 It is now time for Earl questions, and I recognize the leader of Her Majesty's loyal opposition Speaker my first question this morning is to the Premier You know families are watching across Ontario with growing concern as our province Goes backwards slides backwards and our fight against the COVID-19 pandemic People have been desperately waiting for news from the Premier about the plan that the four government has apparently been working on Since the mid-summer Today cbc news reports that they have a copy of a plan which is entirely incomplete Despite us being in the midst of the second wave And has virtually no investment None whatsoever In containing outbreaks for schools and no investment virtually nothing to address the serious risks in long-term care Why with the second wave of this pandemic upon us Is this government still scrambling to chase the crisis Speaker and in fact we are prepared for a second wave which is happening in other countries in the world and across Canada as well. We knew this was going to happen. We have been preparing for it The plan that was that appeared in the cbc article was a very early draft Of the plan. We've been working on it for several months What was appeared then was A portion of what we're planning to do and we are unveiling our plan. Um as we speak We've indicated several aspects of it But we have a comprehensive keeping ontarian safe preparing for future waves of COVID-19 plan That contains six elements that is based on protecting our most vulnerable citizens in long-term care homes Retirement homes other congregate living settings and in education as well I will be happy to speak about the plan further in my supplemental response. Thank you A supplementary question Well speaker ever since cases began to increase weeks and weeks ago the premier's unpreparedness and Fane surprise have garnered widespread criticism throughout the medical community The backlogs of tests are growing The premier couldn't even say yesterday how many people had been turned away from testing Cash strap hospitals say the system is and I quote heading for a crash And to quote the medical officer of the michael garen hospital. The plan is wholly insufficient Why has the premier waited until the second wave is well underway to even begin to take any action Mr. Bell Thank you. Well, in fact our keeping ontarian safe preparing for future waves of COVID-19 plan is integrated It's complex. It addresses all of these issues. It hasn't even been fully rolled out to the public yet That is what we are in the process of doing because it is so um Integrated and complex that each individual part of it Deserves its own day to be discussed because there are so many elements to it The plan is focused on six different areas one maintaining strong public health measures Including the continued expansion of testing and case and contact management We are building on what we have already built very quickly in the last few months But we're building on that again And I will remind the everyone here that we have now exceeded over 40,000 tests per day in ontario And we are building on that We will be close to 50,000 very shortly We're implementing the largest fluid immunization program in ontario's history We're accelerating efforts to reduce health service backlogs Thank you very much and the final supplementary Well speaker a plan to deal with the second wave of this pandemic should have been in place before the second wave actually happened It should have been in place before Now we have an incomplete plan that is several weeks late and billions of dollars short Instead of a plan to cap class sizes to staff long-term care homes and to end the chaos in testing sites We see a government that is once again chasing the crisis And a premier that is angrily blaming everyone but himself for the lack of preparedness in this province Why with the second wave of the pandemic upon us is this government still scrambling? Mr. Health Thank you, Speaker. I would say through you speaker to the leader of the official opposition that we have a comprehensive plan that we are already Implementing we have already taken steps and have over the all of the summer months To be prepared for a dramatic increase in the number of cases that we have coming forward of covet 19 with the flu season Approaching with the issues that we have in trying to deal with the backlogs of procedures and surgeries that we had to postpone During wave one and with the increase in patients that we're receiving because we are doing The infect infection prevention and control in our long-term care homes by decanting some of those Residents back into hospital where they will continue to be safe and healthy We have invested hundreds of millions of dollars into Implementing all of these measures and dealing with the situation so that today we can handle those increased volumes in terms of testing The lab tests that need to be done and making sure that we can keep our vulnerable populations safe. That's what we are doing now The next question Once again the leader of the opposition speaker the leaked plan the government's leaked plan Is especially concerning for residents of long-term care homes Yesterday there were already 31 homes in outbreak and that compares to only 19 the weekend on the weekend So in a couple of days time it went from 19 to 31 Long-term care operators staff residents have all been imploring this government to adopt infection Control and prevention plans and help them to deal with that But the incomplete plan falls drastically drastically short of what's absolutely needed for our long-term care system So my question is why is protecting seniors in long-term care missing from the plan Well the draft plan that was Received by the cpc was just a draft. It was an early draft that went through several different iterations Dealing with students both primary secondary and post secondary students dealing with Protecting our most vulnerable citizens people in long-term care homes in retirement homes In other congregate living settings for people with perhaps intellectual disabilities All of that is contained as part of our plan because we need to limit the community spread which is now Dealing with people in our community and moving into some of our long-term care homes, which we are dealing with as well My colleague the minister of long-term care and I are working together To deal with the situation with our long-term care homes to make sure we can continue With the testing that needs to be done and also to limit the community transmission Which is why we are talking to people on a daily basis about how they need to please Spons to follow public health measures Keeping that physical distancing wearing a mask frequent hand hygiene and staying home if you feel ill that is Thank you Speaker in a letter to long-term care operators earlier this month Month the government literally walked away from any responsibility for staffing shortages and uh, I'm going to quote What they what the ministry has said to these homes staffing is ultimately the responsibility of the licensee Homes that are part of a chain are encouraged to look to the chain to assist in addressing staffing issues Going forward the supply of hospital resources is becoming more scarce And they may not be available to assist to this extent that you may require The government is walking away From the help that long-term care needs in other words these homes Are on their own After the horrors of last spring where the premier promised that he wouldn't spare any expense to protect seniors in long-term care Why is he breaking his promise? Minister long-term care, thank you speaker and thank you to the member opposite for the question that is Categorically wrong I think this is a situation where we have a comprehensive plan That will address the issues in long-term care to stabilize homes and we have never stopped working on this It has been continuous in fact with even more focus Knowing a second wave is coming to stabilize the homes to stabilize the staffing. There is a robust plan There is there are dollars behind it and we are continuing to work with the ipak investing both capital and for modifications of homes and as well increased personnel This is ongoing And we are in consultation with our sector to understand their needs and continue to meet them Particularly with the ipak situation So I want to I want to remind you that we have never stopped working on this It is our government's number one Priority the safety and well-being of residents and staff in long-term care and we will continue to focus on this The final supplementary Repeated to the government is the result of the consultation The result of the consultation the minister is talking about was basically a letter to long-term care home Providers that they're on their own and they have to solve their own problem with staffing The premier has yet to show any sort of plan to deal with the the staffing challenges in our long-term care homes In fact, he's making it clear that the government doesn't have one and has no intention of providing one That's what that letter says now We all know that the government hasn't done enough to get ready for the second wave in the first place But in long-term care This is literally a matter of life and death and the deaths are occurring again in the second wave So when will the government acknowledge the very real danger the second wave poses for residents of long-term care And make the desperately needed investments that operators staff residents and the government's own Experts have been calling for Ministered long-term care Thank you again, Speaker and thank you for the question. I'll repeat Next week, we will be rolling out a comprehensive plan that addresses a robust number of long-term care issues Stabilizing homes helping with ipak helping with staff Our homes need to be reminded that they need to do as much as they possibly can as well But this is a collaborative effort With multiple ministries the chief medical officer of health Ontario health public health ontario Ottawa public health where some of the homes are hardest hit with those outbreaks right now, but they are stabilizing and I am receiving Information every day. I'm in constant contact with the hospital involved and the the medical officer of health in Ottawa To know what is happening on the ground and our outbreaks the majority of those outbreaks have no resident cases Wave one we had many learnings from that And we will continue to focus on long-term care. Thank you The next question The member for to miss ming cocker. Thank you speaker. My question is to the minister of health The cbc is reporting that the government's leaked now draft what fully comprehensive plan Will plow hundreds of millions of dollars into for-profit health care that part's not a surprise But for months hospitals have pleaded with the government for funding and collaboration To deal with the pending crisis of a second wave The public health care system is fully capable Of carrying out surgeries and diagnostics when the government actually invests In public care, but this government According to the plan is choosing to ignore them So now our hospitals are literally laying off nurses while the plan promotes for-profit clinics Why is this government ramming through for-profit health care instead of investing in publicly Paid for and publicly delivered health care in Ontario Order mr. Health to apply Thank you speaker That is categorically wrong. I would say to the member absolutely Order Our full plan and it was only a draft. I will continue to tell you It was only a draft of that plan that the cbc received When I asked the official opposition and the Independent members to come to order minister of health to reply It has gone through several other iterations. It is changed significantly from the draft that was the cbc obtained But I can tell you that what we are doing in our fall plan Is as part of our plan is to work on the several hundred thousand Tests and surgeries that were postponed because of the first wave We don't want to do that anymore because people have been waiting I'm sure you all have constituents who have been waiting for months To have knees or hips replaced or to have cardiac or cancer surgery We don't want to have to do that anymore But our public resources our public hospitals are working as hard as they can But we need to work through this backlog as we face a second wave of COVID-19 and as we face Flu vaccinations and flu season coming forward. I will have more to say my supplemental the supplementary question Bad enough that private health care was even in the draft plan The hospitals need funding and support Not shifting precious public dollars into for-profit health care The Ontario hospital association said the plan for dealing with the backlog of health care should be built from the ground up In partnership with hospitals They said and I quote it will need to be implemented by doctors nurses and other hospital staff Who will need time and resources to continue mobilizing and quote Yet instead of working with hospitals doctors nurses and frontline heroes The government continues to listen to insiders with deep pockets They're even issuing pink slips to nurses Why is this government refusing to invest in public health care to clear these backlogs? But more importantly Why is there always money available for for-profit? Care when we have a public system publicly delivered health care is what we need and that's what we need to keep Why are you always fighting you for? Minister health to apply There's absolutely no fight going on about that we are investing hundreds of millions of dollars in our public hospitals to allow them To continue to deliver Excellent patient-centered care, but we are in the middle of a pandemic. Have you noticed? We have hundreds of thousands of procedures that we have to move forward with And we have also independent health facilities that have always been there. We're not creating anymore They have always been there and we need to use every resource that we can right now in order to deal with COVID The medical association just issued a release yesterday Where they are encouraging the government to provide necessary resources to increase capacity and enable more procedures and services Including response expanding independent health facilities And so what we are trying to do is to make sure that we use all of our public facilities We have given hundreds of millions of dollars to our hospitals and they are doing excellent work, but the reality The opposition has to come to order The next question the member for chatham kent lemington Thank you very much. Mr. Speaker. My question is to the minister of municipal affairs and housing Minister since day one you've been a strong advocate of modernizing Ontario's burdensome building code You've been focused on taking a complex document that was overlooked by previous governments and using it to stimulate Our economy while maintaining ontario's high standards for energy conservation and public Public safety our government is committed on reducing barriers to ontario's Manufacturers to keep the cost of construction affordable and at the same time Make housing more affordable as well minister. I understand that on august 27th 2020 you and our solicitor general Signed the reconciliation agreement on construction codes. So minister, could you please share more about this exciting initiative with the house? minister of municipal affairs and Thanks, thanks speaker, and I want to thank the member for chatham kent lemington for his advocacy. I also want to thank him for Some of the projects that I got to tour in his riding. He's a he's a real champion when it comes to the housing file Our government is committed to reducing red tape and regulatory burdens that cause Unnecessary delays duplications and barriers and that's why I was excited to join with the solicitor general in signing The reconciliation agreement on construction codes under the canada Free trade agreement last month by taking this very important step Our government is committed to further harmonizing ontario's building code and ontario's fire code with the national Construction codes this harmonization will reduce barriers related to trade Product manufacturing building design and maintenance and we're also committed speaker to Continuing to work with our federal response provincial and territorial counterparts to reduce all unnecessary barriers to interprovincial trade While putting the people of ontario first. Thank you Is the supplementary question Thank you speaker, and thank you minister for your historic work on this file And i'm also reassured to hear your continued commitment to further harmonize on building code with the national standard While ensuring that buildings in ontario remain among the safest and most accessible In north america our government continues to work to cut Unnecessary red tape and i'm interested to hear more about what the reconciliation agreement entails and how it will help Ontario so minister. Could you please explain the key elements of this signed agreement? Minister at municipal affairs and how Thanks, thanks again for that excellent question the the reconciliation agreement contains several key elements for our government It will ensure timely and consistent adoption of construction codes across canada So that the same rules are in place at the same time It will also transform the national code development system Including a new governance structure that's more responsive to both provinces and territories and it will ensure There is digital access to free national construction codes right across canada Mr. Speaker our government is committed to reducing barriers So ontario's success across every sector of our economy and the building code is just one example of that Thank you for the question The next question the member for davenport. Thank you. Good morning, mr. Speaker. This question is for the premier Speaker it's been a week since the conservative members defeated our motion to cap class sizes at 15 kids And we're still hearing of more collapsed classes of 25 30 with no way to keep our children socially Physically distanced but yesterday the premier told the press that classes were capped at 15 in ottawa in toronto in peel I have to ask mr. Speaker Why then are we hearing of collapsed kindergarten classes in the ottawa area with 27 little ones or in toronto in my own writing with grade four classes of 30 Or in mississauga where we have more kindergarten classes collapsed together with 25 or more kids Now this is happening all across the province, mr. Speaker The government failed our students by holding back when they should have put those children first Will the premier correct that error today and give us a fully funded plan to protect our schools in a second wave The minister of education Well, thank you, speaker The premier is indeed correct in high schools in the adapted models of ottawa peel of halton of toronto of york And many other boards across the province. In fact, this government did mandate a Maximum of 15 students on a blended model taking the advice of the public health table Mr. Speaker We have really broke down the silos of government between the ministries of education health care ensuring that we defer And we work with and be informed by the public health table and our doctors at the covet command table working with the minister of health To ensure that our schools are safe as noted as recently as this week by local public health officers Every layer of prevention is in place to ensure that they are safe We have ensured the funding is in place The the evidence has been informed by the chief medical officer and obviously will continue as we see this risk rise Do more invest more and be more prepared to to deal with the second wave as well as with the flu campaign Thank you the supplementary Speaker Schools are not okay Daycares are not okay virtual schools are not okay. Our province is not okay right now Speaker as of today we have 31 more cases of covet 19 in our schools We're up to a total of 210 in 178 schools across this province and we know that that's going to keep rising unfortunately Families across the province are watching those numbers very closely Wondering if their school is going to be next Worried how they're going to get time off work to wait in a day-long testing line Speaker parent to parent I need the premier to understand The only thing worse than dealing with this uncertainty is knowing how hard it's going to be on our kids When they are forced out of schools again because this government failed them Mr. Speaker will the premier look at what's happening on the ground Stop making these excuses and bring forward a second wave plaid That's going to keep us out of 15 cap for our schools and for our children Minister Well, thank you speaker the premier has been clear as well as the deputy premier that the government is increasing testing capacity province wide Moving from 25 to 35 to 40 and upwards of 50,000 And I know that the deputy premier will be unveiling further plans to expand beyond that mr. Speaker We have expanded through pharmacies an additional 60 pharmacies available as a tomorrow for a symptomatic testing speaker We are expanding capacity including in our labs within our schools being order within our schools We benefit from the single largest investment in the flu Vaccination 700,000 more ordered 70 million dollars provided the member for davin port to buy more vaccination that I know our young people Will benefit from and obviously in the context of our schools We're working very closely by the chief medical officer of health to ensure those classroom numbers stay low that the additional layers of prevention Are placed and that we continue to follow the public health advice as we respond to covid-19 The next question the member for dawn valley east. Well, thank you very much. Mr. Speaker My question is to the premier Leak documents obtained by the cbc show that this government's last minute presented a last-minute plan includes sneaking private health care Into ontario specifically around surgeries being performed by the private sector Can the premier tell this house what exactly this means and who actually made this recommendation? The deputy premier and minister. I will repeat once again That the draft that was obtained by the cpc was a draft it has changed In during that time it addresses many of the issues that You have raised but the issue with respect to dealing with The several hundred thousand procedures and surgeries that were delayed as a result of wave one are now being dealt with People have waited long enough. They've already waited months to have orthopedic surgeries They've waited for cancer surgeries for cardiac surgeries. They shouldn't have to wait any longer Our public hospitals are doing a wonderful job. They are working under very very stressful circumstances They are doing their best. We are taking a regional approach to dealing with some of those surgeries and procedures But a time like this when we are enduring the course of an epidemic We are in wave two at this point. We are seeing our case numbers rise But we still need to complete those surgeries and procedures And if some of our independent health facilities have that ability to help us They should be doing that. We aren't creating any more of them. They have always been there. They have always Thank you. Thank you very much In the supplementary question Speaker there is no secret about this government's agenda It's uh, it's been known in the past that the minister of long-term care is advocated for the privatization of the health care system here in Ontario But to use the pandemic order But to use the pandemic, mr. Speaker as a way to push privatization here in Ontario Is a new low even for this government Earlier this week we found out that a hundred public sector nurses Were laid off in the minister of health's own riding How could the government lay off nurses when we have a crisis in long-term care? We have a crisis in public education where cases are increasing We have a crisis in testing where we're seeing people wait days to get tests and in lines for eight hours How can they actually push privatization and fire nurses during this pandemic? So we've seen the report And it's starting to connect the dots question Mr. Speaker As we enter a second wave to this pandemic and the premier confirmed to this house That not not one single health care worker will be fired during the pandemic Government side has to come to order Start the clock minister of health to reply Thank you, speaker, and I would say to the member opposite through you mr. Speaker That that is an absolutely ridiculous assertion. That is absolutely Incorrect, we believe in our public health care system That is what we're trying to brought forward before the pandemic hit us We brought forward our plan to transform ontario health to creation of ontario health If we had not created ontario health Can you imagine getting 14 lins to agree to a plan? We would be in a terrible I apologize the minister of health the member for don valley east has to come to order minister of health Thank you, speaker We are in the midst of transforming our public health care system to make it Responsive to the needs of patients across the province And to integrate care to make sure that people are receiving the care They need wherever they are whether they're in hospital where they're in long-term care Or whether the receiving home and community care We are committed to public health care Not nothing private But there are some private health facilities that have already existed in our system For many many years through previous governments going Thank you very much. Thank you I'll ask both sides of the house to come to order The next question the member for nagger west COVID-19 has impacted the systems and the services that ontarians rely on day in and day out Some of these impacts are seen by ontarians in the way that we work shop and eat Others are less obvious and perhaps only noticed when they are not there when we look for them So our justice system, which is one of the cornerstones of our life here in ontario Is one that ontarians may not always encounter but when they do they expect it to be there for them on tuesday I know ontario's justice partners marked the annual opening of the courts and with it It was an opportunity to reflect on the justice system What they've learned in the past year and the opportunities that can be improved in the justice system in the year ahead So my question to the attorney general is if you could tell the house and the people across this province What our government is doing to ensure that our justice system remains strong during COVID-19 and beyond Thank you the attorney general Thank you, mr. Speaker and I want to thank the member for nagger west for this question and for all his potential and ongoing input in so many practical areas This is an important issue for ontarians it impacts all ontarians And the people in the province need to know the justice system will be there when they need it the most They need to be able to access it earlier this week I had the privilege of attending the opening of the courts virtually with the three chief justice of our province who are Tremendous justice partners the message. I want it delivered and the message. I want all ontarians to hear We are in fact delivering and ensuring the justice system remains functional during COVID Through the rapid implementation of online remote and in-person matters And yes, we will continue to build on the success to drive change It will improve the lives for all who need to access the justice system over the course of the summer Mr. Speaker we introduced several important initiatives to establish new and innovative ways of offering justice services remotely in person and online Mr. Speaker more than 400 new filings online We have access to data online that wasn't there before we've modernized the states and wills and I have more to say in my supplementary Mr. Speaker Q the supplementary question Thank you, my thanks to the attorney general for his response and for providing ontarians with the assurance that the justice system here in Ontario is here for ontarians when they need it It's encouraging to hear that these modernization efforts were able to be implemented in short order I know one of the things I've heard is that the amount of work that's been done in the last six months Normally would take six years and I want to thank the minister for his advocacy in that You know ontarians need to know that the strides that have been made This summer will not go by the wayside as we continue our path to recovery here in Ontario They need to know that they have a government that understands and is listening So could the attorney general please explain what the government isn't doing to ensure that these modernizations are sustained as we move forward The attorney general thank you mr. Speaker we have in fact we are transforming the system We are not just automating the system We are moving the system forward decades in a matter of months Our government has shown that we have the vision to bring forward practical change to the justice system The changes we've introduced will have impact well beyond the crisis, mr. Speaker Over the summer we've brought in Thomson Reuters case lines digital document submission It's a sharing e-filing system that will make it better for people who in remote or or in person matters This has been called on by the profession and by the public for decades We passed legislation to allow provincial offences courts to operate remotely and reduce in-person court appearances We fast track legislation to allow online notaries and commissioners We're building a justice system that is more responsive more resilient It's better prepared to overcome not only this challenge, but future challenges, mr. Speaker initiatives like these I've mentioned they were previously regarded as too great to overcome But we had a vision we focused we worked with our partners and we got it done in that mr. Speaker To the member from dawn valley east is how you connect the dots My question is for the minister of education Speaker every london parents worst fear came true this week when a student tested positive for covet 19 at hbbl secondary school Parents have been sounding the alarm bell for months demanding that this government takes safety concerns in the classroom seriously Instead cases are going up and parents and students are waiting hours in line to get tested if at all Ontarians can't even gather in groups larger than 10 indoors Unless it's a school When will this government do the right thing and cap all class sizes at 15 before we see another outbreak in london schools? minister of education Well, thank you. Speaker mr. Speaker obviously we have worked on a plan province-wide That's been supported endorsed by the chief medical officer of health and the additional 1.3 billion dollars of net investment Providing school boards with the financial attitude that they need to hire more educators reduce classrooms improve ventilation And ultimately ensure that all the public health advice is implemented Speaker in london for the catholic and public school boards. They are well resourced. They are hiring more educators They have reduced the classroom sizes below the provincial average pre-covid and obviously will continue to be there for them We recognize the risk It continues to evolve and the problems can need to continue to really do everything we can and I think at a more macro level increasing capacity and testing increasing You know vaccination for young people and for families these the types of steps They're going to help reduce the risk and improve the safety of our communities and our schools The supplementary question Speaker experts such as sick kids in rnao don't support your bargain basement plan COVID outbreaks in our schools should be a wake-up call for this government Parents like lily and my riding want to send their kids to school But only if it's safe lily some was supposed to start kindergarten in a class of 16 at orchard park public school Then she discovered that her son's class collapsed into a group of 26 students lily told me Safety wasn't prioritized pedagogy wasn't prioritized for the government saving money means more than saving lives Or providing the best education possible. It's a pandemic. We can no longer live like we did prior to march Speaker, why is this minister forcing pre-pandemic class sizes on kindergartners instead of trying to keep them safe? Thank you very much, mr. Speaker 35 million dollars additional dollars provided to the Thames valley district school board an additional 10.6 million to the London Catholic district school board speaker quite obviously the premier the government is doing everything we can to provide the investments in place To our school boards to reduce classroom sizes to improve ventilation to hire more custodians and cleaning staff And obviously speaker to make sure our buses playgrounds and our classrooms are safe In each and every level in this province and in this country We lead the nation by any measurement more than twice the area of expenditure than the british club in new democrats We're doing that because we understand speaker the risk will do everything we can in our province communities And most especially in our schools to reduce the risk and keep all students safe in ontario Order the next question remember for guelph. Thank you speaker My question is for the minister of long-term care Back on may 28th the premier promised that we are now working to prepare our long-term care homes We will spare no expense the minister earlier in question period said there was a stabilization Happening in long-term care, but front-line workers and health care leaders are saying nothing has changed And they're on the brink of another disaster as of yesterday There were outbreaks in 31 long-term care homes Speaker we all knew months ago about the staffing shortages in long-term care So can the minister please tell this house and the people of ontario How many new psw's and registered nurses were hired over the summer for our long-term care homes? Great Ministered long-term care Thank you speaker and thank you to the member opposite for the question As I said next week you will be hearing our comprehensive plan that addresses Stabilization in our long-term care including staffing Including ipak Included ppe all of these efforts have been ongoing in terms of our homes the the staffing Supports are there. We are not only Looking at increasing psw's from a number of sources But we are also looking at using or are using paramedics right now to support our homes in need And and in two-year comment about the outbreaks I want to remind everyone that an outbreak in long-term care means one resident or one staff member And in the case of the staff member that person is is isolating at home So the majority 604 of our homes have absolutely no resident cases. Thank you Supplementary question You know speaker it breaks my heart actually That the minister can't tell us how many new psw's or registered nurses were hired over the summer We all knew there was a staffing shortage. I think there was a report that said there was a staffing shortage We knew a second wave was coming We knew that our elders were the most vulnerable in long-term care And now that we are in a second wave to say that sometime maybe next week There might be some sort of plan released Just isn't good enough So speaker through you. I ask the minister Why the government didn't hire additional personal support workers and registered nurses in our long-term care homes to protect our elders Thank you speaker The reality is you just don't snap your fingers and make staff appear There is a process that we've been working very hard on since the very beginning and not only psw's nurses AIDS we've Member for ottawa south come to order Member for davinport come to order Then member for nagar senna come to order the member for dawn valley east come to order The minister of long-term care to apply Thank you speaker The reality is the neglect left by the previous government is so severe that we are requiring to use flexible emergency orders amendments to regulations to be able to create training capacity in our long-term care homes to create A pipeline and recruitment process for psw's the neglect of the previous government was so severe It set the stage for the issues and we are working extremely hard to make sure we're using all tools Whether it's psw's nurses ipad control paramedics aids and creating that flexibility for our homes We will continue to do that despite the the crises that was left by the previous Move to warnings because of the repeated interjections from a number a small number of members Come to order The next question the member for nagra. Sorry member for richmond hill Thank you, mr. Speaker. My question is for the minister minister minister of small businesses Many business owners I have spoken to in my community are facing significant challenges because of covet 19 One of the biggest issue businesses are facing are outdated regulations Ontario continues to have highest number of regulatory requirements of any jurisdiction in canada in addition to An overly complex regulatory environment that hinders Competitiveness by driving up costs and business I want to like to thank you the minister for coming to my riding in richmond hill sharing at roundtables Talking to businesses and explain and share to them the situation how to help them Can you now tell the house how the government is taking action to make regulations better for people and businesses as they work towards recovery? Thank you The associate minister of small business and red tape production Thank you, mr. Speaker and thank you member from richmond hill and especially for her leadership in her community during this very Tough time during this pandemic We have completed many roundtables and heard from many small business owners on the unique challenges that have been created by covet 19 On april 28th in response to many of these conversations. We launched the covet 19 tackling the barriers web portal This gave businesses the opportunity to pitch the government on temporary rule or process changes to help them get through this pandemic After receiving over 1300 submissions And hosting over 90 roundtables We have implemented over 50 temporary changes and are investigating another 400 Some of these changes include enabling trucks to deliver 24 7 to areas across this province to keep ourselves stock Allowing miss municipalities to quickly pass temporary bylaws for the creation Of the extension of patios mr. Speaker We will continue to remain committed to supporting businesses throughout. Thank you very much the supplementary question Thank you very much minister. This is good news to small businesses We know that because of the pandemic small businesses continue to face many hurdles as they try to recover Ontario still need Still has too many regulations that are ineffective and outdated Can you please tell the house how our plan can allow Ontario and its businesses to have more competitive advantage? When it comes to unnecessary regulations so businesses and people can recover. Thank you The associate minister Thank you for that question Making Ontario more competitive by having more efficient regulatory environment is a key priority of this government Something we have been focused on since being elected We agree that less time on unnecessary regulations will free up Ontario businesses to focus on what is most important Recovering and reemerging stronger than ever before that is why we passed a made in ontario plan for growth renewal and economic recovery One that is focused on modernizing rules digitizing government And further tackling barriers that cova 19 has created Underpending these changes to how much funds business is our commitment to seven modernization principles for government to consider Before making decisions one of the most important being digitized. We're going to continue to work hard to address these challenges Thank you very much. The next question the member for Toronto st. Paul Speaker to the premier This week is gender equality week across canada and I cannot think of a better time to remind this conservative government that they're broken Cova 19 policies have a disproportionate impact on the lives of women and their families It is long overdue that they develop and implement an intersectional gender equity strategy as I proposed last year Rachel is my constituent. She's seven and a half months pregnant and is the mother of two elementary school children She had to wait five plus hours to receive testing for her daughter at the etobicoke general hospital drive-thru Yes, you heard me correctly speaker etobicoke In fact, she had to go twice as she went beforehand and had to wait hours for her son's testing Premier the long wait time for testing and for results has mentally exhausted Rachel Also, notably missing of the testing centers were enough public washrooms. There was one porter potty For the endless lineup Premier will you commit today to creating public testing centers in toronto st. Paul's with extended hours? adequate staffing and public health resources so pregnant mothers like Rachel With two kids strapped on her hip don't have to travel across country to get a covid test and fast results Thank you very much Minister of health. Thank you speaker We are already taking steps to expand testing centers and to capacity across the system We have reached last weekend over 40 000 tests that we were able to do in one day We are rapidly getting to the point where we will be able to process over 50 000 tests in one day and we'll continue from there But many of the assessment centers have already expanded their hours of service. They are we've also created some Mobile pop-up centers to take some of the pressure away from some of the assessment centers We have 148 of them across the province. We also have other groups that are coming in to do the testing We have yesterday. We've made an announcement in huntsville that as of friday There will be 60 pharmacies that will be available to test asymptomatic patients Our residents and we're going to continue to expand that but we have been ramping up since the beginning of covid 19 Responds and we will continue to do that to alleviate the strain on the assessment centers. Thank you very much The supplementary question But you know if I suspect that I have covid 19 I don't think it's smart for me to walk into a pharmacy where I could infect others But that's just me Premier to the to the speaker order many in st Paul's are frustrated with having to travel outside of our community to get tested I've been told by some of my constituents that they've left the line Because they're afraid of losing their job Speaker the premier prom promised all of us the entire province a robust covid 19 Covid 19 fall preparedness plan and we are still waiting And while we are waiting the covid 19 numbers are soaring back to stage one numbers And my community members have nowhere to go fast Their premier appears to be saying yes to covid 19 tests for sale But no to families who expect and deserve access to free public health covid 19 testing Again, my question is to the premier Will the premier commit to creating public testing centers in st paul's Including mobile testing assessment centers so that my constituents can access tests and results fast and nearer to home Thank you speaker I think it's really important to get back to the facts of the situation The facts of the situation are that we are increasing capacity across the province including across toronto Well, I can advise that we have a 65 percent additional Assessment center capacity being added to toronto region between september 23rd to september 30th Five assessment centers have increased their hours and capacity this week including women's college Sunnybrook michael garren st joseph's and michael's We are adding increased volumes and with respect to the testing in pharmacies. It will be asymptomatic Patients or residents who are referred there the situation is that The member for toronto st paul's will come to order. I apologize to the minister of health Please wind up your answer. Thank you speaker In fact, there will be a requirement to make an appointment to go to a pharmacy They will be prescreened there to make sure that they do not have symptoms They will also be screened upon their arrival at the pharmacy to ensure The safety of the staff from the pharmacy as well as the people that are shopping there We recognize that there will be many seniors there. We want them to be safe So we have put in all of those safety precautions for pharmacies Thank you very much the next question the member for mississauga center. Thank you, mr. President My question is for the minister of french affairs Now more than ever with extraordinary circumstances that we're facing It's important that our government listen to all the actors all the community actors so that we can respond to their needs I would like to thank The non-for-profit french organizations for their efforts during the pandemic To help the most vulnerable among us together. We donate meals to french To french ontarians and we also donated We also donated tools and equipment medical equipment to our first frontline workers. So my question is How does the minister make sure that she listened to the french Uh Franco ontarian community. Thank you, mr. President. Thank you, mr. Speaker and thank you to my colleague for her very important question Before the pandemic. I was always consulting The The provincial committee for the french affairs in ontario I traveled across the province to talk to frank frank french ontarians and to talk about the the The difficulties that they're facing on the grounds and we also organize Roundtables at the beginning of the pandemic. I also met with The french ontarian organization To understand the effects of the pandemic on them and we also created a committee for the economic french recovery We also In this committee we had guimat Who is the leader of the french ontarian discussion And we have Other committees from toronto that came from all from all different areas Thank you Thank you, mr. Thank you, mrs. Minister for your reply and thank you for your support Through my bill and to have made it a reality this afternoon After the adoption of the one the bill 182 Now the french ontarian flag would join the other emblem of ontarios tomorrow It's the french ontarian day A community that shares strong values that are entrenched in the history of our province. How would you ensure That everybody recognized the important impact of the french ontarian community in ontario Thank you, mr. Speaker and thank you to my co-worker It's under her leadership that we finally adopted the french ontarian flag as an Official emblem of ontario and I thank her for her work on this important file Mr. Speaker, I also work with french ontarian organizations in order to find Solutions to the challenges that french ontarians are facing because of covet 19 We had many productive conversations and we understand the importance of french phony and we're trying to Strengthen this community And we will implement a series of recommendations and concrete measures We're trying to improve french services and the access to french services We also trying to support the french ontarian community in their cultural and economic Their economic opportunity in ontario. Thank you very much Thank you, speaker my questions to the premier this week I heard from a parent in my riding angela gambsby whose two children attend elementary school in port coburn She's a frontline healthcare worker and unable to keep her children home from school because she's busy being a hero at work Her son's class has 29 students. Her daughter's has 28 The kindergarten class has 30 kids in one classroom Will the premier listen to the people in niagra and across ontario Listen to the evidence and commit to keeping our children safe by capping class sizes at 15 students Mr. Of education Well, thank you very much, mr. Speaker and I want to thank the member ops for the question in nagra Just a school board for example that board has been provided with an additional 71 million more dollars To ensure they could do more hiring and that board We've actually seen 20 new public health nurses being hired specifically for schools doubling the capacity that existed before coban We've also seen speaker additional funding and mental health in technology to make sure low-income families at risk get access to Chromebooks and to internet additional funding for custodians a million dollars roughly speaker an additional investment and ventilation Over a million dollars. They're alone to improve air quality speaker We appreciate having been to nagra specifically the parliamentary assistant and getting to Visit a public and catholic school I was able to see firsthand the professionalism of our staff the hard work on the ground in our absolute commitment We have together to reduce the risk in response The supplementary question Speaker my own son is in a 12 year old son's in a class with 27 kids No one knows where this minister is getting his numbers from or his facts from what people in ontario do know Is that if we're going to keep our kids safe? We have to make Decisions based on evidence not make up evidence based on decisions Just this week a high school in niagra east ill secondary school in welland declared an outbreak The niagra public health pandemic hotline has been overwhelmed with parents concerned about the safety of their children Parents are understandably worried about sending their children back into crowded classrooms where social distancing is impossible This minister and this government had a chance to do the right thing Last week and vote with us to cap class sizes at 15 They chose not to question my constituents are telling me that they trust this government to keep children safe This government let them down. Why is this minister unwilling and unprepared to solve this crisis in our classrooms? Well speaker in the context of Deferring to science and evidence let's listen to dr Herji the acting medical officer of niagra where he said and I quote given the situation right now Given the very sensible measures the province has recommended be put in place I certainly think going back for in-person learning is very reasonable for children to be doing at this time This was said just on the eve of back to school speaker the chief medical officer of health of this province the foremost authority that has Provided advice to the cabinet to help us get through the worst of this pandemic Has given his full stamp approval knowing full well that we have deferred to the science ensuring layers of prevention improving air quality Masking in our schools improving cleaning in our schools hiring more educators to ensure we distance these kids Cohorting them as well speaker response the action to stagger the start We are listening to the science will continue to do so to do everything we can to make sure that all of our children are safe in this province The next question the member for markham union bill give me the speaker My question is for the minister of infrastructure Last week minister announced that all three levels of government would be working together to deliver much need public transit funding to durham region I'm even more proud to know that ontario has invested nearly 40 million dollars toward 11 new public transit infrastructure project in durham This funding will go towards installing new protective shields On the durham public transit buses that will provide a physical barrier between transit users and transit vehicle operators The region now also replace 11 conventional buses with the region's first hybrid electric buses Reducing emissions and fuel causes While providing transit users with a modern safe and efficient transit system with the minister Tell us what's this investment means to transit user in durham region. Thank you Well, thank you very much, mr Speaker and thank you to the member for asking the question today And what a fantastic day it was for transit users in durham As the member mentioned our announcement means a lot to durham region and surrounding communities Making investment in public transit infrastructure will get people where they need to go safely and on time For example, let me share a story jacob story jacob is a second year animation student at durham college in oshawa He lives in bowmanville and relies on public transit to get to class With our nearly 40 million dollar investment jacob can now look forward to a shorter safer and more reliable commute It's stories like jacob's that highlight the importance of making local priority transit infrastructure investments Mr. Speaker, and I hope there will be more to come the supplementary question Thank you, mr. Speaker back to the minister We've all heard the minister and the premier both said that our government is investing $144 billion. Yes with a b in ontario infrastructure over 10 years for broadband connectivity transit and highways schools and hospitals And we know that this is a record. It is a record level infrastructure investments While i'm glad that durham region received this transit funding the need for infrastructure renewal across their province remains There are potholes so large on some roads that cause damages to vehicles and for many people Broadband infrastructure is so out of date that it is difficult to work and learn from home efficiently at time When the need for reliable broadband has increased mr. Speaker ontario needs more support to address is very real infrastructure deficit So to the minister When can durham region and other communities across ontario expect more investment like this one last week? Thank you, mr. Speaker Thank you, mr. Speaker i'd like to thank the member for his great question again ontario nominated public transit infrastructure projects to the federal government under the investing in canada infrastructure program or isip The projects announced in durham are part of more than 200 public transit projects We've submitted for review and we're waiting for federal approval on several more But we can't do it alone That's why premier dug forward has called on the federal government to speed up approvals Uh and invest an additional 10 billion dollars per year Over 10 years to get shovels in the ground on infrastructure projects and that includes broadband mr. Speaker Through strategic investments. We can continue To help improve the quality of life for all ontarians It's time for ontario to get its fair share of funding and get those shovels in the ground Thank you very much. That concludes our question period for this morning They're being no further business this house stands in recess until 1 p.m