 It is now time for oral questions. I recognize the Leader of the Opposition. Thank you. Thank you very much, Speaker. My first question is for the Premier. The Premier's secret plot to interfere in municipal elections is the act of a bully, not a leader. He never campaigned on it, Speaker. He never consulted anyone on it, and now he has no mandate whatsoever to inflict his own will on the people of Toronto, Niagara, Peel, York and Muskoka, with the most anti-democratic action that this province has seen in years. When did he decide to be a bully instead of a Premier, Speaker? I'm going to caution the House on the use of language. We have to ensure that the Speaker can maintain decorum in this House, and inflammatory language makes it much more difficult in order to do that, so I would caution members on their language. Premier, response. Well, through you, Mr. Speaker, Leader of the Opposition, I criss-cross this province and campaign on accountability, trust, reducing the size and cost to government. Unlike the Leader of the Opposition, I fought for the people of this great city for years to reduce the size and cost to government. I talked to thousands of people at the City of Toronto. About one single person came up to me and said, Doug, I want more politicians. They want less politicians. They want that money to go to priorities that matter to them. They want to make sure the $25 million that are saved are going to go to infrastructure, transit, that's a gridlock. It's gridlocked just like at City Hall's been gridlocked for decades. The Premier cooked up his backroom plot to steal power from the people and kept it hidden from 14 million Ontarians for the entire election campaign. There was no consultation and no fair process. And that means that today there's absolutely no legitimate mandate for this Premier to cancel regional elections and rip up Toronto's wards. Why is this Premier inflicting his will on millions of voters when he never told them the truth about what he was going to do? Let's do a withdrawal. Withdraw, Speaker. Premier. Mr. Speaker, I talked to tens of thousands of people across this province. I talked to thousands of people in Toronto. And every single person I spoke to in Toronto said City Hall is dysfunctional. It's not getting transit. They haven't even put a shovel in the ground for transit over 20 years. Housing is backlogged by a billion dollars. Infrastructure is crumbling right underneath our feet. We're going to reallocate that money to things that matter and priorities to the people. We don't believe in bigger government. We don't believe in more politicians, more bureaucracy. We're going to make sure the City of Toronto finally runs more efficiently. My friend. Final supplementary. Premier's secret plot, cooked up in a back room and hidden from the people of Ontario for the entire election campaign, doesn't just fit the very definition of a hidden agenda. It's also petty and being spirited. And it's a vendetta of a man who doesn't want to lead speaker. Instead, he wants to bully his way through. He wants to get his own way and exact revenge on his old political opponents. Why is this Premier abusing his power, abusing his power and showing such... Through you, Mr. Speaker. The difference between myself and the Leader of the Opposition. The Leader of the Opposition wants to talk about bullying. I'll tell you the definition of bullying when it comes to the Leader of the Opposition. Cutting 7,000 jobs, laying 7,000 jobs at the Pickering Power Station. They'd still be looking how to put fruit on their table. It was up to you. We're reducing council by 25 politicians. 22 politicians should be 25. 22 politicians that people love the idea. Out of anything I've ever done in politics, I've never had a better response than I've had about reducing the size and cost of government. My friend... Take your seat. Premier will take his seat. Thank you. Next question. Leader of the Opposition. Thank you, Speaker. My next question is for the Premier. The Premier's plot, elections in Peel, York, Niagara and Muskoka is an assault to our democracy. It robs people of their voice. It robs the people of Toronto of their right to decide how many councillors they elect. And it shows that the Premier is not interested in doing what's right for Ontario. He's driven by his own desire for power. Why is this Premier trying to control Toronto City Hall from the Premier's office? Mr. Speaker, in the City of Toronto, we have 25 MPPs. We have 25 MPPs. And some of those writings are larger than Prince Edward Island. They're larger than some provinces that your MPPs and my MPPs have to cover. I can assure you when we have 25 councillors, it's going to be 500,000 less sheets of paper. I'm protecting the environment. It's going to make fellow councillors' jobs easier. It's going to make the clerk's job a lot easier. Because right now, with 47 people, it would be dysfunctional. Nothing gets done at City Hall. There's gridlock on our streets and there's gridlock at City Hall. Nothing. Thank you. Thank you. We start the clock. Supplementary. The number of councillors that Toronto needs to serve the people of this city is a decision that belongs to the people of this city. The Premier doesn't care. All he cares about is inflicting his will and his own whims on the people of this city. Why is this Premier trying to rig local election speaker just to put more power in his own hands? Mr. Speaker, the Leader of Opposition wouldn't know what it is to serve the people of Toronto because you've never done it. You've never went out there. You've never talked to the people of comparison here. We have Los Angeles, about 4 million people. We're about half the size and we have 47 councillors. Mr. Speaker, when I went to Los Angeles and I told the people we had 44 councillors, they said, how can you get anything done? My answer is, we never got anything done. No one gets anything done because there's too many politicians, too little, too many fiefdoms down there in the interest of themselves. And I'm glad my neighbour, Councillor Proust, is here. Because we had many conversations and every other councillor, all 44, have agreed City Hall is dysfunctional. Nothing is happening. We start the clock. Final supplementary. Interfering in the middle of local elections to steal power away from the voters is not an act. I don't need any help. Thank you. I have to ask the member to withdraw. What? Withdraw. Interfering in the middle of local elections to take power away from the voters is not an act of leadership, Speaker. It is an abuse of power. Taking revenge on political opponents does not show strength. It is a deeply chilling sign of weakness and insecurity. And hiding one's secret plans during an entire election campaign does not show respect for voters. It demonstrates utter contempt for the people of Ontario. Why is this community acting like a dictator? Mr. Speaker, Leader of the Opposition, you go to the people. Maybe we should go out to the people in the streets, door knock, and ask what they want. Do they want 25 more politicians that they weren't consulted with? Or do they want less politicians? Do they want more police? Or do they want 800 less police than when I was there to protect the streets? Do they want more transit? Or do they want less transit? Do they want higher taxes or lower taxes? Because we know you want higher taxes. You want big government. You want dysfunctional government. We're going to reduce the size of cost to government. We're going to save the taxpayers $25 million. And we're going to get things going for once and for all with transit. We will get this city moving again. We can restart the clock. Next question, Leader of the Opposition. Thank you, Speaker. The questions to the Premier, who just indicated that this really is all about him. Let's not forget, this Premier could not get elected as Mayor of Toronto. It's only defeat rejected this Premier. But instead of accepting Toronto's verdict, this Premier is trying to settle political scores with the people of this city. Why is the Premier trying to punish the people of Toronto? Well, Mr. Speaker, granted, I only ended up with 330,000 votes when I ran for Mayor when five weeks. That's more than all the NDPs combined in the City of Toronto. We did a pretty good job in the last provincial election. It's like throwing boulders in a glass house. Leader of the Opposition. People want less government. They want lower taxes. We aren't going to be laying 7,000 people off like you were going to up in Pickering. We're going to create jobs. We're going to create transit. We're going to fix the infrastructure. And we're going to take care of the billion dollars backlogged of housing. People are sleeping on the streets because too much money is going to politicians, not into the taxpayer. Thank you. Restart the clock. Supplementary. Well, I would dare say that most Ontarians and most Canadians want democracy, not dictatorship. I'm going to caution the House and the members who are asking questions today on the use of inflammatory language. We have to ensure that this debate continues in a respectful and civil manner to the greatest extent possible, as we all expect and hope we can achieve today. Leader of the Opposition. Speaker, the Premier's decision to behave in this way instead of acting like a leader is the most revealing thing that he has done yet. By keeping his plot secret for the entire election campaign, he has shown that his word is in fact worthless. He has revealed that he will steal power away from the people he disagrees with and he will abuse his own office just... I'm going to ask the opposition to withdraw. Withdraw. And he will abuse his own office to take mean-spirited revenge on his political opponents. Why does this Premier have no idea how to act like a Premier? Speaker, for you, Leader of the Opposition, you won't ever have to worry about acting like a leader. Ocracy took place on June the 7th. In the Toronto area, the rest of the province decided they want smaller government, they want less taxes, they want lower hydro rates, they want accountability for the first time they've seen in the legend. God knows how long. Leader of the Opposition, you're going to have a chance to vote on this. All the power to you that people voted on June the 7th to make sure we start respecting the taxpayers. And that's exactly what we're going to do. The next question, I would remind all members that you make your remarks through the chair. Next question, the member for York Centre. My questions to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Minister, what a wonderful weekend in Toronto as a resident of North Toronto. I'm excited, I am excited about our government's plan to enable Toronto to save on costs, streamline decision making and ensure equal representation for all Toronto residents on City Council. Can the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing tell us how the government is helping Toronto with the upcoming municipal election? I want to thank the member for the question. Local governments deliver critical services to residents. It's in everyone's interest, Speaker, that they are efficient and respect taxpayers' dollars. Speaker, we believe that the taxpayer in Toronto will benefit from the changes that are proposed in the bill. I understand that the municipal election period is already underway. Voting day is just three months away. And that's why, Speaker, my ministry intends to work with the city to mitigate operational issues under this proposed legislation. To allow candidates to develop revised plan, Speaker, we're going to be sitting down with the clerk's office. We'll be extending the nomination period for those councillor and school board candidates to September 14th. I can tell the member more on this. We're working with the city on this issue. Restart the clock. Supplementary. Speaker, thank you. Back to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Thank you very much, Minister. It's great to hear that you have Toronto's needs in mind and I'm more optimistic than ever. I'm more optimistic than ever about the future of the city. Will the minister go back and ask Ontario's Chief Electoral Officer to share the most recent voters list with the city clerk? Minister. Thank you, Speaker. And again, I want to thank the member. I'm very glad that she asked this question. As I said, I believe that the taxpayer of Toronto will benefit from the proposed changes in this bill as soon as possible. And that's why we've already had conversations with Ontario's Chief Electoral Officer, Grega Senza. Should the City of Toronto require or request some assistance, the Chief Electoral Officer has agreed, Speaker, has agreed to assist the city with moving forward to those two new electoral boundaries, including providing revision and updated information from the most recent election. If passed, Speaker, our proposed legislation would align Toronto's municipal boundaries with those that are already in existence with the federal government and with the members of the district. We are taking decisive action so that on October 22nd, Torontonians can vote for a streamlined government, one that is... Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier tell Ontarians where, exactly in his plan for the people, he said he would specifically cut Toronto City Council in half in the middle of our election? Mr. Speaker, when I was down at City Council, I put it to a vote. I spoke a hundred times about reducing the size and cost of government. Matter of fact, if you saw on Friday, if you saw on Friday, we had a diverse group of councillors and you'll probably see them today come down to support, to support reducing the size and cost of government. We had over 12 councillors come out, said this is the right decision. 44 councillors, no. It's dysfunctional down there. Nothing is getting done except wasting taxpayers' money, getting in more debt. We're feeling pressure of over $550 million down on the city and they aren't coming to us to get bailed out. I can guarantee you that. They're going to start taking care of their own house with a smaller government. Good governments in any corporation is seven to nine because you can't get anything done if you have 20 people around the table. Thank you. Thank you. Start the clock. Supplementary. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Premier has no mandate to interfere entirely on his own in Toronto's election. Why does the Premier think that he knows better than the people of Toronto? Premier? The municipal fairies in housing. Thank you, thanks. Minister of municipal fairies in housing. Thank you, Speaker. Speaker, during the election we committed to bringing accountability and trust back to government. So, Speaker, to reduce the size and cost of government. Speaker, we believe that under this proposed legislation, the people... Member for Don Valley East. Member for Don Valley East must come to order. Minister. Speaker, we believe that on October 22nd, under this proposed legislation, the people of Toronto will have a streamlined council ready to make those important on behalf of our constituents to have the right priorities under an effective council. This is very important for us. We talked about reducing the size and cost of government. Thank you. Just a question for the member for Eglinton Lawrence. My question is for the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Our government for the people is committed to reducing the size and cost of government. Can the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing tell us about the steps that the government is taking? All right. Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Thanks, Speaker, and I want to thank the member for the question. During the campaign, we received a very strong message from Ontarians that they wanted us to respect taxpayers' dollars. And on June 7th, it was clear that they wanted a government that got things done. And, Speaker, that's exactly what we're going to do. Today, I will propose legislation that, if passed, would reduce the number of Toronto councillors to 25. Speaker, as you know, local government delivers critical services to their residents. It's in everyone's interest, Speaker, that they do so in an effective and efficient manner for their taxpayers. The Torontonians, as I've said, can now vote under this proposed legislation for a free mind council that, when elected, are ready to work on the priorities of their constituents. Restart the clock. Supplementary. Back to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Thank you very much, Minister, for the answer. This is great news for Toronto and for the people and the council. This legislation would not only benefit Toronto Council, but would also improve the lives of all Torontonians. Minister. Well, again, I want to thank the member, as I said earlier. The proposed legislation would reduce the number of Toronto councillors to 25. This is a meaningful change that will dramatically improve the decision-making process at the City of Toronto. For too long, Speaker, that process has been discussions that have went around and around and around and not been able to make those important decisions. We believe that this bill will allow the City to make those important decisions, whether they be on infrastructure, whether they be on housing or transit, to have a streamlined council that can make decisions faster. And at the same time, Speaker, over the four years would save Toronto taxpayers 25 million. It will also provide a financial benefit to those constituents. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. My question to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. When did the Premier tell the Minister his plan to interfere in Toronto's election during the middle of their campaign? When? Speaker, through you to the member. It's very important for me to remind the member of the message that both our party and his party and the other parties received in the June 7th election. Make no mistake, Speaker, we received very clear mandate for accountability and trust and to put that back into government. We also made it very clear during the election, Speaker, and I want to remind the member that discussing, reducing the size and cost of government was something that my Premier and members of my caucus made countless times during the election. We went through this campaign and the Premier and our members talked to tens of thousands of Ontarians. They talked about the interest and the information to be able to provide this to the House today. As I said before, my plan is to propose this legislation. It will dramatically cut the size of Toronto City Council, but it will more importantly... Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. Again to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. The Premier didn't campaign on interfering in Toronto's election in the middle of the campaign. It didn't come up until Thursday night, three months after the municipal election began. It wasn't in his platform. He didn't mention it in a single debate. He didn't tell Ontarians when, Minister, did the Premier tell you his plan? I remember for the question, no one in Ontario's Speaker believes that we need more politicians. Council makes it almost impossible to make those decisions on behalf of their constituents. We believe the proposed legislation would streamline Council and make better decisions. I don't know about the member, but I certainly believe that having 25 MPs covering an electoral district and 25 MPPs covering an electoral... The same electoral district is out of touch with having 25 city councillors deal with that same electoral district. I think it provides better government. I think it provides better decisions, faster decisions to be able to deal with the priorities of the citizens of Toronto. I ask that you join us in supporting this proposed legislation. Restart the clock. The member for Scarborough, Guildwood. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Premier. Your overnight decision to mettle in the Ontario Municipal Elections is concerning. Again and again, you drive chaos through this system. Given that the elections have already begun as of May 1st, with hundreds of candidates already registered, signs have been purchased, people have signed up, this creates chaos at a time when we need stability and strong leadership to focus on things like NAFTA. The Premier is sending a message to investors that he can't manage a stable government. He speaks out of both sides of his mouth. Consultations... That's the member to withdraw. I withdraw, Speaker. Speaker, why consultations for sexual education and not for municipal elections decisions? Will the Premier commit to consultations in this instance for the city of Toronto? Thank you. Premier? Municipal Affairs. Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Thank you, Speaker. I want to thank the member for the question. As I said, our proposed legislation will change for this election the number of councillors within the City of Toronto. We've made it on Friday. We talked about the changes that we're proposing that would allow the nomination period to be extended from Friday, July 27th, the Friday that was passed to September 14th. We've committed, as I said earlier today, to work with the clerks on those transitional issues for candidates. We've also reached out to Ontario's Chief Electoral Officer to try to help the municipality deal with the most important aspect of the newest possible voters list. We're going to continue to work with the clerks' office and the City of Toronto as we manage over the proposed piece of legislation. It's, again, but it goes back to the underlying principle. We campaign on respecting taxpayers' dollars. Mr. Speaker, to the Minister then. Like most people, I was shocked to learn from the Toronto Star overnight that this government is planning to cancel regional chair elections and interfering with local races in Toronto. As the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, a former mayor, in fact, we expect better. You stood in this House and voted in favour of the bill for an elected chair in York Region, saying, we all agree that this bill would increase the accountability and make the system more democratic and the people of York Region want change. Minister, why have you changed your tune? Shae, response. Mr. Speaker, I want to again thank the member for the question. The Liberals imposed the bill on this House in 2016. There were many stakeholders who felt it needed to be hitting a pause. The Premier and I on Friday talked about hitting a pause on those four regional governments. They'll go back to the way they operated in the 2014 election. There is remains unchanged for the other three regional governments. I think we were very clear that we are going to move forward with those changes as well as the City of Toronto changes today in the proposed bill. I look forward to engaging our regional government partners in a couple of weeks at the Association of Municipalities of Ontario Conference. We're going to start the dialogue on an informal basis and we'll probably have something more formal in the fall. Next question. The member for Brampton Centre. We've got the opportunity to finally elect a chair to the Region of PO. I apologize. Next question is the member for Brampton South. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Minister of the Municipal Affairs and Housing. Our government for the people is committed to restoring accountability and trust and bringing efficiency back to government. Can the Minister of the Municipal Affairs and Housing tell us what our government is doing to help regional government work more effectively and efficiently for their taxpayers? Mr. Minister, the member for Brampton South for that question, as I said earlier, it's my intention to present legislation that, if passed, would put a pause on changes brought in 2016 without consultation to create a new layer of politicians, elected regional chairs in York, Peel, Niagara and Muscova. Speaker, the last thing that families, businesses and municipal leaders in these region need is another layer of politicians. We're proposing to go back to the way it was before 2016. The other regional government Speaker would continue to elect their representatives as normal, but Speaker in York, Peel, Niagara and Muscova, we're going to take a pause. We intend to reverse legislation imposed on municipalities in 2016. This is another example, Speaker. It's another example of our government getting out of the way and allowing those councils to work in the best interests of their community. Mr. Speaker, back to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Thank you very much, Minister, and thank you for acting now to reverse legislation that was unfairly imposed on municipalities. Minister, what about the other regions? Can the Minister tell the House how the government intends to make sure all regional governments in Ontario work more effectively and efficiently for the people? Thank you, Speaker, and again I want to thank the member for the question. Speaker, our government for the people is committed to finding the most effective and most efficient ways for municipalities to work for their taxpayers. Speaker, as the Premier has said, one thing every politician at every level in every region needs to understand and remember is that we all care the same boss. We all work for the people. We're going to take a long look at regional government where things have worked and where they haven't worked so well. Speaker, I'm going to start this review informally at our discussion at the upcoming Association of Municipalities of Ontario conference in the city of Ottawa. I really want to hear from municipal leaders at that conference in an informal setting how they feel things have worked and in some cases they're going to be a little bit more efficient and then after that we'll have more discussions perhaps in a more Thank you. My question is for the Premier. In Brampton we welcome to the opportunity to finally elect a chair to the region appeal. So we were shocked to learn that without any public input this government has decided to drag Brampton backwards. And now this government has taken away the 1.4 million residents in the region appeal. The people in my community deserve to elect a chair. Can the Premier explain why he is taking away our community's right to elect their government? Premier? I know the people in Brampton very well. Extremely well. Matter of fact I know the people in Brampton center very well and I think I'm going to do a little door and out when I door knocked you want more politicians you want more layers of government because your MPP wants bigger government, more taxes I can promise you not one single person in Brampton center want more politicians want higher taxes they want more taxes that's what the people of Brampton center want. We could go up and if I went up to them they would be happy to trade in a bunch of politicians for millions of dollars of services they'd say show them the door and that's what we're going to do. Restart the clock. Supplementary. Member for Brampton center. Thank you Mr. Speaker back to the Premier. During this government's short time in office we have seen back room deal after back room deal leaving the people of Ontario worse off. Now the Premier has suddenly taken away the right of a community and the right of a general chair. This type of unilateral meddling does nothing but move our communities backwards. So I ask you which of your insider friends are you propping up to power by manipulating the election in the appeal region? Through you Mr. Speaker back in 2016 I don't remember any consultation happening when the previous government rammed it down the throats of the region appeal to have duplication of government. I don't remember when the city wanted increased politicians three more politicians I don't remember any consultation about raising taxes increasing politicians but I can tell you that's the Premier to take a seat the official opposition has to come to order I can't hear the Premier Premier and I just want to remind leader of the opposition to NDP you mentioned me running for mayor I ended up getting 88,646,000 more votes than the NDP all combined still have 20 minutes start the clock Member for Perry Salma Skoda Question is to the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry we've all heard the tragic news of Jerry Godwa of the Cadheon First Nation Community in Northern Alberta who died while supporting the fire suppression efforts in Red Lake, Ontario on behalf of the people of Ontario I would like to thank him for his services and express my heartfelt condolences as I can always be remembered as a hero can the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry provide this house with an update on how fire suppression efforts are progressing across Ontario Minister of Natural Resources I also would like to once again express our condolences the government's condolences on Mr. Godwa's family I think it's very important that we recognize the bravery and courage that Mr. Godwa displayed in the name of providing for his family and protecting those areas for which he was deployed I'd like to also express my appreciation to all the staff and volunteers who continue to do their part to this date we receive support from our provincial partners as well as from the United States and Mexico and we anticipate more fire rangers coming from Mexico and more equipment from our provincial partners and we're also exploring an option that would allow retired rangers to come back on the job on a temporary basis to provide added assistance and expertise again Mr. Speaker our top priority is safety of the public protection of property and safety of emergency responders Thank you and back to the Minister I want to thank all the firefighters from Ontario, other provinces the United States and Mexico who are working so hard to fight the many fires around northern Ontario in particular I want to thank those around 33 in the north end of my riding I was pleased to join the Minister and the Premier in visiting the brave men and women fighting Parry Sound 33 on Friday can the Minister share with this house and with the people of my riding what is being done to stop this and other fires Minister Mr. Speaker on Friday the Premier the member from Parry Sound, Muskoka and myself visited the Brit Command Centre near Parry Sound to visit those who are fighting the fires and to see the effects for ourselves and we must say we are truly amazed at the dedication and professionalism of the Command Centre and those doing their part to keep Ontario safe Currently the fire situation across northern and central Ontario is still active this is because of warm temperatures windy conditions, minimal precipitation and frequent thunderstorms with plenty of lightning we are actively monitoring the fire situation and fighting key fires from the air our top priority as I said earlier is the safety of the public protection of property and the safety of emergency responders we are fully prepared and ready to protect the public and our natural resources and I have instructed my department to explore all options as how we continue to assist and dedicate resources to these fires next question the member from St. Catharines Mr. Speaker my question is for the Premier does the Premier believe that consulting with the public is important to the political process yes or no Premier I want to thank the member you know my Premier has consulted with tens of thousands of people during the election and I am chariots embraced our message to respect taxpayers dollars as well Speaker we've talked countless times during the campaign about bringing accountability and trust back into this government back to again move forward to our legislative agenda where I'll be proposing legislation that will reduce the number of councillors in the City of Toronto that will press a pause on the regional government changes that the previous government imposed in 2016 we believe very strongly Speaker that the mandate we received and the message that we were given during that election was to respect taxpayers dollars to make government work accountable and efficiently that's what we're doing in the City of Toronto Mr. Speaker this government just can't seem to keep their argument straight first they go on about the importance of and I quote the Deputy Premier here a proper end to end consultation that is completely inclusive and that hears from everyone and then days later they turn around and force changes on the communities like Niagara with no word from the people we have seen this government rail on and on and on about the importance of public consultation but they only seem to care when it suits their far right extremist friends if public consultation is such an important part of this political process for the conservatives why, why did they think, why, why did they think it was appropriate to skip it when removing democratic rights from the you know no one but the new democrats believe that having more politicians is the right thing to do over and over again we'll hear from this side of the house talking about a bloated government more government, more politicians I don't believe that having more politicians is the right way to go we heard clearly during the campaign to respect taxpayers' dollars to bring back accountability and transparency and trust in government you know we're moving forward to reduce the size of government to make it more streamlined to be able to make decisions faster for the priorities of their constituents and to raise the price that new democrats are against having efficient government next question, member for Hastings, Lennox and Addington I appreciate the calm in the house right now, my question is to the minister of the environment our government was elected on a clear, clear mandate to put people first and to make life affordable for families in Ontario and that included to the Auditor General looked at the previous government's cap and scrape scheme it was concluded the program would cost $8 billion it would quote not significantly lower emissions within the province in fact the Auditor General went on to say that this program would achieve only 20% of its desired results clearly Mr. Speaker that is not value for money the taxpayers of Ontario deserve more will the minister of the environment please assure this house the real challenges we face with respect to taxpayers Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker I thank the member from Hastings Lennox and Addington for the question as we know and as we discussed the previous government's cap and trade carbon tax was an effective program he quite rightly reminds us that the Auditor General confirmed through her approach to this that the government cap and trade would actually cost businesses and consumers $8 billion not only see a slight reduction in emissions and as was mentioned Mr. Speaker he thought that it would fall 80% short of the targets that were set was surprising to Ontarians and that is why we ran on a on a program that would eliminate that and that is why we are saying that the era of carbon tax in Ontario was over the NDP would continue that program the NDP would in fact build on that program the NDPs talked about the highest carbon tax in the world our government will stand up for taxpayers our government will eliminate the carbon tax restart the clock supplementary well thank you Mr. Speaker I certainly thank the minister for his answer that does respect taxpayers the conclusion reached by the Auditor General was the same conclusion reached by the people in June the 7th the Liberals cap and trade carbon scheme is nothing more than a complete tax grab for years families have struggled with the increased cost of this tax and I hear stories that most members do everywhere we go I know that's why my constituents are excited to hear that our government is now moving quickly on our promise to eliminate the cap and trade scheme that truly punishes families Mr. Speaker we promise that relief would be on the way for the hard working people of Ontario promise is made promise is made the minister of the environment for the minister of the environment submit to my constituents the true relief Mr. Speaker as with the member I heard the same thing for my constituents in Ajax people are tired of being taxed for everything that they do we are winding down this program to help working families to help families in Ontario and make sure they benefit from the program cheaper gas prices, lower energy bills more money in their pockets eliminating the cap and trade carbon tax will save the average family $260 a year every year in addition to saving families money it'll lower the burden for Ontario business it's anticipated through the cancellation of the cap and trade carbon tax Ontario will create an estimated 14,000 jobs wow our legislation is great news for the people of Ontario as the member said promise is made promise is kept restart the clock next question member for Davenport thank you my question is for the premier why has this conservative government out Toronto City Council specifically not any other municipality with this unilateral action to slash the number of Toronto City Councillors is it because he has a score to settle with Torontonians who rejected him as mayor failed me Mr. Speaker member of the opposition we had an election the people of Toronto they were very clear with more votes than all the opposition we ended up with more votes to fulfill our commitment of reducing the size and cost of government we were very clear that we're going to have a smaller government we were very clear about saving taxpayers money reducing their hydro rates reducing taxes getting infrastructure built getting transit built taking care of the backlog of housing was and that was the mandate the people of Toronto and Ontario gave our party the move for and that's exactly what we're going to do restart the clock supplementary Mr. Speaker this government is proposing to slash the number of Toronto City Councillors from 47 to just 25 we'll give the member extra time thank you this is being done despite the fact that the city spent two years consulting on this issue 47 Councillors would be the best in terms of representation and ensuring that every voter is treated equally now Toronto will have the same number of Councillors as Ottawa a city with one third of Toronto's population so I ask you again why is this conservative government undermining the foundations of our I apologize for asking the government's side she's 10 feet away from me and I can't hear that the member repeat her question so I can hear it I ask you again Mr. Speaker why is this conservative government undermining the foundations of our democracy in order to take revenge on old foes for you Mr. Speaker member of the opposition did you see the 12 Councillors stand up the Fisley Conservative Councillors representing close to 2 million people in the City of Toronto what their constituents want they want smaller government they want transit built for the first time ever in Toronto that's why we're going to be uploading the subway system that's why we're finally going to build subways for the people of Scotland member for Burlington my question is for the President of the Treasury Board my constituents in Burlington are concerned about the state of Ontario's books Mr. Speaker under the previous Liberal government they've seen our province's debt climb to become the highest of any subnational jurisdiction in the world they've also worried that we don't know yet the whole truth Mr. Speaker they watched as the Auditor General called into question the previous government's accounting practices and discovered that their promises to return to a balanced budget was hiding an even bigger structural deficit than we imagined Mr. Speaker can the minister explain how our governments for the people will begin to dig Ontario out of this mess President of the Treasury thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you to the member from Burlington and let your constituents know in Burlington that help is on the way we know that Ontario doesn't have a revenue problem Mr. Speaker but under the previous government it certainly has a spending problem we have been clear that we will put Ontario on a healthy financial footing and we will ensure that the province can afford to strengthen and maintain the vital public services the province depends on that is why our government has launched an independent financial commission of inquiry to show us how the province got into this mess and a line by line audit which will begin to show us the way out this audit will provide the government with a detailed analysis of current spending benchmark this against other jurisdictions and recommend areas that can be improved Mr. Speaker supplementary question Speaker back to the minister thank you Mr. Speaker and I thank the minister for his answer and his diligence in ensuring Ontario can trust the government's books I know the people of my riding and across Ontario are looking to the government to find efficiencies while continuing to deliver vital services in an effective way can the minister please update the House on our government's efforts to restore the confidence of taxpayers that their money is being spent with prudence and care President of the Treasury Board Thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you again to the member from Burlington for that important question we promised Mr. Speaker that we would put an end to the party with the taxpayers money we know that fiscal reviews like this one have the greatest potential to help target efforts to find solutions Mr. Speaker that is why I'm proud our government has wasted no time in launching a line by line audit this audit includes a clear commitment to transformational change while protecting frontline jobs and services Mr. Speaker we are not only restoring trust and accountability we are ensuring Ontario is strongly positioned to deliver high quality sustainable public services now and in the future Mr. Speaker the government and our Premier will not stop until we have restored responsibility and Ontario's finances to a healthy place once again Start the clock next question the member for Brampton East My question is for the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing the Premier cannot just wake up one day and unilaterally decide to change the municipal electoral landscape for the elections money has already been invested and campaigns have been under way for months does the minister know how much this undemocratic decision will actually cost and court challenges that will inevitably come forward Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing I want to thank the member for the question I think my Premier was very clear we had an election he spoke to many people in Brampton about respecting taxpayers' dollars about making sure that government at all levels is more effective and more efficient our proposed legislation other than the changes for the City of Toronto will only deal with the four regional governments that were the part of this previous government's 2016 legislation all we're doing is pressing the pause button while we move forward with a discussion Mr. Partners about reasons I know that the opposition benches are going to howl because they're always going to stand up for bigger government they're always going to stand up for more politicians that's not the message that we heard from from an Italian speaker we heard very clearly to respect taxpayers' dollars and to reduce the size and cost of government supplementary question Mr. Speaker the Premier is acting like a dictator changing the the member must withdraw who's midway through the campaign we know at least one court challenge has already been filed again can the minister tell us how much Ontarians will be on the hook fighting court challenges caused by this dictator like plot ask the member to withdraw response? Mr. Minister of Affairs thank you speaker it's very regrettable some of the words that are being used in this legislation today very regrettable our government for the people is committed to finding effective and efficient ways for government to deliver services again speaker in terms of the regional governments it's only the four that were dealt with in the government the previous governments 2016 legislation I've mentioned very very clearly that we're going to start an informal discussion with our governments at the Association of Municipalities and Ontario conference in a couple of weeks in the city of Ottawa we want to engage them speaker to find out things that have worked in our regional government system and also things that I think we need to improve on it's all again a part of us having an efficient and effective way to deliver public services and especially those municipal services that are the closest services to the people we want to respect those municipalities we want to engage them thank you thank you thank you Mr. Speaker I was out on Friday and my question is for the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing I was out on Friday consulting with the good folks of Al Noa called them in township and in fact Mr. Minister I met with the mayor and you know what was the first thing the mayor told me was that the first move they made to restore accountability and trust was to reduce the size of their municipality as a result as a result Mr. Speaker as a result they've been better able to deliver municipal services to their constituents so my question is for the Minister what is this government doing to ensure we better respect the hard-earned tax dollars of Ontarians again speaker I want to thank the member for the question there's no doubt speaker that we on this side of the house believe in better local government and during our last campaign we were very clearly very clearly to respect taxpayers dollars we also with the changes that are proposed in this legislation we want to get to the point speaker that on October 22 the people of Toronto can vote for a streamline council just like the council that you talked about will vote for a streamline council that will be ready to make quick decisions in the best interest of their taxpayers it's the right decision to do I again ask you to join us that concludes question period for today Pursuit to standing order 38a the member for Toronto Centre has given notice of her dissatisfaction with the answer to her question given by the Premier concerning Toronto's municipal election this matter will therefore be debated Tuesday at 6pm there being no deferred votes this house is recessed until 1pm this afternoon