 Therefore, it is now time for question period, the leader of Her Majesty's Royal Opposition. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Premier. Premier, the energy minister said yesterday that the $12.8 billion nuclear refurbishment over the next 30 years will produce clean energy. But last week, your environment minister said nuclear energy will be gone from Ontario in 10 years. Premier, which minister is right and which minister is wrong? And which one will you be supporting at the cabinet table? Mr. Speaker, I'm not sure from what document the leader of the opposition is coding, but Mr. Speaker, we have a long-term energy. I will jump right into warnings if you'd like. Do you want to take a straw poll? Okay, so it stops. The long-term energy plan nuclear power is part of that long-term energy plan, Mr. Speaker. And it's very clear laid out in that plan. And I would ask the leader of the opposition to take a look at the LTCH, Mr. Speaker. Supplementary? Mr. Speaker, again to the Premier, what I suggest the Premier take a look at is her Minister's Speech of the Economic Club, her environment minister's Speech of the Economic Club, where he said the nuclear energy will be gone in Ontario in 10 years. So only one of your ministers can be correct. Mr. Speaker, one minister wants nuclear power gone. The other minister wants nuclear power to be the backbone of Ontario. The Premier either supports the nuclear industry or she doesn't. So will the Premier please tell us who is her energy minister and will the person study energy policy please stand up? You're inching closer. Minister, you're not helping. You're inching closer and I'm going to remind all members again. You use only titles or writings. And I'm going to start being strict on that even with the heckling. Premier. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Nuclear power is part of our long-term energy plan, Mr. Speaker. It will remain as part of our long-term energy plan. There is a refurbishment of Bruce Power that will be undertaken, Mr. Speaker. We are refurbishing Darlington, extending the life at Pickering, Mr. Speaker. So we have one minister who is responsible for all of that, Mr. Speaker. Well, as soon as I sit down, it's nice that you do get quiet when I stand, but as soon as I sit down, you start up again. I'll finish it. I've said, Mr. Speaker, that we're not going to build energy that we don't need. So the PCs who would spend $15 billion on new nuclear, Mr. Speaker, we are not going to do that. A member from Bruce Creeo and Sal. The other reality is that we have a minister who is responsible for a climate change plan, which is not supported by the members opposite, Mr. Speaker, because they apparently do not believe that we need to have initiatives in place to fight climate change, Mr. Speaker, even though it is the single most urgent threat. Thank you. Final supplementary. Mr. Speaker, my question again to the Premier and the Premier enjoys to muddy the waters. The reality is you have one minister saying the nuclear industry should be gone. You have another minister saying it should be supported. Do you even know what your own cabinet is saying? Is this government that disorganized? The reality is Ontario's nuclear industry is one of the few industries that has concrete job security. Well, until now. The industry creates the cheapest emission free power we have and produces 60% of the province's energy. Just as important, it supports 50,000 jobs. Think about that. 50,000 jobs. That's the same as the population of Welland, Aurora, North Bay. The Premier must commit to supporting Ontario's nuclear industry. And furthermore, Mr. Speaker, the Premier should ensure the environment of Mr. apologizes to the 50,000 people working in these nuclear jobs. We are very proud that our nuclear emissions are 90% of our nuclear power is 90% emissions free, Mr. Speaker. We are investing in refurbishment of our nuclear generation, Mr. Speaker. We have got nuclear power as a backbone of our long-term energy plan, Mr. Speaker, as our base load in this province. The Leader of the Opposition knows that, Mr. Speaker, for... The Member from Prince Edward Hastings, the Member from the Leeds Grandville, come to order, and the Deputy House Leader. Finish, please. I can only imagine, Mr. Speaker, that the Leader of the Opposition does not want to talk about the realities of climate change in this province, does not want to talk about the reality that there must be urgent action in order to deal with this threat of climate change, Mr. Speaker. And the Member from Prince Edward. He does not want to talk about that, Mr. Speaker. So, he's going on some wild goose chase, Mr. Speaker. He knows perfectly well we're investing in nuclear. He knows it's part of our long-term energy plan, but we have to tackle climate change, Mr. Speaker. That is imperative for the survival of the planet. Any question, the Leader of the Opposition? Mr. Speaker, since the Liberal Cabinet is perplexed on their energy policy, let's try something else. Mr. Speaker, to the Premier, I want to tell you about a five-year-old Joshua from Oakville. At age three, he was diagnosed with autism. As treatment, Joshua's doctor recommends 20 hours per week of IBI therapy. But for the past 27 months, Joshua has sat on a waitlist until May 1st, Josh was just months away from being at the top of that list. But this government kicked him off that list along with 2,000 other autistic kids. Terrible. Mr. Speaker, why is this Liberal Government ignoring the medical recommendations of Joshua's doctor? Why shouldn't he receive the treatment that his doctor recommends? Who are we going to trust? The child's doctor or the Liberal Government's talking points? I would ask the Leader of the Opposition why he thinks it's appropriate to leave children on a waiting list not getting services, Mr. Speaker. We don't think that that's appropriate. 16,000 more children will get services, Mr. Speaker. I want that child to get the appropriate service that he needs. That's exactly... It is unconscionable to me, Mr. Speaker, that we would leave in place a system. A member from Renfrew, Nipissing, Pembroke, second time. The Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry come to order. And yes, it is the second time. But there was too much heckling that you heard me the first time. Premier. Well, Mr. Speaker, is that the Opposition parties, both of them, propose that we leave children on a waiting list and that we leave them without service. Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what they're saying. We are investing $333 million to help children get the service that they need and get it much more quickly, Mr. Speaker. Supplementary. Mr. Speaker, again to the Premier. The only people removing kids from the wait list is this Government. Two families, but they don't want to own up to it. You know, Mr. Speaker, to the Premier, despite Joshua's doctor saying he needs 20 hours per week of IBI therapy, that wasn't the care he's going to be receiving. But right now, Josh received six hours of therapy per week at a cost of $45, as that was all Josh's family could afford. Josh's father wrote a letter. And I want you to think about this. Josh's father said, I cannot express how difficult it is to have your child's health care dictated by what you can afford, rather than what the medical professionals say you need. Mr. Speaker, why can't Josh have the treatment that the doctor says he desperately needs? Mr. Speaker, my challenge to the Government, my question to the Government is, how about this? Instead of putting money into expensive radio ads, patting yourselves on the back, put it into IBI therapy for children. Just a general reminder, you're weaving in and out of the chair. When you say you, it's helpful to stay third person please. Mr. Speaker, I know the Minister of Children and Youth Services will want to comment on the final supplementary, but Mr. Speaker, it is exactly because I want and we want all those children, including Joshua, to move from a waiting list where they're not getting service into service, Mr. Speaker, and for them to get the right intensity of service. Last week, Mr. Speaker, I spoke with a number of parents at events that I attended, Mr. Speaker, and their concern is that they want the information about what that transition is going to look like. I understand that, Mr. Speaker. I understand that they want to know what the service is going to look like. They don't want their children languishing on waiting lists, but they do want to know what the service is, which is why we are putting in... The help those kids who are languishing on a waiting list get the service that they need, Mr. Speaker. That's the point of the $333 million investment, and that is exactly what we're going to do. It would be irresponsible to leave those kids sitting on a waiting list as the opposition suggests. Final supplementary. Mr. Speaker, back to the Premier. You'll notice, Mr. Speaker, I didn't get an answer about reinvesting the money on the self-congratulatory radio ads and putting it into children. You know, Joshua's father called the IBI therapy Hope. He told us Josh struggles to convey basic wants and needs. He cannot dress and care for himself as his peers can. He cannot function in school without considerable support and accommodation. The letter that the father wrote said, this government is sentencing Joshua to a diminished life, and this government is failing Joshua and his family. Mr. Speaker, will the Premier reverse the changes to the IBI before sentencing Josh to a life that is diminished that the father spoke so eloquently about? I believe autistic children deserve better. But then again, this is the same government that took autistic children and their families to court. It's shameful. Do the right thing. Will you reverse this decision? The Premier deserves to answer this herself. Premier. Really would like to understand. Minister. Thank you, Speaker. I just want to really fully understand what the opposition is saying. Does he want us not to invest $333 million? Does he not want us to create 16,000 new spaces for children? And Speaker, the opposition and his critic have had the facts for some time, and yet they don't have the facts straight. And this worries me, Speaker, because it's confusing families. And I ask Leader Opposition, I ask all members of the House to get the information they need. I would be pleased to talk to Josh's family. I have spent much time with many families in recent weeks. We are not kicking kids off a weight list or putting them into immediate service. A new program with more intensity, longer duration and more individuality. Thank you. New question, the leader of the third party. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I have questions for the Premier. The Premier has written new legislation for how political parties and elections are financed behind closed doors. And we now see just how much outside involvement the Liberals actually put. And I'll be waiting as soon as I sit down. Please. The Assistant to the Government House Leader has written to the assistance of the opposition party house leaders to, quote, offer a briefing on the draft election financing reform legislation, and quote, a one-hour briefing, Speaker, with ministry officials to ask questions and discuss substantive issues. Speaker, it is an insult to the people of Ontario. Does the Premier really believe that a one-hour behind closed door meeting constitutes an open, transparent and non-partisan process? Thank you. Mr. Speaker, what we said was that we wanted to get input from the opposition parties before we put the draft legislation into the public realm, Mr. Speaker, because then there will be a long public consultation. We're proposing that the legislation go to committee after first reading, Mr. Speaker, allowing for consultation over the summer, and then go to consultation again after second reading, Mr. Speaker. So we're providing for that huge opportunity that is very unusual in terms of legislation. Mr. Speaker, all we're saying to the leaders of the opposition parties is would they like to have input as the legislation is drafted? Again, Mr. Speaker, an unusual circumstance, but I think that this is a good opportunity. I've asked them for input. They have not given me input, Mr. Speaker, but we would be happy to have input on the draft legislation. And if the briefing needs to be longer, we're happy to make it longer, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the letter goes on to say that, quote, in order to ensure enough space, we're extending the invitation to your House leader and to staff. There will be lots of space, Mr. Speaker, because we will not be attending a closed-door, meaningless charade of a meeting. This is another PR stunt by this Premier. It is not a serious one. The Minister of Agriculture, the Minister of the Minister of Natural Resources, Second Time, and the Deputy House Leader, Second Time. Finish, please. By the Premier's own account, she has avoided any semblance of an open and nonpartisan process for over a year, Speaker. It's not too late to do what Democracy Watch, editorial boards, the Green Party, the PC Party, and the NDP have all called for, which is put aside her partisanship. And so will she do that? Will she put aside her partisanship, do the right thing, and agree to a nonpartisan panel today? The substance of the changes that need to happen, Mr. Speaker. The Premier says she had a revelation a year ago that she was going to change how political campaigns were funded, but instead of using that time for an open, transparent, fast-moving, nonpartisan panel to set out the rules for how we get big money out of politics instead, she chose to spend the time filling the Liberal Party coffers and now she's insisting that the only process that can work is one that's completely controlled by the Liberals at every step. The only reason for the Premier to impose on a process that's open is her own political self-interest, Speaker, and the fact that she thinks the interests of the Liberal Party are more important than a transparent, nonpartisan process for reform. Why is this Premier making election finance reform a case of my way or the highway? The party still will not talk about the substance of changes. You know, it's an interesting coincidence that the decision by the NDP to sell a building, Mr. Speaker, just before the changes were made after given the circumstances of the matter. No question, the leader of the Third Party. Speaker, to the Premier, you know her muck-breaking is not going to cover up the way that she's dealt with it. Okay, Mental Health Week began, Speaker, and since 2006, there has been a 54% increase in ER visits for children and youth facing mental health crises and a 60% increase in hospitalizations. And after four years of frozen hospital budgets and a below inflation increase this year, ER visits and wait times are increasing while nurses are being fired in this province, Speaker. Will this Premier do the right thing and actually start to properly fund our hospitals and stop firing nurses? Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And the leader of the Third Party knows well that we have made a more than $1 billion investment, a new investment in the health care budget this year, which of that approximately $350 million and more than 2%, Mr. Speaker, goes directly and specifically into our hospitals. And it's true that as we've transformed the delivery of health care, as we've focused more on quality and outcomes, outcomes that are beneficial to patients, that we've seen changes that have taken place across this province. But my expectation, Mr. Speaker, is that always when hospitals make decisions, when they work with us to partner, when they work with us to improve the quality of services, they always have one thing at the forefront and front of mind. And that is making sure that the quality of care is the best that it can possibly be, that the services that Ontarians depend on. Order, please. Supplementary. Well, the Liberal budget actually claims very clearly a 1% increase in the base funding of hospitals, not what this minister is trying to tell the House today, Speaker. In March, London Health Sciences announced that it would have to eliminate another 64.5%, full-time positions because of Liberal cuts. At the same time, in the same city, St. Joseph's Health Care is closing 12 beds and 60 full-time positions are being cut. In my home city of Hamilton, Hamilton Health Sciences cut 97 positions and is faced with clashing $30 million just to keep the lights on, Speaker. People expect the health care system to be there for them when they need it. But this Premier is forcing hospitals to make decisions based on deep Liberal cuts rather than on what's best for patients. Will this Premier stop slashing health care services that the people in this province deserve and rely on? Thank you, Minister. Well, thank you, Mr. Speaker. So, again, so we invest almost $52 billion in our health care budget in this province and we increase that amount by $1 billion. But since the member opposite, the leader of the third party, is so interested in our budget and what was in there, I want to take the opportunity to remind Ontarians that in addition to the $345 million of new funding to hospitals, which is a 2.1% increase to the hospital operating line, Mr. Speaker. We're investing an additional $12 billion over the next decade on infrastructure and capital investments. In fact, we have 35 projects right across the province active today that are rebuilding, renovating, and in many cases, building entirely new hospitals. We're also providing $50 million in traditional funding each year for immediate repairs that are necessary by our hospitals. These are some of the things we announced. Member from Hamilton, you stole the treat. Thank you. Final supplementary. Four years because of four years of Liberal budget freezes and 1% base funding increase this year, far below inflation, all across Ontario, communities are seeing cuts to their hospitals. That is what's happening in this province. The government is on pace to fire twice as many nurses as last year. Nurses have been fired and healthcare has been cut in Aurelia, Windsor, London, Hamilton, Sarnia, Kitchener and Waterloo, Cambridge, St. Thomas, and the list goes on and on and on, Speaker. The Premier is cutting healthcare and patients and families across this province are the ones that are paying the price. When will the Premier do the right thing and stop cutting hospital care? Thank you, Minister. So, Mr. Speaker, among the new investments that were outlined in our recent budget, we also allocated an additional $85 million that goes specifically to our nurse practitioners, our dietitians, our occupational therapists in our family health teams, in our community health centres to increase their remuneration, their take-home pay, Mr. Speaker. And importantly, $75 million new dollars that goes specifically towards end-of-life and palliative care, Mr. Speaker. We're going to be funding 20 more hospices across the province. We're continuing our investment in home and community care, an additional $250 million this year. And of course, the shingles vaccine, saving Ontario seniors $170 million. As I was standing, I was going to give you one more... I was just getting attention to people, so you have one sentence wrap-up, please. And $10 million for behavioural support in our long-term care facilities, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Last week, the coroner's inquest into the death of seven-year-old Katelyn Sampson delivered 173 recommendations. Two years ago, the coroner's inquest into Geoffrey Baldwin's death produced 103 recommendations. Clearly, the current child protection system is not serving Ontario's most vulnerable children well. Both coroner's inquests have called for an Ontario-wide intake system and centralised database. And yet, 11 years since Geoffrey's murder, only 12 child protection agencies are using the centralised computer system, C-PIN. 41 children's aid societies are still waiting. Minister, we owe it to Katelyn and Geoffrey to have C-PIN operating across Ontario. Why the delay? Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. And I want to thank the Katelyn Sampson jury inquest for their very thoughtful work and their recommendations and considerations in consideration of how we support and protect our children is incredibly valuable. And my ministry will, of course, consider each jury recommendation to ensure that we help prevent similar tragedies in the future. It is important to note, Speaker, that since the prior inquests the member mentioned we've already completed a number of actions, including requiring non-parent-seeking custody. They must provide the court with police checks and a child record search. We've made considerable progress in strengthening our child welfare system, but I do recognise there is more to do and will continue to work hard for protection of our children in Ontario. Thank you. The jury has done their job. It's now time for the minister to do hers. In 2013-14, this government paid $8 million to Deloitte to consult in the software design that C-PIN would run on. In 2014-15, they paid another $5.7 million to Deloitte. Why is this money going to consultants instead of the Children's Aid Society waiting to access C-PIN? We owe it to Jeffrey Baldwin and Katelyn Simpson to get this right. When will the Premier stop spending money on high-priced consultants and allow all Children's Aid protection agencies access to C-PIN? Minister? Well, Speaker, I've talked about C-PIN, the Child Protection Information Network in this House before. We're creating that system precisely because we want to prevent the kinds of tragedies that have happened to children in this province before. This system, Speaker, will create one record for every child so that all information can be shared across the Children's Aid Societies and our intent and hope is that it prevents future tragedies from happening. We have a number of agencies already on the network. We have a number more agencies coming online this spring, and it's very important we get this right. Speaker, I think everyone can agree that 100% accuracy is required in such a critical system that hosts case files of children in care. I will not speed this up and compromise protection of children in this province. I will continue to work as fast as we can as responsibly as we can. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Over the last few days, we've learned that the people of Ontario will once again be forced to pay for this government's incompetence when it comes to the SAMS file. The disastrous implementation of SAMS hurt some of the most vulnerable people in this province, and our general highlighted concerns of consultants overseeing consultants in her last scaling report. In response, the Premier has decided to hire the same consultants to fix the issues they got wrong in the first place, and to pay them an extra $32 million adding insult to injury. Will the Premier admit she has failed vulnerable citizens and frontline workers across the province and demand her minister's resignation immediately? Mr. Speaker, we recognize that there were challenges with the initial implementation of SAMS. We have said that. The minister has said that. We asked for a review, Mr. Speaker. We looked for recommendations to help us to fix the system, Mr. Speaker. And following the report of the review, Mr. Speaker, the implementation of a transition plan was put in place to address the exact challenges that were still remaining with SAMS, Mr. Speaker. 100% of the priority issues that were identified by the frontline and I think that's what's critical, Mr. Speaker. The minister went to the frontline. She met with the people who were working with the system. She talked to them about what the challenges were and addressed those challenges as they were identified by the people who were having to work with this new system, Mr. Speaker. So I am satisfied that that work has been undertaken, Mr. Speaker. And can we learn from that process? Absolutely, Mr. Speaker. It's incumbent upon us to do that. Supplementary. Mr. Speaker, let me get this right. The minister didn't see the internal memo addressed to her outlining these problems. She didn't see the interim report highlighting the same problems. She apparently didn't know about the implementation problems, multiple jurisdictions experience with SAMS-like programs. She just had no idea what was going on in her own ministry when it came to SAMS. The minister should know what's going on in her ministry. Now the people of Ontario are left to pay the price again. Will the Premier hold this minister to account and demand her resignation? At the whole memo and she will know that there were issues that were identified and there were assurances to the minister that those issues were being dealt with, Mr. Speaker. That is the reality of an implementation of a complex and large system that issues are identified and then there is a request from the minister's office that they be dealt with and the assurance then that they are being dealt with, Mr. Speaker. Now, were there still challenges that remained when SAMS was being implemented? Absolutely. But I'll go back to the previous question about the implementation of C-PIN, Mr. Speaker. You've got one opposition party saying, hurry up, implement a system more quickly, put kids at risk, Mr. Speaker and don't be careful. And we've got another party saying you should have slowed down. The fact is, Mr. Speaker, we have dealt with the issues around SAMS, Mr. Speaker, have learned from that process. They are complex implementations and we are going to make sure that we get them right in the future, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. Any questions? A member from Kingston in the audience. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Children and Youth Services. Minister, we know that five young people recognize problems with mental health, one in five. We also know that 70% of mental health and addiction problems begin in childhood and adolescence. And we know that the stigma associated with mental health remains one of the largest barriers to diagnosis, treatment and acceptance in the community. Agencies across the province like addiction and mental health services, KFL and A, and pathways for children and youth in my community in the islands, provide important mental health and social services. We know how important community-based programs are. Minister, as this week is Children and Youth Mental Health Week, can you please update the House on the work being done by your ministry to support children and youth with the mental health challenges that they face? Thank you. Thank you, Speaker. I want to thank the member from Kingston in the islands for this very important during Children's Mental Health Week. And as the Minister of Children and Youth, I'm very committed to the mental health and well-being of children and youth in our province. Ontario's mental health and addiction strategy is making a real difference across the province. We're investing more than $444 million in child and youth mental health services. And recently we announced $6 million to hire 80 additional mental health workers across Ontario. And those workers are being placed where the need is the greatest speaker in different communities. And this work was done in consultation with our lead agencies for Children's Mental Health. Mr. Speaker, on Children's Mental Health Week, I want to reiterate our commitment and actually the commitment of everyone in this House to support youth and support them reach their full potential. Thank you. Supplementary. Mr. Speaker, for that answer, I'm pleased to hear that the significant investments have been made. In my own riding of Kingston and the Islands, I was delighted to announce that at Pathways for Children and Youth that a new mental health worker will be hired to work specifically with LGBTQ youth experiencing mental health illnesses. This is something that the Kingston community identified as a need and now that need is being addressed. We know that the sooner we help young people, the more likely they are to participate actively in school, lead healthy lives and continue to contribute to their communities. For this reason, Mr. Speaker, I ask you, through you to the Minister of Children and Youth Services can you please tell this House about these mental health and addiction workers and how that makes a difference. Thank you, Minister. Thank you, Speaker. As the member said, the funding focuses on community needs when accessing mental health services in different parts of the province for our children and youth. So in Ottawa, for example, the Centre Psychosocial is hiring two new mental health workers to provide counselling for Francophone children and youth. And then around Thunder Bay, there's a mobile response unit being developed to respond to children, youth in distress in real communities as well as young people in rural areas. And so we're working very closely with First Nation leaders in the province to respond to the mental health needs of Indigenous youth. And with our ongoing support and the partnerships of many community groups, our government will continue to work to help all young people in our great province reach their full potential. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And, Speaker, my question is directed towards the Premier. Maybe she'll answer my question. She would refuse to answer the member from Kishner Waterloo's question on SAMS. Transitions cost to fully implement SAMS are a staggering $52 million. Much of it is going towards fixing the problem, the program, and paying service managers for all their costs overruns. That money was not included in the government's original cost project projections. A number of questions could be asked concerning this issue. Does the Premier believe that IBM, the software company responsible for SAMS, did a good job? Or does she hold them responsible for the 2,400 serious system defects and the $140 million in benefit calculation errors? But here's the question that needs an answer. It's a simple question. Whose fault was it? Question or IBM's? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. As I've said before, we recognized that there were challenges with the initial implementation of SAMS. That's why we asked for a review, we asked PwC to conduct a review and help us to improve the system. Following their report, we announced the implementation of a transition plan to address the outstanding issues with SAMS. We've fixed 100% of the priority issues identified by frontline staff and 95% of the defects that were identified by the auditor general, Mr. Speaker. So I think that it's a legitimate question for the opposition to ask, have the challenges been fixed? Are people getting the service that they need, Mr. Speaker? And the answer to that is yes. We have addressed the issues, Mr. Speaker and the services are being provided to the people of Ontario as they are required. Mr. Speaker, the Premier hasn't held anyone accountable. But it gets worse. The government is reporting IBM with a $32 million contract to service the same flawed software they created. Caseworkers and service providers are frustrated. But none of this money will be going to fix that because the government claims that priority problems have been fixed. I think service providers, caseworkers and recipients would disagree. The Premier and the Minister have offered no apology. Moreover, the Premier has done nothing to restore anyone's trust in her and her government. Speaker, why hasn't she fired her Minister? Mr. Speaker, let's deal with the reality. The member opposite is talking about maintenance contract, Mr. Speaker. As I said, we recognize that there were challenges with the rollout of SAMS. Those challenges, 100% of the priority issues that were identified by strength line staff, Mr. Speaker. And those are the challenges that obviously were the most agreed to and they have been addressed. The maintenance contract has nothing to do with the transition to SAMS or addressing the issues that arose during the initial transition, Mr. Speaker. It's a separate process. It's a routine contract to assist with the ongoing operation of the system just as we had under the former system, Mr. Speaker, that had been put in place by the previous government, Mr. Speaker. Organizations of all types and sizes depend on professional, specialized IT service. I think the fingers could be pointed everywhere. You're not. Please finish. It's an open, fair, competitive process, Mr. Speaker. For this contract, we followed all of the procurement rules, Mr. Speaker. And the total cost of maintaining SAMS will be about 55 million per year, which is $5 million less, Mr. Speaker, than under the previous system. So there actually is a cost saving to that maintenance. Thank you. Sorry, a new question. Sorry, a new question. The member from Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Premier. For the last few weeks, a group of produce workers at the Ontario Food Terminal, Tibetan refugees from my own riding of Parkdale High Park, have been on strike for a first contract against their employer fresh taste for fair wages and better treatment. As an editorial on the weekend put it, these workers sort the produce you find at your big box grocery store. They're also, Mr. Speaker, among the lowest paid, $5 less an hour than other unionized workers at the terminal. The company has brought in replacement workers who may be operating tow motors and other equipment they're not certified to use. We've called in the Minister of Labor to inspect. Does the Premier think it's acceptable that non-certified replacement workers take the jobs of some of our most vulnerable workers who are just looking after all for a fair deal? Thank you, Speaker. Thank you to the member for this important question, because I think when we see people out on the picket line like we're seeing right now in this fresh taste, I think people think that there's got to be a better way to do this speaker. And I think on Ontario we've found that today's labor relations record is the best way you've had in 35 years, Speaker. This is such an uncharacteristic event in Ontario. Right now about 98% of labor settlements are reached without any strike or any lock-out, Speaker. We're paying attention to this. Our mediators are in there, they're working with the party, Speaker. Labor negotiations are tough, Speaker. They're tough on the employers, they're tough on the unions, they're tough on the employees. Finish, please. Thank you, Speaker. I know in this particular case, Speaker, we've got a mediator in there, he's been in touch with the parties. I'm confident a deal will be reached him. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We know that unionized workplaces pay better. We know they have better protections. That's why the striking fresh taste workers are looking to join other workers at the Ontario Food Terminal in ratifying a first contract that will see them receive at least a fair wage. We know that the labor laws in this province are being reviewed. But these are the results of that review. Will the premier move our labor laws into the 21st century and commit to banning the use of replacement workers that needlessly drag out labor disputes and harm Ontarians? Thank you. Minister. Thank you, Speaker, and thank you to the member for the supplementary. Speaker, when we have a labor dispute like this, like we're seeing at fresh taste, our first focus goes on assisting the working process. We've got some of the best mediators, Speaker, in the country. I think we've got some of the best mediators on the continent. They've got a very skilled individuals. They've got a tremendous record. Speaker, we are, the consultations are over on the changing workplaces review. For the past year or so, Speaker, we've had two of the top labor people traveling the province asking people what their opinions are on these types of issues. We looked at the Labor Relations Act. We're looking at the Employment Standards Act. That information is being gathered, Speaker. Within a few weeks that information will be made public. Consultations will take place again after that. Input will be gathered, Speaker. I think it's a review we should stay on top of. I urge all members to stay in tune. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Education. Minister, we all know how committed our government is to helping our kids become lifelong learners. And as the mother of two young boys in the Catholic School Board, I value this commitment. Earlier this year, you announced increased funding for education to $22.9 billion an increase of 59% since 2003. I've had the pleasure to visit many schools in my riding of Davenport and was very pleased to hear that students are achieving higher test scores of students achieving the provincial standard in grades three and six, up 18 points from 54% in 2002-2003. Speaker, the Premier and the Minister made a very special announcement this morning regarding graduation rates across the province. Can the Minister please tell us about the announcement? Yes, thank you. I'd like to thank the member for Davenport for that question. We were really pleased to announce today that Ontario's high school graduation rate has increased to the highest level in the province's history with more students than ever graduating with the skills and knowledge they need to reach their full potential. Today at York Mills Collegiate Institute in Toronto we announced that in 2015, the five-year graduation rate surpassed the government's goal of 85%. So we have reached the 85%. The graduation rate has increased more than 17 percentage points since 2004 when it was just 68%. For the second year in a row Ontario is actually publishing school board level graduation rates from all across the province. This gives parents, students, teachers and school boards access to data that can help inform efforts to improve even further. Thank you. Thank you Mr. Speaker. I'm extremely pleased to hear this fantastic news. This is an excellent example of how committed we are to ensure that our youngest learners become successful. Despite this great news, we know that there is more work that can be done. Our government has introduced a number of programs through its students success strategy that are credited to helping to shape, sharply boost the graduation rate since 2004. These include specialist high skills major, dual credits and expanded cooperative education and focus support where student data showed it was needed. Minister, please explain how these programs have helped our students achieve better results and in turn, increase the rate of graduating. Thank you. Yes, thank you. These programs delivered by our wonderful teachers and education workers and part of our government student success strategy have helped increase the percentage of students. A little longer each time. Minister? Yes, we've been able to with all that way everyone working together the percentage of students graduating within five years of starting high school in grade nine is up to 85.5% in 2015. Up from 84.3% in 2014 the percentage of students graduating within four years is also up reach 78.3% this year that's 22 percentage points up from the original four year graduation rate when we first started this project. Minister of Health, Alexander Larcaud is a 26 year old adult with autism from my riding of Perry Sound, Muskoka. In December he had an adverse reaction to medication and ended up mechanically and chemically restrained in the psych ward at Aurelia hospital. He's still in hospital. His mother and has been doing everything she can to get Alex the treatment he needs to help him recover and get him home to Huntsville. Speaker, since when do we keep autistic people in psych wards instead of giving them the therapy and supports to return to a life of inclusion in the community? Specifically, the shortage of dual diagnosis practitioners and psychiatrists and a bed in a therapeutic treatment center is the problem. Speaker, will the minister assist Alexander and his mom to get the proper treatment he needs so he can return home? Well, thank you Mr. Speaker and this is exactly the kind of question that I appreciate getting. Of course it is even more helpful when members from whatever political party when they come to me if they've got challenges being faced by their constituents but I certainly hope and I'm committed to actually working with the member opposite to see if we can provide that supportive care in the community, in the home for Alexander and his family his loved ones that are so deserving of that support. It is challenging for individuals that do face their own unique circumstances but my primary my sole responsibility of Ministry of Health is to make sure that we're providing the highest quality care that we can. Sometimes it requires us looking at specific challenges and specific individuals looking at them from the perspective of the patient, their family the community to see how we can provide those necessary supports. I'd like to see if we can do that here. Supplementary. Again to the Minister of Health and thank you for that response. Speaker you can imagine how difficult this has been for Alexander and his family. Alex would like to recover with therapy somewhere other than a psych ward and has become very frustrated scared, tired and anxious. He now has PTSD and anxiety and has temporarily regressed due to the restraint and drug trauma after living in the psych ward. I think anyone would after four months in hospital. I've met Alex under better circumstances and he is a happy, insightful good person. His mom wants to help him to return home. Speaker the mental health crisis line advises parents of autistic adult children to go to the United States to get proper treatment. Through the Speaker, Minister if proper treatment is not available in Ontario, will the government immediately cover the cost of treatment in the United States for Alex autistic adults? Thank you Mr. Speaker and I do appreciate the follow up and I think it points to some of the challenges that individuals that have ASD autism spectrum disorder as they age, as they grow from being children and youth into adulthood we work as the Ministry well in fact children use services in those initial moments Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education Ministry of Community and Social Services that we all work together in a coordinated way to try to ensure that that transition period takes place in a coordinated effective manner but when individuals with ASD when they become adults there's no question that those challenges remain and it's wonderful to hear just the experience that the member opposite has with this individual and his potential we need to work together to ensure that individual is able to reach his full potential Mr. Speaker and I commit to working with the member to do just that Thank you My question is to the Premier 8 years ago 7 year old Caitlyn Sampson was murdered by 2 caregivers who previously had children removed from them by CAS on a note written before she was found Caitlyn had written 62 times I am an awful girl that's why no one wants me on Friday the inquest into her death led to 173 recommendations the most important was to overhaul the child welfare, judicial and education systems to hear and value children's voices and wishes as the judge in the initial case stated alarm bells were ringing and no one was responding will the Premier do the right thing and immediately implement Caitlyn's principle the core recommendation of the inquest Thank you Mr. Chair I want to thank the critic for raising this important question and I appreciate the jury has given us many clear and concrete recommendations I am of course studying those recommendations and looking specifically at the Caitlyn's principle one along with all the other ones to make sure they all are given their due consideration and Speaker I also recognize the call from the jury to make further changes in child welfare I have indicated in this house some actions I've already taken and an action plan that we are working on to continue to strengthen child welfare in Ontario and make the system as strong as it can be for our most vulnerable children we do recognize that all these recommendations importance many of them are to my ministry some are to education some are to other ministry so we'll be coordinating that response to the government back to the premier it is undeniable that Caitlyn was failed in every possible way during her short life she was failed by a system that is broken that doesn't properly protect our most vulnerable children a system that placed her with a man who had allegedly sexually assaulted two other young girls a system that didn't respond when half a dozen calls concerning Caitlyn in the months before her death were made the premier has said once she has the information and once evidence is necessary she would make change the information is in front of her the time for change is now again will the premier immediately ensure that children are at the centre of child welfare in the province and that their voices are valued thank you minister do you see her please do you see her please thank you minister speaker as I mentioned in previous questions we've taken a number of actions to protection to strengthen child protection Ontario I agree with the member opposite that children have to be front and centre in consideration of how we continue to transform child welfare in Ontario we are working closely with all of our partners I know our child advocate Erwin Ellman has given voice to this as well as have others in the community and the sector we will keep building on strengthening the system whether that is through the child protection information network whether that's through increased accountability and transparency for children's aid societies and we will make that progress speaker I'm committing to make that progress to strengthen child welfare in Ontario thank you thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the minister of transportation as the member for Kitchener Centre I know how important transit is for people who are living in my community in fact those who are in the tech sector advanced manufacturing the insurance industry and academia in my community on a daily basis traveling along the super corridor between Waterloo Region and the GTA so with Ontario's population growing with cities and towns across the province thriving I've heard the minister say time and time again that our government is working to build an integrated transit system that will connect communities and people and businesses across our province but in my region people want to see action my constituents want to know what our government is making investments that truly count can the minister please tell members of this house what our government is doing to help connect people and communities across Ontario thank you Mr. Transportation thank you very much Mr. Speaker and I want to begin by thanking the member from Kitchener Centre for being an extraordinary champion for her community and for her region if she is 100% right we are seeing unprecedented growth in communities across the province whether it's in Kitchener or in places like Brantford, Ontario and I was actually very happy to be in Brantford last week Mr. Speaker to announce that we will be introducing Go Bus Service in this community as you may know this is a community that is showing tremendous growth in terms of the talent and capital that it's attracting and thanks to the advocacy from the member from Brant starting this September we have 26 trips every weekday from downtown Brantford to the Aldershot Go Station in Burlington where they stop along the way at McMaster University we will also be running 18 trips on both Saturdays and Sundays investments like these give commuters more transit options and help connect communities and to the GTHA more generally thank you very much Mr. Speaker thank you Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker for his response and I want to commend him and his staff for advancing better transit in our province they're working very hard on this file I know that people who are living in Kitchener Centre are very excited to hear that we are making investments that are helping to connect communities across Ontario and it's very encouraging to know that we are continuing to work to deliver on our promise to bring all day both GO bus service in Brantford as you just heard and all day GO train service to Kitchener we're in the 2016 budget which is further proof that we are delivering on our transportation commitments Mr. Speaker the minister was recently in Waterloo Region to announce a very important local investment I know that the mayor of Cambridge Doug Craig the regional chair Ken Ceiling and my colleague the MPP for Cambridge have been talking about this Mr. Speaker and the minister please tell members Thank you I want to thank the member for her question it's a shame opposition members aren't listening more closely perhaps they could learn a thing or two about actually building transit here in the province of Ontario in addition to the announcement in Brantford we are pleased to announce as of this fall that we will be expanding GO bus service for Cambridge Speaker and my parliamentary assistant for her advocacy and leadership we know that introducing GO bus service in these communities will make a real and positive difference for Cambridge for Kitchener and of course for Brantford and communities right across the province whether it's for a high school student from Brantford who's considering post secondary speaker or an employee working in Cambridge we know that increasing connections for these communities is crucial to our continued economic growth speaker I want to thank the member from Kitchener I'd be remiss that I didn't acknowledge that the member from St. Catharines has passed me the business case for Niagara GO rail thanks very much Thank you very much speaker my question is for the environment minister beef farmers have been effectively reducing greenhouse gas emissions for the last 30 years but speaker that can stop the minister from suggesting that Ontarians should stop eating red meat on Mondays obviously this would hurt the beef industry and completely ignore the good work Ontario farmers are doing even Liberal candidate of record and former Omafra staffer Stuart Skinner slammed the minister's idea saying on twitter that now the minister is and I quote attacking livestock farmers he ignores fertilizer value of manure soil health and carbon capture of civil pasture Mr. Speaker did the minister clarify his meatless Monday policy position with the premier or the current minister of agriculture or is this another example of him putting his foot in his mouth you never know when I'm going to strike so the member from Prince Edward Hastings second time minister sometimes you can't win for love or money Mr. Speaker I was laughing when she said twitter because the minister was reminding the member from Renfrew Nipissing Pimbro warning we're severely criticised for eating meat and promoting beef out in front with the beef farmers last year from certain classes of environmentalists it's interesting Mr. Speaker because one of the things I did say and I think this is common knowledge that if you did not eat meat one day a week for a year for a carbon dioxide reduction of not driving your car 3,800 kilometres I actually love beef I love hamburgers and I eat them regularly Mr. Speaker I think they're great I want to conclude by saying one thing if I can get this out because it's important we're actually working with beef farmers right now on a new design that will reduce supplementary the member from Haldeman Norfolk well we just heard the minister of environment's position on climate change and his hoof and mouth attitude towards livestock agriculture however when will the minister of agriculture speak up where are the incentives for not only farmers but also agri-food, forestry to capture and sequester carbon dioxide or the greenhouse gases the beef farmers of Ontario Ontario Federation of Agriculture have put forward practical doable climate change proposals but in contrast to other ministries a MAFRA did not get the budgeted green investment fund so speaker we've heard from the minister of environment when will we hear from the minister of agriculture on this who consistently seems to be not only no action but no talk when will he speak up I'd like to continue this conversation with my colleague the member just for the record Mr. Speaker I had a barbecued steak on Sunday court fed beef and it was delicious just to respond to my friend from Haldeman Norfolk through the climate change process my ministry has been very involved on a step by step basis as we go forward I've had very productive discussions with my good friend the minister of environment climate change and I would say to the members opposite just wait until we unveil the plan there will be something substantial for agriculture the profits of Ontario from the premier Mr. Speaker I'd like to correct my record I think I said that Ontario's nuclear facilities are 90% emissions free in fact Mr. Speaker it's our entire electricity system that are 90% yes thank you Mr. Speaker I just want to take a moment to congratulate my seed mate the MPP for Cambridge I'm grandmother this past Friday April 29 to beautiful the minister of health long term care and appointment thank you Mr. Speaker and I'd like to introduce my summer interns who are here in the gallery with us today we have Vivian Luthi Yang and Anthony Peruzza thank you Mr. Speaker thank you thank you so much Mr. Speaker I am so proud to welcome Tim Goodaker to the house today he's one of our special Olympics folks from Hamilton's gate club and he's the chairman of the Queen's Park thank you thank you Mr. Speaker during introductions of pages this morning my writing wasn't named correctly and I just want to reaffirm when I said the introductions that's my page Spencer coach knows he lives in beaches east York thank you I think he's challenging the chairman the speaker the speaker will always admit to a mistake and if that's the case we'll check answered and then I'll come back to you and let you know I do have one reminder we have a very large contingent of special Olympic athletes here I'm inviting all of the members to meet us in the grand staircase immediately after question period for one giant photo for their keepsake as athletes representing Ontario and next also a reminder this afternoon later on at 4.30 there is a lobby day for special Ontarians and they're not asking for anything they just want to meet their members so there are no deferred votes this house stands adjourned stands recess until 3pm this afternoon