 It is now time for Question Period, the leader of Her Majesty's Royal Opposition. I just want to add, I appreciate the moment of silence from the leader of the NDP and our thoughts, hearts with Jonathan Jenkins, wife Nancy, and to say to his kids, hopefully they'll see the Hansard someday. I think the highest praise we can give to a journalist who is tough but fair. And every time I talk to Jonathan, there's nothing that dominated his heart than his pride and his son and daughter. He's watching over them. He's damn proud. I just want to say it's great to have my deputy leader back in the House today. I'm going to ask one of the pages to bring over a document to the Premier entitled, Transit and Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area. It was a briefing that the Premier received. I'm going to refer you to page 26 of the document that you were briefed upon. The Finance Ministry officials say that the greatest negative impact on job creation, in fact it will cost jobs, are payroll tax increases. Again, page 26 I've highlighted it just to call attention to that particular bullet. It's being a son of two teachers, it just happens. On page 26, Premier, in the case of payroll taxes will cost us jobs. Do you agree with Finance officials that an increase in payroll taxes will cost us even more jobs and a promise? Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I want to just add my personal condolences to the family and friends and gallery colleagues of Jonathan Jenkins and to wish them all well. This is a very hard and sad time. And I want to welcome Christine Elliott back and to just say that your strength is remarkable and it's wonderful to have you back. And to my friend opposite, if what he is asking is whether I believe that bringing in a plan that will allow people to save for their retirement and have retirement security when they are ready to go to leave the work world. Mr. Speaker, I would suggest that that is absolutely necessary. We have been very, very clear that an enhancement to the Canada Pension Plan would be our first choice but we believe that it is our obligation to make sure that the people of Ontario have the ability to have a dignified retirement, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the member from Prince Edward Hastings will come to order. Well, I believe our first obligation is to make sure that people have a chance at a well-paying job in our province. I'll tell you a quick story. I was in Brantford recently and I met with Scott, who is a construction employer. Minister of training, call his universities, come to order. And I asked him that that was in 2003 when the McGinty Wynn government began. And I asked one of the employees he has now and he said, no, nobody on the payroll except himself. I said, why? He said, just more red tape. The energy bills have tripled in this province and payroll taxes mean I can't hire. The Ministry of Finance officials indicate that for every $2 billion in tax increases on a payroll tax, that will cost us 18,000 jobs. We're putting in an Ontario registered pension plan, an ORPP. That is going to be a tax increase that will cost us 150,000 jobs. Thank you. Do you agree with the finance officials? Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Well, it's a very interesting question coming from the leader of the opposition because we just lowered payroll taxes. The employee health tax, Mr. Speaker. We reduced that tax to small businesses. It was a tortured process to get the leader of the opposition and his party to acknowledge that that was a good thing to do, Mr. Speaker. And I know that what he is talking about is he's talking about retirement security, Mr. Speaker. He's talking about our belief and our proposal that we need to bring forward a plan to make sure that people in this province have the opportunity to retire in security. We would love to have had the support of the Conservatives at the federal level, Mr. Speaker. We would have loved to have had the support of Stephen Harper, which was called for, Mr. Speaker, by governments across the country. We haven't got that, Mr. Speaker. So we are going to move forward. We will be bringing forward a plan in the budget on Thursday to make sure that people have retirement security in this province. The member from Prince Edward Haitians will come to order second time. Final supplementary. Well, thank you, Speaker. Well, look, here's the difference between you and me. I want Scott to have the confidence to hire again. I want to see him hire back those nine employees and then more. I want to see them across the province. And that's why we stand solidly behind my million jobs plan to create a million well-paying jobs in our province to get people back to work. So let me if I understand this, Premier. You said that you need to lower pay taxes to create jobs. That's the bill you brought forward that we supported. But now you're saying you're going to increase payroll taxes by $2,500 a person. That means that if Scott wants to hire somebody, he has to pay wages plus $2,500. Wow. And somebody on a payroll will have $2,500 less in their pockets. That's pretty hard to make ends meet today when you can't pay your hydro bill. Imagine a $2,500 reduction in your paycheck. So which is it, Premier? Do you believe that lowering payroll taxes creates jobs? Or do you believe increasing payroll taxes creates jobs? Honest and good. Question. You don't want to have it both ways, do you? Thank you, Premier. Mr. Speaker, well, you know, the leader of the opposition knows full well that the document that he passed across the floor had nothing to do with retirement security, Mr. Speaker. It was a discussion on a totally different subject. What we have said is that we believe that there is not enough saving. We know that there is not enough saving that people are capable of, that people are at risk of struggling in their retirement, Mr. Speaker. So we are going to bring forward a plan that will allow people to have that retirement security. But Mr. Speaker, the leader of the opposition... The opposition talks about creating jobs, Mr. Speaker. But everything he has brought forward would cut jobs, Mr. Speaker. Education jobs, healthcare jobs. He does not want to partner with business in this province, Mr. Speaker. He is open-texted. He's against partnering with Cisco. He's against partnering with food processors. He's against partnering with the auto industry. That opposition would reduce jobs. Thank you. Good question. Well, back to the Premier. No, look, I know you gave $120 million open tax, one of the wealthiest corporations in Ontario. They just gave a big increase to your shareholders. You know, honest to goodness, that's like giving out food vouchers in Rosedale. It doesn't make economic sense. Oh, that's right. You already did that after Christmas. I guess, and yet you're consistent. But Premier, back to the topic. These are your own finance official documents. You will recall the briefing, I'm sure. Page 15, interestingly, points out that the worst tax increase to slow down the economy is a business tax increase, which is a hallmark policy of the third party. Your hallmark policy seems to be increasing payroll taxes. Again, on page 26, your own bureaucrats said that a payroll tax increase will lower business investment, will relocate businesses to other jurisdictions, will reduce work effort, and will cause an out-migration of people from our province. So what is it exactly that you like so much about tax increases? And your bureaucrats say it'll cost us 150,000 more jobs in our province. Thank you. Premier? Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. So my understanding of a tax is that it would be money that would go into the provincial treasury, Mr. Speaker. The member from Northumberland, Quincy West, second time. The leader of the opposition knows full well that that is not what we're talking about. What we're talking about is putting in place the capacity for people to save for their retirement. People who are 20 and 30 and 40 right now, Mr. Speaker, are not able to save enough for their futures. That's the reality. And so we believe, as do many leaders across the country, we believe that having an enhancement to the Canada Pension Plan would be a very good thing. Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister, is not interested in doing that, Mr. Speaker. So it is our obligation to make sure that the people of Ontario have the capacity to save for their future and have a secure retirement, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. So how do you think? There's a basic fundamental of economics that the Liberal Party seems to be ignoring. It's not where the tax goes to it, where it comes from. So if you put a tax on payroll, that means it costs more to hire somebody. And as your finance officials point out, that'll mean 150,000 fewer people working in our province. It also means that money comes out of your paycheck. That means families will have, on average, $2,500 fewer at the end of the year. So that's a tax increase that your own officials say will cost us 150,000 jobs. I want to ask you, Premier, if your plan is putting 150,000 people out of work, if they have no paycheck, how the heck are they going to save for a pension when their income is zero? I'm not getting things quiet for someone to heckle. Mr. Speaker, well, I just have to say that the leader of the opposition is simply on the wrong side of this issue. He listens to people who have worked in the finance. If you're testing my resolve, it's working. The member from Northumberland, Quinty West, is warned. You know, Mr. Speaker, we looked to the federal government to enhance the Canada Pension Plan. And in fact, we know that documents from the Federal Department of Finance demonstrated that an expansion to the Canada Pension Plan would represent meaningful long-term economic benefits to the country. So the advice, Mr. Speaker, at the federal level and across the country is that there needs to be more capacity for saving in this country. That's the reality. That's what we're dealing with. David Dodd agrees with that, Mr. Speaker. The member from the House and East Holy Creek from Northumberland. Federal finance officials agree with that, Mr. Speaker. But the federal government does not want to act. We are taking that responsibility seriously. Thank you. And we will bring our proposal forward on Thursday. Look, we know what this is about. I mean, when you started out, you were going to be the social justice premier. That sort of disappeared. Then you were going to be the jobs premier, and Lord knows that's out the window with his latest tax graph. You were going to be the transit premier and increase taxes no matter what, and then you backed away from that. So you're looking for something to put in the window. I understand politicians get that way, but I'm concerned that you're putting it all in the interest of taxpayers. I was talking to a senior citizen in my office the other day who can barely pay her hydro bill. A widow. She's paid off the mortgage, but she can't pay the hydro bill. Workers are facing the same thing. If you're working in a part-time job, if you can't pay the hydro bill, you can't set money aside for retirement. I've got a very different plan. I want to see the middle class create more wealth. I want to see more jobs in our province. That's what I want to see with more take-home pay. You want to subtract from it. I just got to ask you, why in the world do you make a significant $2,500 per person middle class tax hike? Isn't that going to cost this job to not create them? Thank you, Premier. Thank the Leader of the Opposition for making my case, because the reality who was in his office, he's right. There needs to be relief, and that's the Minister of Energy has brought in programs to help that woman so that she can get some relief on her energy bill. But Mr. Speaker, what we know is that if we don't... I'm not going to tolerate people shouting people down. Remember, from Timmins James Bay, we'll come to order. No, no more. If we don't take action, Mr. Speaker, then people who are in their 30s and 40s are in that position because they will not have a decent pension, Mr. Speaker. They will not be able to retire with any kind of security. So what we're doing is we are looking down the road, understanding that people are not able to save enough now, Mr. Speaker, and putting in place a support for them so that they will have a decent retirement. Mr. Speaker, remember from Renfrew, Nipissing Pembroke will come to order. New question, later in the third party. Thank you, Speaker. My question is for the Premier. When the Premier was in Windsor last July, she told reporters that she had just found out that Gerders installed on what she termed as the largest infrastructure project in Ontario did not meet Ontario's safety standards. Does the Premier stand by that statement? Mr. Speaker, we'll reinforce what I have said repeatedly in this House and what the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure has said. As soon as we knew, Mr. Speaker, that there was a problem with the Gerders in Windsor, we stopped the building, Mr. Speaker. We did a review. Those Gerders are being taken out. They have been taken out. We made sure that the safety standards were in place. We took action, Mr. Speaker, and that is exactly what we will do in time there is a safety concern with construction in this project. Well, Speaker, according to documents released through FLI, both the offices of the Premier and the Minister knew these Gerders did not meet safety standards before they were installed. The Minister's office learned about the substandard Gerders in December of 2012, after which high-level bi-weekly meetings were held to discuss them, Speaker. These meetings included senior staff within the Minister's office and in April of last year, the Executive Director of Policy in the Premier's office. Now, is the Premier saying that senior staff in her own office did not tell her about the public's concerns about what she calls the largest infrastructure project in Ontario's history? No, Mr. Speaker, I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is that the Minister's office staff were first briefed on the safety and durability issues regarding Gerders on the Herb Grey Parkway on June 14th, 2013, and the Minister was briefed on June 19th, 2013, Mr. Speaker, and we took action because of our concerns. That's what I'm saying, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. During the Liberal Leadership Campaign, the Premier boasted that she oversaw the negotiations and the construction of the Windsor-Ezix Parkway while she served as Minister of Transportation. We know that the Premier's director of policy of the bi-weekly Gerders meetings as early as April and probably even earlier. Does the Premier expect that the people of this province believe that her senior advisors didn't alert her to a potential scandal surrounding faulty Gerders being installed in a project that she authorized? Well, Mr. Speaker, what I can say to the leader of the third party is that we took action and the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure and I were very clear that as soon as we knew that there was a problem, as soon as we knew that action needed to be taken, we took action, Mr. Speaker. And I don't know if the leader of the third party is making a broader statement that she doesn't support the building of large infrastructure projects. I don't know if the structure in this province believe it's important and you take action and that's what we did. She's seen it, please. No question. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Premier. On July 21, 2013, Confidential Memo to the Premier on the Gerders issue states and I quote, there has been some chatter about this situation in Windsor construction circles and we understand that the Windsor Star may be coming out with a story on this matter this week and may break during the Premier's visit to Windsor on July 21. Can the Premier tell us that safety issues were ignored until they threatened to disrupt the Premier's campaign to hold a seat in a bi-election? The question is anything but offensive. Mr. Speaker, safety of the people of this project is very important. And take action. That is what we did, Mr. Speaker. And on time, please, from Windsor to Kamsa she knows that, Mr. Speaker. She knows he was part of the process and she knows that we took action. Very supplementary. Wrap up, please. Mr. Speaker, this government knew the Gerders on the parkway were faulty and didn't act on these public safety concerns for seven months. Had the Windsor Star not been investigating these Gerders, would these unsafe Gerders continue to quietly be installed on the very parkway to this very day? Mr. Speaker, Mr. Speaker, I want to be very clear about this as I was yesterday. And I am deeply offended by the Leader of the Third Party, Mr. Speaker. The Minister of Aboriginal Affairs is not helpful in the conversation. Nor is the member from Lanark. And when I sit down, if somebody else starts up, I'll nail you. Finish, please. I hope the Leader of the Third Party will take the time to correct her own record. I'm going to read, Mr. Speaker, into the record very carefully and very slowly the report of both ministries, infrastructure in Ontario. The Minister's Office staff were first briefed on the safety and durability issues regarding Gerders on the Hergrey Parkway on June 14th, 2013, and the Minister was briefed on June 19th, 2013. And Mr. Speaker, the reason I was briefed is because in May when I under instructions from the Premier was asked to thoroughly review each instructor project, I was advised there were concerns. The first week of June, I went to both Deputy Ministers. Both Deputy Ministers said they were not aware of any safety concerns and they undertook a review right... Thank you. When she was the Minister of Transportation, the Premier awarded the project agreement on the 26th Parkway. She bragged about it during the Liberal Leadership Race but documents that we've obtained show that engineers at the Ministry of Transportation were raising concerns about poor quality of construction and serious deficiencies of this project. Now, what does the Premier have to say, Speaker, to the people of Windsor and the people of Ontario, frankly, when they see that she was prepared to put political expediency ahead of public safety? Thank you, Minister. Mr. Speaker, when the Premier was the Minister of Transportation, no one had seen your management nor was there any information or knowledge that was a problem. When I became Minister, I heard concerns and rumors. Every Minister hears rumors and concerns. I validated those and it was not until this government ordered full implementation of the two sets of tests that we discovered in late August there was a safety issue as a result. My question, Mr. Speaker, is where was the opposition? The member for Windsor West raised this issue. All your Windsor members were silent and, Mr. Speaker, I hope that the Leader of the Third Party rise and apologize for the inaccurate information she's putting on the record, Mr. Speaker. Thank you. New question. The member for Simple Work. I complimented you on your dedication to fitness. A few months ago, you ran television ads telling Ontarians how much you love to run. It's obviously an important part of your life. Now, try to imagine what if you couldn't run? What if you couldn't breathe? What if your lungs were constantly filled with mucus? What if you could never run again? How would that make you feel? Maddie Van Stone, a 12-year-old girl with cystic fibrosis, started out not being able to run, barely being able to walk. In the new drug, she can run. She can run like you, and she loves it. She loves being able to do something as simple as being able to run. But how much longer will she be able to run? The money Maddie's family and friends have fundraised as quickly depleting. In fact, right now, her dad's insurance company that covers half the cost of the drug is reassessing his claim. Premier, help Maddie run. Or better yet, run with Maddie. When will you find her? I know the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care wants to give an update on the situation, but I know that the member opposite knows that I met with Maddie and her mom. I don't know if they're in the house, but there they are. And I know that the member opposite also knows that there is a national process that we are pushing very hard, Mr. Speaker. When I met with my colleagues from across the country a few weeks ago, we made it clear that this is not an issue just for Maddie, but for children and other people in other parts of the country, Mr. Speaker, who need this drug to be covered, and we need that deal, Mr. Speaker, and we are pushing very hard. And I will ask the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. Premier, you and your health minister continue to tell us that you have to be cognizant of all taxpayers that you are waiting to get the best value for the drug Kaleidiko. That's your excuse. But when it came to the Gaff plant scandal, when you were still by cancelling the Oakville plant after the election, you spent $1.1 billion of taxpayers' money to save a couple of your colleagues' seats. The sky is the limit to save your own political skins, but $300,000 for a life-saving medication for a young girl has to go through years of negotiations. It's wrong. And now ahead of a possible spring election, we see in a leaked budget documents that you're set to spend another $6 billion on various new spending projects that children like Maddie suffer. It's absolute nonsense. It's been 15 months. Maddie and her mom are here today. This is a child. People are dying waiting for orphan drugs to be approved by your government. When will you do the right thing and fund this? Thank you, Speaker. And I too welcome Maddie and her mom to the legislature today. As you know, Speaker, we have committed to keeping the family informed of the negotiations. This was an issue that came up when health ministers from across the country gathered, and in fact we collectively agreed to do something we've never done before, and that is we have asked to sit down with the manufacturer to find resolution to this issue. Children like Maddie do need access to the drug. We want this drug to be listed, Speaker, but we need to insist that the Pan-Canadian process works. We successfully negotiated over 30 a listing, Speaker, saving us over $50 million. We must continue to work with the manufacturer, Vertex Speaker, a U.S.-based company. They must work with us so that we can fund this drug for people like Maddie. That's it. Any questions? The member from Windsor to come see. My question to the Premier. Speaker, senior ministry engineers are concerned that because of the design build model on the Herb Gray Parkway structures won't last even half the lifespan outlined in the project agreement. Senior MTO engineer Joey Chirico says that under the AFP model authorized by a premier win, MTO has little to no oversight and that he is, and I quote, certain nothing will be done by the construction companies to fix the deficiencies identified by the MTO. Speaker, why did the premier authorize a contract that cut the lifespan of the project, compromised public safety and put the public on the hook for cost associated with the delays? Mr. Speaker, I just will be very clear everything that was just said is in fact not accurate to say the least. The project is up to the highest safety standards in Ontario, which has the highest roads and bridge standards in North America at the highest safety levels. The members opposite are not literate about the basics of this. They do not understand the difference between a discussion about compliance and compliance. It means everything from grass seed to the color of a post. So when you see discussions about compliance they are usually minor issues. The safety standards by the chief engineer and the deputy minister and independent experts, now three engineering companies, this is the highest standard of safety. Many quality girder has been removed and because of the AFP process the company, not the taxpayers are paying for it and you're opposed to that but the taxpayers pay for it. Supplementary? Speaker, it's not all about the girders. Lots of other stuff going on there. Senior ministry engineers are saying the Herb Grape Parkway may not even last half of the leg span outlined in the project agreement that Premier Wynn authorized. We may have already lost more than half the value of the $1.4 billion project and it hasn't been completed. The Premier authorized the project agreement that stripped away the government's ability to deal immediately with ongoing structural deficiencies. Will the Premier take responsibility for the Herb Grape Parkway project and come clean with the full liability to Ontario taxpayers? Minister? Mr. Speaker, the member for Windsor West has already been there done that a year ago. She raised this issue and we act it. The NDP has more people members now in that area than we do and if they had it, if they had one more this would have been a problem because it was only the member for Windsor West. You guys are on the bench asleep. Mr. Speaker, and let me just read into the record the member for Windsor to come to the task payers will be on the hook for 8 months of construction costs and that is not true. That is not true. Task payers are not on the hook for anything so here the member is sending out communications that I believe Mr. Speaker he knows are different than what the facts are so I would again because I thought I had with Mr. Goodmorning a collegial relationship but it appears that he's very prepared to say one thing in this house and another thing out there and there's a distraction here because what are you saying out there there's no relationship to the facts my friend. Thank you. Question the member for Windsor West. Thank you Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Employment. I'm incredibly proud that our government has demonstrated our commitment to helping young people find meaningful employment through our youth job strategy. I know this strategy was developed after a series of consultations which brought together business leaders, employers, not-for-profits, educators, this local perspective directly influenced how our government designed our larger strategy. I know we've had recent announcements on the success of these programs especially in my writing. Stop the clock. We could all use a little bit of respect around here. Please finish your question. Thank you Speaker. I know we've had recent announcements on the success of these programs especially in my writing of Scarborough Gildwood which has a significant young population who's like Kingston Galloway, Orton Park and Morenell Court. Through you Speaker, would the Minister please update this House on recent developments of our youth employment strategy? Minister you got it. Economic Development, Trade and Employment. Thank you Mr. Speaker. This $295 million investment that was announced in last year's budget is paying real dividends for youth right across this province. We're very proud of the success that we've seen so far and I'm going to give a couple of examples of just how we're making a difference in getting employment, helping young people get employment in Ontario at George Brown College here in Toronto. They're working, providing skills training in commercial baking as well as sheet metal construction for youth here in the GTA facing multiple barriers to employment and I was recently in Windsor as well meeting with and making an announcement at the Downtown Windsor Business Accelerator where that organization, a great initiative in Downtown Windsor is mentoring and supporting young entrepreneurs from the Windsor Essex region of the province and lastly Mr. Speaker, Operation Come Home I had the honour together with the member from Ottawa Centre just a couple of weeks ago to visit that facility right downtown Ottawa which is doing amazing work Mr. Speaker with many homeless young persons quite frankly helping them start businesses not successful businesses changing their lives around for their betterment and for the betterment of their college. Mr. Speaker, I'd like to thank the minister for his answer my constituents will be happy to hear that the youth job strategy is being fully implemented as a member from Scarborough I know our sizeable youth population appreciates the opportunities that we've created to help them get a good start so many organizations have got an impact for communities and East Scarborough Storefront are working tirelessly on this issue and I understand the importance of partnering with industry to ensure that we train and provide opportunities for youth not only for the jobs of today but to help them with their future careers and I know this specifically having held a youth job strategy forum as well as a business breakfast to engage local employers our youth employment fund is a key part of these initiatives. Speaker, can the minister give us an update on what the youth employment fund is doing towards our government's goal of creating good jobs for young people and growing our economy apologize to the minister of economic development trade and employment minister to the minister of training colleges and universities Mr. Training College University thank you Mr. Speaker building a strong economy and creating job opportunities for youth is a priority for our premier it's a priority for this government in fact it's one of our top priorities Mr. Speaker I'm pleased to be able to say that our youth employment fund has been an extraordinary success since its launch in September this fund has already helped 11,526 young people find job experience right in the workplace. The fund has also had a particular focus on youth furthest from the labour market and I think that's what makes it such a success it focuses on Aboriginal youth youth with disabilities, rural and northern youth, youth leaving care as well as youth right across this province Mr. Speaker I'm very proud also to be able to share with members that 84% of young people that have completed their placement through the youth employment fund have landed employment Mr. Speaker I don't know if it's going to stay that high as this program continues but Mr. Speaker it's off to a fantastic start we're really proud of it we're giving young people that opportunity in the workplace that they need to help us build a stronger economy that's great thank you for your question the member from the PN column is to the Premier she boasts of her government's openness yet it is her Liberal party that has been accused by the OPP of destroying documents related to the gas plant scandal and it is she who is attempting to silence myself and the leader of the official opposition with a lawsuit and this morning the Minister of Transportation threatened a lawsuit against the member from Renfrew Nipissing Pembroke in November of 2012 the Freedom of Information request for limited documents in the Premier's office turned up just 100 pages then on the day that she was sworn in as Premier that FOI was trimmed down to 88 pages by April 20th 13 and an FOIPL said it would be it was discovered that emails have been deleted and recovering them would be impossible given that timeline it's clear that the Premier's commitment to so-called open government was made with the knowledge that several senior Liberals have been deleting emails because her work would have had to research that and search them will she tell us why she took an OPP investigation thank you thank you Premier Mr. Speaker I believe at the moment we have provided 391,707 pages of documents to the committee including 30,000 from the Premier's office the Premier herself has appeared in front of committee as has the Minister of Energy I've appeared the Minister of Transportation has appeared Mr. Speaker we've made ourselves available to answer questions that have been put forward by the opposition I can't say the same thing about opposition candidates and at the same time Mr. Speaker we have cooperated fully with them and we'll continue to cooperate fully the issue of the deletion of documents Mr. Speaker the member is well aware is a subject right now of an OPP investigation I think we should allow the OPP to undertake their work Premier announced that she was going to go through with a project called open government she actually spelt government wrong and forgot the end but I'm going to propose today that we actually change this initiative to open government and put a C in there Speaker because this government's record unacceptable the member will withdraw withdraw her record on openness is spotting only cost 40 million dollars when she signed the contract she would have known the truth she held a caucus meeting as liberal leader and as Premier on January 30 yet she now tries to tell us she wasn't Premier at all she was Premier while one of her staff had her hard drive wiped by Peter Feist who by the way Peter Feist was still a member of her staff until a month ago surely the Premier know that something from the public is going to go badly wrong for her because we will uncover the truth so will she be open and honest today with this caucus thank you thank you can you see the case can you see the case thank you the Minister without portfolio come to order Governor Hal Steer Mr. Speaker the Honourable Member has some gall to talk about truth and facts let's get the facts on the record Mr. Speaker if I can not my finest moment Mr. Speaker let's get the facts on the member on May 7th last year the Justice Committee asked for all gas plant documents in the Premier's office on May 21st the Premier's office delivered 30,000 documents and here is what the letter from the Chief of Staff said quote I am writing on behalf of the office of the Premier in response to the motion passed by the Standing Committee on Justice Policy on May 7th on May 9th we were advised by cabinet office IT that the email accounts of 52 individuals formally employed in the Premier's office could be accessed a search of those accounts was conducted by my office in any available records applicable the committee's motion have been included I am enclosed with this letter a list of the 52 individuals Mr. Speaker as a member of the committee should receive that letter Mr. Speaker what she is doing today Mr. Speaker is beneath her and standing up and spreading this thank you new question the member from Windsor to come see thank you Speaker again to the Premier good morning Premier I hope you are having a good morning today Premier yesterday the Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure claimed repeatedly that the safety of the girders was never discussed with the minister's office before he raised the issue in June however I am holding the agendas of 12 weekly and bi-weekly update meetings for the minister's office in the Herb-Gray Parkway each of the meetings from the 14th of December to the 7th of June took place six months for the minister claimed he knew each meeting references girders and their lack of CSA certification certification meant to protect public safety does the Premier stand by their statements that our minister should thank you Premier Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure I am not lying I'll say it once again it is very clear there are meetings every two weeks the topic of the girders is discussed every single time but it is not a question many bi-weekly meetings where girders were discussed never was there a discussion of safety now I am not lying I am telling you the truth the chief engineer is not lying the deputy minister is not lying the assistant deputy minister is not lying the frontline safety officers are not lying the independent engineering firms are not lying and for what the members have said to be true all those people would have to be lying Mr. Speaker so maybe he is wrong read the documents yesterday the minister denied his deputy minister he knew anything about safety issues on the Herb Gray Parkway the minister said and I quote the first week of June I went to both of my deputy ministers and asked them if they knew anything they both said clearly they were not aware of any particular safety concerns Speaker according to government documents the minister's deputy minister was regularly updated on the public safety concerns of the girders in 12 update meetings and received briefings in their own monthly update meetings on January the 15th the 8th of February the 8th of March and the 12th of April is the premier going to stand by while her minister denies what is in front of us in black and white question thank you thank you Mr. Speaker I will try again it would scare me Mr. Speaker if these people were ever near power because let me tell you what some of the compliance issues that are outstanding right now one of them is the shrubs Mr. Speaker we have a whole group working on to make sure that we have the right kind of shrubs that won't die six months that's a compliance issue Mr. Speaker the design of a wall and the shape of the wall is a compliance issue they are not synonymous with safety issues Mr. Speaker there are several projects that could have 100 or 200 compliance issues of which a junior member of my staff may be briefed on the safety issue Mr. Speaker until August now we're going all the way to August I raise this it gets dealt with independent testing twice the first round of independent testing done by the project company late July early August came back with no safety concerns I was not satisfied the premier was not satisfied I ordered a second round of testing six murders one came out faulty thank you new question the member from Ottawa needs thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the Minister of Energy Minister of Energy policy about a hot topic in Ontario it's an issue that affects every Ontario indirectly in fact one of the calls I get is constituency in Ottawa leads to both their electricity bills what they can do to lower them we have just experienced one of the coldest winters in almost a century conservation is the best way to reduce energy costs I attended the Minister's announcement at Ottawa at the Giant Tiger last Friday where the success of conservation was highlighted residents know that Ontario clean energy benefit which the opposition voted against is set to expire at the end of 2015 I know my constituents are wondering how our government will do to help them with their bills when the benefits wind down Minister can you please tell a house about the details of the announcement last week regarding how our government will be helping people with their electricity bills thank you Minister Van thank the member from Ottawa for the question Speaker the previous government allowed the old Ontario Hydro to accumulate tens of billions of dollars of debt forcing them to take drastic action this included adding the debt retirement charge DRC onto electricity bills Speaker to help ease pressure on residential rates our government announced last week that we will remove the DRC two years earlier than originally projected eliminating the DRC would save a typical residential electricity rate payer about 70 dollars a year in addition we also announced that we will provide a bill reduction for low unmodest income consumers for speaker together with the elimination of the DRC this program will give a benefit of $250 each year for eligible consumers thank you supplementary thank you Minister certainly great news for families across Ontario I know my office receives a lot of questions about debt retirement charge people wonder why that charge is on their bills who put it there and until last week when will it be coming off I can understand where they are coming from I know that the charge was created by the PC government when they were last in power and that rate payers haven't paying it ever since but given some of the confusion that seems to exist around the portion of the consumers energy bills I think it would be helpful for the minister to explain to the house the origin of this charge and why we are still paying it could the minister please explain the history of the debt retirement charge and where the money that is correct goes thank you the debt retirement charge is a direct result of the mismanagement of the old Ontario Hydro under the Gudak Harris PC government and also when we took over government we inherited a system that was not clean was not reliable and was not affordable so we invested $31 billion to repair the damage I guess that's not good enough the member from Prince Edward Hastings is Lauren and the member from Jordan come to order a second time finish please so we invested $31 billion to repair the damage and we also took the opportunity to eliminate cold fire generation which is taking the equivalent of 7 million cars off Ontario roads in addition to removing the DRC we previously introduced a 10% discount on bills and implemented a number of tax member from Stormboat in contrast to the PC bungling our government has consistently reduced the stranded debt by over $8 billion since 2004 Speaker I urge the opposition to help Ontario ratepayers save money by supporting our budget and finally the legacy costs thank you new question thank you Mr Speaker my question is for the Premier Premier why did the government deliberately and heartlessly sacrifice the horse racing industry in favour of pie in the sky scheme to build glittering casinos in Toronto the Premier's backyard here the opposite is very supportive a plan for the horse racing industry that would see a fee sustainable over time Mr Speaker into the future and that's exactly what we have put in place I came into this job Mr Speaker I knew that there were concerns with the changes that were being made in the horse racing industry the former Minister of Agriculture and Food had made it clear that there needed to be changes made Mr Speaker that the removal of the non-transparent and really not accountable slots at race track program Mr Speaker that it needed to be changed but that there needed to be a sober second thought on what the project would be Mr Speaker that's why the panel was struck that's why we took correct their recommendations Mr Speaker that's why there's $500 million over the next five years in the horse racing industry to make sure that they have a sustainable future I'm proud of the work that we've done Mr Speaker and we're going to make sure that horse racing in Ontario is sustainable and accountable Thank you Mr Speaker unfortunately her plan is not working Speaker those glittering casinos have been built and yet the horse racing industry now lies in ruins the auditor general's report yesterday confirmed what we have said all along the Liberal NDP move to terminate SARP was done with no consultation or consideration of the enormous damage it would do to people in the industry the government had the information to know that their decision would meet fewer race states less breeding less employment in the agriculture industry because the government ignored that information we now have race tracks closed lawsuits against the province and thousands of jobs destroyed does that even bother the Premier because that Speaker is her record Premier someone has stabilized the horse racing industry we have put in place a plan that will allow Auditor General was not complimentary of the slots at race track program Mr Speaker was owners grew reliant on their growing slots revenue share just to sustain their horse racing operations and they submitted request to the ORC for fewer race days per year Mr Speaker so the SARP program was not working I acknowledge Mr Speaker during our leadership though that the replacement for the SARP program was inadequate we made the changes when I came into this office Mr Speaker and now there is a path to sustainability $500 million that we are putting in place because of the recommendations of John Snowden, John Wilkinson and Elmer Buchanan Mr Speaker will allow the horse racing industry to be sustainable into the future no question the member from Timon Steams Bay my question to the Premier your minister stated there will be no additional cost to the government as a result of the girder replacement on the $1.4 billion per gray parkway your government correspondent says there may in fact be substantial cost bill to the government by the project company as a result of the delays in construction can the Premier tell us how much is your government's failure to act on public safety going to cost Ontarians so Mr Speaker I know the minister of transportation will want to speak to the details but what we need to make clear Mr Speaker is that the cost for replacing the girders is borne by the company Mr Speaker they are not being borne by the tax because of the agreement that was in place that's because of the contract that was in place Mr Speaker but you know Mr Speaker and I know that the minister will speak to the details but I really think it's interesting that the member opposite is not standing in his place and talking about the investment that was announced yesterday in the Ring of Fire Mr Speaker Mr claims there will be no cost associated with the girder replacement and construction these construction they remember the minister of energy come to order please carry on you know the Premier claims that there will be no cost associated to the public with girder replacement and construction delay this reminds me of the gas plant scandals when news was breaking that the government claim there were no cost associated to the cancellation the cost ballooned over a billion dollars and Herpway Parkway is already costing the public 1.4 billion when is the Premier going to tell the people of this province what they will be paying for her failure on the largest infrastructure project in Ontario's history Mr Speaker the 1.4 billion dollars is a critical investment in the lives of the people of Windsor it was an investment that former members Pupatalo and Duncan and my friend Windsor West promised and they delivered done done done the American government to build the presidential bridge this will create thousands of jobs and boost the Windsor economy because of your ideological rigidness you can't support AFP if this project had been done on the terms the only way the NDP could do it that cost would have gone to the taxpayers it was because of this government's policy in the AFP model that the cost is to the project the deal is done the contracts are signed there's no residual liability when will that member of that party stand up for Windsor when are they going to start demanding the federal new question the member from the token order thank you Mr Speaker my question is for the minister of health and long-term care Matthews for a moment speaker I too speaker can't hear myself the member from Eglinton Lawrence will come to order the minister of Aboriginal Affairs second time and the minister responsible for seniors hiding behind his hand and the member for Stormont, Dundas and South Gleary second time finish please thank you Mr Speaker my question is for the minister of health and long-term care I too would like to respectfully acknowledge the courage and resilience of the members of Whitby the former federal and current provincial minister even way back when in med school when we were studying intro dermatology we were alerted to skin cancer risks caused by ultraviolet radiation and knowing these risks of DNA damage I am concerned about the use and abuse of tenning beds as we're approaching the end of the school year many young people in my own riding of Etobicoke North are thinking about one thing the end of your school prom that's why many young people feel a pressure to look a certain way we know for example from the World Health Organization that use of standing beds under the age of 35 increases skin cancer risk by 75% what are we doing to protect Ontario thank you minister of health and long-term care thank you to the member from Etobicoke North as the member has stated tenning bed by young people are very clear yet more and more young Ontarians have been using tenning beds in fact we've seen a doubling of the use for grade 11 and 12 students at the same time the incidence of melanoma in Ontario has been rising for young people and that's why we took action in October 2013 we passed legislation to prohibit young people from using tenning beds in Ontario I'm very pleased that that restriction comes into effect tomorrow tenning bed operators will need to post signs about this restriction and about the dangers of tenning bed use for everyone operators will need to ask for ID from anyone who appears to be under the age of 25 and they'll be banned from marketing their services to youth under 18 this action will save lives and that's how this year's prom season will be different thank you minister I know that many parents in Etobicoke North across the province will be pleased with the action our government is taking to protect young people from cancer but since cancer speaker as you'll appreciate is a multi factorial disease we know that tenning bed use is only one of the many activities that increase cancer risk unfortunately there are many other forms of cancer which is in fact best thought of as a family of diseases not a single condition as an MD I know that Ontario's cancer system is top notch and that a person diagnosed with cancer in our province has one of the best chances of survival in the world but as always speaker prevention is better than cure and there's of course more that we should do to stop people from putting themselves in harm's way minister would you be able to please inform this house what is the government doing in other domains in other cancer areas to protect our kids thank you thank you minister I got ahead of myself the ban comes into effect on Thursday May the 1st so other things we've done we've introduced a free vaccine to protect young women against HPV which is the major major cause of cervical cancer we're working hard to protect our kids from the harmful effects of tobacco smoke we've already banned smoking in enclosed public spaces and motor vehicles when children under 16 are present now we're taking the next step with proposed legislation and regulations that would have passed increased fines for those who sell tobacco to kids making them the highest in the country it would ban tobacco products prohibit the sale of tobacco products in schools and childcare facilities and prohibit smoking on and around playgrounds sports fields and restaurant patios and I'm calling on all members of all parties to support this field it's what we need to protect our kids answer new question the member from the Leeds thanks very much minister my question is for the premier minister of agriculture last month the premier year we're missing of excellence in agriculture education was put in jeopardy when the capitol college closure announcement last week again minister you were missing in action again it was your ministry that committed two million dollars to the university to reinstate some skilled trades programs but failed to do your job in adding those core agriculture courses the ag community was very clear any program that didn't include ag was unacceptable and the agriculture community further wants to remind you that capitol college isn't a trade school it's an agricultural college when are you going to stand up as a minister and stand up for farmers and farm families for agriculture education minister of agriculture you know the member opposite knows full well that as soon as we knew of this situation both with alpha college and with capitol my parliamentary assistant the member for gary press pot russell was on the job making sure that we found solutions and we did find solutions we very much engaged in making sure that we work with the university of wealth that we work with the colleges that we work with the community to make sure that a solution was put in place if the member opposite is suggesting that I shouldn't have gone and visited the people in the belvalaria who were struggling with their flooding issues the member opposite it's with regret the member from prince ever Hastings is named first agriculture minister please finish just to say mr. Speaker that it was it was very important to me that we find a solution on the kentville programs it was also very important to me mr. Speaker that I was able to meet with people in the belvalaria member for my opinion Carlton will come to order thank you premier premier farmers and farm families across ontario knows one thing and they know one thing that it's you minister that aren't doing your job on this file one minister let me contrast what a tim hoodack ontario pc government would do for ontario we'd make private sector job creation of priority and grow agriculture sectors by supporting the education programs they need to stay competitive tim hoodack government the university of wealth would get the same they got the previous pc agriculture ministers who wanted to close these campuses the answer we give them was no students in those ag diploma programs who can't begin their education in kentville this year because you said yes when are you going to stand up for agriculture education in eastern ontario member from holland come to order finish please you know i understand why the member opposite in that party believe that it is in the interest of their their party to drive wedges between groups of people in ontario to drive wedges between rural ontario and urban ontario to work in urban centers i don't believe that mr speaker i don't believe that it's in the best interest of the province's future for those kinds of wedges to be exacerbated mr speaker but that is the politics of division that they practice because this week on food processing over 60 food processors mr speaker over 60 groups that are getting local food funding mr speaker that on april the 28th 2014 the member from nipissing mr fidelli submitted a notice of his intention to raise a point of privilege the notice alleges that there has been contempt of the legislature on the basis that various members of the house made deliberately misleading statements on budget related forecasts having it had an opportunity to review various procedural authorities including previous rulings by speakers of this house i am now prepared to rule on the matter without hearing further from the member as standing order 21d permits me to do the notice indicates that the cabinet was informed on february the 13th 2013 through a slide deck that a projected deficit figure for fiscal 2009-2010 in the 2009 public government document had been more of a worst case figure than a realistic figure and that the subsequent 2013 budget reiterated this figure the notice makes a second allegation namely that the various cabinet ministers made statements in the house that the government was on track to balance the budget by 2017-2018 despite the cabinet being informed on february 13th 2013 through the same slide deck that no plan was in place to achieve this objective and that the fiscal outlook beyond fiscal 2013-2014 was deteriorating I first want to address serious questions as to the timelines the timeliness of the members point of privilege it has been many weeks if not months since the standing committee on estimates received the financial documents that formed the basis of the argument made in the notice this points to a lack of the timeliness in submitting the notice however I am reluctant to dismiss the members point of privilege on the basis of timeliness and therefore will address it as follows the notice refers to the so-called biggie test for determining whether a statement of by a member is deliberately mislead pages 653 and 654 of the third edition of the parliamentary practice in New Zealand identifies what needs to be established for the speaker to find a prima facie of contempt based on a member deliberately misleading the house as follows there are three elements to be established when it is alleged that a member is in contempt by reason of a statement that the member has made the statement must in fact have been misleading it must be established that the member making the statement knew at the time that the statement was made that it was incorrect and in making it the member must have intended to mislead the house as speaker car indicated in a ruling in this house page no two of journals for the June 17th 2002 the threshold for finding a prima facie case of contempt against a member of the legislature on the basis of deliberately misleading the house is therefore set quite high and is very uncommon it must involve approved finding of an overt attempt to intentionally mislead the legislature in the absence of an admission from the member accused of the conduct or of a tangible confirmation of the conduct independently approved a speaker must assume that no honourable members would engage in such behaviour or that at most inconsistent statements were the result of inadvertence or an honest mistake in the case at hand I make the following observations about the application of the McGee test and speaker car's ruling with respect to the McGee test the repetition of the worst case financial figure used in the government document and the supposed absence of a plan to achieve a fiscal objective is not evident of a falsity of the figure or of the objective moreover the respect of the allegation that the government led people to believe that it had a plan to achieve a stated fiscal objective the quoted statements made by the ministers in 2013 refer only to being on track towards the fiscal objective not to the plan to achieve it even if they had I note that the slide refers to the plan to balance relying on expenditure restraints and revenue raising measures the side deck is far removed from pointing to a member knowingly and intentionally making a misleading statement it does not attempt to in speaker car's words an admission of the member accused of the conduct or a tangible confirmation of the conduct independently proofed the commentary in the slide deck is not in the same ballpark making two completely irreconcilable statements in the house and then conceding that he or she had done so knowingly and intentionally finally it is not the role of the speaker to assess the rationale for the use of worst case figures in a financial document let alone determine whether the figure amounts to misinformation the evidence of that criteria in the McGee test have been satisfied is at very best speculative for these reasons I find that a prima facie case of contempt has not been established and I thank the member from Nivising for his notice we have a deferred vote on the motion from third reading of bill 21 an act to amend the employment standards act 2000 in respect to family caregiver critically ill child care and crime related child death or disappearance leaves of absence in the call in the members this will be a five minute bell members take their seats please thank you Mr. Knackney has moved third reading of bill 21 all those in favor of the motion please rise one at a time be recognized by the clerk Mr. Knackney Mr. Bradley Mr. Shirelli Ms. Matthews Mr. Hoskins Mr. Quinter Mr. Bartolucci Mr. Coole Mr. Dillon Mr. Gavelle Mr. McMeek Mr. Murray Mr. Morrill Mr. Lille Mr. Garrison Mr. Delaney Mr. McNeely Mr. Quadri Mr. Morridi Mr. Cortot Mr. Sergio Mr. Flynn Mr. Zimmer Mr. DelDuca Mr. Crag Mr. McNaughton Mr. Wilson Mr. Allen Mr. Hudak Mr. Yacobusky Mr. Miller Mr. Cleese Mr. Barrett Mr. Jones Mr. Chudley Mr. Clark Mr. O'Toole Mr. Jackson Mr. Harris Mr. Yura Mr. Scott Mr. McKenna Mr. Walker Mr. Leone Mr. McDonnell Mr. Milligan Mr. McLaren Mr. Marteau Mr. Horvath Mr. DeNovo Mr. Marquesi Mr. Forester Mr. Vantah Mr. Armstrong Mr. Manta Mr. Miller Hamilton Mr. Gates Mr. Hatfield Those opposed please rise one at a time and be recognized by the clerk Being recognized by the clerk The one and A's are zero The I's being 91 and the A's being zero I declare the motion carried by the clerk Be it resolved that the bill do now pass and be entitled as in the motion there are no further deferred votes this house stands recessed until 3pm this afternoon