer I want to thank the opposition parties that supported the bill in particular the member from Nipian Carton Nicobel the bill has four recommendations and to this year the Commissioner raised some important concerns and we will study the recommendations and we'll forward to improve French Language Services for Francophone Communities thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you to the Minister responsible for Francophone Affairs and also our dedicated cheese Francophone and Francophone community as myself I'm a Francophone for more than 10 years the Minister responsible for Francophone Affairs mentioned justice in French Mr. Speaker is for the Attorney Channel and Commissioner congratulated the government for improving service in many areas including justice Mr. Speaker Attorney Channel can she give us some indication of what we have accomplished in the justice field thank you again for the Minister and our government wants to improve access to French Language Services in the justice field and Attorney Channel that was my predecessor created a committee that gave some recommendations and so those are being studied and will be implemented and will be development of French Language Services and each year people involved in the field and in the Ministry need to develop what are the priorities and this committee received an honorable mention in the report by Mr. Boileau we are studying the feasibility of a pilot project to improve access to service thank you Mr. Speaker Thank you Mr. Speaker my question is the Minister of Transportation Minister the village of Berks Falls by riding the Paris Salmon Scope is facing a serious challenge since your government ended the connecting links program in 2013 they've had to take on the cost repairs to the Armstrong Bridge that serves as a main artery through the village the work needs to be done soon and its estimated cost well over a million dollars area residents seasonal residents rely on the route to access Provincial Highway 520 that connects to the village of Magnetoan Ceceb Lake, Omic Lake and Provincial Highway 124 the Armstrong Bridge is a connecting link in every sense of the term Minister what is being done by your government to support small municipalities who now face massive infrastructure costs with the ending of the connecting links program Thank you Mr. Transportation Thanks very much Mr. Speaker and I want to thank the member from Paris Salmon Scope for that question this is the first opportunity that I've had to hear specifically about this let's call it unique thing that's taking place in his riding in that particular community and I'm happy to offer the opportunity for the member opposite to have a longer conversation with me about the particular issues that are affecting this community I think it is also interesting to note speaker that as we've heard since coming back to this legislature post the election from the party opposite repeatedly that they feel very compelled that the most important thing for this government to do is to cut into slash and to do everything we can to tear Ontario down that from time to time including today we hear members like this member opposite stand up and ask a question on behalf of their community that calls on us to actually make investment speaker that does a bit of a discordant note on that side of the legislature about what the most important thing is I am happy to talk to the member offline about what's taking place in this community but this is why speaker fundamentally it's so important for us to support the investments we want to make to build all of Ontario up thanks very much Mr. Speaker again Minister of Transportation Minister the municipality has done their due diligence over the past year they've met with regional MTO officials and have been seeking alternate avenues for funding Berks Falls annual tax levy is under $1 million and they're already undertaking major upgrades in the municipal water system they have to rebuild another bridge the young street bridge and they have to rebuild their water tower in 2016 Councillors are worried that the unexpected cost of looking after the Armstrong Bridge would bankrupt the village so my question Minister will you work with Berks Falls Council to help them with the challenge of maintaining the Armstrong Bridge thanks very much speaker I thank the member opposite for the supplementary as I said in my opening answer I'd be happy to work with that member and people in his community to do what we can but most importantly speaker it's important to recognize that the budget that we've introduced in this legislature the budget that we campaigned on that formed the basis of our election platform makes permanent an infrastructure fund that will help alleviate the burden that many municipalities are facing and I know that colleagues on this side of the house like the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and I probably messed up a little bit of that name but also the Minister responsible for infrastructure will work very hard to make sure that we can make the investments in communities across the province of course I'd be happy to talk to this member about what's taking place in his community but again I want to say speaker this is why it's important for us to have a plan moving forward that invests in communities across this province and they should support our budget Thank you My question is to the Minister of Health I have a constituent Mr. Richard who lives in Timmins who suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease but the only drug that he's able to take in order to give him quality of life and keep him outside of the hospital is excellent the problem is at the time that he was prescribed this drug it can only be applied and given in a clinic and it happens to be that it's in the city of Toronto he has been refused his travel grants my question to you is are you prepared to review this case in order to approve the travel grants for his treatment he was not able to get in the city of Timmins Thank you Mr. Speaker and I appreciate the questions from the member opposite I'd be happy to sit down with you and also to review the case with my ministry officials to see what is the best approach obviously to take in this particular case I won't speak any more in terms of the details but I certainly commit to working with to find a resolution to it and it is important to emphasize Mr. Speaker that cases such as these emphasize the importance of us having a drug program which is fair and equitable to all Ontarians and that we continue to invest as we do I think over four billion dollars annually is invested in our drug programs there are particular incidents that come up from time to time I'm happy as the minister responsible to look into this case personally and just ensure that in fact it is meeting the criteria of being handled in a fair and equitable way Thank you Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Save by a second Listen I appreciate I appreciate that the I appreciate that the minister is willing to look into it but I just want to be clear Acceler is covered by the Trillium Drug Program and in fact had to go after it in order to be able to after them in order to get it approved the issue is that it can only be given in these particular clinics that are actually not approved clinics by the province of Ontario there's no such clinic available in Ontario it's only in Timmins it's only in Toronto so I appreciate that you're prepared to look at it and I look forward to a resolution to this so that he can actually have his travel grants played because otherwise it will have a much higher cost than the actual treatment would cost Thank you minister Thank you Mr. Speaker I appreciate the additional details we'll follow up directly Thank you Member from Scarborough Rouge River on a point of order Thank you Mr. Speaker and Mr. Speaker I hope you would allow my indulgence that I would like to recognize two of my guests that are in the west gallery they're long time residents of my riding of Scarborough Rouge River and very close friends Mr. Joseph Sheehan and his wife Ying Sheehan they're here to observe the proceedings of the legislature Member from Bramley Gore Moulton on a point of order Thank you very much Mr. Speaker for your indulgence and I ask all members of the House to join me in welcoming dear friends of mine from the riding Surjeet Singh as well as Jaswinder Singh Badisha and the brother of three brothers who are very influential business people in the community and great supporters of mine Harjeet Singh Badisha and Harpal Singh Badisha and as well as members of the Canadians Inc. Association Thank you so much for welcoming me Minister of the University on a point of order Thank you Mr. Speaker Please join me in welcoming my fourth intern Tanvir Jomohama sitting at the members gallery over there Thank you Mr. Speaker Thank you Mr. Speaker On a point of order I ask all members to help me welcome my legislative assistant Ms. Tanya Kuzman and Mr. Nick Bulatovich who is an exemplary young activist in Etobicoke Lakeshore and a great volunteer Thank you I'm sure all of you will appreciate that absolutely none of those were point of order but we do welcome our guests all the time there being no deferred votes this House stands recessed until this afternoon almost forgot