 therefore it is time for question period the member just one moment I just got a last moment point of order from the Minister of Health long-term care thank you mr. Speaker I believe you will find that we have unanimous consent that all members be permitted to wear red ribbons in recognition of World AIDS Day Minister of Health is seeking an anonymous consent that all members be permitted to wear the red ribbons in recognition of World AIDS Day do we agree agreed thank you now it's time for question period the member from Leeds Brenda my question is for the Deputy Premier for 14 years this government has played fast and loose with the rules bending and breaking many of them the fact of the matter is is that this Liberal government is untrustworthy the wind Liberals gave access to cabinet access to cabinet ministers and strong-armed companies that do business with Ontario for the benefit of the Liberal Party they reward those donors by granting them expensive contracts and corporate handouts mr. Speaker will the Liberal government stand with the people's guarantee and support the fact that we have to stop ministers from fundraising off their stakeholders deputy Premier well thank you Speaker and of course we've been talking about the the people's so-called guarantee a lot this week and I think we'll continue to be talking about it because there's a lot to discuss so speakers so far what we've learned is that this is a party that cannot be trusted there with they will say anything to anybody to try to fool them to get elected Speaker the people of Ontario know better they know who you are they know what's in your DNA they know you will cut the services that people rely on their place the proof is in the fine print over 12 billion dollars in cut Speaker 12 billion dollars in cut answer thank you back to the deputy Premier you know it doesn't matter what the deputy Premier says clearly the untrustworthiness of the Liberal government goes far and wide Speaker we've seen this revolving door of Liberal insiders to government lobbyists over the last 14 years just look at the time the Minister of Environment let his right-hand man go right to a job with Tesla the people's guarantee will restore trust by closing that loophole mr. Speaker why won't the government lock this revolving door the one that opens in the minister's office and closes in the lobbyist office Speaker what the people's guarantee will do is guarantee a cut of six billion dollars in programs and services and another six billion dollars in programs that support lower energy costs and GHG reduction Speaker but that's not all that's not all a signature promise Speaker and the people's guarantee is a 22.5% cut in income taxes it simply is not true Speaker it is not true cutting one bracket by 22.5% does not mean a 25 22.5% cut in income taxes it is simply not true Speaker so if the people of Ontario are looking for somebody to trust they must not look there again back to the Deputy Premier you know this government should know their role it should be to restore the trust between the people of Ontario and and this place and this chamber our leader Patrick Brown and the Ontario PC Party will introduce legislation that will make government accountable in that legislation we're going to restore government advertising oversight to the auditor general or PP climate change hydro there isn't a government ad they won't use for partisan purposes it's appalling Speaker Mr. Speaker why won't they restore the auditor's general's oversight role will they continue to use government resources to campaign so speaker what we've got is a 12 billion dollar cut a promise to reduce income tax by 22.5% which isn't true Speaker and in addition to that we have the proposal of a carbon tax that will add $1,200 to the cost of families in this province Speaker this is a this is a platform we're happy to talk more about as long as they want to talk about it trust me we want to talk about it but just remember Speaker it's 12 billion dollars in cuts it's a bogus cut on income tax of 22.5% and it's additional costs of $1,200 for every family without reducing GHG's one bit speaker as I have done in the past I'll move to warnings particularly one side that was a little bit more noisy than the other new question thank you speaker my question is to the minister of health the people's guaranteed promises the largest investment in mental health in provincial history to build the most comprehensive and integrated mental health system in our province's history from what I hear from the government they'll want to continue to attack us but let me be perfectly clear we need a simple answer from this government will the government back a 1.9 billion dollar investment into mental health will they commit to the same investment and will the minister sign the people's guarantee Mr. Speaker of course to this government and this party mental health isn't I'll do it remember from Leeds Grandville's warrant carry on Mr. Speaker to this government and this party mental health is an absolute priority we view mental health and physical health as being two sides at the same point Mr. Speaker and there can be no health care there can be no health rather Mr. Speaker without mental health it's that important and our investments including this past year but going back to the beginning of our time in government in 2003 our investments demonstrate how high a priority it is for this government we continue to make those important investments across the province in a variety of ways including introducing the country's first cognitive behavioral therapy program for individuals with mood disorders like anxiety and depression creating youth wellness hubs as well across the province and many other investments that our stakeholders and patients clients are asking for Mr. Speaker thank you supplementary a lot of platitudes the auditor general even said that you haven't improved the children's mental health system in 13 years but of course you'll fight with her too the biggest gap in our healthcare system is the treatment of mental illness I know that too well mental health should be treated no differently than a physical ailment just look at some of the initiatives that the largest investment in political history could go to directed to work member from beaches east york is warned another comment I'll take it further carry on target investments into youth and children's mental health we could have supports for those on Ontario's college and university campuses we could have crisis outreach and support teams as a pilot project and we could invest in mental health services for indigenous populations through a preventative mental health system that provides culturally sensitive care so my question is will the liberal party match the commitment in the people's guarantee Mr. Speaker we are making unprecedented investments in mental health across this province but Mr. Speaker I have to say when it comes to the people's guarantee I honestly was quite intrigued by the title of people's guarantee and I wanted to see if in fact it had been used elsewhere so Mr. Speaker I wanted to understand the inspiration behind the people's guarantee Mr. Speaker I scoured the internet high and low far and wide and I kid you not Mr. Speaker I could not find a single reference to any other people's guarantee not a single one until Mr. Speaker I went all the way back to 1893 and yes Mr. Speaker it's all being done before you see there here is their inspiration the people's guarantee savings bank of Kansas City Missouri Mr. Speaker a group of conservative minded people and I'm happy to continue thank you stop talking you're adding minister a gentle reminder when the speaker stands it stops and it didn't as I was about to say before everyone continued minister of agriculture food and rural affairs is warned I've got about five others that I'm ready to do right now I asked the minister of health for a commitment and he took me on a time travel back to 1893 do your job we're asking for a 1.9 billion dollar commitment into mental health the president and ceo of the council of Ontario universities had this to say and I quote student mental health got a big boost this weekend when the Ontario pc party platform included a 1.9 billion dollar commitment to mental health kimberley moran ceo of the children's mental health Ontario added so pleased to see topping up elementary and secondary school supports for services targeted at improving mental health and well-being including funding awareness addictions and mental health Ontario tweeted a potentially historic investment for the province so the question minister will you meet that 1.9 billion dollar commitment this historic or will you continue to play partisan politics in 1993 mr. speaker mr. speaker that people's guarantees savings bank of kansas member from duffer and call it in his ward mr. speaker a fledgling group of conservative minded people who just months earlier had earned the confidence of their constituents who trusted them with their hard earned money and their savings until mr. speaker only months later after earning that confidence the people's guarantees savings bank completely ran out of money and were forced to shut their doors just as doomed to fail as the fledgling people's guaranteed savings bank of kansas city Missouri thank you i guarantee it new question the leader of the third party speaker my questions for the acting premier the privatized hydro one recently redesigned uh people's hydro bills to include a message from the liberal party about the impact of their 40 billion dollar borrowing scheme clearly the liberal still have enough sway over hydro one that they force the company to include campaign messaging on people's bills why doesn't the acting premier use that sway to direct the privatized hydro one not to install prepay hydro meters that will hurt families struggling to keep up with their skyrocketing electricity thank you mr. speaker once again i'm pleased to rise and to reiterate what hydro one has said when it comes to the prepaid meters mr. speaker that no none of this mr. speaker will be forced on to customers no customer will be forced to take a prepaid meter it will be their choice mr. speaker if and that's a big if mr. speaker the ontario energy board brings forward and allows the uh the application brought forward by hydro one to actually come forward so mr. speaker as hydro one has said numerous times in the media as hydro one has said numerous times out in the community and as i've said in this house many times mr. speaker this would be if it passes mr. speaker an opt-in program for customers thank you very much mr. speaker supplementary speaker yesterday the society of energy professionals came out against any further privatization of our hydro system president of the society said this and i quote and actually i agree with every word of it privatization is a bad deal for ratepayers a bad deal for taxpayers and it puts the security of a life and death necessity in the hands of a corporation accountable only to its shareholders end quote why won't the liberal government listen to the experts stand up for the people of this province and reverse their decision to sell off hydro one thank you mr. speaker the um broadening of ownership of hydro one has generated nine billion dollars through the ipo mr. speaker the government still remains the single largest shareholder of hydro one and rates will continue to be regulated by the ontario energy board mr. speaker but let's look what we are able to do with the money that we are able to to generate from that mr. speaker and i know um we kept the minister of transportation quite busy um with that because we started off with 13.5 billion dollars in the gtha with go regional express we're going to quadruple the number of weekly trips to six thousand keeping um keeping the minister of transportation even busier five point three billion dollars in the eglinton cross down lrt and i know one billion dollars is also going into uh ottawa the great city of ottawa mr. speaker to help them with lrt as well 43 million dollars in waterloo regional transit mr. speaker we were able to find ways to continue to build ontario up mr. speaker well speaker mr. travers also said and i'm going to quote him again privatizing a natural monopoly is never ever in the public interest i couldn't agree more again speaker the private hydro one has undertaken partisan political advertising on people's bills applied for multiple rate increases invested in dirty coal burning american companies and is proposing to install prepay meters this liberal government sold off our vital public utility with no mandate against the wishes of 80 percent of ontario families and now they're turning their backs on the damage that this company is doing to our province will the acting premier explain why her government continues to stand by this selloff when we know that it was the wrong decision for families and businesses thank you mr. speaker the only wrong decision mr. speaker was made by that party in the opposition voting against the fair hydro plan that brought forward a 25 percent reduction for all families and for those hydro one customers mr. speaker they've seen reductions anywhere from 30 percent 40 percent all the way up to 50 possibly mr. speaker those are the things that we've actually done to help families mr. speaker and want to talk about helping families we are building ontario up we're creating jobs right across the province mr. speaker by building infrastructure i know i talked about some of the programs that have kept the minister of infrastructure busy but i know you know we're also tripling the ontario community infrastructure fund to 300 million dollars and that's keeping the minister of infrastructure busy mr. speaker we have made sure that the the dollars that we have made the billions of dollars have been invested in making sure that we can look at programs we can look at infrastructure and continue to build ontario up something the opposition parties continue to vote against mr. speaker new question thank you speaker my next question is also for the acting premier our hydro system should be putting people first not private profits and the same is true in our health care system the ndp will put forward an amendment to bill 160 the premier's health care privatization bill to mandate that private clinics or as the liberals now call them community health facilities be operated on a not for profit basis will this government support the ndp amendment or will they just continue to support private for-profit clinics just like the conservatives health and long-term care sure health long-term care mr. speaker i i know that that the legislation is being discussed in committee as we speak this over the course of this week and i look forward to being able to continue the debate here in the legislature including on schedule nine which is the aspect that the leader of the third party has referenced that calls for greater oversight greater accountability greater transparency and plugging any gaps that might exist where the level of oversight or the level of accountability is insufficient for those health premises that exist outside of the hospital environment mr. speaker of course we're not talking about family health teams or community health centers we're talking about places like x-ray facilities where they do radiology it's critically important that we have a regime that ontarians can have confidence in that provides that necessary oversight so we can be assured of the highest quality care supplementary speaker privatization of our health care system is not in the best interest of ontarians but bill 160 makes it easier for companies to open private clinics in ontario that's what bill 160 does that's why we are calling it the liberal health privatization bill and this government refuses to support support our ndp amendments to make sure that all private clinics are not for profit facilities people should not be profiting companies should not be profiting on the health care of ontario families why is this government clearing the way for more private for-profit clinics instead of improving the the public health care of ontario families minister well mr. speaker i would welcome the leader of the third party to show me precisely where in schedule nine it does according to her make it easier for the establishment of private clinics it does not mr. speaker and it eliminates the possibility of any future private hospitals but mr. speaker we have had a moratorium this government for many many years on the establishment of any out-of-hospital for-profit entities including clinics the alleged private clinics that the member opposite purports to be so concerned about mr. speaker in fact since 2011 and i don't have the data going back further but 2011 there were only five licenses provided four out-of-hospital premises all of them not for profit mr. speaker that's less than one a year and all for not for profit so i'm not exactly sure i suspect that it is additionally her efforts to fearmonger about our health care system and across ontario we are not changing our approach we've had a moratorium we're eliminating the possibility of any future private hospitals and we're bringing all these regimes a common highly accountable system final supplementary well speaker whether the health minister wants to acknowledge it or not there are now a thousand private for-profit clinics operating in the private province of ontario because of decisions that conservatives and liberals have made over the last number of years bill 160 the premier's minister of health long-term care is warrant carry on please bill 160 this premier's health privatization bill is another huge disappointment for the people of ontario despite everything they say when this government has a chance to stop for-profit clinics and support not-for-profit care they won't commit to doing it why is the liberal government working so hard to expand privatization in health care just like they did in our hydro system instead of improving health care for people who need it minister well mr. speaker i think it's interesting that earlier in this week including yesterday the leader of the third party was concerned about the establishment of private hospitals but obviously she had another look at her legislation she talked to her stakeholders including the ontario health coalition and realized that she was wrong that we are absolutely clear in our intent to ban any future private hospitals and so now she's moved on to something else the leader of the third party is warrant carry on mr. speaker we have defended universal health care in this province since coming into government in 2003 we will continue to defend universal health care schedule nine provides for a higher quality care higher oversight more accountability more transparency of all of those facilities that do exist outside of our hospital system many of which by the way were created by the ndp or licensed by or licensed by the pcs thank you new question a member from duffin and call it my question is for the minister of health my colleague my friend the member from nipi and carleton asked you a very serious question about mental health in the province of ontario today and you came back with some ridiculous story from 1893 minister of health i want an answer we want an answer do you believe that mental health in the province of ontario needs the support now not in 1893 thank you minister of health long-term care well mr. mr speaker our record on mental health stands and proves that it has been a priority for this government since we came into office in 2003 mr. speaker we have increased our funding for mental health and addiction services by almost doubled it mr. speaker since coming into office our plan is to increase funding by an additional 220 million over the next three years we have provided support and investments that provide for more than 50 000 additional children and youth to have access to mental health and addiction services we are creating youth wellness hubs which provide those wraparound supports mr. speaker we have created in the last two years over 2 000 new supportive housing units for individuals with mental health challenges the first ever in this country cognitive behavioral therapy program for ontarians mr. speaker there's a long list and i think probably everyone be opposed supplementary you turned a question from lisa mcleod into a joke you laughed you were not taking it seriously i don't know why because she asked the question because we you don't think that we understand that mental health is a crisis in the province of ontario you were dismissive you were rude and you need to apologize thank you just to remind members writings and speak to the chair third person into the chair there's a purpose for that minister that party was talking about their platform and i was talking about their platform mr. speaker i created a minister's mental health and addictions leadership advisory council when i came into as minister of health more than 25 individuals the most exceptional individuals including many of them with lived experience and advocates and experts across the hospitals in the communities academics everyone imaginable that would be able to provide the best possible advice to this ministry and to me as minister and we listen to mr. speaker every year they produce an annual report in fact the next one is due shortly in the coming weeks and every year we respond in a tangible way to the advice that they provide us 2 000 more supportive housing units youth wellness hubs across the province cognitive behavioral therapy which was their number one ask mr. Spencer we introduced we are making unprecedented investments there can be no health without mental health mr. speaker new question member from london west thank you speaker my question is to the minister of advanced education and skills development with the december 5th deadline for college tuition refunds fast approaching the chaos and confusion continues faculty concerned about students achieving required competencies in a shortened semester are being suspended students who want a fresh start and their tuition refunded risk losing their program entirely students are being forced to jump through impossible hoops to access the hardship fund college student alliance said this week we've been in contact with the government daily shooting questions almost non-stop because there is so much left unanswered speaker will the minister take responsibility and clarify options for students so that college students can make informed decisions about their futures thank you speaker and i'm very happy to report that students are back in the classroom speaker of course had the ndp been in office they would still be on strike but they are the overwhelming overwhelming program speaker are up and running and students are in the midst of completely their semesters i want to take the opportunity to congratulate and thank the faculty members who have made this possible there is a speaker an opportunity if students wish if they do not feel confident that they can complete they can withdraw they will get a full tuition refund and there will be no academic penalty for doing that speaker we did for the first time in history establish a fund for students who have experienced exceptional hardship when it comes to answer as a result of the strike speaker we will know more about that in coming days thank you supplementary member from Windsor West thank you speaker again to the minister who could have acted long before the five week mark to get the colleges back to the bargaining point angelica a student at st. Clair college emailed the minister asking about this very issue and would really appreciate some answers angelica was part of a work study program she specifically chose work study because these programs are very accommodating for students but when she went to her financial aid office to receive compensation for lost wages under the hardship fund she was denied mr speaker when anyone student or otherwise is hired for a job there's an expectation that in the event of a layoff the employee will be compensated angelica was actually quoted in the cbc article as saying i feel like i've been forgotten by the ministry of education question mr speaker will the minister respond to angelica's email immediately and what plan does this government have to make sure that angelica and hundreds of other students thank you get the compensation they deserve minister well speaker there are obviously many situations that that we are dealing with on a daily basis uh the csa college student alliance does have a specific point person in my office they have been communicating daily the vast majority of the questions have been answered speaker we have we've worked very closely with students through this whole strike to make sure that they are front and center speaker i would suggest that the member opposite if there's a specific concern about a specific student first of all they must work with their college that is who is distributing the fund speaker but and if if uh if my office can help we would be more than happy to do that thank you no question the member from the topical north thank you mr president thank you mr speaker my question is for the minister of infrastructure like you appreciate the minister's 2011 long-term infrastructure plan building together and the diligent work that's been proceeding this includes speaker a two uh four hundred million dollar expansion in my own writing of utopico general hospital which will eventually quadruple the floor space the 2017 long-term infrastructure plan is entitled building better lives and of course it embodies a number of the government's core values these developments shape who we are and help the people of ontario live life to the fullest this includes by the way speaker a two billion dollar expansion of the finch lrt with eight stops in my own writing and the minister transportation would actually was in my writing yesterday and we together we made a related announcement speaker i know that there are a number of details of the current plan the building better lives and i'd ask the minister to please detail some of those thank you minister for the structure thank you speaker and thanks to the member for the question our new plan builds from a position of strength 190 billion dollars the largest infrastructure investment in the province's history averaging 12 billion dollars per year speaker we've carried out a hundred major hospital projects with 35 more in plan or under construction we're investing almost 20 billion dollars in go transit expansion for smaller and rural municipalities we tripled osif to 300 million dollars annually and invested 490 million dollars in broadband in partnership with the federal government we are delivering 600 transit projects and 1300 clean water and wastewater projects and we're the first ontario government to invest in rural natural gas expansion with the 100 million dollar program which the conservatives have cancelled in their plans sir mr speaker i'll have more details in my supplementary thank you supplementary thank you speaker i commend the minister on that array of projects that he's listed in particular i think it's important that folks across ontario have access to broadband and so the broadband strategy and the related community pilot projects of course i think will have a material impact on the quality of life for people across ontario i know as well that the long term infrastructure plan also includes measures to make infrastructure greener as well as keep community needs at the heart of decision making the plan is going to guide our unprecedented investment in public infrastructure and make sure that we're building the right thing at the right place at the right time for the right reasons speaker this is as you might imagine more important than ever as ontario faces climate change destructive technologies and an aging population in my own writing as i've mentioned speaker whether it's the hospital the college uh the infrastructure roads highways we have an extraordinary amount of development i'd like to thank the minister personally question my question is my question is can the minister elaborate in terms of the measures that our government is implementing speaker our infrastructure investments support 125 000 jobs per year and it's much more than bricks and mortar it's an investment in people and it's about building better lives our new plan announces a new broadband strategy and expands community benefits programs it will phase in a life cycle assessment to reduce our carbon footprint and the sale of surplus property will include a social purpose analysis in their last year the conservatist invested just 1.9 billion dollars in infrastructure not even enough for maintenance of existing infrastructure and invested next to nothing in the energy sector they promised billions in new spending and buried on page 76 is 12 billion dollars in cuts that they're promising the people of ontario and those are just the cuts are being up front about answer speaker all of that is sleight of hand by the conservatist thank you new question the member from thornhill thank you mr speaker my question is to the minister responsible for early years in child care the minister is obviously very close with martha friendly the founder and executive director of the child care resource and research unit yesterday friendly said that delivering child care relief is and i quote a waste of taxpayer money money end of quote now we here on the pc side profoundly disagree with martha friendly that's why the people's guarantee refunds up to 75 percent of a family's child care expenses are up to six thousand seven hundred and fifty dollars per child supporting families isn't a waste to us mr speaker will the minister disavow miss friendly's comments that child care relief is a waste of taxpayer money thank you minister one efficient child care and thank you mr speaker and i really want to thank the member opposite for this question because it gives me a chance to really talk about the amazing work that we're doing when it comes to child care in this province and i want to start up by saying band-aid solutions are not a solution here what we are working on here on this side of the house is working on real solutions solutions that are going to transform the way we deliver child care in this province and that starts by building a solid foundation which is what we're doing so we're not doing these cash grabs here's money up front what we're doing essentially is a deep dive into those changes that need to happen when it comes to fees when it comes to quality when it comes to affordability the plan coming from the other side of the house does none of those things they're not doing anything to reduce fees they're not doing anything to build quality spaces they're not making child care more affordable they're not doing anything for the workforce we need 20 000 more early childhood educators we have a plan in place we're doing everything we can to ensure that we're building a solid system we're not just saying that we're going to give people a certain amount of money up front and that's it thank you thank you back to the minister i noticed the minister didn't comment on miss friendly's comments but uh respected economist kevin melligan did and he said and i quote martha friendly gets many of the policy details wrong let me repeat that wrong now this is coming from someone who is close to a government that says facts still matter mr speaker will the minister tell her friend martha friendly that she is wrong and that child care relief is not a waste of taxpayer money thank you minister you know speaker i'm not going to get into an argument about which person what and you know which comment is more on track than others what i will say is this when it comes to child care and affordability we know well enough on this side of the house to trust the experts in the field and that's why i have a table that actually informs us it's called meaq it's made up of 60 different organizations or more that are really experts on many different levels that are informing us about what they think should be happening and the reality is this the plan that the pc is put forward doesn't do anything when it comes to building the system we know in fact that what they've chosen to do is recycle steven harper's infamous child care scheme one that saw rich families benefit while middle and low-income families were left behind answer where is this funding coming from that they're talking about they're going to cut out 12 billion dollars 12 billion dollars out of the system we are putting money into the system because we get it investments are how you build question remember from welling thank you speaker my questions to the acting premier after years of frozen hospital budgets this government just keeps on cutting health care niagra public health now expects its provincial funding to be frozen for a fourth straight year funding has been pro frozen under this premiere since 2015 and as a direct result niagra public health is being forced to lay off crucial public health workers as mayor uh dave augustine from palim says this liberal government has and i quote cut to the bone and now we're cutting to the bone why is this government forcing niagra public health to lay off workers who keep our families safe and healthy and our community safe mr health long-term care mr health long-term care well mr speaker we absolutely value our public health units the hardworking health care professionals and all staff that work within those entities to provide critically important care especially on the prevention side and but also help us when we are facing public health crises like the one we are facing with opioid today in fact niagra public health receives substantial new funding this year so they could hire more full-time workers to work specifically on the opioid crisis but mr speaker we have dramatically increased our funding for public health since we came into office in fact an increase by roughly half a billion dollars almost double more than doubling our contribution and we continue to make those important investments because we believe so strongly in the work that they do thank you supplementary well speaker we all know that public health is incredibly important they provide exceptional support for everyone from new moms to little ones to health and safety inspections to emergency dental care for our most vulnerable and i agree with my local medical officer of health that public health deserves to get more funding not less but for four straight years this premier has frozen public health funding forcing cuts of almost two percent per year cuts that our local counselors in niagra call disturbing well this liberal government stopped acting like the conservatives stopped cutting public health in niagra and saved the jobs of our public health workers and the services that our families in niagra counter thank you minister well mr speaker we increased health public health funding last year mr speaker and we increased public health funding this year mr speaker i'm a public health doctor myself i understand just how critically important that work is to our province and we're making the requisite investments healthy smiles ontario where almost 400 000 children benefit each year that is 100 funded by the province our 180 infectious disease control staff across the province through our public health units 100 funded by the ministry of health smoke-free ontario strategy where our public health units are critically important in that work mr speaker 100 funded by the provincial government we fund 147 nursing positions including chief nursing officers infection prevention and control nurses and public health nurses we provide 100 of that funding mr speaker we will continue to make those important investments thank you speaker my question is to the minister responsible for access ability our government has made it a priority to increase accessibility and remove barriers for persons with disabilities i have constituents in my writing of davenport who have raised questions about what we are doing to remove barriers and make ontario a more accessible place to live as well this coming sunday marks the united nations international day of persons with disabilities the theme this year is transformation towards a sustainable and resilient society for all could the minister please tell us what this government is doing to support this worthy goal mr responsible for accessibility thank you and i want to thank the member from davenport for a very important question this morning key to the foundation speaker of a sustainable resilient society of course is a strong economy and our government has taken several steps to ensure our economy is fueled by people with diverse skills and talents to that end in june we launched a comprehensive new plan to increase employment opportunities for people with disabilities and it's called access talent speaker we have five existing accessibility standards for areas including transportation customer service and employment are working towards two new accessibility standards in education and health care the education standard in particular speaker will meet a serious and growing need in our educational system speaker with close to 400 000 students in ontario who are identified as having disabilities being exceptional or receiving special education programs the significance of this new standard is clear and i look forward to provide more information supplemental supplementary thank you minister mr speaker this government stellar record in making ontario accessible is undeniable with the passing of the landmark accessibility for ontarians with disability act or oa a od a rather ontario became the model for other jurisdictions to follow speaker last month the federal minister of sport and persons with disabilities the honorable cantor indicated that the federal government has decided to cede to the optional protocol in the u n convention on the rights rights of persons with disabilities my question for the minister is will this government commit to this house to join our federal counterparts in adopting the optional protocol in the u n convention on the rights of persons with disabilities thank you minister speaker i am very delighted and pleased to inform the house today that our government has officially given its support to the federal government on the optional protocol in the u n convention on the rights of persons with disabilities this is very significant we are tireless in our efforts to make every aspect of everyday living easier for people with disabilities and we're firmly committed to building on the momentum from the accessibility for ontarians with disabilities act our government is committed to making this province accessible by 2025 and our support of canada's inclusion in the u n's optional protocol is a clear signal that our determination is unwavering and steadfast accessibility is a main priority for our government speaker and we are propelling a positive shift towards fairness and opportunity for people of all abilities thank you thank you new question the member from with the oxford thank you speaker my question is for the deputy premier in it together a report co-authored by colleges ontario the council of ontario the universities the college student alliance and the ontario undergraduate student alliance highlights the mental health crisis speaker on post-secondary campuses throughout ontario this report speaker clearly documents the critical need for mental health supports and services for students that is why patrick brown and the ontario progressive conservative party have committed 1.9 billion dollars over 10 years to implement mental health services and supports across the province speaker will the liberal government match today the ontario pc party's commitment for mental health services and supports thank you maybe sir well thank you speaker and and thank you to the member opposite for the question i think we all agree that mental health services on campuses uh the demand for services is increasing and we must be there to support students who are facing mental health challenges and that's exactly why speaker we added an additional six million dollars annually on top of the nine million we were already investing to bring the total investment to campus mental health to 15 million dollars i have to say i was very supportive and very happy to see that those four organizations joined together to create one report that really shines a light on the importance of investing in mental health services for people on our campuses speaker i'm proud of that initiative but i know there is more to do thank you supplementary now back to the deputy premier thank you speaker speaker i'd like to share a quote from a leader in ontario's post-secondary education sector and here's what she had to say we're very pleased to see the commitment by entero pc leader bachett brown to increase funding for mental health services for post-secondary students this is a huge priority on our campuses who said that speaker the president and chief executive officer of colleges entereal linda franklin speaker the entero pc party will make the largest mental health investment in canadian provincial history 1.9 billion dollar speaker will the liberal government agree to match the pc party's commitment today and address the mental health crisis that exists on ontario's post-secondary campuses decided please minister well speaker as i said we're absolutely committed to improving mental health services on campuses in addition to what we've already done one way that we are reducing stress on student speaker is by taking burden financial burden off their shoulders through the new osap we know that money can be a real mental health stressor this is an important step toward easing some of that burden speaker but i have to come back to the 12 billion dollars in cuts that that party has put inside their platform 12 billion dollars it is impossible to find that kind of money without cutting health services including mental health services so yes speaker these are guaranteed cuts thank you question the member from nicklebell thank you mr president thank you mr speaker speaker members of the subway community particularly the francophone community are experiencing hardship and a loss of the services they need due to the prolonged labor dispute at the subway counseling center 12 members of usw local 2020 all of them women have been on strike for seven long weeks i visited the picket line on friday and mr tim worton came to talk to me mr worton is the survivor of serious drama and a client at the center he's having a really tough time right now he needs access to the care and he has nowhere else to turn why is this government leaving people in my area like mr worton without the care they need for seven long weeks the attorney general thank you very much i speak i appreciate the question from the the member opposite she has spoken to me about this issue before as well and you know we are of course mindful of the fact speaker that there is a there is a labor disruption or strike that's taking place and and then as a result speaker services are interrupted speaker the commitment of course of my community is to make sure that those very important vital services that are necessary for individuals who who need these court mandated services or victim services in both official languages and french and english are provided we're hopeful that the parties will resume negotiations that they'll get back to the table and are able to come to a to an agreement because that's as we know speaker it is the best way of making sure that those services resume but the in the meantime uh we are mindful we want to make sure and we are concerned as well speaker uh that those are service important service that disrupts them and we're hopeful that they could resume as soon as possible supplementary thank you speaker the workers at Sudbury counseling center provide counseling psychotherapy employee assistance program partner assaults program response both for men and for women counseling for women experiencing domestic violence assistance for male survivors of sexual violence they even counsel some of our youngest citizen little kids before they need to sit in as witness in the in the witness stand before a judge and jury nine of those 13 programs they provide are unique they are not available anywhere else in our area can the minister please explain why he's leaving some of Sudbury in nickel belt most vulnerable residents and the people who depend on them literally out in the cold minister of labor minister of labor thank you speaker and thank you to the member for that very very important question i was in Sudbury just last week with the minister of energy and obviously this was an issue uh that came up as we toured through the community i can tell you in the province of Ontario speaker about 98 percent of all collective agreements are reached without having to resort to a strike without having to resort to a lockout the labor relations regime in this province speaker is second to none from time to time speaker unfortunately sides cannot come to agreement that's where the staff from the ministry of labor come in speaker the mediators we have the arbitrators we have on staff for amongst the best in the world we have we have a number of mediators that are working on this case speaker and i'm pleased to report to the house that the sides have agreed to return to the table in early december speaker we know that the best agreements are those that are reached at the table uh negotiating by nature is tough speaker it's supposed to be tough answer and we we hope that uh if kula heads prevail here speaker that we can get an agreement that serves the people of Sudbury thank you speaker good question thank you speaker my question is to the minister of energy Ontario is well known as a leader in the field of innovation and new emerging technologies especially clean and sustainable technologies and just a few weeks ago the long-term energy plan made a solemn commitment to ontarians to continue building an affordable and clean electricity system in which customers are given more choices in their energy use like with net metering and so that shows speaker demonstrates that ontarians and their families continue to be at the centre of our plan the speaker the plan also talked about how innovative technologies have the potential to transform ontario's energy system and to keep up with these changing technologies ontario has relaunched the smart grid fund and it will support the growth and the advancement of the province's electricity grid in a smart and clean way sustainable way is possible so speaker will the minister please provide more information to the house about the smart grid fund and how it is helping ontario innovators and our energy system as a whole minister of energy thank you mr speaker i also want to thank the member for beaches east york for his constant advocacy for hydrogen and many other instances that help us with our smart grid fund mr speaker the smart grid fund was launched in 2011 to support innovation in ontario's electricity sector and ontario's innovation has produced a wide range of technology such as home energy management grid automation energy storage which is a game changer mr speaker micro grid cyber security and electric vehicle integration through this fund mr speaker ontario companies have solved problems on distribution grids and utilities have increased their understanding of how the smart grid can benefit the system and their customers just last week mr speaker enter store secured funding from the swiss based sushi energy storage fund to roll out innovative answer behind the meaner energy storage solutions at commercial industrial and institutional sites in canada mr speaker i want to congratulate enter store and look forward to adding more in the supplementary supplementary well thank you speaker thanks to the minister for the incredible work he is doing to help transform our electrical system into the future into the best it could possibly be now the smart grid fund through it our government continues to support jobs growth and innovation and there are tremendous opportunities that the minister noted with hydrogen technologies and other power to fuel technologies particularly around areas like smart electric vehicle chargers and there's more and a number of the previously successful recipients of the smart grid fund and the products that they have developed are now gaining traction in foreign markets including end dimension solutions which is a cyber security firm which can boast over a hundred utility companies using their services in north america ulti smarts distribution system it's a monitoring software that has been installed by over 140 utility companies and there's a new transformer sensor which is manufactured on tarot by grid 2020 and it's been tested in 11 countries so speaker with the minister please inform the as to how the government will continue to support local innovators through the smart grid fund thank you mr speaker again thank you to the member for the question as part of our government's grid modernization strategy now is the right time to build on this success by renewing and enhancing the smart grid fund that is why our 2017 long-term energy plan entitled delivering fairness and choice committed sixty million dollars mr speaker in new smart grid funding and we intend to launch a call for applications before the end of the year this will continue our government's strong support of ontario's innovation sector and help overcome barriers to electricity grid modernization an enhanced smart grid fund will focus on encouraging a culture of innovation within the electricity sector that explores new solution for integrating technologies test new business models incorporates electricity and other energy resources and generates new ideas for advancing grid modernization mr speaker i'm very pleased to be able to launch this program new question remember from perry sound thank you mr speaker my question is for the deputy premier mr speaker in march of 2015 the northern ontario heritage fund gave four million dollars to california based rent tech to convert two sawmills and wawa and atta koken into wood pellet manufacturing plants it sounded like good news it was projected to create 60 jobs in these communities in february of this year less than two years later rent tech closed the wawa plant and now they have the atta koken plant up for sale news coverage says the northern ontario heritage fund is asking the company to pay two and a half million dollars back but rent tech seems to believe they have complied with their commitments speaker will the deputy premier please tell ontarians how this government is going to make sure this company doesn't leave ontario without repaying the money to the minister of energy please minister energy thank you mr speaker always pleased to rise and talk about the great work that's happening in northern ontario and a lot of the accomplishments that are happening thanks to the northern ontario heritage fund the northern ontario heritage fund is continuing to invest in creating a diverse economy in northern ontario and one that's creating jobs just last week in my writing of Sudbury when i had the minister of agriculture and small business and the minister of labor with me and Sudbury mr speaker we talked about some of the programs that the NOHFC has been bringing forward to help mining companies to help forestry companies to help the mine at the the movie sector mr speaker we are creating more film and television programs in in northeastern and northwestern ontario mr speaker that it's creating over 1200 jobs we are making sure through our due diligence mr speaker that northern ontario is continuing to grow and prosper thanks to the investments that this government is making for the northern ontario heritage fund mr speaker supplementary thank you mr speaker the minister didn't seem to understand my question this is not the first time that the northern ontario heritage fund has invested in companies only to see them leave before their commitments were fulfilled earlier this year great lakes graphite left ontario just 10 months after the government gave the company $400,000 our leader is committed to penalize companies that take advantage of government programs and then leave town speaker what has this government done to ensure future northern ontario heritage fund grants don't go to companies that are not committed to staying in northern ontario thank you mr speaker once again very pleased to stand and talk about the hundred million dollar a year investments that we are making to ensure that the priorities of northerners are being met and since 2003 mr speaker the northern ontario heritage fund has invested $1.2 billion which has directly created over 32,000 jobs across northern ontario helping northerners live work and build careers in the north mr speaker let's talk about a few of those things we've expanded broadband to a hundred thousand more people in northern ontario 32 million dollars of that mr speaker has been invested to support the expansion of broadband infrastructure into 21 remote first nations communities six billion dollars invested since 2003 in our northern highways program mr speaker keeping the minister of transportation busy we're continuing to finish the expansion of highway 69 making our roads safer and bringing more economic development to northern ontario no question the member from winter to come see thank you speaker my question this morning is for the deputy premier good morning the liberals grab the headline speaker with a rebate for people buying new electric vehicles fuel efficient vehicles well here's a new headline the liberals are deadbeats they're not paying their bills some new car dealers are owed as much as half a million dollars i have a dealer in my writing that is owed $300,000 a small business fronting these guys over here who aren't paying their bills dealers front the rebate off the top speaker they file the paperwork to get it back and it takes seven months or more for that to happen seven months or more and then sometimes they're told oh you made a mistake in the form start all over again speak in the spirit of being open and transparent when will these deadbeat liberals start paying the rebates to new car dealers in a time fashion thank you deputy premier well good morning and to the minister never too late to get a warning thanks very much speaker i thank the member from windsor for his uh for his interesting question obviously speaker our government's very proud of the fact that we provide generous incentives through the electric vehicle incentive program for those individuals who are both purchasing or leasing the member from windsor west's ward i was saying we're very proud of the fact that through the electric vehicle incentive program both for the purchase and lease of vehicles and also to support the purchase of home-based charging infrastructure our government provides very generous incentives the member is right there have been some challenges within the processing of payment for those in some cases dealers and in some cases individuals to receive their rebate i can assure the member that the government and ministry of transportation are working very hard to fix some of the challenges and i anticipate that the individual or the dealer that he's talking about will receive will receive the rebate soon speaker i will also point out really quickly that all of this really and truly underscores how successful these programs act the minister on a point of order just speaker i'd like to introduce the family and friends of today's page captain sean reynolds for my riding of burlington speaker steven and marie reynolds jerry reynolds and i think reman grandpa kathy marie witherick and david witherick welcome to queen's park and this model also uh halloween yes i'd like to welcome david swainer who's a big contributor to the university of halloween welcome to queen's park we have a deferred voter in motion the second reading of bill 177 an act to implement budget measures into an act and amend various statutes calling the members this will be a five-minute bill all members take your seats please all members take your seats please on november 20th 2017 mr susan moved second reading of bill 177 an act to implement budget measures to and to enact various statutes all those in favor please rise one at a time you've recognized by the court mr susan mr nackney mr bradley mr bradley mr del duke mr del duke this is sand this is sand this is matthew mr hossam mr hossam mr shirelli mr shirelli mr duke mr duke mr mccharles mr charles mr kohl mr kohl mr delaney mr delaney mr dylan mr dylan mr baller mr baller mr marie mr mori mr julgoz mr koala mr koala mr molly mrs martins Bill, does the election do proceed or not? As soon to the order of the House dated November 29, 2017, the bill is referred to the standing committee on finance and economic affairs. There are no further deferred votes. This House stands recess until 3pm this afternoon.