 It is now time for Question Period, the leader of Her Majesty's Royal Opposition. Thank you, Speaker. My question to the Premier. You know, we're at turning point in Ontario. I know in my heart that Ontario can and will do a lot better. This will. After 10 years of higher taxes, deeper debt, skyrocketing hydro, it's time to turn the corner, Speaker, to a time of lower taxes, more jobs, a formal hydro, less debt, and there are a million jobs planned. That's what I plan to do. And I see your budget. I mean, pretty well everything now has been leaked by your budget leaking team. It appears that you've utterly given up on trying to even pretend to balance the budget. You're going to spend money, you're going to increase taxes. It actually increases both the deficit and taxes, which is an incredible feat. So what I see here are deeper debt, higher taxes, and higher hydro rates. I have a simple question. Can you tell me one thing that's different about you than Dalton? Thank you. Thank you. Let's get to it. The Minister of Rural Affairs will come to order. The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing will come to order. Premier. Mr. Speaker, well, let me just say that tomorrow the Minister of Finance will say that is designed to build opportunity today and to secure the future for the people of the province. I'm looking to create jobs, Mr. Speaker, and partners so that those jobs can be created. Member from Stormhouse, Dundas, and Salta and Gary, come to order. In his proposals to kill jobs, Mr. Speaker, to actually move jobs out of the province. We're working to strengthen pensions and to make sure that people in this province have the prospect of a secure retirement, Mr. Speaker. The leader of the opposition has no intention. And in fact, the White can tell us to let people face a future of indifference, Mr. Speaker. We're working to build infrastructure in this province, in DTA, in this country, and the leader of the opposition has no intention. Thank you. Mr. Speaker. All right. No, look, look, I get it. You don't want to say the M word, McGinty. I understand that. You didn't answer my question about a single difference between your approach and Dalton McGinty's. Mr. Northern. The Premier talks about securing a future. Result of natural resources. Come to order. After all this, Speaker, all the Premier cares about is securing a future for her Liberal MPPs and insiders. I'm going to stand up for real people. It's time we had a Premier who has focused like a laser on job creation. A team of confident economic managers that put our province back on track. Look, I understand why you want to continue the McGinty record. You were there at the cabinet table. You held senior positions. You should actually be proud of that, that you had senior positions and a big part of the McGinty team. I don't know why you deny it. But I think it's time to end the charade. It should not be about a Premier who's looking up for Liberals and Liberal insiders. It should not be about a Prime Minister's MPP leader who simply wants to get a contract extension to prop up the coalition. It's time for change, focus on jobs. Premier Winter. Mr. Speaker, please. Premier. Very much, Mr. Speaker. Well, any Premier or quite frankly any leader worth his or her salt would be focused like a laser on making sure that good jobs like those that are coming to the province through Open Text, Mr. Speaker, that those jobs pay on the investments that this province needs. And if the leader of the opposition suggests that there is no need for investment in roads and bridges and transit in education and talent and skills, if he's suggesting that partnering with industry and business to make sure jobs come to this province, if he's suggesting that's not what's needed, Mr. Speaker, then he's just dead wrong. The member from Renfrew, Nipissing, Pembroke, come to order. Delayed reaction, just trust me. Final supplementary. Premier, I talk to job creditors. I talk to workers each and every day. And what they tell me, they want a fair and level playing field. A chance to succeed. And they like our plan to make hydro affordable, to focus on private sector job creation, not more an expensive, bigger government. They actually have a government that spends within its means and to focus on the skilled trades. They're confident they're behind my plan because they want to see hope in Ontario. They want to see people back to work in our province. And I'll tell them this, hope is on its way. Opportunity is coming to our province. Jobs are a rabbit. Stop with a herd of migrants. Stop with increased taxes. Stop with a runaway spending. We've had enough of Dalton McGinty. We don't need his twin. His time for a bull. Blue pass. Premier. Thank you. Well, Mr. Speaker, I just do not believe that picking fights with organized labour, Mr. Speaker, that cancelling full day kindergarten, that firing education workers and health care workers, that moving away from a practice of partnering with industry that has been in place in this province for decades, Premier after Premier, government after government, Conservative, NDP, Liberal, all governments have partnered with industry to bring business to the province. And yet the leader of the opposition says that all of that partnering is not necessary. That we can just stand back as government and we can let those jobs go to other jurisdictions. I just don't believe that that's in the best interest of the province. You do. There's a real distinction between us, Mr. Speaker, between the leader of the opposition and me. I believe that building our future is what we need to do. He believes that tearing down the province will somehow get us there. New question. A member from the NDP and Parliament. Thank you. For the past two years, we have been looking as as Ontarians for the true answers surrounding the cancelled gas plants. So this is what they know. That the Premier signed the Cabinet document authorizing the cancellation of Oakville. They know that she was the campaign co-chair for the cancellation at Mississauga. They know that she told us the cost was only $40 million, that was far exceeded. And she also... Minister of Citizenship, come to order. ...all of the documents, which we know we did not. The Premier needs to clear the air because... Minister of Energy, come to order. ...exactly what her and her transition team knew about the alleged destruction of documents in the Premier's office. She threatened to sue my leader and I in the hopes that she could silence us, but we won't be silenced. Today our lawyers have sent the Premier a letter about the preservation of the box in relation to the cover-up. And we're wondering if the Premier will be open and transparent as she professes and provide us with those documentation immediately and today. Thank you. I'm going to ask the member to withdraw. Premier. Mr. Speaker, and I know the government house leader will want to speak to the details of what's going on at committee, but I will just say, as I have said many times in this house, from the time I... from the moment I came into this job, I was very clear that we would open up the process that we would provide information as it was asked for. Hundreds of thousands of documents have gone to the committee, Mr. Speaker. I have appeared before the committee twice and we have changed the... we've changed the protocols and the rules around retention of documents. I've made it clear across government that everyone understand what documents need to be preserved and that is because we worked with... The member from Lee's friend will come to our second time. Mr. Speaker, and on top of that, we've changed the process around the location of... Northumberland, second time. ...the energy infrastructure. So, Mr. Speaker, we will continue to cooperate with the investigation. We will continue to cooperate with the committee and make sure that the information that is asked for is made available. This wasn't a committee question and if she wants to cooperate with the committee, she could hold my next Smith and Tom Allison into our committee rooms as they requested and as they have denied. But let's get back to the lawsuit and the billion-dollar question of where the money went and why there was deleted documents and during the transition period. If she wants to put this behind her once and for all, we've given her the opportunity. Myself and the leader of Her Majesty's loyal opposition have asked, we've requested this of her lawyer. There are copies of any and all correspondence between the Premier and members of the former Premier, Dalton McGinty and or members of his staff... Minister of the Environment, come to order. ...containing to any official meetings held by the Premier and the Premier Designate. Any and all records pertaining to and identifying the individual staff members who were employed in the Premier's office on January 26, 2013 through to February... Question. The list goes on. Will the Premier do the right thing, release that documentation to our lawyers today so not only can we defend ourselves, but we can get to the truth of it? What... Government House Leader and the member from Nippison. Premier. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I, you know, I am not... I am not qualified to conduct... Repeat what he said. Enough said. Thank you. Premier. I am not qualified, nor certainly is the member opposite qualified to conduct a legal discovery process in this Chamber, Mr. Speaker. The question is because she mentioned two people, both of whom have agreed to appear before committee, Mr. Speaker. They... We've returned. The member from Leeds, Granville, is warned. Finish, please. ...debate unfounded allegations. I will debate facts. Final supplementary. The Premier said she wasn't qualified. I couldn't have said it better myself. But Premier, she was holding private meetings. On the same day, February 7th, she directed the auditor general... Stop it. Stop it. The Minister of Aboriginal Affairs will withdraw. Apologize. Apologize. Withdraw that I referred to... No, no. ...not make any comment. Let me finish so I can bring attention to the fact that I'm not happy. The Minister of Aboriginal Affairs will withdraw. I withdraw. Finish the question, please. Hey guys, I guess we've struck a chord. Put this into context. On the same day, as hard drives were being wiped in the Premier's office, this Premier was holding a private meeting directing the auditor general to expand the scope of the gas plant cancellation and investigation. We know that her campaign transition chair, Monique Smith, had many conversations with Peter Wallace, the Secretary of the Cabinet, about the gas plants. We know that the OPP are continuing deeper and deeper into this scandal and probing it because of all of the Liberals they're refusing not only to speak to our committee but also to the OPP. If she is not prepared to provide us with the documentation will she call it? Thank you. Premier. I'm a House Leader. Mr. Speaker, this is quite frankly appalling, Mr. Speaker. The members stood up here and talked about testimony of Peter Wallace. April 15, 2013. We did not express any advice with respect to the management of political records or the hard drives or the emails associated with the former Premier's office with the transition team. The area that we did not cover because we had no visibility into it whatsoever was the management and the practice of the former Premier's office with respect to its records management, whether it be hard drives or other mechanisms of its political records. That is what the Secretary of Cabinet talked about in terms of his relationship with the transition team. That is the truth, Mr. Speaker. The truth is that members of the Liberal Party, members of this government have agreed to appear in front of the committee unlike the Conservative candidate. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Yesterday the Premier said, I quote, as soon as we knew that there was a problem with the girders in Windsor, we stopped the building. I quote. But three months prior to that, there was a heated email exchange between senior officials about... Order. Stop the clock. The member from Renfrew and Nipissing Pembroke I'm looking for quiet. Please finish. But prior to that, there was a heated email exchange between senior officials about the safety of the girders. The Ministry of Transportation Project Lead for the Parkway, Fausto Natarelli, wrote to Infrastructure Ontario saying, and I quote, I have no confidence in you or frankly your organisation to act in the provincial interest. We need a conversation with more senior officials. Is the Premier telling Ontarians who regularly meet with Deputy Ministers and had this seated discussion about the girders who never raised concerns with anyone? Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. So I'm just once again going to go through the timeline because I think it's important that we deal with the facts. As we've explained many times to the NDP the issues brought up at the meetings that the Leader of the Third Party is referring to had to do with non-compliance as opposed to safety, Mr Speaker. On June 14, 2013 the Minister's Office staff were first briefed on the safety and durability issues regarding girders on the Herb Grey Parkway. On June 19, 2013 the Minister was briefed on the issue of girders. He immediately took action to cease the installation of the girders. On July 22, 2013 the Minister called on a group of independent experts to look into the issue and make recommendations to the Government on November 1, 2013 the Windsor Essex Mobility Group and the Infrastructure Constructors announced that they were rejecting and replacing the girders at no cost to Ontario taxpayers. That's what happened, Mr Speaker. Thank you, Mr Speaker. We now know that in the fall of 2012 the Canadian Precast and Pre-Stressed Concrete Institute expressed concerns that we know were discussed in the Minister's Office. They wrote to say and I quote if non-conforming girders are supplied by non-certified precastors result in future structural or durability deficiencies that affect public safety this will impact our industry significantly. I quote. Now, is the Premier going to stand by her Minister who says that safety concerns were never raised? Mr Speaker, I have a knowledge of when the Minister was informed about and briefed on safety and durability issues and I know because the Minister and I spoke that he took action right away and that was action that he took because I supported him in doing that and making sure that the fact that there was a safety issue meant that we would take action. Those girders have been removed those safety issues have been dealt with and at no cost to the Ontario taxpayer because it was part of the contract. I stand by the process my Minister's decision. Final supplementary. The Premier said yesterday that the Minister's office staff were first briefed on the safety and durability issues regarding the girders on the parkway on June 14th, 2013 and that the Minister was briefed on June 19th, 2013 but documents show a decision was made by the Minister's office on February 14th not to intervene with the girders issue. Now can the Premier explain why she's saying one thing and the documents are saying something completely different, Speaker? Mr. Speaker you know fact is that there were those meetings took place obviously there was not sufficient information during the time periods that the leader of the third party is talking about to make definitive recommendations on safety there were issues on compliance Mr. Speaker but then through the chronology of the meetings that took place and I have made it very clear that as soon as the Minister knew that there were safety concerns action was taken those girders were removed Mr. Speaker and they were removed at the cost of the company they were not removed at the expense of the taxpayers of the province and that is exactly what should have happened Mr. Speaker and if the leader of the third party is suggesting that there was safety at risk that is just not the case Mr. Speaker we acted as soon as we knew that there were safety concerns Thank you New question to the Premier Speaker we on this side of the House have learned to actually rely on the documents not the word play and show that substandard girders and installation panels is not the only concern that senior ministry engineers have with the parkway because what other structural problems exist on this parkway Mr. Speaker I am very very pleased that the contract that was put in place was designed such that an issue like this could be dealt with in the way that it was Mr. Speaker I'm very very pleased that the safety of the people of Ontario was protected because action was taken as quickly as it was and quite frankly Mr. Speaker the girders were removed as soon as we knew that they there was a potential that there was a safety issue so I would think that the leader of the third party should actually agree that it is a very good thing that those girders were removed it should agree that before more of them were put in Mr. Speaker we stopped that process we stopped the construction so that the testing could be done once that testing was done Mr. Speaker the girders were removed that was the defense of the company and that's exactly how it should have happened Mr. Speaker Government documents show that senior ministry engineers are concerned about bearings, protection boards waterproofing and poor mixture of concrete these are not isolated in one area Speaker these structural deficiencies cover different stretches of the parkway now what is the premier prepared to do to ensure the safety of the parkway and the tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border that will be using this road each and every day well Mr. Speaker what we are prepared to do and you know I think that the leader of the third party is bringing forward accusations that are unfounded Mr. Speaker what we will do is we will continue to work with the engineers to make sure that at each stage if there are concerns we will take action just as we did with the girders exactly as we did with the girders that as non-compliance issues if they transform into safety issues then we will take action and make sure that the number one priority is the safety of the people of this province as we did with the girders final supplementary senior engineers have flagged a variety of structural issues but Mr. Speaker these are not unfounded accusations these are senior engineers who have found these problems issues including bearings that did not meet code requirements internal correspondence shows I quote this situation is not unlike the girders issue it is true that these bearings are being installed and are not approved bearings are what the bridges depend on for their stability how can the people of this province trust this government on transit and infrastructure projects worth billions of dollars when this project a major international border crossing one that the premier used to brag about has so many serious, serious safety problems well thank you very much Mr. Speaker and as I have said there is nothing more important than the safety of the people of Ontario and so we will continue to work with the experts, with the engineers to make sure that all of the parts that go into the building of the parkway are safe Mr. Speaker Ontario has the safest roads in North America we will continue to make sure that the Herb Gray Parkway is part of that Mr. Speaker I just want to say that there is going to be a budget introduced tomorrow I have been trying to get a meeting with the leader of the third party since February to have a conversation about how we Mr. Speaker so that we can look at a path forward I know that the leader of the opposition has no interest in working with us Mr. Speaker but I hope that we will have an opportunity to meet because Mr. Speaker a lot hangs in the balance including Mr. Speaker continuing to be able to build infrastructure in this province Thank you Can you see it please? Can you see it please? Thank you Well thank you very much My question this morning is to the Premier Premier in Saturdays London Free Press your Minister of Health claimed that she didn't know why the Ministry of Health used an irrevocable trust agreement which would have allowed two liberal friendly groups to pocket up to 40 million dollars this despite the fact that she personally signed off on two separate renewals Premier I have since learned that this government set up irrevocable trust arrangements in a number of ministries over the past 10 years Premier will you immediately order every ministry to disclose how many trusts were created, what organizations ran them and how much taxpayers money was involved and possibly pocketed by groups that may be affiliated with the Working Families Coalition Mr. Speaker I think that the member opposite is talking about the nursing retention fund That's right When we took office hospitals were running massive deficits and they were signaling layoffs of nurses as a result of PC cuts Mr. Speaker and that was unacceptable to us so we took action to reverse that drain Mr. Speaker on our nursing workforce and we put strict controls on the funding in place in terms of the nursing retention fund the minister of health has been working to see what we can do to make sure that the nursing retention fund is utilized Mr. Speaker but you know I think that really what the member opposite is doing once again is undermining the work of organized labor in the province that's really what the nursing nurses in the province what he wants to do Mr. Speaker is to undermine that relationship Mr. Speaker the member from Sarnia Lampton will come to her supplementary Mr. Speaker back to the premier we know that it is extremely unusual to use an irrevocable trust to fund government programs premier this morning I met with Ontario's auditor general and follow up to my letter requesting that her office immediately launch audits on all irrevocable trusts that this liberal government has set up and maintained one of the documents I turned over to the auditor general is confirmation from a ministry of finance official that over the past ten years these types of funds were set up in at least seven government ministries including the ministries of education Aboriginal affairs and agriculture and food three ministries that you know quite well premier will you confirm this morning that you have never set up or maintained an irrevocable trust question of your time in cabinet nice premier Mr. Speaker the point of the nursing retention fund was to make sure that it's about the purpose of setting up I'll have to take direct action I will premier finish me so the member from the Pian Carlton is Warren the member from Eglinton Lawrence maybe one carry on please very much Mr. Speaker in January the minister met with nursing organizations to talk about how the fund was being managed and to make sure that it could be used in the best way possible to retain nurses that's what it was about Mr. Speaker and what the reason the member opposite is asking this question as far as I can tell is that he wants to undermine the reputation of confidence of these groups his quote from April 28 Dr. Premier the most generous possible interpretation of the nursing retention fund boondoggle is that the RNA RPNAO and RNA are utterly incompetent project managers and cannot be trusted to serve as stewards of taxpayer money so Mr. Speaker thank you Mr. Speaker given some thought I'm going to ask the member from Lampton Kent Middlesex to withdraw and the member from Bruce Creone Sound to withdraw one at a time please I withdraw no question the member from Windsor to come see thank you Speaker my question this morning is to the Premier good morning Premier Speaker Premier Wynn promised that her government would be open and transparent and that her ministers would correspond on government business using official channels including ministerial email accounts despite the Premier's claims of a more open government the minister of transportation and infrastructure regularly corresponds on sensitive ministerial business with senior ministry of transportation ministry of infrastructure and infrastructure Ontario staff as well as government legal council using his liberal caucus email account why are there no emails at all from the minister's email account regarding the girders as part of the 1200 page FOI request in August the 12th last year thank you and the minister have answered the questions around the chronology of how we took action on the girders Mr. Speaker we've answered that question a number of times I will continue to answer the question the primary concern is that the safety of the people of Ontario be protected Mr. Speaker the primary concern is the one that motivated the actions as soon as the minister was aware that there were safety concerns the construction was stopped the girders were tested the girders were removed Mr. Speaker at no cost to the people of Ontario and Mr. Speaker that is how the system should work and I would just say that the member member is well aware of this I would have to speak he was part of the discussion with the minister so he knew all along Mr. Speaker and the safety concerns and the actions that we were taking thank you Premier I've seen the evidence I've seen the documents I know what's in there don't try to pull that bluff with me according to government documents there are only four email chains that included messages from the minister and the girders between June 2013 the four secondhand emails were the only correspondence the minister sent about the girders that re-received in the documents included in the FOI request is the Premier telling the people of Ontario that she believes the minister only exchanged four emails about the Herb Greg Parkway while it was going off the rails or was he purposely concealing public information about freedom of information Mr. Speaker and government business is subject to freedom of information no matter where it takes place what I can tell you is that the minister of transportation and infrastructure was having regular meetings he was having face-to-face meetings he was on top of this issue Mr. Speaker and he was making sure that he understood what the concerns are and that he was taking appropriate action that's what he was doing that's why the girders were removed that's why the safety issues were dealt with that's why Mr. Speaker the safety of the people of Ontario is preserved because of the actions that the minister took because of the meetings that he was attending Mr. Speaker the member for Mississauga and Cooksville thank you Mr. Speaker and my question is for the minister of Northern Development and Mines Speaker as we all know the Ring of Fire is a historic economic opportunity for Northern Ontario but it's bigger than that just like a rising tide raises all boats the Ring of Fire is going to raise not just the North, not just Ontario but all of Canada and that's why it's a shame that the Federal Conservatives have completed all responsibility on this file but we here the Liberal Government continues to show leadership minister I understand that you and our Northern colleagues this past Monday made a major announcement order no keep the clock going sorry keep the clock going the member from Timmons James Bay will come to order carry on I know that the minister and our Northern colleagues this past Monday made a major announcement regarding the Ring of Fire and could he please tell us more about that thank you thank you thank the member for Mississauga and indeed this past Monday I was very excited to announce alongside my colleagues the Minister of Municipal Affairs and the Minister of Natural Resources that our government is prepared to make a commitment of up to $1 billion just as past week's being the premium I also signed a historic landmark agreement with the Metawba First Nations communities that will not only ensure the First Nations and the province can work together to advance opportunities that their communities significantly benefit from the Ring of Fire Opportunity so we're very excited about it a great commitment from the province the federal government needs to come in now $1.50 if only the federal government will come to order right in my riding of Mississauga East Cooksville so Minister could you through the speaker tell us how you're driving this project forward great question thank you very much again to the members of Mississauga East Cooksville we're very proud of our government's commitment to this project and we said many times in the past we were prepared to make a very significant investment in the Ring of Fire infrastructure now that we have announced our financial commitment to the project we are indeed providing clarity and making incredible progress on this multi-generational project and in order to maximize on the Ring of Fire's potential speaker not just for the province we need the federal government to follow through and what they have said many times this is a project of national significance and national benefit the expectation we have Mr. Speaker is that they will be a partner in this project they will match the dollars that we're committed to paying and that they will have with the two major infrastructure pieces the industrial part and community access which is very important the First Nations my focus Mr. Speaker is to get the federal government on board if they're on board this is a better project it's a bigger project thank you Mr. Speaker my question is to the Minister of Agriculture and Food Premier the auditor's report on the Ministry of Citizenship Year End Slush Fund made it clear to your government that the availability of grants must be communicated to all potential recipients but we discovered that as Minister of Agriculture you've been giving away year-end grants and pet companies there was no publicly available application in fact companies were only invited to apply because of their relationship with staff in your ministry Minister do you believe that the rules of financial accountability don't apply just because you're trying to get money out before year end I think that's the end Minister of Agriculture and Food I actually would have expected that the member opposite and former Minister of Agriculture would have understood that it's very important that we work with food processors and with the agriculture community to make sure that they can make the investments that are necessary so the investments that we're making through the local food act for example I was at a bakery just on the weekend the applications had come in Mr. Speaker and those grants I think it's over 60 grants Mr. Speaker to promote local food and make sure that make sure that they have the capacity to grow their enterprise Mr. Speaker and you know what these are businesses all over the province they are businesses that have a wide range of whether it's bakeries Mr. Speaker or whether it's local farmers markets and local food strategies all of that Mr. Speaker promotes local food house food processors and food producers to do better in the province I would think he'd be supportive of that Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker you must have missed the original question about which grants I'm talking about these grants included a million dollars given to distillery even though their project didn't create a single new job over 6 million went to two companies that had almost completed their building projects this is the worst picking winners and losers competitors had no idea the grants even existed and couldn't apply they were reviewed by a panel they were reviewed by a panel whose membership isn't public and then approved by you Premier at any time during this process hand picking did it occur to you that it was wrong to do it this way Mr. Speaker so it has made oh sorry so the member opposite has made a couple of allegations if he's talking about McLaren's distillery that was a grant that was made through the local food fund Mr. Speaker if he's talking about Hiram Walker and Sons a million dollars that actually did create 10 new jobs Mr. Speaker and Hiram Walker currently supports Ontario's agriculture sector purchasing 4.2 million bushels well you know the folks who work at Hiram Walker think that's pretty good and the people who work at St. Albert Mr. Speaker, St. Albert cheese cooperative they think that's pretty good too Mr. Speaker that they will be able to create 10 new jobs the people at Thomas Canning Mr. Speaker with a 3 million dollar investment creating 40 new jobs the people who have those jobs Mr. Speaker and those companies think that it's a very good thing that they have a government that works with them and is an ongoing conversation with the sector to find those companies that need the support to help them to grow Mr. Speaker they think that's a good idea I do too Thank you Mr. Speaker my question is to the Premier Speaker in their rush to put casinos in communities that don't even want them the Liberal government dealt a blow to the horse racing families in Fort Erie and across the province the audio general report found that the Liberal government OLG privatization plan didn't have a clear business case and they failed to consult communities the report also points out that the OLG net profits are down over 600 million from previous years and that the government doesn't really know what effects cancelling the slots at race track program will have on the industry do you continue to stand by your misguided OLG privatization plan that decreased profits threatened to put casinos in municipalities that didn't want them and that almost destroyed the horse racing industry Thank you very much Mr. Speaker when I came into this job I made it clear that I was very concerned about the fate of the horse racing industry Mr. Speaker the member opposite knows that Fort Erie Live Racing Consortium have signed a three year agreement this is great news for Fort Erie so Mr. Speaker we have made it clear that investing $500 million over the next five years to put the horse racing industry on a solid and stable track to sustainability Mr. Speaker that that is what we will do and I know that the member opposite really understands that the decisions that were made about Fort Erie were the right ones that the community was very eager Mr. Speaker to make sure that these agreements were put in place Mr. Speaker and I'm very pleased that the horse racing industry has a season this year and in the mid and the long term we'll have those seasons Mr. Speaker Supplementary Mr. Speaker the horse is out of the barn when it comes to the failed liberal plan for oil and jeep and horse racing family are stuck with empty stalls on farms across the province even the audio general says the government modernization plan to shut down the horse racing industry is government finally ready to apologize to the horse people in Fort Erie and guarantee a long term future for our historic track Mr. Speaker I think what the member opposite is talking about is what I have been working on since we came into office since I came into this office Mr. Speaker I said that we needed to take a second look at what was happening with the horse racing industry and that assessor had set up a panel of Elmer Buchanan, John Snowblen John Wilkinson we took those recommendations that's what the $500 million is about Mr. Speaker I want the horse racing industry to have a bright future I want the integration of horse racing with gaming in this province Mr. Speaker and I know that that is a challenging process but I want the member opposite to know that I am on it I am working to make sure that that integration happens because that is what will ensure the long term success of the horse racing industry of gaming and horse racing you know that's the case and you know that's the way forward Thank you Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker my question is to the minister of education we know that Ontario's publicly funded education system stands is one of the best in the world the progress that we've made as a result of dedicated work and vision making hand in hand with the education community to create a world class system recently Mr. Speaker the minister engaged with my constituents and many others across the province to reach a consensus on a vision that will carry a province forward the results of these consultations was recently released in the renewed vision document can the minister please update this house on the renewed vision Thank you minister of education Thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you to the member from Ottawa South Mr. Speaker we do have a lot to be proud of when we look at our accomplishments in education over the past 10 years we've been able to raise the graduation rate from 68% 83% 71% of our children in grades 3 and 6 are meeting the provincial standard that's up from 54% 10 years ago but we know that building on that success there's more to do we need to move our system from great to excellent and that's why on April 9 we released a renewed vision for education in Ontario entitled achieving excellence a renewed vision for education in Ontario the document outlines our four renewed goals for education achieving excellence ensuring equity student well-being and enhancing public confidence as the member mentioned all over the province thank you supplementary thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you to the minister for bringing us up to speed on the renewed vision Mr. Speaker it is important for us to continue to look forward on how we can take our system from great to excellent excellence is preparing our students to be personally successful economically productive and actively engaged as global citizens this renewed vision is about the next 10 years and beyond Mr. Speaker and we have an opportunity to seize on the progress we have made and build on it to create a brighter future for our children technology has changed the classroom tremendously impacting the way students learn and teachers deliver their lessons directly impacting their job prospects as they graduate Mr. Speaker through you can the minister update us on what our government is doing support the renewed vision in creating a modern responsive system thank you minister yes thank you speaker and one of the things we heard in our consultations when we talked to business post secondary not-for-profit agencies and communities was a common scene that the impact of technology is playing in our classrooms and especially with younger digitally native students so when we looked at our vision speaker we knew that we had to look at technology the use of technology and I was pleased to announce our support for the renewed vision by investing over $150 million over three years to give learners and educators access to new technology in the classroom speaker this funding will support improved student achievement through innovative teaching and learning practices it will help us to take best practice on how to use technology effectively and spread it throughout the province these improve thank you Mr. Speaker my question is to the minister of energy minister the Ontario energy board reported tomorrow's hydro rake is because renewables coming on the grid over the next 12 months renewable energy producers including wind solar and biomass provide 10% of the total supply of electricity yet receive 31% of the subsidies that rate payers must provide in the form of global adjustment the total bill for the average customer will be nearly double the bank of Canada's core inflation cost forecast minister the people of Ontario as well as hospitals, curling clubs Royal Canadian legions to name a few cannot afford higher energy rates simply because you refuse to acknowledge your mismanagement of our electricity system why are you doing nothing to ensure that Ontarians are able to pay their energy bills and preventing future rate hikes question thank you minister of energy Mr. Speaker I do have some numbers on electricity rates in the province of Ontario as I've indicated previously Mr. Speaker Quebec hydro annually does a survey in North American cities of electricity prices and by the end of 2013 the last year that they've compiled it I'll give you the rates Mr. Speaker the rate per kilowatt hour in Ottawa 12.39 cents Toronto 12.48 cents Edmonton Mr. Speaker 13.9 Calgary Mr. Speaker 14.8 Halifax 15.45 and they often refer to US jurisdictions as having much better competitive rates than we do Mr. Speaker in Detroit it's 15.54 Boston it's 16.5 New York it's 21.75 Mr. Speaker our rates are competitive Mr. Speaker clearly the big liberal will keeps on turning or more appropriately spinning but we need to be serious here for a minute back to the minister listen on April 27 energy south Dakota wind energy center all four passengers this is very very serious four people were killed because they crashed into next terrorist wind project in south Dakota and Associated Press report notes that one of the wind turbines was in fact damaged turbines have been ordered to be taken down around Chatham airport but nothing has happened Samsung is throwing money around and wanting to change approaches to the Concordant airport yet concerns are not satisfactorily addressed calling it calling what airport is threatened by industrial wind turbines as well and Peterborough airport has stated that wind turbines are threatening the safety of pilots when minister are you going to admit that the sighting of industrial wind turbines has been not properly done thank you thank you I minister Mr. Speaker our renewable process and the Ontario power authority has a process contracts are awarded Mr. Speaker they go through a process including the RIA or the environmental assessment process there's an opportunity for all objectors to come before the ministry of the environment to review that Mr. Speaker and even after that there's an appeal and even after that there's a judicial review that's possible Mr. Speaker you know what there are huge developments that take place across this province for buildings for real estate developments Mr. Speaker they have an appeal to the Ontario municipal board they can go to judicial review the same legal rights that exist for all these other types of developments exist for wind Mr. Speaker it's fair it's reasonable Mr. Speaker they plan on castling 250 contracts Mr. Speaker and they're going to put the promise at risk to 20 billion in legal claims Mr. Speaker the member from Chatham Kent Essex will come to order new question member from London West thank you Speaker my question is to the Premier every time this Liberal Government fails to deliver for Ontarians they just make more announcements and empty promises today in London they're doing it again on transit the Premier has promised Londoners high speed rail but it's hard to take her seriously because her own ministers can't get their stories straight the transportation minister has boasted publicly about bullet trains travelling at 320 kilometers per hour but the education minister says it certainly won't be bullet trains and she honestly doesn't know what her colleague was referring to Speaker will the Premier level with the people of London and let us know which Liberal cabinet minister believes thank you very much so here's the thing what we know is that there needs to be better transportation in this province we know they're from Toronto to London Mr. Speaker so the announcement that the minister is making today is a very important one I know Mr. Speaker that the connection between Toronto and Kitchener Waterloo the high tech hub where open text bringing all those jobs Mr. Speaker and then between Kitchener Waterloo and London we know that that is a very important corridor for business in this province so we are making the investment we are going to work with the private sector we are going to work with the communities to make sure that those connections are put in place what I would like Mr. Speaker I would very much like to be able to have a conversation with the leader of the third party about what parts of the budget, what parts of transit investment what parts of infrastructure investment she might be willing to support I haven't been able to have that conversation but I'm very much looking forward to it Speaker as much as the people of the London community want to believe they will get high speed rail they just can't seem to trust this Liberal government like all Ontarians they know that empty Liberal promises don't create jobs or provide transit relief and they know that if the Premier was serious about her latest scheme she would have told us the cost and timeline Speaker it's time for the government to stop playing games with the people people's lives in London and start providing real transit relief to families and businesses when will the Premier admit she has no idea how much high speed rail will cost and has no plan to make it happen in London Mr. Speaker I'm coming from a party that has no plan on building transit I would suggest to the member opposite is that she look at the projects that are underway if she wants to look at our reliability in terms of delivery I would suggest she go to the Eglinton crosstown and look at what the boring machine is doing there Mr. Speaker look at the progress look at the progress on the Union Pearson rail line Mr. Speaker that she look at the York University that she go to Ottawa Mr. Speaker and look at the work that is being done there because there is building happening in this province because of our commitments to transit we will follow through they don't have a plan and we will make those trains run New question the member from Scarborough South West Thank you Mr. Speaker I would like to thank the community safety and correctional services residents of my community of Scarborough South West including myself are glad to know that our government is committed to protecting our pets and animals from abuse and neglect our government created the strongest animal welfare legislation in all of Canada that increased the SPCA's agents ability to inspect and enforce the law the government also strengthened penalties including jail lifetime ownership ban for animal cruelty but Speaker some of my constituents are concerned that cases of animal cruelty may be going unreported Speaker can the minister tell us more of what is the government is doing to make sure our pets and animals are being protected Thank you Thank you very much Speaker and as proud owner of a dog named Bella makes a husky and German Shepherd she'll be happy that she's mentioned and hence her now I thank the member from Scarborough South West for asking a very important question and I want to thank my predecessor the minister of Attorney General for all her hard work on this very important file Speaker just last year our government announced $5.5 million in annual funding to the OSPCA to enhance their abilities to enforce the OSPCA Act this funding Speaker will help establish a free toll free 24-7 hotline and centralize this service to report animal cruelty it will create a team of especially trained investigators whose responsibilities will include cracking down on puppy and kitten mills also Speaker will deliver specialized livestock training for investigators in the agriculture sector and conduct regular inspections of zoos and aquariums and maintain a zoo registry to support twice yearly inspections Thank you Thank you for that answer Minister my family owns three abandoned cats Buffy or buffalinos I call him Misha and Jack there's a lot of animal lovers in Ontario and we know that most people take good care of their animals however there are troubling instances of abuse and neglect that cannot be tolerated so when someone feels that an animal is in distress it's important for those people to call the OSPCA through the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services I think the 24 center call center will be an important tool for the OSPCA agents as it will enable them to respond to situations of animal abuse enter and neglect in a reasonable time frame Speaker can we expect for the 24 center call center Minister Minister this is a very important issue protecting our animals and preventing cruelty to animals is very important to all Ontario and I'm really proud that the OSPCA made this very important announcement last Monday by launching the 24 seven call center we should be very proud of the fact that we are the first government to provide the support necessary to help launch such an important initiative now there is a free toll free 24 hour phone number available to report suspected animal cruelty if you believe that animal is in distress call 310 SPCA it's 310 SPCA any time of the day any day of the year speaker this is just another example of the effectiveness of investigators to animal welfare complaints for urban, rural and northern communities good question remember from Barry thank you speaker speaker my question today is to the premier premier there's a gap in the child welfare system that leaves 16 and 17 year old children who find themselves in need for the first time without access to services this systemic flaw creates street kids who have increased rates of hospitalizations incarceration and failing in school these forgotten children under 18 are having their human rights violated under your watch I'm surprised actually you haven't been sued yet bill 88 the youth right to care bill closes this service gap and protects our youth as the self-proclaimed social justice premier explain to us why you're stalling through reading of this bill premier minister of children youth services the minister of children youth services thank you we respect to our youth and respect to what we're doing to protect our youth and with respect to bill 88 yes bill 88 has gone through standing committee and yes we've we've had that discussion but let me just say very clearly we've had this discussion many times in terms of what this government is doing in terms of their commitment to our children in terms of our commitment to vulnerable youth in our community in terms of listening to our youth the youth leaving care recommendations that came forward and everything that we're doing to ensure that they can transition into adulthood and have all the same opportunities that every child has across the province Mr. Speaker so in fact yes we are committed to our youth and we will continue to do what we need to do to ensure all our youth are protected across the province thank you premier to respect this question is for you because you have the power to make this change this bill came directly from the children in care these came from the children you think care hearings earlier two years ago you're now responsible for the only jurisdiction that developed world that neglects these children I can only draw the conclusion premier that you don't care these kids end up getting picked up by high cost reactionary services eventually jail hospital rehab services or even worse if they're lucky they end up in adult welfare we need to ensure that every child under 18 full stop has access to child welfare system and the best opportunity to succeed in the future stop banking on a possible election to save you from acting as your social justice premier do the right thing right now right now tell us when these youth will become a priority for you not for your minister not for your house leader minister thank you Mr. Speaker let's have this discussion it's never too late to have somebody leave finish please thank you and Mr. Speaker in terms of the bill coming forward we know how that works in terms of government house leaders having the discussion in terms of bills coming forward into this house but let me just talk about some of the stuff that we have done on behalf of those recommendations that came out of that report and I think everyone knows what we have done we've raised monthly financial support for our children we're developing mentorship opportunities we have new youth that transition workers helping our youth we have absolutely been listening to our youth to the recommendations for that we have brought forward we will continue to do so and we will continue to do what we need to do to protect all our youth thank you the the member for york soon call on a point of order yes thank you very much Mr. Speaker and my point of order is that I have an overdue order paper question and it's to the ministry of the environment with the minister of the environment please give the status of the cleanup order and other orders to comply your ministry has issued to the thing smelter and Georgina in the writing of york soon call thank you it is my understanding that indeed that is overdue and I would defer to the minister of the environment Mr. Speaker at the request of one of my favorite members particularly will be happy to comply at the very earliest opportunity while this process is going on I would love members to take a break on the heckling including those that want to do my job the member from north lakes brock on a point of order Mr. Speaker and I have a point of order to the premier do you approve of one of your ministers calling one of the members of this legislature or windbag it's not a point of order this there are no deferred votes this house stands recessed until 3pm this afternoon