 Or it is now time for question period. The leader of Her Majesty's Royal Opposition. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance. The lobbyist registry for great Canadian gaming includes a hueso of liberal insiders. The list includes some of the biggest backroom dealers in the Liberal Party. And we all know, despite money laundering investigation involving great Canadian gaming, they were awarded a massive government contract to operate the Toronto Casino. Mr. Speaker, just how much influence did these Liberal insiders have on the Toronto Casino project was great Canadian gaming picked because of their Liberal Insider connections? Good, Mr. President. The member opposite may know that there is a process in place where the AGCO has to approve all the proponents that come and that are then pre-approved to bid. And then there is a Fairness Commissioner and a Fairness Monitor that oversees a procurement process. And then as they proceed through that process, a number of bids come in. And one thing that never happens, Mr. Speaker, and is totally inappropriate, and the member opposite and his finance critic were referring that it should have occurred, and that is the Minister of Finance should have been aware of who those proponents are. That is not what happens, Mr. Speaker. That is totally inappropriate, and I am not a prize of who is bidding nor who ultimately gets selected until it is done, Mr. Speaker, to avoid the very issue that that member is inferring, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Supplementary. Mr. Speaker, back to the Minister, Phil Dewan was the former Chief of Staff to Dalton McGinty from 1999 to 2003. His online bio says he played a leading role in crafting the Liberal platform team and strategy. Mr. Speaker, did Phil Dewan lobby the government on behalf of Great Canadian Gaming for the Toronto Casino Project, and did his involvement in the company result in this contract being given to this company? Thank you. Mr. Speaker, the former Chair, the former President of the OLG, they are all part of political parties from the other side. And as we proceed forward, we don't look at the partisan matters. We look at what's the best interest of Ontarians, and are we following the proper processes in making those selections? And we have had a very robust interest in the gaming here in Ontario. It is improving by way of its modernization projections. The revenues and the dividends being sourced from OLG is almost $2.4 billion now, and growing further, Mr. Speaker, investing in hospitals, investing in our schools, investing in infrastructure, and providing hosting fee. A member from Renfrew, Nipissing, Kenbrook will withdraw. Now I've been signaled that I'm not impressed with what he said, and I won't tolerate it. If we need to go to yesterday, we'll do so. Final supplementary. Mr. Speaker, again to the Minister, the question was, did Phil Dewan lobby the government? I had a response. The government keeps on saying everything is fine because there's no criminal investigation. And while, yes, there is no criminal investigation, the B.C.'s Attorney General has launched a probe into the case. They are reviewing money laundering allegations at Great Canadian Gaming's B.C. casino. You think that would be enough simply to have a pause, yet the government continues to say everything is fine. I want to know directly to the Minister of Finance, given these newspaper stories, given these allegations, doesn't it give you enough to say we need to put a pause on this? Isn't that the right responsible approach? Thank you. Minister Forrest. The right and responsible approach is to allow the process to proceed as is intended. The member opposite is already inferring criminality on a public company that is commercially sensitive and having tremendous market implication, Mr. Speaker. We have a fairness monitor. We have the A.G.C. who is in constant contact with the B.C. regulatory authorities. We've got the OLG who is also engaged. And it's been going on since some time now that these suspicious activities occur, which occurs in many companies across the world and across Canada. So the member opposite is suggesting that if banks are involved in anti-money laundering prohibition activities, they should stop working with them. We on this side of the House are sensitive to the market conditions and we're sensitive to the role that the Minister of Finance has as well as any Minister of the Crown not to provide political risks and not to engage in a process that's being duly proceeded as it should. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. New questions? The Leader of the Opposition. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of Finance. The Minister of Finance continues to say this process isn't political. But the biggest name on this lobbying list is actually Bob Lipinski. He was described as the architect of Premier McGinty's rise to power. Sounds pretty political to me, Mr. Speaker. Lipinski also led the current Premier's 2014 Liberal campaign war room. He's the ultimate Liberal insider. Mr. Speaker, did Bob Lipinski lobby on behalf of Great Canadian Gaming and did this have anything to do with the Liberals' awarding contract to this casino operator I would like a simple response yes or no. Thank you. Thank you so much. So here we have a leader of a party who is now saying that a registered lobbyist has now provided and provided full disclosure of their respective activities as do other lobbyists who happen to have been conservatives and for that matter even proponents who I'm told has had some conversations that is inappropriate Mr. Speaker what is appropriate as he's disclosing it and he's providing forward with their job on this side of the house the Minister does not make the decision on who the proponents will be nor who is selected Mr. Speaker. Supplementary. Mr. Speaker again to the Minister of Finance my question was did Bob Lipinski lobby the Minister of Finance on this issue and I didn't get a response you know Liberal insiders have had their hands for many years and unfortunately it surprises absolutely no one that Liberal insiders are polling the strings once again here at Queens Park. The office of the integrity commissioners own records reveal the senior Liberals connected to Kathleen Wynne and Dalton McGinty were hired to lobby Great Canadian Gaming. It's gone on for years Great Canadian Gaming is clearly the preferred company of this Liberal government Mr. Speaker are the Liberals planning to put insiders first or the people of Ontario first. Thank you. It's offensive Mr. Speaker because the member is now trying to implicate an individual who is a registered lobbyist who's providing and providing for his his own business and it's not just him Mr. Speaker a number of other lobbyists and I can assure the member and this house that Mr. Lipinski has not come to me on any matter regarding Great Canadian Gaming. In fact Mr. Speaker I do know that Great Canadian Gaming has been a donor to the Conservative Party. So Mr. Speaker I'll leave it to them to respond to that. I'm standing you might not realize how close we are to warnings final supplementary. Back to the minister Mr. Speaker we can't give any contracts to anyone this government does this government does give contracts so Mr. Speaker as much as the minister finance trying to pretend right now that he has nothing to do with Great Canadian Gaming when it was announced he said he was very excited and now he's saying he's he's not related to this at all but he celebrated this contract being given. They refuse to admit this deal smells rotten. Minister of Children and Services. Liberal insiders have their hands all over this. It doesn't pass the smell test and the government is ignoring the facts that the hockey bags full of cash were dragged into the doors of a B.C. casino. They're pretending this never happened these allegations aren't out there but they are. So once again given what we're hearing will the minister finance doing a responsible thing and at least give a pause to this contract. Thank you. Minister. Mr. Speaker I am very proud of the modernization activities at OLG is performing I very much am supportive of the work that's being done to provide more investments in our communities to provide greater revenues for those host communities and that I do celebrate Mr. Speaker that is what I'm talking about and the minister or the minister the member opposite is now manipulating and inferencing something happened in 2012 in a different jurisdiction and somehow associating that with the decisions that we're making with regards to modernizing the OLG for the benefit of Ontarians Mr. Speaker the member opposite is trying to now put at risk the very commercial entity that's enabling us to provide for those communities and Mr. Speaker we won't do that we'll allow the process to proceed and open and transparent way. Minister of Infrastructure come to order new question in the leader of the third party. Thank you. Speaker my question is for the acting Premier. The Premier and her Liberal government just don't get it. They do not grasp the severity of the overcrowding and hallway medicine crisis that is inside Ontario's hospitals for months. New Democrats have been revealing occupancy rates for dozens of overcrowded hospitals but until now we have not had a clear picture of the number of patients receiving hallway medicine in this province and sadly speaker now we do. In just one year between April 2016 and April 2017 Brampton Civic Hospital was forced to treat 4,352 patients in its hallways. Why did the Premier and the Liberal government allow this crisis in our hospital to happen? Thank you Mr. Speaker and last week and Mr. Speaker I think it's important that we put this in perspective. We opened in Ontario the equivalent of six new hospitals. That is historic Mr. Speaker and Mr. Speaker those are six new hospitals in targeted areas where they are facing capacity challenges. Six the equivalent of six new hospitals operational in the coming weeks Mr. Speaker that represents more than 1200 acute inpatient beds. In addition to that we announced the opening of approximately 600 transitional care spaces. Just like at the former Humber River Hospital Finch site that's at party ridiculed Mr. Speaker that's providing 150 spaces for reactivation and rehabilitation of community back care. Here's a little bit of perspective for the government. Last week the Premier offered six new temporary beds to Brampton Civic Hospital ostensibly to help the hospital rather deal with its overcrowding. According to the hospital itself Brampton Civic was forced to treat and I'm going to say it again 4,352 patients in its hallways last year. Most of those 4,352 patients who were forced to receive medical care in a public hallway spent between 40 and 70 hours being treated in those hallways. That's two, three, four days stuck in a hallway even though that's not where they should have been. Can the acting Premier tell us how six beds are supposed to fix a crisis that's hurting 4,352 people in Brampton each and every year? Thank you Mr. Speaker. According to the new funding that we provided to Brampton Civic for operations this year William Osler Health System which includes the Brampton site is receiving immediately 28 new inpatient beds to deal with the capacity challenges in a part of the province where we all recognize there is rapid growth in the population and that's being reflected in both visits to emergency rooms as well as inpatient requirements. We've also in that same lens set aside more than 30 other additional inpatient beds which have yet to be allocated. So we'll be looking to see where those capacity challenges are, where growth is highest and allocate accordingly. But Mr. Speaker we are making precisely the types of investments in addition to nearly a thousand beds that have been added to the system in the province, a thousand beds permanently added to the system over the last four years. Thank you. We're adding the equivalent of six new hospitals. Thank you. Final supplementary. Speaker Brampton Civic's emergency room was built to serve 90,000 visits annually. Last year the ER saw 138,000 visits. That means that last year on any given day there were 33 people admitted to the hospital but waiting for a bed. 33 people who were sick in need of medical care and had nowhere else to go. So I'm going to ask the acting premier again. How can six temporary beds fix a crisis that's impacting 4,352 patients in the hallways of Brampton Civic Hospital every year? Speaker please. Thank you. Minister? Two years alone we've invested an additional 41 million dollars in the William Osler system, health system, which includes the Brampton Civic, $10 million this year alone. But I wonder if her member from Welland agrees with her. When yesterday I was in Niagara Falls and I announced, because we've been fighting to keep working together, her member from Welland and myself, to keep the Welland Hospital open. Yesterday I announced that that is indeed the case. I made the commitment it will stay open and I committed to 24-7 emergency services and a whole host of other services that will be made available at that hospital. I wonder if that member from Welland agrees with that investment or disagrees with that investment. Thank you. Two questions. The leader of the third party. My next question is also for the acting premier. Brampton Civic reached 114% capacity in its acute care beds this year and between January and April of this year code gridlock was called or was declared eight times in that hospital for a total of 65 days just between January and April. That's just for the first four months of 2017 and all of this of course is under this premier's watch. When gridlock happens speaker the hospital says that patients could wait up to four days in the ER for a bed. And clearly that bed might not even be in a room. Someone could wait four days only to be treated in a hallway when finally admitted. How can this premier and her government really think that six temporary beds will fix the hallway medicine crisis that their hospital cuts have caused? Thank you. Thank you premier. Minister of Health. Minister of Health long-term care. Well Mr. Speaker since 2013 we've increased the number of beds in this hospital by just under 5%. 860 new permanent inpatient beds across the province. But last week we announced the equivalent of six new hospitals, 1200 beds across the province specifically directed to those parts of the province where as we see in Brampton where there's high growth and that growth in population is reflected in pressures in ER and pressures in hospitals. But I wonder if her three members that represent the Windsor area of this province if they agree with their leader because we importantly have made a massive investment and commitment in this spring's budget to a brand new state of the art hospital for Windsor and for the Windsor region Mr. Speaker. And I wonder if the member from Niagara Falls who was with us yesterday for an important announcement for the redevelopment of the Niagara hospital serving that region a multi million dollar investment. Thank you. I wonder if this minister is proud of the deplorable state of health care and a stunning lack of leadership by this premier and the conservatives before her. In fact when Brampton Civic Hospital opened 10 years ago it was built to have 18 operating rooms. And 10 years later there are still two ORs that have never been used. They've been sitting Speaker Mothbald. Come to order. Minister of Municipal Affairs come to order. Carry on please. Two operating rooms have been sitting Mothbald since the day the hospital opened because the hospital was never given enough support by this Liberal government to actually open those two operating rooms. So the premier's six temporary beds in Brampton Civic finally opened those two operating rooms Speaker. Thank you. Minister. Well Mr. Speaker I think history is an important lesson and we all remember the years those five years when the NDP were in power in this province Mr. Speaker. And so at that time when the NDP led this province that party closed 24% of the acute hospital beds in the province. They closed 13% of the mental health beds in the province. For a total Mr. Speaker of 9,645 bed closures and at the same time they reduced hospital funding. At the same time they reduced health care funding Mr. Speaker. So since 2013 we've added 860 permanent beds and last week announced the creation of the equivalent of six new hospitals targeted specifically where the need is greatest Mr. Speaker. That's quite a record that they've got. Thank you. Final supplementary. 4,352 patients suffering in hallways every year. Hallway patients spending 40 to 70 hours getting care without any privacy, without any dignity, 33 people per day waiting in the ER for a bed, 114% capacity and 65 days of bread lock in just four months. And two operating rooms sitting closed waiting for this premier to figure out what actually leadership means in our health care system. And this is just one hospital in Ontario. The premier's offer of a few temporary beds falls very short, so far short of what is actually needed. It just shows that they just don't get it and they just don't care. After all what kind of leader would know that 4,352 people are being treated in Brampton's hallways and hospital hallways and does very little, does nothing but six beds to try to fix it. Thank you. Minister. Well Mr. Speaker so when we announced the creation of the equivalent of six new hospitals across the province, 1200 inpatient beds Mr. Speaker, 600 transitional care beds, 200 spaces for affordable housing for seniors. When we unveiled that plan, that investment of $100 million and $40 million additional for home care including in Brampton and in Mississauga and in Toronto and throughout this province in Windsor, in Oshawa, in Ottawa, in Kingston. We developed that plan in close, I would say, deep partnership with the Ontario Hospital Association. They did an inventory of hospitals where the need was greatest, where the beds were available Mr. Speaker and they came to us with that inventory and we chose from their best advice to make those allocations and it is having a tremendous impact already Mr. Speaker. Six new hospitals in a single week. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, my question to the Minister of Health, this government's mismanagement of the Ontario healthcare system has resulted in a hospital overcrowding crisis. This Liberal government is responsible for Ontario's hospital suffering through four years of frozen budgets. This government has continued to cut funding, pushing our hospitals to the breaking point. Mr. Speaker, the Auditor General warned that hospital beds were unnecessarily being occupied by patients waiting for long-term care beds or home care, causing delays. Unfortunately, the government didn't listen to the Auditor General and now over 4,000 hallway patients at the Brampton Civic Hospital are paying the price. Mr. Speaker, my question to the Minister, given hospitals are at a breaking point, what is the Minister doing to end hallway medicine? We're here, hallway medicine. Chief government whip will come to order and whoever it is that's nervously kicking their desk I would appreciate it stopped. I'm speaking and I'm standing. Minister of Children and Youth Services, second time, Minister of Transportation come to order. We're now in warnings. Minister of Health. We're making investments across the healthcare system. We're making investments in the operating budgets of our hospitals and additional half a billion dollars this year, approximately half a billion dollars last year as well. And we're making the biggest capital investment to deal in the medium and long-term on the growth of the population and the aging of the population, a $20 billion investment in our hospital infrastructure over the next decade. That's unprecedented. That has never happened in this province before. And last week, Mr. Speaker, the addition of the equivalent of six new hospitals, 1,200 inpatient beds. On top of the nearly 1,000 beds that we've added in the last four years, we're adding an additional 1,200, Mr. Speaker. And an additional 600 transitional beds at places like the Finch site, the former site of the Humber River Hospital, at places like Hillcrest, which is a site of the University Health Network here in Toronto. We're making investments and we're doing in partnership. Supplementary. Thank you, Speaker. The government is ignoring the 4,110 patients who are sitting in hospitals with nowhere to go. Mr. Speaker, 4,352 patients have admitted in the hallways at Brampton Civic Hospital in only one year. Patients must deal with excessive noise and a lack of privacy. That reduces their quality of care and prolongs recovery time. Instead of investing in patient care in the community and long-term care, the government continues to invest in their large bureaucracies and huge administrations. With flu season around the corner, we're going to start seeing more stories like Brampton Civic across the province. My question to the minister. What work has been done to address the alternative level of care issue in order to end hallway medicine? Here, here. Hallway medicine. Minister. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And the opening of nearly 600 transitional beds, like the reactivation care center at the Finch site of the former Humber River Hospital, that where there are ALC patients in hospitals that no longer require acute care. Mr. Speaker, they don't need to be in hospital. And so we're finding different ways to provide them with the support they need. For example, the additional $40 million this fiscal year invested in an ounce last weekend home care or the transitional spaces like the 150 spaces that will be made available at the Finch site, the spaces available at the Hillcrest site here in Toronto and similar investments being made all around the province to pull those ALC patients out of hospital where they no longer need to be. But it's rich coming from the PCs that closed 10,000 hospital beds, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. New question to the member from London West. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the acting Premier. Speaker, 500,000 college students have paid tuition, purchased textbooks, and in many cases are paying rent. But with the college strike in week three and this liberal government refusing to act to get the parties to the table, many students fear they will lose their semester and will have to go deeper into debt to complete their program. Some students are considering class action lawsuits to get their tuition back and 120,000 students have signed a petition calling for a tuition refund for each day missed because of the strike. Speaker, how is this liberal government going to compensate students who are being financially penalized because of this strike? Thank you, Deputy Premier. Well, thank you, Speaker. And I appreciate the question. I can tell you that my top priority and the top priority of the Premier is to get this strike over, to get the two parties back to the table. Speaker, we are strongly urging and the strongest possible voice, both sides to get back to the table and resolve this. I've met with several student groups. I've discussed with them what options would be. We are very hopeful. Speaker, that there will not be an issue where students lose their semester, lose their year. That has not happened in the past, Speaker. When we've had strikes, there's been a way to get their education back on track once the strike is over. We are exercising every authority we have to get them back so that that, there is no loss to students, Speaker. Thank you. Supplementary. Speaker, we all know that the root cause of this strike is the Liberal government's chronic underfunding of the Ontario College system. The lowest per student funding in Canada. Inaction from this government has allowed the strike to drag on and students are suffering as a result. Now we hear that the Premier is not ruling out legislating faculty back to work. Speaker, does this government seriously think that threatening back to work legislation is a productive way to get the parties to the table so that a fair negotiated settlement can be reached? Thank you. Thank you. You see it, please? You see it, please? Thank you. Minister? Speaker, let's have a little reality check when it comes to college funding. Since 2003, enrollment has increased by about 25% in our colleges, 82%, Speaker. Student funding by 45% from $4,600 per student to $6,624. So, Speaker, I welcome advice from both parties on how to resolve this issue. I hear lots of criticism. I would love to hear a constructive advice. Thank you. You have a question? The member from Trinity, Spadina. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Transportation. Today is a very exciting day for many children, not just here in Ontario, but right across the world. That's because today is Halloween, a time to dress up as your favorite TV and movie character and to stock up on candies for the months to come. Mr. Speaker, I can tell you that my two little ones are so excited that they want to go trick-or-treating this morning, that when the trick-or-treaters head out tonight, they deserve a safe journey around their neighborhoods. The scariest part of Halloween should never be someone's concern for their safety on the road. And I know the minister shares my thoughts on this as well. Speaker, through you to the minister. Could the minister please provide the member of this house with some more information on what our government is doing to protect our most vulnerable road users, both this Halloween and every other day of the year? Question. Thank you. Minister of Transportation. Thank you very much, Speaker. Of course, I thank the member from Trinity Spadina for his question and also for his commitment to road safety, not only in Trinity Spadina, but right across the province of Ontario. In fact, Speaker, I was really happy to have that member join me a number of days ago when we announced new proposals that the government has to introduce strong new measures to protect our most vulnerable road users. Speaker, like the member from Trinity Spadina, I also have two young kids at home who'll be heading out later this evening to trick-or-treat. We owe it, Speaker, not only to our kids, but to all of our vulnerable road users to keep up our record of having amongst the safest roads in North America. Today, our government has taken strong action through legislation aimed at curbing distracted, impaired, and other dangerous driving behaviors. And with the ongoing support of over 150 road safety partners, I know that we'll continue to make important progress. For tonight, Speaker, I will specifically remind all drivers put down the phone, drive slowly, and pay attention to those trick-or-treaters out there. Make sure your driving, Speaker, is a treat, not a trick. Thanks very much. What's up, Mr. Speaker? Thank you, Speaker. I want to thank the minister for his answer. Many of our nearly 2 million students are celebrating Halloween in school and communities across Ontario. Many of these students will be dressing up today to look like their favorite superheroes, such as superwomen, Spider-Man, witches, or warriors, or gassy girls, or goblins. Some might even dress up like their favorite teacher. With all the funds and exciting activity happening around the school community, this Halloween, such as Harbor Village, Bellwoods Park, Liberty Village, and Grinch Park in my writing, we want to ensure the safety of our students while they dress up and trick-or-treat for candies to eat. Mr. Speaker, through you to the minister, what can the parents and students in school do to make sure that our children have fun, have a fun, safe, and enjoyable Halloween? Thank you, minister. Minister of Education. Minister of Education. Thank you, Speaker. I want to say thank you to the member from Trinity Spina for that very timely and spooky question. There is no question, Mr. Speaker. This is a fun time for students, for families across the province. Just take a look at our member from Scarborough Agent Court and our deputy speaker. Mr. Speaker, she's having a tremendous time with today. Mr. Speaker, the safety and the well-being of our students is always a top priority, including during fun festivals like Halloween. I want to share some tips for parents and students to support Halloween safety. Wearing a costume can be a great way to show your support for equity and inclusion. And I know the member from Trinity Spina believes that. Trick-or-treaters can walk like zombies or fly on a broom. Just remember to do that in groups. Also, only visit homes that are well-lit. Older students should always plan their route and share that with family and friends. And all students should ask their family. Thank you. New question? The member from? The member from Nipissing? Gee, yesterday the minister had the audacity to suggest businesses in Northern Ontario had it rosy when it comes to electricity prices. Let me quote directly from the Association of Major Power Consumers' Most Recent Analysis. Quote, Ontario has the highest industrial rates in Canada and one of the highest industrial rates in North America. The minister can ask North Bay's Arklin about how their operation had the highest energy costs of all their North American branches. Actually, speaker, he can't because their entire city block-long factory is now closed. They left Ontario because of skyrocketing hydro. Speaker, given this minister's history of saying or doing anything for personal gain, why should anybody believe a word he says? Mr. Speaker, very pleased to rise and talk about what this government is doing for Northern Ontario, Mr. Speaker. And we continue to do more for Northern Ontario than that party ever did, Mr. Speaker. They treated Northern Ontario like garbage, Mr. Speaker, never did one iota for our communities in the North. We can talk about, Mr. Speaker, all of the programs that we have brought forward that help the North, Mr. Speaker. I'm going to specifically talk about the Northern Ontario industrial electricity rebate program, Mr. Speaker. That's $120 million a year program that helps these companies in Northern Ontario lower their electricity bills significantly, Mr. Speaker. The facts are, Mr. Speaker, in fact, do still matter in Ontario. The facts are that the Northern Ontario industrial electricity rebate program helps these businesses have some of the lowest rates in North America, Mr. Speaker. So when it comes to helping people in the North, Mr. Speaker, and making sure that we bring forward programs that help Northern businesses, that help Northern families, maybe they should do a little... Thank you. Supplementary, the member from Sault Ste. Marie. Well, let's talk about treating Northern Ontario like garbage. The Liberals have ran up hydro rates by over 300 percent. Their answer to the mess that they created was to play a shell game and then call it a plan. This game that you're playing is costing us $4 billion more than it needs to. The minister refuses to acknowledge that Northern Ontario businesses are fighting to keep their doors open because we have some of the most expensive electricity costs in the country. Frank Dottori, owner of White River Forest Products, said and I quote, most jurisdictions use energy costs to promote economic development, not to kill jobs, which is what we're doing in Ontario. So, Mr. Speaker, my question for the minister is this. Why does this minister pretend that Northern Ontario rates are competitive? Why do you continue to pretend that wasting $4 billion is a plan when we all know the truth that your liberal hydro disaster is costing us jobs in Northern Ontario? Minister of Energy, wasn't it their last leader that couldn't even find Highway 69 to drive up to it to debate, right, Mr. Speaker? So, if you want to talk about a party that doesn't even know where it is on a map, all you have to do is look right there, Mr. Speaker. When you want to talk about accomplishments in Northern Ontario, I've got a list full of them here and we can start with Sue St. Marie. Tobaris Tubes, Mr. Speaker, NOFJC Grant, 450 new jobs that are going into that place thanks to this government investing in that, Mr. Speaker, and making sure that we're helping in the Sioux, in North Bay, in Sudbury, in Timmins. Northern Ontario Heritage Fund, $100 million a year, Mr. Speaker, to ensure that we're delivering on the priorities of Northerners. The Ring of Fire, a billion-dollar commitment that we're continuing to move forward on, Mr. Speaker, thanks to this government. Expanded broadband, more than 100,000 people in Northern Ontario, $32 million invested in that. I have way more to say, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, I can't wait to have a debate with these guys about who does something for Northern Ontario. Thank you. New question, the member from Wellington. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Deputy Premier. Mary Galatly with the Parkdale Community Legal Services and the 15 and Fairness Campaign made clear yesterday in committee that the wind liberals have diluted legislation intended to protect workers, stating that liberal amendments, and I quote, directly undermines the intent of the equal pay provisions. If the goal, as the Premier stated, is to eliminate the gap between part-time and full-time workers, then what the legislation should do, but once again, Premier Wynn has let us down. If the legislation isn't changed now before the laws passed, a loophole will exist. That employers could exploit to continue to pay part-time, casual, and temporary workers less. A move that disproportionately will impact women in this province. Will the Liberals do the right thing and close this loophole? The Minister of Labor. Minister of Labor. Thank you, Speaker, and thank you very much to the member for that very important question, Speaker. We bought the bill in to the House, obviously, for first reading, Speaker, that we made the unusual move of taking it out to the people of Ontario. This speaker, after first reading, this speaker comes after two years of consultation, traveling the province of Ontario with the changing workplaces of review. Heard from business, heard from labor, heard from advocates, like Mary and others who came forward, speaking on behalf of some of the changes that needed to be made to the Employment Standards Act and to the Labor Relations Act to bring the workplaces in line with the realities of a 2017 economy, Speaker. We've heard a variety of opinions. We've listened to those opinions. We bought an amendment, Speaker. After it went through committee the first time, came back to this House. It's gone back this morning. We were hearing a further suggestion, Speaker. We're still listening. We're going to get this right, Speaker. Thank you, supplementary speaker. Thank you, Speaker. The Premier and the Labor Minister read the paper, the Toronto Star this morning. They know that the definition that they have put into legislation on seniority will allow employers to continue to pay part-time, casual, temporary workers less, giving employers less reason to actually provide good, stable, full-time jobs. This is not equal pay for equal work, period. If the idea was to eliminate precarious work this province needs to do the right thing and it needs to close that loophole while we're in these committee hearings. Will the Premier and the Liberal Government commit to closing the loophole that directly undermines the equal pay legislation? Speaker, thank you very much for that important question from the Honourable Member. This process, Speaker, is taking a long time and it's taking into account a lot of opinions from around and we don't need- Excuse me. Finish, please. Thank you, Speaker. The third party's decided to join this conversation, Speaker and I welcome that because in 2013 we launched the Minimum Wage Advisory Panel. The third party did not participate. 2014, we started the changing workplaces review to take an unprecedented look at the Employment Standards Act, Labor Relations Act. The third party did not participate in that discussion. In fact, they didn't sign on to raising the Minimum Wage Speaker until we were halfway through the discussion, Speaker. At that time, the leader of the third party, she has something to say today, she said, make sure those increases don't come at too sharp or too steep a rate. People, there's people working in the province of Ontario, 35 or 40 hours a week, Speaker, who deserve to live a life that they can pay for the basics, they can put food on the table, they can pay rent. That's what this is about. Any questions? A number from Kingston and the Islands. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Attorney General. As you well know, thousands of people from across the province, many from my own riding of Kingston and the Islands, have been denied tickets to their favorite concert or sporting event because scalper bots had already bought them within seconds of going on sale. We saw this in 2016 when the tragically hip were on their final tour and two-thirds of the tickets were not made available directly to the public. If this wasn't enough, the same tickets are resold on websites prices exponentially higher than the original sale price. I heard concerns from many of my constituents that the ticket buying and selling process was unfair. That's why I originally introduced my private member's bill, Bill 22, the Ticket Speculation Amendment Bill, to tackle this challenge. Can the Attorney General please explain to this chamber the government's plan to address these ticket buys and ensure an even playing field? Thank you, Attorney General. Thank you very much, Speaker. And I do want to sincerely thank the member from Kingston and the Islands for this important question and for her hard work in bringing forward a private member's bill dealing with exactly the same issue. So I want to thank her because she really gave us the foundation upon which we built the legislation that is before this House. Speaker, our government understands that the ticket industry must become more transparent and provide a fairer way to buy tickets in Ontario. To level the playing field, we have introduced some tough new rules to protect fans. First, we will be capping the resale markup of tickets at 50% above phase value. We will be banning, Speaker, also the use and sale of ticket bots while also prohibiting resale of tickets that are not owned or possessed by the seller. Speaker, finally, we are helping fans make informed choices about the tickets they purchase by increasing transparency in the ticket resailing industry and in supplementary, I will talk about some of the enforcement measures as well. Thank you, supplementary. Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I would also like to thank the Attorney General for his response and of course for his support of my private member's bill. I know the Minister understands very well the concerns of fans in Ontario because I was there when you traveled to Kingston to hear their thoughts for yourself during our consultations. These proposed measures sound like a great step forward to ensuring that ticket buyers in Ontario are able to purchase tickets for a fair price. But as we have seen, there has been a significant amount of concern regarding the way that we will enforce these changes. Throughout the development of my private member's bill, the government consultation on the ticket bill, I heard a lot, and I know the member did as well, about how these bots can operate anywhere in the world making enforcement challenging. Mr. Speaker, these changes seem well-intentioned but what are our plans to enforce these new measures to ensure that everyone has a fair shot at buying tickets? General. Thank you, Speaker. I'm glad that the member asked about enforcement because I think it's a very important issue. Speaker, our strategy to eliminate bots will empower government inspectors, law enforcement and private entities with tools to ensure that the rules are actually followed. The Ministry of Government and Consumer Services whose minister I would like to thank for introducing this very important piece of legislation will now have the authority to investigate alleged violations of this proposed law and issue stiff penalties. We would also now require any business selling tickets in Ontario to be incorporated either in Ontario or Canada or to maintain an address in Ontario making these tickets resellers not only Ontario businesses but also accountable to Ontario law. Finally, Speaker, we are ensuring that the legislation is technology neutral meaning rather than just trying to regulate the technology that allows people to exploit the system. Today, we are targeting the bad behaviour itself. We believe, Speaker, that these measures will be able to hold the ticket resellers legally accountable. Thank you. That's good. New question to the member from Bruce Grayland South. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My question is the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. Minister, it's been 14 years since your party took power. You've received numerous reports and hundreds of recommendations to enhance care and protection of seniors in long-term care. You promised to implement those but you didn't follow through. So, Speaker, through you, I'm asking the Minister, will you finally take responsibility for protecting seniors in long-term care by testifying before the public inquiry into long-term care? Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I'm proud of the investments that we have and are making in long-term care. Notwithstanding the fact that that member and his party voted against many, if not most of those investments including the more than $80 million that were specifically outlined in this year's budget, including such important investments as a $10 million annual increase to behavioral supports Ontario to actually go into long-term care homes with expertise in human resources, staffing that are specifically trained and capable of working with and supporting the most complex individuals in our long-term care homes, those primarily that are dealing with dementia, all-timers, a form of dementia, and other complex conditions. So we're making those investments. We increased the raw food envelope this year by 6.5 percent, actually significantly more than what the sector themselves were asking us to increase. These are what the investments were making. Thank you, Speaker. Back to the Minister. Minister, the public inquiry's purpose is to investigate and ultimately restore in chairown's confidence and trust in the long-term care system. You have a direct and significant interest in this, given your responsibility as a regulator of long-term care. The last inquiry, the Casper Verde, less than 30 percent of the actual recommendations were implemented by your government. And chairown's need assurance that you understand the role you play leading up to this inquiry. And so we want to know, have you yourself, as the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, applied for standing at the inquiry? And if you haven't done it, when are you going to do it? Thank you, Minister. Well, Mr. Speaker, I take my responsibility as Minister very, very seriously. That's one of the reasons why we've introduced new legislation that is being debated in this legislature, which will provide more tools, including finds and other penalties available to the government and the ability to ensure that absolute safety and security and well-being of residents that are in our long-term care homes, Mr. Speaker. We're making those investments, including an additional $60 million for resident care needs. We've redeveloped 13,500 beds. We've built 10,000 new beds since coming into office, Mr. Speaker. We are making those all-important investments, financial ones, as well as, as I mentioned, on the inspection and oversight and accountability to ensure that we're taking an appropriate and responsible, holistic approach when it comes to our residents in long-term care homes to make sure that we're providing with the highest quality care, as well as the safety and security. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Question, the leader of the third party. Thank you, Speaker. My questions for the acting Premier. On October 10th, Hamilton Health Sciences was operating 121 acute care beds completely unfunded by this Premier and her Liberal Government. And that shocking number does not include patients who were admitted but had to wait in the ER for a bed, an average of 44 people a day. This means that in October, Hamilton Health Sciences was treating 165 people without the help of the Premier. Her solution for this severe lack of resources in Hamilton's health system, Speaker, 30 temporary beds. Can the Deputy Premier explain to the people of my hometown who are forced to receive their medical care in public hallways how 30 temporary beds is going to help every single one of those 165 people get the care that they need? Thank you, Deputy Speaker. Minister of Health and Long-term Care. Minister of Health, Long-term Care. Well, Mr. Speaker, I'm very proud of the work that we're doing together with Hamilton Health Sciences. We're looking into the medium and long-term as well as the immediate on the medium and long-term. We've given them a planning grant so they can look at the hospitals that they're responsible for and redevelop them responsibly and appropriately for the changing needs and the increasing population that they're seeing in that part of the province. But when it comes specifically to the investment that I made last week announcing the equivalent of six new hospitals, that complement of beds, 1200 acute care beds, it is true that Hamilton Health Sciences is part of that allocation. At the Jurovinsky site on the mountain, part of Hamilton Health Sciences, 15 new acute inpatient beds. At the general site at McMaster, Mr. Speaker, 15 additional acute inpatient beds. We're also adding three neonatal intensive care unit beds to the Hamilton to the general site. St. Joseph's in downtown Hamilton at the Charlton site is obtained, is receiving 24 additional beds and we still haven't allocated a significant number. Supplementary. For the past year, Hamilton Health Sciences has been consistently over capacity, registering an average of 105 percent in its acute care beds. Just to remind the acting Premier, 85 percent capacity is considered a safe capacity. The hospital said, and now I'm quoting the hospital, for six years now, hospital funding has not kept pace with growth in care. During this time, Hamilton Health Sciences has reduced our operational budget by over 120 million and provided more care every year. And we know, Speaker, that Hamilton Health Sciences has had to make another 20 million dollars in cuts this year. The hospital says their work is being threatened by constant capacity issues. Does the acting Premier think that 30 temporary beds are going to fix constant capacity issues and a decade of bad liberal healthcare policies? Thank you. Minister? Mr. Speaker, we gave an additional 18 million dollars. Sorry, Mr. Speaker. 16.8 million dollars this year alone to Hamilton Health Sciences. Mr. Speaker, I don't know in what world the leader of the third party lives, but 16.8 million additional dollars to their budget. And I'm not sure what she's saying about Hamilton Health Sciences where 30 new inpatient beds, three new neonatal intensive care beds, 24 at St. Joseph's Health Care Centre, and we have 65 additional beds allocations which have not yet been allocated. That we will be working together with the local hospitals, with the Linn, with the Ontario Hospital Association to make sure that we're allocating them. And in addition to that, and there's great leadership by Hamilton Health Sciences, we're also finding transitional and more appropriate spaces outside of hospital to bring those ALC patients along to be. Question to the member from Barry. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Education. We know that families and students with autism are facing unique challenges and our government is committed to doing more to strengthen autism services in our schools. Good idea. I know that the Minister is dedicated to supporting the needs of all students and we are making changes to ensure that our plan for education is responsive to these needs. Mr. Speaker, through you to the Minister, what is our government doing to deliver new and high-quality programming to support the success and well-being of students with autism? Thank you, Minister of Education. Thank you, Speaker. And I want to say thank you to the member from Barry for this question. I know I've toured schools with the member and I've met students and their EAs with autism. Mr. Speaker, we're committed to finding creative ways to make sure that we provide successful outcomes for all students. Our government is moving forward with unprecedented investments in autism services including our recent historic $500 million investment. For the past year, we've been consulting with parents, experts, teachers, educators, as well as members of the Ontario Autism Program Advisory Committee. As a result of this work, we've just announced an additional $5 million for a one-year pilot in 18 school boards across the province that will provide dedicated space for external practitioners for applied behaviour analysis to deliver on-site autism services, provide education assistance with access to 40-hour online targeted training and professional learning sessions, provide funding to higher ABA professionals and board-certified behaviour analysts, certified or equivalent qualification to bring clinical expertise to our boards. Thank you. Thank you, Minister. I know that our government is making important contributions and investments in our publicly funded education system. Our government remains committed to improving the lives of students, children and youth with autism. I believe this new pilot program is an important first step towards greater collaboration as we provide services to students with autism. I know that the announcement has received positive support from parents and advocates for autism supports in schools. The new program is being called a really good start and a step in the right direction. Minister, can you please tell us more about how this new pilot can improve the learning experiences for all of our students? Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. And I want to thank the member from Barrie. This is definitely an important step towards greater integration of autism supports in schools. The goal of providing dedicated space in school aims to help reduce transitions for students and support a more seamless day. Instead of leaving the school building, ABA services will now be offered on site, reducing the burden of transportation on families and allowing children more time in the classroom where they want to be. About 365 EAs will have access to a targeted ABA training in addition to the 6,300 education assistants our government has already added to schools across the province since 2003. Further, we're working with the Ministry of Children Youth Services in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and other partner ministries in pursuing the regulation of ABA practitioners. Answer. We are committed to the success and the well-being of all students in our schools including students with autism. Thank you. New question, the member from Oxford. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Speaker, my questions to the minister of the environment. People in my riding are concerned that the air they are breathing is making them sick. In 2003, the Ministry of the Environment committed to monitoring air quality in Beachvale area after a port find found higher than acceptable particular levels. But over and over we have had trouble getting the data. We requested an update on the air quality monitoring from the minister's office on August the 24th. We followed up on September the 9th. On September the 27th I wrote the minister directly and asked him for an update. After a month I received an acknowledgement promising that someday I would get a response. The people in my riding are tired of waiting to find out whether the air is safe. Will the minister please provide us with an update on the air quality in Beachvale right now? Mr. The minister of the environment climate change. Well, thank you speaker and thank you to the member for the important question. You know, it goes without saying speaker and I've said it many times when I stood up in this house that all Ontarians deserve the right to breathe clean air to drink clean water and to walk on clean land. And so I will say speaker that regulating air contaminants from industrial sources that is a priority in Ontario. Our ministry it regulates contaminants in air in order to be protective of communities that are close to those industrial sources. You know, we've been driving improvement in environmental performance through investments in in best practices best available technologies and environmental practices Mr. Speaker. In fact, we just recently posted for discussion new SO2 levels that that I'm looking forward to getting a comment about. So our regulatory approach sets those standards that are protective of human health. Thank you. For this government claims to care about air quality in Ontario but it's clear the minister isn't on top of the file even after my repeated request for information. People just want to know that the air they are breathing is safe. Mr. Minister. The reason I'm pushing so hard is that this isn't the first time your government has failed to monitor to the air quality in Beechville. In 2014 when we finally managed to get down we found there were large gaps. Yes, your predecessor apologized and promised to monitor to the air and share the data with the community. So I'd like to know from the minister why he has failed to do that and will he commit to releasing the air quality data this week. Well, Speaker, I can say what's fantastic quite frankly is on this side of the floor we shut down the coal plants on that side of the floor they would have us burn more coal. Talk about particulate matter talk about particulate matter. So, Speaker, my ministry continues to monitor air quality in the Beechville area. We continue to work with the Oxford County Public Health units to provide the results of ongoing air monitoring you know quarrying and cement and limestone processing it's been taking place in Beechville area of Oxford County for over a century. We've been monitoring those results Speaker, since at least 1975 and I can tell you Speaker that that due to the findings of elevated particulate levels the ministry in 2003 Speaker required local companies to reduce their particulate materials coming from Point of order the member the minister of energy. Thank you Mr. Speaker point of order I'd just like to correct my record when I was answering to the minister of Sault Ste. Marie in relation to Tanaris tubes member from Sault Ste. Marie correct that too Mr. Speaker in relation to Tanaris tubes I used the number of 450,000 dollars from NOHFC it was actually a two million dollar investment Mr. Speaker that this government made. There are no deferred votes this house stands recessed until 3 p.m. this afternoon