 And it is now time for Earl Questions. I recognize the leader of Her Majesty's Royal Opposition. Thank you very much, Speaker. Speaker, my first question is to the Premier. It's really clear that we are heading into another lockdown. More schools closing. In fact, probably all schools closing. And we know that the ICUs are becoming overwhelmed with COVID cases. Speaker, this is all on the government. It's all on the government. Back in February, there were warnings that the Premier needed to pay attention to, and he didn't. Experts were warning that things were going to get very, very bad. But what did the Premier say? The Premier said, the numbers are looking rosy. And they weren't. And he knew they weren't. And everybody knew that the numbers weren't looking rosy back in February when he claimed they were. So my question to the government. In fact, my question to the Minister of Health. Was it her? Was it she that told the Premier that the numbers were looking rosy and he could start lifting health precautions? If not, who on that side of the chamber gave the advice to the Premier that things were looking rosy and he could lift the precautions? Minister of Health. To the Leader of the Official Opposition. No one has ever said throughout this pandemic that things are looking rosy. We have looked at this through the very beginning of the pandemic. We have taken careful, measured steps to protect the health and well-being of every single Ontarian. And we've done that by building up capacity in our hospitals. By making sure that we've been able to build up a robust testing strategy. We've been able to test over 12 million Ontarians already. We've also been able to administer over 2 million 190,000 vaccines. We have taken careful, measured steps every step along the way in order to protect people's health and safety. No one takes this for granted. No one takes this carelessly. This is a very serious issue for every single person in the province of Ontario. We appreciate that and we're dealing with that. A supplementary question. Thank you, Speaker. Well, in fact, there are now 421 folks. It may be more as of this morning's numbers, which I haven't seen yet, but 421 ICU patients. The highest ever since the pandemic started. And this Premier, against all advice, decided to start lifting precautions when he knew it was a big risk. But he decided to take that risk anyways. In fact, when the Premier was, in fact, saying that the numbers were looking pretty rosy, here's what Anthony Dale from the Ontario Hospital Association said on February 12. Yesterday's modeling underscored the accelerating risk of highly contagious new COVID variants. The warning could not be clearer. An exhausted, overextended hospital sector is likely going to have to deal with a third pandemic wave. So, will anyone on that bench, anyone acknowledge or admit that the Premier's behaviors, the Premier's reckless decisions, led us right into this third wave? Our government has always taken very careful consideration of the recommendations made by the Chief Medical Officer of Health, the science table, the modeling table, and the pandemic measures table. All of those people have been giving us their best advice. We anticipated, because of the variants of concern, which are now the dominant strain in the province of Ontario, that there would be an increase in hospitalizations because it is a more dominant strain, it's more transmissible, and it's more, unfortunately, deadly. So we did anticipate an increase in hospitalizations. That's why we've increased the amount that we've put into our hospital system since the beginning to over $5 billion, including $1.8 billion in our most recent budget. That allows for $760 million to support the over 3100 new beds that have been created in the province of Ontario in the last year, as well as $300 million to reduce the surgical backlogs, and $778 million to support the hospitals in the work that they need to do to support the patients with COVID-19 coming in. Speaker, the government ignored the warning of doctors, of the science table, of experts, of frontline healthcare workers. They ignored the advice and they rushed the opening without putting measures in place that should have been put in place. Things like an evictions ban, things like real investments to make schools safer and reduce classroom sizes, things like paid time off for sick days and paid vaccination time. These are the things that everyone was saying were necessary to keep people safe, but it's obvious that what the Minister of Health is telling us that they calculated the risk and decided it was okay to have ICUs overwhelmed. And it was going to be okay to have more people get sick with the variants. And it was going to be okay to have 421 people and counting in the ICUs overwhelming our hospitals and basically putting our healthcare professionals in a very untenable position of exhaustion. So my question to the government is how can you justify people losing their lives because you didn't want to spend the money to put proper measures in place. 14 deaths yesterday, explain that to the people of Ontario. And the Minister of Health to respond. We've been following what's happening in our hospitals very, very carefully including conversations with Mr. Anthony Dale and other leaders of the hospitals. Our government, the Ontario Hospital Association, the Ontario Critical Care COVID Command Centre are closely watching the province's critical care capacity. And while the situation is concerning, there's no question about that, it is under control. And we're going to continue to ensure that there's capacity in hospitals across the province to provide care for COVID-19 patients and any other person requiring hospitalization during this pandemic. So we are making the changes. We've got the Cordelucci Vaughan Hospital that's open. That is the overflow for some of the other cases. We're looking at this regionally to make sure that the hospitals can share some of the loads. And we've invested, as I indicated earlier, over $5 billion in our hospital system since this pandemic began. We are watching carefully and we're responding to the need. The next question, once again, the Leader of the Opposition. Thank you so much, Speaker. Speaker, my next question is also to the Premier. After weeks of ignoring the warnings, the Premier yesterday told people to expect an announcement. My question is, why is the Premier stringing people along? Why won't he tell folks what to expect so that they can plan? To respond, Government House Leader. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I think the Minister of Health and the Government has been clear right from the onset. We will work very closely with the Chief Medical Officer of Health. We will look at the data consistently, Mr. Speaker, in making those decisions. These are very difficult decisions that we are making on behalf of the people of the province of Ontario. They are guided by one thing only, Mr. Speaker. That is to keep people safe. We simply will not rush those decisions because the Leader of the Opposition is anxious. We will sit down with the science table. We will sit down with the Chief Medical Officer of Health. And we will make these challenging decisions on behalf of the people of Ontario by looking at the data, Mr. Speaker. Because that's what I think the people of the province of Ontario would expect. We have done that from the beginning. We'll continue to do that until we've defeated this pandemic. And the supplementary question. Speaker, families need and deserve answers. But the government has left families who are desperate to plan the next couple of weeks, left them hanging. Our ICUs have been literally told, expect to be overwhelmed. That's the government's plan to overwhelm our ICUs. Schools and students have record high cases now of COVID-19, higher than ever in terms of the pandemic so far. 14 people, as I already mentioned, lost their lives to COVID-19 yesterday. Speaker, what is going on over there? Why are we in this position yet again? Why are we here again? Facing lockdowns, uncertainty, businesses closing, families not able to plan, schools closing, ICUs overwhelmed. Why are we here again? Mr. Speaker, we have right from the onset, as the Minister of Health has ably mentioned earlier, we have right from the onset, we have been working very closely with the Chief Medical Officer of Health, not only the Chief Medical Officer of Health for the province of Ontario, but all in the different public health units across this province. This is a very difficult and challenging pandemic, Mr. Speaker. We have seen across the globe that circumstances have changed almost daily in different places. But despite that, Mr. Speaker, we have been prepared. The Minister of Health just highlighted the fact that we have put billions of dollars into ensuring that our hospital system has the capacity in order to react not only to the first wave, but anything that comes after that. We have increased ICU capacity. We have increased critical care capacity, Mr. Speaker. We have done what it is necessary to do. The Minister of Health has put in a number of resources, billions of dollars into extra resources to ensure that our schools have been safe, Mr. Speaker. Is there more to do? Absolutely there is. Is there a crystal ball that tells us how this will end? No. But what we will do is put all the resources in to make sure that the people of the province of Ontario are ultimately successful in defeating this, Mr. Speaker, and we are well on the road to doing that. And the final supplementary. Well, Mr. Speaker, you know, for weeks, the Premier has ignored the advice he was getting and everybody knows it. We've been watching it play out right before our eyes. Here's what the head of the Ontario Hospital Association shared just yesterday in terms of what hospital leadership and health care leadership are saying. This is the most worried I have been since this began. How can that be? How can that be after over a year? This is the most worried our health care professionals have been since it began. For the first time in a long time, another quote, folks around here are scared. Front-line health care workers are exhausted. They're tired. They're scared. They're frightened because of the way this government has handled the pandemic. They deserve so much better from their Premier. They deserve better from their government. After months of ignoring advice, why are we in this situation that we are? Protections were reduced. Other precautions were not put in place when the government decided to open up too soon. So I guess the question is, they dragged us into a third wave. This government dragged us into a third wave. What's next? And the Minister of Health, please. Well, one of the problems has been the variance of concern that as the Leader of the Official Opposition will know, have increased rapidly, resulting in more hospitalizations, more capacity required in that. Order. We have built that capacity into the system with the investments that we've made. Mr. Dale, the OHA President, which you also just quoted, also said, the OHA greatly appreciates the investments announced today and thanks the Government of Ontario for providing hospitals with additional financial resources in an effort to maintain stability during this ongoing crisis. So we have given hospitals significant investments. We put, allowed for $1.8 billion more in our budget. The Leader of the Opposition will come to order. We're creating over 500 beds, 500 intensive care beds and medicine beds. We also have opened the Cordelucci Vaughn Hospital as an overflow to assist hospitals in the other area. And we are prepared to open field hospitals with the assistance of the federal government, which will create another 200 beds. One is ready to go in Sunnybrook and we can open another one in Hamilton if we need to. So we still have the ability to expand capacity and we will make sure that every Ontarian who needs to be hospitalized will be hospitalized to get the care they deserve. The next question, the Member for Davenport. Good morning, Mr. Speaker. This question is for the Minister of Education. Mr. Speaker, this government's less-a-fair approach to COVID-19 has pushed families to the breaking point. Every day, more students and education workers are getting sick. A record high of 1,222 cases last week alone. More classes are being sent into isolation. More schools are being closed today. I just checked a quarter of the schools in this province have reported cases. Despite all of the photo ops, the Minister has failed week after week to reach his own goals for in-school testing. Parents are trying to understand why this government would repeatedly say they believe schools should remain open but then do almost nothing to make sure they could stay that way. Speaker, yesterday, the Minister of Education admitted that and I'm going to quote, the risk profile has changed. So why hasn't his plan? In the nation, that is not a coincidence. It's because we put in place a plan endorsed by the medical community that include masking, cohorting, stricter screening before children enter a school and expanded testing. In fact, the Minister of Health's leadership in the March 7 to March 14, 57,000 tests were completed on youth under the age of 18. We are fully committed to dealing with the increasing risk within our community. We appreciate that the rising risk in community creates challenges for schools. But to put into context, because the member opposite focused on the negative, he reversed that and focused on what is taking place in schools today. 75% of schools in Ontario 75% of schools in Ontario do not have one active case. 98. 69% of schools today are open. 99% of students have no case at all. We appreciate the risk. We'll continue to elevate our plan. Continue to invest to keep schools safe. Thank you. Back to the Minister. Nothing to see here, nothing to see. The risk profile has changed because this government refused to act and walked us straight into a third wave. They held back funding when it was needed most and that left schools vulnerable again. I want to share with the Minister something that Allison, a parent in my community wrote this week, she says, and I quote, the safety precautions for primary students in September are well and truly the same and unchanged today. We are relying on luck to get us through the school year without potentially contracting COVID-19. Speaker, parents were frustrated in the first and second waves. Now they're just playing furious that this has been allowed to happen again. Will the Minister listen and act before more people get sick? Minister of Education. Certainly that constituent would appreciate knowing that the members office would have kept schools closed in 2021, which is contrary to the best interest of the health and development. For this government, we put in place a plan, $1.6 billion plan, it depends on the day in question period, they focus on the investment, the next day it's a reduction in expenditure, but really the inconsistency is the strength. When it comes to the government, our consistency is an investment, is a plan endorsed by the Chief Medical Officer of the foremost medical leader in Ontario has given his stamp of approval in our plan. It is not a matter of luck that 75% of schools while we face a third wave do not have one case at all. It's not a matter of luck. It's because of prudent planning and listening to the best medical advice that 98.6% of schools remain open today as we deal with this global challenge. We appreciate the risk. We've elevated our protocol with one symptom screening, with better quality masks, with the cohorting of students, with better cleaning and of course enhanced access to testing. We will continue to follow the best advice to keep every student, every staff safe in this province. The next question, the member for Mississauga East Cooksville. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Long-Term Care. Speaker, I was pleased to see the Minister announce a new development project in my riding of Mississauga East Cooksville two weeks ago. Tindale Seniors Village has been allocated 73 new and 151 upgraded spaces. The project will result in a 224-bed home through the construction of a completely new building around Mississauga East Cooksville. Provincewide, there are 40,000 people on the waitlist. The Mississauga Halton Linn has experienced some of the longest waitlist for a long time. So it's very important that we are taking action to deal with the waitlist. With a population that grew while the previous government failed to build long-term care in the decades before, we need that capacity. What is the Minister doing to build more capacity in Mississauga? And the Minister of Long-Term Care, please. Thank you, Speaker, and thank you to the member for Mississauga East Cooksville for the question and for his very important work on behalf of his constituents. His riding will be receiving the 73 new spaces he mentioned and put together all projects in Mississauga add up to 1,000 new spaces, 993 new spaces to be exact. The legislature will need no reminding that in their last two terms of office, the Liberals built only 611 spaces. Our government is building one and a half times that amount in Mississauga alone. Our government is investing $933 million in these projects on top of the 1.75 billion already dedicated to the delivery of 30,000 new spaces to the Liberals. This work is so important and I am proud that it's a conservative government that's getting it done after decades of talk from the opposition parties. Thank you, Speaker, and thank you to the Minister for her response. My question is back to the Minister for Long-Term Care. That's actually great news for my constituents and all of Mississauga residents. As you all know, Tindall Seniors Village is an older home and experienced a COVID-19 outbreak. We saw older homes across the province struggle to contain outbreaks. The pandemic has underlined the importance of upgrading older long-term care spaces to modern design standards. We know this work is important, so I'm glad to know the Ministry is doing everything they can to speed up new long-term care. What is the Minister doing to modernize long-term care homes? Thank you. Thank you again, Speaker and thank you for the question. The member of Mississauga East Cooksville has really been a tireless representative for his community and his constituents and I commend that. The criteria for the latest allocation of new projects prioritized the upgrading of older homes in response to lessons learned and measures, particularly the elimination of three and four bed boardrooms. He's right that modernizing this sector cannot wait, as it did under the previous government. Long-term care requires repair and rebuilding, and our government is doing just that with an aggressive modernization agenda. Ours is the government that is finally addressing upgrading older spaces and building new ones to fix the long-term care sector that has been so badly neglected for 15 years. Thank you. Thank you. The member for Scarborough, South West. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Health. Provincial modeling data shows that Scarborough will have the third highest amount of COVID-19 ICU cases by mid-April. This should be no surprise since I've been talking about this House about how Scarborough has been emotionally impacted by COVID-19 for over a year now. My community is home to frontline essential workers, racialized people, low-income families, people living with many health conditions, who have faced the worst of this pandemic for the last two waves, and wave three will be no different. My team and I are in consistent communication with Scarborough Health Network, who have been running an efficient vaccination program to do their best and protect our community. With the capacity to vaccinate over 35,000 a week, their resources have been massively underutilized due to this government's systemic negligence of Scarborough, its vulnerability and its needs. Last week, the Minister of Health finally answered my call for a commitment to an equitable vaccination strategy. So my question is, Mr Speaker, has there been any work done to ensure that Scarborough receives the vaccine and our vaccination capacity? Thank you, Speaker. Can you reply? Well, I thank the member for the question. The short answer to your question is yes, but it depends on the supply that we receive. We are still waiting to receive large quantities of the AstraZeneca supply. We know that the 1.5 million doses are now in Canada going to the federal government. We're still waiting to find out when they will be received by the federal government. We know that the 1.5 million doses will be distributed equitably across all of the 34 public health units, including Toronto and specifically Scarborough. We also know that there are certain hotspots in areas across Ontario. Scarborough would be one of them. That's why we've also invested 12.5 million dollars into a community prioritization committee to be able to go to the federal government. We're also able to bring the vaccines to people because we know that some people are not able to get to vaccination centers. There may be language problems, transportation problems, other problems, trust, vaccine hesitancy issues, and so we are going to bring the vaccines to the people in a number of communities, including many in Scarborough. Supplementary question? Thank you, Speaker. I'm going to say that the Scarborough Health Network was given 15,210 doses. For the week of April 5th to 11th, Scarborough Health Network was given 3,510 doses and we have over 650,000 people living in Scarborough. The amount of doses given to our health network reduced by 23%, Mr. Speaker. This is unacceptable and it almost looks like an error to me, to be honest. I'm once a member of the Scarborough Health Network, a body in charge of protecting and serving over 600,000 people in Scarborough not given an equitable amount of vaccines. Can the minister explain these numbers? Thank you, Speaker. First, I would agree with you that Scarborough Health Network is doing an amazing job distributing vaccines. They have visited one of their centers at Centennial College. They're doing a great job and the frontline healthcare center is still on deck to deliver the vaccines. The problem is we don't have sufficient volumes of those vaccines just yet. We are receiving Pfizer vaccines. That's true. The Moderna vaccines have been delayed several times. We're still waiting for them to be received. They were to have been received last week. Now won't be received until April 7th and even then we're not sure on that date. AstraZeneca, as I indicated earlier, we don't know when they'll be received. So to all of the members that are concerned about their public health units not receiving greater volumes of vaccines, it's because of the supply issue. As soon as we receive them, we will be distributing them to the public health units because we want to get needles into people's arms across the province as soon as we can. Thank you. The next question, the member for Simple West. Speaker, my questions to the minister of health. I want to thank the minister of health and the premier for ensuring that the calling with general marine hospital remains on the government's radar. The hospital was included in the budget on the list of older hospital facilities supported for redevelopment and rebuild. Welcome as this news is, it has raised questions throughout the South Georgian Bay area. My constituents are asking me what it means since the hospital was also mentioned in the government's 219 budget . So I asked the minister can calling would expect a brand new hospital on the land that is being donated for that purpose? Or are we looking at redevelopment on the current site? And does the minister have a timeline that you can share with my constituents? Minister of health. Well, thank you very much to the member for the question and our government is committed to making sure that our health care system has the tools and resources it needs in order to provide world-class care for all Ontarians. That is why in our recently announced budget we have included a revised capital plan which will see over $30 billion invested over the next 10 years including an additional $3 billion in the 2021 budget in hospital infrastructure. The calling would redevelopment project will expand the level of patient centered care we are able to provide which will ensure residents needs are being met close to their homes. So we are going to work closely with hospital as they move through the stages of planning to ensure that improved patient care is at the center of the significant investment. So we look forward to working with you and with your hospital to ensure that the residents of your community receive the excellent health care that they deserve. Thank you very much and a supplementary question. Thank you minister for that answer. Speaker, the minister will recall that this house last November unanimously supported my private member's resolution to support planning for hospital redevelopments in both Collinwood and Alliston as would be expected. People in the southern end of my riding were disappointed to see that there was no mention of Stevens Memorial Hospital in the recent budget even though it was also mentioned in the 2019 budget. So can the minister assure my constituents that Stevens Memorial Hospital remains on the drawing board and can the minister provide a timeline of when we might expect shovels in the ground? Minister of Health. Thank you. Well I can certainly assure the member that Stevenson remains on the drawing board. It is something that we are very committed to dealing with and we're extensively consulting with the hospital as the planning progresses. As you know the hospital recently moved from stage one to stage two in the ministry's capital planning process last year. So obviously it's important to remember and I know you know this already that when you are planning for an investment of this significant that you need to take the time to make sure that it gets done right but it is moving forward. It is in stage two and we are committed to working with our hospital partners to make sure the investments are going to be carried out efficiently and at the right scale. Additionally in 2020 we did provide a $1 million planning grant increase which includes and ensures that the total planning grant now is $5 million which will assist the project moving further towards construction as they complete the plan. Response? So both hospitals are certainly within our sites and are certainly moving forward. Thank you for the question. Thank you. The next question the member for Mississauga Lakeshore. Thank you Speaker. COVID-19 has left disastrous impact on our economy on this province and continues to have a negative impact over the year. Business pandemic continues to face uncertainties every single day. With each day this pandemic looms in Ontario, more businesses are in need of support. Mr Speaker my question is for the Minister of Heritage, Sports, Tourism and Culture Industries. Minister, this government is tabled a budget just a week ago. Can you please tell us how this government will support Ontario's heritage, sports, tourism and culture industry who have been hardest hit during this pandemic? Thank you very much Speaker. Before I answer the question of the honourable member I just wanted to say thank you to the people of Nepean. 15 years ago yesterday, myself, the Health Minister and Peter Tabbins from Toronto Danforth walked into this assembly after we were elected. So I wanted to say thank you to the people of Nepean and formerly of Carlton for the privilege and the honour to stand in this assembly for the past 15 years. Thank you. The member raises a significant issue. The sectors that I represent were hit first hardest. They will take the longest to recover post COVID-19. I spent the day on Monday with the Finance Minister and the Premier in Niagara Falls, a city of 90,000 who lost 40,000 hospitality jobs at the beginning of this pandemic. Also I come from Ottawa, the nation's capital, where the third largest sector and industry is tourism. So I've seen it firsthand across the province which is why we were able to get into the department of tourism in the department of tourism in arranging with the Finance Minister historic response into these sectors over $930 million where we're able to access and I'll get into the actual investments in the supplemental. Thank you. Supplementary question. Thank you, Minister. The weather is slowly getting warmer. Spring is well underway and soon we will be enjoying the summer months here in the tourism sector and many of those tourism business are seasonal and rely on the summer months. Through you, Mr Speaker, can the Minister please provide more details on how this government is ensuring that those in the tourism and hospitality industry receive the support they are desperately in need of leading into the summer. First and foremost, we've set up a tourism economic development recovery task force led by the UDAC. They will be working on an itinerary based travel incentive. When it's safe to do so we're not suggesting it's right now but we want to be prepared for hyperlocal tourism in the days and months ahead. In addition, we're looking at gateway cities, the destinations of Toronto and Ottawa have been decimated. We want to make sure we provide them with a great level of support with their international airports, their major convention centers and most of them like Blue Mountain, like Thousand Islands and other places across the province, but directly we're investing over $200 million into sport and recreation infrastructure, over $100 million in business grants, over $100 million in tourism recovery programs, $50 million for religious and cultural institutions, $10 million for the arts, $10 million for tourism, $260 million in an incentive to get $150 million travel tax incentive, $50 million for regional tourism organizations of $1.3 million for regional based resources, $3.9 for provincial parks and of course $10 million that we'll be going toward other activities. So we're really excited about supporting these things. Thank you very much. Thank you. To the premier. While the vaccination rollout of this government is all wrong, we're using creativity in the north. Our public health unit is making sure that the most vulnerable have access to a vaccine as fast as possible. With an aging population who doesn't have access to technology, our health office has asked the community to get in touch with residents so that they get a vaccine. The question is, how do you get in touch with residents in this situation? Minister of health to respond. Thank you and I thank the member very much for the question. Actually, we have achieved great success in the north, especially with operation remote immunity that was developed in association with First Nations leaders with orange and allowed for 31 flying communities to get in touch with local public health units because while we have one overall vaccine plan with three phases, we know that the situation is different in different parts of Ontario, so what works in Toronto isn't going to work in your region or in Windsor's different, Ottawa's different and so the local medical offices of health have been developing their own plans to make sure that their own residents can be vaccinated and they know their own areas best. So, I congratulate the regional health officer in your area for doing that because they know the best way to reach the residents and that is perfectly in accordance with our plan. Thank you for the question. Speaker, Northern Earth are used to being creative and resourceful because this government has left them on their own will. My office has been helping to make sure that they have access for elderly residents who have no access to technology, live alone and don't have a caregiver. Speaker, will this government put money where their mouth is and step up to the challenge or will they continue to play, where is Waldo with the good people of James Bay? Thank you. We have already put hundreds of millions of dollars into this that is doing great job. They have already booked over 850,000 appointments. It's operating well. There are some glitches here and there. I will acknowledge that but overall the system is doing a great job. We also recognize that there are many residents that are not computer literate. They don't feel comfortable booking online. We still have our booking tool at the call center where people can call and they are more comfortable making the appointment via phone. They certainly can do that. That is available across Ontario, including northern Ontario. Every part of Ontario is booked into this system. The next question, the member for Glenn Gary, Prescott Russell. Thank you Mr. Speaker. My question is to the minister of education. Last summer this government told school boards that they would like to provide additional staff and create space to allow for greater social distancing in classrooms. Reserve funds are meant for repairs to school infrastructure and to build new facilities. To date this government has not committed to reimbursing school boards forced to deplete these funds in order to keep kids safe at school. In fact there was no mention of reserve funding in last week's budget, $1.6 billion from the education budget for the 2021 school year. Mr. Speaker, will the minister explain why he decided that school boards do not deserve any reimbursement for the reserve funds they were forced to spend to make their schools safe, a job that should be up to the government? Indeed, the government did step up with $1.6 billion to our investment. We believe every level of government, our school boards, our federal school boards will be able to invest in the protection of children and quality education. We actually welcome the cooperation of everyone to be part of the solution. We have invested an additional $700 million more in the budget, I think underscoring our commitment to public education. We have an upcoming announcement, the grant for student needs which is our principal funding vehicle for school boards. All members and members of the school board will be able to support the school board. We recognize that there's more we can do. We will continue to step up in partnership with our boards, with all Canadians, all Ontarians, to make sure the schools remain safe and that we maintain excellence in learning in Ontario. We supplement the question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, back to the minister. Throughout this pandemic, educational assistance has been a big part of the process. We have a lot of students helping them eat, taking their hand and toileting. They often work with students who have behavioral issues. Many don't understand the importance of physical distancing and wearing a mask, putting these workers at greater risk of exposure to COVID-19. Many are refusing work or are leaving the profession because of mask exemptions and high EA to protect their families. They simply don't feel safe. So what additional measures is this government taking to protect the safety of EA's and ECE's during the third wave and how does the minister plan to stabilize this vital workforce when they're cutting $1.6 billion from the budget? Mr. Speaker, indeed there are 409 more EA's in Ontario because of our government's investments, so I appreciate the member recognizing the increase. What I also would note is that when it comes to vaccinations, two points. The first is this government prioritized education staff, all of them including the hardworking EA's, ECE's, childhood educators, our bus drivers, our educators, everyone is in phase two, which I think underscores a commitment, which underscores a commitment of the government to make sure that these frontline staff who cannot work with the federal government to get these vaccines to this problem. So we can get them into the arms of Canadians. Oppositions on the order. Next question, the member for Mississauga Lakeshore. Thank you, Speaker. Climate change is a complex problem that poses serious challenges for the health of our families. I think the issue requires continuous collaboration between governments, the private sector and the people of Ontario working together to drive more innovation and solutions. Mr. Speaker, the constituents in my riding of Mississauga Lakeshore has experienced concerns about the worsening impact of climate change and the effect it continues to have on their local community. Now more than ever, they want to know that their government is serious about climate change and willing to step up their efforts to address the important environmental challenge. So my question is for the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Park, is can he assure me today that tackling climate change is a top priority for our government? Mr. Speaker, the environment, conservation and parks. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the member from Greenland for the question and the strong advocacy on behalf of his constituents for a healthy environment and a healthy economy. Mr. Speaker, up to this point I've been very clear that this government takes the threat of climate change very seriously. That's why I recently announced an investment of $20 million over four years for the Greenland's conservation partnership. This initiative will advance our actions in a made in Ontario natural areas such as wetlands and other important habitats through good policy, strong science and partnerships. Mr. Speaker, it will help mitigate the effects of climate change and increase the number of conserved natural spaces for the public to enjoy. I can ensure the member that having healthy communities and a healthy environment will always be the top priorities for this government. We know that tackling climate change is a key part of achieving climate change. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Park for his dedication to the people of Ontario and to the environment. My community cares deeply about the environment and we'll be happy to hear that our government is taking real action on climate change. Mr. Speaker, after a long winter the warm weather is finally on its way and this means Ontario will be able to see the beautiful green spaces that all across Ontario are looking for more opportunities to discover the beautiful green spaces our province has offered. So could the Minister please tell this House how this investment will ensure more people can access Ontario's natural areas? The environment. Thanks again for that question from the member from Mississauga Lakeshore. Mr. Speaker, we recognize the positive impacts of this investment. I, too, am enjoying much time out hiking with my wife. We currently go to Catfish Creek Conservation Authority Springwater. It's a great nature trail seven kilometres long and it's a beautiful time to get out with the family and actually enjoy nature, Mr. Speaker. And I encourage all Ontarians if they have the opportunity to get outside and enjoy nature. Our investment is supporting that type of activities, and I encourage all Ontarians to go hiking, fishing, boating or taking out their mountain bike and do some trail riding. These investments are just one of many the government is making to expand access to outdoor recreation and strength and protection for our environment. We will continue to focus on delivering the equipment in our made in Ontario environment plan and continue to address the challenges of climate change in Ontario. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Deputy Premier. Last week, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario released a decision that shows how the Premier and his government's inaction to ensure congregate care residents meaningful access to their essential caregivers discriminated against a child with disabilities. The tribunal found that the child had been adversely affected and that human rights protections do not have to do the right thing. The government should have stepped up in legislative visitations to ease the adverse effects of isolation and make it clear that residents should be allowed outside care homes for sunshine and fresh air. With this decision from the tribunal, why does this government continue to facilitate breaching the rights of thousands of congregate care residents in group homes, long-term care homes and others across the province? Why won't they pass back and immediately reunite these families once and for all? The Parliamentary Assistant Member for Ottawa, West Nippian. Thank you, Speaker. We are aware of the recent decision of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario and our ministry is reviewing the decision. Our top priority remains the health, safety and well-being of children, youth, adults and families in Ontario including those in our congregate care settings. We are working with service providers so that they can continue to provide services safely and efficiently while following the guidance set out by provincial and local public health experts. Guidelines issued by our ministry have been developed in consultation with the Ministry of Health to protect the health and well-being of residents and staff in congregate care settings. Through the province's COVID-19 response framework we helped service providers operating congregate care settings to implement infection, prevention and control precautions relative to the identified levels of risk within their local communities and I will be pleased in the supplementary to talk about more of those measures. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. This government has been waiting and seeing and considering things for 15 months while some residents in congregate care like long-term care are literally dying of isolation. Speaker, thousands of congregate care residents across the province have been denied meaningful or in some cases any access to their designated caregivers for over a year now. Many have been denied going outdoors for fresh air and sunshine. Yesterday they were begging you to let them outside. This landmark decision from the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario makes it clear the province had no authority to unilaterally remove the rights of congregate care residents in the name of pandemic response. With thousands of residents in congregate care in Ontario, this conservative government can expect many more human rights violations decisions based on this precedent setting ruling. While they continue to facilitate denying care home residents meaningful access to their family caregivers and confining them to their rooms the government has had a legislative solution in front of them since September 2020 when they could pass today to stop human rights violations and continue to perpetuate why won't the premier pass my more than a visitor act and stop violating human rights of residents in congregate care. Thank you Thank you speaker and of course as I said in my initial answer the protection and safety of our individuals in congregate care settings is a paramount concern for our government. We're doing what we can to prevent the spread of COVID-19 while enabling families and individuals in congregate care settings to connect with one another as safely as possible throughout this difficult period. Our government has taken a number of actions to prioritize their safety through the COVID-19 action plan for vulnerable people we implemented measures that will help to stop COVID-19 at the door of these facilities through measures like enhanced screening and the use of PPE and manage outbreaks when they do happen which includes enhanced testing and contract tracing. We have also made investments of up to 40 million dollars in support of the COVID-19 residential relief fund. This support covers eligible costs such as additional staffing, residential respite for caregivers and personal protective equipment and supplies. Speaker this is going to continue to be a key priority we are going to protect our individuals in congregate care and we're going to make sure that we can weather. The next question the member for Cambridge. Thank you Mr. Speaker and good morning my question is for the Premier. Last week this government lost its challenge to the federal government's carbon pricing legislation at the Supreme Court of Canada. Funny enough this government had already made a deal with the Justin Trudeau Liberal government to implement two carbon taxes in Ontario one administered by the federal government for consumers and one administered by this provincial government on industry. Can the government tell us whether they feel they put forward the possible at the Supreme Court to fight the federal carbon tax because the deal made with the federal Liberal government seems to suggest the Ontario government had already thrown in the towel. To respond. Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker and thank the member opposite for that question and you know I know she was with us when we passed our main Ontario environment plan that we have been implementing and one of those key aspects of that plan was to bring forward our emissions performance standards which we have worked with the federal government to institute that is going to be a fair but tough regulation put in place to keep Ontario competitive but at the same time it's working to reduce those big polluting emitters down to the greenhouse gas emissions so that we're able to work towards our goal of a 30% decrease in emissions below 2005 levels by our 2030 commitment. This is in addition to our plan to introduce a hydrogen strategy for this province. This is a plan moving forward that's going to allow us to open up a new economy that's going to be low carbon emitting vehicles, low carbon emitting buses and trains Mr. Speaker it's also going to allow us to store energy mixed with natural gas to decrease GHGs and our heating in the house I look forward to implementing further this plan. Thank you Mr. Speaker in legal challenges judges only make decisions based on the evidence and the arguments provided by both sides it seems to me this government spent over 20 million dollars to fight this federal carbon tax legislation in court only to concede to the federal government on the facts of the case and to concede to the federal government the arguments in two of the three stages of the legal analysis. On the one hand the premier's rhetoric was to say the carbon tax is a cash grab that will do nothing for the environment but in legal filings this government agreed that the federal carbon tax is a way to help the environment. Can the government tell us how they expected to win in court when they conceded the facts and two-thirds of the legal arguments to the federal government on the federal carbon tax legislation? Minister of the environment Thank you for that supplemental Mr. Speaker we are disappointed with the Supreme Court's decision on the carbon tax issue Mr. Speaker we were elected with the mandate from the people of this province to do everything we could to make life more affordable for families and businesses throughout this province throughout the province Mr. Speaker and we take the Supreme Court's decision and respect it even though we do disagree with it Mr. Speaker we do know that climate change is an issue in this province it's a threat to this province a threat to our economy it's a threat to the people throughout Ontario we are taking measures through our made in Ontario environment plan to not only fight climate change to reduce our emissions but also at the same time protect our land, air and water because we believe that's what the people of this province want we're going to continue to implement this plan that is a flexible plan it's not a one-size-fits-all for the entire province people in northern Ontario southern Ontario and GTA in Toronto each need their own specific plans in order to fight climate change to protect the environment Thank you for your question Member for Sudbury Thank you very much Speaker my question is for the Premier Laurentian University is Canada's sole university with the tricultural mandate to support French, English and Indigenous communities they're also the third-largest employer in my writing of Sudbury Laurentian employees over 850 people they educate more than 6 000 students minister said he was aware of Laurentian's problem six months ago but instead of taking immediate action Laurentians is now under CCAA public institution. Robert Hashtag, the president of Laurentian University, recently said that if significant restructuring plans are not approved, the University will cease to function as of April 30th, which will be devastating for Suburban's economy, for students, for workers, and for Northern Ontario. My question, Speaker, is will the Premier commit to keeping Laurentian University open past April 30th, and what's the Premier willing to do to save Laurentian University? Minister of Education. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Obviously, we are very concerned about what's taking place at Laurentian University. We have appointed a special advisor. The minister of colleges and universities have appointed Alan Harrison in response. And Dr. Harrison's work is to provide advice and recommendations to the ministry regarding the financial situation of Laurentian, and also to offer perspective on governance and strategic planning to help them get through this difficulty. I will note that this province, under Minister Romano's leadership, invested $106 million, the largest investment in the country when it comes to supporting post-secondary institutions through COVID-19. I'm also aware that Laurentian University, over the past five years, has received close to $80 million in support, and we're going to continue to be there for Laurentian. After all, 40%, more than 40% of Laurentian's total revenue is from the province, compared to 23% for the rest of the post-secondary sector, underscoring our commitment both to French language education and education in Northern Ontario as well, Mr. Speaker. And the supplementary. Thank you, Speaker. Back to the Premier. Premier, Speaker, for weeks, the people of Subray and Northern Ontario have been begging the Conservative government to cancel the CCA process at Laurentian or to provide emergency funding to lessen likelihood of drastic cuts. Minister of Education, we've received about $106 million of emergency funding for post-secondary institutions. Surprisingly, not one dime of that was for Laurentian University. They say the money was intended for institutions most severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but excluded the only post-secondary institution currently facing insolvency. The CCA process at Laurentian will end soon and expert-feeler fear that this will result in devastating cuts. Will the Premier finally step in and save Laurentian from drastic cuts? Minister of Education. Well, on the contrary, Mr. Speaker, Laurentian received $10.4 million from the ministry, over $1.1 million from the federal government as well to develop and offer French language post-secondary programs and services. As I noted, Mr. Speaker, they received, Laurentian received to date roughly 40% of grants from the ministry of colleges and universities when compared to other institutions and roughly 23% underscoring a clear commitment to this institution, to education in the North, and to French language preservation and making sure we have access to the good work that they do. The Northern Ontario Special Purpose Grant was extended to Laurentian for $6 million. The Teachers Education Stabilization Grant was extended to Laurentian University. The Graduate Expansion Program was provided in the past and Northern Intuition Sustainability Fund was also extended. We appreciate their challenges. We've appointed Dr. Harrison to lead them through this difficulty with the commitments to continue to support the students at Laurentian University. Thank you. Next question, the member for Orléans. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Premier. Recently, the government announced appointments to the Board of Invest Ontario and it's a very interesting list. While it's chock full of conservative party insiders, what it doesn't have, Mr. Speaker, is anyone from Ottawa's business community. Now, the tourism minister from Ottawa has traveled the province telling us how important tourism will be to our economic recovery. And I agree. Tourism is Ottawa's third largest sector. Not only is nobody from Ottawa's tourism sector included in Invest Ontario. In 2019, the government cut Ottawa Tourism's budget by 15% pulling $3.4 million out of Ottawa tourism, Mr. Speaker. But there's more. Ottawa is home to the largest tech park in the country. Tech will be a foundation of Ontario's economic recovery. But as the Ford government opens the door to business, it closes the door on Ottawa's tech sector. Mr. Speaker, how can there be no representation from Ottawa's two largest private sector industries? How does the government justify excluding Ottawa business leaders from their new investment attraction agency? The minister heard of sports tourism and culture industries. Well, if the member opposite actually followed along with the Ontario budget, we've invested over $930 million into these hard hit sectors. In addition, Michael Crockett, the president and CEO of Ottawa Tourism is not only a member of my task force, he is also going to be key in making sure that we recover our gateway cities, which we've been very clear about. Serial leader, an Ottawa resident, the former president and CEO of the Ottawa Senators is chairing my amateur sport and my professional sport organization. We have representation from all of our festivals and events in the city of Ottawa. Just last week, myself and the finance minister visited some of the high tech communities inside that do work with our digital interactive media, as well as his. He has been the finance minister and the Treasury Board president has been with the minister of long-term care in our high tech sector. I can tell you the Ottawa people that are represented on our boards, agencies and commissions has never been more extended than it has been now. And I can tell you with respect to tourism. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Order. The next, Mr. Huffman. I'm waiting with bated breath, Mr. Speaker. So we've established that the government doesn't respect Ottawa's business community and has no plan to put any Ottawa business leaders on invest Ontario. This week, it was revealed that Ottawa isn't receiving its per capita share of COVID-19 vaccinations. Ottawa represents 7% of Ontario's population, but despite being in the high risk zones, Mr. Speaker, has only received 5.7% of the doses. That's nearly 20% fewer doses than the per capita share, Mr. Speaker. And before the minister or their government talks about Justin Trudeau and vaccine supply, this is about the proportion of vaccines you've already received. You've already received these vaccines. It's about our fair share in Ottawa. Mr. Speaker, thousands of seniors went without appointments because of a foul up in the system this week. They haven't been able to book, and we're behind as a result because we're not getting our fair share of vaccines. Mr. Speaker, why is Ottawa always an afterthought for this government? I also come to order, Mr. Huffman to reply. I say thank you to the member for the question, but to the contrary, we're happy to report that last week, Ottawa received its largest shipment of vaccines to date. And it should also be noted that last year, Ottawa was one of the first public health units to receive a shipment of the Pfizer vaccines in the province. But it's not only that, Speaker. We're also happy to report that through the high priorities community strategy of $12.5 million, Ottawa is receiving its share of that because there is money and vaccines that are going to the southeast Ottawa community health center. So I would say, Mr. Speaker, to order through you to the member, Ottawa is being very well served with the vaccine priority role. The next question, the member for Oshawa. Thank you very much, Speaker. My question is to the Premier. My office is being flooded with calls and emails from people in Oshawa and from across the Durham region about vaccines. Everyone is concerned about the health and well-being of their loved ones. Durham region needs more access for more people to more vaccines. There are vaccine doses sitting in freezers in Ontario. We need to ensure that all communities have what they need and Durham region has need. Durham region health department is now at the top of the list with the fifth highest number of cases per capita. We are all stressed and struggling with the threat of more lockdowns. People deserve fair access to vaccines. It does not make sense that Durham region has been left out of the government pharmacies pilot for the AstraZeneca vaccine. Will the Premier commit today to meeting the needs of people in Oshawa and to adding Durham region pharmacies to the AstraZeneca pilot program? Mr. Hill. Yes, as soon as we receive the vaccines, right now we have already used 98% of the 194,500 vaccines that were sent to us for that have a time limit of April 2nd. So they will be expiring, but they will be used. We will not let one dose go to waste. But as far as the vaccine roll out into pharmacies across Ontario, we have actually planned for at least three pharmacies in every public health unit to be able to receive the vaccines and to vaccinate the people that live in that region. But we don't have the vaccines yet. They're here, they're in Canada, but we still don't have any indication from the federal government as to when we actually will receive them. As soon as we do, we will be shipping them to pharmacies across Ontario. And there is also a myth that there are a lot of vaccines sitting in freezers. That is not the case. All of those vaccines have already been allocated to someone they are already booked for. We are making sure that every vaccine is used as soon as we receive it, because that is our goal, is to protect everyone in the province of Ontario. Thank you very much. That concludes our question period for this morning.