 It is now time for question period. The Leader of Her Majesty's Royal Opposition. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker may begin by congratulating you on your re-election of Speaker in this Chamber. Congratulations and best wishes and also Premier. Congratulations to you and your government. An historic win as you are the first female Premier in the province of Ontario. A fact that we are all proud of. And best wishes, but not too many best wishes. So my question, Mr. Speaker, is for the Premier. Premier, your throne speech promises another $5.7 billion worth of new programs with money we don't have, racking up a record $12.5 billion deficit. The responsible and accountable spending will never lead to balancing the budget and getting Ontario's economy growing again. According to economist Jack Mintz, quote, if interest rates, which have been at 20-year low levels, rise, the debt burden would become significantly heavier. And if interest rates rise to even historic norms, each point increase in interest could add a minimum of $3 billion in annual interest payments, which would severely cripple Ontario's ability to deliver services. End of quote. Premier, you claim you will eliminate the deficit in three years, yet you're promising to spend billions more in new money. Taxpayers' money. Question. Will you commit to date, complete openness and transparency as you implement your plan with billions of new spending? Premier? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I do want to congratulate you on your re-election as Speaker. And I want to congratulate the member for Simcoe Grave for his position as the leader of the opposition. And to all of the members of the House, congratulations to them and all of the candidates who put their names on a ballot and ran. I want to say thank you for taking part in the democratic process. Thank you very much. Honestly, I want to answer the last part of the leader of the opposition's question first by saying that yes, we intend and we will operate in a very transparent manner, Mr. Speaker. We will conduct business in a very open way. And I think that as we reintroduce pieces of legislation, Mr. Speaker, particularly the Accountability Act, that will be obvious that that is the way that we want to operate. But I also want to say to both the leader of the opposition and to the leader of the third party that it is still our intention and it is our responsibility to operate in a collaborative way so that where there are possibilities of finding the best answer to questions of serious public policy in Ontario, we want to draw on ideas from all sides of the House, Mr. Speaker. That is our responsibility as government and we take it very seriously. Thank you. Well, Premier, my colleagues and I here in the opposition side are concerned that this government's spending spree will dig us into such a deep pool that someday we won't be able to afford the basic things we all care about like health care and education. As you know, Moody's credit rating agency changed Ontario's debt rating outlook from stable to negative. A credit downgrade would increase our borrowing costs, taking money out of the front, we all depend on. Already 40 nursing positions have been cut in North Bay. 90 nurses put out of work in Ottawa. And you fired 34 nurses in Windsor. Premier, will you do the honourable thing until Ontarians with further frontline services you're going to cut in order to meet your budget targets or are you simply going to pass the buck on to future generations with the debt rating? Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I fundamentally disagree with the premise of the question that the leader of the opposition has put forward. First of all, I think he knows full well there are more than 20,000 new nurses in Ontario since we've come into office, Mr. Speaker, since two thousand is for Mr. Speaker. So there are thousands of new nurses. What we are doing, Mr. Speaker, is we are transforming the system. That is what is necessary. We have a plan to build Ontario up, Mr. Speaker, and that's where the fundamental disagreement is. We know that the investments that are necessary right now will lead to that future economic growth, Mr. Speaker. We know that the transformations and the investments in health care today will lead to the excellence in health care that we need today and tomorrow, Mr. Speaker. So those investments in training and in skills, the investments in infrastructure, including hospitals and schools, roads and bridges and transit, those are the things that need to be done now, Mr. Speaker, in order to build the province up. Thank you. Final supplementary. Well, Premier, this crisis is yours. This was born out of your Liberal government's inability to make the tough decisions and get Ontario's finances under control. But for years, you've sat on your hands and you've even continually made matters worse. Again, Jack Mince has said, quote, Ontario is sagging under the weight of monstrous public debt, uncompetitive energy prices, and rising taxes. End of quote. You've ignored your financial mess for too long and now Ontario families are left holding the bag for your poor management and refusal to get a grip on the province's finances. Premier, just be honest. You've started with cuts to physiotherapy services for seniors and firing nurses. What other frontline services are you going to cut? Or what taxes are you going to increase? Thank you, Premier. Mr. Speaker, I'm not sure exactly whether the leader of the opposition is asking for more spending or less spending. But here's the reality. We are providing more physiotherapy services, Mr. Speaker. We are providing better home care services, Mr. Speaker. We are transforming the health care system. But most importantly, we are making sure that we don't begin this next phase of Ontario's economic history by cutting 100,000 jobs, by cutting services, Mr. Speaker. What we are doing is we are investing in the services that we know people need, that affect their quality of life. We are investing in their talent and their skills and those of their children and their grandchildren, Mr. Speaker. We are investing in the roads and the bridges and the transit systems that they will need. And I would hope, Mr. Speaker, that we will have the support of the opposition because they know full well that in every community across Ontario, those services and those investments are necessary. Thank you. New question. Member from Whitby, Oshawa. Congratulations, Minister, on your new appointment. Minister, London Hospital Emergency Room wait times are among the worst in the province. The provincial average for complex conditions wait times in an emergency room is 9.9 hours. However, at University Hospital, the wait time in an emergency room for complex conditions is 19 hours. At the London Health Science Centre's Victoria Hospital, the wait time for complex conditions is 12.6 hours. Minister, why are London's emergency room wait times so far above the provincial average? Thank you. Minister of Health, one second. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the question. Clearly, there is a problem at this hospital and we're working with the hospital to work to decrease the wait times, the ER wait times, but I'm proud, in fact, that we measure wait times, that the previous government, in terms of many aspects of healthcare services, were not even measured. We not only measured them, but we've made considerable progress right across the province in reducing the wait times for ER, reducing the wait times as well for important surgical procedures in the province. In fact, in 2008, five years ago, we launched a coordinated and very comprehensive strategy to do just what the member opposite is asking, to tackle the coordinated strategy to tackle our ER wait times, working with healthcare professionals right across the province to make sure that we continue to make progress. Mr. Speaker, we are making progress with a particular institution referenced. There's clearly much, much more work that needs to be done. Thank you. Supplementary? Well, essentially measuring the wait times doesn't do it. You actually have to do something about it, and in fact, this past winter, the emergency room wait times were so bad that the London hospitals told people to stay away from the emergency rooms unless that was absolutely necessary. But there is an answer here. 30 kilometres down the road, the emergency room at St. Thomas Elgin General Hospital has some of the lowest wait times in the province. St. Thomas has some of the best patient management systems in the world, and they're very efficient at moving patients through the system. St. Thomas' CEO, Paul Collins, believes this system is transferable to all London hospitals. Minister, will you commit to implementing the system used at St. Thomas Elgin Hospital to all of the London area hospitals? Thank you. Minister? Well, I'm sure even the member opposite will acknowledge that the situation in those two jurisdictions is different, but I'd like to talk to her about and mention how I'm proud that ER wait times across the province have gone down 12% in Ontario over the last five years. In fact, ER wait times for the sickest patients that do show up in our ERs have gone down by 29.3%. Well, at the same time, volumes for those most sick individuals have increased by 39%. So we've made tremendous progress there to the point where nine out of every 10 patients that are treated in our ERs are treated within the target times. 85% of complex patients within eight hours of arriving in our ERs and 89% of uncomplicated patients are seen and treated within four hours, Mr. Speaker. So we've made tremendous progress. Clearly, there's more work to be done, including in individual hospitals. We are doing that work. That's right. Well, Mr. Speaker, London's head of emergency medicine, Dr. Gary Giverd, was quoted saying we're not as terrible as the provincial numbers indicate. Really, Minister? That's a pretty low bar. Not as terrible. Doesn't give a lot of comfort to people who need emergency room services in London. You've indicated that you realize that there are two very different operating systems. The Elgin Hospital, St. Thomas Hospital, has a great system. Will you commit today, Minister, to implementing the same system used at St. Thomas Hospital in all the London hospitals? It clearly works. Thank you, Minister. Thank you. And again, Mr. Speaker, we look everywhere for good advice and how we can continue to reduce the ER wait times. And I want to say, as well as specific to London Health Sciences, we've provided them with over $1 million recently to help them reduce their ER wait times even further. And part of our course is to transition out of hospital those individuals who can be better cared for outside of hospital because one of the challenges with our ER wait times may not be beds for those individuals that have complex beds for them to go into immediately. So as we move people out of hospitals, we can move people from our ERs into that that will open up ER time. And we're working closely, obviously with the London Health Services, we see that more progress needs to be made. We'll work hard until we're proud of the results and the people of that jurisdiction of London Health Sciences. A member from Algin, Middlesex, London, come to order. New question, the leader of the third party. Thank you, Speaker. On behalf of New Democrats, I want to begin by congratulating you on your election. The Premier on her election and forming of government, all the MPPs on their election to this place, as well as those candidates that ran in this campaign. It was an exciting campaign and wanted to extend my congratulations. My question, of course, is to the Premier. The Premier spent the recent election campaign denouncing conservative plans to fire 100,000 public sector workers. Can she explain why Don Drummond says that that's exactly what her plan will do, Speaker? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Well, I want to especially congratulate the new members, the new NDP members, and congratulate them on their run and for being here in the house. Mr. Speaker, and I have to say I am somewhat concerned about the rhetoric that I'm hearing from the leader of the NDP, Mr. Speaker. It sounds like she's looking for an excuse for why she didn't support our budget, Mr. Speaker, because she knows perfectly well that the investments that we put forward in our budget are necessary to the people of Ontario, Mr. Speaker. She knows that investing in people's talent and skills and investing in infrastructure including transit and roads and bridges, Mr. Speaker, she knows that that's necessary and she knows that in Ontario retirement pension plan, Mr. Speaker, is what is needed in the absence of the federal government stepping up to enhance the CPP. So, Mr. Speaker, I, you know, I hope that she will support those initiatives that we are putting forward. She knows full well that the people of Ontario need them and support them, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Well, Speaker, I would actually hope that the premier would respond to my question, but again, when the conservatives introduced a plan to fire 100,000 people, the premier called that plan disastrous. Now, does the premier think the message that voters sent is that they don't want the conservatives to fire 100,000 people, but it's okay for the liberals to fire 100,000 people? So, again, Mr. Speaker, I believe that the leader of the third party is looking for some reason anywhere, anywhere she can find it to justify why she didn't support our budget, Mr. Speaker, and she talks about comments made by Mr. Drummond, and she knows perfectly well that that is not what he said. She knows perfectly well that our plan is not premised on firing 100,000 people. That was the conservative's plan, Mr. Speaker. And, you know, it's interesting because the NDP leader based her plan had the same fiscal targets that we had put out, Mr. Speaker, except that she said she'd find 600 million more dollars, Mr. Speaker. So, in fact, she knows full well that it is not our intention to fire people. She knows full well that our plan is premised on building people up, building up the province, including the infrastructure and the talent and skills for this project. You see it, please? Final supplementary. It seems intent on reintroducing their Trojan horse budget despite the fact that people have rejected austerity and mass labor. Order. Order. Please finish. Economists are telling people to brace for the worst, Speaker, because there are major gaps in the government's fiscal plan that have not been explained. Will the Premier come clean with Mr. Speaker and tell them to brace for the worst? So, Mr. Speaker, we have been very upfront with the people of Ontario. We have said, Mr. Speaker, we have said that there are challenges confronting us. There is no doubt about that. We have said that there are constraints that we have to keep in place. We have said that there is no new money for collective agreements, Mr. Speaker, as we go into negotiations. We have said that there are lines of changes that we have been making in the health care system that changes in the delivery of service, putting more services in the community. We have said that those changes need to continue. But, Mr. Speaker, for the leader of the third party to stand up when she based her plan on exactly the same fiscal foundation as we did, Mr. Speaker, for her to stand up now and to distance herself from that is ridiculous, Mr. Speaker. We also know that we must make the investments that are necessary in order to build this province up and to help this economy grow, Mr. Speaker. That's what people expect. My next question is also to the Premier. Last week, Moody's changed their outlook on Ontario's credit rating to negative. After the government said it would reintroduce the same budget, does the Premier accept that anyone who has taken a look at the numbers behind the Liberal plan see that there is a major gap? Thank you, Premier. So, Mr. Speaker, we laid out a path to balance in our budget. And what we ran on, what we said that we were going to do and what we are doing, Mr. Speaker, is reintroducing a plan that will keep us on target to balance the budget and eliminate the deficit by 2017-18, Mr. Speaker, and we will make the investments now that we know are necessary in order for the province to thrive, Mr. Speaker. And with all due respect to the leader of the third party, I would have expected that she would understand by now that people want those investments, that people believe that those investments are necessary and they know because they... New question. Speaker, does the Premier at least accept that in the wake of the downgrade, the negative outlook from Moody's, that the Liberal plan suffers from a big credibility gap? Thank you. Mr. Speaker, we have been crystal clear that in order to deficit by 2017-18 that there will be difficult decisions. Mr. Speaker, I've been clear the Minister of Finance has been clear effective agreements, Mr. Speaker. We know that those rounds of collective bargaining will be challenging, Mr. Speaker, but we've been crystal clear about that. Everyone went into this with their eyes wide open. We know, Mr. Speaker, that there will have changes in the way we deliver services. Some of those changes are already underway, particularly in the healthcare system. But that does not negate the fact that there need to be investments in this province. That does not negate the fact that kids need full-day kindergarten, that seniors need services in healthcare, that more home care is necessary, that we must have personal support workers were made adequately and that people with developmental services need support. Mr. Speaker, when is the premier of this province going to level with Ontarians about the cuts, the layoffs and the asset sales that they can expect to see from this government's Trojan Horace budget? Thank you, Premier. Well, Mr. Speaker, anyone who has read the budget knows that we reference every one of those issues, Mr. Speaker, and how we will take them on. And you know, for example, on assets, Mr. Speaker, what we have said is that we believe that those assets that are in the hands of government that belong to the people of Ontario, that they should work for the people of Ontario to the very, very optimal degree, Mr. Speaker. Which is why we've asked Ed Clark, Mr. Speaker, to take on the challenge of making sure those assets work. And I hear heckling from the opposition, Mr. Speaker. Had there been a process in place when the 407 was being considered, Mr. Speaker, we're going to make sure that the assets that are owned by the people of Ontario work for the people of Ontario. And we are going to make the investments and services that we know people need. And I hope that the third party will join us in support of those, Mr. Speaker. New question, the member from Lee's Grenville. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. What? See you there, please. Order. Member from Lee's Grenville. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Congratulations on your re-election. My question through you is to the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Minister, congratulations on your re-election and your appointment to cabinet. In just a little over a week, the Campville College Renewable Task Force will convene a public meeting to discuss potential partnerships to provide and ensure core agriculture education programs continue to be offered in eastern Ontario. What the ag community wants from you is your assurance that you and your government will work with any partner with a plan to deliver those programs that comes out of that public meeting. Will you give that assurance to us today? Thank you. Well, thanks very much, Mr. Speaker. And I want to thank the member from Lee's Grenville for the question of the sporting. There's no question in my mind that both Campville and Alfred have made significant roles in the agricultural community in eastern Ontario. In fact, Mr. Speaker, in my riding of Peterborough, I have a number of alumni, particularly from the Campville College, and they've been calling me consistently over the last little while. We're looking at ways to foster partnerships in both those communities at Campville and Alfred because we know their importance. The officials, the Honourable Lyle van Cleef, will be doing an extensive review of Campville and Mark Goebbel will be doing an extensive community review of Alfred. And I look forward to working with the member from Lee's Grenville and my colleague from Gregg Greig Prescott of Russell as we move forward with a positive plan both for Campville and Alfred. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Minister. This is a very simple answer. Oh, there is. Several partners including the municipality of North Grenville have stepped up to be part of the solution. Others are going to be revealed at that public meeting next week. Can you assure us that your facilitator will implement our community's plan with any potential partner that comes out in that meeting? Are you committed to Campville? Are you going to force your vision of Campville on that facilitator? Or are you going to listen to the community and work with the task force? Mr. Minister? Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member for supplementary. We'll be working very carefully with all the partners, the potential partners in those areas. We have appointed two very distinguished Canadians to help us with the review. The Honourable Lyle van Cleef who was a very distinguished Minister of Agriculture for Prime Minister Cretchen, Mark Goebel who has extensive agricultural credentials in eastern Ontario. So what are the things, Mr. Speaker that I learned in almost 30 years in public life serving the great folks of Peterborough that you need to listen very carefully and over the next number of weeks and months I'll be listening very carefully to our people in Campville area and the people now for an area to come up with the right solution as a stateable solution for those wonderful agricultural institutions in eastern Ontario. Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. This question is to the Premier. In addition to Moody's Standard and Poor's also has a negative outlook for Ontario's credit rating. As you know, our credit rating is important because it can impact education and health care key ideas in the activist centre. With two agencies shifting to negative outlook the risk of a downgrade is growing and it shouldn't be ignored. What is the government doing to restore confidence in the province's public finances? Mr. Finance. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the question. Congratulations to the member for being the critic for finance. And it's important to recognize and offer my opportunity to meet with you so I can go over some of the issues as they may pertain to the portfolio. We recognize that it's important to continue to invest in the things that makes us competitive in the long term. Recognizing that we will control spending. In fact, we are the lowest cost government in Canada because of the measures that we've taken. We are the leanest government, we're the only government to actually have cut spending year over year. We've adopted over 80% of Don Drummond's recommendations and we're continuing to find savings in the system for the president of the Treasury Board whose mandate it is to provide for those negotiations going forward and to find even greater savings in the system. That is how we're going to get to our path to balance. But an important part of that balance is ensuring that we grow our economy, invest in those initiatives that will enable us to grow our revenue by growing the economy. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, supplementary. I appreciate the invitation to meet with the Minister of Finance and also the Minister of Treasury Board. I look forward to working with you as well. But there are some realities that we're going to have to face together. At a time when readings agencies have Ontario on a negative outlook as shot across the bow. That's how they've described this fiscal situation in the province of Ontario. The government's plan is still moving ahead by opening new tax loopholes for corporations and exempt them from paying HST on entertaining clients on buying luxury cars. This is not a priority for the people of the province of Ontario. At a time when Ontario is under fiscal pressure, why is the government intent on opening up new tax loopholes for corporations? This does not make sense. Question? Thank you. Minister. I reject the premise of the question because that's not the case. What is important is for us to ensure that we find ways to grow the revenue by growing our economy. We're looking at all ways by which we can secure greater stability in our economy. And we do that by not taking extreme measures. We must also recognize that in order for us to balance the books we must control our spending but also invest those things that will make us competitive. You reference something that is not opening up any tax loopholes. They are existing and they require support with the federal government. That is why we're taking steps to look at underground economy. Other efforts by which to grow our revenue. Things that exist that we can improve upon. And we're taking measures and we're looking at ways that Quebec has done in terms of the underground economy. That will help us capture and grow the revenue on that case as well. But it's also mentioned, Mr. Speaker, we have just appointed Clark to look at our assets to maximize the opportunity to increase our dividends through those crown corporations. All of which will help again to balance our budget by 2017-18 which we're on track. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. A new question? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure. Mr. Speaker, our province has made strategic investments in innovation hubs which are helping today's entrepreneurs become tomorrow's global leaders. And that type of investment is key, especially in supporting cluster development and regional economies. We see this in Kitchener Waterloo. We see it in the greater Ottawa area, Durham and the GTA area where we have some of the world's cutting edge innovation parks including Mars right across the street from here. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister please provide the House with some information on how Mars is creating good jobs for the province of Ontario? Absolutely. Thank you, Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I want to thank the member for Kitchener Centre for being the first new member to ask a question. It's a good question. Mr. Speaker, it's important to understand that this government has recognized the need for Ontario to build on its strengths our people and our partnerships. Mars is focused on building Canada's next generation of technology companies and accelerating these firms to the status of global market leaders. Mars is globally recognized as one of North America's largest urban research parks and is home to more than 115 tenants from across the innovation spectrum where about 2,500 people work every day. Over 1,400 start-up companies have been incubated or advised at Mars since its inception. And in 2013 alone, Mars Venture clients created more than 6,500 jobs. In total, Mr. Speaker, Mars clients have generated more than $3 billion in economic activity. Mr. Speaker, this government believes in supporting a dynamic and innovative business climate and the key part to doing that. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker and thank you to the minister for his answer. There's no doubt about the importance of this kind of investment in our province in creating cluster development and helping to fortify our regional economies. As the minister detailed in his answer Mars has definitely had a very positive effect on these regional economies and our economy as a whole. However, in recent weeks I have read a number of stories about the future of Mars Phase 2. I understand that decisions about the future of the Mars Phase 2 building were not made during the RIT process. Mr. Speaker, through you to the minister, could the minister please provide us with an update on what if any decisions he has made about Mars Phase 2? Good question. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, again a very good and pertinent question. Mr. Speaker, I think it's really important that we all have a responsibility to do our due diligence to ensure that the next steps of Mars Phase 2 are carried out with the utmost respect for transparency and taxpayers' dollars. At this moment Mr. Speaker let me be very clear, no decisions have been made and before any decision is made I'm making the commitment to solicit the best advice and expertise from industry on how to proceed. The matter the member refers to does have significant complexity to it. I'm currently in the process of reviewing all options from Mars Phase 2 and I can ensure the member that I'm looking at the matter closely and will ensure that any decisions that are made will be done as transparently as possible. The government's priority is creating jobs and building a strong next generation economy. Ontario's fast becoming a global leader in innovation. Mars plays a key role in getting us there Mr. Speaker this decision will be made in a way that best serves our innovation agenda for our economy and Ontario taxpayers. Thank you. My question to the Premier. Premier last session I worked very hard to try to get my private member's bill Ryan's law passed through committee so that could be into law before the election. Unfortunately Premier this didn't occur. I will be reintroducing Ryan's law which will protect the 20% of students with asthma. However with a majority government it is important that the population bills tend to get shelved regardless of how vital they are. I hope this doesn't happen with Ryan's law Premier because it would suggest that your government be willing to sacrifice the safety of our children in order to deny a Tory MPP bill. Premier Ryan's law is important. It will protect children with asthma and it's that simple. Premier when I reintroduce Ryan's law will you commit to doing everything you can to protect the 20% of students with asthma. I want to commend the member for putting forward this legislation. I think that private member's bills are extremely important and from my perspective as I said earlier it doesn't matter where good ideas come from Mr. Speaker and if we can find ways to help kids in schools who have asthma to be safer Mr. Speaker then obviously we have to do that. So the committee that will be looking at I assume the committee will need to look at it and as I said Mr. Speaker if we can find ways to make sure that kids in schools kids who have asthma are safer then we have an obligation to do that Mr. Speaker. Premier the best way to ensure this bill gets passed is to ensure that your house leader works to get my bill back to the forefront of the committee. Premier during the election campaign I heard a very discouraging story another story and this was from a young girl she told me she was traveling to school however due to current regulations of school board policies that do not allow children to carry the relief puffers she had to sit through the bus ride during her asthma attack wait till the bus got to the school get off the bus and then find a teacher who was responsible for giving her inhaler so that she could attain some relief. Premier that story should frighten you had the attack been more severe the outcome could have been far more tragic just like poor Ryan and among other things it permits children to carry the relief inhalers at all times provided that permission from the health care providers. Premier we can't wait when Ryan's law passes second reading will you make it a priority to help it get through committee. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker and as I said it's very important to me that where there are situations where we can put in place a structure put in place a law that is going to keep kids safer than obviously Mr. Speaker we need to do that and so as this piece of legislation goes through and if it when it goes to committee Mr. Speaker then the committee needs to deal with it but certainly to try to make sure that we put the right regulations in place one of the things Mr. Speaker though that I would need to just say to the member opposite is first of all there are a lot of pieces of legislation that are introduced and a lot of them have a huge merit Mr. Speaker but the other thing is we need to sort out what school board policy and what provincial law where are the interactions between those things Mr. Speaker and I think it's very important that as a piece of legislation like this goes through that we examine that and make sure that it's not something that's happening at the local level as opposed to the provincial level that's the problem. Thank you Mr. Speaker the member from Toronto Danforth. Thank you Speaker to the chair of 2014 the premier's advisory council on government assets headed by TD CEO Ed Clark will present recommendations to this government regarding the whole or partial privatization of the LCBO hydro one NLPG these recommendations in turn will be fed into the 2015 budget process. The government factors in revenues from all significant initiatives of this sort into its long-term fiscal framework will the government tell this house how much is slotted into the fiscal framework from the full or partial sale of these core public assets. Thank you Premier. I appreciate the question and it allows us now to talk about the relevance of reviewing the assets owned by government. Mr. Speaker the shareholders of these assets are the people of Ontario the taxpayer and they have a right for us to ensure that we maximize its potential either by way of increasing the dividends by which those crown corporations can produce and or look at ways that we can invest our monies in appropriate matters to even greater returns by putting it through the Trillium Trust which is part of the budget. But Mr. Speaker we are guided by the principles our core principles which includes our policy objectives to maximize its value that it represents Ontarians and it's also about ensuring that they work in the best interest of the public so that we do not have a repeat of the sale of the 407. We must ensure that we take rigorous measures to protect these assets and the annuity by which we provide dividends. We must have returns. Supplementary. Sure doesn't sound to me like they're ruling out privatization. The real fact of the matter is that after missing its 14 deficit projection by $2.4 billion this government has projected that its 12.5 billion deficit will magically disappear in the next three years. This includes a near miraculous $5.3 billion reduction in 2016-2017 alone. This is unprecedented and no serious student of Ontario's budget believes that this kind of reduction will take place without a significant sale of these assets. How much has this government slotted into its long-term fiscal framework from the sale of LCBO, OPG and Hydro One assets? Mr. Speaker it's incumbent upon the government to review the functions of these Crown corporations and the assets of which we hold. It doesn't mean we're selling anything. What it means is we're maximizing the potential of these Crown corporations in Ontario and the taxpayer. The expert council will evaluate what it is that we own. We're going to continue investing in infrastructure and in transit which will maximize potential being competitive in the long run. These are the principles that guide us and it's also about ensuring that the monies that are invested by government are invested wisely for the benefit of the people of Ontario. This is not something new. The United Kingdom, Australia will benefit. What we must do is ensure that we invest in those assets that provide the maximum return for the taxpayer and also maximize our revenue and our value assets. Nothing at this point is being considered to be sold. Although we made it clear in the budget that we're not going to be passive investors on stocks. No question. The member from Halton. Thank you Mr. Speaker. I'd like to say what an honour and a privilege it is to be here representing the people of Halton and congratulations on the reelection. Mr. Speaker, through you to the Associate Minister of Finance it is the desire of our government that Ontario be the best place in the world to grow old. In the past, Ontarians and Canadians have been well served by the Canada Pension Plan. However, middle class Canadians know that the current CPP is not for their retirement. Provincial and federal government officials and pension experts agree that Canadians, especially the middle class, need more support in their retirement years. After a lifetime of work and contributing to the economy retired Ontarians deserve better than to face plunging standards of living. Can the Minister responsible for the new Ontario retirement pension plan please explain how the economy will help Ontarians become more secure in their retirement? Re-election and thank you to the member from Halton for her question today. As announced in our government's May 1 budget we are committed to building retirement security with a made in Ontario pension plan that puts secure retirement on the horizon for every worker. The ORPP will mirror the CPP enhancing benefits for middle income earners while keeping contributions low. Unless we take action now future generations of retirees will be left with a lower standard of living. Analysis shows that a CPP enhancement will have economic benefits by growing the economy and creating jobs. Higher disposable income for future retirees means less reliance on social programs funded by taxpayers. However, the federal government has refused to accept the promises amongst the provinces and analysis by experts to work on enhancing the CPP. We're standing up for the people of Ontario by continuing to do the right thing and building a smart leading the way towards a pension plan that has the people of Ontario. Supplementary. Thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you to the Associate Minister of Finance for the answer. Again to the chair you are working on a plan that will help Ontarians retire with security. My constituents in Halton are concerned that as Ontarians continue to live longer and less workplaces are offering workplace pension plans they will not be able to save enough for their retirement. In 2012 only 34% of Ontario's population belong to a workplace pension plan and my younger constituents who are expected to have multiple employers will be more likely to encounter a patchwork of workplace coverage that will make saving for retirement even more difficult. Can the minister please explain how the Ontario retirement pension plan will build on the CPP to enhance retirement benefits for Ontarians? Thank you again to the investors member from Halton. The ORPP would be the first of its kind in Canada and would be introduced in 2017 alongside with the expected reductions in employment insurance premiums. If negotiations with the federal government on enhancing CPP were to be successful in the future the ORPP would be integrated into the CPP. The ORPP would require equal contributions to be shared between employers and employees not exceeding 1.9% each. It would aim to provide a replacement rate of 15% of individuals earnings up to a maximum earning threshold of $90,000. When combined with CPP an individual with steady career earnings over 40 years of $90,000 could replace about 30% of pre-retirement income and could receive annual benefits of about $25,000. Roughly doubles retirement benefits under the CPP alone. We are committed to providing retirement security to all Ontarians and moving ahead with the planning of ORPP and this is just one step. Thank you. My question is to the minister of long-term health and care minister of health and long-term care. Good luck on your appointment. Minister, two weeks ago I received a letter from our local community care access center stating that the organization will be limiting the number of new patients it accepts less than three months into their fiscal. Your government has talked a lot about investing in community care based service. Ten days after the election our local CCAC is telling me they will be limiting the number of new patients in need of care. Minister, do you support central west CCAC's decision? Minister of health long-term care. Thank you, Mr. Speaker and of course I do. It's just unfortunate that the party opposite didn't support our budget, nor did the third party because in fact if they had we have in that budget not only did we dramatically lose $760 million in support to community care including our CCAC's in 2013 but we had laid out in the budget a further increase of $750 million increased funding to community care including our CCAC's by 2017 so it was in the budget unfortunately we had to have as a result of the two parties opposite not supporting that budget and election to get it to this point we are committed to our CCAC's we have invested over the past a significant increase in our CCAC's to make sure that we are providing that quality care to individuals and their families when they need it, where they need it and as close to home as possible. Minister, I understand that you're new but this letter came out on June 23rd which would be post-election which would be post after you announced that the same budget is coming through so clearly the local CCAC is going to have the same problem I understand you've inherited a number of crisis in the health portfolio but there really is an opportunity to make a difference here this is a matter of priorities last week in the Throne Speech we heard a lot of talk about building Ontario up well I can tell you that in Dufferin Callet and we don't believe in building Ontario up by clawing back access to health care service so I will ask the minister again will you do the right thing and direct the local CCAC to prioritize their decisions to ensure that all patients are provided with the health care service they need when they need it I'm going to ask the member to withdraw Thank you Minister of Health Thank you Mr. Speaker and again we are committed to our CCACs and in fact the funding to our CCACs has increased by 99% since 2003 with other investments that we're making in the budget I think this speaks to the imperative of making sure that the budget which has been tabled is quickly debated and passed in the coming days so we can go ahead and continue to invest and increase our investment to this important aspect of the continuum of health care Mr. Speaker we know that there's always more work to be done I'm very proud of the work that's been done in the past number of years and the budget as individuals are aware we're increasing the member from Dufferin, Caledon who asked the question key provider of our fourth services and our home care we're increasing that by 30% over the next few years Mr. Speaker so there is more work to be done we need to start fast in the budget That's right Thank you Mr. Speaker My question is for the Premier Families across Ontario are struggling with child care with children and children while this government is making the crisis even worse by cutting child care funding to 18 communities across our province Child care centres like Coronation Park Day Nursery rather in Sarnia are on the chopping block over 100 kids at that centre are at risk of losing access to child care in Sarnia alone and the government is intent on shutting down child care centres that families rely on Mr. Speaker since 2003 child care funding in Ontario has increased from $532.4 million to close to a billion that's a 90% increase Mr. Speaker so in fact quite contrary to what the leader of the third party is saying that we're cutting funding to child care we're actually increasing funding to child care that's happening one is that full day kindergarten is being implemented across the province so that every 4 and 5 year old in Ontario in September will have access to a full day kindergarten program and that means that there are changes within the child care system there's no doubt about that and so we are working with the system we are changing the funding formula we recognise that as those 4 and 5 year olds are in full day kindergarten that's going to happen within the preschool child care system so we will continue to invest we will continue to work with the system as we change the funding formula but Mr. Speaker our support for child care is steadfast and will remain so I think the Premier just admitted that she's created a crisis in the child care system the Premier's Trojan horse budget in fact does nothing to stop the child care cuts in 18 communities only one in five kids can access licensed child care in this province no community can afford cuts to child care funding no community should be forced to close the doors on their licensed child care centres in this province and no family should have to work in child care but this government has decided that services will be cut and child care happens to be the first to go the Premier do the right thing and commit today to stop the cuts in the child care centres in Sarnia and all 18 communities across this province why doesn't she just commit today to do the right thing by these families and these children in these 18 communities so Mr. Speaker 90,000 nearly 90,000 new spaces in child care since 2003 there are tens of thousands child care spaces in Ontario the fact is that we are going through a transition there is no doubt about that and I would hope that the leader of the third party and her colleagues would be able to understand and work with their communities as we go through the transition four and five year olds are going to be in full day kindergarten as of September all four and five year olds have access now to full day kindergarten so what we need to do is we need to make sure that the child care system adjusts to that so that the preschool kids the zero to three year old kids have the opportunity to be in the child care system that we have before and after care for students Mr. Speaker those are changes Mr. Speaker that means the system is going through a transformation we have put mitigation funding in place we will continue to work with the child care system but to suggest that not having full day kindergarten would be a good thing Mr. Speaker is not in the best interest of kids that is essentially what the leader of the third party is thank you Mr. Speaker I would like to thank my constituents in the riding of Burlington for their confidence my question is for the minister of transportation my riding of Burlington is a beautiful place to ride a bike from our waterfront to our trails to our on-road facilities cycling makes an important contribution to a more healthy active and connected Burlington indeed cycling is not only good for my community it enhances the health and well-being of my constituents cycling is good for economic development and tourism too as witnessed by bicycle tourism initiatives like the green belt and our beautiful waterfront trail that's why I'm proud to be a part of a government that is committed to supporting cycling and cyclists across Ontario Mr. Speaker through you to the minister can you please explain to this house what our government is doing to support and promote cycling and cyclists on every path trail and roadway thank you very much Mr. Speaker and I want to begin by thanking the newly elected member for Burlington for that outstanding question and welcoming her to Ontario's legislature I also want to thank the member for her tireless support for such a great cause the cause of cycling here in our province because of her advocacy and her passion for safe roads in our province we have a vision for cycling in Ontario that all of us can be proud of and I also want to quickly pay tribute to Mr. Speaker who played a leadership role in making sure that we brought this project forward in August 2013 our government introduced cycle on the most comprehensive cycling strategy that Ontario has ever seen this strategy touches many parts of our government and will play a larger and building healthier in stronger communities $10 million over three years through a new cost-shared program that will help municipalities expand their local and cycling networks and their cycling infrastructure Thank you Thank you Speaker and thank you to the minister for that answer I agree with you that the benefits of cycling are limitless for our communities our economies and our health cycling connects Ontarians to communities and to each other that is why support for cities and municipalities is vital to the promotion of cycling Speaker through you I'd like the minister to elaborate on what we can expect for cycling as our government rolls out cycle on and on how communities across Ontario will benefit Thank you minister Thank you Speaker and I thank the member again for that great supplementary we are coming up on the one year anniversary of our cycle on strategy and last August we released our long term 20 year vision based on five strategic directions to encourage the growth of cycling and to improve safety for cyclists across the province cycle on is to be implemented through ongoing multi-year action plans and the first action plan speaker Ontario Bike Summit earlier this year will focus on year one commitments but includes many initiatives to be implemented with partners over years two to five develop with stakeholders including AMO, CAA, Share the Road suggestions from the chief coroner 2012 review and public comments this plan will help Ontarians continue to move forward with a progressive and balanced and responsible cycling strategy remember speaker sharing the road and having a great time doing it is what cycling in Ontario is all about thank you minister cycle on Speaker before I begin I just would like to congratulate you on your re-election as Speaker of the House My question is to the Premier Premier as the election began Chief Electoral Officer Greg Essinja sorry repeated his call for a limit on third party advertising Mr Essinja stated and I quote when I look across the country we are the only jurisdiction that has no spending limit he would not say the process is completely non-transparent we may never know just how much these groups spent Dalton McGinty's 05 and 07 legislation edit little transparency leaving the Chief Electoral Officer asking for more reforms Premier this is your chance to prove to the people of Ontario that you are different and you are in an open and transparent mood today are you willing to protect the integrity of democracy and pledge to excuse me place limits on third party advertising spending thank you very much Mr Speaker and I appreciate the question from the member of the opposition and I endeavor always to be in an open and transparent mood so thank you very much Mr Speaker we have rules in place to ensure that there's both transparency and free speech in our election campaigns and those things have to be balanced and we are the party that introduced third party advertising rules in Ontario for the first time in 2007 Mr Speaker and under current rules third parties that spend $500 or more on election advertising are required to register with the party that actually isn't accounting for how that money is spent and registered third parties also have to report to the Chief Electoral Officer on election advertising expenses if election advertising expenses are $5,000 or more than those reports have to be audited Mr Speaker so we have taken many steps to make sure that there is openness in this process thank you supplementary thank you Speaker Premier that's the same answer you gave me I'm going to go 101 but you know Speaker we are the only jurisdiction in Canada that has no spending limitation on advertisers that have the power to influence elections that jeopardizes the integrity of this institution and is a disadvantage to our democracy the Chief Electoral Officer recommends that no group should be able to spend millions of dollars to influence elections without any transparency Premier we agree the status quo is setting the stage for corruption Premier will you implement the Chief Electoral Officer's recommendations thank you Mr Speaker let me just say that I disagree that there is no transparency because I think that there have been steps taken by our government to put in place transparency but having said that Mr Speaker we are always open to conversations about the electoral process third parties supported all three parties during the election campaign so there is not a difference in terms of the treatment party by party but if there is a willingness and a desire on the part of all parties and the Chief Electoral Officer to have a conversation we are open to having that conversation Mr Speaker but I think it's something that everyone needs to take part in thank you thank you Speaker to the Premier people across the Northwest are still suffering from record high water levels and flooding that started last month with as many as 10 communities in my riding alone declaring states of emergency I toured the area and I saw firsthand the devastation homes overwhelmed by flooding sections of highway completely washed away significant erosion of shoreline resulting in lost personal property and a threatened cemetery and evacuations the West are doing an amazing job banding together in this difficult time but it is up to this government to ensure that there are funds necessary available for cleanup and recovery a couple of years ago when Thunder Bay experienced a similar emergency it had to wait over a year to receive provincial assistance from this government people in my riding simply can't wait that long will the Premier help the people of Canora Rainey River today by committing funds from the Ontario Disaster Relief Assistance Program to provide badly needed relief to these 10 hard hit communities and commit to a timeline when we can expect this one Thank you Minister of Natural Resources Minister of Natural Resources Thank you very much I want to thank the member for the question but I do want to say that the assertion that after the Thunder Bay flood our government was slow to respond in fact not only did we meet our commitments on providing assistance to the city of Thunder Bay through the ODRAP programming under MMAH in terms of the flooding that is occurring in the member's communities of course we are aware of it of course it is a very, very serious and significant occurrence unfortunately it seems like we find ourselves in these situations all too regularly now and in fact these what were abnormal weather events seem to be occurring on a far too regular basis I can tell the member I have been in direct contact with the mayors of the three Mayor Avis in Fort Francis Mayor Brown in Atacocon Mayor Canfield in Canora I have talked to them they have been very pleased to this point with the outreach that has been provided and the support that has been provided by all of the appropriate ministries including MNR we continue to monitor the situation I have asked them to contact me at any time that they feel necessary if they are at some point uncertain with the response that is coming Thank you I know what the Ford votes this house stance and who my usual suspects are now and I appreciate being given that opportunity to know who they are