 It is now time for oral questions. I recognize the member for Tomiskaming Hawkin. My question is to the Premier. Earlier this summer, the Premier claimed that he would be taking urgent action to deal with the crisis in long-term care. And I quote, we've been very clear that the system in Ontario has been broken, and we must act quickly, end of quote. Yesterday, months after his own expert staffing study called for a minimum standard of four hours of hands-on care a day, the Premier announced that the government would be implementing a watered-down version of that plan, but that it would take five years to do it. What happened to we must act quickly? The Minister of Long-Term Care. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker, and thank you to the member opposite for the question. There are two issues here. One is the urgent measures that we've been taking to shore up our long-term care homes during the COVID-19 crisis, as well as the longer-term staffing stabilization plan that we were made very aware of as soon as standalone dedicated ministry to long-term care was created. We listen to the sector to understand the issues there. We've been acting all along with every measure possible, getting integration with hospitals, getting the infection prevention and control teams, showing up staffing, looking at a whole staffing strategy informed by a staffing advisory panel, an expert advisory panel, as well as the early guidance from the commissioners. This has been ongoing, and we will not stop. We are committed to our most vulnerable people in long-term care, and that staffing work is being done. And we're getting the support to our homes, as we speak, and the four hours of care, average of four hours of care to our most vulnerable people. The announcement yesterday, this is monumental. Thank you. Thank you. And these supplementary questions. It's been clear throughout this pandemic that every time the premier spent, all the time the premier spent delaying, and every time he tried to cut corners and postpone investments, lives are lost in our long-term care homes. But in other provinces, they snapped to action, hiring thousands of PSWs and permanently boosting their wages. They truly moved heaven and earth to get staff to the front line. While the Ford government's expert panel, their report, which the minister mentioned, sat on the shelf. Does the premier realize that seniors struggling in long-term care homes right now, and PSWs struggling in long-term care right now, they can't wait five years for action? Does he realize that? Question. Mr. Long-Term Care. Thank you, Speaker, and thank you again. I think the concept of the average of four hours for direct care per resident per day is an absolute imperative for our long-term care residents for the high-quality care that they deserve and need. And this is something that our government has been working on consistently. Our plan has hard targets. We will be monitoring and making sure that every step of the way, every single action that can be taken to get tens of thousands of workers trained and into the field will be done. The previous government neglected this for 17 years. Previous governments put this on the table and never implemented. Our government is dedicated to making sure that this happens, and we have a plan. We have the hard targets, and we are making sure that the staffing that our long-term care sector has needed for so long is going to be addressed. Mr. Long-Term Care. The final supplementary. Mr. Long-Term Care. I'm not sure a target five years in the future is a hard target. Sadly, families and front-line staff in long-term care have stopped believing in commitments from the Ford government. Ford government promised an iron ring around long-term care since then, over 2,000 seniors have died. They were promising that, quote, that no expense would be spared and that the government was taking urgent action to prepare for a second wave. Instead, the government's attempting to rewrite the law so that they will be protected from lawsuits, not the families. The Premier has utterly failed to protect seniors in the last six months. Why would anyone believe that he's going to do it in the next five years? Mr. Long-Term Care. Thank you, Speaker. COVID-19 has been an unprecedented challenge across the world. Our government moved swiftly across ministries, working in collaboration with governments and the sector to take every measure possible and to plan. And that is exactly what we put dollars behind. We put $243 million out on an urgent basis to support our homes, issued four emergency orders, amended regulations, continued to put an integrated process in place to assist our homes, and now we are making sure to address the long-standing, long-neglected issue of staffing in our long-term care homes, really neglected for many years. The Opposition Party has presented Bill 13, but it contains no timeframe or plan to achieve the four hours of care per resident per day. The government has a plan. We have the hard targets. We are putting measures in place to make sure that those targets are achieved. We are working, as we speak, about return of service for PSWs and nurses, fast-tracking. Thank you very much. The next question, the Member for Davenport. Thank you. Good morning, Mr. Speaker. This question is for the Premier. Speaker, on September 23rd, the Minister of Education said, we are cognizant that the risk in our schools is reflective of the risk within our community. On that day, the province was reporting 335 new cases, and there were a total of 180 cumulative cases related to schools. But just five weeks later, and we're seeing an average of 919 new cases a day in Ontario, and 1,338 school-related cases in the past two weeks alone. So, Speaker, if growing community spread puts our schools at greater risk, why haven't there been new supports made available to keep them safe? Mr. Education, you reply. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, we are incredibly proud of the hard work of frontline educators, of principals, of public health nurses, and doctors within each of our communities, working so hard to reduce the risk. Mr. Speaker, in this province, 99.9997% of schools are open, meaning of 4,800 schools in this province, there is a single example that is closed. 99% of students, 99% of staff have never contracted COVID. 88% of schools have never had a case of COVID. Mr. Speaker, we appreciate the angst that each and every one of these cases will bring to a school. Of 1.5 million kids and 200,000 students, there's 2,300 cumulative cases province-wide. We are doing everything we can, following public health advice, working closely with the Chief Medical Officer of Health to ensure that every school, every community, and every student remains safe in this province. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Couple of missing questions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I can tell you that the minister's assurances ring pretty hollow for parents and kids who've been impacted by cases in their school. 58 students at one Scarborough school are in isolation as we speak, because they were exposed. Teachers and early childhood educators had to call in the Ministry of Labor because they felt unsafe. Cancelles scolaires via Monde are facing such staffing shortages that they've written parents asking them to sign up and fill roles as custodians and clerks and educational assistants. This plan is not scaling up to meet the challenge our schools are facing. Will the Premier listen to parents and education workers and act now to keep our schools safe and give them the supports they need to stay safely open? Minister of Education. Well, Mr. Speaker, we accept that transmission in community is high, and that's the basis for why in this province, well before even we announced Modified Stage 2 in communities like York, this government took proactive action to allocate funding of $50 million of our $1.3 billion allocation, the single largest investment in this country to ensure that schools are safe. And the data speaks for itself while we appreciate, as parents and uncles and aunts and people who are committed to public education, the safety of our staff and our students, we acknowledge amongst 1.5 million children, 200,000 students, there have been a cumulative total of 2,300 cases. Now we acknowledge and agree with the member, each of those cases brings angst to a community. But we need to be proud of the work of our frontline workers who every day demonstrate incredible courage to keep our students safe. And it is for that basis, we're going to continue to have their backs, continue to flow the funds and ensure the protocol remains robust so that every student and every school is safe in this province. The final supplementary. Mr. Speaker, our educators, our education staff are exhausted and it's only the beginning of November. Our students are anxious. Our parents are concerned. They have no confidence in this government's ability to keep their schools safely open. Speaker, we've got a school board that is pleading with parents to sign up to help teach their own kids. This is going to take more than some commitments to attend job fairs or career fairs and a few dollars here and there. The point is, Mr. Speaker, this is a government that is consistently chasing after problems instead of getting out in front of them. And by doing the very bare minimum and sitting on federal dollars, 9.3 billion federal dollars, they are putting our kids and they're learning at risk. So, Mr. Speaker, I'll ask again, when will this government start to actually spend the dollars that they've been given and stop just sitting on them? Thank you. Again, the Minister of Education to respond. Speaker, if the member opposite wants, you know, political politicians to not be reactive, then a year ago, when we had an opportunity to proactively support online learning because we thought it was prudent to this problem and actually has a backstop, the member's opposite, of course, defended the status quo because, of course, if there's a political party that is most averse to change, it is a new democratic party with the support of their liberal colleagues, this party believes in innovation. We believe in providing choice for parents. Order. And we believe now more than ever that the investments, the protocol, and the guidance by the Chief Medical Officer of Health has ensured two things. One, that students are safe within school and at the Ministry of Education, we provide a quality, high, national leading standard of online learning. We can do both in this province and we will, Speaker. Next question, the member for Essex. Thank you very much, Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Speaker, Canada Christian College has now hidden financial statements demonstrate a lack of financial responsibility. The CCC calls itself a registered charity, but those financial statements, they've scrubbed from the web, show the charity spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on line items like travel and automotives. Photos that have suspiciously been scrubbed from the internet show Charles McVidi and his immediate family using the quads, jet skis, and pleasure craft of Canada Christian College for their own personal use. They even referred to this equipment as, quote, new toys. Speaker, will the Premier be conducting an open review of the college's financial stability and make all of the findings public before he lets Charles McVidi run a university in the province of Ontario? Mr. College is in universities to respond. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The, with respect to the parts of the question that the member opposite raises about the PCAB process with the financial elements of the process, that's a part that is done by an independent body. And obviously, as the member opposite knows, our side of the house do not meddle with independent advisory boards. That is what our role is. We take our position very seriously, Mr. Speaker, as I said yesterday to the member opposite, and I will say again, all of our individual universities, colleges, must go through a process any single time that any individual, any organization applies for any type of a license or a designation, they must go through a procedural process. That is something that is guaranteed, that is something that we are ensuring is happening in a fair, open, accountable, and transparent way. That is what we are doing. That is why we are in this house debating this right now. That is why we have taken these courses of action. I wish to inform the house that if the heckling continues, I will start calling you to order by name of your writing. And your constituents will know. Supplementary question. Thank you very much, Speaker. You know, I feel a little bit bad for the minister having to carry water on this issue on behalf of the Premier, who has put their entire caucus in this debacle, but I can sense the trepidation in his answer and his voice, Speaker. We already know one of the reasons the financial statements were scrubbed from the internet was because McVidi loaned himself and his son a million dollars for housing and cars. In 2008, the statements McVidi spent 110,000 on automotives. And in 2019 statements, he spent another 170,000 dollars on automotives. We don't know if the CCC purchased McVidi's jaguar out of those funds, but what we do know is that the quads on campus and the jet skis in the marina and the pleasure craft in the parking lot are all available for his own personal use. Of course, photo evidence of McVidi using all these luxury items has mysteriously been disappeared from the internet. Question. It looks like a personal slush fund because it obviously is a personal slush fund. Why is the government bending over backwards to approve what this man does with his school's finances? Mr. Colch's University. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. What the member opposite clearly demonstrates time and time again as I do all of the members opposite is a complete and utter unappreciation of procedural fairness. And the fact that they do so, Mr. Speaker, is beyond me, but let's just talk about the facts. Let's talk about what the facts truly are here. Last year when I became the minister of colleges and universities, Mr. Speaker, I went through and I spoke to every single college and university president across the entire sector. You know what the number one complaint they had was? That it took upwards of three years to get a program approval process done. So we took that program approval process, Mr. Speaker, and we expedited that process where we had institutions applied directly to PCAP, an independent advisory board. We took the PCAP process, we simplified it. And now these types of processes last three to six months. To take it as up a step, we dealt with Algoma University and OCAD University seeking similar designations now, and we married a legislative process with a ministerial process, a fair, transparent, open process. Thank you, Mr. Spurter. Member for Essex will come door. The next question, the member for Carlton. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the premier's first official tour in my writing of Carlton back in March of 2019 was to visit the Osgoode Care Center, a nonprofit charitable long-term care home located in Metcalf. These actions speak louder than words, and the premier's visit a year and a half ago reaffirms what we all know, that one of the premier's top priorities is the welfare of our long-term care residents in places like Metcalf and across the province. This virus has shunned a spotlight on the deep cracks in our broken long-term care system. Our government inherited a long-term care system that suffered deeply from decades of underinvestment and neglect. The people of Ontario put their faith and trust in the premier to fix this broken system, and the premier made a commitment to families and caregivers that our government would fix this broken system. We've delivered a plan with over half a billion dollars to prepare our long-term care homes. Speaker, can the premier please share with the legislature how our government is addressing some of the key recommendations from the Long-Term Care Commission Inquiry appointed in June. Thank you, in July. Premier. I want to thank the member from Carleton. She's doing an absolutely great job up there. And I want to give a big shout out to the nurses and the PSWs in long-term care. They're absolute champions. They are all stars. They're out there on the front lines. And they don't get exhausted after a couple of months, by the way. They've been going about six, seven, eight months now, full steam ahead. And I'm proud to announce that we'll be increasing the average daily direct care in our homes four hours a day. I know the opposition tried to do it, for God knows how long 20 years. And so did the Liberals try it for 20 years. But they haven't been able to get it done. We're the only government setting a gold standard, blazing a new trail for long-term care with four hours of care every single day. We will be the gold standard around North America. And I just want to thank, again, the nurses and the PSWs. Thank you. A supplementary question. Mr. Speaker, this is wonderful news for the long-term care residents at the Osgoode Care Centre, the people of Carleton and all Ontarians. We've delivered a plan with over half a billion dollars to prepare our long-term care homes for future waves and surges of COVID-19. And I know that for many of Carleton's residents, this announcement will mean that the increased level of care will dramatically enhance the quality of life and care for their loved ones. This will help ensure that residents will have the support they need when it comes to taking their heart medication three times a day. This will mean that elderly individuals can get the assistance they deserve with bathing, a change of clothes and meals. To our residents and their families and caregivers, four hours a day will make a world of difference and Ontario is leading the charge on this. Speaker, can the Premier please share with the legislature what the response has been from the sector to this great announcement by our government? The Premier. Well, again, I want to thank the member. Do you know what else is critical that the opposition didn't do? They never gave these folks an increase. For the first time, they're actually seeing an increase through our government and pay per hour. And Mr. Speaker, I want to take the opportunity to read out a few quotes, one being Jerry Diaz, President of the Uniform, had to say about our government's announcement. Ontario's long-term care system has been in crisis for far too long, way too long, 17 years. This announcement gives workers and residents a hope for brighter days ahead. And I am relieved that Premier Ford listened to the demands and committed to fixing long-term care sector. Another great statement from the President, Patty Cortes, at the Ontario Federation of Labor, the Ontario Federation of Labor is pleased that the Ford government has recognized the urgent need to establish a legally enforceable minimum standard of an average of four hours of direct care. This is a game changer. This is something that the other government talked, talked, talked about but couldn't do. Thank you. Thank you very much. The next question, the member for Kiwetanaw. Miigwet's speaker, this question is to Premier. Speaker, this week is Treaties Recognition Week. Ontario is a signatory to treaty number nine and as is Niskanaga. Niskanaga was evacuated 16 days ago because of a public health emergency and they have no safe running water in the community. Now they are being left out of the environmental assessment consultation for the supply rode to the Ring of Fire. Niskanaga told this government in September that it could not engage in the process in a meaningful way because of the pandemic. Now they're expected to consult in a middle of a public health crisis. Speaker, why this EA, why this EA process is proceeding, why is this process proceeding without Niskanaga? The parliamentary assistant to apply, member for Peterborough Court. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Last year our government signed a historic agreement with the communities of Webequay and Martin Falls with respect to that road leading into the Ring of Fire. We continue having ongoing negotiations and conversations with the First Nation communities around the Ring of Fire and we'll continue to make sure that we consult with all of the communities that are involved. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The supplementary question. Back to the speaker, I mean back to the Premier. Niskanaga has been without safe top water since February 1995, over a quarter of a century. We need gold standard on this. Renita Monias is a mother of two young children from Niskanaga. She was born in 1996, which means she's never experienced clean top water. Now as a mother, she will not wash her children with the top water because it causes swords and skin infections. She has to use bottled water to bathe her children ages one and three. She hopes that clean water will flow before her children become at an age where they remember having to live this way. Speaker, we must do better for her children. Ontario must do better for her children. Why is this government? Why is Ontario ignoring and not helping Niskanaga through this crisis? Thank you. So please take your seats. The Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, to reply. Thank you very much, Speaker, and thank you for that question. I thought I'd give an update on where the province is at. We've been leveraging the provincial expertise through the Indigenous Drinking Water Projects Office and it's two agencies, the Ontario Clean Water Agency and the Walkerton Clean Water Centre to support Niskanaga First Nations in the completion of their newly constructed water plant two days ago. A team from the Ontario Clean Water Agency flew into the community after receiving an invitation from the Chief. They have started the commission of the water plant and assessment of the water system infrastructure. They will conduct a 14-day stress test for the plant and provide high level recommendations for the longer term system sustainability focused on removing the boil water advisory that has been in place as the member opposite mentioned since the 90s. We remain committed to helping ensure water infrastructure in the community is well maintained and in place for future needs. Mr. Speaker, I'm with the member opposite. I call upon the federal government to step up and take care of the promise to remove boil water advisories across the entire First Nations communities. Step up with the money and make this happen, Mr. Speaker. The next question, member for Ottawa South. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Premier. So it's another day and it's another Charles McVity revelation. Yesterday, he said the NDP were anti-Christian. He is the same guy who said Islam is not a religion and has said so many hateful things about Ontario's LGBT community. Charles McVity preaches fear and division, but make no mistake about it. This isn't about religion. It's not about faith. It's not about God. It's not even about education. This is all about money. Giving Charles McVity the ability to grant more dubious degrees allows him to cash in, adds to his bottom line to fill up what looks like is his own personal piggy bank. So Speaker, through you, can the Premier explain why he's continuing to allow this bill to go forward? Mr. Colleges and University. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So again, any organization out there, any college which seeks to obtain status of this major, which seeks to grant degrees, any institution across this entire province has three options in which to do that. They can either proceed by way of a private bill. Any member in this house can rise and introduce a private bill. It goes directly to a committee, very sheltered process. It never gets debated in this house. Very sheltered process, not very transparent. Second option is it can go proceed through ministerial consent. I explained that process in my last question, whereby in applying for ministerial consent, an institution now applies directly to PCAP, an independent advisory board. That's not the way it used to be, Mr. Speaker. We simplified that process in last year's red paper. A third option is to bring it forward in legislation in this house. We've taken the second option and the third option, we've married those two options together. We have created the most clear, transparent way to obtain this type of relief that is possible, the most clear way that has existed in this government ever. Thank you. The supplementary question. Speaker, this is all about patronage. The Premier's dodged questions for a week. He's here today. I'd like to get an answer. At least the Deputy Premier in a scrum last week had the courage to stand up and say, hate and the kind of things that we're hearing have no place in Ontario. She's the only one. And I know how everybody feels over there. She did what leaders do. You addressed the issue head on. So, Speaker, is the Premier ever going to step up or is he just hoping this will go away and that we'll all forget? Because we're not going to. So while the Premier step up and do the thing that leaders do, address the issue and remove Schedule 2 from Bill 213 today, make that commitment. So take their seats. One more time. I'll remind members not to make reference to the absence of another member. Minister of Colleges and Universities, you're applying. Thank you again, Mr. Speaker, for the opportunity to provide clarity as to the work that our government has been doing under great leadership of our Premier. Outstanding leadership throughout these periods of time that we've been dealing with COVID-19 over several months, flatten the curve under the leadership of our Minister of Health. Our team has done an incredible job at addressing COVID-19 and the people of this province are well aware of that. Mr. Speaker, the question that the member opposite raises, especially as a member of the former government, a former government that sat by and allowed processes for colleges to obtain degree granting approval to take an excessive two, sometimes upwards of three and even more than three years, Mr. Speaker. Talk about red tape. That's why in last year's red tape bill, we amended it. We changed it. We simplified the process, Mr. Speaker, and we made it a transparent process. Two institutions went through the bill last year. Algoma University, as well as OCAD University, and now three more institutions are going through that same exact transparent, open and accountable process now, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. The next question, the member for Eglinton Lawrence. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Long-Term Care. I've heard many times from constituents who are concerned about staffing levels in long-term care. It's clear that staffing has been an issue across the long-term care sector for a very long time. We know that the staffing issue did not arise overnight and that it will take time and effort to resolve. We've seen that COVID-19 pandemic has put further stress on long-term care homes and exacerbated staffing problems that they had after years of neglect. I know that the Minister and her team have been reviewing the staffing study and developing a plan to fix staffing in long-term care for future generations. Could the Minister update this House on what she is doing to improve staffing levels in long-term care? Minister of Long-Term Care. Thank you, Speaker. And I'd like to thank the member from Eglinton Lawrence for her question and her excellent work. Thank you. We're acting on our commitment to protect loved ones in long-term care by increasing the average daily level of direct care to four hours a day per resident. This will ensure the needs of seniors are met, help keep them safer, and provide them with higher quality of life. Ensuring that standard of direct care was one of the interim recommendations made by the Long-Term Care COVID-19 Commission. And while the Commission completes its work, our government will not wait to act. Along with the Commission, this was recommended by the staffing study expert panel. And we have taken their recommendations to heart. There is much work still to be done. And I look forward to updating the House as we progress to creating a long-term care system for the 21st century. Thank you very much. The supplementary question. Thank you, Speaker. And thank you, Minister, for that response. Last week, I was in this chamber when the member for Ottawa South stood up and boasted about voting for three previous versions of Bill 13, while the government and the ministry that he was part of never implemented it. I should also note that the former government was elected in 2003 on a promise to bring in a minimum standard of care of 2.25 hours and then never implemented any minimum standard of care. I am glad to be part of a government that is making the sorely needed changes in long-term care happen. Four hours of direct care is an excellent step toward improving resident care in the province, good for personal, medical, and psychological needs of residents, and a reassurance to their loved ones. Can the minister expand on what will have to be done to ensure that all residents can receive an average of four hours of direct care per day? Thank you. Minister. Thank you, Speaker, and again, thank you for your good work to the member of Eglinton Lawrence. Improving the quality of life and care for long-term care residents is the cornerstone of our approach to long-term care. And the new commitment to improve quality of care includes an average daily direct care of four hours a day per resident, and that means hands-on care is provided by nurses and personal support workers to support individual, clinical, and personal care needs. Hard targets set over the next four years to achieve this standard by 2000 and 24, 25. This progress against these targets will be measured and reported regularly, and an unprecedented change to educate and recruit the tens of thousands of new personal support workers, registered practical nurses, and nurses that will be required. Thank you. Next question, the member for Toronto Center. Thank you, Speaker. My question is for the Premier. It's the second wave of the pandemic, but it's clear that the Premier is back to his old ways. In my writing of Toronto Center and my colleague Chris Glover's writing of Spadina, Fort York, the Premier is cutting a special deal for developer insiders to build new condos on provincial land in the West Dawn lands. He's using the heavy hand of a ministerial zoning order to bypass the rules and regulations that exist to give my community, our community, a voice in local decisions. Coincidentally, it's been revealed that those same developers have donated $25,000 to the Premier's party over the last three years. Why is this government cutting special deals for their developer friends who appear to have insider connections and have donated significant amounts of money to their party? The parliamentary assistant. Thank you very much. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the member opposite for that question, Mr. Speaker. The MZOs issued by the minister in the West Dawn lands leverage unused provincial properties to create almost 1,000 new affordable homes in Toronto's West Dawn lands, Mr. Speaker. These projects will also create 17,000 square feet of new community space to support the local community's needs. Mr. Speaker, the builders signed an exclusive lease agreement for these sites with the previous Liberal government. Since the groups were chosen by the Liberal government, any attempt to link the MZOs with political connection is completely baseless and not supported by fact. Mr. Speaker. Member for Stadina for Gold. Mr. Speaker, your government passed the ministry's owning order. I don't know why you can pass it on to another party. But anyways, my question is for the Premier. The Premier is on record as saying the West Dawn lands developer deal has a guarantee of affordable housing. But when the Toronto Star reviewed the terms of the agreements, that turned out to be false. Toronto and Ontario are facing an affordable housing crisis. But apparently this government's priority is to collect political donations from deep pocketed developers who want to bypass planning orders and rules and community voice. Over in Pickering, the government's cut another deal for another development. This time, he's allowing them to pave over environmentally sensitive wetlands. Why is no one in the Conservative caucus standing up and saying that the Premier should not be cutting special deals for insiders? And to the Premier, we are in the middle of a global pandemic. Why is your priority pushing through developer deals for your buddies? Parliamentary Assistant, the Member for Belton. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Mrs. Speaker, the City of Toronto has consistently called on the province to build more affordable housing. That's exactly what these projects will do. Given that the agreements that selected the developer to build on these lands was conducted and signed by the previous Liberal government, any suggestion that our government favoured them is nonsensical, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, let me also point out, a senior executive of Kilmer donated to the NDP, Mr. Speaker, a senior executive from Kilmer Group also donated to Stephen Del Ducca's recent leadership campaign. In fact, donations from senior executives of these companies totaled at least $12,413 to Stephen Del Ducca's Ontario Liberal Party and the NDP as well. Question, the Member for Cambridge. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Good morning. My question is for the Minister of Health. Since 2016, over 5,000 people in Ontario have died from opioid overdose. Order. More than the number of people who have died with COVID-19. In August, the Liberal Minister of Health sent a letter to this government advocating for only one proposed solution, the funding, production and distribution by this government of pharmaceutical-grade drugs for consumption, which they refer to as safe supply of narcotics. Recently, the Mayor of Cambridge made public statements in support of this, advocating for the safe supply of pharmaceutical-grade drugs to work in tandem with drug consumption sites. Can the Minister tell us if this government is in favour of and has any plans to fund production and distribution of safe supply of hard narcotics in Ontario? The Associate Minister for Mental Health and Addiction. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you for that question. Mr. Speaker, our government takes the opioid crisis very seriously. And our government, as you know, just a few weeks ago, along with Premier Doug Ford, announced an additional $176 million being invested towards building a comprehensive and connected mental health and addiction system where every Ontario could be fully supported. And as part of this funding, Mr. Speaker, we made targeted investments, which is long overdue, ensuring that money was being invested to look after the addiction challenges we have in the province. And that included $4 million being invested in nurse practitioners for detox services, $8 million for addictions day and evening care, $3.5 million in in-home and mobile withdrawal management services, and an additional $900,000 for inpatient beds to support capacity pressures at KMH. Thank you. Thank you. The supplementary question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The root cause of the opioid epidemic is people with addiction issues using lethal drugs laced with fentanyl accessed over the internet and illegally shipped here from China, often by Canada Post. Thousands are being poisoned from illicit drugs made in China, and I find it concerning that the federal liberal government's only proposed solution is a safe supply while ignoring other possible methods to reduce demand or supply. Mr. Speaker, can the minister tell us in this government's close relationship with Prime Minister Trudeau, have they ever advocated for other solutions like holding China accountable for the illicit drugs flooding Canada, implementing tougher border controls or giving law enforcement better tools to seek warrants for Canada Post mail in order to stop us from being flooded with this poison from China? Again, the associate minister, mental health and addictions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And once again, I want to reiterate the importance of dealing with the opioid crisis and having a strategy in place. Mr. Speaker, this government, for the first time in the history of this parliament, is investing $3.8 billion over 10 years to build this comprehensive plan in the province. And this includes implementing a comprehensive suite of policies and programs to address opioid addictions and overdose, which are focused on appropriate prescribing and pain management, treatment for opioid use disorder, harm reduction services and supports, and surveillance and reporting. These are fundamental principles, Mr. Speaker, that we are implementing and working as a government to put in place. And as part of our plan, we're also investing up to $31.3 million in funding for up to 21 consumption treatment services through key regions across the province. And we will continue working to ensure that a system is built that work. Thank you very much. The next question, the member for Aurora, Oak Ridges, Richmond Hill. Thanks very much, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, for too long, Ontario's electricity system has been burdened by the waste and mismanagement of the previous Liberal government. Speaker, the Liberals spent 15 years and adding billions of dollars to the electricity system by signing contracts for power we did not need and could not afford. My constituents are concerned. They're concerned, Speaker, because they understand that when electricity system costs are high, so too are their electricity bills. Will the Associate Minister of Energy please tell this House what the government is doing to unravel the hydro mess we inherited? The Associate Minister of Energy. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the great member from Aurora, Oak Ridges and Richmond Hill for all the great work he does on behalf of his constituents. Mr. Speaker, the Liberal government chose ideology over the hardworking people of Ontario and made a mess of our energy system. We all know that. Today, the contracts signed by those Liberals generate only 10% of Ontario's power, but account for almost 30% of its cost. Mr. Speaker, immediately upon getting elected, we cancelled 751 unneeded renewable energy contracts, saving $790 million. We centralized conservation programs, saving as much as $442 million for the taxpayers of Ontario. And we're expanding natural gas to rural and northern Ontario, saving an average residential customer between $800 to $2,500 a year. Mr. Speaker, we are determined to fix the mess left behind by the Liberals and ensure our energy system is reliable and affordable. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, and that's the next question. Thank you so much, Mr. Speaker. And through you to the minister again, I thank the minister for his comment to my constituents and, in fact, all Ontarians, Mr. Speaker. This, indeed, is a great deal of progress. Would the minister please let us know how he plans to continue to support Ontarians through the COVID-19 crisis while rebuilding our electricity system? Associate Minister of Energy. Thank you, Speaker. And again, to the great work for the member from Aurora Oak Ridge of Richmond Hill. Mr. Speaker, we know there's still much work to be done. That's why we continue to support electricity consumers as we respond to COVID-19 by providing customer choice, stable rates and financial support to millions of Ontarians who are working and learning from home. First, Mr. Speaker, we put $175 million to hold time of use electricity prices at the lowest rate 24 hours a day for the first 69 days of the COVID-19 state of emergency. Then in June 1st, we replaced time of use rates with a new fixed COVID-19 recovery rate of $0.12.8 per kilowatt until October 31st. And now, Mr. Speaker, thanks to our government, Ontarians can choose an energy program that works best for their lifestyle, whether it's through time of use electricity rates or tear rates. Mr. Speaker, we remain committed to fixing this hydro mess created by the Liberals and supporting Ontarians throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you very much. Next question, Member for Hamilton Mountain. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Premier. My office has been flooded with calls about the flu vaccine shortage in Hamilton. Last week, I heard from James, who lives in my riding of Hamilton Mountain. He has been looking everywhere for a flu shot for his 80-year-old mother and special needs son. And he is rightfully concerned about their health in this flu season. And he wants to protect his family. Despite his efforts, no flu shots are available at his doctor or any of the pharmacies that he has called. What does the Premier have to say to James and the many out there who just can't get the flu shot because of this shortage? Mr. Hill. Thank you very much, Speaker. And thank you to the Member for the question. Protecting the health and safety of all Ontarians has been our key priority since taking office and even more so during the preparing for the flu campaign. We ordered last year $70 million worth of doses. We ordered 5.1 million, 700,000 more doses than last year. And this was long before COVID-19 was even on the horizon. We were then able to purchase another 350,000 through the federal government's reserve and with their assistance. But what we're dealing with now is really a great situation in the sense that we know that many Ontarians want to protect themselves, their own health, their family's health, and that of their friends and neighbors. And they've come in record numbers to receive the shots. As of today's date, over 1 million vaccines have been delivered just through pharmacies where at this time last year it was only 250,000. So I want to thank the people of Ontario for stepping up for this. Please step up and answer your question. People of Ontario would like to thank the Minister for being able to get a flu shot which they're not able to do. Over and over the Minister of Health has said there is no flu vaccine shortage. But across Ontario, people are finding it impossible to get a flu shot. Yesterday, my office received a call from Wayne. He has been looking all over Hamilton to get a flu shot for his mother, who is 88, and his father, who is 93. Everywhere he calls, Wayne is told that the flu vaccine is unavailable. He is just trying to protect the health of his parents. Is this what the Premier and the Minister envisioned when they made the flu shots a central part of their failing second wave plan? The Minister of Health. Well, thank you very much, Speaker. We have a very robust and comprehensive second wave plan protecting the health and safety of Ontarians. And we did order, as I said, 700,000 more doses before we even knew that COVID was on the horizon, 350,000 extra doses we purchased, 5.45 million doses. Speaker, this is the largest, most significant flu campaign in Ontario's history. And I am very grateful to the people of Ontario for responding to that. But as part of our plan, we also allocated another $28.5 million in the event that we needed to purchase extra flu vaccines. And that's what we're in the process of doing right now. I have spoken with the Federal Minister of Health asking to procure extra supplies from the federal government's pandemic reserve. And we're also dealing with global manufacturers trying to obtain extra vaccines from their reserves. So again, this is a great success, this flu campaign. And I am very, very grateful to the people of Ontario. The next question, the member for Scarborough Gilgwick. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Speaker, under the Harris government, the province downloaded the costs of public health services to municipalities in a 50-50 cost-sharing split. The error of that decision became clear in 2004 after the Walkerton water outbreak, the emergence of the West Nile virus, and of course, SARS. Many reports and commissions urge public health to be entirely provincially funded or to return to the 75-25 cost-sharing split under the former Liberal government. Before the COVID pandemic, this provincial government revisited the split and once again downloaded the costs of public health to municipalities. This attack on our public health system left municipalities unprepared for the pandemic. Speaker, through you to the Premier. In your upcoming budget, will you permanently reverse this mistake or will you repeat the mistakes of the Harris government? Minister of Health. Thank you very much, Speaker. And thank you to the member for the question. We are very grateful for the incredible work that our public health units have been doing throughout this entire pandemic. They've been working overtime. They've been doing or going, helping out with schools. We've got public health nurses now working in schools. We've got public health units doing contact testing, tracing and contact management. So they're doing everything that they needed to do, but this was a situation with respect to public health that had been commented on by the Auditor General several times. The previous government didn't do anything to deal with it. We are dealing with it. We did make some suggestions, but what we have done is we have provided extra financial help to the public health units to get us through this pandemic, but we're going to learn lessons and review the system once we're through the second wave to see if any other changes need to be made. Elemental question. Thank you, Speaker. I guess I'm looking for a much clearer answer because the patchwork approach and reactive nature of responding to the pandemic is not sufficient. The 60-40 split that your government announced that you were pursuing is not fair or sustainable to public health units who are mostly funded by municipalities who cannot run deficits. And in fact, most municipalities would argue that they don't have the capacity to fully fund those services that are needed by residents. Municipalities that are less wealthy, in fact, with shrinking property tax basis are struggling and oftentimes they are the most in need of public health services. So this decision is an important one that you have to make. Your government has said that it wants to end hallway medicine. In order to do that, you have to see public health as an investment, not an expense, and commit to the fair cost sharing. Thank you. Thank you. I'll invite the minister to reply. Well, thank you very much, Speaker. I'll try to keep my response short here because in fact, what's happened is we do recognize the importance of public health. It has been important throughout, but it's especially been shown to be important with COVID-19 and the special steps that are being taken by our public health units. We did have this discussion a number of months ago with respect to some of the changes that we were proposing for public health. But what we're hearing now, Speaker, I can advise you, is that the public health units are happy with the measures that we've taken to mitigate the additional expenses that they've received by allowing those expenses to be contained and for us to continue to help them as they're dealing with the COVID-19 through this year and next year. So public health units, according to us, according to what we've heard from them, is they are very happy with what's happening right now. And they are able to deal with the public health work that they need to do through COVID-19. Next question, the member for Brampton East. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Last week, the Premier came to Brampton and announced that a new hospital is going to be built. Brampton, of course, needs a new hospital. We're a city of over 600,000 people and we only have one hospital right now. This is nothing new. Brampton's been underfunded by liberal and conservative governments for years. But what Brampton needs is a new 24-hour hospital with an emergency room. So let me be very clear. Will this new hospital have a 24-hour emergency room or is this Premier making another empty promise? Yes or no? Thank you. Minister Pell. Thank you, Speaker. And thank you to the member with the question. I was with the Premier last week when he made the announcement in Brampton and he is sincere that wanting Brampton to have a new hospital because that's one of the things that we take a look at is population groups. Brampton has grown dramatically in population. There are other issues that we need to take a look at as well. Condition, shape of the existing hospital, in your case, that's not a concern. But there are many factors that have to be taken into consideration and there is a process that has to be entered into as a member will know. And that is something that we will be pleased to receive and to work through. But it isn't something that you just say, as of today, this is what it's going to look like because that's very much up to the municipality to indicate to the government, to the Ministry of Health what it is that you want to have in your community. The supplementary question. So let me get this straight. The Premier drives all the way out to Brampton to announce that a new hospital is going to be built, but it won't even have a 24-hour emergency room. I think I missed that part of the news conference. So now the 600,000, over 600,000 people at Brampton are going to have only one hospital to deal with their medical emergencies. Does the Conservative government honestly think that this is going to fix Brampton's healthcare crisis? Families are struggling in Brampton. We are struggling with our one underfunded and overcrowded hospital. But this Conservative government won't commit to funding to fix our healthcare crisis. When will the Premier stop with his empty promises and give Brampton an actual new hospital with a 24-hour emergency room? Not just an urgent care center. Thank you, Speaker. And through you, Speaker, I will remind the member that the purpose of the trip to Brampton was not to announce a new hospital. It was another announcement that the Premier and I were making. However, a question arose with respect to what's happening in Brampton and Brampton's need for a new hospital. Certainly, there is knowledge that this is a fast-growing area. The population has grown tremendously in Brampton and surrounding area. And so it is incumbent on the local municipality, the local hospital association, to come up with a plan for what type of hospital you want to have with an emergency department, without an emergency department. That's not something that the Ministry of Health just decides upon. That is working in consultation with the municipality to understand what the specific needs are. And if that's what Brampton wants to do, we invite them to come to the Ministry of Health and speak to us about it. Thank you very much. The next question, the member for Ottawa venue. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Education. Last week, we were able to see the data around sources of COVID-19 outbreaks in Ottawa. While this is only part of the larger picture, it made one thing drastically clear. That is the fact that outbreaks are overwhelmingly occurring in schools and daycare centers. Classes are not small enough to allow for proper physical distance. Teachers and school staff are working under a lot of stress. Parents and students are struggling to keep up with constant changes. Our whole education system is exhausted. What else do we need to know for this government to admit that our education system needs more support? Based on all the evidence that is telling us that COVID-19 is spreading through schools, why hasn't the Minister of Education kept crisis us across the province at 15 students? Thank you, Minister of Education. Thank you, Speaker. And thank you to Member Opposite for the question. What I can assert is that we appreciate that with rising community transmission, we have to further reduce the risk within our schools. That's why I'm proud to report to this House that as of today, we have well over 2,700 net new educators working in our publicly funded system of education. That does not happen by coincidence. It happens because the province has allocated funding in conjunction with the feds and reserves to do net hiring, 47, 470 more ECEs, other 1,200 custodians, another 256 EAs. Mr. Speaker, these investments, I think, are realizing more people, reduced classroom size and enhanced safety, and that's exactly what the Premier's committed to do. In addition to those immediate term actions, we just announced a billion dollars of capital to renew schools in Ottawa. And in every region of this province, to ensure after a decade of schools having not been up to the state of repair, we are ensuring that their quality, state of the art, and modern for students of this province. Applimentary. Thank you. And again to the Minister of Education, enrollment is down in schools across the province this year because of COVID-19. This is especially true at the kindergarten level, where it seems that a lot of parents have chosen not to send their kids at school at all. With schools receiving funding on a per capita basis, the decrease in enrollment is extremely concerning. With the October funding adjustment by the Ministry to take back money that was granted according to the June projections, schools now need to redistribute students among the number of teachers they are funded for. While this is a normal process, you know, every year, the adjustments is not normal this year and has very extreme consequences. That means that schools are collapsing classes into larger classes with even less physical distancing. Will the Minister maintain the funding to school boards according to the projections so that schools don't have to increase class size again this year? Mr. Education. Thank you very much, Speaker. Under this government and this premier, all school boards, every school board in the province of Ontario is getting more money, not less. That is part of the $1.3 billion allocated to ensure every single school in this province could enhance their layers of prevention. We have listened to the Chief Medical Officer of Health to the best pediatric experts in this country whose opinions have been well socialized and informed our plan. There is a reason, Speaker, why in this province, amongst 1.5 million children and 200,000 students, the cumulative total to date is 2,300, which represents roughly 88% of all schools on an example or a case of COVID and 99% of students and staff have not had COVID. Now, I appreciate for those that have had the impact to them. It's why we have public health nurses more than doubling the capacity to support our schools on site. It's why we continue to invest the Ministry of Health writ large to ensure we could respond to this pandemic. Thank you very much. The next question, the member for Waterloo. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Control V is a family-owned business in my riding of Waterloo that have been able to grow into a successful franchise and they've been doing everything that they can to survive. Speaker, businesses in Ontario are desperate for the appropriate supports, including consistent and clear directives from this provincial government. Colin Johnson of the Danforth Mosaic BIA said this in the Toronto Star and I quote, we are going to see a collapse of local business without uniform instructions from the government and financial support. And yet last Thursday on the same day that the ban on commercial evictions expired, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing was tweeting about maybe proposing to bring forward legislation. Speaker, it's now Tuesday. Legislation hasn't been tabled. Can the government commit today to tabling legislation to extend the ban on commercial evictions? The parliamentary system. Members for Willoughby and the Office, I know that. During our time on the Standing Committee of Finance and Economic Affairs, we heard from many small businesses like the one that she mentions in her riding and heard exactly what they were asking for when it came to relief during this very difficult time. That is COVID-19 and that's why this government responded quickly. First in March and then increasing the supports in August to $30 billion and that money has been well received by the small businesses, Mr. Speaker. $241 million in rent relief. $50 million in the Ontario Together Fund. $355 million in employer health tax exemptions. $175 million in hydro-relief. $8 million in additional support for businesses struggling to pay their energy bills. $57 million for the Digital Main Street Program. A recent announcement of $300 million to help those businesses who have to enter the revised stage two to help with their fixed costs like overhead costs when it comes to hydro and property tax. And those supports are going to continue. We will weather the storm together, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Just have a mental question. Thank you very much. Well, Control-V came to those committee meetings all through the summer and they feel that you've disrespected them because you have not put their recommendations into play. In the last two months, six of the Ontario locations have permanently closed. The 11 remaining ones have reduced revenue. These locations used every bit of relief, which was mostly federal, but like so many other businesses, they have not been able to access the first commercial rent program. Now they're barely hanging on. Speaker, the new commercial rent relief program will only be retroactive to October, but these Control-V locations have months of expenses and lost revenues to catch up on. Is this government really willing to let these businesses go and close by not stepping up and provide retroactive support, which is what businesses in the province of Ontario deserve? The response, again, the Member for Littleville. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and I certainly understand the struggles that Control-V is going through as well as thousands of other businesses in Ontario. Mr. Speaker, it's a struggle I know very personally growing up in a small business world and watching my parents struggle even at the best of economic times, Speaker. That's why this government has been moving in-step with our federal partners to create a program that fills the gaps of the relief provided through Ottawa, Mr. Speaker. That recent announcement of $300 million is an example of the continued adaptive prudent support that the people of this province understand. And as the Member knows, on November 5th, we will table a budget that will outline additional important steps to protect Ontario, to support them through the pandemic and help our province not just to recover, Mr. Speaker, but to thrive once again. Thank you very much. That concludes our question period for this morning. This House stands in recess until 3 p.m.