 And it is now time for oral questions. I recognize the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Thank you, Speaker. Speaker, my first question this morning is for the Premier. Frontline doctors and public health experts are raising dire concerns about the Premier's latest rewrite of the government's response to the second wave of the pandemic. Dr. Michael Warner, the medical director of critical care at Michael Garan Hospital, is pretty blunt about it. And he says, and I quote, it creates the preconditions for rolling lockdowns, continued economic uncertainty, and unnecessary deaths and illness. Did medical experts at the Premier's command table raise any of these same concerns? And if so, why did the Premier ignore them? The Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. Thank you, Speaker. And thank you for the question. I think there are a few things that need to be mentioned with respect to this question. First of all, with the modeling that was produced last week, there was an indication that Ontario was moving much in the same way as Australia had in Victoria with a sudden sharp peak. But in reality, it looks more like Ontario was following the same tradition as Michigan, which reached a level of between 800,000 cases per day, higher than, of course, we'd like to, but reaching a sort of a plateau. But what's happening with this new case framework that's been brought forward is to allow for earlier intervention so that closures might not have to be necessary. There's a gradation of step ups and step downs within this framework that allows for businesses to understand if there are concerns with what's happening in their area that there can be some restrictions placed on it, but not closures. So this is something that has been formulated with public health, by public health, for the benefit of all the people of Ontario. And the supplementary question. Well, Speaker, doctors fighting COVID-19 in our hospitals are desperately warning that the Premier is marching us right into disaster. Last summer, the Ford government ignored similar pleas and refused to prepare properly for the second wave, leaving us with understaffed, long-term care homes where tragedies continue to unfold, crowded schools where outbreaks continue to occur, and families left waiting for hours and hours and hours for a COVID-19 test. And now doctors warn us we're heading into disaster again. This is what doctors are saying. So if the Premier has evidence to back up his plan, he can make it public today. So will he make public any reports and documents prepared for the government by public health experts supporting these measures? Mr. Bell. Well, as a matter of fact, our government has been very clear and very transparent with the people of Ontario about what the state of affairs is in Ontario. The Premier has been very clear about that throughout. And in addition to this framework that we have provided to people of Ontario, we also are providing a daily dashboard that they can take a look at to understand in their own public health unit what is the state of affairs, how many tests have been conducted, what level are they in, so that people can make their own determination about what they want to do. It's really important for the people of Ontario to assume part of their responsibility because we are all in this together and it's important for the people of Ontario to have that information. That is what we're going to continue to provide on a weekly updated basis for the people of Ontario so they can see what we are seeing, which is the number of cases, unfortunately the number of deaths, the number of people in hospital, the number of people in intensive care. Response? All of those issues are readily available for the people of Ontario to see. And the final supplementary. Well, speaker, people are tired of watching the Premier Veer all over the map as more and more people fall sick, 1050 yesterday. He promised the largest flu immunization in Ontario's history, but people are being turned away at pharmacies and other clinics due to a lack of supply. He promised contact tracing so effective it could stop the virus in its tracks. But in Toronto, we still don't know where two thirds of people actually contracted COVID-19. Now he has a new plan, the one expert compared to throwing in the towel in the fight against COVID-19. So why would people have any confidence whatsoever in the Premier and his government? Minister Powell. Because in fact, we do have a very clear and comprehensive plan, our fall preparedness plan contemplates all of the issues that the leader of the official opposition has just raised. We also have a very clear framework for allowing decisions to be made about whether there should be any lockdowns or any restrictions placed on any geographic area. That's important for the people of the area to know, it's important for the businesses of the area to know. It's important too for the doctors and hospitals to know as well. We have had conversations with the Ontario Hospital Association, with the Ontario Medical Association, with the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario. And in fact, what we're seeing now is that we do have the capacity in our healthcare system. It's not being overloaded to the point of being overwhelmed. We know that COVID-19 is going to be with us until a vaccine is available. And so we have to have a framework to be able to make those decisions. And that is what we have that's been developed in consultation with the public health experts that are advising the government. Next question, the Leader of the Opposition. Thank you, Speaker. I want to just say, the next question is for the Premier, but I just want to say that we're talking to those folks too and they're really worried. Because the last thing we want is to get to a point where things are overloaded and overwhelmed and it's the government's job to stop us from getting there, Speaker. And folks are very worried that that's exactly where we're headed. So if the Premier was really interested though in another aspect of this, which is support for small businesses to help them pay the bills and keep people on the payroll, he'd be investing the money needed to get COVID under control and provide direct supports to these businesses, to small business in our province. The government's refusal to invest in contact tracing and testing last summer is one of the reasons that we're in the crisis that we are today. In the summer, the government quietly backed away from a goal of getting to 100,000 tests a day by October, and we're now in November. Yesterday we tested a quarter of that amount, Speaker. Does the government have a plan to reach their target or any evidence that says that their new scheme is safe when we're so far away from where we should be at this moment in time? Order. Order. Order. Mr. Health to apply. Thank you very much, Speaker. But I think it's really important to remember that while we have the ability to reach up to 50,000 tests per day, it is demand-driven. So it depends on the number of people that actually show up. I'm not sure if the leader of the official opposition would like us to just go and grab people and bring them in for testing. That's not what we do in Ontario. We want to make testing available for people we have. We are putting a billion dollars into extra testing, tracing, and contact tracing and management. So we have put the money into that. We do have those available ready to go. We have 160 assessment centres. People can go and make an appointment there. They can also go to pharmacies. They can be tested. We do have contact tracers available. We've hired 600 more. We'll, on top of the 2,750 contract tracers we already have, we're getting another 600 more from Statistics Canada. At that point, we'll have 4,000 contact tracers with a billion dollars being needed. Is this a parliamentary question? Well, Speaker, the Minister of Health knows very well that what this government did to deal with their lack of ability to prepare for second wave is actually make testing less accessible for the people of Ontario. And that is nothing to brag about. But look, small businesses and the people who work for them, they need help. They need help to get them through the second wave of this pandemic, not a constantly changing scheme from the Premier that sees more and more people getting sick. For months, for months and months, small businesses have been pleading for direct support from this government to help them pay the rent and keep people on the prey roll. But yesterday, the government told businesses hanging by a thread in places like Northern Ontario, Windsor, Hamilton, Kingston, London, you're all on your own because none of you are going to get a penny of the $300 million in aid that the government announced a little while back. If the Premier was truly interested in helping small businesses and spur economic recovery, why is he constantly coming up short when it comes to providing the support that they need to stay afloat? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I'm proud to announce that this government understands that small businesses are going through a very difficult time right now, and that's why our government responded very quickly with $30 billion in direct support, $241 million in relief for commercial rent, $50 million for the Ontario Together Fund to help businesses retool during this great time of uncertainty. We heard from small businesses that they need help with their other taxes, like their employment, their income, their income, their income, and they need help with their other taxes, like their employer health taxes. So we responded by providing $355 million in direct relief. We heard from thousands of businesses that they needed help with their hydro bills. So, Mr. Speaker, we responded with $175 million in additional hydro rate relief. Of course, there is more to be done for these small businesses, and that's why I look forward to outlining this government's plan tomorrow as we table the 2020 budget, which will state our plan to protect, support, and cut from the public sector. Thank you. Final supplementary. Well, Speaker, the Ford government didn't make the investments that they should have made to prepare for the second wave. They simply didn't. And now the government is scrambling to try to react. Tough talk in the Premier's daily campaign news conferences isn't going to do anything to repair the damage that they've already done to businesses and to our health care system under this Premier's watch. And now a new confusing system with looser rules isn't going to help. It's going to make things even worse. So when will this Premier stop making stuff up as he goes along and start making the investments? The direct business support investments and the supports that public health need to make sure that we can actually fight this pandemic, do the things that they should have done months and months ago. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, what this Premier and what this government has done is listen to the thousands of small businesses out there that are going through this very difficult time. That is COVID-19. And they asked for help with their hydro rates. That's exactly what we provided, Mr. Speaker. They asked for help with their overhead fixed costs and that's what that $300 million in the recent announcement is going to help with with help with property taxes to keep hydro rates low to help with their other fixed costs. Mr. Speaker, this government has listened by balancing the investments in healthcare, $7.7 billion to the healthcare sector because nothing is more important than protecting the people that we serve. Those additional supports that have gone to businesses have continued throughout this pandemic in a very adaptive and prudent fashion. Mr. Speaker, and as I mentioned before, tomorrow we will outline the next steps to protect, support and recover here in the province of Ontario. The next question is for the Minister of Training Colleges and Universities. The Minister this week made inappropriate comparisons between Ontario's proud colleges and universities and Charles McVeedy's college. And instead of doing that, he should actually have done his research before he brought legislation forward to allow Charles McVeedy to grant science degrees. And here's why. In May of 2018, Charles McVeedy said on video at his college and I quote, people talk about the world being millions and billions of years old, but I've never seen anything more than 6,000 years old. You have a perfect historical record for about 6,000 years and then it stops. Mr. Speaker, that's not science. Why would the Minister that Charles McVeedy grants science degrees when he believes that humans walked the earth with dinosaurs 6,000 years ago? Thank you, seats. Mr. Colleges and Universities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Once again, I'm very happy to respond to the question. So last year, we cut red tape in the fall red tape bill. We created a process whereby any agency, any institution out there does not apply directly to a minister to obtain minister's consent. Any licensing process or designation of this nature now goes directly to the Independent Advisory Board, PECA. Last year, no one on the other side of the floor, Mr. Speaker, raised any concerns with that process. That was the process that was created directly from the institution to an independent advisory board who then makes a recommendation. We had two institutions that then were legislated in the same fashion as what you see here. Algoma University and OCAD University. They went through the same process, Mr. Speaker. I'm not sure what the member opposite doesn't seem to understand that this is an independent advisory process that we created unaccountable, transparent, clear way to address these matters. Clear. Thank you. Supplementary question. You know, day after day, the Minister of Training Colleges and Universities defends the indefensible in this house, which is granting degrees, allowing a person who's made Islamophobic and homophobic comments to grant degrees, university degrees, and college degrees in Ontario. But I'm sure that at some point, you will be rewarded with a cabinet promotion by the Premier for your loyalty to him and his friend. Let's see, in the course, in the course, Charles McVity teaches. So, okay, once again, you can't impute motive. So, I'll ask the member to place his question. Okay. Okay, in the course, Charles McVity teaches and is still advertised on Twitter. He warns of imminent Islamic War. He writes, One World Governance is here. He wonders whether trying to stop climate change is earth worship. He questioned the signs of climate change many times before. No one is suggesting that Charles McVity can't hold his own personal views. But no one believes that he should be able to teach hate and anti-science beliefs and then grant degrees. Why won't the government do the right thing and pull the legislation that gives Charles McVity university degree granting authority in arts and science? Please take your seats. Again, the Minister of Colleges and Universities. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I continually speakable process because I'm trying to help the members opposite to maybe appreciate that there is no mechanism to actually interfere with this type of a procedural process. The institutions, no matter what institution it is, any institution in the province, just like any individual who applies for a license, there is no way for us to meddle with that process. Nor should there be, unless, of course, what the members opposite want us to do as governing members of this House is to actually meddle with process. Do they actually want us to interfere? Is that what they're asking us to do? Would they like us to actually stick our hands in the pot and try to play games with process? Because this is a process. It's a fair process. It's an independent advisory process. What does the opposition have against the independent advisory process that is established that they had no problem with one year ago? None, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. The next question, the member for Flambor, Flambor. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And my question is to the Minister of Education. School administrators and principals in Hamilton and right across Ontario have been working extraordinarily hard to keep schools safe and to ensure quality learning for our kids thanks to record investments into education by this government. To support smaller class sizes, staff, virtual classes and to cover for teachers who may have been exposed to COVID-19, school boards have extensively used their list of supply teachers. But those supply lists are limited and we've seen a troubling staff shortage emerge. Across Ontario, retired teachers are stepping up to the plate offering to help ensure that we can deliver education safely to our students. Speaker, can the Minister of Education please share what our government is doing to bring more teachers into the system and help alleviate the shortage? Minister of Education. Well, thank you, Speaker. Thank you to the member for Flambor and Granbrooke for the question, for the advocacy for public education. Speaker, we have over the past months supporting school boards in every region of this province hiring over 2,700 new educators to reduce classroom sizes and to ensure quality learning. Now, Speaker, in addition, we've also rescinded Regulation 274, a relic of the former Liberal government that thankfully has been relegated to history to ensure principals have the speed and the latitude to quickly hire. But in addition, we have been working with our school board partners and the principal's councils to encourage the Ontario Federation of Teachers, the Ontario Teachers Federation, rather, to allow us to have retirees. Those are teachers who have worked up to 50 days to work beyond the 50-day current quota. We believe by rescinding that maximum from 50 to 95-day school standards, it'll help our school board to ensure that every parent and every student gets an educator that they deserve. Supplementary question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and it is obvious that the issue of staffing in our classrooms is not a matter of money. Over $200 million of additional funds has been made available this year to address staffing issues and other board priorities, as well as unlocking nearly $500 million in reserve funds. And as the Minister said, we have already enabled the hiring of over 2,700 new teachers. Despite what the opposition claim, our government is willing to spend what it takes to have schools up and running while keeping everyone involved as safe as possible. This is an issue about a policy that needlessly prevents educators who want to work and want to help from being part of the solution. Could the Minister please explain why all partners must work together to ensure every student has a teacher? Again, the Minister of Education. Thank you. It is really an important question because I think all members of the legislature accept a premise that every student deserves a teacher. And there is a way today, right now, that the Ontario Teachers Federation can work with government, knowing that the principals' councils and the school board associations of this province have asked them since July, since we've been negotiating and working with them, to expand that quota from 50 to 95 days, allowing more retirees willing voluntarily to reenter our schools and staff our schools to ensure learning continues. That is important. When we did a survey of our school boards over two-thirds of them in September, the problem is much worse today, underscored that they have a challenge finding access to supply. We have a solution. We know parents want us to work together during this pandemic. As the member rightfully mentioned, collaboration in this unprecedented time of difficulty. And we're willing to do that. And we have for three months. And we're calling on them in good faith to expedite the outcome. Let's get on with this and ensure every school and every student has a teacher in this province. Well said. Next question. Member for London North Centre. Thank you, Speaker. My question is for the Deputy Premier. Charles McVeedy handed Premier Ford electoral victory, giving him his fringe radical social conservative support. Now McVeedy is looking for payback, the power to confer university degrees at Canada Christian College. When their world is full of hate, LGBTQ youth may lose their home. Some may lose their lives. Muslim youth shoulder bigotry every day of their lives. Government members can't remain silent, ignore their conscience, and claim to respect the process. How can anyone remain silent on McVeedy's platform of hate? Will the acting Premier stand up for Muslim and LGBTQ youth today? Will she finally stand up against hate? Members, please take your seats. Mr. Colleges and universities to respond. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And again, everyone on this side of the house, everyone in this house, everybody can agree on the importance of equality and the importance of ensuring that we have a system that is free of hate. What we are talking about here, and what I said in the previous question, my response is to the previous two questions from the members opposite. And I am truly trying to be as clear and simple as I possibly can be about procedural matters here. There is not a process to meddle with an independent advisory process. So if you take an independent advisory process like that, which we have, the process that was initiated last year in the fall red tape bill, which nobody on that side of the house concerned themselves with. No one, Mr. Speaker. Two institutions through the same exact process. Identical, Mr. Speaker. No concerns were raised. They need to understand the procedural accountability measures that are there. And I hope that we can help them appreciate that. Thank you. And the supplementary question. Respectfully, Speaker. The minister can't even say McVeedy's name. You know what's not an independent process? McVeedy's platform of hate. Back to the acting Premier Speaker. I suspect she's listening, but her silence is deafening. You know, conservatives talk about their gay friends when it's convenient. Now's the time to speak up for your friends. But instead, all we hear is silence. When government officials pander to radical fringe social conservatives, they stoke the fires of hatred. This preemptive legislation stokes the fires of hatred. Through you, Speaker, to all government members, stand up. Speak out against McVeedy's hate. Your choice will define your political career. It will define you as a human being. Again, to the acting Premier. Where do you stand on McVeedy's platform of hate? Will you finally stand up as a leader? Mr. Speaker, I will once again rise to speak to this matter. And I will continually speak to the facts. The facts are the facts, Mr. Speaker. You cannot change the facts. We have a process. You apply directly to a board. This is not a government process. This is not a process that any minister, any member of this House, has the ability to meddle with. It has been made that way for great reason. It is to remove politics from the equation. It's to remove pandering. The official opposition come to order. More like to laugh. And they like to heckle. And they like to pander for reasons. Reasons that they want to meddle with process. They don't like fairness. They don't like accountability. They don't like transparency, Mr. Speaker. We on this House believe. The official opposition come to order. And we have brought this into legislation to ensure that everybody in this entire province has the opportunity to hear respectful debate, Mr. Speaker. And that is what we are here doing. Thank you very much. The next question. The member for Lanark Frontenac Kingston. Speaker, my question is for the Premier. Yesterday, this government released another COVID scheme based on meaningless data. As if the public wasn't already confused enough, our Premier changed the rules yet again. Not to stop the virus, which he can't, but to baffle people and create the appearance he can. These new measures are absurd, irrational, and the name. They're better suited to a Monty Python parody. Serving beer after 9 p.m. is now unsafe. Casinos are open, but their tables are closed. Masks are not needed while working out in a gym, but they are when lining up outside. And while your server is wearing goggles to serve your beer. All these rules, but no evidence to support them. Lockdowns don't work. Just like the millions that are unemployed and the businesses destroyed. Speaker, the end game is the end game a never-ending crisis. Question. Fusion and contradictions. Deputy Premier and Minister of Health to reply. Very much, Speaker. Actually, this framework was designed to provide more certainty to people, to businesses, to understand where each part of the region, which part of the province stands with respect to COVID-19. You're right. It's not going away right away and in the near future until we have a vaccine. So we need to learn how to deal with it, how to live with it. And as part of that, we need to provide information to the public on what their responsibilities are too. That's why we've developed both the framework as well as the dashboard that's being posted on our Ontario.ca forward slash coronavirus website so that people can click into their specific public health region, understand what stage it's at, what the restrictions are, if any, and be able to make their own decisions about whether they want to go out to dinner in a restaurant, whether they want to go and work out in a gym, whatever it is that they want to do. This is to provide greater certainty to everyone as we're dealing with COVID-19 going forward. The supplementary question to the Premier. Thinking people understand that the true measure of risk from any disease is not the number of cases, but rather the severity of the illness and the number of hospitalizations and deaths that result. If the number of cases meant anything, every province, state, and country would shut down from September to April every year for the flu. But that would be absurd, irrational, and a name just like the government's proposals. But it gets worse. The Premier proposes testing 100,000 healthy people every day, which his own government acknowledges will produce approximately 1,000 false positives every day. However, which then justifies this endless circle of futility and misery. Speaker, coronaviruses are real, but the crisis is not. It is won by the Premier's own making. Minister of Health to reply. Thank you, Speaker. And through you, I would like to say to the member, I don't know exactly what point it is that you're trying to make, but I think what we need to look at are the facts. The facts are that we have testing. We are increasing our testing, tracing and contact management. Order a billion dollars. We're increasing the numbers. We're increasing the testing contact management. And I think it's also very important to note. It's really important to note that in cases per 100,000, Ontario is the sixth in order in any province outside the Atlantic bubble. Manitoba has 252 per 100,000. It goes on Alberta, Quebec, Saskatchewan, B.C. Ontario is the lowest at 56 per 100,000. And that indicates our plan is working. We are making achievements. And the plan that we've put into place now is to give certainty to businesses to make sure that we can take action sooner so the businesses might not have to close. We want to keep businesses operating. We want to keep people in business. We want to keep track of their. Thank you very much. Thank you. The next question, the member for Thornhill. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Long-Term Care. After years of neglect from the previous government, the waitlist for long-term care in our province has grown to 37,000 people. I know this government has put our seniors at the heart of its strategy for long-term care. So last Friday, I was very pleased to see the Minister announce a $5 million investment to launch the Community Paramedicine for Long-Term Care program in five communities across the province. Families in my writing of Thornhill have been vocal about better access for quality healthcare. Can the Minister of Long-Term Care please explain to this House how people like Bernice Pollan, who's taking care of her husband at home, can benefit from this investment that will help seniors on the long-term care waitlist stay safe in the comfort of their own homes. Thank you. Minister of Long-Term Care. Thank you, Speaker. And thank you to the member for Thornhill for being such a strong advocate for seniors in your community and across the province. The new Long-Term Care-focused Community Paramedicine program will leverage the skills of Community Paramedics to help reduce hallway healthcare and provide additional and appropriate care for seniors. Community Paramedics provide quality care through at-home visits for our vulnerable population on the waitlist for long-term care. And this service is available 24-7. And when they are not there physically, they have remote monitoring so that Community Paramedics can be in touch with our loved ones at all hours. Community Paramedics can monitor and respond to changing health conditions so that they can be addressed early. And our seniors deserve the best possible care. And our government is working every day to deliver on that commitment. Thank you. The supplementary question. Thank you very much, Speaker. And thank you to the Minister for that response. I'm very glad to hear that proactive steps are being taken to provide quality care for our seniors. It's reassuring to hear that this program will provide better care for seniors in the comfort of their own homes. This new capacity of care will make a big difference in my community of Thornhill since one of the locations for this innovative pilot project is York Region. And I'm sure its positive effects will be felt throughout the region. This is exactly the kind of outside-the-box project we need to see more of. Especially in the current COVID-19 environment, seniors can have the peace of mind knowing that they have a safe option to receive quality healthcare. As someone, Mr. Speaker, who provided optimal care to seniors, I'm asking the Minister who provided family healthcare to seniors for more details on how this will improve patient outcomes across the province for our seniors. Thank you. Mr. Long-term Care. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you again. This new Long-term Care-focused community paramedicine program shows our government's commitment to ending hallway healthcare and to keeping seniors safe, keeping them where they want to be at home. The program will be delivered through local paramedic services providing access to health services 24-7 through in-home and remote methods such as online or virtual supports, home visits and in-home testing procedures, ongoing monitoring of changing or escalating conditions to prevent or reduce emergency visits, an additional education about healthy living or managing things like chronic diseases and connections for participants and their families to home care and community supports. This program is an excellent example of our government being innovative and cooperating with partners across the healthcare system. And we are grateful for these community paramedics who will allow us to serve seniors better. Thank you. Member for York Southwest. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I recently hosted a town hall on poverty and those made vulnerable by poverty in my riding of York Southwestern. One participant was Rhino Noble, the executive director of North York Harvest Food Bank. Since the pandemic begun seven months ago, the food bank has seen 75% increase of need in the community over the same period last year. North York Harvest Food Bank is doing an incredible job during difficult times. However, as Mr. Noble states, we cannot reduce food insecurity in a meaningful way without the public, private and non-profit sectors working together to put robust long-term solutions to poverty in place. My question is, what is this government doing to address the needs of communities like mine in York Southwestern that needs immediate economic relief? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the member for that question. As part of Ontario's efforts to support children, youth and families through the challenging time our government has provided $8 million in funding for Feed Ontario. This funding assisted Feed Ontario in producing and distributing prepackaged hampers to support the great work that food banks across the province have been doing during the COVID-19 outbreak. We've also invested an additional $1 million in the student nutrition program so it can continue to run throughout the summer months. During this time, the program has been adapted to include new local approaches to meal delivery, including distributing grocery cards or farm vouchers, delivering food boxes, meal kits or frozen meals and supporting food bags at this time. This investment also support the 14 lead agencies who deliver these services to 4,500 student nutrition programs that address food insecurity in communities across the province. Our government knows that proper nutrition is foundational for success and we are taking steps to ensure every student has access to healthy food that is served. The supplementary. Thank you. Back to the Premier. My writing of York, South-Western and the Toronto Northwest has been facing many social and economic challenges, only made worse by COVID. The effect of poverty on a community requires investment and attention to mental health supports, access to housing, employment opportunities and overdue increases to individuals living on social assistance and or DSP. We have non-profit groups like North York Harvest Food Bank and other community groups stepping up to the plate. When exactly is this government going to do their part to address poverty in Ontario in a meaningful way? So she managed to reply. Thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you again to the member for that question. I can tell you that myself, the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services and my colleagues across this government are very interested in this important issue. As you know, we launched province-wide consultations at the end of January to inform our new five-year poverty reduction strategy. This will recognise the impact of COVID-19 on individuals and agencies. I'm pleased to share that we are able to extend the online consultations by a month so more individuals have the opportunity to participate in these consultations. We heard from people and organisations across the province including those at heightened risk of poverty, other levels of government and the private and non-profit sectors. They contributed innovative ideas on how to reduce poverty including how we can continue to encourage job creation and connect people to employment, provide people with the right supports and services and lower the cost of living to make life more affordable. We will continue to listen to those directly affected by poverty, community organisations, Indigenous partners as we develop a new strategy which we will look forward to releasing later this year. Thank you. Thank you very much. Question, the member forward. Well, Good morning Speaker. My question is for the Premier. Today is a dark day for democratic participation. It's bad enough that the government is attacking the ability of people to determine the best way to democratically conduct local elections. Now they are denying people an opportunity to participate in our democratic institutions by ramming Bill 218 through committee with only five hours of public hearings. Speaker, I've had many people reach out to my office including elected municipal councillors who have been denied an opportunity to speak at committee. It's my understanding only one person will be speaking about ranked ballots in today's committee hearings. Speaker, I don't understand why the Premier is using the heavy hand of big government to attack local democracy but will he at least agree to letting people be heard at committee by extending the number of days for committee hearings? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. The member opposite will know that this house loaded on the way forward with respect to the spell. Thank you. Supplementary question. I'm disappointed that that was such a brief and unsubstantial answer. 21,000 people in Kingston voted for ranked ballots. Bill 218 overturns their democratic election or their democratic decision. We have an opportunity in this house to pass a unanimous consent motion that would extend the number of time for committee hearings. Speaker, AMO elected city councillors, numerous people are reaching out because they want their democratic voices to be heard. Will the members opposite? Will the house leader agree to a unanimous consent motion to extend the hours for committee hearings so that people can be heard so that our democratic question institutions can work for the people? Again, the government house leader replied. Mr. Speaker, the member will know that a motion was brought forward in front of the duly elected members of the legislative assembly. It was voted on and the way forward at this committee was approved by the members of this assembly. So no, I will not overturn the democratic vote and voice of the people. Official Opposition, come to order. On this particular issue, Mr. Speaker. Order. The next question, the member for Mississauga Lakeshore. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Infrastructure. Last summer, the Minister of Infrastructure unveiled the community, culture, and recreation stream. One of five streams for investing in Canada's infrastructure program. My community was thrilled about potentials for more amendments for sports facility, community spaces, boardwalks, natural trails being built in the growing city of Mississauga. As the local member of provincial province for Mississauga Lakeshore, I know firsthand the creating of space for residents to enjoy the outdoor means a lot to so many people, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic when we've been asked to stay home as much as possible. Not only does improving the increasing community space encourage more healthy and active lifestyle. It creates space for families to spend together with seniors to remain connected in their communities. Mr. Speaker, can the Minister please tell my constituents what kind of investment the city of Mississauga can be looking forward to through the community, culture, and recreation stream of ISAP. Parliamentary system and member for Oakville. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And thank you to the member for Mississauga Lakeshore for your great question. I'd like to remind this House that funding and details around the ISAP program were set by the previous provincial and federal governments in early 2018 prior to the current provincial government's election and the CCR stream is the second smallest of the ISAP streams. The CCR stream allows municipalities not for profit Indigenous communities and others the opportunity to make strategic investments to improve access to the quality of recreational, cultural, and community infrastructure. Given the fact that Ontario had the largest sub-sovereign debt in the entire Western world, you would expect that we would have some great infrastructure to show for it. Unfortunately, we don't. To put it bluntly, the overwhelming infrastructure deficit created from years of neglect by the previous government resulted in this intake being extremely oversubscribed. We received approximately 1200 applications totaling more than 10 billion dollars or a worth of projects for only a billion dollars in joint funding available. We're doing the best we can with the limited funding available and urge all members of this House to join us in urging the federal government for more funding through infrastructure. Thank you very much. Supplementary. Thank you, Speaker. And thank you to the member from Oakville for that answer. In August, the federal Ministry of Infrastructure announced the creation of the COVID-19 resilience stream that the province could use to support municipalities in building infrastructure to help build and grow their local economy in the aftermath of the devastation of COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, like many of you, my local municipality has been asking the province to provide them with infrastructure dollars that would help create jobs, grow the economy and get shovels in the ground. While we were all thrilled to learn that the province has gone to a great length to reallocate existing funds to offer flexibility to our municipality partners, we would have liked to see new funding from the federal government to support infrastructure needs and ensure municipalities like the city of Mississauga gets their fair share of funding. Mr. Speaker, can the minister tell us how much funding will be available for a community through the COVID-19 resilience stream and how much needed funding will be broken down to? Thank you for the question. The member is quite right. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 resilience stream required our government to reallocate funding between the current ISA program. That's why Premier Doug Ford has continued to call on the federal government to end approval delays and invest an additional $10 billion dollars per year over the next 10 years to get shovels in the ground for much needed infrastructure projects. With our strong desire to ensure that our municipal partners can address their infrastructure priorities, the new COVID resilience stream allocates nearly $15 million dollars to the city of Mississauga and almost $19 million dollars to the region of Peele which they will be able to apply towards projects that meet specific criteria. And our government's contributions to the city of Mississauga does not end there. Funding through the Ministry of long-term care has been invested to build more long-term care beds and investments to the Ministry of Education to build more in local schools. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Next question to the member from Niagara Falls. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question to the Premier. Last week the Premier received a letter from Sean Hagerty, President of UFCW Local 175. UFCW represents many workers on the front lines of the battle against COVID-19. Workers in grocery stores, pharmacies, meat processing facilities and healthcare settings. The major companies like Lavaz and employ them call them heroes and raise their pay. However, once the cameras were off these companies ripped away those pay increases. They made record profits while workers carrying on under the same low-wage conditions. Mr. Speaker, will the Premier stand with the community heroes, these frontline workers and demand that these highly profitable companies be able to provide the best possible opportunities for workers and workers. Mr. Speaker, will the Premier stand with the community heroes and raise their pay? Mr. Speaker, will the Premier stand with the community heroes and demand that these frontline workers pay our respects on behalf of Premier Ford and our government to those grocery store clerks to those frontline healthcare heroes to those truck drivers Mr. Speaker to every single worker like the half a million people in the construction industry that continue to work during this pandemic. Mr. Speaker, as I've said repeatedly in this house we will spare no expense to ensure the health and safety of every worker in this province is protected and all of more to say so that's your question Mr. Speaker again to the Premier the Western families worth nine billion dollars they could share that enormous wealth that the workers are creating and putting it in their paychecks as a risk there lies every day in the province of Ontario the workers of UFCW local 175 represents were already providing care in a broken system yet have kept our healthcare system functioning under the stress of a pandemic these workers watch their patients and co-workers get sick and in many cases watch them die almost one in five of those workers contacting COVID 19 are healthcare workers despite the lack of PPE respect and pay these frontline workers have done everything they can to keep those in our healthcare safe from the virus it is time to do more than just call these workers heroes it's time to treat them a respect that heroes deserve will the Premier and this Labour Minister make substantial permanent pay increases for all healthcare workers across the entire sector along with presumptive WSIB coverage thank you Mr. Labour well Mr. Speaker we'll continue to stand with all workers in this province every single day during this pandemic and as we come out of the pandemic when that happens Mr. Speaker I'm proud of our government's record when it comes to a PSW's for example and I congratulate the Health Minister and the Minister of Long-Term Care for boosting the pay of those heroes who are serving our family members and our communities right across this province but Mr. Speaker we're working every single day to ensure a strong economy in this province we're working with our Labour partners with those union leaders with businesses and workers across this province to ensure that the wealth is spread across this province to every worker Mr. Speaker that's why we've championed getting more young people into the skilled trades response in many cases Mr. Speaker these jobs pay over a hundred thousand dollars a year they come with pensions and benefits those are jobs that we're going to continue to create in this province every single day thank you very much the next question the member for Orléans thank you very much Mr. Speaker my question is for the Premier throughout the pandemic members of this house of all sides have heard loudly and clearly from entrepreneurs and businesses that their businesses have been battered in particular those who own or run businesses in the tourism and hospitality sector have faced devastating challenges and this has been particularly true in the regions that are still in the modified stage too Mr. Speaker earlier this week our leader Stephen Del Duca had a chance to participate in a virtual meeting with representatives of the tourism and hospitality sector which was facilitated by the Vaughne Chamber of Commerce and the stories that he heard were heartbreaking especially from those who ran and who run banquet halls and event venues many of these women and men are on the break of disaster and they explain that they simply have not qualified for the relief measures that have been offered to date so my question Mr. Speaker with a budget schedule to release tomorrow can the minister confirm that Vaughne and indeed all of Ontario's banquet hall and event venue sectors will be generally eligible to access desperately needed relief the Parliament Assistant and member for Willowdale thank you very much Mr. Speaker I appreciate the question and the concern from the member for Moreland on talking about the very important sector in the hospital also hospitality sector we know they've been hit hard and that's why for those who who were in the revised stage to like the ones mentioned in the from the Vaughne Chamber of Commerce have been provided immediate support of three hundred million dollars to help with their overhead costs to provide relief with property taxes with keeping hydro rates low and other tax cuts Mr. Speaker but the member also mentions a very important step process to recovery and that will be the budget we table tomorrow Mr. Speaker that is going to outline our additional supports to protect support and recover in this great province we understand this pandemic has been tough on the small businesses and we're going to make sure that we are with them every step of the way the supplementary question thank you Mr. Speaker my supplementary is also for the the premier I'm not sure that event hall and banquet hall owners will appreciate that answer they've been made many promises over the last number of months Mr. Speaker none of them have really come to fruition as I mentioned thousands of entrepreneurs across York region and beyond have effectively been denied the chance to operate their businesses at full capacity and at the same time they've largely been unable to qualify for the financial relief that have been offered to other sectors of the economy Mr. Speaker they see a premier who seems to have time to give favors to political cronies like Charles McVady a known bigot and yet doesn't have time to support them and their families who own event venues and banquet halls so when will this government do the right thing and deliver immediate financial relief to the tourism and hospitality sector and in particular Ontario's banquet hall and event venue owners for will avail thank you very much Mr. Speaker but you know I appreciate the member again expressing his concern for a very important economic sector in Ontario but I do want to remind the member that it's his leader his Liberal Party that listen to the Liberal insiders not our government benches speaker we are listening to the hardworking businesses around this province and that's why tomorrow when we table our budget for 2020 we will announce the next phase of Ontario's plan to make available every necessary resource to continue to protect people's health going forward and to talk about the supports that we will expand on from our government to provide those still facing financial hardships due to the pandemic that relief Mr. Speaker it's going to be a plan that talks about our next steps about protecting supporting Ontarians and making sure that we once again not only recover speaker but thrive thank you very much the next question the next question the member for Windsor West thank you speaker my question is to the Premier for March to July recipients of ODSP and OW could receive a small top up payment of $100 or $200 due to the pandemic since ODSP and OW rates place recipients well below the poverty line and do not keep up with inflation and the cost of living additional assistance would normally be welcome news but the daily bread food bank reports one-third of their ODSP clients didn't receive the benefit either because they had no idea about the top ups or found out about it much too late with COVID cases higher than ever before can the Premier tell us when ODSP and OW top ups will be reinstated and when he'll finally raise the rates above Mr. Speaker and thank you to the member for that question over the last several months of COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on communities last week in the house I announced that more than 250 thousand recipients and families received the emergency benefits that we announced back in March as a temporary measure to help individuals who may have faced additional costs during the lockdown in fact 41,000 people have received the discretionary benefits that have so people are widely accessing as we continue to manage the COVID-19 pandemic we will also need to be ready to assist those who left the workforce as a result of the impacts of COVID-19 and those who are able to work and to find meaningful employment that's why we are moving forward to modernize the social assistance program through the recovery and renewal program that will improve access to employment training reports centralize the delivery and modernize and digitized services and resources supplementary question thank you speaker frankly that answer is just not good enough people with disabilities who live in poverty are already more susceptible to get getting COVID-19 this conservative government should be doing everything they can to help people at risk in struggling I'm going to remind them that in their last budget they cut one billion dollars from the ministry of children community and social services 720 million of that was a direct cut to social services but instead speaker this conservative government are looking to hire 17 ODSP fraud inspectors who will be paid up to $1,600 per week speaker $1,600 per week for perspective ODSP recipients receive less than that for an entire month that's almost 1.5 million that could help people receiving ODSP people with disabilities rather than trying to kick people off of crucial support during a pandemic when will the premier stop attacking people with disabilities living in deep poverty and provide them the help that they desperately need the associate minister thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you to the member for the question we provided new direction to ODSP and OW staff to ensure individuals on social assistance keep much more of the candidate emergency response benefit than they would have under the current rules recognizing these are unprecedented times and that the SERB was designed to replace employment income. Our social assistance programs treated it as such this change allowed existing clients to partially stack the SERB and social assistance benefits while maintaining their health and other benefits most individuals on social assistance who received the SERB saw an increase in their monthly income as a result of this change re-recognize the economic impact that the COVID-19 outbreak has had on many Ontarians and the new federal recovery member for Windsor West come to order response along with employment insurance are designed to support individuals as we reopen businesses and they transition back Thank you Next question member for Starville Gilbert Thank you Speaker my question is to the Minister of Colleges and Universities Speaker it's not a secret that the pandemic has hurt our economy and we know that Ontarians are not impacted equally instead of trying to prop up the Premier who is awarding his friend Charles McVity with degree granting privileges in spite of the serious concerns raised in this house about human rights violation this Minister should be focused on more urgent priorities Stats Canada reported that youth unemployment rate is the slowest to recover across Canada reaching a high of close to 30% in May part-time and summer employment opportunities have disappeared leaving students struggling to make tuition jobs in restaurants have vanished due to the virus Speaker the Minister can question minister commit to enhancing OSAP programs and investing in youth employment and training programs so that our young people can be brought into the economic recovery rather than spending five minister to reply Minister of Colleges University Thank you Mr. Speaker for the opportunity respond and certainly that member opposite as a former Minister of Colleges in the University is a very clear appreciation of the process and how broken it was and what we inherited as a government to have to fix that process Mr. Speaker when we again talk about these issues we've been dealing with for the last three weeks we have painstakingly gone through and described a process and how there is no ability to metal with that process I'm not sure why the members opposite want us to metal with that process I'm not sure why they think it's appropriate to interfere with independent advisory agencies and boards I don't know why they think it's appropriate to interfere Mr. Speaker perhaps it's just the way they like to do things but let's move on response think about this for a moment imagine for a second that we were to follow their process Mr. Speaker what that would mean in the Province of Ontario if we did not have a count thank you the supplement your question its minister needs to stop fixating on Charles McVitty there are more important things that you and your minister need to focus on and I want to remind you that the first act when you came into office was to cut a billion dollars from student financial aid and from the OSAP program young people in this Province need that support now and they need it reinstated will you in your upcoming budget reinstate the billion dollars that you've cut from student financial aid and OSAP so that young people students women can participate in retraining and upskilling so that they can get back into the economy and fully participate why are you spending so much time on your friend when there's so many other broad concerns that really need this government's time and attention so Ontario can experience a full day of work for spots Mr. College of University Mr. Speaker I am proud of the work that our colleges and universities have been doing throughout this entire pandemic throughout this last few years it's incredible work that we have been doing and they have been doing such better work to issues like red tape tremendous amounts of red tape that that member opposite as minister of colleges and universities permitted to exist imagine that it took three years to create a program imagine that for a second how can you stand by and be okay with that three years to develop a program that you would want to give to your colleges your universities so that they could deliver labour market responsive change to the process that's why we created a clear and transparent process that is what continually happens here at the at in this response I'm not sure why the member opposite thinks it's appropriate to meddle with the affairs of independent schools and boards and agencies Mr. thank you very much the next question member for Ms. Giga Walk James B thank you Mr. is that my question is for the premier last week the member for Algoma Manitoulin and I spoke with teachers principals and francophones school boards in the north we heard from teachers and from principles and they're frustrated and exhausted not by their work but as a result of a lack of instructions from the Ministry of Education Mr. Speaker there's a lack of PPE there are schools that are overcrowded and even windows open on buses and in schools and it's already been minus 15 in the north Mr. Speaker the premier will he admit the access to francophone education in the north has become a challenge as a result of his poor management yes or no well thank you very much speaker and thank you to the member opposite for the question we obviously value very much the challenges in remote and northern parts of the province is why we enhance funding early in the pandemic for them we've been working very closely with our northern school boards I actually was very proud to join some of the virtual learning experiences within one of our school boards within northern Ontario and see how they have adapted and pivoted and ensure quality learning amid this pandemic and I'm grateful for the work of our educators doing incredible things in very difficult circumstances in this province we have over 2,700 more teachers in northern Ontario amongst our English and Catholic English and French and public and Catholic boards of teachers of custodians as well as virtual principles to support those students that are online will continue to make the investments in these regions in broadband connectivity which is a pivotal priority for this government over 300 million dollars province wide we're working with the federal government to sponsor the dollars and there's more to do in this respect to ensure that internet access is accessible and available for every Ontario in this and on the community. Thank you very much for being no further until 3 p.m.