 are completed therefore it is time for question period Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition Leader. Mr. Speaker my question is for the acting premier. Despite the fact that natural gas accounts for 76% of heating in Ontario we learned that the Liberals climate change plan will apparently phase out the use of natural gas. By converting a home from natural gas to electricity it would cost about $4,500. That's in addition to the $3,000 a year more that it'll cost to use electricity over natural gas. An article in the financial post said the ban on natural gas means Ontarians will either soon end up a lot colder or a lot poorer. Mr. Speaker to the acting premier which is it is this government making families and seniors a lot colder or impoverished. The opposition never fails to disappoint when it comes to actually inventing our policy speaker. In fact despite what the opposition says we are not we are not forcing anyone off natural gas. What we are doing is looking for ways to help homeowners save money and reduce. Deputy Premier. In fact speaker we've announced $230 million to expand natural gas for northern and rural communities and we've announced $100 million to help owners who use natural gas oil and propane to upgrade their homes, reduce their energy bills and cut pollution speaker. This this leader claims that he cares about the planet. I don't think he does. Speaker it appears like the acting premier hasn't seen the work in the House of the Minister of the Environment or the premier on their climate change plan because since the Liberals took power on terra-hydrates have gone up 325 percent. Unbelievable that's three times the cost of any other good or serve. So naturally the liberal solution to this problem is to force 76% of families and businesses that use more affordable natural gas to convert to electric heating. That's going to cost the average family $4,500 to make the switch and $3,000 a year to heat their home there after that every single year. Mr. Speaker how does a liberal party how does this government believe families can afford to pay another $3,000 a year. It's ridiculous. I can stand for an hour. Minister. Thank You Mr. Speaker. We are not banning natural gas. As a matter of fact you'll continue to see more more natural gas efficient heating cooling systems and the deputy premier just outlined. Mr. Speaker it's interesting the the lack of understanding the member for rent for a simple order. Just in case he didn't hear and he's now doing it again the member from rent who come to order and that'll get you another one if it continues. Finish please. The expanding natural gases in areas like trucking as well where it's a lower carbon fuel relative to that. But Mr. Speaker one of the other things we'll be doing and this is company in the leader of the opposition's own constituency there's a company called Royal Park Home who are building net zero buildings that cost almost nothing. This talk about increased cost is absolutely nonsense. As a matter of fact they have thank you final supplementary. Mr. Speaker back to the acting premier. It's bad enough the acting premier hasn't read the government's climate change plan but it appears like the minister of the environment has forgot about his own speeches and hasn't read his own plan because the government's plan to phase out natural gas is foolish. This government has spent billions building and moving natural gas power plants. They spent millions expanding natural gas to rural municipalities and have promised to spend millions more. The Liberals want bus fleets to switch to natural gas and then they come up with a plan to take natural gas out of homes. As the minister of energy would say the Liberals are all over the map. Mr. Speaker why are they taking the choice away from households. Mr. Speaker why won't houses be able to heat with natural gas when this liberal government has spent years investing millions. Minister thank you Mr. Speaker. Member from Leeds Grandville come to order. I would like to invite the member for the leader of the opposition and maybe he can join me and the member for Barry and we will take him to Royal Park Homes. We'll go to London and we'll introduce him to Sifton Homes or right here in Toronto we can go out to Mibico on the go and you can see what the other technologies are that we're going to help in sense that will appear. We're we're getting close to warnings and I'll convert to warnings if I sit down and I hear a peep we're going to warnings. Finish please. So the member doesn't seem to wear that in his own constituency in his neighbor's constituents we have some of the leading low-carbon post that's some of the more cogent there is a whole range of technologies as they're in the auto sector we're not taking natural gas heating away from anyone when people come to replace our systems they'll be able to. New question the member from Nipissing. Thank you and good morning my question is for the Minister of Finance this morning the financial accountability officer confirmed what we here have been saying for months this government is using one-time money from the sale of assets contingency funds and tax increases to try to balance their budget yet the FAO says they'll still come up short in 2017-18 and he forecasts a 600 million dollar deficit he says this will grow as large as 3.5 billion dollars by 2020 if economic growth changes even slightly when asked about whether this government is properly balancing the risks the FAO said quote we don't believe this fiscal plan does speaker will the minister finally admit there's a structural deficit in Ontario thank you Mr. Speaker I'd like to begin by thanking the financial accountability officer for his report we collaborated with the financial accountability officer and his forecasts and recommendations and the risks that he highlights is appropriate and we're mindful of them is why we take the actions and the prudent measures that we've achieved and mr. Speaker I quote and he says that the government has the ability and is able to balance its deficit and the government is doing just that in 2017-18 and the year after that and on this side of the house we're committed to balancing the books and ensuring that we grow the economy and create more jobs he goes on to say that and I quote Ontario's economy will outperform the rest of Canada in 2016 he says over the next several years most economic forecasters including the FAO expect Ontario economy will grow at a solid pace supported by strong gains and exports and business investments mr. Speaker we're taking the necessary actions we are growing the economy we're balancing the books next year and the year after that thank you a speaker back to the minister I'm surprised he suggested they collaborated speaker the FAO says they were blocked with quote cabinet confidentiality at every turn the FAO was clear quote this fiscal plan is not evenly balanced quote most risk is on the downside he also said he has quote serial disappointment in the government's projections speaker their forecasts have missed the targets in each of the past five years order that means without selling assets they won't meet revenue targets speaker after 2018-19 the FAO projects a deterioration in the province's budget balance without with a deficit of 1.7 billion dollars by 2020 that's in his report speaker he also forecast net that will continue to skyrocket with 54 billion added so my question is will the minister admit the government waste scandal and mismanagement is hurting Ontario thank you mr. Speaker in addition to the FAO who use outside external support to establish his his forecast I also know that the credibility of 2016 budget is on fiscal plan in fact Moody's recently upgraded Ontario's credit rating outlook based on our government's economic and fiscal plan and the conference board of Canada indicated that a balanced budget 2017 2018 is in reach furthermore the very the very proposals being put forward by the FAO is appropriate in terms of providing some sensitivity around those potential risks which we as a government have always been addressing it is why for the seventh year in a row mr. Speaker we're outperforming achieving better results than previously anticipated and serving with lower revenues mr. Speaker and the appropriate prudence that the member opposite talks about in regards to contingencies is appropriate and the FAO made that very clear today back to the ministry yes the FAO confirmed again speaker that they'll only balance by selling assets he also reported that the government is on track to continue starving our health care system while we're seeing nurses fired regularly the FAO says cost factors mean they should be increasing health care spending 5.2 percent average per year yet they're capping it at 1.8 percent speaker he told us that is not realistic this government was told how their waste mismanagement and scandal would crowd out critical spending and now the FAO this morning confirmed that indeed has happened just how many more nurses will this government have to fire how many more hospital rooms will this government have to close to balance their budget so mr. Speaker the member opposite has just reinforced the very nature of the transformations that are being necessary to be included in our plan without sacrificing those very essential services in health care and education it is why we are increasing health care by an additional billion dollars more mr. Speaker it is why we are supporting more education including free tuition for our most vulnerable students it is why we're investing more than 12 billion dollars more in capital for creating new hospitals and it is why the FAO has stated that those are prudent measures measures that are offsetting and mitigating the risk the FAO highlights the fact that prudence is included in our budget the member opposite knows that fully well and if he doesn't that's because he doesn't understand mr. Speaker thank you mr. Speaker my question is to the deputy premier the liberal government has spent the last week insisting that overcrowded hospitals aren't a problem and apparently that's why liberals don't think they think they don't need any standards with respect to occupancy but even though liberals won't admit it their own numbers prove it that hospitals across Ontario are stretched beyond their limits and it's not just acute beds that are being affected mr. Speaker it's mental health beds as well will the deputy premier admit that liberal cuts mean that hunt mental health beds across Ontario are filled to over a hundred percent capacity long-term care come to a year after year across this province thank you deputy premier I do want to make it clear that we are very much aware of the challenges our hospitals are facing the difference though between the position of the NDP and the position of the government is that the solution to that is in their case they argue building more hospital beds our solution is build more beds where they are necessary but wherever possible when people are ready to leave the hospital provide the supports for them outside the hospital in the community or in their home speaker that is the focus of the transformation that is underway in in our health care system across the province it's what patients want it's what's right for the health care system speaker I do not understand why the third party is fixated on a model of care that does not meet the needs are too many families in this province know how hard it is how difficult it is to get mental health support services when you really need it and now the government's own record proves that mental health beds are stretched beyond their limit across this province London health sciences has been running at over 100% capacity for more than two and a half years Thunder Bay regional has been has spent the last two years filled beyond capacity and Sue area hospital has also most recently reached more than 107% capacity how can the acting premier defend even more liberal cuts when mental health beds are stretched to such capacity are over capacity and so massively overcrowded across the province there are no cuts to health care in fact we are increasing spending by one billion dollars in the budget that we passed that they voted against speaker and mental health care is a significant part of the increase in health care spending because we are all very very acutely aware of the of the order of investing in appropriate mental health services speaker and we have actually put our money where our mouth is we know that one in five Ontarians is going to experience a mental health illness speaker and we have a strong a strong record of investing in mental health services and addictions since 2003 answer by half a billion dollars and every year we're spending three billion dollars on mental health and addiction services it isn't just London Thunder Bay or Susie Marie that are facing this mental health crisis mental health beds in Ottawa St Catherine's Burlington are all filled beyond capacity Mr. Speaker hospitals in Kitchener Oshawa Whitby and North Bay have also reached their limits when hospitals are overcrowded it takes even longer for for folks who need mental health supports to get the care that they so desperately need Mr. Speaker that's what happens when you freeze hospital budgets when you lay off front line care providers and when you close beds in hospitals when will this government stop cutting hospital services Speaker once again it's not just about hospitals they are very important part of our health care system but when people are ready to leave hospitals there has to be a place for them to go that is safe and that will keep them well Speaker which is why we're focusing on increasing the number of supportive housing units we have committed to building a thousand more supportive housing units 248 of them speaker in this year alone so we are focusing on getting people the care they need in the right place that is what what our position on health care is understand the needs of patients build the capacity where the need is the greatest and don't keep people in hospital longer than they need to be in hospital thank you thank you Mr. Speaker again thank you sir it's again to the deputy premier the premier was has tweeted and i quote we can't ignore mental health but the trouble is mr. Speaker that's exactly what this premier and this government are doing liberal cuts mean that mental health beds across Ontario are overcrowded and this this liberal government just keeps on cutting services laying off workers and making it harder for families to access the mental health support that they need it begs the question why does this government have no standards or policy with respect to overcrowding so that people who need patients who need the mental health services can actually access those mental services you know speaker we have listened over and over and over again to allegations that we are cutting health care that is patently false and i urge the third party to really think long and hard about whether they want to stand up day after day and make a statement that simply is not true we are investing more in health care speaker we are investing more mental health is a priority area for our new investments in health care so i think that people of this province actually expect people from all sides of this house to base their arguments on the facts when they talk about cuts speaker they are simply not reflecting the accurate situation in this province thank you so much thank you very much mr. Speaker fixing mental health services means funding hospitals properly it means ensuring that when someone needs care they can actually access the care and that should be a policy the government should implement but the crisis of overcrowding and hospitals won't be fixed by a handful of feel-good tweets or liberal talking points and it certainly won't be fixed with another year of cuts to hospital services deputy house leaders second time online health care workers will the deputy premier look at the government's own numbers and and realize and admit that there's a crisis in Ontario's mental health services and stop cutting hospital services in this province we on this side of the house have really focused on improving the system of mental health care i think all of us would agree that the system that we inherited was a pretty disjointed system that did not serve the people of this province very well that's why we created the comprehensive addictions in mental health strategy to support ontarians from childhood into old age with the right supports at the right time and in the right place speaker the first phase of the plan is to increase funding by 220 million dollars over three years to our mental health and addictions agencies that is not a cut that's 220 million dollars more the first three years of the strategy focused on children and i'm very happy to report that an additional 50 000 children have received support addiction and mental health services as a result of our increased investments in mental health thank you final supplementary thank you very much miss speaker there is a silent crisis in health care in this province patients know it families know it and new democrats are determined to fix it liberal cuts have overcrowded our mental health beds in this province and the liberal government literally has no plan to deal with it instead their plan is to implement more cuts to lay off more frontline care providers and to close more beds people deserve mental health services when and where they need it and ontarians deserve a government that shares this priority when will the government stop ignoring the facts stop ignoring the overcrowding in mental health hospital beds across this province and stop the cuts to ontario hospitals thank you thank you very much miss speaker i don't know how many times i have to say it maybe we should send a copy of the budget over so that the third party actually understands our increasing investments in our health care system in stark contrast i might say to the 300 beds mental health beds that they closed when they were in office in community mental health are making a difference and we see that in our communities and i urge members from all parties to actually understand what's happening in their communities to improve access to services with mental health challenges and with addiction speaker thank you new question the member from much the speaker my question is to the minister of education the auditor general earlier this morning confirmed that the liberal government paid over 19 million dollars in secret payouts to education stakeholders above and beyond contract negotiation transfer payments and even the 600 000 dollars at the chariton hotel 22 million dollars of that speaker was undocumented the liberals took this money out of classrooms intended for students and i want to quote from the auditor general we found very little evidence of governments paying education sector unions for significant bargaining costs anywhere else in canada accordingly ontario is an outlier with respect to the use of taxpayer funds mr speaker this practice only stopped when the government got caught they have admitted this was wrong and that the money came from the classroom how does the minister of education justify taking 90 million dollars out of the classroom it was intended for students first of all i absolutely reject the nerve the issue that it was taken out of classrooms it was not taken out of classroom money it was taken out of what's called education program other which is used for funding professional development so it was not taken out of classrooms totally incorrect interpretation what i will say is that we have a long-standing practice in ontario of working with all our partners we actually believe that when it comes to professional development that it's most effective if everybody is part of it we fund school boards for professional development we fund the director's organization answer we fund teacher organizations we fund subject organizations faculties of educations and yes thank you teachers union perhaps the minister would like to read the report as i did and she would understand that her interpretation of the auditor's report is wrong it came directly from the elementary and secondary school education development fund meaning it came from grants for needs of students exactly where that came from liberals are now closing provincial and demonstration schools they're kicking kids off the autism waitlist as we saw yesterday they're closing rural schools including urban schools because my daughter's school might be on the block mr speaker 38 school boards had to cut their student special education funding to the tomb of guess what 22 million dollars parents are forced to fundraise in winzer for basic needs including school repairs so i'll go back generously ask the government the education minister for a second chance at responding to me why is this government crossing kids to sit in portables with their jackets on all winter at the same time that they are sending 90 million dollars almost undocumented start the clock the reminder for everyone you speak to the chair minister yes thank you chair and of course the money did not come from the grant for student needs the grant for student needs is a regulation which very clearly lays out the calculation for money to go to school boards and we follow that regulation always but let me call you mr speaker what the organization for economic cooperation and development had to say about professional development in ontario the oecd it said and i quote the ontario experience suggests instead that by treating teachers as professionals and including them at the table they were able that's ontario was able to considerable goodwill a critical resource for long-term and sustainable answer please the ontario government was able to direct that energy towards win win issues like providing more professional development time ultimately the ontario government created a system thank you thank you new question the member from hamilton mountain thank you speaker my question is to the minister of children new services yesterday member after member from the opposition benches got up and told heartbreaking stories of the impact of this government's plan to kick children over the age of five out of ibi therapy parents sat in the chamber sobbing while liberal members sat with their blackberries smiling turning their backs to debate order which question please speaker this government continues to be truly disrespectful to the parents of this province you can't claim to care deeply about the stories parents are telling you if you don't even give the respect to listen to them have to leave this legislature in tears before this government starts to listen well speaker where to start with this first of all i admire and respect all the members who were here in the legislature yesterday when the families and groups were here whether that was question period whether it was the three hours in the afternoon for the opposition debate i think all members paid attention and uh listened to the debate with interest we're very mindful of the families who are here you know i worry speaker i worry about this critic talking in a way that's not factual saying that we're taking kids you have one sentence rapid thank you i asked all members of the house to stick to the facts i asked them not to use language like kicking kids out of therapy that is not what we're doing speaker we're investing in kids we're creating a better program before i start the clock i would make a comment to the members of this chamber if at any time that this assembly decides that they have lack of confidence in the chair then put a motion forward and have a non-confidence vote in the chair supplementary speaker yesterday in debate the minister tried to make it seem like these changes wouldn't have devastating impacts by saying quote the transition though difficult will not affect most families end of quote speaker that's an unacceptable argument no child should be left behind every child matters you can't you can't the group of kids already who were deemed eligible for ebi simply because they've turned five it's unjust it's inequitable and it's not their government think that children with thank you minister thank you speaker well i think you know if you put my remarks from yesterday in context what i was trying to focus on is there is a group there's a group of the 40 000 children with autism in this process who are going to be experienced the biggest changes through this new program and it's important speaker that we support them individually on a case-by-case basis and that's what i was talking about yesterday we agree that autism doesn't end at five speaker and in the new program all children with a diagnosis including those children five and over will get better service they'll get it sooner and it'll be customized to meet their individual needs including those children who need more intensive therapies water please this is a continuum of care speaker we're moving towards we want to make sure that all children get the right support at the right time sir the member from hamilton mountain from the order on clinical advice and assessments and that's exactly what i'm thinking thank you well thank you speaker mr speaker my question is the minister of agriculture food and rural affairs minister there's been questions raised about the future of natural gas in the province following discussions about the upcoming climate change action plan consumers and businesses are hearing from media reports and the opposition that they will be forced off natural gas into heating their homes with electricity minister the 2016 provincial budget committed to expanding natural gas to communities across ontario including communities in rural ontario not only as natural gas traditionally being a very cost effective option for home meeting it is very important to rural ontarian is used for many industrial and commercial agricultural activities minister can you please clarify for the members of the south in all ontarians what this government plan for natural gas is a great question thank you thank you very much mr speaker i want to thank the member for north upper equity west for this important question who's a champion for concerns right across all of rural ontario let me be clear our government knows our government knows how much our prior natural gases for rural ontario despite what the opposition or anybody else is saying we're not forcing anyone off natural gas there will be there will not be climate change police in the province of ontario seizing natural gas first or fire that's a false statement that people on this side are making it is wrong mr speaker it's silly we are not abandoning or reducing our investments in this area in fact as the member knows he mentioned our government's commitment to expanding natural gas including our 200 million dollar natural gas access local to be launched this year and another 30 million wrap up please mr speaker another 30 million will go towards the natural gas economic development grant to extend natural gas to rural communities this government is committed to expanding natural thank you supplementary thank you speaker mr speak thank you to the minister for that answer i appreciate the minister providing clarification on this issue on this side of the house our government is taking positive steps to combat climate change by curbing our greenhouse gas emission and investing in renewable energy now as we look to the future and envision what is next we have to think critically of what the major source of greenhouse gas emissions are in this province building in ontario accounted for 19 percent of our province's greenhouse gas emission in 2013 our third largest source of emission the good news is the building sectors also hold the most potential for delivering significant and cost effective greenhouse gas emission reduction and will play a key role in providing transformation to the low carbon economy mr speaker can the ministers please inform the house question on the specific role the natural gas will play in helping in the transition great question thank you to my colleague the minister of the environment climate change i'm not going to be able to match the elo the eloquence of the minister of agricultural affairs food but mr speaker we we continue to uh we we continue to see a critical role in the energy mix for natural gas mr speaker including in trucking in other areas that's why this past february mr speaker as you would know our government announced 100 million dollar partnership with embridge and eating gas as part of the down payment on cap and trade mr speaker we will be presenting a plan that will benefit customers lower costs for household and businesses to a recharge emissions targets mr speaker and finally i can say with confidence that natural gas will have an important role in that process and we will also continue to invest in fossil free technologies that consumers choose to purchase as well answer this is a good news story thank you my question is to the minister of youth services the minister and her colleagues ignored experts in thousands of parents when they voted down our motion to restore ibi therapy for children over the age of five the raptors weren't the only thing lighting up twitter last night there were hundreds of tweets by parents and individuals that are disappointed no disgusted with yesterday's vote one individual wrote the minister stating explain to me how your side's empty when it's time to listen and full when it's time to vote another wrote disgusted with the interior liberals tonight they had an opportunity to do the right thing and voted not to these people won't give up we won't give up i ask again will the minister reverse her decision and allow children over the age of five access to ibi therapy you've seen it please thank you minister well speaker i don't think i have to tell my other critic here what i think shardy knows is that members of this legislature participate on committees and have other responsibilities so not everybody from any parties in the house at all times if that's what she's suggesting i think that's outrageous but speaker speaker we do listen to parents we do listen to families and you know what speaker when all members of this legislature were speaking yesterday i was listening i was taking notes particularly the stories of families because it helps inform the direction we're going it helps inform the implementation of the new program so i appreciated the participation of all members in the house yesterday and uh you know speaker i'll say once again this is an historic investment of three hundred and thirty three million dollars on top of a hundred and ninety million dollars and sixteen thousand new spaces we want this to work for all children who require autism support service at the right time at the right thank you supplementary the minister doesn't seem to understand the impact this decision is having on families here's some facts for you it means kelly mcdall's daughter come to order supplementary these are not my stories these are stories from families ibi therapy where she can now tell her parents that she loves them will never be able to complete her therapy it means megan steven's son who has been told he is a perfect candidate for ibi therapy will never experience that impact this life changing therapy has it's time for the minister to do come to order and reverse her decision so each child in our province can become the best they can be thank you you see that please thank you minister comment speaker like children will never get a certain therapy it sounds like the case the members talking about is a child who is in ibi therapy they'll continue to get ibi therapy and they will be assessed by a clinician and then the plan of action for that child will be determined going forward let's not forget speaker let's not forget that's her party and her leader that voted against this new investment in autism access yesterday would keep kids on weightless longer that's unacceptable we cannot have kids on weightless for the length of time they've been there now drawing to five years speaker the new program recognizes that there is no wage cutoff for services going forward that there's a continuum of care required that children will get the right support member from duffin call it in from the order clinical assessment not mistake absolutely thank you thank you the question remember from kitchen or watered it thank you speaker my question is to the acting premier today's FAO report is unequivocal in its findings the government plans to reduce program spending is happening across most areas plan spending growth in health and education for example is about half the rate it should be in order to keep up with population growth and other cost pressures according to the report this means that program expenses would need to be four billion dollars higher by 2018 and 19 compared to what was written in the 2016 budget mind you this is only if the status quo remains and ontarians ontarians know that the quality of public services under this liberal government only continues to decline my question how long are ontarians expected to go without minister of finance thank you mr. speaker i appreciate the question i also appreciate and as i've mentioned the work done by the FAO in this regard recognizing how important it is for us to take note of the fact that the the structures in place the status quo must be amended without sacrificing the very services that are important to ontarians like health care and education it's one of the reasons we're investing much more in health care a billion dollars alone this year as well as 12 billion over the next 10 years to support new hospitals and new uh new hospice cares and new services for for the people of ontario when it comes to health care the FAO also makes reference to the fact that we are coming to balance he also notes some of the risks that are involved that we must address and we are doing just that it's also why we've built in quite a bit of prudence into the system but the member opposite is asking a very important question a question being can we stay the way we are or must we make the appropriate changes to improve our services while being mindful of the taxpayers we proceed forward and balancing the both at the same time uh mr speaker you know this government likes to congratulate itself on having the lowest program spending per person in the country but ontarians know what that means they are living a painful liberal reality in ontario they know it means less money for health care our hospitals are already overcrowded as we've heard it means less money for education kids with special needs are already not getting the supports they need and more money is spent cleaning up liberal mistakes all in all it simply means less money for the things that ontarians depend on the people that we're supposed to be working for the people that we are elected to serve my question is simple when will this liberal government put the needs of ontarians first mr speaker i'm very proud in the side of the house that we haven't putting ontarians needs first every budget we've presented that i've had the budget i must admit i have to ask the member opposite this very question on page nine of her platform they promise to make 600 million dollars in unspecified cuts every year this member opposite stood in that and said that the way to find the savings the way to make those cuts is in health care by our own admission we're not doing that on this side of the house mr speaker we're investing more than health care we're providing for the people of ontaria mr speaker and my question is for the minister of aboriginal affairs i understand that last week the minister was invited to be part of the canadian delegation to the 15th session of the united nation's permanent forum on indigenous issues and i know that our government is committed to working with the federal government on issues of shared priority and concern it's great to see that ontario was asked to stand with canada on the world stage at this important forum can the minister please tell us more about his participation in the united nation's permanent forum on indigenous issues thank you thank you speaker and thank you for that question it was a great honor to join my federal counterpart minister carillon bennett ontario first nation leadership matey leadership and inuit leaders and more than 1 000 other indigenous participants from across the world at the united nations for this forum the overarching theme of this year's session was conflict peace and resolution leading to a very productive discussion on issues related to lands territories resources rights and distinct identities it was a pleasure to have the opportunity to further join minister bennett in a forum discussion entitled empowering indigenous women with various delegations from australia and new zealand speaker it was clear that on that canada now has a voice on the world stage when it comes to indigenous issues and i'm proud that ontario was able to be a part of that delegation i'm proud that canada is back on the international stage thank you thank you very much mr speaker and thank you very much to the minister for the update on his participation at the united nations it was also good to hear that he was invited to take care take part in the panel on empowering indigenous women and his exposure to the experiences of indigenous women in other countries and governments will be important in our own long-term strategy to end violence against indigenous women i also understand that while at the un the minister's federal counterpart also announced that canada would be removing its permanent objector status from the united nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples speaker through you to the minister could he please tell us more about the lessons learned from his trip to bet that will benefit the work of our government thank you very much thank you minister thank you speaker speaker as an as ontario moves forward on the implementation of our long-term strategy and our response to the truth and reconciliation commission it is important to consider the lessons we can learn from the experience and successes of other countries it was an honor again to join canada for the empowering indigenous women roundtable to hear the perspectives of other countries in addressing this very important issue and i thank minister bennett for this opportunity it was great to hear a very good news story that the federal government is reversing its stance on the united nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples our government is committed to working with our indigenous partners as we follow the federal government's leadership in developing a national plan for the implementation of the united nations declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples thank you new question the member from first wellington thank you speaker my question is for the minister of energy it concerns the future of natural gas which this government seems intent to eliminate my question is this why isn't the minister speaking up for affordable energy and whose side is he taking is it the minister of economic development who wrote my ministry heard of the importance of natural gas in particular we heard that remote communities face large expansion costs due to access to access the resource or is it the minister of the environment who said home heating is the future in the future is going to have to come from sources other than natural gas thank you minister of energy speaker i'm happy to speak to the member particularly the fact that he has rural constituents mr speaker he will know that we have taken some very significant steps to to mitigate mr speaker the costs in the rural areas we do that mr speaker by having a policy of expanding natural gas into rural communities we're doing it through the ontario energy board speaker we've changed the regulations to allow a longer period of time mr speaker to recoup the capital we have the loan program for rural natural gas expansion we have a loan program on the grant program for rural areas mr speaker and we are taking all kinds of steps hydro one mr speaker has a new program for heat pumps mr speaker which can be installed in rural residences that will take between eight hundred and fifteen hundred dollars off the electricity bills every year we are working for the rural community when it comes to thank you speaker speaker back in february i wrote to the government about the need for natural gas access in milverton which i represent i've seen responses from the premier the minister of economic development and the oeb but not the minister minister of energy now we know that liberals are planning a seven billion dollar climate plan which threatens to throw up new barriers to natural gas in rural ontario unbelievably it proposes to ban natural gas from all homes and small buildings built in 20 30 or later it's yet another liberal policy dreamed up with zero thought to rural ontario will the minister stand with the people of perth east and support the township's position on natural gas or will he stand with his out of control colleague the minister of the environment and i was trying to listen to the question when the member from renfrew took me off my listening invite the member to inform himself as to what's happening at the Ontario energy board mr speaker he may not be aware of the fact that union gas has an application before the ontario energy board the hearings are in process mr speaker to expand natural gas and union gas is also working with 18 or 19 other rural communities mr speaker to make similar applications before rural communities they don't want to admit mr speaker in the conservative party that we are paying attention to rural customers we're taking steps to mitigate their rates mr speaker i'm going to continue to do so thank you mr speaker my question is for the deputy premier perhaps it's surprising to you that those who move from Quebec to Hearst and want to start a business in Hearst they come here and they want to be able to offer a service to those in the north they finally hear that no you cannot do your test in french not only can you not do it in french but you can't even do it even if you pay you're not able to do this test in french can does it the deputy minister think that it's acceptable to refuse french language is french language tests with the technical services authority is this correct i think not oh first of all let me thank the member for his question i was not aware that such a system existed i also didn't know there were issues in the system but i will talk to um people in charge to definitely fix this issue especially in the north and in Hearst where almost 90 of the population is francophone we should have services in french thank you thank you minister i thank you for your answer and i really hope that you will be able to fix these problems because these technical safety authorities have been excluded exempted from the french language services act so they have no they are under no obligation to provide services and french so how do we help people in Hearst who need to take this exam how do we make sure that this organization is subject to the law thank you the minister for government services first of all the tsa is responsible for regulating fuel safety and other areas of safety standards and it is certainly my expectation of all of the delegated administrative authorities and agencies in the province that they conduct business in both official languages and so this is the first that i've heard of this issue with respect to the tsa i'm happy to have a conversation with the member opposite and follow up and i will be speaking obviously speaker to the tsa in regard to the way in which they conduct business with respect to their services and that all ontarians whether they speak french or english have access to all of the services provided by the tsa thank you speaker thank you mr speaker my question is for the minister of municipal affairs and housing uh mr speaker from my experience as a municipal councillor i had a front row view of the difficulties facing municipalities in delivering affordable housing and mr speaker as this house will know uh i have been a strong proponent of a planning tool called inclusionary zoning mr speaker in many communities across the province increasing housing prices and rent costs are making it difficult for people to find housing they can afford to rent or buy a few months ago our government took actions to address this by releasing an updated long-term affordable housing strategy and if passed this would introduce legislation that would make inclusionary zoning a reality in communities across this province mr speaker will the minister provide this house with an update on the development of a proposed inclusionary zoning framework thank you government minister of municipal affairs and housing yes thanks mr speaker and thank the member from a topical lakeshore and also the member from high park um who have both uh have a long history of advocating uh for inclusionary zoning um it's important speaker today later this afternoon i will be introducing the promoting affordable housing act which would if passed help to ensure that the people of Ontario have better access to affordable and adequate housing these changes will enable municipalities to offer incentives and use other planning measures such as heightened density to support the creation of affordable units in partnership with the development sector speaker our neighborhoods are stronger and more vital when they include a mix of people who are able to choose where they work from a range of housing that will be the intent of the legislation i'm sure all members of the house thank you will be delighted to see it this afternoon thank you mr speaker and thank you to the minister for his answer and for his leadership on this issue mr speaker my community of Toronto has long sought the ability to have inclusionary zoning Toronto's chief planner Jennifer Kiesmat has said that a lack of access to this planning tool has resulted in the loss of the opportunity to create tens of thousands of units that would be affordable and inclusionary zoning is also being requested by York region Peel region the region of Waterloo the city of Hamilton and other municipalities mr speaker we recognize that inclusionary zoning is not a magic wander silver bullet that will do away with housing challenges but what's important to note that proposed promoting affordable housing act will put forward other suggested measures to increase the supply of affordable housing in Ontario and continue the transformation of the social housing system for you will the minister highlight some of these other proposals in the bill thank you minister well the honourable members correct in addition to the groundbreaking proposals associated with inclusionary zoning there will be some other tools that will be made available which will allow our municipal partners who operate social housing more flexibility mr speaker and administering and delivering social housing in their communities helping to reduce weightlifts and frankly just making it easier for Ontarians to embrace a bunch of options further changes would make secondary suites in new homes a potential source of affordable rental units for low to moderate income renters less costly to build by exempting them from development charges speaker with our proposed package of changes we are taking meaningful actions to transform ontario's housing system and answer on a homelessness within the next decade thank you new question and member from chattanooga thank you speaker my question is through the minister the environment my constituents are furious after the premature release of the minister's plan to abandon natural gas and ontario mark called it a lunatic plan mary said there are going to be some sort of order start the clock finish please mary said this better be some sort of delayed april fools prank i'm beyond furious with this ridiculous plan wrote joan speaker many have wondered how they will pay their bills while others are worried about the jobs there is basically one industry that provides economic safety in this county that's the county of chattam kent and it's union gas for sure union gas employs 850 people in chattam kent and thousands throughout ontario we need these jobs so speaker to the minister thank you minister please let my constituents know thank you now i stand you sit minister the environment and so mr speaker as my colleague of the minister of child youth services said it's important to stick to the facts in these conversations so fact number one mr speaker if i haven't said it enough we are not banning or removing natural gas heating or cooling i don't know how many times you have to say that and you'll see it when the plan comes out but mr speaker maybe the member can talk to my colleague finish please could talk to my friend from north london north senator she'll introduce him in his neighborhood to sift in homes which is building net zero very low cost what are called pro sewer homes where these people have the lowest heating and cooling bills almost in ontario they're being built all around him and when ontarians choose those net zero homes very low cost they should get help from this government too mr speaker two supplementary thank you speaker back to the minister the agriculture and green house industry a short time would also like clarification about the environment was planned to abandon natural gas the interior federation of agriculture has been asking for an expansion of natural gas for years and this government was patting itself on the back for promising an investment in gas lines only just a few months ago recently the minister sent a letter to the oeb saying that the provincial government was committed to expanding natural gas service in rural ontario but now the industry is shocked after hearing these plans may be abandoned and minister you need to reconsider and ensure the need for natural gas expansion in ontario so speaker to the minister or the minister promise uh will promises made to expand natural gas lines in rural ontario mr speaker the investments we are making in natural gas and more efficient natural gas and co-jet in geothermal and battery and a whole range of ontario companies amazing technologies will give ontarios more choice in home heating cooling lower costs and reduce ghgs in fact mr speaker i'm working almost monthly with the greenhouse industry because part of the challenge with the changing number one our second time we have to grow more food in protected environments mr speaker and they're working they're co-authoring the plan with us and that will be a big boom in the egg sector and the ofa don mccabe is on our working group he knows and maybe the minute member could talk to mr mccabe from the ofa to get his facts corrected because mr mccabe absolutely understands that mr speaker minister finance on a point of i indulge your uh i'd like to introduce our interns and minister financed this summer marie visca julia mccarthur edward or grigas who are in our members gallery welcome to thank you mr speaker i had some guests join us after introductions this morning so i'd like to welcome to the house my brother david taylor as well as a family friend ken hadel welcome to queen terry thank you remember from david point and i'd like to introduce a constitutional mind from the writing of dav import samantha temay who attends st joseph's college school and was recently selected as a recipient of the herbert h hernicky future ace the citizenship award and scholarship and is here today with her guidance counselor ida costa welcome welcome thank you the minister of the environment and climate change thank you mr speaker i would like to introduce the team that built worked on bill 172 in our ministry mr speaker myra hewitt laura nemchin david hearth had their pierce and sherry beaton lisa blackwell steve bow castiru david mullakini and myron's mr speaker a great team who works for us okay we have a deferred vote on the motion of closure the motion of third reading of bill 172 an act respecting greenhouse gas calling the members this will be a five-minute bill would all members please state their seats on may 10th 2016 mr murray moved third reading of bill 172 an act respecting greenhouse gas mr cole has moved that the question be now put all those in favor mr coles motion please rise one at a time would be recognized by the clerk mr nazi mr nackney mr bradley mr sharelli mr sharelli mr susan mr susan mr matthews mr sandals mr mccharls mr cole mr cole mr tukar mr tukar mr brodenetti mr brodenetti mr delaney mr delaney mr dillon mr dillon mr zeddy mr mcmecan mr mcurry mr murray mr chen oh mr kotow mr kotow Mraho mr flea mr flan mr zimmer mr zimmer mr armill Wang madam lalang mr quadru my likelihood mr alGeneral Thank you sir for the dumas when night lashes Walker miss hunter mr мир mr sergiou Tomorrow All those opposed, please rise one at a time and be recognized by the floor. Mr. Wilson, Mr. Hardeman, Mr. McLeod, Ms. Jones, Mr. Clark, Mr. Fidelli, Mr. Yacobosky, Mr. Healyer, Mr. Miller-Parrysalmuscoke, Mr. McNotten, Ms. Scott, Ms. Thompson, Ms. M another. Mr. Baily, Mr. Walker, Mr. Smith, Mr. Harris, Mr. Nichols, Mr. Marto, Mr. McDonnell, Mr. Pettipies, Mr. Cove, Mr. Cove, Mr. Mr. Harris Mr. Nichols Mr. Nichols Mr. Marteau Mr. McDonnell Mr. McDinell Mr. Pettipies Mr. Cove Mr. Koe Mr. Singh Mr. Singh Mr. De Novo Mr. De Novo Mr. Tabbins Mr. Tabbins Ms. Hatfield Ms. Sattler Ms. Sattler Ms. Taylor Ms. Taylor Ms. Armstrong Ms. Armstrong Ms. Fife Ms. Fife Mr. Hatfield Ms. Gretzky Ms. Gretzky Mr. Gates Ms. French 35 I declare the motion carried. Mr. Murray has moved third reading of Bill 172 an act respecting greenhouse gases of the pleasure of the House the motion can carry. I heard or no all those in favor please say aye. All those opposed please say nay. In my opinion the ayes have it. Calling the members this will be a five-minute bill. Mr. Murray has moved third reading of Bill 172 an act respecting greenhouse gas all those in favor please rise one at a time be recognized by the court. Mr. Sean Kruz. Mr Shurella. Mrs. chemical Mr. Nicole. Mr. Partners. Mr. T' emotionally Mr. Dillard. Mr. Dillon. Arezetti. Mr. MacMeek. Mr. MacMeek and Mr Chanel vis-a C golf osttilio leox was murdered by a long podcast quadantage is all the name is Republicans This mangya, Mr. Crack, Ms. Wong, Ms. Hunter, Mr. Sergio, Ms. Tomorrow, Ms. Jassus, Mr. Del Ducca, Ms. D'Amrila, Mr. Fraser, Mr. Andersen, Mr. Baker, Mr. Baller, Mr. Don, Ms. Hogarth, Ms. Kowala, Ms. Molley, Ms. Martin, Ms. McGarry, Ms. McMahon, Mr. Milchin, Mr. Milchin Mr. Nidoo Harris Mr. Potts Mr. Rinaldi Mr. Rinaldi Mr. Reneal Mr. Teebo Mr. Teebo Mr. Tabin Mr. Tabin Mr. Sain Mr. Sain Mr. DeNovo Mr. DeNovo Mr. Miller Hamilton Estoni Creek Mr. Miller Hamilton Estoni Creek Ms. Satter Ms. Satter Ms. Taylor Ms. Taylor Ms. Armstrong Ms. Armstrong Ms. Fight Ms. Fight Mr. Hatfield Ms. Gretzky Ms. Gretzky Mr. Gates Ms. French Mr. Hardiman Mr. Hardiman Mr. McLeod Mr. McLeod Mr. Wilson Mr. Wilson Mr. Jones Mr. Clark Mr. Fidellis Mr. Fidellis Mr. Yacobusky Mr. Yacobusky Mr. Hillier Mr. Hillier Mr. Miller Mr. Perry San Mr. Miscocca Mr. McNaughton Mr. Scott Mr. Scott Mrs. Monroe Mr. Monroe Mr. Eureka Mr. Bailey Mr. Bailey Mr. Walker Mr. Walker Mr. Smith Mr. Patates Mr. Cohen Mr. Tope Mr. Taylor Mr.rick Mr. Gallardo Mr. Dave Mr. politician