 It is therefore time for Question Period, the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of the Environment. There are a lot of unanswered questions for the people of Chemical Valley in Ontario, located between Sarnia and Amgen and First Nations. For nine years, for nine long years, we have asked this Government for answers, and for nine years they have been ignored. There were 500 Government reports documenting industrial environmental concerns in the Sarnia region over a two-year period. That is nearly 500 incidents where this Government had failed to take action. 500 incidents where the people of Sarnia deserved answers. Mr. Speaker, how has this Government ignored the people and the workers in Chemical Valley for so many years, for almost a decade? Mr. Speaker, it is astonishing. Mr. Speaker, the environment has finally changed. Well, thank you, Speaker. I am delighted to respond to the member opposite. I think since my time in the House it is the first time I have heard a question like this. Let me tell you this, Speaker. It is a fundamental fact that everyone, every person in this great country, this great province of ours, deserves clean air to breathe, clean water to drink, and clean land to walk upon. We continue to reflect that in the actions of this Government. Everything from eliminating dirty coal plants to moving forward with our Ministries' Government's Climate Change Action Plan. You know, Speaker, the air quality has improved over the past 10 years, and we recognise there is more to be done, and we will support. Smart enough not to look at me. Supplementary. Mr. Speaker, again to the Minister of the Environment, the Minister pretends they have not heard of this. The member of Sarnia-Lampton has responses from three Liberal Ministers saying that they are not responding. This has been brought up for nine years, so it's a little too convenient to say you haven't heard about it. When your Government, your Ministers have responded in writing, we have proof that you did not take this seriously. Now in Sarnia, Mr. Speaker, there is a term the Government uses, no field response. It's become well known because it is associated with the Government's failure to take action and protect the people in chemical value. When a report of an environmental concern in Sarnia, there always seems to be the Government's response, no field response. There's a joint report that reveals in 2014, a detailed incident where 338 kg of ammonia was spilled, it received from the Government, no field response. Same thing in March of 2014, and again in January 2016, when SO2 emissions were well beyond regulation. Mr. Speaker, I'm tired of the no response. I've been getting signals that I'm going to respond to them. The interjections will stop. Minister. Well, thank you, Speaker. And thank you for the opportunity to clarify. And what I want to clarify is the fact that this is the first time that I've heard the Leader of the Opposition talk about Sarnia. It's nice to have some interest there. So, Speaker, let me just say a few things. You know, the Sarnia Air Action Plan, it was initiated to address community concerns, improve local ministry programs, and reduce the ambient concentrations of air contaminants identified as priorities in the Sarnia area. You know, by law, Speaker, all spills must be reported to our Spills Action Center. That center is open 24-7 and takes all phone calls and addresses all of them. It's open 24-7. Member from Dufferin, Caledon, come to order. You can point to the clock all you want. Your own members are heckling. Wrap up sentence, please. Well, I just wanted to say, Speaker, that we're going to continue our collaboration with the community, with the indigenous organizations and business community in Sarnia to make sure we get it right. Member from Prince Edward Hastings come to order. Final supplementary. Mr. Speaker, again to the Minister of the Environment, you know, they can be operated 24-7, but when the only response we have to Spills is no response, it's not good enough. I'm sorry, Mr. Speaker, but he's not taken it seriously enough. For nine years, the member from Sarnia-Lampton and his community have been fighting for the government to wake up and realize there's a serious concern here. But they have not. Another talking point from the government is they have some of the strictest limits. But Mr. Speaker, those limits don't exist if they exempt companies like they have. Critics have called this lack of oversight a clear example of environmental racism and that the government has turned their backs on First Nations communities. The Minister of the Environment says everything's fine and he's doing his job. But this isn't the case. Mr. Speaker, we cannot ignore the warning. Minister, please. Mr. Speaker, the Minister is saying they've had no warnings. They've had warnings in 2008, in 2010, in 2016, but they've turned their back on the people of Chemical Valley. So Mr. Speaker, rather than point fingers, rather than say everything is fine, the Minister finally takes responsibility and stops letting down, stops failing the people of Sarnia and Amgenwin First Nations. Thank you. Minister? Well, thank you, Speaker. And I'm delighted to keep talking about the progress that the province... Remember from Bruce Gray, the only sound, come to order. We are now in warnings. Carry on. Well, thank you, Speaker. I'm delighted to be able to continue and talk about the things that we're doing to improve air quality right across Ontario. You know, Speaker, we're building on previous regulations to lower air pollution. We're committed to funding, and we are committed to funding, a health study of local Sarnia residents. We've been very clear about that. You know, we'll be announcing stricter regulations in the coming weeks. And as I said, we are committed to funding Sarnia residents. We've been very clear about that. We'll be announcing stricter regulations in the coming weeks. And as I said, we are committed to funding that science-based approach to understanding the localized impact of air pollution on the health of Sarnia residents. Thank you. New question? The leader of the opposition. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the president of the Treasury Board. Students want to learn, and the faculty want to teach. But as of midnight last night, Ontario colleges are on strike. 12,000 faculty and 500,000 students are impacted across the province. Mr. Speaker, will the liberals assure the House they will get both sides back to the bargaining table today? Thank you. President of the Treasury Board. Minister of Advanced Education. Minister of Advanced Education. Well, thank you, Speaker. Thank you for the question, Speaker. It's very clear that students are our top priority. And our college students, who are not at school today, need to know that all sides are working with the students as the highest priority, Speaker. You know, our college system Ontario is extraordinary. For 50 years it has been training people, Speaker. Over half a million people are actually in class or taking courses right now, Speaker. Nearly 2 million students over those 50 years have actually attended or graduated college, Speaker. And they get terrific results. If I knew who it was, they would be gone, I think. 90% of employers say that they are satisfied or very satisfied with the college grads. This is important work. We're urging both sides to get back to the table. Thank you. Supplementary? Mr. Speaker, back to the minister. The college system is extraordinary, but when students are in the classroom, students aren't learning. They're not learning at Algonquin, Cambrian, Candidore, Centennial, College Boreal, Conestoga, Confederation Durham, Fanshawe, Fleming, George Brown, George and Humber at City Collegial, Lampton, Loyolas, Mohawk, Niagara, Northern, Sue, Seneca, Sheridan, St. Clair and St. Lawrence, 24 great colleges where students are not in the classroom. That's 24 colleges where faculty are on the picket lines for their fair deal. That's 24 colleges where we need provincial leadership so we have students in the classroom. So my question, Mr. Speaker, directly to the Deputy Premier is what is the Premier doing today to make sure that both sides are back at the bargaining table and we have students back in the classroom? Minister? Well, Speaker, on this side of the house we actually respect the collective bargaining process and of course we have students back in the classroom as quickly as possible. We believe in post-secondary education. We believe in eliminating financial barriers to students in colleges and in universities which is why we have totally transformed OSAP, Speaker. We're seeing tremendous success with the changes to OSAP. Over 50,000 more students have applied for OSAP this year than at the same time last year. Speaker, we believe in post-secondary education. Our record is very, very strong. I wish, Speaker, of course that both sides will get back and resolve this dispute. Thank you. Final supplementary. Mr. Speaker, back to the Minister. The Minister is talking about OSAP and student assistance is something we all support but if you can't actually have a classroom to go into, what is that classroom where students can learn and the government is not taking this seriously? How about respecting the students? How about understanding the urgency that exists here? They can't do this while they're out of the classroom. Students can't learn and appreciate our extraordinary college system if they're not in school. I know that one day of a strike is too long and the government can just ignore this and allow it to go on but what I want and what I'm pushing for is that we get a commitment that the Premier is going to take this seriously and the Premier is going to do everything and both sides back to the table and get students back in class. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, under the Colleges Collective Bargain Act 2008 the colleges, the employers are represented by the college employer council and they have the exclusive right and a responsibility to negotiate. The government itself is not at the table. However, Speaker, we are committed to success of our college students and if the member opposite actually wanted to support students he would be supporting our policy on free tuition. That's great. Thank you. You're a portion of the leader of the third party. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My first question is for the acting Premier. Brantford General Hospital has been operating well over capacity throughout 2017. According to internal documents the number of acute care beds reached a shocking 120% capacity in January. I just want to remind the government that 85% capacity is considered the safe level of occupancy in hospitals. We've seen numbers similar to this Speaker over and over again for hospitals all across the province. Why isn't the government taking the problem of hospital overcrowding and hallway medicine seriously? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We absolutely are taking the priorities of our hospitals as our priority, Mr. Speaker. And that's why we invested an additional half billion dollars for operating costs for hospitals around this province in this year's budget. And it followed a similar amount of money roughly a half a billion dollars last year. But Mr. Speaker, we're working very closely with Brantford Hospital. In fact, Brantford is facing a number of challenges. Our supervisor in place there that is dealing with a number, a broad range of challenges that that important community hospital is facing. We increased their budget this year alone by three million dollars. But most importantly, Mr. Speaker, we're taking the good advice of our supervisor who is working with the frontline staff, with the administrators of the hospital, with the community, to make sure that that community hospital is able to serve effectively including the capacity, the number of beds that are available, the state of their ER, all aspects that it's able to serve that community well. Thank you. Supplementary. Well, Speaker, it would seem that the members opposite have not been listening to patients, to families, and to healthcare workers on the front lines. Brantford General is also struggling to keep up with demand in its mental health beds. The hospital reached 108 percent last summer in terms of capacity and stayed well above the safe 85 percent capacity throughout 2017 in their mental health beds. Does the government believe that it's okay for Brantford General Hospital to be at 120 percent capacity of its acute care beds and 108 percent capacity of its mental health care spaces? Thank you. Minister. Mr. Speaker, our attention is focused on Brant community health care system, the Brantford hospital, particularly because, as I mentioned, we have, and it's an unusual situation in this province, but we have a supervisor in place. So the board has been dissolved, Mr. Speaker. We have a supervisor that is there because we understand there are a number of challenges being faced. And we want that supervisor working with the local community and working with the hard-working administrators and frontline health care staff, Brant, to provide the best quality of care to the community that it serves. We are objective, Mr. Speaker, and we're doing that in the face of making substantial investments. As I mentioned, more than three million new dollars this year alone going to Brant. A lot of that investment, in fact, is going specifically to address some of the wait-time challenges that they're facing. But, Mr. Speaker, with the supervisor in place, we continue to support the efforts of the health care system in Brant as they work towards delivering the highest quality of care for the patients in that community. Mr. Speaker, what's unfortunately not unusual in this province is over-capacity hospital beds from one end of Ontario to the other. Hospital administrators and frontline health care workers are doing everything they can with what they've been given by this Liberal government. But it's not enough, Speaker. Hospitals in Peterborough, Brantford, Etobicoke, Brampton, Toronto and Oshawa are all overcrowded, and the Premier has seen the proof in the numbers. She's seen the proof in the horror stories that are flooding into her office, I'm sure, as they are every office of every MPP in this House. And she has seen the proof in the form of a public letter from the Ontario Hospital Association calling on her to immediately fund hospitals at an adequate level. What else do the people of Ontario need to do, Speaker, to make the government take this crisis in our hospitals seriously? Thank you. Well, Mr. Speaker, here's what we should not do. We should not take our lead from the MPP when they were in government when they closed 24% of the acute care beds in the entire province. Or when they closed 13% of all the mental health beds in the province. The PCs, as I've mentioned, frequently closed almost 10,000 hospital beds. The MPP closed 9,600 hospital beds during their brief 10 years as government, Mr. Speaker. We won't take our advice from their track record, which is massive closure of hospital beds, massive cuts, in fact, to the hospital system and to the health care budget as a whole. We won't do that, Mr. Speaker. We've been investing in our hospitals year after year after year and will continue to do so. Thank you. New question to the Leader of the Third Party. Thank you, Speaker. My next question is also for the Acting Premier. We've learned through shocking news reports that the people of Sarnia have been exposed to dangerous toxic chemicals for many, many years the result of industrial leaks from the city's chemical valley. There were over 500 separate incidents 500 separate incidents in Sarnia in 2014-2015 including one leak in 2014 that saw an unsafe level of benzene released into the atmosphere. The toxic plume reached nearby residential neighbourhoods but families were never told what the odor was or if it was dangerous. Can the Acting Premier explain why the people of Sarnia were not warned by the Ministry of the Environment about a cancer-causing chemical wafting towards their front doors? Thank you. Minister of Environmental Climate Change. The Environment and Climate Change. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you for that important question as usual. I'll start by explaining a very fundamental fact to this government speaker and to all of us here in the House that every person in Ontario deserves to breathe clean air. We continue to reflect that very fundamental philosophy in all of the actions that we undertake in this government. Everything from eliminating dirty coal plants to moving forward with our climate change action plan. Speaker, the general air quality has improved over the past 10 years in part because we are listening and consulting with the indigenous communities. We are listening and consulting with the public and with business in those areas to make sure that we get it right and as we return to regulations. There you go. Supplementary. Philosophical platitudes are useless when there's a toxic plume wafting up to your front door. The February 8th, 2014 spill saw benzene levels in the air as high as 50 parts per billion. 22 times the provincial standard. Benzene is carcinogenic speaker. The World Health Organization says that no amount of benzene can be considered safe. This incident risked the lives, the health at least of every single person in Sarnia. Yet the ministry of the environment whose job it is to investigate when spills happen didn't even bother to send someone out to see what went wrong. When did the minister and when did the premier learn of this dangerous spill, Speaker? Thank you, Minister. Well, thank you, Speaker. I'm glad for the opportunity to be able to talk about benzene which we know is a very dangerous chemical. Speaker, benzene levels in Sarnia have greatly decreased compared to what they were in the 1980s and the 1990s. In fact, the annual average benzene concentration is now about a third of what it was 25 years ago. But that's not good enough, Speaker. So in 2016, a new air standard for benzene came into effect. It resulted in seven petrochemical and petroleum refining facilities in the Sarnia area taking action to reduce benzene emissions through technical standards by applying the best available technology. We're going to continue to push to make sure the air gets cleaner all the time, Speaker. That's good. Final supplementary. The government and the premier just can't seem to get the basics right, Speaker. Whether it's skyrocketing hydro bills, overcrowded hospitals, or chronic chemical spills and leaks that endanger the lives and people in Sarnia. In 2009, Speaker, the government agreed to review the cumulative air pollution in hot spots like Sarnia. In 2009, they made a commitment to do the heavy lifting to research what was happening in these hot spots when it comes to cumulative air pollution. Eight years later, the results of the review are nowhere to be seen, Speaker. Has the review happened? Is my question to this government? Has it happened? And where are the results? Thank you, Minister. Well, thank you, Speaker. I'm really delighted to be able to talk about our commitment to funding a health study to understand the localized impact of air pollution on Sarnia residents. And I think understanding that localized impact is what's really key in terms of how we figure out moving ahead. I would also be taking some further steps to ensure that the air quality is improved. You know, last week, Speaker, I was in Sarnia, I was meeting with the First Nations to hear their concerns firsthand, and I'm committed to building on previous efforts to reduce air pollution and ensure all Ontarians have clean air to breathe. We are committed to that study, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. New question? A member from the Middlesex Department of the Department of the Interior's correction system is in a disaster, and our probation and parole system is a joke. Jails are overcrowded and cell block violence is out of control. Most inmates are held in maximum security without access to rehab programs. Assaults on correctional officers and staff have more than doubled over the past seven years, and sadly these detention centers are often understaffed and often lack in parole. Often the only contact between a criminal and probation officer happens when the offender visits to probation office after the offender leaves. There is little to no follow-up, again because of a lack of resources. Check the report by the Independent Advisor on Corrections Reform if you doubt what I'm saying. The Liberal Party Speaker has done nothing to fix the problems in the past 14 years. So, Speaker, to the Minister, why have the Liberals allowed the changes to change the laws in the last six years? Why are these crisis and corrections to fester so long? The community safe and functional services. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate actually the member of the opposite for his questions this morning, because I want to say thank you to the men and women who worked, actually, and commend them for their enormous modern and compassionate system. Whether it's through working with the Ministry of Health to ensure our better healthcare outcomes in our system or through the construction of two new facilities in Ottawa and Thunder Bay which will serve as models of innovation and renewal. I am proud of the progress that we're making, Mr Speaker, and just so the member opposite actually knows our government's plan to transform Ontario's correction system did not start today. And I want to read a few things that you always tend to forget. We hired over 1,600 new correction officers. We created 60 new mental health nurses and supplementary. Thank you, Speaker. Back to the Minister, Speaker, over the weekend I published an opinion piece on Ontario's crisis and corrections. It appeared in the Toronto Sun and I shared it on Twitter. I appreciated the favourable responses from correction officers and my constituents. But I was shocked at the fatuous response from the Director of Communications to the Corrections Minister. He broadcast a series of false accusations and personal attacks against me. He deleted his most offensive tweets but failed to apologize. The conversation can otherwise still be seen on my Twitter feed. I have been on top of this file for years. I have a strong personal relationship with correctional officers and I have their back and they have mine. I've spoken about the crisis in corrections many times in this House. To suggest otherwise, Speaker, is preposterous and monstrous. So, Minister, did you instruct your DECOM to reply to my op-ed in that boorish manner and will you apologize? Mr. Speaker, I want to continue and I hear the questions but I want to continue because the op-ed was referring to what we have not done and this crisis in correction. I want to say as I visited institutions in the past months, every single institution that I visit makes reference to actually the track record of this party as to all the cuts and the privatization fail that they've tried. So, let's go back to the point here, Mr. Speaker, which is I have to say we created 60 new mental health nurses and hence our mental health training. We introduced new and improved policies on segregation and the member opposite and the PC party seem to be capable of uninformed criticism and incapable of putting forward an actual plan. Since the party people have no plan, Mr. Speaker, I can only judge them on their record. Thank you. New question from Toronto Danforth. Thank you, Speaker. Speaker, to the acting Premier. Nearly two years ago, the Premier gave Hydro 1 a $2.6 billion departure tax gift, wiping away the departure tax that became due at the time of sell-off. The rules set by the Ontario Energy Board say that tax benefits like this must go to rate payers but instead, Hydro 1 demanded that its private investors keep the benefit and not rate payers. On October 13th, the Ontario Energy Board sided with Hydro 1 giving its private investors 71% of this $2.6 billion tax gift. Why didn't the government direct the OAB to stick to its own precedent and give 100% of this tax benefit to rate payers as the NDP demanded a year ago? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. When it comes to the Ontario Energy Board, let's start, Mr. Speaker, in recognizing that they are an independent regulator with a mandate to protect the interests of Ontario rate payers. And I know they can heckle, Mr. Speaker. They like it one day. They don't like it the next. But that's the fact, Mr. Speaker. And the board reduced Hydro 1's ask by $278 million over two years for administrative and capital expenditure costs, Mr. Speaker. This was a reduction of almost 10% of what they asked for. And this is a great example of the OAB's strong record of denying Hydro companies all that they asked for in reviewing rate applications with the consumer in mind first, Mr. Speaker. And over the past 10 years, the OAB has denied or reduced the outcome of rate applications many times. In 2010, with Hydro 1, when it asked for a rate increase on distribution, in 2012, when Ontario Power Generation applied for a 6.2% rate increase in 2011, Mr. Speaker, the OAB's mandate is to protect the interests of rate payers, and they're doing just that. Thank you, supplementary. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, to the acting Premier. Astonishingly, the privatized Hydro 1 was not satisfied with 71% of that $2.6 billion tax gift from the provincial government. Imagine, imagine, Hydro 1 is actually taking the OAB to court to demand that it gets 100% of that tax gift. Wow. Clearly, the privatized Hydro 1 will not accept regulation by the OAB and will do whatever it can to claim profits for its private investors at rate payer expense. The privatized Hydro 1 will even sue the OAB and demand that rate payers continue paying $2.6 billion for taxes. The government is no longer making it pay. Will the government stop the privatized Hydro 1 from extracting another $2.6 billion from rate payers? Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The province is going to continue to review the decision carefully and monitor the appeal as it moves through the process, Mr. Speaker. But again, this is being done by the independent arms-like regulator of the province's energy sector, the OAB. And as part of that decision, Mr. Speaker, as I said before, the board reduced Hydro 1's ask by $278 million over two years for administrative and capital expenditure costs. And this is a reduction of almost 10% of what Hydro 1 asked for. Mr. Speaker, when you're talking about cuts, let's not forget that our fair Hydro plan reduced everyone's bills by 25% on averages right across the province and also helping small businesses and farms. And the appeals of OAB decisions are not uncommon, Mr. Speaker. In 2013, OPG appealed the pension ruling, which was later ruled upon by the Supreme Court of Canada. The province, again, Mr. Speaker, will continue to review this decision carefully and monitor the appeal as it moves through the process. Thank you. New question, the member from Etobicoke Center. Thanks very much, Speaker. My question is for the minister responsible for small business. Minister, in Etobicoke Center, in my riding, we have many small businesses. But even more so, we have many small business owners that call Etobicoke Center home. And as you know, you've heard me say before, my background is in business. And I used to consult the businesses. In fact, I actually at one point own my own small business. So you won't be surprised to hear that I want to ask you about the fact that we're marking the start of small business week in Canada. And, Speaker, you know, it's important for everyone to know that Ontario has one of the strongest, most vibrant small business communities in Canada. And small businesses actually make up 98% of businesses in Ontario. So it's important that we acknowledge their hard work and their contributions. So my question to you, Minister, is, can you tell us what our government is doing to support small business in Ontario? Minister responsible for small businesses. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I want to thank the member from Etobicoke Center for his question this morning. And he's right. He had a very distinguished career in the business community here in Toronto. And of course, just recently, he was very active with the Bloor Street West DBIA for the Euclidean Festival in his communities. But we want to make sure that we continue to foster the right conditions for more than 400,000 small businesses in Ontario to succeed and grow. Just this morning, I joined the Ontario Chamber of Commerce to announce our partnership on a new service we're launching to better support small businesses called the Small Business Access. This new service will help entrepreneurs and small businesses, better access tools to start and grow a business. But Mr. Speaker, that's not all. We're also designating 33% of government contracts to small businesses by the year 2020, and further improving the procurement process for small business. And these measures are just some of what's to come, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, supplementary. Thank you, Minister. It's great to hear that you're doing all this important work. And I know that as a small business owner, I know that or someone who was a small business owner, I know that business people take on a lot of risks. They don't just work hard, but they also invest a lot of their own capital. They put aside their careers to pursue their small businesses. And these small businesses end up providing a livelihood, not just for them and their families, but they create jobs for hundreds of thousands of other Ontarians, really millions of other Ontarians. So I'm glad to hear about the measures you're talking about. When I speak to small business owners, Minister, I often hear about other things that that the government could do to help small business owners. Sometimes they talk to me about input costs. Sometimes they talk to me about regulations. So as much as I'm glad to hear about the things that you've just spoken about, can you tell us more about what you're doing to help small businesses? Yeah, Minister, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member from a Tobago Center for Supplementary. I've had the opportunity to hear from small business owners across the province about the challenges that they face and how our government can help them succeed in a changing global economy, which is why we may commit it to working with these small businesses to create the conditions for them to succeed. We've already eliminated the capital tax and lowered the small business tax rate to 5.4.5 percent. We're cutting electricity costs by 25 percent for 500,000 small business and farms. And we'll introduce measures to save business millions by cutting red tape and reducing unnecessary burdens through the Bill 154, the Cutting Unnecessary Red Tape Act 2017. And we'll continue to work with small business owners, leaving no stone unturned as we have elevated options to help them benefit from a strong economic growth being witnessed in every corner of this province, Mr. Speaker. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Small Business. It's Small Business Week, which is always a great opportunity to recognize the dedication of the hardworking people running the local businesses that are the lifeblood of our communities. Unfortunately, this year, Small Business Week comes at a time when many local businesses are on their heels after a decisive one-two punch from the Liberals. While Prime Minister Trudeau hikes their taxes from Ottawa, the Ontario Liberals are rushing to hike the minimum wage. Speaker, this is on top of the battering they've taken from high hydro rates, high taxes, and an enormous debt that keeps tax relief out of reach. Mr. Speaker, is this government ever going to stand up for small business owners and family farms? Good question. Minister, are you responsible for small business? Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the Ottawa member for his questions this morning, and I know that he has a background in small business. I think his family owed a home hardware at Wallisburg, Ontario, and so he has a background in this area. But I want to say we've made some real booze over the last number of years. We eliminate the capital tax and lower small business tax rate to 4.5%, which is one of the most competitive small tax rates across Canada. We've reduced electricity costs by 25% for 500,000 small business farms across the province of Ontario. We've been out chatting with small businesses in every part of the province of Ontario, and we're looking forward when my colleague, the Minister of Finance, presents the fall economic statement and not to this of future to see what measures may be contained in there to allow small businesses to grow in every part of the province of Ontario. Mr. Speaker, back to the Minister. The families running the businesses on Main Street, Ontario, don't want to hear a bunch of political jargon from this Liberal government. They want respect for the work they do and real answers to their concerns. Speaker, from the Ontario Chamber of Commerce to the Canadian Federation of Independent Business to the FAO, entrepreneurs and economists alike are telling this government they're on the wrong track. But the government continues to turn a deaf ear. For a government that seems to think the solution to every problem is a conversation, it's being shockingly difficult to get the Liberals to answer the outcry from small businesses. You hear it, Mr. Speaker, in coffee shops, town halls and constituency offices, local businesses and farmers have been clear these proposed changes will hurt their businesses and their families. Speaker, how can this government continue to insist they know better than small business owners, economists and even their own FAO? Thank you. Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member first question and the supplementary. In fact, I've been going, visiting chambers right across the province of Ontario and let me tell you both my local Chamber of Commerce at Peterborough and the Ontario Chamber provided us with valuable analysis and options that we're working to look at. As we say that when it comes to what measures we may look at down the road, we're leaving no stone on turn and everything is on the table according to what options we look at. But the member's position is not quite the same as my good friend, the member from Dufford, Caledon, who last Wednesday I was at an announcement her writing with Mars and that Mars company told us they have absolute confidence in the growth of the economy in the province of Ontario. The member from Staff Club, still a reminder we're in warnings just to let everybody remember that. The member from London West, a new question. Thank you Speaker, my question is to the Premier. This morning more than 500,000 students woke up to learn that they would not be going to class today. One of those students, Calvin McDonnell, who is in his final year of the environmental technology program at Fanshawe College, contacted me to share some very real concerns. He is worried that the laboratory experiments he requires for graduation will have to be restarted, potentially pushing back the completion date for his program. He is already carrying huge OSAP loans and is concerned about having to take on more debt. Speaker, what is this liberal government doing to get the parties back to the bargaining table and ensure that students like Calvin are able to graduate on time without shouldering and increase debt load? Thank you, Speaker, and students like Calvin are exactly who we are thinking about. And I know faculty, I know administration, everybody wants to get back into the classroom. Speaker, it's where students want to be, it's where faculty want to be. So the collective bargaining process is that play here, Speaker. We urge both sides to get back to the table. And I'm hopeful that that will happen and a resolution will be released, but will be reached soon. Supplementary. Speaker, I also heard from landscape design students at Fanshawe who have booked flights and purchased equipment for the program's annual education abroad opportunity in Italy and Spain. Many of the costs they have paid are non-refundable and the entire trip is now in jeopardy. If the trip is canceled, there are students who will have nowhere to live because they've given up their apartments and they may not be able to complete their academic year. Speaker, faculty want fairness and students want opportunities to learn. What is this liberal government doing to get both faculty and students back into classrooms while making sure that students are not forced to carry an increased financial burden because of the strike? Thank you. Well, Speaker, reading between the lines, I almost think I'm hearing the member opposite suggest that we legislate them back and I don't think that is a position that the NDP would typically have. So I'm just going to assume that that is not their advice. But what I can tell you, Speaker, is there are students who are not in class today. We want both sides back together and we want to reach an agreement as soon as possible. This is what colleges exist for. There are extraordinary institutions doing very, very good work and the faster they can get back together, the better. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Transportation. Our government has made a clear commitment to expanding transit and transportation options in every corner of the province. I know that in Brampton we're seeing critical investments like the Herontary LRT and the Go Regional Express Rail. These projects will bring better connections to more residents in my community, making it easier for them to get to school and to work and home again faster than they do now. But Speaker, we need to make sure that our transit network is affordable so that commuters can make the choice to hop on board. That is why I'm very pleased to hear that our government has taken a major step forward to reduce the cost of transit for people who rely on it each and every day. I would like to have more information on exactly how we're making transit more affordable for commuters in the GTHA. Thank you, Minister of Transportation. Well, thanks very much, Speaker. I want to begin by thanking the member from Brampton Springdale for her question and for her advocacy on behalf of her community. Just after the House adjourned for our constituency break, I was very pleased to be joining both Premier Kathleen Wynn and Mayor Joe Biden. I would like to thank the members of the community for their effort to get around our entire community. Effective this coming January, when using your presto card, it will cost only $1.50 to ride the TTC if your trip involves a transfer with go transit or the union Pearson Express. That is half the cost of the regular TTC fare. This will have a significant impact on the pocketbooks of our commuters. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for his answer. During this past constituency week, I heard from countless presidents in my community are pleased about the approximate $720 savings that they will in the upcoming next week. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the Minister for the $720 savings that they will in the upcoming year. Speaker, I know this will help more than just current commuters. By making transit more affordable, we will encourage even more residents of the region to leave their cars at home. And we all know that getting cars off the road reduces congestion, which helps our economy grow and supports a clean environment that will be here for future generations. Speaker, I know that our government under the government is doing to create that network as well as some progress to date. Thank you, Minister. Speaker, thanks very much. And I thank the member for her follow-up question. You know, over the last number of days, in addition to the specific announcement around the significant savings that we're going to be providing to commuters across the region starting in January with our discounted service, the East Rail Maintenance Facility. This is more than half a million square feet adjacent to the 401 that's going to help us deal with maintenance and the upkeep for our vehicles as we build go regional express rail. This morning, I was with the member from AJAX Pickering. We are at the AJAX Go Station Speaker. That's a particular Go Station in our network that has seen massive upgrades and improvements over the last number of years. And again, starting in January, we are going to make it significantly more affordable for commuters to connect between Go and TTC or the Union Pearson Express in TTC. An average of roughly $700 a year annual savings speaker while we're enhancing their service is good news for everybody. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My question is the Minister of Health and long-term care. For 14 years, this Liberal government has made life harder for internal families. We see more than 1,000 people in the country who have been working on their visits. The Hanover District Hospital has been forced to contract police officers at a great cost to watch over some of these patients who are dangerous to themselves and to others. Tragically, we are also seeing the proof of the growing number of suicides. This is a crisis that's destroying entire families in our great province. Despite your multiple capacity to get real action to stop this crisis. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Shame on you, Bill. For a while, I was completely aligned with the member opposite. I think we do share the same goal in providing the highest quality mental health services for all Ontarians. I've frequently said, Mr. Speaker, that there can be no health without mental health and that we need to look at the same coin of physical health. Two sides of the same coin. And we need to invest at a level that provides that quality of care. And we are doing that, Mr. Speaker. We have doubled our mental health funding since coming into office to more than a billion dollars, Mr. Speaker. And our plan is to increase that funding by an additional $220 million over a period of three years. And we're seeing that investment in very specific and tangible in-barry at the Royal Victoria Hospital where we have, I'm not sure if it's yet... Soon to be open. Mental health unit, acute mental health inpatient unit and outpatient, specifically for children and youth, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Thanks, Mr. Speaker. Back to Mr. Health Long-Term Care. We do share a lot of thought process, but you know what, you can find $25 billion for an election ploy, but you can't find it for mental health. And I'm asking this question on behalf of the families. Families whose children you're letting slip through the cracks who will be very disappointed to see you still haven't got a solution. One mother whose son, Tom, fell victim to these horrific wait times, explains that since Tom took his life, she takes 18 anti-depressants a day. And I quote, I will probably be in medication forever. Mine is another illness that could have been prevented. Minister, the impact in your inaction on internal families is too great to ignore. I ask you, can Judy Wisdom count on you today to take concrete action to stop the crisis in mental health? Mr. Speaker, let's see if Hansard can keep up. We've added $16 million to create a thousand more supportive housing spaces over three years. $48 million for specialized mental health services of St. Joseph's Care Group in Thunder Bay. $13 million for new primary mental health services at Regent Park in Toronto. $5 million to Youthdale Treatment Center to open a 10-bed mental health unit for children and youth. $1.9 million through the government's Youth Suicide Prevention Plan, Mr. Speaker. $1.2 million for a new mental health and addictions crisis center in London. $10 million to the Canadian Mental Health Association in Waterloo. $6 million to hire approximately 80 new child and youth mental health workers. The list goes on and on, including an investment of $80 million in this year's budget for supportive housing for cognitive behavioral therapy and other interventions specific to youth wellness centers that that member voted against. Mr. Speaker, please. Mr. Speaker, please. Thank you. New question, the leader of the third party. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the acting Premier. Over the Thanksgiving weekend, a toxic and foul-smelling cloud was emitted from the Arsilara-Metal-Defasco site in Hamilton, sending a dark plume over the surrounding neighborhoods as families were trying to enjoy their holidays. This is the latest example of what is known in the steel industry as a process called coffining. Meanwhile, this emitter has failed to meet its air pollution compliance standards for 2017 and instead of enforcing his own standards, the Minister of Environment and Climate Change has granted an extension. Instead of granting extensions, will the minister come to Hamilton and figure out how to put a stop to the dangerous air pollution? Mr. Speaker, Minister of Environment and Climate Change. Minister of Environment and Climate Change? Thank you, and again, thank you for the question, because it really speaks to the incident and public, very public concern and how seriously our ministry takes these types of accidental emissions. Ministry staff met with Moscow officials this past Friday, Speaker, to discuss the recent emissions, that incident and what actions the company is taking to reduce these types of incidents going forward. We're told that the event was caused by a crane malfunction that required steel production to stop. Excess molten iron had to be temporarily stored. They call it coffining. The emission happened when the molten iron poured onto a damp coffining area. The company will also be providing the ministry with quarterly reports so we can ensure the company is avoiding future incidents. We are discussing with the company, we will be meeting with the company to make sure this doesn't happen. Supplementary? Well, Speaker, we know that it is not impossible to comply with these air pollution standards. A similar steel facility nearby not only complies with the 2017 standards, but is currently exceeding the 2020 standards as well. When the minister selectively enforces the rules for emitters, it's not fair to businesses that follow the rules. Will the minister come to Hamilton himself? And will he meet with environment Hamilton, with community groups, with businesses, with city councillors, local MPPs and other people to figure out how to put an end to these coffining events once and for all. Thank you, minister. Well, thank you, Speaker. You know, I'm open to continuing to discuss with all stakeholders how we can improve air quality not only in Hamilton, but in every city and town and area right across the Ontario Speaker. So I know that our ministry staff have implemented an increased observation and measurement of these coffining emissions from this particular facility. We're increasing the amount of observation we're doing. We're increasing the amount of monitoring we're doing. And we're going to really make sure that this particular facility doesn't exceed those standards. We're going to minimize emissions associated with those types of operations there. So, Speaker, to summarize, I'm quite happy to continue to talk with stakeholders not only in Hamilton, but across Ontario. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport. Speaker, Public Library Week gives us another chance to explore our local libraries and all that they have to offer. In 2015, 1134 library service points across Ontario received over 72 million in-person visits. Our libraries help children learn, provide resources for students and help small businesses and entrepreneurs. Last week, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport was at the Burlington Central Library to help launch Ontario Public Library Week and to announce the shortlist for the Public Library Service Awards. One of the nominees being from my ride in Kingston Frontenac Public Library for Viva Voce and the Juvenas Festival Building Youth Capacity in the Arts. Mr. Speaker, through you to the Minister, can she tell the members of this House more about libraries? Question. Thank you. Mr. Tourism, Culture and Sport. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you to the member of the Roddy of Kingston and the Islands for not only her question, but for her advocacy on behalf of libraries and her communities and beyond. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I would like to announce a special initiative to celebrate Library Week called Together We Read Ontario, a collaboration between two agencies of my ministry, the Ontario Media Development Corporation and the Southern Ontario Library Service. This joint initiative will highlight the work of talented Ontario authors by way of a provincial e-book club. During this week, Together We Read will feature two weeks, actually, of unlimited access to the e-book version of the sweetest one by Melanie Maw, winner of the 2017 Trillion Book Awards. As well as providing fiction titles for our reading pleasure, our library support lifelong learning, provide resources for students and newcomers and help small businesses and entrepreneurs thrive as research centres and community hubs across Ontario. Thank you, Mr. Supplementary. Thank you to the Minister for that response. Libraries are the pillars of knowledge in our city's towns and local communities, and not only are they our literary titles, but they're an integral tool when it comes to supporting our educational institutions. The services that libraries provide help to expand the knowledge and insight of the communities that they service and are meant to connect people to the resources in a way that is accessible and efficient, similar to the way that the Kingston Frontenac Public Library had a mobile unit at my barbecue this summer and actually lent out books right there in the park. The services funds will help to achieve that accessible and efficient level of service. Mr. Speaker, can the wonderful Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport please explain how this fund will support communities on a local level? Thank you, Minister. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you to the member for that question. Speaker, as the member noted, libraries are essential spaces and are a vehicle to spread knowledge within the community. I'm pleased to announce that we're continuing to make investments to libraries across Ontario. In fact, I'm delighted to say that we made this announcement attended by library leaders from the Ontario Library Association at the beautiful main branch of the Burlington Public Library. I'm also pleased to announce that the Burlington Public Library will receive nearly $25,000 from the Improving Library Digital Access. These are some of the examples that are part of the $3 million investment that we're making province-wide. Speaker, under this government culture strategy, we made a pledge to continue to support services like libraries to contribute to and enhance the quality of life of our communities. We're very proud of our investments and we're looking forward to continuing them. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. My question is for human sex trafficking can be found in every corner of Ontario and increasingly in our small cities and towns. In fact, Quartha Haliburton Victim Services, in my writing, has helped 21 human sex trafficking victims since December alone. It's a shocking statistic in a community like Lindsay. A group of victim service providers from Haliburton, Quartha Lakes, Peterborough and Northumberland applied for support from the government's anti-human trafficking community support fund, but they were rejected. So were front-line organizations in Kingston, Belleville, Prince Edward County, Orangeville, Leeds-Grenville, Hamilton and Niagara, just to name a few. My question is, will the minister ensure that front-line organizations like those in my region receive the support they need and deserve to save the lives of victims? Thank you. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Speaker, for this really important question. And I know that the member opposite is certainly a wonderful advocate in her own community for these services that are so vital, because, of course, she must know that our strategy to end human trafficking has been launched, is extremely active. The Minister of the Status of Women and I recently made a major announcement regarding funds available to communities to prevent and assist with the survivors of this heinous crime. And we certainly are providing sustained community supports to help survivors repair their lives. We're providing more help to train our justice sector partners, investigate and prosecute these crimes. This is a very complicated situation involving a number of our ministries. And we are doing everything we can to ensure that we help the survivors of human trafficking. Thank you. Supplementary. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Back to the minister. It appears that the government's approach is to wash their hands and say, we spent the budget amount and we're done. That's not acceptable, Mr. Speaker. Saving lives of human sex trafficking victims is not a bureaucratic box that you can just tick and move on from. The government left many frontline victim service organizations with the impression that they would have access to much of the $72 million figure that the government often likes to quote. The truth is they only ever had access to 18 million, one quarter of that amount. How can this government claim to be doing enough when so many human trafficking survivors remain without the help they so desperately need? Thank you. Minister? Mr. Speaker, I really do resent some of the implications of what was said by the member opposite. On this side of the house, we take this crime extremely seriously. We have established an anti-human trafficking office led by a survivor of human trafficking herself. The ministries of the Attorney General, the Ministry of Community Safety and Corrections, the Minister of the Status of Women and my ministry are all involved in having a very thoughtful approach to this particular problem. It is not a simple problem. It takes coordinated action and we ensure that those agencies that apply for funding are going to receive what they need to combat this crime in their area. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. A member from Windsor to come see on a point of order. Thank you, Speaker, on a point of order. I'd like to introduce a friend of mine in the members West Gallery today, Blake Roberts. He teaches political science at Wayne State University in Detroit and at the University of Windsor, a former CBC colleague. Welcome to Queens Park. Thank you. Welcome. There being no deferred votes, this house stands recess until 1 p.m. this afternoon.