 It is now time for all questions. I recognize the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Thank you so much, Speaker. My first question this morning is for the Premier. It's been two weeks since this government announced opening plans and forgot to mention anything about schools. For over a year, this government has ignored and dismissed the concerns about the necessity to get our schools safely open. And it's clear, based on media reports, that this government was not planning it all, had no plan except for polling, and they have no plan now. So my question to the Premier is, is it really the case that this Premier is making decisions about the well-being, the mental, emotional, and physical well-being of our children, based on political polling instead of pediatric advice? Can I apply? The Government House Leader. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Of course, we're concentrating on students and their educational success, even before the pandemic started. But as the pandemic raged on through the province of Ontario through the first wave, of course we worked very hard to ensure that kids could return to school last September in a safe fashion. And I'm quite proud of what our educators were able to accomplish. Not only just the educators, Mr. Speaker, while I have the floor, I'll say a big thank you to Ms. Greco, to Ms. Shapiro, my teachers, teachers for my two daughters, but not only the teachers, the maintenance workers, the principals, the administrative staff who have made our schools some of the safest schools in the province of Ontario through September. Now, Mr. Speaker, let's remember that it was the opposition who did not want our kids to return to school, in-person school in September, Mr. Speaker. We knew parents did. That's why we had the option for in-school, as well as online. It's been very successful, Mr. Speaker, and we will continue to put the needs of students first. Supplementary question. Mr. Speaker, we all know that Ontario is the only province in Canada without kids in school. And there's a reason for that. It's not an accident. This government walked us right into the third wave, ignoring the advice of experts. They attacked critics who were working so hard to demand safer school for our kids. And in fact, as we just found out the other day, they were claiming that there was no spread of COVID-19 in schools, even though all along they knew that wasn't the case. Kids in the classroom were supposed to come first. That's what was supposed to be the priority of the Premier, except any responsibility whatsoever for the fact that children in Ontario are the only kids in the entire country that are not back in their classrooms. And the government has to do it. Of course, the leader of the opposition did not want kids to return to school in-person at all. Mr. Speaker, you recall last September the leader of the opposition, the official opposition, was not in favour of a return to school in-person learning for our students. We knew that that had to happen. That's why we made serious investments in ventilation. That's why we ensured that there was additional staffing. There was additional maintenance workers to ensure that the schools were safe. And that was done remarkably well. It's not a hallmark of the government. We put the resources in place, yes, but it is the hardworking teachers. It's the hardworking staff. It's the boards of education who work very closely with us, work with the Chief Medical Officer of the province of Ontario, work with the Chief Medical Officers of Health in the different 34 public health units, made sure that a return to school was safe, Mr. Speaker, and it has gone very well. Of course, the opposition did not want that. There never wants to want to listen to what parents want, certainly never putting the needs of students first. We will continue to do that, Mr. Speaker, not only because it's the right thing to do now, Mr. Speaker, but it's the right thing to do for the future of the province of Ontario. The final supplement. I'm glad this Premier has never actually done what was the right thing for the people of Ontario during COVID. He never had a plan for kids in the classroom, Speaker. Clearly two weeks ago there was no plan. He announced a reopening and left families and kids and teachers hanging. There was no mention of schools. It was clear when he spent the last year claiming that schools are safe, when in fact they knew that that wasn't the case. And it was clear when the science table was literally screaming recommendations at the government about reopening too fast, which they just simply ignored and created this brutal third wave that we're now dealing with. All of the experts, Speaker, experts from Sick Kids, experts from CHEO, from the Canadian Pediatric Society say this, and I quote kids have suffered immeasurably over the course of the pandemic. The benefits of a few weeks in the classroom cannot be overstated. That's what the experts say. Why doesn't the Premier care about the emotional, physical and mental well-being of the children of Ontario? Is the leader of the opposition really truly listening to herself when she asked these questions? I am a father of two kids who are both in school, who are both learning online. Is she really suggesting that somehow I as a father and those of my colleagues here who are also parents who have kids in school somehow don't care about children, it is preposterous, Mr Speaker. What we have done since the beginning is ensure that the resources were in place to get our kids into school safely, Mr Speaker, and we know it has been difficult. Not only difficult for all Ontarians, Mr Speaker, difficult for small, medium and large job creators, but extremely difficult for our youngest Ontarians, Mr Speaker. They are the future of the province of Ontario. They are the ones who will be sitting in this place when we are long gone paying for the decisions that we have made today, Mr Speaker. That's why we have ensured that our schools are safe. That's why we ensured last September that they went in school, even though it was the leader of the opposition who suggested that they should stay home. When the Chief Medical Officer of Health was saying, send them to school, we said, yes, they said no. We won't listen to them, Mr Speaker. The next question, once again, the leader of the opposition. Health Speaker, my next question is for the Premier, but I think it's pretty clear that actions speak louder than words in terms of this government's behaviour. It's been clear for over a year what was needed in our schools, what was needed to be done to keep our classrooms safe. Bring class sizes down to 15. Get rid of the backlog of repairs that have been hanging over since the Liberals were in charge. Vaccination testing, vaccination of teachers and education workers and widespread testing in our schools. Working with education workers, and instead, what did we get? The Ford government cut the education budget. The Ford government attacked teachers and education workers. The Ford government failed to conduct any effective testing that would have given them information about the spread of COVID-19 in schools. And, of course, they claimed that there was no spread, even though they knew that wasn't the case. So my question is, will this Premier answer my question? Will he admit that his failures have led to the fact that Ontario is now the only province in our country that doesn't have kids back in the classroom? I think the people of the province of Ontario recall quite clearly that it was the leader of the opposition who, in September, asked us not to send kids back to school, and we said, no, we have to have that done. We knew how important it was to the youngest Ontarians that they continue their education, but also to give options for parents, Mr. Speaker, so that they could learn at home if that was what they felt they needed to do. So we put that in place, Mr. Speaker. We've ensured that there was a repairs to ventilation. We ensured that there were thousands of additional staff brought into boards across the province, thousands of additional teachers, hundreds of additional maintenance workers, Mr. Speaker, to keep our schools safe and to ensure that there was safety in the schools. We brought in testing for students, Mr. Speaker. We have done all of that so that our kids could continue learning. Response? Understand how important it is and how difficult this has been. That's why we've put additional resources in for mental health, Mr. Speaker. We'll continue to do that, and we will ensure that kids have the best quality education possible. The supplementary question. Well, Speaker, tragically, the schools and the kids not being in classroom is only the latest example of this Premier and this government's failure when it comes to the response to COVID-19. They ignored, as we know, warnings that kept kids out of the classroom. They ignored warnings that led to 4,000 seniors losing their lives in long-term care. They ignored warnings in February that marched us right into this brutal third wave that we've all been trying to deal with every step of the way. They've ignored the warnings. They've denied the facts, and they have put politics ahead of people. Why was this government focused on protecting the king instead of protecting the people of Ontario? Mr. Speaker, I think that question really speaks for itself, and I think it really underlines why it is that the NDP have never been given the confidence of the people of the province of Ontario to form a government but one disastrous time, a disaster that led the former NDP Premier to abandon his own party for another party. What this Premier has done, what this government has done, is focus on the people of the province of Ontario, keeping them safe, right from day one. Even before the pandemic hit, we were working on long-term care. We were working on health care, increasing health care capacity, Mr. Speaker. We knew that we had to bring in more staff. We knew that we needed more ICU capacity. We were working on that in advance of the pandemic, despite the fact that at every single time that opposition voted against those investments, Mr. Speaker, because what it is is you have to plan before, during, and after we have done that. And when we come out of this pandemic, Mr. Speaker, we will lead the nation in economic growth like we did before the pandemic. The final supplementary. Speaker, teachers and parents and kids are exhausted. They're stressed out. There has been year after year of unpredictability, of disruption and uncertainty in our classrooms. Teachers, education workers and parents have all gone above and beyond during this pandemic. All deserve, all of them deserve a government that prioritizes the mental, physical and emotional well-being of the children of this province. But that's not what they've seen from their government. Why? Speaker, since day one, since we were elected, we knew that we had to make some serious changes in the province of Ontario. That is why the people of the province of Ontario entrusted us to make those changes. When it comes to education, Mr. Speaker, we started right away. We looked at those math scores and we knew we had to do something different. We looked at the science scores. We knew we had to do something different. That's why we started putting resources into those areas so that we could improve outcomes for our students, Mr. Speaker. And we saw that. We knew that as the pandemic was hitting that we had to take action to get our kids back into class as soon as possible. But we couldn't do that without making investments that, unfortunately, the previous Liberal government supported by the NDP during a minority did not do, Mr. Speaker. The House Leader for the Liberals might find it funny that his government never invested in schools. He might find it funny that they close 600 schools. The parents of the province of Ontario don't find the failures of the Del Duca win government funny, Mr. Speaker. We will get the job done for the future generations of Ontarians who will be sitting in this chamber making decisions for. Order. Member for Ottawa South come to order. The next question, the member for Sutter. Thank you very much, Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Speaker, with only three weeks left in the school year, Sudbury's parents, students and educators are anxiously waiting for the Conservative government to make a decision about reopening schools. Experts like the Council of Ontario Medical Officers of Health and the Hospital for Sick Children are supporting in-person learning. Public Health, Sudbury and District 7 quoting here, PHU is prepared to support schools to transition as quickly as possible to in-person learning and to lead effective case and contact management should COVID-19 cases emerge in our schools in the month of June. My question through you to the Premier is will the Premier follow expert advice? Will he listen to parents, students and educators and reopen Sudbury schools to in-person learning for the remainder of the school year? The Government House Leader. We will continue to do what is best for the people of the province of Ontario and put our students first. That's what we have been doing since day one. Not only during the pandemic, Mr. Speaker, but as I just said, when we were elected, we knew we had to do better for our students. That is why we set out to increase scores in math and sciences, make those important investments in rebuilding some of the schools. Mr. Speaker, I just talked about the 600 schools that the previous DelDuc, a wind liberal government, closed in the province of Ontario. We started to make changes. When it comes to the pandemic, I can assure the member opposite the people of Sudbury, what we will do is put students first. We will put the health and safety of our students first, Mr. Speaker. That has been our priority since September. Since September, when the NDP were calling us to leave kids home, we chose to do it, go down a different path, keep our schools safe, hire thousands of additional people, hire additional people to keep our schools clean and safe for our students. That will remain our number one priority. Thank you, Speaker. And back to the Premier. Just to clarify, Speaker, what we stood for was having students come back, not in crowded buses, not in crowded classrooms and with full ventilation. And that's where they dropped the ball on health and safety for our children. Mr. McIntyre is a music teacher. He's been juggling a hybrid model of learning for his music class speaker. He told me trying to teach a classroom of in-class music students will also try to instruct online learners as almost impossible. The in-class students progress quickly. They receive instant feedback every day and became excited and actively engaged in music. Meanwhile, the distance learners quickly became disengaged. They often wouldn't submit assignments. They developed a negative attitude towards music and towards education in general. Speaker, the Premier has a quarter of a year, a three month window to ensure that all education workers in Ontario have their vaccinations before school resumes in September. My question to you to the Premier is, will the Premier prioritize first and second dose vaccine so that education workers are completely vaccinated before September 2021? Thank you, Speaker. And to respond to government policy. The opposite would know that, of course, we already have, Mr. Speaker. But here is the problem with the NDP. You hear it in that question again, Mr. Speaker. The NDP, of course, always look short term. I'm not going to say that we're going to fix the entire education system in three months, Mr. Speaker, because we started in 2018, Mr. Speaker. You don't just do it in two months, like the NDP are suggesting. We knew that when we got into office back in 2018, we had to make serious investments because our students, because our students were falling behind. I don't want my children suffering because of the decisions or lack of decision making by governments, governments that I'm a part of, Mr. Speaker. That's why we made these important investments. That's why we've done everything that we could to keep kids in school since September, Mr. Speaker. It was them who voted against it. They voted against those investments. They wanted students at home, Mr. Speaker. We wanted better for our students, and we made sure the resources were there. Just a friendly reminder to the house. When you ignore the Speaker's call to order, the Speaker has no alternative but to move to warnings. The next question, the member for Oakville. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. Mr. Speaker, earlier this week, the Moving Ontario's more safely act passed third reading in the Legislature by a near unanimous vote. This bill, also known as the Moms Act, aims to combat stunt driving and other aggressive forms of driving on our roads. Speaker, this legislation also introduces measures to protect vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and highway workers, improve truck safety, and strengthen provincial oversight of the towing sector. Could the Minister of Transportation please tell us why the Moms Act is so important to get into place now? The Minister of Transportation. Thank you, Speaker. And thank you to the member from Oakville for the question. Speaker, there's always more that we can do when it comes to road safety, and the Moms Act is a big step forward. This past year, with fewer cars on the road, we've seen an uptick in dangerous driving. Earlier this week, a 23-year-old driver in York Region was caught driving more than 202 kilometres an hour in a 60-zone and charged with stunt driving. Mr. Speaker, needless to say, instances like this are unacceptable, and I am so relieved that no one was harmed. The Moms Act will send a strong message that those who don't play by the rules will face tough consequences. Speaker, our goal is to protect law-abiding road users while cracking down on bad actors, and I'm confident that this bill is a means to do that. Thank you, Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for your response. Mr. Speaker, it's safe to assume that each one of us in the legislature have also seen similar instances of stunt driving. And this has been right across the province. It's extremely alarming. Could the Minister tell us why she's confident this legislation is the right one to protect road safety? Transportation. Thank you again to the member for the question. The Moms Act is not a one-and-done deal for road safety, but it's a big step of many more to come. Protecting road users is a priority for all of us here in this chamber, and I am very pleased with the support that this bill has received. When we brought the Moms Act forward, OPP Commissioner Thomas Creek said that the Moms Act is, and I quote, an important step towards addressing the serious road safety issues created by aggressive drivers. Our partners at the Toronto Police Service also support the Moms Act. Superintendent Scott Baptiste acknowledged that it, and I quote, creates a series of escalating sanctions for aggressive driving behaviors, focusing on the most significant repercussions on the most deserving, unquote. Mr. Speaker, the work to keep our road safe does not end here. Road safety is an ongoing priority because the costs of unsafe and aggressive driving in Ontario are just too high. The next question, the member for Kiwetnau. Good morning, Speaker. My question is to the PMIR, Anawina Goma Egayat. Speaker, the discovery in Kamloops has caused great pain, but especially for residential school survivors and their families. Garnett Antikhanep is an elder from Laksu First Nation and a survivor of the Pelican Lake Residential School, New Sulaco. He said, what happened in Kamloops is a validation of the things that we, as survivors, have been saying for many, many years, end quote. When we spoke, he said that the survivors and their families need support. Mr. Speaker, the discovery has opened many wounds. Healing initiatives and mental health resources are needed. What is Ontario doing to help support survivors and their families? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And look, the member has been raising a number of very important considerations all week. Things that I know that the Minister of Indigenous Affairs has been seized with and working on with our partners in Indigenous communities across the province of Ontario. I think it's also worth mentioning that this is something that has been so important to Minister Rickford, long before he even became the Minister of Indigenous Affairs as having worked as a nurse in many of these and many of the communities across the North, Mr. Speaker. But the member is right. Work has to be done. It's not just about what we saw in Kamloops as horrifically tragic as that is. I think what we have to make sure that we do, and I know that this member will not stop in his pursuit of making sure that his community and the Indigenous communities across the province of Ontario and Canada finally get the resources that they need, not only from the provincial government, but from the federal government. We have to make sure that this just isn't a temporary thing that we see because it's highlighted new stories across the country, but it is something that we once and for all thank you supplementary the member for trauma center thank you speaker my question is back to the premier speaker we've heard commitments from this government this week but we need we need an actual commitment to funding the programs and services and like my colleague said the healing supports that are needed in the communities right now we need more than hollow words and broken promises and lowered flags and symbolic gestures and frankly speaker I don't know how we're supposed to believe the words of this government when they say that they're going to fund and support indigenous communities through this tragic moment when we've watched them decimate and cut we watched them obliterate the indigenous culture fund we watched them take indigenous curriculum that was supposed to be embedded in the in the in Ontario's curriculum about the history of residential schools and they downsized that curriculum and made it elective this government says that they'll work to never forget but their actions say otherwise will this government reverse its decisions make the teaching of residential schools mandatory at the elementary and secondary levels and restore the indigenous culture fund of course mr speaker as I said there's obviously a tremendous amount of work that still needs to be done on this I know if I'm not mistaken the federal government will be aligning its response to the murdered and missing indigenous women's report I know that we have have done minister dumb opted so earlier last week mr speaker but there is tremendous amount of work look I'm not going to satisfy the member opposite or any of the indigenous communities that are watching in response in a 60 second response in the in the chamber mr speaker more work has to be done but it's not just about what we saw in cam loops as horrifically tragic as that is the members are raising points about finally addressing more than just that issue it's about economic health of communities it's about the spiritual healing of communities it's about working together to find out what works best for our first nation's communities minister rickford has been doing that since day one does more work have to be done absolutely have we made a response good progress yes has this helped highlight has out of this tragedy have we highlighted across the country that more still has to be done yes we will get it done but I can't do it in a 60 second answer in the house thank you the next question the member for scarborough gildwood speaker as this is my first opportunity to rise since the devastating news in camloops bc i do want to extend my condolences to the indigenous communities and the generational trauma that has been caused um it's just it's it's it's time for canada and ontario to do better and that's what i'll say speaker my question is to the premier this government has failed to create the conditions for reopening schools safely not only has this government shut down the economy and schools but their lack of leadership and planning has resulted in a protracted debate about opening schools or patios which should not be the case schools and patios are closed because this government has not planned and invested in the reopening we need to see action we need accelerated investments in ventilation in teacher vaccination in and our education workers as well we need ppe and a robust testing and contact tracing program to manage the outbreak speaker teachers have heard every excuse under the sun as to why the premier has not done his homework it's time that the premier does his homework and get schools open safely now thank you for applying to government house speakers you talked about doing better on ventilation we've done that mr speaker she talks about hiring additional teachers we've done that she talked about hiring additional staff to ensure that our schools are safe we have done that mr speaker that is why in september we were able to have our kids go back to school in personal learning but we also knew we had to give parents choice and that choice was to be in class or online mr speaker and we made the investments to make sure that parents have access to both speaker that is what we have been doing since day one since this pandemic hit mr speaker we will not stop putting the emphasis on our kids on the next generation of leaders mr speaker that is our priority and we will continue to make students our priority the supplementary question speaker this government fails to understand that not all households have the same resources to support students learning at home words are not enough actions are what matters and your actions are to cut $1.6 billion in priorities and partnerships funding as the FAO reported just this week and it shows the government's real intention in hotspots schools are in need of repairs and not set up to deal with an airborne virus that is mostly transmitted indoors and enclosed proximity there are real covid learning gaps that are being developed mental health risks for schools being closed and things are not set up for a safe return to schools either now or in September speaker the government has not made sure that schools are safe for in-person learning now and it is cutting funding for the next school year that should be invested in our schools does the premier believe that this pandemic has had a worse effect on hotspot students and if so what is his plan to ensure that there are no learning gaps and that students in all areas of our province receive the supports that they deserve so there's no thank you government house leader a strange question coming from a member who used to be the minister of education her question outlines why that member was such a failure as a minister of education she says that we weren't prepared she said that we the schools weren't prepared to deal with a pandemic I'm gonna I'm gonna caution the government house leader in his language and ask him to conclude his answer Mr. Speaker the question was that schools were not prepared in the province of Ontario for the pandemic we began making those changes in 2018 the question was that our educators weren't prepared we started making those changes in 2018 I am very sorry that the Liberals find a fence to the fact that their time in government was such a failure but that is why the people of the province of Ontario turned to this government to put in place and to fix all of the damage that that party did Mr. Speaker I am sorry that they find that offensive but the people of Ontario want to change and that's why they turn to us to fix the mistakes of the Liberals Member for Oakville Thank you Speaker and we know that stricter border measures stopped the spread of COVID-19 this reality is backed up by hard evidence and data all the cases we have in Ontario can be traced back to an origin outside of Ontario only a few weeks ago the first cases of the B-1 617 variant first seen in India were detected here in Ontario can the Solicitor General tell us the house more how this variant has spread and why it's important to keep restrictions on our borders The Solicitor General to respond Thank you for the Member for Oakville for raising this I think it is really important that we continue to talk about what we're protecting our our friends and neighbors from we've consistently called in the federal government to enhance our safeguards at the border many of the new variants spread quickly in the Indian variant known as B-1 6-1 variant has spread quickly from May 12th to May 19th Public Health Ontario set the number of Order positive cases of the B-1 617 Okay Member for Waterloo come to order Government House Leader come to order Member for Northumberland Peterborough South come to order Yes you Solicitor General Thank you Speaker From May 12th through to May 19th Public Health Ontario set the number of known positive cases of the B-1 6-1 7 coronavirus variant grew from 45 to 260 It is almost certainly even higher today From a few cases B-1 6-1 7 spreads in a very short time period We are making progress in Ontario protecting Ontarians but we need the federal government to step up and do their job as well Member for Old Kail Supplementary Thank you Speaker And we are all aware of how the original COVID-19 virus got here was through travel obviously Yet some would have us believe that a few infected travelers is nothing to worry about suggesting that travel accounts for less than 2% of the cases here in Ontario Yet we know that every variant of concern that has filled our ICUs has come from outside Ontario Back to the Minister can she explain how other variants are of concern and why stricter travel rules are necessary now to protect the people of Ontario Thank you Solicitor General Thank you And thank you again to the member from Oakville We know that mobility is a factor in the spread of COVID Which is exactly why that is why we need to act now On February 26th the North Bay Perry Sound Unit found 12 positive COVID-19 cases from the B-1 3-5-1 variant also first discovered in South Africa As of May 31st we have a total of 949 cases in Ontario It arrived here through travel then spread Once again on February 8th Ontario confirmed Canada's first case of the B-1 P-1 also known as the Brazilian variant in Toronto The case was linked to international travel from Brazil As of May 31st we have a total of 2,867 On December 16th Ontario confirmed Canada's first cases of the B-1-1-7 known as the UK variant in two individuals two from Toronto As of May 31st we have a total of 126,707 cases It's traveling into Ontario and the federal government Thank you Thank you The next question the member from Waterloo Thank you very much My question is to the Premier Yesterday theater goers were excited to see work nearing completion on a new outdoor performance space for the Stratford Festival They and other arts organisations have invested millions towards a safe reopening And like so many others in their sector last year the Stratford Festival cancelled in-person programming and pivoted to online engagement This year they and others like the Waterloo Jazz Festival and Drayton Theatre are ready to return to safe in-person performances We all need this to happen What they need from this government is a thoughtful individualised approach to reopening performance venues including outdoor spaces For example they need permission to rehearse outside You can't start in step two never having rehearsed in step one This is advice from Mitchell Marcus from the consortium After the year the performing arts have been through the frustration is real and there are no provisions for rehearsals in the new roadmap which doesn't make it a very effective roadmap for the performing arts community Will the Premier work with the Stratford Festivals and the performing arts community to ensure that they can open safely sooner than later Mr. Heritage Park Tourism and Culture Industries Thank you very much I appreciate the member opposite's question and it's one that we've been working on throughout the last 15 months with this sector particularly with the Stratford and the Shaw Festival as well as many other festivals across the province who have either been shuttered or who have we were able to get some concessions in the previous framework for them to be able to do online and virtual performances having said that there's a great inconsistency with the member opposite and her leader her leader is telling us to shut more things down she's telling us to open more things up we said a lot of time with the Ministry of Health me and her spend a great deal of time with these sectors in addition to the jobs and recovery committee at cabinet with which we have an audience with Dr. David Williams at this time they have said that at the health table we aren't prepared at that moment we are right now in pre-step one we would like to get to step one and the quicker we get into step one the quicker we get into step two and the quicker we get to see these performance arts centers back up and running and that's something that I would love to see happen almost immediately speaker supplementary question thank you very much we've asked for some common sense Mr. Speaker as pre-pandemic the Stratford Festival attracted 500,000 tourists annually directly employed 100 people created an additional 2,400 full-time jobs if we want to talk about restarting the economy it needs to be inclusive of these arts organizations and businesses like the Stratford Festival they can't just turn the lights on and call action without having the ability to prepare for that opening they are simply asking for clarity and the rules of engagement if you will so that they can plan for a successful season but they are running out of time they also want clear communication from the government in order for their season to move forward rehearsing outdoors and a flexible model to maximize capacity limits safely for audience can the government commit today to these reasonable requests and establish regulatory fairness for the performing arts sector Mr. Parvench as I mentioned in the previous answer the ministry is working with health in order to provide those guidelines we have established a table to try and make sure that we have a theater strategy moving forward the Stratford Festival obviously being part of that as well as the Shaw as well as others but again I speak to the inconsistencies of the NDP the leader at the beginning of this question period wanted to shut more things down and prolong the lockdown and now this member opposite is trying to trying to open more things up we continue to work with the sector in fact we increased leading to the sector by 25 million dollars and we gave the Stratford Festival 1.8 million dollars and they said we are extremely grateful to the Ontario government for being so responsive to our needs the Stratford Festival had the entire 2020 season which had to bring in more than 70 million in revenue thank you minister McLeod for supporting the arts and the artists in the province we desperately need the stability this new funding orders member for Hamilton Mountain come to order member for York Center come to order the member for Hamilton Mountain come to order the next question the member for Guelph thank you speaker good morning my question is for the Premier COVID-19 is a public health crisis that has required extraordinary government action but Ontario has another public health crisis that is crying out for urgent government action a recent report found that 2050 people died of opioid overdoses between March and December of 2020 that's an increase of 75 percent from the exact same time period of the year before speaker that is 75 percent more deaths but instead of taking action the Premier has refused to remove the cap on overdose prevention sites that he imposed in 2018 so I have a simple question speaker will the Premier act now to save lives by removing the cap on overdose prevention sites minister of health thank you speaker and thank you very much to the member for the question the opioid situation is very serious in Ontario it has been for some years but it certainly has been exacerbated by the pandemic we are taking action we have currently funded 16 consumption and treatment services sites and there are still other municipalities that are still applying to become consumption and treatment services sites so there's still room for others to apply in addition to that we have made we've allocated up to 31.3 million dollars for 21 CTS sites across the province of Ontario and as part of our plan our road map to wellness our comprehensive mental health and addictions plan that was launched just before COVID struck Ontario we have invested over 525 million dollars more in funding including four million dollars for nurse practitioners response talk centers eight million dollars for addictions day and evening care and 3.5 million for home and withdrawal care vans that can move across areas that are difficult to serve there's more that I can say in the supplemental but it's something that we do take very seriously and are working on right now supplementary question speaker everything is not okay public health experts are calling for action the Ontario construction consortium just came out calling for action because 30% of the deaths are construction workers yesterday Ontario northern mayors came out calling for action on the opioid crisis just last week I met with the drug strategy team in my writing one of those 16 cities that has an overdose prevention site and they said Mike can you convince the government to remove the cap so other communities can have the kinds of harm reduction services we have in Guelph and so with all due respect to the minister speaker I'm asking the government will they remove the cap on overdose prevention sites and put more money into harm reduction services to help save lives minister of health thank you again this is a very serious situation and I could advise the member that there's no need to remove the cap because there are still municipalities that are applying we funded 16 there's 21 that can be funded municipalities can apply and and and make their case to have more consumption and treatment services centers but it's not just about that I heard you speak about harm reduction we need to have investments made across the entire continuity of care for people to make sure that we can have the consumption treatment services sites we need more Ram clinics we need more safe places for people to live for residential treatment there's a lot of work that has yet to be done we are working on a plan now and we will be releasing the details of it very soon next question once again the member for Oakville my question is for the associate minister of small business and red tape production we know that the government has been focused on helping small businesses save on utilities during this pandemic through supports like the property tax and energy cost rebate grant hardworking families in my community continue to look for ways to ease pressure on their bottom lines just like our businesses try to make ends meet could the minister tell me how this government is helping families and individuals save on the cost of energy through supporting recovery and competitiveness act associate minister of small business and red tape production thank you very much Mr. Speaker and thank you to the member from Oakville for his leadership during these times and supporting small businesses across his community our government is developing a regulatory approach that would require electricity and natural gas utilities across the province to implement the green button standard the green button is a tool that will help Ontarians reduce their cost by finding new ways to lower their energy use it also enables a market that customers can choose from to monitor to make better decisions and choices about their energy usage when consumers have access to real-time energy consumption data they can identify and take immediate actions simple steps to reduce their energy usage this data can also help consumers find and opt for long-term energy efficiency solutions Ontarians are asking for help to reduce their energy use and costs for some time and this will help deliver in that goal thank you Mr. Speaker supplementary thank you Speaker helping hardworking families find ways to save money makes life easier during this difficult period and empowering families to better monitor their energy usage will be a benefit long after this pandemic is gone can the minister tell the house how supporting recovery and competitive act will help businesses across this province Associate Minister thank you very much Mr. Speaker we're going to continue to work on cutting red tape but in reducing unnecessary burdens across the province to make sure Ontario remains competitive to date we have helped reduce the cost by over 330 million dollars by focusing on regulatory modernization we are modernizing regulations so that it's easier for businesses to understand and comply with regulations this pandemic has also proven that technology has been used to save time and money and this also applies to the offer profit sector virtual meetings have been a great example of this that's why our government has continued through this act to allow for not for profit sector and corporations to conduct virtual meetings indefinitely we're making government services faster bringing more services online to improve the user experience for many of these not only consumers but also businesses currently heavy truck school bus farm vehicle owners must renew their license plate stickers at a service Ontario location we are going to make the changes to ensure that they can do this online Mr. Speaker will continue to do whatever we can to support small businesses during this recovery the next question the members of Toronto State Police COVID hit and artists performers art workers were dealt a devastating blow jobs were lost venues shuttered my question is to the premier roll a map to reopen leaves live arts behind I am begging this government to accept the clear and evidence-based demands of the fairness for arts Ontario campaign and many other arts organizations like Tapa, Mano, Paso, Carfa, Ontario demanding regulatory fairness on par with our good friends in film and television and sports my question to the premier is this will you allow artists and all performers to rehearse as soon as the stand-home order is lifted so they can prepare for reopening Tarragon Theatre needs to rehearse will you reinstate live streaming and recording in venues as soon as the stand-home order is lifted and will you outline clear percentages based capacities indoors and distance based capacities outdoors so we can get our artists our performers our arts workers back in building arts creating art and helping their mental health please thank you thank you to reply Mr. Heritage sport tourism and culture industries for the great question obviously I have a very loud voice around the table and I I really echo her comments I really do feel that parody is important but at the same time I recognize we're in a public health crisis and we take our guidance from the chief medical officer of health and our health care professionals order I know that the murder opposite I don't like taking the advice from the chief medical officer of health and they have undermined him consistently but I do sit around the table with him frequently during the week along with the minister of health and we want to make sure for Toronto St. Paul's must come to order the minister of heritage please conclude your response I'm reopen we reopen for good and that's why the quicker we get to step one the quicker we get to step two and the quicker we can get our artists back up and running and I fully support the art sector in this problem member for Toronto St. Paul's is warrant supplementary question member for St. Catharines Mr. Speaker my question is to the minister of health I have recently talked to several performing art communities in St. Catharines and they are asking a simple question the government's reopening plan has made allowances for film, television and high-performing performing athletes to prepare however has left out the protocols for live performers to rehearse it feels like the arts were unfairly forgotten again there is a lot at risk in Niagara they cannot magically appear on stage they need to start rehearsing today organizations in my community like Kate Leathers of Curacao players and Rebecca Walsh at the Essential Collective Theatres have said without rehearsals now they are at risk of canceling their summer season this will be months of actors musicians and their tax not working in Niagara that means losing months of ancillary benefits to restaurants and small businesses the art sector is central to safe jumpstart our tourist economy minister will you let performing art rehearse now like their counterparts in the film industry so they can be ready to open on day one of stage two Mr. Heritage Court here is I'm called to end it thank you more than I would love to see our performance arts up and running right here right now but we are in a global pandemic and I am part of a cabinet and I am part of a team that takes the advice of the chief medical officer of health very seriously you know I'm shocked that this they never stand up when we invest an extra 25 million dollars into our iconic institution iconic arts institutions or when we invested 62 additional million dollars into iconic institutions that include the ROM and the AGO they don't stand up when we increase the budget to the Ontario Arts Council but I'll tell you what 15 months in they're finally asking questions about the arts the culture I'm waiting for sport and I'm also waiting for heritage and I'd love to have a question on tourism because I gotta tell you the hardest hit sectors are the sectors that are part of this ministry and I find it galling that they stand up only today 15 months too late the official opposition will come to order the minister of heritage culture sport come to order the member for st. Catherine's come to order member for Ottawa south come to order next question member for Orléans thank you very much mr. speaker my question is for the premier highway 427 is an essential project that was committed to and started by the previous liberal government under the leadership of Stephen del Ducca now this government only needed to maintain that progress highway 427 was meant to make lives better create economic growth and unlock potential but lo and behold mr. Speaker under the leadership of this government the highway is almost a year behind schedule the premier claims to be open for business but he can't even open a highway moreover he's kept residents in the dark leaving the people of Vaughan Caledon and Brampton to hear about the status of the highway through media reports so why all the secrecy mr. Speaker will the premier come clean on when the people of York and Peel can expect this already finished highway 427 to open to reply the minister transportation mr. Speaker well this is a commercial matter between the government and the contractor and it's appropriate that infrastructure Ontario handles disputes on a commercial level as this dispute has recently been escalated to litigation mr. Speaker I don't have anything further to say on it at this time that said our government is committed to delivering on ambitious infrastructure plans which includes billions of dollars in transit and highways Ontario is investing more than 21 billion dollars in funding over the next 10 years mr. Speaker including approximately 2.6 billion dollars in 2021 2022 to expand and repair highways and bridges thank you supplementary question well thank you mr. Speaker we all read the minister's love letter to the premier and the star this morning but unfortunately highway 427 is still sitting there empty the previous liberal government already invested in this project and had shovels in the ground three years ago sorry I'm going to caution the member on his language that wasn't appropriate please conclude your question thank you mr. Speaker highway 427 is already a year behind schedule but the premier and the minister are unwilling to deliver this piece of infrastructure to the families of Vaughn even though the highway is finished it's just sitting there waiting to be used mr. Speaker families are spending longer time getting home all the while the highway is just sitting there when will the Hamilton finally open this important highway when can the hard working families of Vaughn expect their commute times to be reduced mr. transportation mr. Speaker well as I said this is a commercial matter and it's subject to litigation so it would be inappropriate for me to comment at this time but I am heartened to hear the member opposite talk about the importance of investing in highways he's an opponent of highway 413 and doing the important work that we need to do to evaluate whether or not it's a project worth moving forward with but I'm glad to hear that he's had a change of heart and thinks that we should be looking investing in highways thank you the next question member for Parkdale hyper thank you mr. Speaker child care workers in this province are at a breaking point that's the takeaway from a recent survey of almost 2000 child care workers by the Ontario coalition for better child care and association of early childhood educators Ontario more than half of the workers reported decreased job satisfaction during the pandemic and 89% of workers reported an increase of job related stress child care workers have gone above and beyond for children and their parents during the pandemic but they are tired of being asked to do so much for so little they're tired of being ignored by this government my question to the premiere will you finally listen to child care workers and make investments needed to raise their wages to respond government I would certainly agree with the member opposite that child care workers have been so important throughout this pandemic mr. Speaker especially when you consider that they have also been on the front lines of ensuring that our essential workers could continue to do their work whether it was being available for our nurses doctors PSWs mr. Speaker they have done tremendous work and I want to thank them for all of that work we've made significant number of investments in the sector the member knows and I'm sure she would agree that we we certainly inherited a horrific system from the liberals just another part of the disastrous record of the previous liberal government that saw daycare rates increase to some of the highest if not the highest in Canada there's a bit there is a lot of work left to be done in this sector mr. Speaker because we know how important it is to families of the province of Ontario that they have choice whether they want their kids in an organized daycare or if they want the option other options that's why we brought in a tax credit mr. Speaker I understand that after I think the the federal government brought in their first promise back in I think it was 1993 with respect to child care they brought another one forward it seems to be like a a liberal calling card make a promise every single year and then never do it but we'll work with them on this one mr. Speaker we'll see what they have to say we'll see if they can actually accomplish anything mr. Speaker we know that the previous liberal government for administrations in 50 years did nothing in this sector but we certainly will the supplementary question thank you mr. Speaker mr. Speaker we always hear from this government is thank yous but thank yous don't pay the bill thank you is not a mental health service and yes they have the this government did inherit a sector that wasn't a bad shape but they have actually made it worse improving wages and working conditions is important to addressing staff retention issues something that has plagued the childcare sector for decades and the pandemic has only made things worse almost half of the childcare workers in the survey said that they have considered leaving the sector permanently if we don't pay childcare workers the wages they deserve we will never be able to recruit and retain the thousands of additional workers needed to build a truly affordable and universal childcare system again to the premier will you work with the childcare sector to improve working conditions and will you commit to implementing a wage grid that ensures no childcare worker is underpaid Mr. Speaker we've been working with the sector right from the beginning but especially during that during the pandemic Mr. Speaker because we knew how important they were to ensuring that that the essential workers can continue to do their their job and they have I'm not going to stop thanking them just because the opposition is tired of hearing thanks Mr. Speaker we will continue to do that because what they have done order heroic and has helped us not only continue our economy in those essential areas but more importantly Mr. Speaker they have helped us ensure that essential workers like doctors and nurses and PSWs could continue to do the job that has led us to getting something over nine million vaccines into people's arms Mr. Speaker that is see us bring that curve down we have a lot to be thankful for there is a federal program again and I share that the member opposites worry as such the federal liberals have promised childcare investments in the province of on here since nineteen ninety three I was twenty three event she member opposite probably wasn't even born when the first promise was made the previous liberal government was a catastrophe and did nothing on it but we will continue to work with them and anybody who wants to make serious investment thank you the next question member for York Senate Speaker to the government House leader today we expect the province to announce if it will open schools yesterday asked the minister of education why schools aren't open despite near unanimous advice including advice from the chief medical officer to open the schools I predicated my question on a December study from sick kids that approximately seventy percent of Ontario's children are experiencing increased anxiety or depression and McMaster's children hospital saying that it's admissions for teens and kids attempting suicides have tripled now the government House leader took the question and decided to make a mockery out of it between my social media platforms his answer was viewed more than twenty thousand times with great interest and varying responses so I'd like to follow up with the House leader why the schools aren't open and specifically was it appropriate for the government House leader to dismiss and make a mockery of the fact that more than seventy percent of kids are anxious and depressed and in the context of admissions for teens attempting suicide tripling in the city of Hamilton government House leader thank you very much Mr. Speaker you know this member the gall of this member I've just said in this House on a number of occasions I have two children Mr. Speaker I don't need any lessons from this member on what it takes to ensure that your kids have the meant the ability to get through a pandemic Mr. Speaker the only person in this House today making a mockery of what we have faced as a province is the member for York Centre he gets up in his place every single day yesterday we heard from the member suggest that doesn't matter how he voted that doesn't matter at all the fact that he voted to ensure that the safety of the people of the province of Ontario in March April May June July September October November and December he said none of that matters those votes don't matter I think the people in his community might find that outrageous to learn that when he gets up and votes in this chamber it doesn't matter because he's a flip flopper but for me and for us it does matter supplementary Speaker to the Minister of Finance last week I heard from an institution that she has no place to borrow anymore and that the only thing that's left for her to do is sell equipment I heard from a constituent in the travel industry that he's close to being ruined I heard from a friend in the entertainment industry that they cannot make ends meet anymore and they don't qualify for assistance I heard from members of the beauty industry of multiple suicides I'm hearing from various professional services that they're down 50 to 60 percent and then there are no more means to borrow people are losing their homes their marriages their lives Main Street Ontario has gone because this government failed to protect long-term care and added 200 beds ICU beds in 15 months and not one ICU nurse but none of these businesses that are responsible for any spread and it's not COVID that killed these businesses it's this government that's responsible for this catastrophe because of the premier's quest for approval ratings my question to the minister please don't talk about how important small business is and the various programs that don't work please save it and tell us will you open Ontario government hosts we will do so Mr. Speaker when it is safe to do so for the people the province of Ontario unlike the member opposite I and the members of this side of the house and the members on the opposite side of the house with the exception of that member care about the health and safety of the people the province of Ontario we may disagree often Mr. Speaker but collectively we have worked very hard to ensure the safety and security of the people the province of Ontario the members previous question highlighted all that he is about Mr. Speaker he's more worried about likes on Instagram than he is about getting his job done he's more worried about how many people look at his Instagram videos than making his vote count in this house Mr. Speaker but I know one thing is certain next June when the people of his riding have the chance to make a vote count Mr. Speaker they certainly will and that member won't be sitting in that seat concludes our question period this morning member for York Centre come to order that concludes our question period for this morning I'd like to remind members that the supplementary questions that they ask during question period should be consistent with the initial question and follow logically next we have a deferred vote on the motion for third reading of bill 288 and act to enact the building opportunities in the skilled trades act 2021 the bells will now ring for 30 minutes during which time members may cast their votes Elas the clerks to please prepare the lobbies