 Therefore, it's time for question period. The leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opinion. Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Deputy Premier. Yesterday, the member from Halliburton, Cortha, Lake Sprock revealed that the Liberal government has invested only $190,000 of funds they promised to fight human trafficking. This was on the same day that we learned that government spent nearly $1 million on David Hurley, the Liberal's preferred pollster. Interstream priorities for this Liberal government. Mr. Speaker, can the Deputy Premier tell the women who were forced into trafficking why it is more important to reward their Liberal crony, David Hurley? Well, thank you, Speaker, and I will refer this to the Attorney General, Speaker. Attorney General? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'm very pleased with what our government is doing for human trafficking. Like I said yesterday, it's a real tragedy. And I was with my colleague from Ottawa Centre at the opening of a consultation actually on human trafficking. And it's unbelievable because we don't know enough about human trafficking, and we should know a lot more about human trafficking because it's happening in our community. It's happening all over the province and the country and our government has a coordinate approach to combat human trafficking and raise awareness on this issue, including initiative focus on prevention and enforcement and support for victims. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to point out that the member of opposite, you know, when they were empowered... Thank you. Supplement. Mr. Speaker, back to the Deputy Premier. The money that this Liberal government and the Premier gave to David Hurley and the Gandalf Group could have taken 18 children off the IBI treatment waitlist for this year. Now, David Hurley's polling might have told you that cutting IBI was a good idea, but real parents say otherwise. David Hurley's payout could have hired 27 educational assistants for special needs students. And if you look at the Limestone District School Board, they are losing approximately $1 million for funding for special education next year. David Hurley's reward could have covered that shortfall for those special education students in Kingston. So, Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Deputy Premier. Why is paying a Liberal crony, a Liberal campaign chair with precious taxpayer dollars more important than investing in children? Thank you. Mr. Speaker, please. Thank you. Attorney General. Okay, Mr. Speaker, again, you know, I just wanted to talk about what we're doing in this ministry for human trafficking, not just this ministry, but this government, because we all work together. When they were in power, their budget was 30 million. I will do something about it. Carry on, please. When they were in government, their budget was 30 million. In our government, it's 67 million, and it will continue to increase. So this government is actively working on a long-term survivor-centered strategy to combat human trafficking, co-led by the Ministry of... Minister Nagvi and Minister McCharles. And I know that the approach will be survival-centered, responsive to needs on the ground and develop collaboration with other levels of government. Thank you. Stop the clock. A reminder to everyone, but in particular this minister, when I stand, you sit. Final supplementary. Mr. Speaker, back to the Deputy Premier. But let me say, first of all, that answer wasn't even remotely close to the question. Not even remotely. So my question, Mr. Speaker, is after being forced to cut an order of a million dollars, the Royal Victoria Hospital... Stop the clock. Come to order. Please carry on. Mr. Speaker, after being forced to cut eight million dollars, the Royal Victoria Hospital was given a paltry 500,000 in new funding this year. And yet, we know the liberal partisan hack David Hurley received nearly double that. The cost to operate a hospital bed can be nearly $300,000 a year. The cash the liberal pollster received could have covered several beds that you closed at Aurelia Soldiers' Moral Hospital. So the question, Mr. Speaker, is very clear to the Deputy Premier. Do you think it's appropriate that the Premier took taxpayer dollars and gave it to their liberal campaign help? It's about abusing taxpayer dollars. Is that right? How do you justify that? Thank you. Attorney General. Deputy Premier. Well, thank you, Speaker. And I think if the member opposite, the leader of the opposition is suggesting that government ought not do public opinion polling, well, I beg to differ, Speaker, and I think it's important that the government of the day do public opinion research because it's about listening to people. It's about understanding what issues are important to people. All public opinion research conducted by the government of Ontario is procured through a fair and transparent competitive process speaker. Every company must be a qualified bidder, a vendor of record, and compete for a project against no less than five competitors. The final decision about what vendor is best suited for a project is made by a committee of at least three non-partisan public servants, Speaker. That is the process that we follow and that is the appropriate process to follow. Thank you. New question. The member from Renssela, Nipissing, Pembroke. Thank you very much, Speaker. My question is to the Deputy Premier. Every time we question the Premier about her irresponsible plan to phase out natural gas and cost Ontario families $3,000 more a year, she says, don't worry, we're actually expanding. Well, now this morning, it's net zero buildings by 2030. Fastest way to get to net zero, remove natural gas. Mr. Speaker, today we received two letters addressed to the cabinet and the Premier about the Premier's hidden agenda. The first one is from Union Gas President Steve Baker. Hidden agenda. Without positive certainty about the long-term role of natural gas in Ontario, we will need to re-evaluate our proposed natural gas community expansion. Speaker, how does the Deputy Premier or this government plan on expanding natural gas without having Union Gas on board? Thank you. On this side of the House, we are committed to taking action when it comes to climate change. We are all paying the price, Speaker, in higher insurance rates. I think everyone on this side of the House is committed to taking action. On your side of the House, you think putting a little bit of green in the logo is enough to satisfy climate change, Speaker. We are taking action, and let me say one more time, we are not forcing anyone off natural gas, Speaker. We are committed to expanding natural gas into parts of the province where there is not now access to natural gas. I've asked for order twice. And a member from... Oh, Jesus, I have a brain. Latter. The member from Latter... I'm glad you're listening to me now. Let's talk to the question supplementary. Thank you. Back to the Deputy Premier. Here's what the Deputy Premier doesn't seem to understand. Until the government answers the question, if they will change the building code to phase out natural gas, businesses and families will plan for the worst. That's families in Concartin that will have to pay $3,000 a year just to heat their home because they don't get the access they were promised. That's businesses in Sault Ste. Marie and St. Catherine's that are facing an uncertain future because of this Premier's hidden agenda. Speaker, the Liberals have not spent a single dollar on natural gas expansion and now union gas won't invest. So to the Deputy Premier, yes or no, will she guarantee that they will not change the building code to phase out natural gas? That's a good question. Businesses, environment and climate change. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Again, we are not eliminating natural gas in our partnerships. If you look at the leadership of companies like Enbridge and Gas Metropolitan are working on net-zero buildings, of which natural gas is a major part of. Minister McPika and the Minister of Housing, we were in a net-zero building that uses natural gas. So I'm sorry they're not moral litter but the technology. The member from Renfrew asked the question. Therefore I'm surprised he's not listening to the answer. Come to order, please. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our plan costs $13 a month. Their plan costs $107 a month, Mr. Speaker, because they won't link to other jurisdictions, Mr. Speaker, and they have no money to help people out. No money to help people retrofit their homes. What they're giving on tariff, Mr. Speaker, is not a nothing. They have no serious plan, but they have a way to... Thank you. They have a hidden agenda, a hidden cause. The Minister seems to think that all this money they're going to give out just comes out of the sky. Speaker, the second letter we've received was from the President of Can Art Aluminum. They employ 350 people here in Ontario and are expanding in Lakeshore to employ another 86. But they rely on natural gas to operate their business. Without an assurance that natural gas will have a place in Ontario for decades to come. They will have no choice but to look to expand in the United States with the real possibility of moving all of their business there. So, Speaker, they need the Deputy Premier to categorically and without reservation, state that they have long-term access to natural gas. Deputy Premier, will they have access to natural gas for decades to come, or should they tell their 486 employees here in Ontario to pack their bags? That's an easy question, yes. Period. On all kinds of exciting new technologies offered by Sifton Homes in London, Royomes in Barrie, who are building net-zero buildings, including with natural gas, Nova Corporation, hundreds of millions of dollars in investment to do some of the most advanced co-jet, low-carbon work. They just won a Minister's Excellent Award for natural gas, Mr. Speaker. I am sorry that the only plan they can come up with is to take $107 million from every Ontario family and cut every program for EVs, leave working families with no help to retrofit their buildings, cancel all the social housing retrofit programs. They will net-zero and disable Ontario's working families, Mr. Speaker. That's what they give. Don't risk it. That's an easy question. The Leader of the Third Party. My questions for the Deputy Premier. Across Ontario, hospital beds are being closed, nurses are being fired, and wait times are increasing, but instead of properly funding hospitals in 2014 and the first 10 months of 2015, the Liberals spent over $2.2 million on healthcare polling. Why is the priority, on polling and not on patients? Thank you, Deputy Premier. Minister of Health and long-term care. Long-term care. Mr. Speaker, I'm proud of the investments that we're making in our healthcare system. A billion dollars added to the budget this year, this fiscal year. $345 million added specifically to our hospitals. But I have to say, Mr. Speaker, that it's interesting that the Leader of the Third Party purports to care so deeply about the healthcare system she was in North Bay as we know on the past weekend, and she was commenting about the state of that hospital, that brand-new hospital which employs over 2,000 individuals and is getting outcomes which are better in most cases than across the country. Yet she spoke about that hospital, Mr. Speaker, and she did it from an Opsu office. She didn't even take the time or bother to visit the hospital, Mr. Speaker, or speak to the Leader of the hospital about it. And this is what we're seeing. We're seeing this as a trend that's emerging. These fly-by smears where she tries to destabilize the healthcare system in a community that she gives. Mr. Speaker, this Minister is doing enough to stabilize the healthcare in this province and in this particular community much better than anybody else can destabilize healthcare, Mr. Speaker. The Minister is doing quite a good job himself. Over the last few weeks I have met people, in fact, Mr. Speaker, across Ontario, in all kinds of offices, in all kinds of hospitals, and over and over they tell me that the health of their family is a top concern, Mr. Speaker. That means that hospitals need funding that keeps up with inflation and keeps up with the growing population. Does this Premier, Deputy Premier, Minister of Health, does this Liberal government need $2.2 million in polling to know that when people go to the hospital, they want the care given to them that they need? Question. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, we know that all parties, when they form government over decades do polling to establish what the priorities of the population of this province are. And in fact, with our patients' first agenda, it's critically important that we find effective ways to reach out to Ontarians, including through polling, to find out specifically what they need. We want to actually change the health care system so it's not focused on programs or silos or health care professionals. It's focused on what's best for the individual. What's best for the patient, their caregivers, the families, the communities. So we're looking at things through that different lens. We're making sure that we've got strong representation on all our committees and task force and advisory councils of patients and patient advocates. We're doing polling of patients of Ontarians so we can understand their experience and how we can improve the health care system to better serve them. Speaker, here's a news flash. No matter who you are, no matter where you live, no matter how much money you make, your health and the health of your family members and loved ones is your top priority. You need more than three bill critical repair work. Beds are being closed in communities from one end of this province to another. Nurses are being fired in communities across Ontario. There's a silent crisis in health care speaker and you don't need an opinion poll to tell you that. Will this liberal government start properly funding our hospitals so that people can actually get the care that they need? Thank you. Thank you. Minister? Well, Mr. Speaker, if there's a silent crisis, it's the one that's propagated, that's perpetuated that is created by the third party as they travel around this province and they meet with interest groups and they don't even meet with hospital officials and they use figures such as 14 hundred nurses having lost their jobs last year when all of us know and I've repeated countless times that in fact when you look at the independent information by the College of Nurses of Ontario who I would rather trust with that factual information any day over OXU or the Ontario Health Coalition, in fact 3,000 net new nursing jobs have taken place that occurred last year in this province not the 1,400 losses that they purport, that they claim is the reality in their fantasy world, Mr. Speaker. I'm working hard to make sure that we deal with the facts that we're making the critical investments not these drive-by spheres that are creating anxiety across this province New question, the leader of the third party My next question is also for the Deputy Premier but I have to say it's important to meet with patients and it's important to meet with healthcare providers and it's important to meet with executives that operate the hospitals because that's who has the information in terms of the state of repairs the terrible state of repairs of this hospital system here in this province and that is at the feet of this government and this minister in the next 20 years however, more than 3 million people are expected to move into the GTHA that's like doubling the size of Toronto hospital care is already stretched far too thin, Speaker and it's going to have to stretch even more why isn't hospital funding keeping up with population growth in the province of Ontario Thank you, Speaker to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care Well, Mr. Speaker we are keeping up with the growth in population the Premier just last fall went to the opening of the brand new Humber River hospital a more than $3 billion investment Mr. Speaker or roughly $3 billion for the brand new Oakville hospital where the Premier was proud alongside myself to open that last fall as well we're making investments to drive capital investments either underway or in various stages of planning across the country Stony Creek and the Deputy House Speaker come forward we're increasing the budget of the healthcare ministry including the hospital line item each year unlike the party opposite when they were in government that for the last two years they cut hospital funding they cut funding in their healthcare budget for the final year Mr. Speaker the 4,000 nurses lost their jobs we're building this province up we're building the infrastructure making the resources Supplementary Speaker all their building is their own fantasy world that's not what the experience of the people of this province is when it comes to healthcare when it comes to hospital care in fact more than 3 million more people are expected to arrive in the GTHA over the next two decades but hospital care is not keeping up Speaker the only way that works out is if less people get care or if everyone gets less care before the legislature rises I am asking this Liberal government the Premier, the Minister of Health the Deputy Premier to fund hospitals to actually make the commitment to funding hospitals to keep up with growing costs and population growth make that commitment so that we know that we have a hospital system where people of this province when they need it well Mr. Speaker we are investing in our hospitals $12 billion over the next decade in capital investments we are investing in the repairs and maintenance and renovations increasing that by $50 million to $175 million each year but that's what I don't understand if hospitals which we need to recognize are only part of our healthcare system we're investing in home and community care we're investing in the additional 5% or $250 million this year but if hospitals are so important to the third party why did they vote against our budget that had such significant allocations another billion dollars to healthcare $345 million to hospitals alone we're seeing the outcomes we're seeing the positive outcomes we have among the lowest if not the lowest rate times in all of Canada we're seeing the outcomes as a result Mr. Speaker we've seen the outcome speaker and they are nothing to be proud of I can tell you that our population is growing and hospital funding is not keeping up in Scarborough emergency rooms are already seeing three times more patients than they were built for now imagine adding the population of a second city of Toronto into the GTHA will this liberal government do the right thing and start properly funding hospitals to keep up with the growing costs and the growing population thank you I would ask the third party to do the right thing and finally support a budget of this government that actually allocates significant billions of dollars this year alone $345 million in hospitals it's important and we are investing in hospitals and as I've referenced 35 hospital investments capital improvements either underway in this province right now or in the planning stage Mr. Speaker we're making those investments but we're also making investments to keep people in the home and the community 5% increase in home and community care $85 million for nursing for retention and recruitment of nurses practitioners and allied health care professionals I have to say Mr. Speaker I'm surprised that despite the incredible hard work that our health care professionals are doing that the leader of the third party is suggesting somehow that that work isn't yielding positive outcomes no question to remember from here on Bruce Speaker I'm sure you remember when the Liberals rewrote Ontario's advertising laws last year this time the auditor general warned these changes would remove independent oversight and flood the province with partisan ads to promote the political interests of the Liberal party climate ad with David Suzuki marks a troubling start in fact the auditor general said this ad was so partisan she would abandon if she still had the power to do so does the deputy premier really think it's for taxpayer funded ads to feature people like David Suzuki who have endorsed and actively campaign the Liberal party thank you speaker you know climate change in my opinion is not a partisan issue climate change is something that we are all in this together now I do understand that the party of the PC party is in a bit of an identity crisis the member from Renfrew second time please finish the PC party is in a bit of an identity crisis they are not sure where they stand on this issue and they certainly are not sure where their leader stands on this issue and when the leader speaks for the caucus we instantly hear about caucus members saying actually you're not speaking for me so speaker on this side of the house we are committed to addressing climate change the costs of taking no action are too large climate change is not partisan we can't just put thank you you see it the bantering back and forth is going to have to stop on both sides supplementary to the deputy premier speaker we all remember Dalton McGuinty strolling through Stanley Park with David Suzuki and the endorsement video that followed the Liberals were forced to pull the video because it violated the Canada revenue agencies guidelines but here we are again the Liberals have produced another ad that once again breaks the rules laid out by the CRA that specifically prohibit charitable organizations like David Suzuki's from engaging in partisan activities but that didn't stop the Liberals from making Mr. Suzuki the star of an ad so partisan that the auditor general said it should be banned speaker are the Liberals really so arrogant that they think they can break the Canada revenue agencies guidelines I want to say that when we came into office we were one of the only jurisdictions in the world and remain one of the only jurisdictions in the world to limit partisan advertising we were driven to do that because we all remember those ads where Mike Harris attacked teachers we didn't want that to happen again and it will not happen again speaker so I'm proud that we are one of the few jurisdictions in the world to legislate against partisan ads when it comes to David Suzuki we are very grateful to David Suzuki for participating in his ads and for his advocacy speaker he was paid his standard fee according to extra rules and he has indicated that his fees are going to be donated to the residents of Fort McMurray speaker I remember again David Suzuki supporting the residents of Fort McMurray Thank you Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Speaker the premier this question is to the acting premier Speaker the premier wrote Ontario's electoral reform bill without any actual consultation and now we see the result yesterday the Ontario's chief electoral officer said the Liberal legislation would restrict advertising that has nothing to do with elections the so-called activist centre premier wrote legislation that would put significant restrictions on parents concerned with autism or people calling for the cleanup of grassy narrows but no restrictions on partisan government ads this is exactly why a non-partisan panel should have consulted with experts before drafting this legislation will the acting premier commit to making significant changes to this Liberal plan I don't think the member opposite really need to lecture on how the parliamentary process works I think she's quite aware she's been a member for some time that a matter is before a committee of course the members of the committees have the opportunity to make changes to that particular bill in this particular instance Speaker we have carry on please Speaker in this particular matter we have taken a very open transparent and incredible process to ensure that Ontarians during the summer months have the opportunity to provide their point of views yesterday the Ontario's Chief Electoral Officer presented at the committee Speaker he noted that our proposed legislation represents the most significant redesign of Ontario election finance law in more than 40 years and we thank the officer for his testimony yesterday So the process is flawed the legislation is flawed back to the acting premier concerns with how the premier's office has decided to restrict advertising that may actually have nothing to do with elections the Chief Electoral Officer said he was concerned about whether Liberal legislation treats government advertising as political advertising or whether the Liberals are exempting it this is a legitimate concern the Liberals created a loophole for themselves to flood the airwaves with publicly funded self-promotional ads but they're putting tight limits on non-partisan ads issues of public concern like grassy narrows or autism therapy or climate change will the premier be using her majority to push through a flawed piece of legislation Well Speaker it's very interesting to hear from the NDP who refused to engage and participate in the process that resulted in the creation of the legislation because they were more interested to stall the process so they can continue with their $10,000 private fundraisers NDP as to Speaker needs to come out clean this is what the Chief Electoral Officer said yesterday he said that he's supportive of our decision the government decision to refer the bill to the committee immediately for first reading and he remarked and I quote this provides both the committee and the people who appear before it the opportunity to consider the legislation from first principles Speaker we are using the democratic institutions to ensure that the people of Ontario has a voice it's finished please Speaker it is time that NDP stops hackling and start participating in this democratic process and making sure that we reform the election financing rules in this province thank you New question New question the member from Northumberland, Cointy West Thank you Speaker Mr. Speaker my question is to the minister of regional affairs we're going to play that game I'm going to do it's highly inappropriate carry on Mr. Speaker my question is to the minister of regional affairs last week we saw the Premier make an historic apology for Ontarian's role in the horrible legacy of residential schools notably our government unveiled a new action plan for reconciliation in partnership with indigenous people I'm proud to see such a strong commitment from our government towards renewing and improving our relationship with First Nations Inuit and Medias people in a respectful way I understand that one of our steps towards reconciliation is a commitment to promote a greater public awareness of indigenous histories and rights and the importance of treaty relationship can the minister please tell us how the government is working to promote a better understanding of our shared history with indigenous people Thank you Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker and I thank the member for that question Mr. Speaker last week I had the pleasure of introducing legislation to declare the first week in November as treaties recognition week in Ontario I was proud to see it passed in all three readings with the unanimous support of all parties Speaker treaties such as the Williams Treaty were fundamental in shaping the province as we know it today Ontario is unique in Canada including both the numbers and the variety of the treaties with 46 treaties and land purchases covering most of the province that is why speaker we are committed to promoting a broader understanding of the importance to build a greater awareness of treaty relationships here treaty recognition week will provide a recurring opportunity for students teachers and the broader public to engage with each other on the importance of treaties and documents Thank you Speaker it's great to hear that our government is committed to working to promote a more comprehensive understanding of reconciliation and the importance of treaties continuing to play in Ontario I know the Chief of Alderville First Nation Chief Jim Bob Marston in my right in Northamble, Queenie West is especially pleased to hear that developing broader awareness of the treaty relationship is important and we hope that when we celebrate tradition treaties recognition week in November Ontario will take an opportunity to learn more about the important role treaties played in the history of our province Mr Speaker through you to the minister what initiatives will this government take to promote a broader understanding of the treaty relationship during treaties recognition week Thank you minister Speaker this legislation is just one part of Ontario's broader strategy to revitalize the treaty relationship in the pursuit of reconciliation we are committed to promoting a stronger public awareness of treaties their importance to our shared history and how they have shaped this province that is why we are working with indigenous partners to support learning opportunities on the history of residential schools and the treaty relationship within the provincial educational curriculum we are supporting these curriculum initiatives with tools such as the 11,000 first nations and treaty maps that we have distributed to all schools in Ontario Speaker when we celebrate treaties recognition week in November we are all marking another important step on our journey towards reconciliation that we must all take together it is necessary Speaker Thank you Thank you Mr. Speaker My question to the Deputy Premier, Deputy Premier I want to tell you for a second about the stand pack they are a manufacturer in my riding in Smithville close to where I live they make specialty packaging tamper evident this is a huge demand we want to make sure you have safe food packaging particularly in the states so here is the catch they have a plant in Smithville that I mentioned they also have one in Texas and the recent hydro bills in April showed that the cost per kilowatt hour in Ontario was 13.7 cents all in so sadly more than twice is expensive now in Ontario because of your expensive energy schemes when they hear about even more ideas to make life more expensive for consumers and businesses what should I tell them I want to invest in Ontario you are making it expensive I am worthless jobs going to the United States Thank you Mr. Speaker I appreciate the question from the member and there are some differences across North America Mr. Speaker but in terms of industrial electricity prices in North America we are extremely competitive Mr. Speaker we are more competitive some of our northern U.S. states Mr. Speaker the numbers have been verified Mr. Speaker the IESO and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce I have looked at the comparable Mr. Speaker but I will say Mr. Speaker our jobs and prosperity fund is used to help attract companies to Ontario in some U.S. jurisdictions they lower the price in order to attract them Mr. Speaker if you look at what we are providing from the job and prosperity fund and compare it to a number of U.S. jurisdictions Mr. Speaker we have much stronger Mr. Speaker they are asking why are they leaving Ontario is attracting Mr. Speaker more direct investment than any other jurisdiction in North America Mr. Speaker Thank you the member from simple grade please come to order supplementary thanks Mr. Speaker what I worry is the government's hydro policies are making America great again seems to be catching on look I'll be glad to provide the minister the copy of the bills he says that we are extremely competitive here is the evidence between the plants in Texas and Ontario where the costs are more than twice as high this annualizes to $650,000 a year I would much rather see that invested in new equipment making more good jobs in the province of Ontario and then when they hear this latest scheme where there seems to be a strange ideological hostility towards natural gas making life more expensive for Ontario's manufacturers I mean it's one thing on top of another I worry the last one out is going to turn off the lights how about this why don't we make life more affordable for Australians and make it more attractive for manufacturers for the formal hydro and natural gas thank you minister I'm sure some US states are pointing to northern Ontario because they have such low industrial electricity rates Mr. Speaker I was in Timmins two weeks ago Mr. Speaker where we announced some winners of the IEI program Mr. Speaker where they're getting for the finance mines Mr. Speaker they're getting 50% off their hydro electricity in northern Ontario Mr. Speaker if you want some examples Mr. Speaker of jurisdictions that have higher prices than Ontario include New York, Indiana, Wyoming, Prince Edward Island Nova Scotia in terms of industrial Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Kansas Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and many more Mr. Speaker thank you Mr. Speaker thank you Mr. President Mr. Chair can it be acceptable that First Nations people in 90 communities in Ontario still don't have access to clean drinking water her answer was it is unacceptable she knows there's a problem and they're working on it well today internationally respected human right watch who normally does its work in Sudan and Afghanistan was actually looking at us and they released a special report on the unacceptable water situation of First Nations people after 13 years in power what has this government done to clean the contaminated drinking water of First Nations people in 90 communities thank you for that very important question the Ontario government is working closely with our federal partners in Ottawa on this clean water issue to date this commitment has been demonstrated in many ways for instance Ontario provides support to First Nations on the water issues in some of the following manners ways the Ontario Clean Water Agency provides operations and maintenance services on a fee for service basis the Walkerton Clean Water Centre provides operator training on cost recovery the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change provides engineering and technical advice to some First Nations and carries out performance reviews of proposals for First Nations systems upon request there are seven First Nations included in the showcasing water innovation program in which Ontario is funding innovative cost effective solutions for managing drinking water, wastewater and storm water when I started here nine years ago there was 90 First Nations community on water I stand here today there are 90 First Nations community on water youth from grassy narrow had to travel thousands of kilometres to come here last week to plead with this government once again to clean up the mercury that's poisoning their river and lake that they depend on grassy narrow not surprisingly was featured in this Human Rights Watch report for the world to see also see that mothers with babies have inspected skin rash from the contaminated water that they can't even clean or dress their wounds because the water is not clean that's not in a third world country speaker that's right here right now in Ontario for the world to see it is a vicious cycle that First Nations people want to my question is simple will the Premier do as the Human Rights Watch said and fix the drinking water for Ottawa Piscat for Petanjicum, for Berkson, for Kitchening for Kitchen Bay Thank you Minister Speaker the number of First Nations reserves in Ontario without access to safe drinking water is unacceptable to this government we are going to work with our federal partners and fix this issue Thank you Thank you Speaker in furtherance of that commitment I can tell you that on April 25th Ontario convened a trilateral meeting on drinking water with the federal government and Ontario First Nations at that trilateral meeting all parties agreed to advance technical work to improve drinking water on reserves through a trilateral process it's important that this problem be dealt with by both the federal government the Ontario government and indigenous partners that's why we are committed to this we all understand Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Mr Speaker My question is for the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Minister Ontario is celebrating local food week this week from June 6th to June 12th it's a great opportunity to celebrate all the foods and beverages that are grown and produced and made here in Ontario and we have much to celebrate like farmers markets across the province that are now able to sell Ontario wines, crop ciders and fruit wines if the 1.4 million that the 84 vqa winery is generated at 215 farmers markets in the last two years this will be a popular draw to the markets and help support local economy Minister it's already been three years since this house passed the local food act Minister please provide an update on how Ontario's agri-food sector has grown since the local food act was passed Thank you Thank you very much through Mr. Speaker I want to thank the member for Brampton Springdale for that farm fresh question I had the pleasure of touring the member's running last month and visit some of the food and beverage manufacturers there I want to wish everybody in this legislature could do you Mr. Speaker make our third since passing the local food act with all parties support a number of years ago the local food act supports our local food strategy to strengthen the Ontario's local food sector from the farmstead to the grocery store and everywhere between and it's working Mr. Speaker in the past two years our province's agri-food sector is at $1.3 billion to Ontario's GDP and created 34,000 new jobs Ontario consumers are becoming local food options 81% of them can identify Ontario growing produce at grocery stores 8 out of 10 shoppers are likely to purchase fresh Ontario growing food Mr. Speaker I'm proud to say we're making progress and Mr. Speaker good things grow in Ontario Thank you Thank you Mr. Speaker and thanks to the minister for his response Ontario's agri-food sector supports more than 780,000 jobs across the province and communities both urban and rural from Tysimco from Leamington to Peterborough local food champions across the province are helping spread the word that buying local helps grow the economy and jobs I think that the Ontario Federation of Agriculture which in 2015 launched the 6x16 initiative to teach young people how to prepare six locally sourced healthy meals by the time they're 16 years old and of course Brian Fernandez who unleashed Ontario's and Canada's for Leamington Tomatoes with his facebook post on French's catch up yesterday the government released the 2015-2016 local food report can the minister inform the house of the contents of the report whether Ontario is moving forward on its local food goal Question, thank you Mr. Speaker I want to thank the member for Brampton Sprigdale for her question the great work to support food processors in her community yesterday I was at the Hawthorne Food and Drink a feast on certified restaurant here in Toronto to release this year's local food report and I'm glad the member mentioned the OFA and Mr. Fernandez they're both featured in the local food report this year's report highlights progress we made since last year for example we launched the local food investment fund as part of the 6 million dollar funding for the Green Belt Fund farmers markets on route locations along the 401 attracted 185,000 visitors last year Mr. Speaker the agri-food sector is poised for growth in 2017 French's will begin bodily catch-up in Ontario in East York the hope of my parliamentary assistant Mr. Potts from East York and we also know Mr. Speaker that Highbury can't go and leaving to Ontario are rapidly improving employment levels that existed to the former Hyde's plan I encourage all members to read the local food report and to continue to perform new things that grow in Ontario and as I turn jump to your questions thank you and good morning Speaker my question is for the Deputy Premier last week the financial accountability officer confirmed this government is actively withholding documents for political gain this morning he confirmed this government is nipple and diming the people of Ontario through skyrocketing service fee increases the FAO noted that service fees will cost families 2.74 billion this year an increase of almost 39% from just 2011 we know that service fee is just another name for tax because of this government families are already burdened with the soaring costs of living including the highest energy costs in North America I ask the Deputy Premier why is she intent on making life harder and more affordable for Ontario families I would like to thank the financial accountability officer for his commentary service fees are a means of ensuring that costs of providing a program or service that has an individual benefit are paid by the beneficiary of that program rather than by taxpayers and general speakers it is cost recovery the federal did a report in 2009 and reported that our fees were among the lowest in the country and that in most cases the service fee revenue recovers only a part of the associated so that results in hidden subsidies that directs funding away from government priorities such as health care and education so as the crops report the Don Drummond report and the auditor general report the Ontario service fees will be adjusted annually to keep up with inflation I think that's fair to everybody well back to the deputy your budget increased service fees on nearly everything in the province however once again the FAO noted this government is refusing to disclose data on the skyrocketing service fees he even questioned whether the service fee are quote legally non-compliant so if you drive a car you pay more if you heat your home with gas you'll pay more if you camp or fish or hunt you'll pay more rather than making life more affordable for Ontario families, students and seniors this government is obsessed with finding new revenue pay for their years of waste scandal and mismanagement I asked the deputy I asked the deputy again will she end the excessive service fee hikes and tax increases that are making life more affordable for families Mr. Speaker I find the question interesting because the auditor general also said that Ontario is the lowest per capita spending in terms of revenue in all of Canada we receive less revenue from the rest of our taxism and service fees than any other province and yet we're coming to balance oh and by the way we're offering free tuition to our students we have not indexed our service fees to inflation we've taken those things into account to make everyday life easier for Ontario families the opposite voted against those very measures to maintain the lowest revenue based on any province he also voted against tuition for and grants and supports for families and yet he stands here to ask the question knowing full well that Ontario is the lowest in all of Canada Mr. Speaker my question is to the acting premier the communities of Woodstock and Oxford County are currently battling an ongoing crisis with youth suicide since the start of this year at least 5 youth under age 20 have committed suicide and 20 others have attempted suicide today students at secondary schools in those communities are walking out of their classrooms to send this government a clear message to stop the suicide crisis before another life is lost will the acting premier listen to these students who are walking out of classes in protest this morning and commit to immediately increasing health resources in Woodstock and Oxford County thank you children in youth services children in youth services thank you speaker and I want to thank the member for this very important question and my heart goes out to the families affected by youth suicide in Oxford and speaker I think we can all agree even one child who dies by suicide one child that commits attempt suicide is too many so we will commit to supporting this community and that is part of our broader strategy with respect to our Ontario youth suicide prevention plan and we have a number of resources that are in place for this community right now through the Oxford Elgin Child and Youth Centre we have an agency for that community and they are delivering services as we speak they provide crisis support services that is available 24 hours 7 days a week they provide other brief services that can be accessed without an appointment they are providing counselling and therapy services as well as intensive treatment services and again my heart thank you supplementary back to the acting premier for years we have been telling this government that London and surrounding communities are facing serious shortages in mental health supports and services in my riding alone mental health patients are sleeping on emergency room floors facing shuttered facilities over capacity clinics and group home deaths it is time your ministry re-evaluates the way you are delivering mental health services in this province Woodstock are also frustrated by the lack of mental health supports that they are walking out of their classrooms this morning even our children are clear that this government is failing them not one more death or suicide is accepted will the acting premier commit to immediately providing support services and staff to Woodstock and Oxford County to stop this youth suicide crisis thank you minister start the clock minister minister of education thank you speaker and I would like to express our sincere condolences to the family friends, classmates, the teachers the entire community who has been having the community has been having a very difficult time I would like to thank the member of Oxford who has been working in a very collaborative way because he has understood that this isn't a political issue this is an issue where everybody in the community needs to come together in fact the three school boards everybody in the community is working together to support the children it may interest you to know speaker that we continue to work with all boards to equip educators with the tools and knowledge that they need to address mental health in fact all the school boards have the mental health leaders now and the mental health leader in each of the three boards is working thank you new question thank you speaker my question is for the minister of natural resource and forestry forestry sector is extremely important for our province economy because it provides $150,000 of economic activity while providing 150,000 jobs in 260 communities trade with the united states is significant to the sector generating exports value at close to $5 billion and accounting for as much of 95% of Ontario's forestry and wood product manufacturing exports in October 2015 it was inspired a one year standstill period of free trade will come to an end this October 2016 any future software lumber trade agreements between Canada and the United States will have a significant impact on Ontario's forestry sector can the minister update us on the status of the software lumber agreement between Ontario and the United States and Ontario's position on negotiations with Canada as he mentioned in his question the existing deal did expire in October of 2015 we are now in a standstill period there was a hope of course and expressed very publicly expressed hope that within 100 days we would have an agreement we still do not have that agreement but discussions are ongoing Minister Freeland and GAC Canada are doing their best to represent Canada's national interest on this very important issue in Ontario but a little more specifically for northern Ontario in turn our ministry is doing everything that we can to represent Ontario's interest on this it's of great concern to us speaker as I've mentioned northern Ontario is very reliant on a very robust and excitable forestry industry when it comes to software lumber specifically the industry is rebounding speaker we manage our resources in this province in a very sustainable manner and we're doing our best on this ministry on this file to minister Freeland as she works on behalf of the national interest thank you I want to thank the minister for that update on the status of the agreement it is indeed a very important issue for our country every time it gets on the news we see a lot of attention this is a particularly important issue for Ontario and I'm very happy to see the ministry of natural resource and forestry to engage with it I understand the federal government has been active on this complex issue and I'm glad to hear the negotiation may move quickly can the minister tell us and the members of this house how his ministry is working with the industry other levels of government and other stakeholders to ensure continued access to important US market for our software lumber products question thank you minister speaker again I thank the minister for the question speaker there are a couple of nuances with Ontario's position that we have expressed to minister Freeland and that we're hoping she's able to carry forward when it comes to this national discussion one Ontario is a relatively small player when it comes to software lumber exports in terms of the total that we have of the national export total into the American market and it's important to note as I've expressed to her that Ontario 95% of our exports go into the American market so any change to our proportion of share into the American market nationally could have if it's reduced could have a disproportionate effect on Ontario relative to the other players in the software lumber export market other players in Canada have access to other markets Ontario is pretty much unlocked speaker when it comes to this most of our exports go into the US it's important as best I'm able I'm reminding the federal government of this particular nuance when it comes to Ontario's position and hopefully any reduction in the national total would not necessarily be reflected on thank you speaker my questions for the minister of natural resources and forestry northern Ontario was celebrating the return of the spring bear hunt that was scheduled to start on May 1st that was until the MNR dropped the ball and botched the hunt on the eve of the hunt they restricted the number of form 33's that went to outfitters form 43's are non resident hunter permits that go to recreational tourists from the United States and actually around the world to come to northern Ontario for the hunt some outfitters actually had their numbers cut in half Mr. Speaker that's costing them tens of thousands of dollars now I know when these tourists come they spend tens of thousands of dollars in northern Ontario this was a big economic development and was celebrated in northern Ontario Mr. Speaker the minister has promised the residents of northern Ontario that he's going to fix the problem but will he fix it in time for the fall bear hunt what kind of promises will the minister make to those outfitters in northern Ontario who are expecting some action from his government on this issue thank you minister of natural resources and forestry speaker thank you and I want to thank the member for the question and I would at this time as well thank the opposition parties for their support and we introduced the five year pilot on the spring bear hunt and I also want to thank the 84 northern municipalities across Ontario that came forward with very public declarations of their support on this speaker I would say that there are a number of outfitters who have not been satisfied with the number of form 33s that they have received but speaker I would also say that a great number of them have landed in a place that they're very satisfied with and that by the beginning of the second year of the pilot next year we will have landed this in a much better place for everyone thank you speaker the time for the question period is over we have a deferred vote on the motion of third reading of bill 181. I would like to thank the opposition parties for their support and I would also like to thank the opposition parties for their support and I would also like to thank the opposition parties for their support on the motion of third reading of bill 181 an act to amend the municipal elections act of 1996 and to make complimentary amendments to other acts call in the members this will be a five minute ballot. Number please take your seats on Monday June 6th 2016 Mr Mcumblick can move third reading of bill 181 an act to amend the municipal elections act 1996 and to make complimentary amendments to other acts all those in favour please rise one another times and Is Matthew, Mr. Hoskes, a Sandals, Ms. McCharles, Mr. Quinter, Mr. Cole, Mr. Takar, Mr. Baradnetti, Mr. Delaney, Mr. Dillon, Mr. Dillon, Mr. Ozetti, Mr. Grovel, Mr. Murray, Mr. Chan, Mr. Moriti, Mr. Cotel, Mr. Leal, Mr. Flynn, Mr. Zimmer, Mr. Zimmer, Catalano, Ms. Albinaise, Mr. Dixon, mangoing, magaing, crack, walling, hunter, hunter, tomorrow, jocic, domerling, fraser, anderson, baker, baler, dawn, hogar, koala, molly, marty, negeri, mcman, milchin, nidoo harris, chapa, rinaldi, rinaldi, rinaldi, rinaldi, Mr. Tebow. Mr. Hatfield. Mr. Bisson. Mr. Bisson. Mr. Vantog. Mr. Vantog. Mr. Tavis. Mr. Tavis. Mr. Miller Hamilton East Stony Creek. Mr. Miller Hamilton East Stony Creek. Ms. Sattler. Ms. Taylor. Ms. Taylor. Mr. Natascha. Ms. Natascha. Ms. Armstrong. Ms. Armstrong. Ms. Jelena. Ms. Jelena. Ms. Faj. Ms. Faj. Mr. Montau. Ms. Gretzky. Mr. Gretzky. Mr. Gates. Ms. French. Ms. French. All those opposed, please rise one at a time, be recognized by the court. Wow. The ayes being 69 and the nays being 23. I declare the motion carried. The third reading of the bill. Translator, make sure you proceed to watch. It resolved that the bill do not pass and be entitled as in the motion. Pushing for second reading of bill 156. An act to amend various acts with respect to financial services. Calling the members. This will be a five minute bell. On April the 14th, 2016, Mr. Orazetti moved. Second reading of bill 156. An act to amend various acts with respect to financial services. All those in favor please rise one at a time. Be recognized by the court. Mr. Zimmer. Madame Lalonde. Mr. Albanese. Mr. Dickson. Ms. Manga. Mr. Crack. Mr. Crack. Ms. Wong. Ms. Hunter. Ms. Hunter. Mr. Morrow. Mr. Morrow. Ms. Jassett. Ms. Jassett. Ms. Damerle. Ms. Damerle. Mr. Fraser. Mr. Fraser. Mr. Anderson. Mr. Anderson. Mr. Baker. Mr. Baker. Mr. Ballard. Mr. Ballard. Mr. Don. Mr. Don. Ms. Hogarth. Ms. Hogarth. Ms. Cuala. Mr. McLeod, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Jones, Mr. Fidelio, Mr. Yacobasco, Mr. Hillier, Mr. Miller, Perry Sound, Miss Copa, Mr. Miller, Perry Sound, Miss Copa, Mr. Scott, Mr. Thompson, Mr. Barry, Mr. Monroe, Mr. Monroe, Mr. Yura, Mr. Huda, Mr. Huda, Mr. McLaren, Mr. Bailey, Mr. Smith, Mr. Harris, Mr. Nichols, Mr. Nichols, Mr. Marteau, Mr. Coe, Mr. Coe. The ayes being 69, the nays being 23. I declare the motion carried. Second reading of the bill. Does the unelection approach to the law? Shall the bill be ordered for third reading? Minister? My record in my supplementary question I commented about making life more affordable. Clearly I meant unaffordable. Members have the right to correct the record. Thank you very much. That's a point of order. There are no further deferred votes. This house stands recessed until 3 p.m. this afternoon.