 It is therefore time for our question period the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition Thank you very much my question is for the Premier. Good morning, Premier The Liberals today debated one of the most appalling Time allocation motions this legislature may have ever seen that's right as the government tries to stop debate on their flawed by American That's not helpful Indicators are that we need to go to warnings and I will next outburst will go to warnings As the government tries to stop debate on their flawed by american bill They are flying in the face of democracy. It is an affront to this house and to all members They are not allowing any committee hearings in ontario and only 30 minutes of debate 30 minutes to discuss legislation Attacking our biggest trading partners. There is no longer any doubt speaker that this bill is simply a crass political ploy Mr. Speaker, how can the premier stand in this house and support such an affront to democracy? Standing in this house and standing up for the workers in this parkable, mr. Speaker that the leader of the Opposition would not understand how important it is that we support and stand up for the businesses and the workers in this Both sides have had their turn on it. We're now in warnings Premier Our government values the deep and long-term relationship that we have had with the united states. Mr. Speaker I just came back from washington. I have met with 38 governors. Mr. Speaker with congresspeople with senators Mr. Speaker the the impression that we are leaving in the states the work that we're doing to bring people together To to push back against the protectionist wave that is going across that country Mr. Speaker that is something that is very important for the well-being of the economy of this province Back to the premier They are stopping debate when they don't have any idea of the impact of this legislation Inside trade magazine asked the premier quote was there an any analysis done to determine if your bill would be Compliant the answer while quote there was always a legal analysis. I actually don't know the degree of risk They asked quote. Are you worried? This might be illegal at the world trade organization that this might result in a challenge in geneva the premier quote We're pretty sure we're okay Pretty sure speaker isn't good enough Speaker they were pretty sure that windstream was NAFTA compliant But we're still now on the hook for millions. Mr. Speaker is the premier pretty sure She's okay with stopping debate on a bill that could end up in the courts Mr. Speaker what I am absolutely certain of is that it is extremely important for us to have a Proportional response to protectionism. Mr. Speaker On the part of the absolutely critical but in this time of uncertainty. Mr. Speaker We establish that we are going to protect and we are going to support the workers and the business of this province Mr. Speaker we don't want to get into a trade war with the united All right We're there member from here on bruce's ward Finish please pemer the last thing we want is a trade war with the united states, mr. Speaker, but we must respond We are working extremely hard to make sure that everyone who is Having a decision making role in the NAFTA discussions understands how integrated our economies are But if there are bi-american policy that are going to threaten our businesses and workers, mr. Speaker We're going to make a proportional response and the opposition should be supportive I've got two on my radar now because of my standing Final supplementary back to the premier the Ontario chamber of commerce believes the best approach for Ontario Is the formation of positive bilateral cooperation with our american neighbors? Not retaliatory legislation the editor of the canadian center for excuse me President treasury board is warned Finish please the editor of canadian center for policy alternatives is quoted as saying The reality is us states have a world trade organization carve out permitting by american While ontario restrictions on us bids will be illegal But it's clear this crass political ploy will only lead to more trouble down the road speaker Whether it's directly with the state or with the world trade organization, mr. Speaker is the premier still pretty sure The bill won't hurt ontario business because i think the answer is pretty clear Mr. Speaker, well, let's just finish the quote that the uh the the member opposite started So this is the quote that he began from rocko rossi Who said who's the president of the c and ceo of the ontario chamber of commerce? And he said yes the ontario chamber of commerce believes that the best approach for ontario is the formation of positive bilateral Cooperation with our american neighbors This is the approach the premier and her government have taken to date And it's in the states that work It's pretty difficult to ask any one individual to stop when both sides are yelling back and forth at each other But i can find you You have a wrap up We recognize that working hand in hand with our federal government to deepen the relationships in the united states are Is important and we've been doing that mr. Speaker, but we're also going to stand up for ontario businesses and workers Remember from renfrew nipissing pembroke is warned New question the leader of the opposition. Thank you speaker. My question is for the premier yesterday when questioned about the seiu backed Home care agency the premier said quote. We are working with personal support workers We are working with the people who are on the front line We're going to do that. We're going to support them But speaker that can't quite be correct Because the ontario personal support workers association Doesn't support this agency 95 percent of the providers are suing the government Mr. Speaker will the liberals actually work with psw's and scrap this home care agency Thank you very much mr. Speaker and as i said yesterday We are talking about the people who are doing the important work of caring for the most vulnerable people in our society Whether it's the age of mr. Speaker or whether it is people with disabilities providing care for folks in In our communities who who otherwise would not be able to have Dignity mr. Speaker so the work of psw's is incredibly important, which is exactly why we have been working with them It's exactly why we delivered on delivered on our commitment to raise the new base wage for publicly funded psw's to 16 dollars and 50 cents an hour mr. Speaker we made it clear that They had not seen increases and they needed to be supported mr. Speaker We created the 10 million dollar psw training fund, which is supported training and education to psw's working in Home and community care mr. Speaker we believe that the people who are doing this work need to be supported And they they need and and deserve to have a professional A professional organization mr. Speaker that's why we've been working with them Back to the premier again when questioned about the sciu backed home care agency The liberals cited other countries and states that use this model washington state Great, that's one rife with controversy alleged malfeasance and several lawsuits. They mentioned australia Which actually does not use a central government agency in fact, none of the countries the liberals referenced Have created a central government agency outside of that one in the us The ontario model does not make sense Not for patients not for providers not for psw's mr. Speaker it is clear This is only for the seiu I again ask will the liberals scrap this agency Just to what the minister of health and long-term care said yesterday Let's just make sure we understand that what we're trying to do is make sure that people who need the services of psw's Have choice that they have the opportunity to get Member from leeds grendel is warned They're able to get the care when they need it and where they need it mr. Speaker So to that end we've committed further investments to psw's in uh in our 2017 budget including a continued investment of 250 million dollars in 1718 for community and personal support services up to 10 million annually for eligible organizations for education and training In the home and community care sector through that psw training fund and these investments will to will help Meet the increased demand we recognize that there's increased demand mr. Speaker We recognize that there is pressure on psw's which is why we are working with them Make sure that they have the tools to deliver as I said the care that people need and that patients have Access to the choice that they're looking for mr. Speaker. Thank you final supplementary. Thank you speaker back to the premier 11 agency That represent 95 percent of the providers are suing the liberal government Their judicial application reads Quote home care patients Including those who would be served by the agency under the ministry's plan Are amongst the most? Vulnerable individuals in ontario and the government's Unilateral decision to create the agency will cause distress confusion and anxiety Speaker just the agency will cause distress confusion and anxiety It's shameful that the government is proceeding Mr. Speaker is a home care system Full of distress confusion and anxiety really the best system for ontario Thank you very much mr. Speaker and let's be very clear about What we are talking about when we're talking about our model for self-directed care We estimate only one percent of all home care clients in ontario would be eligible For the services of this psw employing organization And the program will only be implemented in a small number of regions in the province at the outset some four lins will be involved and These self-directed care initiatives will be subject to the most rigorous third party evaluation Based on looking at cost effectiveness And I think the most important piece is client satisfaction answer Our goal is to look after clients in their home with a particular model where there is continuity of care Where the psw involved is totally involved in the Thank you new question the member from welland. Thank you speaker my question is to Donna Simmons is an 87 year old constituent of mine on Tuesday Donna's daughter stopped in to visit her at her home and her mom wasn't looking very good She rushed Donna to the hospital in welland right away. They were told Donna had a heart attack What happened in the er should never happen to any family in the province of ontario For nine hours Donna a senior 87 years old was put in a wheelchair In a crowded emergency room hallway to wait for a bed to become available The hospital was so overcrowded that there wasn't even a stretcher available to lay an 87 year old senior who'd had a heart attack on How can the premier hear these stories day after day? In this house and continue to say that there isn't anything that is going wrong in our hospitals in ontario Thank you Well, mr. Speaker first of all, let me say to to the family that I'm sorry that they are going through that difficult time That would be be stressful for For anyone and I I'm very sorry that That mother and daughter had to had to go through that experience. Mr. Speaker We know that there's more to be done. We know that there is more that needs to be done in terms of Of alleviating the stress on hospitals. That's why 500 million dollars was in our last budget. Mr. Speaker That's why we've been invested in 1200 new beds, mr. Speaker and that And that those are being extended mr. Speaker We recognize that there has been particularly as the minister of health and long-term care has said particularly A difficult period because of the the flu surge right now, mr. Speaker But we recognize that we need to continue to support our hospitals as well as to the previous question as well as Care in the community because there is an increasing need because of the aging demographic, mr. Speaker We understand that and we are working with our hospitals to To ensure that we continue to put the resources in that they need mr. Speaker. Thank you supplementary Speaker donna was in severe pain for nine hours She's 87 years old. She's a senior. She has severe arthritis In her back and she was forced to wait nine hours in a wheelchair in a hallway And she should have been in a bed on a heart monitor Donna is still in the emergency room waiting to be moved to a floor one of two floors in the well in hospital Speaker, how does the premier hear stories like this? Stories like donna's day in and day out and continue to make conservative style cuts to our hospitals and health care system Thank you Thank you very much mr. Speaker and I also of course Very touched and concerned about what we've just heard today from the member from welland And as the premier has said, of course, we have been taking steps to alleviate these sorts of situations As I think everyone knows we at the 2017 budget We invested over 500 million dollars in funding. That's over half a billion dollars in ontario hospitals Giving a really significant increase to the hospital sector So we are working on the hospital side of things But of course in this particular case we're talking about a senior and We are working very hard on the community side Hopefully to prevent such situations as we've just heard So in addition to adding these 1200 hospital beds through the funding increase We're also providing some 207 affordable housing units for seniors Who need additional community supports when they're discharged from hospital? And we're also creating a number of transitional care spaces outside of hospital for a further very large number of patients Thank you final supplementary Thank you speaker the hospital overcrowding and hallway medicine are not new There really are a reality in this province and the situation didn't get like this overnight The last conservative government fired 6000 nurses and close 28 hospitals The liberals have shortchanged hospitals for the last 15 years 300 million dollars last year alone forcing cuts to hospital staff and to people like donna Who i talked about today in the emergency department Why is the premier carrying on the conservative tradition of cutting health care services for ontario families and people's people like donna Thank you minister Mr. Speaker so Of course the hospital beds are most important in the acute care system But some of these other community supports are exceptionally important as well So I just want to make sure the the member opposite knows about the 150 new transitional care beds at the reactivation care center This is particularly to serve northern toronto area and york region very important in my community and also 75 beds at university health networks form a hillcrest site to provide care for those transitioning out of hospital Now I do agree certainly with the comments in relation to the previous Harris government, but I'd like to remind the member that when the ndp were in power They closed 24 percent of acute hospital beds in the province They closed 13 percent of health beds and a grand total in their last budget closing 9 645 hospital beds Thank you New question the member from nickle belt Thank you, mr. Speaker my question is to the premier The hospital for sick children is a world-class hospital It's amazing doctors and health care professionals perform little miracles every day Yesterday I toured sick kids hospital and spoke spoke with children and for parents It was very clear that the premier's answers yesterday was a huge disappointment In light of the crisis that they are coping with Sick kids is running out of room. It's been overcrowded every single month for the past year In january staff treated more than 8,000 children in their emergency department Setting a record for the more patient at any point in the hospital 143 year history The overcrowding at sick kids question been solved. It's getting worse Why won't this premier do what's right for children and stop the overcrowding in our hospital? Minister of health and long term care Well, we certainly do recognize the stress placed certainly this past year on our hospitals and particularly in sick kids and Having intern there and having had my daughter have surgery there, of course I think we all know what excellent care that possible provides And we know That our health care providers are stressed. They are working overtime They're doing their very best of course with their unwavering commitment to patient care But to go back to what we did this last fall We invested 100 million dollars to create 1200 new hospital beds across the province And that's equivalent to six new medium sized hospitals And so we've begun to see how valuable this additional support has been to our hospitals And we've already made the commitment that we're going to renew this investment Increasing the new funding to our hospitals for the coming year to 187 million dollars Thank you supplementary back to the premier The incredible healthcare professional that sick kids are doing the very best they can in very cramped spaces But it is this government that it is not doing enough to help The neonatal icu is running at 115 occupancy nurses are tripping over Equipment every hallway every nook and cranny is jam packed Children who receive bone marrow transplant have to stay in a tiny room Without a bathroom or a shower for six long weeks Six weeks sick kids needs immediate relief now and capital investment to rebuild and expand its facility So why is the premier refusing to stop overcrowding and helping sick kids? Thank you, mr. Speaker So specifically to sick kids through the 2017 budget Our government increased annual funding to sick kids by some nine million dollars to continue to support them In their delivery of the world-class healthcare to the children most in need And since september ontario has provided sick kids with funding for 20 new beds And we commit to this ongoing work with our hospitals to analyze exactly what they need and to provide it Over time now this year as has been said has been particularly difficult Influenza b one of the strains that was circulating particularly affected children in this last year, so the need for This surge capacity obviously has been proven this year We will continue to analyze the needs and accommodate as necessary Thank you, speaker for too long people across this province have been asked to settle for overcrowded hospital Or for cuts to our healthcare system. It should not be that way speaker It absolutely does not have to be that way sick kids should not be forced to operate at 115 occupancy in his neonatal intensive care unit It shouldn't be losing horse class surgeon And it should not be forced to provide 21st century medicine to the sickest of children in spaces that have Not been updated since 1949 What will it take for this premier to stop denying the problem Stop making excuses and start providing the capital investment that sick kids need right now Thank you, mr. Speaker and certainly we're looking very closely at the capital needs of hospitals There has been some allocation of funding for planning For new construction and I just want to make sure that the member opposite does understand because since 2003 we've increased our investments in health care each and every year. There have not been any cuts We have been increasing funding to treat more patients And so mr. Speaker we have been able to Improve care each and every year and to reduce wait times to some of the very shortest in the country We have more to do we acknowledge that but we're listening to our hospitals and we're working towards Uh, obviously maintaining this world class system that we have here. Thank you No question the member from the middle school Thank you very much speaker my questions to the minister of health and long-term care A little jeopardy for the speaker or for the minister speaker This hospital's emergency department had the busiest month and it's 143 year history in january 2018 For this past year this hospital has been over capacity and since december this occupancy rate has been over 108 Mr. Speaker this story isn't nothing new The dire straits of interior hospitals are facing today are not rare or even occasional occurrence in the province anymore It's happening across the riding and elgin middle sex london In sudbury hamilton and ottawa In fact, uh, mr. Speaker i have an easier time telling the minister Where are the hospitals that aren't chronically overfunded or overcrowded excuse me Speaker based on the challenges i've described to you And the questions that i've posed could the minister tell me which overcrowded ontario hospital i'm speaking about Thank you very much mr. Speaker and i do want to say to the member opposite that We have a very comprehensive system of health care in this province. It includes some 144 I believe hospitals 143 perhaps there have been some amalgamations But of course that's not all we have so many ancillary community support services and We're committed to looking regionally at the needs. We know that the demographics in this province do very considerably This is why our government established local health integration networks So that we have that local input to ensure that we have Individuals obviously everyone knows linds are governed by a board they have Divisions looking and analyzing constantly at the needs of their communities And so we respond as the ministry to what we hear from the ground And we do our very best to accommodate those needs in a thoughtful analytic way and We will continue to make this progress that we have made very substantially over the course of our government. Thank you Thank you speaker back to the minister speaker what we've seen over the past 15 years Is this government invest in large bureaucracies administration? We've seen them form the cca season to 39 cents of every dollar going to administration We've seen the ministry of health expand from five deputy ministers Assistant deputy minister over 20 with a full comp on the staff what we've seen though is a cut in front line services and overcrowding in our hospitals The situation i described previously is the sick kids just down the street world-renowned children's hospital conducting cutting-edge research and providing Innovative life-saving care, but it's busting at the seams Children in critical care are having to squeeze in a room with five other patients and their families sometimes Have to be there in the most stressful and scary times of their lives speaker This government should have seen this coming. It's not because it's a one-off year It's years of underfunding despite warnings from sick kids and other hospitals in the province So will the minister finally listen and commit to fully funding our hospitals in this upcoming budget? Mr. Speaker any suggestion that the ministry of health and long-term care is a bloated Bureaucracy is a complete myth in the past 13 years The health ministry budget has almost doubled Increasing from about 30 billion dollars to 52 billion dollars while staff while administrative staff have decreased decreased by 50 percent And so uh We are committed to ensuring that Ontarians have the health care that they need where and when they need it. I'd like to ask the member opposite Where exactly does the Opposition party stand on this as far as we know the pcs have absolutely zero dollars for hospitals in their Thank you No question the member from timmons james bate Well, my questions to the minister of health minister my constituency offices like probably every constituency office in this house Has been having parents come to her office completely stressed out That their children who used to get medication by the private covers The coverage that they got from their work benefits once they show up at the pharmacy If the drug is not covered by pharma care They end up being rejected in having to go back through an entire bureaucratic process of trying to get the medication covered for young kids This is a very serious issue as you well know because a number of them can't be off the medication For a period of time because of their medical condition Why did the government put in place a program? If you hadn't figured out how to make sure that people would not have interruptions when it comes to getting the drugs that they need The reason uh that we have instituted ohit plus of courses to ensure that Every child in this province has access to the drugs when and where they need them We have 4 million children and youth that can now access 4 400 drugs These are essential of course anti biotics to treat infections Everything that a child needs asthma inhalers insulin seizure medications Anti depressants etc And so obviously we have instituted this to level the playing field to ensure that every child has the opportunity to thrive And to have good health And so and sir we instituted this program and So many people have already uh taken advantage of it. I'll uh Give some more information in the supplementary supplementary Minister as a new democrat We don't need to be preached on the benefits of pharma care. We're the ones who came out with it the fact that you follow That's a good thing But the point is this I can tell you that if we were to put together a pharma care program to Stop the clock Come to order Finish, please you have a responsibility when putting together such a program to make sure that kids don't fall off the system I have at our constituency offices I'm sure that we have at all our constituency offices as you do People coming to your door and saying I want to renew the prescription for my child And I was not able to because of the bureaucratic bungling of the creation of this new plan So my question to you is what are you going to do to fix it? So kids don't have to go without the medication that should be covered by the plan in the first place This premier in our government has taken a historic step and a program of this Magnitude it's a program that is positively benefiting four million children and youth here in Ontario So leading up to january 1st We worked closely with a number of prescribers specialty clinician groups and insurance providers to ensure a smooth Transition to coverage through ohib plus and so in fact over 800,000 young people age 24 and under have already had Their prescriptions filled at no cost under ohib plus More than 1.7 million prescriptions have been filled to date under ohib plus And so the numbers continue to grow and of course we know that while this Program does cover some 4400 Drugs there's also the opportunity if a drug is not covered in this way to access a drug through the exceptional Access program and I as a physician remember very well taking advantage of that excellent program Thank you New question the member from trinity spadine Thank you speaker. My question is for the minister of transportation When i'm out in my community talking to residents about their thoughts and concerns I always hear transit transit can make or break a person's day That is why it's so important that we're not only having enough transit But we also have to have good quality transit that people want to use Speaker I know that the people of trinity spadina live a very busy life When they are on the move they are often responding to their work emails arranging plans for dinner Or taking care of one of many other tasks. They have to do on a daily basis Speaker would the minister please tell the member of this house What our government is doing to improve the transit experience for riders by making it easier to get online while riding on our Goal network. Good. Thank you Thank you very much speaker and I really want to thank the member for trinity spadina for his question But for his staunch advocacy on behalf of transit riders in his community Speaker last week I was really pleased to be in the members community at the up express station at union station To make a very exciting announcement. Our government is bringing wi-fi to the go network In june 2017 we released an expression of interest for wi-fi providers Now coming this spring we'll be testing the service on two trains and four go buses This approach will allow us to receive important feedback from the commuters so that when we roll out wi-fi across the entire network We get it right Speaker wi-fi on go trains and buses is a number one customer service improvement requested by go transit riders And that's exactly what we're delivering This is a major step forward and I look forward to seeing the results of this trial as we plan to create wi-fi service Across our entire go network Supplementary I thank you speaker. I want to thank the minister for her great work and the answer I know that wi-fi will encourage even more commuter to take transit making transit more enjoyable and more convenient Helps the commuters to make choice to leave their cars at home and hop on transit at their local go station street cards or bus or subway stops Speaker I know that we need to continue to make these type of improvement at the same time We can't afford to press pause on building new transit and increased services This is something I hear regularly from transit riders in my community who want to see progress Speaker would the minister please provide the members of this house with more information on what our government is doing To make taking transit an even better option when also while also continue to increase the service we provide. Thank you Thank you speaker and again I want to thank the member for trinity spadina for all his work on this subject Speaker wi-fi is readily available at the majority of go transit stations We know that commuters appreciate that service so making wi-fi available on go transit vehicles is the clear next step But speaker to make your commute even easier. We're also updating the go website This new website will commute will improve your commuter Or your commute through tools like a fare calculator that helps you to determine your go fare with cash or presto Service update information for trains buses and stations all in one location and an easy to use trip planner Speaker while working to make your trip more conveniently More convenient and more enjoyable. We also continue to add new service whenever possible We're on our way to deliver 6,000 weekly trips up from 1500 and improving the experience for our commuters is a very important step along the way I can't wait to see how this rolls out and we're very pleased to offer this new service. Thank you Thank you New question the member from foreign health. Thank you very much, mr Speaker and I have a question to the minister of children and youth services Mr Speaker earlier this week the mother risk commission released a damning report regarding the flaws in this government's hair strand drug and alcohol testing a flawed and discredited toxicological methodology The report highlighted the use of false evidence to facilitate the removal of children from their homes Breaking up families and damaging communities In 2014, toronto mother tamara broomfield won a court appeal after being convicted in 2009 of feeding her toddler cocaine A faulty conclusion reached by the mother risk method. Mr. Speaker the government knew their concerns Yet did nothing for two years. The public's confidence is shattered Will the minister of children youth services share his plans to rectify this gross injustice done frontarios most vulnerable Well, thank you, mr. Speaker and I'd like to thank the member for the question The mother risk report did come out this week and I'd like to thank the commissioner for her hard work It was thoughtful work and the recommendations that she made were accepted by my ministry And I know the attorney general was there as well. And again, I'd like to thank the commissioner for her work Mr. Speaker A lot of the recommendations that were in that commission speak about The reform and the modernization of the child welfare system here in the province of Ontario We went through an exercise this year And we brought forward some legislation bill 89 And it spoke to those pieces. There was a lot of similarities between the report and And what our bill did for example in our bill. We talked about cultural competency But it was a progressive conservative party who voted against that bill And we still don't know why the progressive conservative party voted against bill 89. Thank you supplementary Again to the minister children were ripped away from their families under false evidence Starting in 2014 there were reports in the media that the alcohol and hairspray can affect test results The media was aware the public was aware the attorney general was aware So obviously the ministry of children and youth services had to have been informed This government was warned and knew the concerns Yet it was only in may of 2017 that this liberal government found it appropriate to consider the issue of accreditation standards for ontario labs Mr. Speaker affected families are seeking justice on their behalf I would like to ask the minister why it took his government years to finally start a review of the mother risk test program Thank you minister Thank you, mr. Speaker and again thank the member for the question My heart goes out to the families that were affected by the mother risk testing and We announced when the report came forward that we would continue To provide counseling services to all the families affected in fact, mr. Speaker immediately we announced that we'd put together a task force Of of people from across the province Folks from the indigenous community From the black community other communities that were affected by the mother risk testing It is important for us as a as a government to ensure that children at the centre of decision making And again, that's why we brought forward bill 89 You know, it's it's ironic that the member can stand up in this legislature and talk about positioning children for success But we brought forward a bill bill 89 the most comprehensive piece of legislation to protect children here in the province of ontario And you voted against it New question the member from hamilton moment. Thank you very much. Mr. Speaker. My question is for the premier At the age of 13 alicia romando was in a place of darkness She couldn't imagine living another day at 14. She tried to take her own life Luckily she woke up in hospital But then she had to wait seven years to get the mental health treatment that she needed This is just one of thousands of tragic stories of children and youth Who are being put into danger by the failure of this government to provide the mental health services they need Will the premier commit to eliminating the wait list for community-based children and youth mental health services Thank you, sir. Thank you, Mr. Speaker and thank you to the member opposite I know the member is a passionate Advocate for young people in her riding and of course young people here in ontario You know when it comes to mental health services for young people in this province We don't want we don't want young people to to have to wait To get the services they need and that's why we move forward with moving on mental health Strategy here in the province of ontario. You know when we launched that strategy We invested an additional hundred million dollars in around 2012 and started the process to look across the province to better coordinate services The the member opposite has Has looked at at bringing forward some solutions and they believe that it's just about money. It's not just about money It's about organizing Our agencies on the ground to ensure that that they're working together to bet to deliver the best possible services to young people Mr. Speaker, thank you Back to the premier speaker in 2012 the government committed that within three years We would have a system that must deliver early and appropriate help for each child and youth Who needs it speaker three years after the government's own deadline and we are still waiting 12 000 are waiting some for as long as 18 months to get the treatment they need Tyler henerson struggled with mental health, but never got the help that he needed He was in and out of hospital. He self medicated and ended up living on the street Now fortunately he uses that experience to help others in a similar place But the outcome could have been so different Speaker the time for talking is over Children's mental health is in is in crisis and demands urgent action I will ask again. Will the premier commit to eliminating these wait lists? Thank you, mr. Speaker Thank you minister. Thank you, mr. Speaker We have been making many improvements in the system over the last few years For example, mr. Speaker We continue to invest every single year additional money into mental health in the province of Ontario And the former minister of health and the new minister of health We've made a commitment that we are going to add more money into mental health but it was about Building a strategy that organized our agencies on the ground and they're moving on mental health There was a commitment to reorganize our lead agencies and we've done that 31 of 33 regions now Are reorganized and we're working with those lead agencies to better deliver services. Good. Thanks, mr. Speaker We added mental health leaders in 72 school boards We funded this provided 770 additional community mental health workers across the province We've set up uh youth uh youth mental health hubs in the province of Ontario that have an alternative Delivery model summer 24 7 where young people can go in and just drop in and get the services that they need So we have been making improvements and we will continue to move down a Pathway to provide better services for young people when they need it right across this province Thanks very much speaker My question is for the minister of government and consumer services Speaker once a month I hold a seniors advisory group meeting to meet where I meet with seniors And I hear from them about the issues that are important to them And when I started having those meetings, I started to hear about the issues you would expect to hear about I heard about health care and transportation and housing But then I started to hear about an issue I didn't expect to hear about and that was door to door sales I started to hear speaker story after story from constituents who had been the victim or knew someone who'd been the victim About door to door sales scam where salespeople use aggressive coercive Misleading sales tactics to dupe people into contracts into products that are bad for them That duped them out of their own money right at their own doorstep And that is why in 2016 I introduced a private members bill to ban door to door sales of certain products where these practices were widespread Like furnaces and water heaters and air conditioners And so my question is to the minister minister Can you tell us and share with ontarians what we are doing to protect ontarians from these misleading and aggressive door to door sales Thank you Minister of Governments and consumer services. Thank you speaker And I want to thank the member for amatobico center for this very important question And of course protecting consumers ontario is a paramount importance to our government And uh, I'm very happy to share with the house today speaker That as of today march 1st the unsolicited sale of certain prescribed goods at the door will no longer be allowed in ontario This list of banned products after extensive input from consumers And we will monitor the list to ensure that remains relevant and effective It includes air and water treatment devices Water heaters furnaces and I want to thank again the member from amatobico center for his work Supplementary Thank you very much minister and this is really fantastic news And I know consumers in my community will be thrilled to hear about this As will consumers across ontario and I also know that this is part of a number of things that you minister are working on To protect consumers in a number of areas with the support of a number of caucus members that surround me here today Minister as I said, I've heard from far too many constituents from concerned consumers Who had been taken advantage of by these coercive and misleading door to door sales practices As a result, it's been sold products consumers been sold products They don't need products that don't work products that were priced far above what they should have been And they were duped into fees and they couldn't cancel their contracts couldn't get out of these terrible contracts And while this is an issue that cuts across all ages and backgrounds I noticed that these door to door sales practices tend to Disproportionately affect our most vulnerable people the most vulnerable people in our society and it is beyond reprehensible to me That there are people who have business model based on taking advantage of vulnerable consumers So today I am proud I'm proud to have worked with you minister on this and proud that you Adopted my private members bill and proud that we'll be protecting consumers From aggressive and coercive sales practices in Etobicoke and across Ontario So my follow-up question to minute to you minister is what are we going to do? What penalties and fines are in place to make sure that people adhere to these new laws? Thank you Again, thanks to the member for the question and just to be clear This legislation is to go after those bad actors not not good businesses who Are conducting themselves properly Ontario and we're determined that the penalties in the act will be real deterrence And such violations of our new rules Will will be make contracts void and the best part speaker when the best parts of this legislation Is that consumers will be able to keep the goods and services with no obligation if that contract is Of dean void. So that's fantastic news In addition businesses soliciting for these goods and services are required to keep records It'll be required to provide more information to consumers. And of course, there's always a 10 day cooling off period speaker for Thank you speaker my question is to minister of health long-term care Minister this afternoon members of this legislature will be debating my motion number 64 the motion calls On the government to immediately strike an advisory council on pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder Associated with streptococcal infections and pediatric acute onset neuropsychiatric syndrome Also known as pan to pans The council would advise the minister of health and research diagnosis treatment and education related to this disorder Pan to pans may affect as many as one in 200 school aged children and in almost all cases has been misdiagnosed Minister, can I count on your support for my motion and making the pan to pans advisory council a reality? Thank you very much to the member for sania lambton for his question And I was certainly very intrigued when I read his motion Because pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder associated with streptococcal infections and pediatric acute onset Neurosychiatric syndrome was not something I learned about in medical school Um But this is actually my experience is probably the experience of many physicians and the member opposite has made reference to the fact That some of these rare conditions are often misdiagnosed. They may have symptoms That mimic other disorders and so on so that this is a very real situation and We have recognized our government has recognized that there are a number of rare diseases in in this sort of a Category and we recognize how frustrating it can be For families obviously for the individuals affected as well When confronted either with no diagnosis or a mid diagnosis So I certainly look forward to the debate this afternoon. Thank you supplementary Yes, thank you minister and my understanding I spoke with your predecessor and he also Had lots of time for this minister children affected by pan to pans Often experience an abrupt onset of ticks obsessive compulsive behavior and severe depression anxiety after a common strep infection In the members gallery today We have members of the organization of pan to pans Ontario Including the executive director carrie henrickson and her son jona Each and every one of our guests has a personal story of how their lives have been impacted By the fight to have either themselves or their loved ones Properly diagnosed and treated for pan to pans Minister will you commit to setting aside some of your time? And I know your busy schedule to meet with miss henrickson and the families of pan to pans Of ontario to learn more about what our great province can do to help them. Thank you. Thank you Well, thank you, mr. Speaker, and I'm certainly very much prepared to meet with the parents and the individuals here today Because of this important issue around rare diseases The member did reference some some of the symptoms that are involved and I I just want to reference back to ohit plus because now We know through ohit plus many of the drugs required For these children in fact are going to be provided completely free But also I want to remind everyone that in fact our government has Formed a rare disease working group. It's made up of experts Who can explore how services for people with rare diseases in ontario can be improved? And the group is led by two experts in this field Dr. Ronald cone the pediatric pediatrician in chief of the hospital of sick children and scott mackin taggart senior vice president university health network So we already have a group that can look at the situation regarding these two particular disorders as well Thank you New question member from Thank you, speaker. My question is to the premier Four years ago the former chief of grassy narrows first nation elder Steve Forbister took the extreme and desperate steps of going on a hunger strike to draw attention Through the historic and ongoing poisoning of from mercury of his community in nearby lovis among first nation At that time the minister and now indigenous relations committed to former chief Forbister That action to change the badly broken system of compensation for the victims of mercury would follow The federal government took thousands of sample of hair and blood from hundreds of members of these communities between 1970 and 2000 And only now after a fight are these community members gaining access to their own samples My question is this what has the minister done to honor his commitment to chief Forbister to fix the broken compensation system And create a mercury treatment home Minister of the environment and climate change Minister of the environment and climate change. Well, thank you speaker. Thank you to the member opposite for that very important question Speaker We're really concerned by the many challenges facing grassy narrows and the webs among first nation Our government is committed to working with first nations to clean up the English Wabagoon river system and to achieve real progress that will create a prosperous healthy And strong communities back in december speaker We passed legislation that will provide 85 million dollars in dedicated funding For the remediation of the english and wabagoon rivers and we're doing that with the active for participation of a number of Indigenous community speaker in an open and transparent way. We are sharing the data We are inviting people to be on site and we are listening to the needs and the concerns of those communities Thank you supplementary Again to the premier the community has had to fight The community has had to scrap and even have their youth thrown out of this very building Threatened to starve themselves to get recognition and are still waiting for action from this liberal government My question again to the premier What will your government do to ensure that every member of these communities receive compensation for the intergenerational harm Done to their health livelihood for the exposure to mercury thank you To the minister of indigenous relations and reconciliation minister of indigenous relations and reconciliation Speaker there have been a number of actions taken to address this problem. I take you back to february 17 That's when we committed to grassy narrows first nation and wapsamung or white dog And the federal government to explore options to reform the mercury disability board Subsequent to that in february in april the four parties federal government the two first nations in ontario met in april As a result of that meeting there was a further meeting in october Where the my ministry received a letter from white dog indicating their concerns about mercury disability board reform process As a result of that letter i met with minister phil pot and the leadership of grassy narrows and white dog To discuss this issue further as a result of that we met in december again the four parties Various written submissions were provided answer and as late as january 18 uh in january 18 We've uh met with the representatives again. We are making progress on that all of the parties Thank you. We're making our best efforts to resolve this Thank you. Good question the member from the top of the north Merci monsieur le presidium. Thank you mr. Speaker. My question is for the minister of natural wealth and forests His worship mayor jim watson of the city of ottawa Clearly by his demeanor. He misses question period speaker This is invasive species awareness week and as stewards of our environment clean air clean water and maintain the diversity integrity of our Floor and fauna There's a number of important initiatives coming forward For example, these species can be very devastating to rivers plants animals and of course to our economy and way of life So i'd like to know from the minister of natural resources and forestry What actions are we taking during question space of species awareness week in this domain? Well, merci monsieur le presidium. Thank you, mr. Speaker Thank you to the member for Etobicoke north and his interest in the invasive species first time as minister of natural resources and forestry To thank my predecessor for the great work that that she has done on this file She's now the minister of transport, but i want to commend her for leading us through the on this file for so many years I also want to thank the the ministry and all the team across ontario That actually is doing day in and day out protection Ontario's biodiversity because that's what we're talking about what we're talking about when we're talking about invasive species We want to protect ontario's natural habitat and the biodiversity It's our duty not only for this generation, but for generations to come So that's what that we are the only province in canada that has an ontario invasive species act It's unique and it allows us to actually take action for prevention From eradication of the the species and i look forward to explaining more what we're doing with the legislation in Thank you very much madame minister programs and initiatives that we're taking to deal with Invasive species and as you will know especially we're ontarius now celebrating 25 years of the invasive species awareness program This of course are many many partnerships between the provincial government And for example with the ontario federation of anglers and hunters and of the past 25 years We've had a number of successes whether we're developing for example cutting edge new biological control agents for perennial grasses Whether we're dealing with the launch of eradication programs targeting for example species like water soldier and water chestnut I know that you as with so many other dunwains will not allow ontario to get trumped Would it be possible madame minister to Elaborate on these programs about these invasive species Mr. Speaker The member is right. We cannot work alone. We need partnerships with several people from the civil society See the number of actors that are involved in this fight wanting to protect ontario's biodiversity So in a way, I think I want to thank the ontario federation of anglers and hunters who are contributing to this fight We also have in sous-saint marie an invasive species centre where we've invested over 11 million dollars to help us understand well what's good science to go ahead and and deal with invasive species It's important that we recognize how threatening they are. They can choke our Local native species and that's why we want to ensure that we have good science and a good participation of civil society On this side, we take our responsibility towards our environment very seriously And we have been leaders on this file and we continue to be leaders and protecting the ontario's environment for the future Following the long tradition of the speaker introducing former members Even though some try to do it in a different way We have with us in the members gallery the member from ottawa west napin in the 38th and 39th parliaments. Mr. Jim Watson I believe there was a point of order on this side The member from no, okay The the minister The mayor of ottawa is worship mayor jim Watson who no doubt is here to Patrol the corridors looking for any minister that has a checkbook the member from durham Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to Uh remind the members of this house to meet the engineers and the staircase for a photo op the voter registration group will be there as well Thank you speaker. Thank you I believe the president of the treasury board may have a point of order She's passing There being no deferred votes this house stands recess until 1 p.m. This afternoon