 Thank you. It is now time for question period. The member from New Market Aurora. Thank you. My question is to the Premier. The Premier will note that the galleries are filling with people from York Region. They are seniors, they are people with disabilities. They are on their way in and they are being joined by a number of personal support workers. These are seniors who are receiving on-site 24-7 personal care through York Region's alternative community living program. My question to the Premier is this. Folks are listening, they would like to know from the Premier herself why has the Ministry of Health disqualified the Region of York from continuing to provide the essential alternative community living services on which they depend. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker and I welcome everyone to Queens Park who is concerned about this issue because we have made a commitment as government to ensuring that our seniors are getting the right care at the right place and in the right time period Mr. Speaker. So that includes home making and includes security checks and care coordination. So Mr. Speaker here's my understanding of what has happened and I'm happy to have this discussion with the member opposite. I understand that the Region of York recently made a business decision not to provide assisted living services to both high risk and low risk seniors. However the central local health integration network is ensuring that every patient currently receiving assisted living services will continue to do so. So in fact that care will be continuous Mr. Speaker although it's being delivered through the local health integration network. So that's my understanding of what's happening Mr. Speaker. Supplementary. Speaker the Premier does not have a good understanding of what happened. These people did not make their way here today to hear the Premier tell them half-truths. It is disrespectful of the Premier to even I'm going to ask the member to withdraw. Disrespectful Speaker of the Premier to even attempt to represent that what is a cut in service to seniors and people with disabilities is somehow the fault of York Region. Here is the truth. The truth is that the Ministry of Health Policy disqualified York Region from continuing to provide that service. And here is the result. Mohammed Asifuddin is 70 years old. He's blind. He has a double leg amputee. He's a diabetic and he has recently undergone cancer treatment. His services are being cancelled. He is being asked to actually pay for additional services. Thank you. I want to ask him the Premier what's her response to that. Thank you. Well Mr. Speaker you know I think what is responsible is that people have all the information and so to scare monger and to suggest that somehow service is not going to be provided is not appropriate Mr. Speaker. So currently the patients of the Region of York's assisted community living program are being transferred to experienced providers who will be able to provide the enhanced care offered through the new policy Mr. Speaker. So as of April 1st the new providers will be offering 24 hours, 7 day a week on-site care at all the Region of York buildings where this service was previously provided. So there is a change Mr. Speaker. There is a change in the delivery but to suggest that the care is not going to be provided is absolutely not accurate and in fact what is happening Mr. Speaker is that the care will be continued and will be enhanced. Thank you. Final supplement. Well here is the accurate representation and I'm sorry that the Premier has to read from her speaking notes that someone wrote for her that are inaccurate. Here are the facts. Last week Chats told Mr. Asifuddin Order. That because he needs two people to help him with his lift and sling he will have to pay for the university as the minister of education called order. At the end of the day it will cost this man $3,000 a month to have the same service he had before and the lift that was provided under the previous service is being dismantled and he will have to pay to have it reinstalled at a cost of more than $3,000. I'm going to ask the Premier this. Is that what she considers a continuation of service? Question. That is a disgrace. It is immoral. I will ask you now to stop it and to restart. Thank you. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. Well indeed I was reading from notes because I wanted to make sure I was given accurate information Mr. Speaker. We are ensuring that people who are receiving assisted living support will have that support continued Mr. Speaker. I will absolutely have a conversation with the minister of health. I will talk to her about this issue to make sure that we have absolutely all the information. But Mr. Speaker we are in the business of increasing care to seniors. We are in the business of increasing care in the community making sure that people get the supports that they need where they are living Mr. Speaker and in a timely way. That is the work that we are doing. Those are the investments that we have been making. If there are specific issues and specific cases that the member opposite would like to bring us information we are happy to look into those. But we are providing that continuum of care. The region of York made a business decision. The local health integration is network is continuing that service Mr. Speaker. Thank you. New question. Member from new market order. I want to follow through on the same question and the reason is to the Premier that the facts that she has don't be telling me the facts are wrong. Minister of infrastructure. I know exactly what the facts are. First minister of transportation and infrastructure come to order. Second direct your comments to me. Thank you. Thank you for your comments to you and I'm hoping the Premier is listening as well as her colleagues. The fact of the matter is we are speaking here about people's lives. We're talking about the most vulnerable in our community. We're talking about seniors and people with disabilities who depend on these services to live a relatively independent life. This government is taking that away from them. I want the Premier to stand up and stop reading from your speaking notes and speak from the heart and tell us that you will do what needs to be done to restore the ACL on site independent service. The member from Bruce Greyhound Sound come to order. Second time. Carry on. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker and I will say to the member opposite that we are absolutely and fundamentally committed to providing the services that seniors and people with disabilities providing the services that they need and providing those services Mr. Speaker in a timely way and in their homes. So that means that there will be changes in the way services are delivered Mr. Speaker. But to undermine decisions made by the Region of York, to undermine decisions made by the local health integration network, to undermine decisions made by the health providers in York Region, I don't think is responsible Mr. Speaker. We are working with communities. We are funding industries there to make sure that seniors living in York Region and across the province get the care that they need in their homes, in the community, when they need it Mr. Speaker. That's what our investments are about and quite contrary to the party opposite Mr. Speaker, we are not going to slash those services. That's the policy of the party opposite. Well Speaker, I believe the Premier should undermine those decisions made by the Region of York, should undermine the decisions made by the Linn, because those decisions are wrong. Those decisions undermine the quality of life of the seniors and people with disabilities in our province. And it is the Premier's responsibility to show some leadership just because some other organization makes the wrong decisions. And by doing so what this Premier is saying to people in our province, to seniors, to people with disabilities, we don't respect what you've done for our province. What the Premier should be doing is standing up and saying we will cancel whatever wrong decisions have been made, we'll make it right, we'll restore those services and you should stand up and say that today. Thank you Premier. Very much Mr. Speaker. Well, you know it may be in the best interests of the member opposite to undermine decisions made by local bodies like the Region, like the local health integration network. He may have his own political reasons for wanting to do that Mr. Speaker, but that's not how we function. What we want to do is we want to work with local authorities. We want to work with Minister of Government. We want to work with local health integration networks because those are the people on the ground who know the services that are needed in their communities Mr. Speaker. I care deeply about providing services to people in this province. I care deeply about making sure that seniors have the supports that they need Mr. Speaker. They have earned them, they have made this province strong throughout their lives and we have an obligation to make sure that they get the supports that they need. That is why we are investing hundreds of millions of dollars into their care and working with the local authorities to make sure they get the care that they need Mr. Speaker. Do you see it, please? Thank you. Final supplementary. People in the galleries who are being affected by this wrong headed decision are not giving an ovation to the Premier. The only people who are the people who are trying to defend the indefensible the fact of the matter is that wrong decisions have been made there is time to fix it. We're appealing to the Premier to do exactly that. It is the ministry's policy that has directed the region to do what they're doing. It is the ministry's policy that has directed the lens to do what they're doing. It is the Premier's responsibility to set that right. One more time to the Premier. Will you stand up and will you say that you will stand with these seniors and people with disabilities and you will set right what has been done wrong you will restore those services to the people who are here for their services, for their independence, for their safety and for their health. Thank you. Premier. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. Well the people in the gallery are exactly the people with whom I stand and what I say to them is that we are working very hard to make sure that you get the support that you need and I know that there may be a change happening and what we are trying to do is to make sure that people get the 24 hour, 7 day, a week care that they need. There is a change that is being made by our intention is... Excuse me. I apologize for not catching this earlier. Direct your questions and comments and answers to me. New question. The leader of the third party. My question is to the Premier. Yesterday 162 families in Welland received devastating news that they'll be laid off as Energex Tube decided to idle its operations. Like many families across this province they'll be looking for work this spring and wondering whether or not they're going to find any. Over the past week the Premier insisted that the Liberal status quo is working when it comes to jobs. What does she have to say to the families that have lost their jobs now in Welland this week? Thank you Premier. Well Mr. Speaker let me just say that it is it's always a blow when a company makes a decision and there is job loss and my heart goes out to the workers and their families Mr. Speaker but what I will say is that we will do everything in our power to make sure that those workers have the opportunity to make the transition to a new employment Mr. Speaker to a new retraining but beyond that Mr. Speaker we are working with companies who are coming into the province we are working with companies that are expanding their job creation Mr. Speaker and that's the work that will make the economy stronger into the future so we're not going to stop that work we're going to continue that work because it's creating jobs Mr. Speaker including working with communities to invest in infrastructure but my heart goes out to the people in this particular instance Mr. Speaker there is no doubt that manufacturers are facing challenges all over North America but the Premier's response ignores the problem and suggests that everything that they're doing over there is actually working instead of targeted approaches to help businesses that are hiring people or investing here in Ontario she's defending loopholes and giveaways that hand millions of dollars to companies that then outsource jobs instead of working to get electricity rates under control she insists that sky-high salaries, bloated agencies and subsidized electricity exports actually make sense does the Premier really think that her plans are working? You know we have created more than 400,000 net new jobs since 2009 Mr. Speaker 100,000 new jobs last year Mr. Speaker If the leader of the third party underneath her rhetoric if what she's asking me is whether we're going to support the $2.5 billion scheme that she would like to bring forward Mr. Speaker the scheme that was adopted by President Barack Obama and then rejected by President Barack Obama because it wasn't working the scheme that in many jurisdictions has been shown to not work and to actually spread money in places where jobs were already being created in a very nondiscriminatory way Mr. Speaker if she's asking if we would take that reckless path no we will not we will continue to work with businesses Mr. Speaker that are targeted and strategic way and to help them to expand and create the jobs that we know are the future of this province Mr. Speaker 300,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost in this province and have not been replaced and the Premier well knows it families losing a paycheck this month deserve better from their government instead of a plan to help them with change that rewards and cleans up the mess in our electricity system this is going to be a government that once again is focused on the challenges of the Liberal Party scrambling to plug holes left by departing ministers and shoring up vulnerable MPPs. Why is this government more concerned about saving the jobs of MPPs from Oakville and Thunder Bay than thousands of Ontarians losing theirs? Minister of economic development trade and employment. Thank you Mr. Speaker and Mr. Speaker I know the leader of the third party is pinning our job creator tax credit scheme but it's being discredited virtually right across North America Barack Obama considered it but he proposed a similar 10% tax credit but at the end of the day he dropped it because his experts were telling him that it wouldn't work that it would be abused as it has been a number of states it had practically no effect according to the NPR editorial that they had on it many many people in congress and the Senate said that they should be cautious about it because it quite frankly Mr. Speaker doesn't work. Our finance ministry rather has estimated that it would cost more than $2.5 billion a year in fact the Jobs and Prosperity Council rejected it at Jobs and Prosperity Council that had Jim Stanford the respected economist for Unifor as part of that committee I don't understand why they're pinning their hopes on a failed tax credit which is a giveaway where evidence shows that 92% of the jobs would be created anyway New question for the third party Well I can tell you that the status quo isn't working for hundreds of thousands of people that are under employed and unemployed in the province of Ontario My question is to the premier people in this province are also concerned that their tax dollars aren't being respected they were told the original cost for security for the Pan Am Games was supposed to be $113 million then the cost suddenly jumped to $239 million My question is a simple one where's the accountability speaker Thank you very much Mr. Speaker well as the leader of the third party may know the minister offered a technical briefing for opposition members and unfortunately your member wasn't able to be there Mr. Speaker because it's very important that everyone who wants to ask a question about the Pan Parapan Games has all the information has all the information about the procurement process that was gone through in terms of security Mr. Speaker has all the information about the transportation costs and understands that it is our obligation to make sure that the security at the Pan Parapan Games is the very best that it can be Mr. Speaker to protect all of the attendees whether they're coaches whether they're athletes whether they are tourists Mr. Speaker people are going to be coming to the Pan Parapan Games for this amazing event we need to make sure that the security is the best that it can be Mr. Speaker After hearing about soaring costs people are now learning that a US firm with a history of violations and fines here in Ontario has been awarded the Pan Am Games security contract Was the Premier aware of the history of violations and fines before this contract was awarded Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker again had the member had the leaders of the third party's colleague been able to attend the technical briefing she would have known that for this for this process we were relying on the experts of the OPP Mr. Speaker that it has been a process that has been led by the OPP and I think the OPP Inspector Mike McDonald I'm just going to quote him up the integrated security unit Mike McDonald he said quote the government conducted a fair open and transparent process overseen by the Office of the Fairness Commissioner so and then Mike McDonald went on to say the contract was awarded to the firm with the strongest bid and demonstrated experience in large scale security initiatives while meeting all the required private security parameters throughout the game so Mr. Speaker we are putting our faith in the experts on this file because we must be assured that the security at the pan-parapan games is the best that it can be what I asked the Premier about is is she okay and when did she know about the fact that this contract was being awarded to a company an American company that has a history of violations and fines here in Ontario when did she know that that contract was being awarded that was the question that I asked in light of these revelations Speaker will the Premier now do the right thing and call on the Auditor General to take a look at the pan-amp security contracts Mr. Speaker peace election committee for the private security services for the 2015 pan-parapan games are members of the OPP and serve with the integrated security unit Mr. Speaker I am not going to interfere in that process I am not a security expert Mr. Speaker and I don't believe that the leader of the third party is a security expert Mr. Speaker we are going to leave that to the experts because we need to make sure that everyone who comes to the pan-parapan games order you see the place you see the place the member from Glenn Gary Prescott Russell will come to order and the member from Nippie and Carleton and the member from Prince Edward Hastings which it actually could have been his warning new question the member from Barry Speaker my question is to the Premier the Premier knows the pan-amp games are a scandal under this current minister she requires him to report to her bi-weekly for lack of confidence and she's allowed TO 2015 to create a new communications nanny position to mitigate the minister's ongoing blooper reel yet somehow somehow the minister dodged a bullet with the latest cabinet shuffle to retain this minister to high premier premier you just lectured the third party leader for it being it's important to know all the details about the pan-amp games why don't you tell taxpayers today right now what you're paying Neil Barton today Premier thank you very much Mr. Speaker well I spoke yesterday about the reality that the human resources hiring the issues to do with human resources are being handled by Toronto 2015 Mr. Speaker the federal government the provincial government municipal government all working together making those HR decisions Mr. Speaker we've had a conversation about the reality that this minister is providing technical briefings and opening up the process so that the members across the way can ask all of the technical questions that they want and can have that information the reality is Mr. Speaker this is a complex large games Mr. Speaker there are many moving parts the venues are spread around the region Mr. Speaker so that other communities like Barry and like Hamilton and across the region will have an opportunity to have a legacy Mr. Speaker as a result of these games and I hope Mr. Speaker that the member opposite takes the opportunity to get all the information from those technical briefings. I was happy to be the tactical briefings unfortunately the minister wasn't Speaker no doubt the premier knows every decision to her bi-weekly report so pleading ignorance is seriously amateur hour let me help you out Premier your liberal friend Neela Barton is making more than you are what she's buying when you go to dinner Premier because this scandal hopper is netting between 250 and 300,000 taxpayer dollars all this for Neela Barton a liberal staffer who's been there for e-health for McGinty and for Redford nations and now Pan Am as a certain premier you can save that money by just removing the source of the problem today now that you know the cost of liberal cronyism where you intervene immediately and replace the minister and Barton minister of tourism culture today attacked the game but committed on Monday he said that the para-pan American game should combine with the Pan Am games the member from Northumberland, the member from Northumberland Quinty West is warned and the member for Barrie will come to order clearly he suggests that para-athlete from all over the world the member for Barrie will come to order the member for Nepean Carlton will come to order maybe third time but if you question my seriousness keep going speaker on the day where we will be hosting he lacks understanding to realize that para-athlete are world class competitors they will also be celebrated the member from Renfrew Nipissing Pembroke is warned speaker, his comments are not only arrogant and ignorant but aims to destroy order please, last request the member will withdraw he is company the spirit of para-athlete all over the world he owes all para-athlete explanation for this terrible comment thank you speaker the member from Glen Gary Prescott Russell if you wouldn't mind getting into your seat so I can tell you to stop but maybe I'll tell you to stop now the member from Hamilton East Tony Creek, new question speaker the Pan Am security contract just keeps getting worse we're now learning that the US firm this government selected to provide security for the Pan Am games pled guilty to violating its license during the G20 summit and was fined $45,000 here in Ontario speaker was the premier or her minister aware of these violations the guilty plea and the fine before this contract was awarded minister of community safety and correctional services minister of community safety and correctional services I'm excited to be in my new role and I want to thank the premier for giving me the opportunity to serve as Ontario's minister of community safety and correctional services I also very much look forward to working with my critics the member from Leeds Granville and the member from London West so that we can work together and find ways to make our province even safer and secure for every single Ontario I'm new on the file so I'm learning all the ins and outs but I know one thing speaker I know one thing for sure and that is that our government is working in developing and setting a world-class Pan Am Pan American games in 2015 right here in our province these games are going to be hosting world-class athletes from the Americas they're going to be welcoming tourists from around the world and speaker we are going to work with our security experts to make sure that these games are one of the most secure games around the world I'd like to thank the minister for no answer again speaker how can this government have even considered a bid from a security firm that has broken laws in our province specific to the provisions of our security services there's even a question speaker about whose bid was lower and who had saved Ontarian's money the company that you didn't pick was Ontarian speaker can the premier of the minister explain why this government awarded the contract for the Pan, Parapan and Security to a US firm with a checkered security history that was charging more when there was qualified firms here in Ontario with clean track records thank you minister speaker security is a security of games is a very serious issue and we must rely on experts like the Ontario Provincial Police to make decision as to what's the best form and who is the best one to deliver security speaker in matters of securities armchair quarterbacks are not welcome that's not what we want to be doing that's why we have got an integrated unit at the Ontario Provincial Police which is responsible for contracting the security they are responsible for all the details around the security I will listen to their advice any single day than any member in this house from the government or from the opposition speaker let the OPP do their job and make sure the Pan and Parapan are the world class games right here in the province of Ontario speaker thank you thank you very much minister speaker my question today is for the minister of infrastructure and transportation minister I've heard the minister speaking about our government's record investments in public transit and the people of my riding of bond has certainly taken notice my constituents rely on go trains and buses to get to and from work on a daily basis they travel between school friends families homes and for a social evening downtown and also in my riding bond residents recognize the public transit investments make transit a better choice for commuting they reduce congestion on our roads and contribute to a better quality of life for all Ontario families especially those in my riding speaker through you to the minister can you please speak to the investments in my riding that were recently announced when it comes to go services thank you minister of infrastructure and transportation thank you very much mr. Speaker it's a great pleasure to rise and I want to thank my friend from Vaughan the MPP for Vaughan for his advocacy and his leadership on transit we as you may know recently announced mr. Speaker the extension of the morning and an afternoon train on the very line and that we will be increasing that from 10 cars to 12 cars that will add 320 additional seats or if you want to look at it this way taking 320 more cars off just on that one additional loan mr. Speaker we will actually be adding two new weekly morning trains on the very line from maple to Union station which will create more capacity this is in addition to a plethora of other investments we are making different forms of transit and the subway which is provoking great development right now in the Vaughan metropolitan center mr. Speaker I want to thank the member for his leadership mr. Speaker. Thank you very much mr. Speaker and I want to thank the minister for the update regarding the all important very go line this announcement is great news for my community for the people of Vaughan increased go service has long been necessary and I'm delighted that our government is committed to taking these important steps. Speaker I have also been in trouble to hear about the plan or the lack thereof that's being suggested by the opposition and by the third party the leader of the opposition has suggested that he will be making the kinds of investments that would directly and adversely impact the communities of Vaughan and those across York region and elsewhere my understanding is that his proposals would almost cease completely the infrastructure spending and communities outside of the Toronto core like mine and from what I've seen speaker the NDP has no plan at all when it comes to transit speaker through you to the minister of transportation can you please outline the investments that government is making in communities like Vaughan and across Ontario thank you minister thanks very much mr. Speaker we we have at this point invested nine point one billion dollars in go services alone we and this is important mr. Speaker because the investment in metro links make have impact across the province my friend from Thunder Bay had to the new minister of municipal affairs the cars are made there for the member for Barry all the tunnels for the Eglinton line are being made in Barry Ontario mr. Speaker but it's also important to note we're the only party committed to two percent of GDP which is ten times as much as the opposition party we're still trying to figure out where the third party is on infrastructure because their history and government mr. Speaker is to spend ten cents on transit for every dollar we spend and mr. Speaker that doesn't buy you a bus Mr. Speaker thank you very much new question member from thank you and good morning speaker my question is for the premier premier this morning I've got a large group of financial services people tuning in to carefully listen to your answer they're not interested at this moment in what you have to say about the fall economic statement what they're interested in is what you had to say last May during the budget announcement let's review last spring you were told by the ministry of finance you are quote not from track to meet the 2012 budget deficit targets quote a few days later you issued a news release that stated quote the government is on track to meet deficit targets outlined in the 2012 budget premier why did you tell the central community the bond rating agencies this legislature and the public one thing when you knew the complete opposite to be true thank you mr. thank you mr. Speaker the member opposite seems to fail to understand that while recommendations and proposals and initiatives are put in place while conditions change by market forces around the world a leadership government must take action and as a result of the actions we've taken we reduce spending we took what is necessary to recalibrate so that we could in fact stay on target and the raw agencies and all the others and those that you make mention of we do speak to as a result of those results and as a consequence we're on track to balance our books by 2017-18 and we do so because of the actions that we've taken to do so thank you so premier conditions changed in a couple of days from when you were told one thing and said the other you're not giving us the facts you were told one thing but you went out and told the public and this legislature the complete opposite you've got a 4.5 billion dollar gap and you tell the bond rating folks all is well this is like deja vu all over again last year throughout the gas plant scandal you told us the cancellation would cost 40 million dollars but it took the auditor general to tell us what really happened it was 1.1 billion dollars you deleted emails and the OPP had to get called in there's a pattern happening here premier when you get caught you delete or in my case last week you try to stop information from being made public instead of writing a jobs plan you spend your time keeping the facts from getting out exactly what is it that you're hiding thank you minister of finance the members opposite had a history of hiding the facts that is why there was a 5.6 billion dollar hole in the budget when they were at last in power we brought it forward with the way of transparency and accountability to the point now where CDL Institute and others are saying that Ontario is one of the highest raided provinces and governments by way of transparency and disclosure and integrity in the numbers that we present and as a result of that we've become the leanest government in Canada we've beaten our deficit targets year over year we're continuing to do so and we're investing in jobs growth and more jobs something that that poverty opposite is actually threatening and as a result of what he's just mentioned months old information that we had already exposed and put out there for all to see and consume we are taking actions to ensure that we've got the books Mr. Speaker we'll continue to do so Thank you very much Mr. Speaker my question is to the minister of municipal affairs and housing I want to first congratulate the minister on his recent appointment and wish him well the minister had a private members bill that would require a 60% Canadian content for transit vehicles purchased by municipalities my first question to the minister is very simple will the minister introduce this bill as his first I'm glad you brought it back to the ministry because I would have ruled it out of order as to whether or not he will introduce certain legislation is fine so I'll carry on Minister of municipal affairs and housing Speaker thank you very much for the question I want to thank or the member thank you very much for the question as he's aware as a minister I'm not able to bring private members bills forward but what I can tell you on the specific issue is clearly this we have made a strong commitment and I would thank the member opposite from North Bay both of us in our previous lives and in previous times here in this legislature introduced private members legislation on this particular issue I personally as a northern member find it as very important I think it's key to part of the revitalization of the forest industry which has already begun to occur I would suggest we have some great news in northwestern Ontario certainly in my riding of Thunder Bay out of coke this piece I believe would help that but I will say paramount to us is the issues related to safety when it comes to this particular issue we feel like we've done some pretty good work the previous minister has done a tremendous amount of great work in terms of lining up that support to ensure that we're meeting all of our people and stakeholders who are interested in this issue and on a go forward basis there's more also supplementary but there's a there's another important piece I feel it's necessary to share with the member well done thank you speaker the minister knows how important Canadian content is in mass transit vehicles for Thunder Bay's bone balde plant he said quote the regulations called for in the proposed bill would help protect these jobs and encourage future growth in the mass transit sector with his appointment as a minister his private members bill has now essentially died on the order table and will not be up for debate tomorrow my question is will the minister commit today to making his bill for Canadian content in mass transit vehicles a government bill and a government priority minister the speaker the minister of transportation and infrastructure we order please I'm just going to provide you with some some feedback this this is why we type rope walk when we have these changes and things that have happened the way they have the the the instruction I'm going to leave with you is to try to make sure that the question you ask of the ministry is directed to the ministry responsibilities and I know that there was a little bit of weaving back and forth both in the answer and in the question so I'm glad that the minister has punted it to somebody who probably has the responsibility within his particular domain and I'm I'm trying to offer some guidance because it is a difficult matter and I appreciate the members what they want to say and do I'm just offering all of us a reminder that when we do offer those kinds of questions they're directed directly to the ministry's responsibility and I thank you for that and so I thank the minister for giving it to the minister of infrastructure and transportation thank you very much and I I too want to welcome my colleague from Thunder Bay at a coconut I know the premier is very very well aware of of the new minister's views and I'm sure that was weighed in her thinking that Canadian content and the economic implications of our infrastructure investments are a priority for this government Mr. Speaker so right now we have worked very effectively the downside of being too protective is that we heard Canadian companies competing in the large U.S. market but right now we go back seven years MPP formerly MPP Morrill and previously as a city councillor in his previous life advocated this has been a seven year campaign that my colleague the minister municipal affairs and housing has been on I don't think it's going to disappear any time this would be 1200 jobs but we will continue to work with the third party and in this legislature to realize the maximum benefit of all our infrastructure investments in each part of the new question thank you speaker my question is the minister of children and youth services here in Ontario we should be proud that we have a ministry that is dedicated to providing children and youth with services and supports they need in my community of Scarborough Rouge River I meet families and vulnerable youth every day they share stories of how the work of our government is helping to make their lives better and speaker doing what we can to ensure the well-being of all children and youth in the province is not only important to us now but it will define the quality of men and women who will live in Ontario in the future given a child a boost and the supports they need will lead them in the right direction and provide them opportunities to make the right decisions in life speaker an investment in our children and youth today is an investment in the province's future can the minister tell us on the work that the ministry is doing to support children and youth in the province of Ontario minister of children and youth services thank you Mr. Speaker and I'd like to thank the member from Scarborough Rouge River for not only the question today but his regular and ongoing advocacy for children and youth not only in his riding but across the province today for everyone to know we're celebrating the 10th anniversary of the ministry of children and youth services and we'll be having a little celebration later on some cake everybody's invited to join us later today I'm proud that our government took the initiative to create this ministry and ensure that children and youth throughout the province are properly represented as stated by our first minister by focusing on positive results for kids from prenatal health through early adulthood we have a unique opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of Ontario's young people that statement remains valid today Mr. Speaker I've heard the party opposite would abolish the ministry of children and youth services that would be a mistake for the past 10 years thanks to the tireless work we've made terrific gains thank you supplementary thank you Mr. Speaker the minister is correct it would be wrong to abolish this ministry despite calls from some members in this house in Scarborough Rouge River there has been a reduction in crime and gang activities since 2004 I personally attribute that to the actions of this government by providing children and youth better options and greater opportunity from the increased support for youth living in care or increased investments of special needs services or the many initiatives in the poverty strategy vulnerable children and youth in my community have greatly benefited from focus by a dedicated ministry Speaker the 10th anniversary of the creation of the ministry of children and youth services is a milestone we should all celebrate and as I said earlier an investment in our children and youth today is an investment in our province's future the best way to justify this ministry to those who think it should be abolished is by reminding them of the major accomplishment made in the last 10 years Minister Thank you and again thank you for the follow up to that question I can most certainly speak to the many accomplishments this ministry has had over the last 10 years because they have been many we introduced the province's first ever poverty reduction strategy with the Ontario children's benefit as its focal point we transformed the child welfare system to make it sustainable and ensure that children in Ontario will be protected for generations to come we dramatically increased our support for crown ward supporting the work of the youth leaving care working group we've introduced a new special needs strategy a youth suicide prevention plan a youth action plan new mental health strategy and since we took action in 2003 the youth crime rate has fallen by 29 percent this has been a very busy ministry building on our achievements we will continue to help children in youth in Ontario reach their future potential Thank you new question member from Cambridge Thank you Mr. Speaker my question for the Education Minister Minister I delivered yet another letter today asking you why you refuse to safeguard extracurricular activities for our students you may have noticed that your teachers collective bargaining bill sits in committee stuck in clause by clause and will stay there until you work up the courage to stand up for students I remind you again that our only ask on behalf of parents in this entire piece of legislation is to ensure that co-curricular activities are not ripped away from students yet you continue to reject this outright is the threat of withdrawing support that the special interests hold over you your head so strong that you cannot risk politically incurring their wrath minister you can run for election to lead a union or you can be our minister of education but you can't be both clean up your act get your facts straight and support the important amendments for students and parents across this province will you do that today minister Thank you very much Yes thank you very much and the answer is the same as it was last week when I think about what happened during the Harris years what I remember was legislation and regulation and attempts to change funding and collective agreements in order to impose new rules of work without new compensation in fact they took a billion dollars out of school board funding I also remember what we had during the Harris years was that years of chaos kids didn't get extracurriculars they didn't even get to go to school because people are always on strike during their time so am I going to do what he suggests absolutely not Mr. Speaker I'm still waiting to hear an answer why you could really reject this request outright this is not a ploy or a tactic this is not a game parents have been clear that they want their politicians to safeguard extracurricular activities come the fall I want this too but I cannot do this without your help minister if this is about pride please I ask you let us put our egos aside and think about what really matters the education of our students however if this is about losing your political allies please I ask you find the courage within yourself to stand up for what is right rather than caving into the special interests at the expense of the student experience in the province we know you were once on the side of parents we know you can be again will you support this amendment and support the students of this province for once minister please stand up with us and help students get the experience they need thank you minister of education I am absolutely on the side of parents and children and making sure making sure that kids have extracurricular and I know from a lot of experience that the best way to do that is when everybody works together and I would like to point out that the Ontario public school boards association the Ontario Catholic trustees association the French public trustees the English Catholic trustees all want this legislation passed the English the English elementary teachers the OSSTF the English secondary teachers the English Catholic teachers the IAFO the Francophone teachers they too want this legislation passed we can all work together at you that can't work with anybody Thank you minister thank you Mr. Speaker my questions for the premier today bus loads of seniors and caregiver from the York regions are at Queen's Park they are here because some of the most vulnerable people in the region community living programs are about to lose their round the clock care that they require the government has been trying to put the blame on the York region saying they cannot do much yet the minister of health was able to extend this home care by a period of one month will the premier tell the seniors and their caregivers who are here today if she's prepared to protect their health care services permanently I'm not sure exactly where the blame has come from I'm not blaming anyone Mr. Speaker what I'm saying is that my understanding is that the services that have been provided in one way Mr. Speaker are going to be provided in another way that the region of York made a business decision that they were going to get out of this particular delivery Mr. Speaker and that the local health integration the central Linn is going to be ensuring that every patient who currently receives service will continue to receive service Mr. Speaker and the reality is that not all seniors were receiving 24 hour 7 day a week service Mr. Speaker and we want to ensure that that is in place that they have access to that service as they need it where they need it and in a timely way Mr. Speaker so that's what the change is about Thank you Speaker well let me make it clear when it comes to frail elderly seniors and people with disability 24 7 coverage by caregivers by PSW that know them that know and understand their needs is the gold standard this is what they had Mr. Speaker I see it time and time again the liberal government can talk a good game when it comes to keeping frail elderly vulnerable people in their homes they repeat right care right time right places but when cuts are being made to gold standard program that do just that then start their talk start to sound like nothing more than empty words I ask again will the premier going to protect gold standard health care services and the seniors that they support Let me just repeat again currently patients of the region of York's assisted community living program are being transferred to experienced providers because I agree with the member opposite that it is important for seniors to have the care of experienced people who understand what their needs are because if they are fragile if they are in a precarious situation Mr. Speaker they need to have that trained person there so they'll be transferred to experienced providers who will be able to provide this service Mr. Speaker as of April 1st new providers will be offering that 24 hour 7 day a week care on site at all of the region of York buildings where this service was previously provided that is what is to happen on April 1st if there are questions about that I will absolutely make sure that they get answered by folks in the Ministry of Health but that's what's happening Mr. Speaker the care is being transferred Thank you Speaker this question is to the Minister of Rural Affairs Minister we know cities have many transit options but in northern and rural areas roads and bridges are what's important we all take notice when we drive over potholes or can't get across a bridge in disrepair not only are roads and bridges vital to local communities but they serve in important arteries to help Ontario's economy grow Ontario's small and rural municipalities have infrastructure needs that differ greatly from the urban municipalities but I want to be assured that this government has taken those needs into consideration Mr. Speaker through you can the Minister please inform the House on what is being done to address the infrastructure concerns of rural municipalities Mr. Rural Affairs Well thank you very much Mr. Speaker and I want to thank the member from Ottawa Leeds for a very superb question this morning here we know that you know if I had the great privilege of being Minister of Affairs and get the opportunity to travel Ontario north south east of west and meeting with my municipal colleagues who I have a great relationship with as a former municipal councillor myself for some 18 years and we brought forward that $100 million infrastructure fund for small rural northern municipalities I haven't seen such enthusiasm in years when we announced that program and AMO and MOBA the opportunity to engage with those five elected officials that represent communities oh so well and just recently on my travel on Sunday we announced $105 million rehabilitating a well and hand over Mayor Masco wonderful lady upgrading and upgrading Senator Seward and Owen South Mayor Haswell I stand you sit I stand you sit don't finish supplementary Thank you Speaker and thank you Minister for your response I'm pleased to hear the Ontario government takes the needs of small and rural municipalities very seriously Speaker rural Ontarians have raised concerns over stable and predictable infrastructure funding having been involved as a consulting engineer for over 30 years at the community level I know firsthand the importance of predictable funding rural communities need a full range of public infrastructure from roads and bridges to water supply networks to protect their quality of life and foster new economic development with predictable funding municipalities can budget efficiently and develop long-term repair plans for aging infrastructure guaranteeing the maintenance of critical infrastructure for years to come can the minister update the house what our government is going is doing to ensure municipalities have state question predictable funding for infrastructure Thanks so much Mr. Speaker and again I want to thank the Member for Ottawa Orleans for supplementary and I'm sure he won't want a late show a later today because I'll provide a very full answer In rural Ontario we've been consulting widely and I've had great discussions with the Premier, the Minister of Finance my colleague the Minister of Transportation Infrastructure and you know we're hoping to get a permanent program in the budget whenever it's delivered in the weeks to come I know there's great anticipation and Minister Murray and I consulted with over 500 municipal officials one of the widest consultations ever in the province of Ontario because we want to get that permanent structure right in order to get it right you listen to municipal leaders right across the province of Ontario and we're waiting for the budget because it'll be a good news day Mr. Speaker No question the Member from Halton Thank you Mr. Speaker my question to the Premier on January 29th this year it was announced that three teams were shortlisted to design, finance and maintain the Milton District Hospital expansion project these three firms are to be invited to respond to a request for proposals for the expansion project whose start began in 2001 under a PC government in 2002 I procured the land for the project but after the McGinney Liberals were elected in 2003 the expansion was cancelled it was only during the 2007 election that the start process was renewed from scratch then on August 25th 2011 another election year the minister said this money has been allocated it has gone through Treasury Board Premier your minister of health promised that the Milton Hospital would be expanded by 2016 when will the RFP be released to the three approved consortiums I know the minister of infrastructure is going to want to speak to the specifics of this what I will say Mr. Speaker is that it's very interesting that at the end of question period we get questions that have to do with spending dollars Mr. Speaker at the beginning of question period from the Conservatives all we hear about is what they are going to cut and what they are going to slash Mr. Speaker and in fact when the leader when the leader of the opposition asks the question it is always about cutting and slashing cutting people out of jobs Mr. Speaker not investing in infrastructure not investing in building hospitals and schools Mr. Speaker so our plan is and has been to make those necessary investments Mr. Speaker we have built hospitals we have built schools we have built roads we have built transit we are going to continue to build this Supplementary please apparently the Premier didn't hear the first part of the questions from our party Premier the Milton has grown to three times the size that it was in 1987 the town of Milton is one of the fastest growing municipalities in Ontario it is unacceptable that such dynamic community as Milton should have the primary healthcare needs served by a hospital that has to be expanded to triple its size to serve the town under your government's watch election time has become hospital funding announcement time in Ontario as we near an election I would like to ask you on behalf of the people of Ontario Premier the RFP is ready to go it's been ready to go for two months why is it not released you're playing politics for this issue Minister order Minister infrastructure and transportation thanks Mr. Speaker the member opposite is the most curious gentleman I have and he has provoked great curiosity and me as the minister Mr. Speaker because for some reason the member opposite voted against the expansion of that hospital I'm a bit bewildered Mr. Speaker about the member's behavior because he voted against it right now Mr. Speaker we have 12 hospitals under construction 39 in which this government has now built and the member opposite as you know closed 28 hospitals the member from Halton will come to order I'm trying to speak here the member from Halton will come to order please and the member from Burlington will come to order wrap up please you're criticizing the government that's 39 there is a word for it politics might be a polite word when you vote against your own hospital there are some unparalleled measures thank you, new question, the member from Tamiqa, my question is to the minister of transportation lack of winter road names across Ontario has caused havoc on terrors highways for many winners 76% of people in the recent poll agreed even the minister has said that privatization of snow removal probably needs a rethink in the meantime contractors have been sounding alarm bells that funding for the ministry hasn't been issuing enough to clear the highways properly so the ministry is issuing fines yet the minister has refused to release the amount of the fines so what's holding the ministry back so the minister has gone to the fines where they're fined, when they're fined and let's see is it the contractors or is it the ministry who's responsible for a terrible snow removal the minister of infrastructure our greatest concern and I'm sure that of our contractors is the safety of our roads and we work very carefully and closely with our contractors to maintain those high standards so that we can put $1 million in northern Ontario alone so those contractors could put 50 vehicles on the member opposite is quite right those contracts are now all outsourced out of the ideological zeal of a previous government that thought the private sector did everything better those standards have not changed the member has read in the media that there are penalties when contractors don't meet those standards so we will not compromise the public safety and we insist that being said Mr. Speaker most of our contractors are meeting those standards and we look forward to working with them thank you the member from one or not a point of order I'd like to rise on a point of order to clarify the question from the member from Essex you stated that the question of the member from Essex should not have been directed to the minister of municipal affairs when in fact the private members bill references a referenced places requirements on municipalities when purchasing mass transit vehicles and I'd like to provide you with a copy of this bill for your reference so I thank the member for the point of order and I will try to provide some clarity the concern I was trying to express was that of a reference to a private members bill to the minister and that the ministry at that point and anyone in cabinet has the right to give it to the ministry that they require to get it to provide an answer that said it was a judgment call that I made that I thought it might not be germane to the ministry I confess that I was more concerned with the fact that it was a private members bill that was being referenced and that it was not to be spoken to through cabinet because cabinet doesn't have any jurisdiction over private members bills so I hope that's clearer than what I tried to talk about last time I would like to get a moment without a heckle no I'm in the right business you're the ones that know how to do that thank you earlier speaker I neglected to introduce Kim who is the vice president of the we welcome all of our guests there are no deferred votes this house stands recess until 3pm this afternoon