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November 24, 2011

40th Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcripts 2011-Nov-24 (PDF)

L004 - Thu 24 Nov 2011 / Jeu 24 nov 2011

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Thursday 24 November 2011 Jeudi 24 novembre 2011

WITHDRAWAL OF BILL 3

ORDERS OF THE DAY

THRONE SPEECH DEBATE

WEARING OF RIBBONS

INTRODUCTION OF VISITORS

LEGISLATIVE PAGES

ORAL QUESTIONS

GOVERNMENT SPENDING

GOVERNMENT SPENDING

GOVERNMENT SPENDING

TAXATION

GOVERNMENT SPENDING

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

AND FISCAL REVIEW

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

AND FISCAL REVIEW

TAXATION

POWER PLANT

RED TAPE REDUCTION

CHILDREN’S HEALTH SERVICES

EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS

PUBLIC TRANSIT

ESTIMATES

INTRODUCTION OF VISITORS

MEMBERS’ STATEMENTS

BRENT MCKAGUE /

TAMMY FISCHER

SECOND CHANCE PET NETWORK

ST. JOHN’S REHAB HOSPITAL

AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

EVENTS IN TIBET

DIABETES AWARENESS MONTH

PUBLIC TRANSIT

EDUCATION FUNDING

RM AUTO RESTORATION

AND RM CLASSIC CARS

COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP

INTRODUCTION OF BILLS

YORK REGION TRANSIT LABOUR

DISPUTES RESOLUTION ACT, 2011 /

LOI DE 2011 SUR LE RÈGLEMENT

DES CONFLITS DE TRAVAIL

AU SEIN DES SERVICES

DE TRANSPORT EN COMMUN

DE LA RÉGION DE YORK

ONTARIO ONE CALL ACT, 2011 /

LOI DE 2011 SUR ONTARIO ONE CALL

MOTIONS

PRIVATE MEMBERS’

PUBLIC BUSINESS

STATEMENTS BY THE MINISTRY

AND RESPONSES

FRENCH-LANGUAGE SERVICES

WOMAN ABUSE PREVENTION MONTH /

MOIS DE LA PRÉVENTION

DE LA VIOLENCE FAITE AUX FEMMES

PETITIONS

WIND TURBINES

LYME DISEASE

DIAGNOSTIC SERVICES

PRIVATE MEMBERS’

PUBLIC BUSINESS

HOSPITALS

YORK REGION TRANSIT LABOUR

DISPUTES RESOLUTION ACT, 2011 /

LOI DE 2011 SUR LE RÈGLEMENT

DES CONFLITS DE TRAVAIL

AU SEIN DES SERVICES DE TRANSPORT

EN COMMUN DE LA RÉGION DE YORK

RETAIL SALES TAX AMENDMENT ACT

(HST REBATE FOR HOME

HEATING), 2011 /

LOI DE 2011 MODIFIANT LA LOI

SUR LA TAXE DE VENTE AU DÉTAIL

(REMBOURSEMENT DE LA TVH

POUR LE CHAUFFAGE DOMESTIQUE)

HOSPITALS

YORK REGION TRANSIT LABOUR

DISPUTES RESOLUTION ACT, 2011 /

LOI DE 2011 SUR LE RÈGLEMENT

DES CONFLITS DE TRAVAIL

AU SEIN DES SERVICES

DE TRANSPORT EN COMMUN

DE LA RÉGION DE YORK

RETAIL SALES TAX AMENDMENT ACT

(HST REBATE FOR HOME

HEATING), 2011 /

LOI DE 2011 MODIFIANT LA LOI

SUR LA TAXE DE VENTE AU DÉTAIL

(REMBOURSEMENT DE LA TVH

POUR LE CHAUFFAGE DOMESTIQUE)

HOSPITALS

YORK REGION TRANSIT LABOUR

DISPUTES RESOLUTION ACT, 2011 /

LOI DE 2011 SUR LE RÈGLEMENT

DES CONFLITS DE TRAVAIL

AU SEIN DES SERVICES

DE TRANSPORT EN COMMUN

DE LA RÉGION DE YORK

RETAIL SALES TAX AMENDMENT ACT

(HST REBATE FOR HOME

HEATING), 2011 /

LOI DE 2011 MODIFIANT LA LOI

SUR LA TAXE DE VENTE AU DÉTAIL

(REMBOURSEMENT DE LA TVH

POUR LE CHAUFFAGE DOMESTIQUE)

The House met at 0900.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Please pray with me.

Prayers.

WITHDRAWAL OF BILL 3

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Yesterday, Mr. Shurman introduced Bill 3,

An Act to provide for the resolution of labour disputes involving companies that provide public transit services to The Regional Municipality of York. I have had the opportunity to review the bill and have observed that it has been put forward with two co-sponsors, Mr. Klees and Ms. Munro.

Standing order 69 provides for the co-sponsorship of private members’ public bills, but states that such bills may be co-sponsored by up to one member from each of the recognized parties and by an independent member. Because there is no provision for co-sponsors of a private member’s public bill to be members of the same recognized party, I must therefore find the bill to be out of order and have directed that it be removed from the orders and notices paper.

ORDERS OF THE DAY

THRONE SPEECH DEBATE

Resuming the debate adjourned on November 23, 2011, on the amendment to the motion for an address in reply to the speech of His Honour the Lieutenant Governor at the opening of the session.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The leader of the third party.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Thank you, Speaker. I’m very proud to stand today on behalf of New Democrats to respond to the throne speech of this minority Parliament.

I think it’s pretty clear that New Democrats will not be defeating the government on this speech. We think that the people gave us an actual mandate to work together. That’s the mandate that the people of this province gave all of us on October 6. Therefore, what we plan to do is to get down to work. We plan to get down to work.

I think it’s interesting that the government made some particular comments in that throne speech. They used words like they were prepared to work together: They were going to be “working together.” They were going to be listening. These are commitments that were made in that throne speech just the other day. In the coming months, what New Democrats are going to do is hold them to those commitments of listening and working together. We’re going to see if those commitments are actual commitments or just simply some nice words they decided to throw into the throne speech. I’ve got to say that I’m hoping it’s the former, because the people of this province want change.

I think that if one thing is clear from the result of the election it’s that the people want change. They don’t want the same old status quo. They’re tired of the same politics as usual, as has been served up in this place year after year after year. We just finished an election campaign where candidates actually refused to debate. Instead, they decided to hide behind their negative attack ads.

You know, if we have a Legislature where ministers refuse to listen, and hide behind their talking points, then the people who sent us here, the people who actually make this province work, are going to get lost in the shuffle. What we need to do is make sure all of us are listening and make sure all of us are working together, and that we’re not hiding behind things like talking points and other structures to prevent us from responding to the people who put us here to get to work. What we need to do—every single one of us in this chamber, in this new minority Parliament—is put the focus back on the people of Ontario.

I really think there’s only one way to do that, Speaker. The way you put the focus back on the people of Ontario is to actually make the Legislature work. I’m not saying that I think it’s going to be easy, because I’m not naive. But I do believe that by focusing on real and achievable change, we can get real results for Ontarians.

You know, our caucus has already started. We want to make life more affordable. It’s something I heard, not only all the way through the campaign in every corner of the province, but for months and months—in fact, years—before the campaign started. People are feeling the squeeze. Life is getting very, very tough. They don’t know where to turn to get a bit of a break.

What we decided as New Democrats, as part of what we needed to do in our election campaign, was respond to exactly the kinds of concerns that the people of Ontario told us they had. One of the things we said we wanted to do, and one of the things we are putting forward as one of our first initiatives, is something to make life more affordable for everyday people, because that’s one of the top issues on their minds. So Mike Mantha, our new MPP for Algoma–Manitoulin, will be calling for second reading, this very afternoon, a bill to take the HST off home heating costs.

This bill, to some, may seem a small step. But in fact it’s an important step, because it says that we here in this Legislature understand that families are hurting, we understand that we need to make life more affordable for everyday families and we’re prepared to protect them from an unfair tax that never should have been applied to daily essentials like home heating in the first place.

This initiative that the member for Algoma–Manitoulin has brought forward is a simple idea, it’s an achievable idea and it’s something that will do exactly what the people asked us to do, which is to make their lives more affordable. More than anything else, it does what we need to be doing every single day in this Legislature, because it puts people first.

Why does it do that? Because people need help. People have seen very, very hard times in recent years. And I’m not the only one that knows that; I know that every single person in this chamber today knows that. People need help. They’ve had a very, very tough time. Between September 2008 and May 2009—most of you probably know this—over 250,000 Ontarians lost their jobs—250,000. And that’s a trend that has not stopped: We saw just in October another 75,000 full-time jobs lost in Ontario.

But during that time-frame when the recession hit, real GDP plummeted by three percentage points. The unemployment rate in centres like Windsor and Oshawa grew into the double digits, and Toronto wasn’t all that far behind.

The recovery that we’ve seen since those times has been uneven; it’s been unreliable and uncertain. Although many people are still forecasting some economic growth in the next year, these days nobody’s betting their house on it. People are very concerned. Economists are very concerned.

It’s been a rough ride for everybody for quite some time, but middle-income earners, middle-income households that were already feeling the squeeze are now saying that they’re actually falling behind. Recent surveys have found that half of Canadians have experienced a deterioration in their financial situation over the last year; 60% of families are living paycheque to paycheque. Ontario’s consumer confidence index remains the lowest—rock bottom—of all the provinces in this country. Ontarians have the highest job anxiety of anyone else in Canada. One out of every four people are saying that they or someone in their household is worried about losing their job.

Now, I would put it to every member in this chamber and to you, Speaker, that we cannot succeed as a province—this province will not succeed—if every day people continue to feel like they’re falling behind.

Interruption.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: This is a rookie mistake. It’ll probably never happen again, right?

Mr. Gilles Bisson: That’s for sure. He just lost it.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Well, we learn by our mistakes, that’s definitely sure. Maybe the government will have learned by its mistakes of the past eight years.

Anyway, people who are worried about making ends meet are not going to do the kinds of things that help our economy. People who are worried about making ends meet are not going to go out and buy a new home. They’re not going to make those big kinds of capital purchases if they’re really concerned about what the very near future brings. People who think things are not going to get better don’t see in their horizon the opportunity for a new and better job are not going to spend the time upgrading their skills, because there’s nothing there for them at the end of that process.

There’s a growing concern from economists that the household debt and the economic insecurity that we’re facing is becoming a drag on our economy. If our economy is actually going to work, families need to be looking towards the future with some confidence, with some assurance that things are going to get better.

How do we confront this kind of challenge? How do we confront this kind of scenario? I think we need to be innovative in our thinking. I think we have to stop putting blind faith in ideology and some of the tired ideas of the past. We need to recognize absolutely that the private sector will create jobs, but also that government has a very key role to play, and we need to put the people of this province and their economic well-being at the heart of all of our plans. If the people of Ontario are financially secure, then the economy of Ontario and of the entire country will be secure as well.

I think New Democrats realize better than most that if we’re going to confront those challenges that we face, the challenges ahead, we can’t do so under a massive debt burden. When we put our platform together, we were very careful about ensuring that we were tackling that debt burden, as the other two parties did in their platforms as well.

Some of you may be surprised to hear this, but economists have actually studied the federal Department of Finance’s fiscal tables, and they have found that New Democratic governments have run fewer deficit budgets than any other political party in government. This is a fact that has often gone unnoticed, but it is the absolute truth. And not only have New Democrats run fewer deficit budgets, but, moreover, they have run smaller deficits as a share of GDP when they have had to run deficit budgets. New Democrats have achieved this success by taking a balanced approach.

Interjection.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: One of the members across the way is referring to the federal Liberal leader when he used to be the head of a government here in Ontario as an example. I have to say that one bad apple won’t ruin the bushel when it comes to our record. In fact, that record is part of an overall scenario that shows very clearly that New Democrats have done a much better job than Liberals, a much better job than Conservatives, a much better job than even the Socreds when you put them into the mix.

The bottom line is that New Democrats have run, historically, across Canada, fewer deficit budgets, and when we have run them, they have been lower in terms of the ratio of deficit to GDP. If you don’t like the facts, go talk to the finance folks at the federal government. They’re the ones who put the facts together. The facts speak for themselves.

But I want to get back to the point: that the way this is achieved with New Democratic governments is with a balanced approach. When I say “a balanced approach,” what do I mean by that? I mean that you have to look carefully at the province’s revenues and expenditures. The deficit that we’re currently running was absolutely essential. We supported a lot of the measures that led to that deficit. It was essential to create jobs and ensure that our economy was able to stay on track.

But now we need a long-term, responsible plan to get back into balance, one that doesn’t put an already shaky economic recovery at greater risk. We have to be very careful. It’s a very, very delicate process. We also don’t want to have the kinds of solutions that put more pressure on households who are already feeling the squeeze, households who are already quite worried about the future.

Now, the Premier has said that he actually agrees with some of these principles. He says he’s not going to proceed with across-the-board cuts. He says he’s not going to increase the privatization of our health care system. I was happy to hear those remarks from the Premier. I was quite happy to hear that. But I have to say, having been here for a couple of years now, I’m also quite skeptical. Ontario families have heard these kinds of promises before, and these kinds of promises, unfortunately, have often been followed by dramatic across-the-board cuts. So, notwithstanding what is being said, we turn around and the exact opposite happens.

Ontario can get its books back into balance, Speaker, but not without balance.

In the last campaign, I committed to an expenditure management review, and if I was the Premier, I would be making sure that that was going to happen. We have to look critically at government spending and find those savings. But I don’t think that’s enough. I believe that we need to have an honest look at everything if we’re going to balance the books of the province; if we’re going to do that, most importantly, without breaking the backs of the people who make the province work.

I think we need to get past some of the same old ideas that get recycled around this place. Since the recession, whether it’s Stephen Harper in Ottawa or Dalton McGuinty right here in Ontario, the solution seems to be the same: another round of corporate tax giveaways. That’s the solution that this government has brought. That’s the solution that the federal government under Mr. Harper has brought. In order to pay for those corporate tax cuts, they cut services to people. That’s the solution of the Liberals; that’s the solution of the Conservatives federally.

In the next two years the government here in Ontario plans to spend $600 million in corporate tax cuts—$600 million in corporate tax cuts—and, a few years later, over a billion dollars a year on a scheme that this government put together with Stephen Harper to let Ontario’s biggest corporations write off taxes on expenses like entertainment.

Now, that’s not only a misplaced priority, in my humble opinion. The government is at the same time spending as much as a billion dollars to cancel private power deals—private power deals that they themselves put in place. How does that make any sense? Salaries for public sector CEOs have been climbing by as much as six figures a year in the province of Ontario. Meanwhile, we’re being told that there’s a crisis in Ontario’s budget and people are going to have to tighten their belts. Obviously, only some people are going to have to tighten their belts. Other people are going to have an easy ride here.

I just don’t get it. There’s this definition that is talked about by everyone from Dr. Einstein to Dr. Phil, and it goes like this: The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over again and actually expecting to get a different result. I would say corporate tax cuts, in the way this government and the federal government are implementing them year over year over year and which we get nothing for, are definitely an example of insanity.

You know, these same old tired solutions that we have been trying for over a decade—for a couple of decades now—are going to produce the exact same results. Look where they’ve gotten us. Look where this direction has gotten us. It’s gotten us nowhere. We now have one of the lowest corporate tax rates in the world and we have record household debt, we have record highs of unemployment and we have people who are falling behind in every corner of this province.

Lowering the corporate tax rate another point or giving Ontario’s biggest corporations a tax write-off when they entertain at the SkyDome will not create jobs, and it won’t help the families that are facing tough times here in Ontario. But on the other hand, closing another emergency room, closing another child care centre or hiking transit fares is just adding another burden to families that are already feeling the squeeze.

You know, I believe we actually need to understand the challenges that we’re facing and be more innovative about how we deal with them. We all know that productivity growth is lagging in the province of Ontario. The Premier actually recently expressed a little bit of confusion about Ontario’s dismal progress in that regard. I don’t really think it’s all that much of a mystery: We need far better, more targeted financial incentives for business capital investment. Across-the-board cuts are not cutting it. We’ve now had two successive governments that have invested in across-the-board corporate tax cuts: the Liberals in the last two terms and the Conservatives before them.

Now, as I made very clear during the campaign, I don’t think we need more of that. If Ontario’s business is going to succeed, Ontario’s government needs to focus their resources where they can do the most good. If the government is going to be investing $2 billion a year, I want to make sure every penny of that $2 billion is used as effectively as possible. And I don’t think further corporate tax cuts are giving us effective productivity bang for our buck. We are not seeing that reinvestment. We are not seeing it at all. In fact, what we’re seeing is the opposite.

We’re seeing those tax cuts going into cash reserves. That’s what’s growing: cash reserves for corporations. Not investments in capital, equipment, machinery—that’s not happening.

I do think, however, that there are some other ways of working with business to create the kind of response, the kind of results, that we want to see. I think we can actually do different things to stimulate investment and to create jobs.

During the campaign I put a couple of proposals forward: an investment tax credit to specifically help those companies that were ready to increase productivity and create jobs in Ontario. Investment tax credits are much more promising as a way to stimulate critical new investments, because they provide increased cash flow that is directly targeted to investment.

We also talked about a training tax credit in the campaign that actually rewards the employers who are hiring people and who are investing in training. If we want to create prosperity, if we want to ensure that we have a strong economic future, we need to have the people who have the skills to perform the value-added jobs of the future.

And giving some recognition to those employers who actually do that training on the job as opposed to giving across-the-board tax cuts, which actually rewards everybody including those employers who simply poach trained workers off of other employers that actually do the training—we think a targeted approach that rewards those companies that are doing the training is a far, far better way to go. So a tax credit that rewards training.

The other one that we talked about in the campaign, of course, was a tax credit that actually rewards job creation, because, let’s face it, we have a crisis in jobs in terms of what’s happening here in the province. We need to create more jobs; across-the-board tax cuts don’t do that. If you give a company an across-the-board tax cut, they can do anything they want with that tax cut. They could create a job. They don’t have to create a job. They could send all their jobs down south like Navistar did. Right, member for Essex? Very close to his home town.

So a tax credit that rewards job creation is an idea that actually incents the companies to create more jobs. It creates more employment. Similar measures are currently being debated in the United States, and the Economic Policy Institute in the US has estimated that a tax break for new hires would lead companies to add 2.8 million more workers this year than they would have without that kind of break. Now, granted it’s a bigger economy, more people, but 2.8 million new jobs is not insubstantial. That’s a policy that actually works. It’s the sort of measure that we need here in Ontario if we are going to create jobs and help households.

There was one other thing that we talked about during the campaign that we thought was an important way to help create jobs and get the economy moving a little bit, and that was a reduction in the small business tax rate. It’s interesting, some of you may not be aware of this, but New Democrat governments in Manitoba have actually entirely eliminated taxes on small business because they recognize that small business helps drive the economy.

Now, this proposal that we brought forward at the very, very beginning of the campaign was so popular that Dalton McGuinty was making the same commitment himself within a couple of weeks. So the government’s free to steal our ideas. We think it’s great if they steal our ideas. We hope they steal more of our ideas. Actually, we want them to steal all of our ideas, because I think we have the right ideas. We have different ideas than they do. We’ve seen how their ideas work—they don’t. We want to see them steal more of our ideas. We look forward to putting forward all kinds of ideas and we look forward to putting forward legislation.

The measures that I’m laying out are ones that would provide much-needed stimulus where it is needed, and that’s the point. But they would also be much more cost-effective for a government that needs to be watching every single penny. I say that because the dollars that we are counting in the context of our fiscal plans for the future are ones that are going to be very precious, and we’re going to need to make sure that we’re using those dollars very carefully as we focus—or as we should be focusing—on the priorities of Ontario families.

The quality of our health care system is always at the top of the list, and I certainly heard from a lot of people all through the campaign about their concern about the lack of the kind of health care that people need being available for them when they need it. That’s shameful when everyone knows it’s the top priority and this government has allowed that top priority to erode in terms of people’s confidence of their health care system.

Fifty years ago, Tommy Douglas and the pioneers of medicare dreamed of a medical system where people didn’t just receive treatment when they fell ill, but they received support so that they didn’t fall ill in the first place. Douglas saw this as the very best way to make publicly provided health care services truly sustainable. And I agree. We have to get into that other way of doing things, that other focus. Our current health care model ships people into expensive hospital care even when everyone agrees that that’s not necessarily where they should be.

I’m going to cite a particular example. There are currently 4,558 patients in Ontario hospitals. Most of those patients are seniors, taking up 16% of hospital beds, even though they no longer require hospital care. Providing care for these patients costs our health care system $450 a day in hospital, compared to as little as $50 a day with home care services or about $130 to $150 a day in a nursing home.

When you speak to seniors, they say very clearly—and their friends and family members say very clearly—that they are not happy when they’re forced to live in hospitals. They’ll tell you they would much prefer living at home with supports or in a decent long-term-care facility. That’s where they would prefer to be.

I’ve had the opportunity to speak with seniors myself. I’ve talked to them as they wait and their family members wait for them to get a bed in long-term care. I have to say, it is a heartbreaking and frustrating experience.

It makes no policy sense whatsoever that this continues to happen. There’s been a crisis in alternative-level-of-care beds for years and years on end. We see emergency wards lined up—in London particularly but in so many other communities—ambulance after ambulance after ambulance that can’t get their patients offloaded into the hospital because the hospital beds are all full because there isn’t enough long-term care and there isn’t enough home care to get the patients out and getting the care that they need in a much more humane way. So you’re getting a problem in the emergency wards. It’s happening everywhere.

It’s been happening for years and years and years under this government’s watch, and it’s still happening to this day.

It is unacceptable that we still have this crisis, that we still have this problem, and there has been virtually nothing done about it, notwithstanding the promises that have been made. As a matter of fact, in a number of communities, hundreds of beds have been promised, years and years have gone by, and those beds have not materialized. I think of the fiasco at Grace hospital in Windsor as a prime example. Unfortunately, it’s only one example of many where beds were promised and never materialized. The state of the hospital system in that community is in crisis, just like it is in London and so many other places in this province.

It makes no policy sense whatsoever. That’s why in the last campaign we made a real commitment to expanding home care services and investing in long-term-care beds. It was also part of our rationale for our proposals for expanding family health care clinics and birthing centres for new mothers.

As Tommy Douglas envisioned back in those days when he set out the path towards a sustainable medicare system, one of the things that was really clear is that we have to give people the supports they need before they get sick, and things like family health care centres and birthing centres for moms are the kinds of things that lead us toward that vision. By providing modest supports for people that help them stay healthy, we can contain costs and enhance our health care system.

But to do that we have to think and plan very, very carefully—very, very carefully. You know, when I think about the delays and disasters that occurred in the implementation of much-needed systems of electronic health records in this province, I shake my head. It is an example of what not to do. It wasn’t well thought out, it wasn’t well planned and it cost a billion dollars or more in money that we couldn’t recoup. It’s shameful that that took place.

We now have a system of local health integration networks that I also think are problematic. We need to have some reform in those systems. We said in our campaign that we have to scrap those LHINs and replace them with truly accountable, truly transparent and truly responsive models. It’s unfortunate that once again, in its rush to get something out the door, the government sent it out half-baked and did a terrible job of implementing that model. Now we have so many communities that are angry with the LHINs and that are distrustful of the decisions that are being made there.

It’s really sad, because it wasn’t well thought out and it wasn’t well planned. As a result, the LHINs have been a disaster in many, many communities. There may be one exception—maybe two—but in most communities they have been an utter failure, not for any reason except that the government shoved it out the door and didn’t plan well and didn’t think well. Now we have a great disappointment when it comes to the way the local health integration networks were put together.

I think that there’s also another important principle—whether it’s in health care or in other areas—that we need to commit to: That is the fact that public ownership and public accountability are the best ways to contain costs. If you’re just spending all kinds of extra money on making sure that, particularly in health care, those private operators are lining their pockets, then I think you’re not doing a good service to the people of Ontario. I think we need to be very, very careful about how we move forward, whether it’s in long-term care or home care.

We’ve watched this government and the one before it allow our home care system to become virtually completely privatized. That was a proactive decision that was taken by both these governments. I have a real concern that that was a big mistake, and now we’re suffering the results of that.

As I said at the beginning of my speech, later today the member for Algoma–Manitoulin is going to be bringing forward for second reading his private member’s bill on the HST—particularly on getting the HST off home heating. You know, the government is proposing other measures in this regard. They’re talking about other things they want to do to make life more affordable. We’re going to look at those measures. We’re going to look at those measures that the government is going to bring forward. We’re going to talk about them. We’re going to perhaps suggest changes and amendments to them.

But this afternoon there is an opportunity for every single member in this Legislature to think carefully about what is on top of everyone’s mind right now.

On top of everyone’s mind, as the temperatures plummet and the furnaces go up, is how are they going to get through the winter months and still make ends meet with the cost of energy going up and the HST adding insult to injury on those home heating bills? I would invite the members of all parties to seriously consider, in private members’ business, supporting the bill being brought forward by the member for Algoma–Manitoulin.

I say that because we have to look at what the priorities of this minority Parliament need to be. I don’t think that another useless corporate tax giveaway that doesn’t do a darned thing in terms of job creation—it simply allows these corporations to shovel more money into their cash reserves—is the right way to go right now. Maybe those guys need to take a bit of the pain. Maybe those guys need to actually just stay where they are. I’m not even saying put it back up to 14 at this point. Hit a pause button on those plans to give more and more and more breaks to corporations while families suffer and are unable to pay their bills. It’s just a matter of priority.

I think the priority right now for the people of Ontario needs to be putting them at the top of the list for a change, putting their affordability—their ability to pay their bills, their ability to make ends meet day in and day out—at the top of the list.

I would urge MPPs to seriously consider what the people in their ridings are thinking about, what the people in their ridings are concerned about, and how, in this first week here in the Legislature, we can actually show them that we were listening to what they had to say during the election campaign, we were paying attention to the concerns they brought to the table. Because they didn’t just bring them to my table; I’m sure they brought them to all of your tables as well. I’m hopeful that private members’ business will be the opportunity for all of the members in this minority Parliament to actually work together and make a change for the people of Ontario.

I’m going to wrap up my remarks, notwithstanding some of the interesting comments that are coming from the other side.

Mr. Rosario Marchese: The blah, blah, blah.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Yes, exactly, the blah, blah, blah—to try to just refocus where I went in terms of my remarks.

We set out the fact that we are not going to make the government fall on the matter of the throne speech. We think there were a couple of words that we could pick out, words that were referencing things like working together, referencing things like listening, which would be wonderful changes in here. In fact, a little bit of the—the member for Trinity–Spadina calls it the “blah, blah, blah.” You don’t listen when you’re blah, blah, blahing, I think is part of the point. But we’re certainly hoping that those words actually had some meaning to them and they weren’t simply put in to the throne speech as a bit of sugar coating and nice words for us to hang on to.

So we do intend to hold the government to their commitment, as they stated it in the throne speech, to work together, to listen to what other parties have to bring to the table, because I think in the response that the people gave us on October 6, they have to know very clearly that they weren’t given all of the power in this place; they were given some marching orders that said it’s time for you to get off your high horse and start dealing with other parties and not have the arrogance of a majority government anymore but have the humility of a minority government. I’d like to see some of that coming from the other side of this chamber, to be honest with you, Speaker.

I say that not because it’s something that only I want to see. I heard it on the doorsteps; I heard it in every community during the leader’s tour of this campaign. People are tired of the arrogance and, frankly, they’re tired of the partisanship and they’re tired of the politics as usual, because when that happens, they don’t see themselves being reflected in here. They see the fights, they see the brinkmanship, they see the anger, they see the noise, they see all kinds of shenanigans, but what they also see is that, in all of that mess, the regular folks of Ontario have been forgotten.

They’ve been set aside for some other game that’s being played that doesn’t have their interests at the heart.

I think that’s why they voted for change. That’s why they voted for something different this time around. They said no to brinkmanship; they said no to nastiness; they said no to empty rhetoric, no to scoring political points and insulting each other just for the sake of doing it.

The people of this province are facing very serious challenges, very real challenges. I truly believe, as I said earlier, that if the people are doing better, then we’re all going to do better. If the people of this province are feeling secure and strong about the future, then this province has a strong and secure future. The crisis in household debt and household finances is definitely hurting our economy. We need to shore folks up.

Now, we are in the process of dealing with balancing our budget over the next couple of years, and I think we have to make sure that we keep priorities in order, that it can’t just be about giving the big corporations a break and forgetting about the everyday families. That well-worn path is one that isn’t working. We need to change the focus.

We’ve heard those talks before, as I mentioned, those comments about painless cuts and balancing budgets with cuts that are not going to hurt. We’ve heard it from everyone from Mike Harris to Paul Martin, quite frankly. Every time we hear those words, we turn around and see the exact opposite. We see very, very painful cuts. We see families suffering as a result of those cuts. So I think that we need to rebalance our priorities. As I said in the speech, we need to make sure that we balance the budget, we balance the books, but that we do that in a very balanced way.

I don’t think across-the-board corporate tax cuts in this context is balanced. I don’t think allowing CEO salaries at the highest levels in our public systems to continue to grow by six figures every single year is a balanced approach; I don’t think that’s a balanced way to do things. I don’t think willy-nilly cancelling of power plants and not telling the public exactly how much it’s going to cost us is a balanced way of doing things. I think what we need to do is focus on the affordability of everyday life for families.

We need to make sure that we’re putting them front and centre in our exercise of balancing the budget. I think we start today, this afternoon, by getting the HST off of home heating.

As I said, Speaker, we need to look seriously, and we are committed. New Democrats are committed to working hard here. We’re rolling up our sleeves, and we’re going to look seriously at all of the proposals that the government brings forward. We’re hoping that we are going to get the same respect from them: that they will look seriously at all of the things we bring forward regardless of in which context that is. There are many opportunities in this place, as we all know, to have those kinds of conversations, and we look forward to it. We’re going to do our job. We expect and I think the people of Ontario expect that all 107 of us are going to do our jobs here.

What we want to see very clearly is some broad-based measures to make life more affordable for everyday Ontarians. We also want to see a focus on health care. We want to see a focus that says it’s not the most important thing to make sure that the CEO gets his raise at the hospital every year. The only person that should be waiting in a hospital is the CEO waiting for his raise, not the hundreds of people waiting in the emergency room for decent care.

Finally, Speaker, we want to make sure that we’re focusing on jobs. We want to make sure that as we deal with the fiscal pressures that this province is facing and the job that Ontarians have given us over the next little while, we want to focus on jobs. We don’t want to have massive corporate tax cuts that aren’t working. We want to have focused plans; focused, targeted ways of getting people back to work; focused, targeted ways of getting people trained; focused, targeted ways of encouraging investment.

That’s why we believe the things that have been successful in other jurisdictions will be successful here in Ontario as well, and that is a tax credit system for those very goals: job creation, investment and training. New Democrats want to see some of that happening in the next little while as well.

I’m going to end by saying that there are other things that we brought to the table in the campaign. We think we can create more jobs through a buy-Ontario policy. We should be using our own tax dollars, the money that we ask people to pay to help run our province, to actually put those same people back to work. We think a buy-Ontario policy is a smart job-creation policy and would ask that the government consider it in the next little while. We think it’s really important to see that our natural resources, which we’re pulling out of the ground all across the north, are actually being processed in Ontario, putting northerners back to work.

These are real initiatives, Speaker, that need to be tried because the same old way, the same old path, the same old plans, processes and ideas that have been recycled on that side of the bench—many of which they got from the Conservative side of the bench—aren’t working and haven’t worked for Ontarians. Ontarians told us that loudly and clearly during the campaign: Things are not working for them. What we need to do is work together—find ways of working together—to make it work for them for a change and to put people at the front of the priority list.

With that, I end my remarks, and I thank the members for paying such rapt attention, including the member for St. Catharines.

I now move the adjournment of the debate. Not yet? Thank you.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Ted Arnott): Further debate?

I recognize the government House leader.

Hon. John Milloy: I move adjournment of the debate, Mr. Speaker.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Ted Arnott): Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.

Debate adjourned.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Ted Arnott): Any further business?

Hon. John Milloy: No further business, Mr. Speaker.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Ted Arnott): That being the case, this House is in recess until 10:30 of the clock.

The House recessed from 0951 to 1030.

WEARING OF RIBBONS

Hon. Laurel C. Broten: I believe we have unanimous consent that all members be permitted to wear ribbons in recognition of Woman Abuse Prevention Month.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Do we have unanimous consent? Agreed? Agreed.

INTRODUCTION OF VISITORS

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I’d like to introduce the family of page Sebastian Gayowsky and welcome his mom, Susan Karney, and Anna Gayowsky and Christopher Gayowsky, his siblings. Thank you for being here today.

Ms. Lisa M. Thompson: Today, Alli Meyer is page captain, and I would like to welcome her parents, Deb and Tim, and her brother, Craig Meyer. They all just happen to be from my hometown of Teeswater. Welcome.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Welcome.

The member from Pickering–Scarborough East.

Ms. Tracy MacCharles: Thank you, Speaker, and I’d like to congratulate you on your election, first.

I’m very happy to welcome the family of one of our new pages, Ms. Madeline Braney from Pickering–Scarborough East. Her dad, Chris Braney, is a school trustee in the Durham board of education, and his wife, Sylvia Braney, is here as well. Welcome to you all.

Mr. Reza Moridi: Mr. Speaker, it’s my pleasure to introduce Ms. Gular Yusibzade from the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Further introductions?

It is now time for—oh, excuse me.

Mrs. Jane McKenna: Pardon me, Mr. Speaker. I’m new, so I want to make sure I’m doing this properly. As a point of order: It’s the second day of questioning and the Premier isn’t here. Is he allowed not to be here?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Order, please.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I will wait. The standing orders do request that when the Speaker is standing, everyone is quiet.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): And that will get you a warning.

The member is out of order. It is not proper to bring attention to the absence of anyone in this House.

LEGISLATIVE PAGES

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I would ask, please, that we have the assembly of our new pages.

My friends, we will be greeting our pages in the traditional way. I really believe it’s an important aspect of what we do here, and I know we will show our appreciation. I offer that if anyone in particular from a certain riding wishes to amplify their greeting, please feel free to do so.

We have, from Don Valley East, Yousef Abdel Rahman; from Halton, Laibah Ashfaq; from Parkdale–High Park, Carolyn Bayley; from Pickering–Scarborough East, Madeline Braney; from Mississauga–Erindale, Michela Brooks; from St.

Paul’s, Andrew Clifford; from Toronto–Danforth, Tara Collins; from Windsor West, Christian D’Agnillo; from Ottawa–Vanier, Danica Davies; from Don Valley West, Sebastian Gayowsky; from London–Fanshawe, Theodore Giesen; from Scarborough–Rouge River, Ashley Jones; from Ottawa South, Prakriti Kharel; from Lambton–Kent–Middlesex, Lila Kloppenburg; from Perth–Wellington, Samuel Knechtel; from Etobicoke–Lakeshore, Aidan Lehecka; from Wellington–Halton Hills, Emily Rose Longo Belbin; from Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke, Bernadette McCann; from Huron–Bruce, Alli Meyer; from Scarborough Southwest, Mobarrat Shahriar; from London West, Owen Thompson; and, from Ancaster–Dundas–Flamborough–Westdale, Daniel Vander Hout.

These are our pages.

ORAL QUESTIONS

GOVERNMENT SPENDING

Mr. Tim Hudak: My question, I guess, is directed to the Acting Premier today. Yesterday, the finance minister’s economic statement saw about a $2-billion increase in the provincial deficit. The deficit actually went up, despite more revenue coming into the treasury. In fact, 26 out of the 28 ministers saw an increase in their spending—26 out of 28. At a time when we have a spending crisis in Ontario, 26 out of 28 saw increases from the previous year. So I ask the Acting Premier: Will you speak to the finance minister and instruct him to bring in a mandatory wage freeze for public sector workers in the province of Ontario?

Hon. Dwight Duncan: First of all, let’s get the facts straight. In 2010, we laid out a deficit elimination projection. In fact, this year we are ahead of schedule, where we said we would be. The member is right; compared to last year’s budget, the deficit has gone up, because last year we overachieved on the target we set due to a number of one-time events.

Mr. Speaker, we are going to stay on target. We are going to achieve our balanced budget according to the timelines we outlined, unlike the federal Conservative government, which has now stretched their timeline to balance. And we will continue to work with all.

Last year, as has been pointed out by Mr. Drummond and others, we have actually cut the rate of growth in spending in half. We think this is the right, balanced, reasonable approach and the fair approach. We’re going to continue down that path.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Hudak: Well, Speaker, if the finance minister pats himself on the back for actually increasing the deficit, despite revenue going up, and calls himself an overachiever, it certainly doesn’t speak well for getting out of the mess that we have here in the province of Ontario.

Let me ask the overachieving finance minister if he will think this through. He said that he opposes a mandatory wage freeze, as I saw him on the media yesterday responding to the PC call for a mandatory wage freeze. But, Minister, you do have a mandatory wage freeze when it comes to non-union workers in the province of Ontario, but it’s steady as she goes with increases for union workers. Let me ask the finance minister: Why the dual system? Why the haves and have-nots? Why do you have a wage freeze for non-union, but you allow union wages to continue to increase?

Hon. Dwight Duncan: The Leader of the Opposition is again selectively using quotes. Let me say this: What we did say yesterday is that in fact the average rate of settlement in the Ontario public and broader public sectors is now lower than the private sector, it’s lower than the federal, and it’s lower than our municipal colleagues. There are challenges to a wage freeze that are legal and constitutional in nature; it doesn’t preclude a wage freeze, but as we move forward in a reasonable and sensible approach to this, we have to be careful that it gets done properly.

The final point I made is that this government, unlike previous governments, does not want to scapegoat public servants. We don’t want to scapegoat teachers, doctors and others. We need their help as we move forward. At the end of the day, we may not agree on everything, but this is about all of us working together for a brighter future for Ontario.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Further supplementary.

Mr. Tim Hudak: But Minister, that’s precisely my point: You’re not working together; you’re dividing public sector workers. You’re saying to some that aren’t in unions, “Your wages are frozen, but if you happen to join a union, you’ll get wage increases just like you did in the past.” I don’t understand why you have this double standard when it comes to a wage freeze in the province of Ontario. Our position is clear: Treat everyone equally, whether they’re union or non-union. Bring in a mandatory public sector wage freeze and save the taxpayers $2 million. Will you do the right thing?

Hon. Dwight Duncan: Mr. Speaker, we have to respond to the realities—legal, constitutional—that confront any government. The member yesterday cited other levels of government that have lost court fights in this very same situation.

Again, we want to make sure that we avoid the kind of scapegoating that occurred under a previous government. We will ultimately likely disagree with some of the unions and their positions on things, but this is not about blaming. Our non-unionized personnel have done a great job over the last two years. We are grateful that they have accepted that and taken it as leaders in their organizations. We also achieved zero and zero with a number of bargaining units. I think the responsible, reasonable and fair approach, the steady leadership approach, is to do this carefully, working with our partners, both in the union and non-union sectors of the public and broader public sectors.

GOVERNMENT SPENDING

Mr. Tim Hudak: Back to the Minister of Finance and his previous answers: The Minister of Finance referenced the Constitution and he says that the reason he has a double standard when it comes to wage freezes—non-union are frozen but unions continue to get increases—is because of the Constitution. The minister very well knows that there is a mandatory wage freeze in British Columbia, in Alberta and in New Brunswick, and as well, Quebec has used a mandatory wage freeze.

Could the minister put on the table today the constitution of the province of Ontario? Surely the same Constitution applies to the other provinces. In your argument, why does the Constitution apply one way to BC, Alberta, New Brunswick and Quebec but differently to the province of Ontario? Can you answer that for me?

Hon. Dwight Duncan: The member needs to reference the BC Supreme Court decision and a number of others that have constrained governments.

The final point I would make on that: Mr. Drummond, an adviser we brought on, and others have advised and will advise the Leader of the Opposition and others that wage freezes tend not to work, either in the short or long term. What tends to happen is—say it’s a two-year freeze: It tends to hold things down for two years, and then after it comes off, there’s a big bump-up for catch-up.

That being said, wages and benefits represent 55 cents of every dollar the provincial government spends in the public and broader public sectors. There’s no question that that will be part of the discussion we will have with all sectors of the economy as we move back to a balanced budget and create the conditions that will allow us to sustain the best education and health care systems in the world.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Tim Hudak: Okay, so the finance minister now is backing away from his constitutional argument, realizing that’s a false argument because there are wage freezes in British Columbia, Alberta and New Brunswick, and Quebec has done it, too. Now he tries argument number 2, in which he says there’s going to be catch-up and that the wages will have to increase afterwards.

Well, then, I’ll ask the finance minister: Why did you impose a wage freeze on non-union workers? How much is the catch-up going to be? If you say wage freezes don’t work, that there’s catch-up, that Don Drummond is against them, then why the heck did you apply a wage freeze on non-union workers? Are you for it? Are you against it? Explain yourself.

Hon. Dwight Duncan: Speaker, we applied a zero and zero across the non-bargained sector, which represented one measure among a variety of measures that have helped us bring the deficit down from $24.7 billion to $16 billion this year.

The Leader of the Opposition cannot underestimate the importance of making sure that whatever steps we take—whether it’s on wages or other—respect court decisions, respect processes that are outlined and, most importantly, respect the people who are on the other side of the table, whether it’s non-bargained employees or bargained employees.

It might be doctors. I’m sure the Leader of the Opposition wants a freeze put on doctors. That’s the next contract that is up for negotiation, and we’ll look forward to his position on that. There are big collective agreements with teachers that are coming up as well, and I’m sure he’ll apply that same sort of standard to doctors and teachers as he would to others.

These are challenging times. We’re going to work with our partners, both union and non-union, professional and non-professional, to build the best—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. Final supplementary.

Mr. Tim Hudak: It’s just hard to follow the finance minister’s arguments. He’s in favour of a wage freeze, except when he’s not. And we have to watch out for the Constitution, except it somehow doesn’t apply to the other provinces.

Mrs. Christine Elliott: He’s dancing all over.

Mr. Tim Hudak: He is dancing all over, as my deputy leader says.

Let’s just get to the bottom line here. The reason why you’re not bringing in a mandatory wage freeze on the union side is because of your friends in the Working Families Coalition. I know your friends in the Working Families Coalition pull a lot of strings on decision-making over there.

We just think it is fair to treat everybody the same, whether you’re a non-union worker or a union worker. It’s fair to public sector workers, it’s fair to taxpayers, and it will save us $2 billion. So who are you going to listen to: taxpayers—an argument of fairness—or your friends in the Working Families Coalition?

You have no arguments left, Minister. If you support a wage freeze, make it the same for everybody and save $2 billion for the taxpayers in the province of Ontario.

Hon. Dwight Duncan: Let’s put this in perspective. For budget purposes, we have already not increased funding for collective agreements over zero and zero. I can assure you, based on statements by leaders in the various public sector unions in the last 24 to 48 hours, they’re not entirely happy at all with any of this.

It’s not about that. It’s very much about a better future for Ontario. It’s very much about understanding that we have a long and protracted period of restraint and reform that is going to require the help and co-operation of the public and broader public sectors, both in the bargained and the non-bargained sectors.

We choose to take the reasonable approach. We choose to work with people, Mr. Speaker. We reject the politics of division of that party.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Answer.

Hon. Dwight Duncan: We reject the Leader of the Opposition’s record when it came to firing civil servants and hiring them back as consultants at more money. We reject that. We’re going to work with everyone in this province to get through these challenging global circumstances and build a better future for all Ontarians.

GOVERNMENT SPENDING

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My question’s to the Deputy Premier. Yesterday, the Deputy Premier indicated that the government found unallocated revenue. I just want the Deputy Premier to explain which programs they over-budgeted and when he found out about those over-budgeted programs.

Hon. Dwight Duncan: In terms of the offsets associated with the new healthy home renovation tax credit—and I’m delighted the Premier is out today explaining that to senior citizens across Ontario—we found the first-year costs were $60 million, I say to the leader of the third party. We’re taking $10 million from MEDI’s fund for new job growth.

The second piece is on the seniors’ home property tax credit. The amount we budgeted for was higher than the demand has been for it, so there’s another $50 million there for the first year. It rises in the second year, and in the third year we take unallocated capital that hasn’t been to bring it to the full $136 million.

We think that’s reasonable; we think it’s responsible. We’ve identified specific reductions elsewhere to fund something we think the vast majority of Ontarians support and are in favour of doing.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: There seems to be a little bit of a pattern of the government finding unallocated funds when it suits their purpose and it suits their agenda, and then arguing that the cupboard’s completely bare when it doesn’t suit their agenda.

When exactly did the minister know that there was all this money in the cupboard?

Hon. Dwight Duncan: If you look at estimates that this Legislature has approved and that will be re-tabled today because of the election, you will see that we lay out projections on a line-by-line basis, for tax expenditures as well as other expenditures, Mr. Speaker. These numbers do vary. That’s why we have quarterly updates and, most importantly, the fall statement. So in fact for this year it became evident at the publication of the fall statement and the leadup to that period. These numbers, again, are savings projections. We have to move forward into the future. We think that’s reasonable and responsible.

I should also say to the member opposite, we’ve left ministers flexibility and will, through the treasury board process, allow ministers between now and the actual budget—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Answer.

Hon. Dwight Duncan: —if those ministers find other offsets that make more sense or if in fact those numbers change between now and the publication of public accounts, we can offset elsewhere. It’s reasonable accounting. It’s standards that are generally accepted. They’re audited by the Auditor General—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. Final supplementary.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, before the House resumed I actually sent a letter to all the leaders asking them to support my initiative to have the Auditor General review the province’s finances so that all parties could get an understanding of exactly what the fiscal challenges were. Unfortunately, that was something that the Deputy Premier opposed at the time. I want to know if he still opposes that kind of initiative?

Hon. Dwight Duncan: The Auditor General does audit everything. In fact, we submitted our budget to him in advance of the election. The Auditor General indicated that he felt that our revenue projections were accurate. It turns out we’ve had a great downturn in revenues. He felt that our expenditure estimates were aggressive, and I acknowledged at the time that he was right about that.

Again, Auditors General play an important function. We created a number of these roles under the Fiscal Transparency and Accountability Act. The Auditor General will be tabling his report at the beginning of December. I know all members look forward to that.

Mr. Speaker, we’ll continue to work with our auditors, the Auditor General, members of this House, our public accounts committee, estimates—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Answer—

Hon. Dwight Duncan: —and we’ll look forward to working with all parties in the House, where there are offsets, to be able to try to do some of the things that I suspect we’re all going to be able to agree—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. New question.

TAXATION

Ms. Andrea Horwath: In fact, that is why we wanted the auditor to give us an update before the House resumed, because of the dancing-number games that the government tends to play. We just wanted to all have equal footing as we came into this minority Parliament.

Nonetheless, my next question is again to the Deputy Premier. Later today, we’re going to be debating a move to give everyday people a much-needed break on their cost of home heating, a move that this Deputy Premier says we simply can’t afford. Why should families believe him when this government consistently finds the money for their own priorities, yet cannot find the money to help everyday families?

Hon. Dwight Duncan: Mr. Speaker, in fact, we campaigned against doing that. We set up our tax plan for jobs and growth. We believe that was the right approach.

I remind the member opposite that we created the most generous sales tax credit in the country to help Ontarians of more modest means. Her proposal will actually benefit those who are with bigger homes and wealthier. We prefer a more targeted approach. I think the biggest beneficiaries will be those who are probably the least able to pay it.

Our sales tax credit, which has been hailed by a whole bunch of people including the Centre for Policy Alternatives, is viewed as a progressive piece of tax policy. We took 90,000 people off the tax rolls entirely; 93% of Ontarians are paying less in overall taxes.

Your tax proposal is regressive, it’s costly, and it harms the environment. For that reason, we on this side of the House will likely not be supporting your bill.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Well, Speaker, their plan has led to loss of jobs, lack of growth and a lack of consumer confidence. I’d say it’s not working.

Families are the ones that need a desperate break here. The growing cost of living is driving families into debt and it’s dragging down Ontario’s economy.

The minister says that we cannot afford to help. They’re not prepared to help those people.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Order.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Maybe this other member would like to rise and ask the question, Speaker.

The minister says that they can’t afford over there to help everyday families, notwithstanding the fact that it’s everyday families that are feeling the pinch. I would like to know why this minister, why this Deputy Premier has not agreed to have the Auditor General take a today look at his books and a today look at what’s happening, so that we can all get an idea of what the Auditor General thinks today.

Hon. Dwight Duncan: Mr. Speaker, what the leader of the third party is proposing that we do with their bill this afternoon is: For her member from Essex, she proposes to raise taxes on greenhouses, which are an important employer in his community. For the members from northern Ontario, she wants to raise taxes on veterinarians for employers in their community. For her members from downtown Toronto, she wants to raise taxes on butchers, on bakeries, on restaurants. Mr. Speaker, she wants to raise taxes on bookstores. For members from the Niagara region, she wants to raise taxes on grape growers.

These people create jobs. These people are part of a tax plan for jobs and growth that is the right response to our economic circumstances. It’s balanced; it’s fair. We’re not going to support a regressive tax cut for wealthier Ontarians. It will harm the environment. We’re sticking with the plan, Mr. Speaker. It’s the right plan for the future of Ontario—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. Final supplementary.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, the government keeps telling us that there is no revenue to help families, that they simply cannot help families; but billions and billions of dollars are available for corporate tax giveaways, billions of dollars are available for hikes to CEO salaries and billions of dollars are available to move private power plants to help get votes for Liberals.

Speaker, it’s families that need a break. It’s families that need a break right now here in Ontario. Why does the minister always find money for his misplaced priorities and tell families that they simply have to wait?

Hon. Dwight Duncan: Mr. Speaker, I don’t think the Ontario child benefit, $1.3 billion, is a misplaced priority. She voted against it. I don’t think the Ontario clean energy benefit, which lowers everybody’s electricity bill by more than she proposes to, is wrong or a bad priority. We think it’s the right priority.

Our choice, as we outlined in the election and outlined yesterday, is to create a healthy homes tax credit to help keep our seniors in their homes longer. That has three benefits. Number one: It helps sustain some $800 million a year in economic activity. Number two: It lowers taxes for seniors and their families. Number three: It helps sustain 10,000 jobs and takes pressure off of future expenditure increases.

That’s enlightened public policy. It’s about helping people with more modest means and not giving away a tax cut—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. Stop the clock, please.

I’ve decided that once the leaders have finished asking their questions, I’ll make a comment or two if it’s necessary. I think today it’s necessary.

Again, I remind you of the trend I noticed yesterday, and I noticed it again today. When somebody asks a question, it’s relatively quiet. Then, when somebody tries to answer, it gets very loud. I think there needs to be the balance that we’ve been looking for.

There are some side conversations going on while somebody else is asking a question. I ask that you refrain from doing that, and I’m going to ask for something a little unorthodox: Use your inside voice. You don’t have to yell. If you want to make a point, make your point. You don’t have to yell.

GOVERNMENT SPENDING

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: The question is to the finance minister. Your volunteer wage freeze gave a complete pass to those in the Working Families Coalition when everyone else in the non-unionized sector was slapped with a pay freeze. The result was the single largest union drive in Ontario’s history since the Great Depression.

Your preferential treatment of the Working Families Coalition is swelling their coffers after a $9-million attack ad campaign on your behalf. At the same time, Mr. Speaker, Ontario families are losing 100 jobs an hour. Is the reason that you will not support our call for a mandatory wage freeze for all public sector employees because the Working Families Coalition won’t let you?

Hon. Dwight Duncan: My recollection, Mr. Speaker, is that the Chief Electoral Officer found there was no connection between this government and the Working Families Coalition. We’ve said that in here before.

What I think we have to have—let’s take, again, an example of how the Conservatives are simply taking things out of context. She took last month’s job numbers, which were bad—they were bad throughout North America—and then took a different divider and produced what is essentially an inaccurate number.

What we have seen since the downturn, Mr. Speaker—what we’ve seen, frankly, since this government has taken office—is hundreds of thousands of net new jobs. We have passed the employment levels that were present before the downturn. That’s been verified by people outside.

That is not to suggest that there is not a huge challenge on jobs. That remains our priority. One of the things we proposed yesterday is this new tax credit, which will help sustain an additional 10,000 jobs—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: Thanks, Mr. Speaker. To Ontario families it seems perfectly reasonable to ask all of us, not just some of us, in the public sector to forgo a pay raise at a time when Ontario families are suffering. We are losing 100 jobs an hour in this province. United States President Barack Obama, UK Prime Minister David Cameron and the Liberal Premiers of British Columbia as well as Quebec agree with us. The only ones who don’t seem to get it are this Premier and this finance minister.

The question then becomes why. Is there a connection between your refusal to enact a government-wide wage freeze for all public sector employees and the $9-million smear campaign that Working Families ran in the last election?

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): There is a line everyone walks, and this one was close. I would ask the member to be very careful in the future. Quite frankly, I will be quicker to have somebody miss their supplementary, if that does indeed happen again.

Minister?

Hon. Dwight Duncan: Mr. Speaker, we on this side of the House would prefer to set aside these politics of division. We have difficult decisions ahead of us, which requires, obviously, an impassioned debate, but a debate that is important about the future of Ontario.

The louder you yell is not going to shrink the deficit. The louder you yell is not going to put more kids in schools. The louder you yell is not going to open another emergency room.

We have the opportunity as a Legislature to work together. We will obviously work with both opposition parties. Unlike the Leader of the Opposition, we don’t want to force an election right now. We just had one six or seven weeks ago.

I implore the leader of the second party and his caucus: Let’s start yelling about the things that are important: how we’re going to get back to balance, how we’re going to ensure that we continue to have the best schools and health care our—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. New question.

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

AND FISCAL REVIEW

Mr. Rosario Marchese: A question to the Minister of Finance: Yesterday’s economic outlook puts Ontario’s growth at a paltry 1.8% in 2011 and 2012, as opposed to the previous estimates of 2.7% and 2.5%, respectively. This means revenues will be $1.3 billion lower than estimated in the Liberals’ September election platform.

I ask myself: How could the numbers change so dramatically in only a matter of months? Is it possible that the Liberal platform revenue numbers were just a little inflated?

Hon. Dwight Duncan: I thank the member for his question. He’s a pretty thoughtful and intelligent guy. He knows how we set our growth estimates. At the time of the budget, we took the consensus estimate of 13 leading economists and set ours 0.2 points below that. Those economists continued to raise their projections, right up until September. It’s all well documented publicly. They started to bring them down in September. The consensus is now 2.0% among the economists, and out of an abundance of caution in the fall statement, we set that growth estimate at 1.8%. That has been how successive governments have chosen to approach these important assumptions.

As I say, we have to rely on the best evidence available as we move forward. We’ve done the prudent thing. I look forward to working with the member and his colleagues as we move forward—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. Supplementary?

Mr. Rosario Marchese: Revenues are $443 million less than predicted in the budget, mostly because of lower personal income tax collected. And last month’s grim employment numbers suggest personal income tax revenues will continue to lag behind previous projections.

New Democrats believe Ontarians deserve an explanation. How could this government be so far off in its projections in such a short period of time?

Hon. Dwight Duncan: This is happening to governments right across the country, including the federal government, and in the United States. Private sector economists were very clearly projecting much more robust growth in the spring than they are now. Virtually every government in the country has reduced their projections.

Again, we base our projections on the consensus estimate of 13 leading economists. Sometimes it is remarkably accurate. We’re in a much more volatile world. The member opposite, I know, follows events in Europe closely, in the United States, in China and in Japan. Just two days ago, third-quarter US GDP was down-stated. That has an enormous impact, for instance, on the forestry industry in northern Ontario.

These are always difficult, but that is the reality we’re faced with. I know we can work together to find very reasonable solutions for dealing with this as we move forward.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Ms. Tracy MacCharles: My question is for the Minister of Economic Development and Innovation. Speaker, the global economy is in a fragile state. Economic and fiscal concerns in Europe and the United States are making the news daily, and Ontarians are justifiably trying to understand what this era of uncertainty means for them and their families. Our government was re-elected to provide Ontarians with a stable government capable of managing us through this period of uncertainty.

Ontario is fierce in global competition for jobs and investment. Recent job numbers and economic forecasts have demonstrated that we are truly not isolated from the impact of the global economy.

My constituents and everyone are asking what our government is doing to build a strong economy during these turbulent times.

Hon. Brad Duguid: Let me begin by congratulating the member for Pickering–Scarborough East on her election. I know she will be another strong voice for Scarborough and Pickering here in this Legislature.

As our throne speech reiterated earlier this week, this government’s top priority is jobs and the economy. Building a strong economy starts with the fundamentals, and there are few places, if any in the world, that have done more to build those fundamentals than right here in Ontario. Our investments in health care, education and training have created a world-class workforce. Our investments have helped build a competitive infrastructure system in Ontario—crucial to economic growth. We’ve improved the tax environment in Ontario, going from the back of the pack to one of the most competitive in all the world.

There is a fierce battle happening around the world for investment and jobs, and Ontario is poised to win that battle.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Tracy MacCharles: Those steps are good. We’ve moved Ontario in the right direction, and we will certainly strengthen our economy.

A familiar issue, though, that we hear about is the challenge that businesses, particularly small businesses, face in navigating through the government regulatory requirements that they have to address to do business here. That means reducing duplicate and unnecessary regulations and working closer with other levels of government and even other jurisdictions to improve the business climate here in Ontario.

What specific steps is the government taking to work with businesses and to make the relationship with government easier to navigate while still protecting the health and safety of Ontarians as well as our environment?

Hon. Brad Duguid: Through Open for Business, we’re creating faster, smarter and streamlined government-to-business services and regulations that make Ontario more attractive for business development while protecting the public interest, which is also very, very critical.

We’ve reduced the regulatory burden on businesses and stakeholders by over 17%. That represents a reduction of over 80,000 regulatory requirements. We’ve improved the environmental approvals process, ensuring that the environment and the public are protected, while making the process clearer for businesses to navigate. In consultation with industry, we’ve made over 100 time- and cost-saving amendments to existing legislation across 10 ministries through our Open for Business Act.

We’ve come a long way, but clearly we can and must do more. I look forward to working with my parliamentary assistant, the member for Etobicoke Centre, in finding ways to take our successful Open for Business initiative to the next level, and I’m looking forward to getting to that—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. New question.

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

AND FISCAL REVIEW

Mr. Peter Shurman: My question is for the Minister of Finance. Minister, we heard yesterday that the deficit has gone from $14 billion last year to $16 billion projected for this year. Minister, you actually collected almost $2 billion more in revenue this year than last, but you spent it all, and that’s your problem. Yet you still say that you’re moving towards a balanced budget by 2017-18. Everyone knows that when you run at a loss one year and increase that loss in the following year, it’s a bit of a stretch to project a balanced budget at any time in the near future.

Minister, who do you think is going to believe the figures that you present in your fudge-it budget?

Hon. Dwight Duncan: Mr. Speaker, in the 2010 budget, we laid out a path back to balance that takes us to 2017-18. That was a requirement of the Fiscal Transparency and Accountability Act, which we had to implement because the government that he was part of, in fact, hid a $5-billion deficit.

In that plan, we said last year’s deficit would be higher than it turned out to be. We had some one-time events that helped bring last year’s down, so we did do better last year than had been anticipated.

Right now we are on target to—in that 2010 budget and in that plan, which we did not amend last year, we project a deficit for this year of $16.3 billion. It is in fact tracking to $16 billion.

Moving forward, there are real challenges to meeting those targets, but we have no choice but to meet them. I look forward to working with the opposition to meet those targets and to balance—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. Supplementary?

Mr. Peter Shurman: Only the Dalton McGuinty Liberal government could pat itself on the back and applaud a $16-billion deficit because it isn’t a $16.3-billion deficit. But you simply moved $500 million from column A into column B by playing with numbers so that you could make the deficit appear to be improving.

Would the minister confirm to this House that on an apples-to-apples basis, this year’s deficit will actually be greater than even his own original projections?

Hon. Dwight Duncan: No. No, Mr. Speaker, I won’t.

The member is accurate: In every budget, governments—by the way, of all political stripes, across all governments—have contingency funds and reserve funds. They set them up precisely for this reason, because projections are inherently wrong sometimes. There are unanticipated challenges—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Order.

Hon. Dwight Duncan: Mr. Speaker, I know that my colleagues opposite who were here in 2003 will remember the SARS crisis. The government of the day responded extremely well to that. There was an unanticipated expenditure; that government had built in appropriate reserve and contingency. We had an unusually high number of forest fires this year in Ontario. Those are very difficult to predict, so it is quite reasonable, quite responsible, to set up reserve and contingency.

We do use those funds up. We do use them to offset things like unanticipated declines in revenue. Some years, they work to your advantage.

We’ll continue to do that. We’ll continue to move towards a balanced budget, and I hope we can all work together—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. New question.

TAXATION

Mr. Michael Mantha: Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Acting Premier. Later today, members in this House will be voting on my bill to take the unfair HST off of home heating. There are members on the government benches who would undoubtedly support this bill, provided they were free to do so. Has the Premier’s office been giving instructions to MPPs on how to vote?

Hon. Dwight Duncan: Mr. Speaker, I will personally be here to vote against that bill, because it’s wrong tax policy.

The member opposite proposes to raise taxes on a number of important companies in his riding, companies that are struggling to create jobs. I remind the member opposite that we created the Ontario clean energy benefit, which takes 10% off of electricity bills for those people who heat by electricity in rural northern Ontario. That is a substantial portion of the population.

The price of natural gas and natural gas bills have come down dramatically in the last three or four years because of the discovery of shale gas.

I would much rather not raise the taxes on every bakery and restaurant in Algoma–Manitoulin. I would much rather keep those funds in the provincial treasury to help invest in better health care in Algoma–Manitoulin, to help invest in better schools in Algoma–Manitoulin, to help lessen the abhorrent condition of—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. Supplementary?

Mr. Michael Mantha: Mr. Speaker, MPPs were elected to stand up for their constituents, not the Premier’s office.

There is support from MPPs on all sides of this House to take the HST off of home heating, including on the government side. Just last week, the member from Niagara Falls said he’d support this bill.

Will the Premier’s office be forcing Liberal MPPs to vote against my bill? Will the Acting Premier guarantee a free vote?

Hon. Dwight Duncan: Well, it’ll be interesting to see if there’s a free vote in the NDP caucus.

I say to my colleague opposite—I in fact said publicly during the election and I said before the election that I would not support this. I remain steadfast in that position. I was elected—my colleagues agreed with our tax plan for jobs and growth. All members will vote the way they will, I suspect, except probably for the NDP caucus, who obviously have a heavy whip on this vote.

I plead with the member opposite: Don’t raise taxes on the farms in your riding. Don’t raise taxes on the restaurants and the businesses that are creating jobs in your riding, which is struggling with a high rate of unemployment. This will harm the environment.

I would like to know how the member for Toronto–Danforth can stand up against his former colleagues at Greenpeace and people like David Suzuki and others. We will have—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. New question.

POWER PLANT

Ms. Dipika Damerla: My question is for the Minister of Energy. During the recent provincial election, our party and the PC Party had different views on many issues, but there was one issue we both agreed on: relocating the Mississauga gas plant. Our party committed to relocating it and the Leader of the Opposition supported our decision. In fact, days before the election, when the media asked the Leader of the Opposition if he would scrap the Mississauga plant were he to form a government, he replied, “That’s right. Done, done, done, done.” So I’m pleased to report that our government is honouring its commitment. The company building the gas plant has agreed to permanently stop construction—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Question.

Ms. Dipika Damerla: —immediately and begin discussions to relocate. Promise made; promise kept.

Can the Minister of Energy please explain what this agreement means for the residents of Mississauga and—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. Minister of Energy.

Hon. Christopher Bentley: Thank you very much, and congratulations to the member from Mississauga East–Cooksville for her hard work and her election.

It’s already clear, as it was on this issue, as it will be on so many others, that she is going to stand up for the people she represents. She and this government made a clear commitment to the residents of Mississauga and Etobicoke: “There will not be a gas plant on this site.” And I was delighted when the Ontario Power Authority and Greenfield South agreed that construction would stop. There will not be a gas plant on this site, and they are working now on the details of the relocation of that gas generating facility—exactly what we said to the residents of Mississauga and Etobicoke.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Dipika Damerla: Thank you, Minister, for sharing that with this House. Clearly, the concerns of my constituents and community were heard.

Minister, in your answer you said that discussions are under way between the Ontario Power Authority and Greenfield to find a new location for the natural gas plant. However, many of my constituents are concerned that the relocation of the site will be picked at random and might end up even closer to where they live. Can the Minister of Energy state what is being done to ensure that the new location of the natural gas plant is selected with the community in mind?

Hon.

Christopher Bentley: Speaker, that’s a really good question, that is a very good question, and it’s been apparent that the guidelines that were once thought to be appropriate for siting these gas generating facilities, which are important enormously important to the residents of these communities and others, could be strengthened, so what we’re doing right now is taking a look at the approach in other jurisdictions throughout North America to see what approach they have brought to combine the best science, the best power judgments and the input of residents to make sure that as we locate, as we choose from sites, we have the strongest possible approach always to ensure that we have reliable and safe, clean power that supports jobs in our communities and is affordable in our communities, where they need it, as they need it, when they need it.

RED TAPE REDUCTION

Mr. Monte McNaughton: Mr. Speaker, my question today is for the Minister of Economic Development and Innovation. As you know, there are over 500,000 job-killing regulations currently on the books here in Ontario, and in October alone over 75,000 full-time jobs were lost. In fact, seven out of 10 jobs being lost across Canada are being lost right here in Ontario.

My riding of Lambton–Kent–Middlesex, and indeed most of southwestern Ontario, has been hard hit with ongoing plant closures and job losses. Please tell me, will your government continue to lay the blame at the feet of others, or will you take a look in the mirror, accept responsibility, and free job creators so that they can create jobs and grow our economy?

Hon. Brad Duguid: I welcome the member to this Legislature and I thank him for the question.

He does touch on what is a very important topic. In fact, in our throne speech earlier this week there’s no question that jobs and economic growth are our number one priority. Mr. Speaker, we have worked tirelessly to put the fundamentals in place to make Ontario one of the best places in the world to invest and one of the best places in the world to create jobs. But the party opposite has voted against just about everything we’ve done to put those strong fundamentals in place. They voted against our tax reform which made Ontario one of the best places to invest in the world.

They voted against our efforts to improve our education system, our health care system, providing one of the most progressive, one of the most skilled, and one of the most educated workforces in the world.

I look forward to the member opposite thinking long and hard about these issues, and perhaps in the future, maybe in this minority Parliament, we’ll have a little bit more co-operation from the party opposite when it comes to building—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. Supplementary?

Mr. Monte McNaughton: Mr. Speaker, I may be new to this House but I’m quickly learning that answers from this government are hard to come by. So let me try again.

As you know, under the McGuinty government, small businesses face the worst regulatory burden in the country. I can tell you, coming from a small business background, that this is absolutely true.

During the recent election campaign, I told constituents that if I didn’t deliver on my election promises to reduce government red tape by 30%, my paycheque would be docked. Are you willing to put your money where your mouth is and offer to take a reduction in pay if you are unable to reduce the regulatory burden on Ontario businesses?

Hon. Brad Duguid: Mr. Speaker, again, I thank the member for his question and I really do appreciate his passion for supporting our Open for Business initiatives. We’ve reduced the regulatory burden on businesses by 17%. That represents 80,000 regulatory requirements that have been gone.

But we know and we plan to move further when it comes to moving our Open for Business to the next level. I’ll be working with my parliamentary assistant, the member for Etobicoke Centre. I strongly recommend to the member opposite, if he has constructive ideas about how we can reduce the burden on business, to bring them directly to myself or to my parliamentary assistant. We welcome their input. This is something we can do together, but those ideas must be constructive, realistic, and not contrary to the public interest, to the environment—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. New question.

CHILDREN’S HEALTH SERVICES

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My question is to the Acting Premier. According to the Ministry of Health, Speaker, children are waiting hundreds of days more than they should for surgery at Hamilton Health Sciences. The McMaster site, in fact, was converted to primarily focus on children.

What explanation does the government have for parents waiting as long as a year, or in some cases more, for their children to have needed surgery?

Hon. Dwight Duncan: It is good to see the leader of the third party standing up for that hospital that she had so attacked in the election.

We on this side of the House found those numbers very challenging, and I acknowledge the real issue with pediatric services there. I would remind the member that prior to us coming to office we didn’t even count wait times; now we do. We know where we’re not meeting standards.

I concur with her that there’s more work to do there. I know the Minister of Health, who is ably representing Ontario at the provincial health ministers’ meeting today, is well advised on this issue. I look forward to working with you and the other members from Hamilton as we move to address these very serious challenges.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Children and their families are waiting 421 days for jaw surgery, 324 days for kidney operations and 282 days for reconstructive surgery. The maximum wait for children’s surgery should be 182 days. Now, the chief of surgery says that it’s the result of funding reductions, and I quote: “There has been a contraction in that envelope in the last couple of years.”

The Ministry of Health promised changes that would make services better for kids in Hamilton. Why are children still waiting for over a year for their needed surgeries in that community?

Hon. Dwight Duncan: Again, Mr. Speaker, I concur with the member that there’s obviously a challenge there. I would like to remind her, however, that because of restructuring that we did we now actually have a children’s centre in Hamilton, which is important. I concur fully with her that the challenges being experienced there are not acceptable. The Minister of Health, I know, is working on this issue.

I would remind the member that I would much rather take the $350 million she proposes in a tax cut and use that money on children’s pediatric services, Mr. Speaker. I’d invite her to rethink her priorities because in this day and age you can’t have it both ways. You’ve got to find the right balance. I will err on the side of children’s pediatric services and be consistent throughout question period and not say one thing about cutting revenues, spend more money and eventually drive Ontario’s economy down. We’re about building it up. I look forward to working with her on children’s pediatric services in Hamilton and across the province.

EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS

Mr. David Zimmer: My question is for the Minister of Labour. Minister, I get a lot of telephone calls and letters from constituents asking me to advocate on their behalf on a whole host of issues, but one of the most troublesome that I get is the large number of complaints having to do with outstanding employment standards claims for unpaid wages and the length of time it takes to process them in your ministry. There is a backlog there.

My constituents have got bills to pay. They’re frustrated. They want to get on with their lives. They want their back wages in their pocket. I’m told that there is a backlog there, that your ministry is working on the backlog, but Minister, what are you actually doing to tackle that backlog?

Hon. Linda Jeffrey: I want to thank the member from Willowdale for the question. Over the last several years, my ministry has definitely seen a substantial increase in the number of claims it receives. In fact, last year it received about 17,000 claims. The volume unfortunately resulted in increased wait times over the years and it did create a backlog in the claims processing system.

However, I have significant progress that I can share with this House. In 2010 we invested an additional $6 million, and I’m pleased to report that that investment helped us tackle that backlog. We’re ahead of schedule; we’ve eliminated the backlog five months early.

I want to take this opportunity to thank the staff in the Ministry of Labour for their hard work to make this possible. We continue to work hard to make improvements, to make adjustments, because my ministry cares deeply and works hard to ensure that Ontario workers’ rights are protected.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. David Zimmer: Thank you, Minister. I’m glad that you’re taking some aggressive action to tackle this backlog issue. But my constituents are smart. They know that you’re tackling the backlog, but their real question now is, what are we doing to make sure that this tackling exercise is not just a quick fix? What about long-term solutions?

Can you tell me what the ministry is doing to ensure that the backlog does not reoccur and that the backlog, once down, stays down, that we have more than just a quick fix here?

Hon. Linda Jeffrey: We are committed to keeping the backlog at bay. We’re going to be vigilant to ensure that it doesn’t balloon again. To that end, we’ve worked hard over the last several months to modernize our employment standards program.

Here’s a snapshot of some of the initiatives and actions we’ve taken. We have a two-step investigation process where claims are streamed for early resolution and parties are given an opportunity to resolve the issue. We’ve increased outreach, education, enforcement and prosecution. We’ve also introduced a number of online tools that are going to help employers and employees better understand the act, which helps us resolve the claims faster. About 450,000 people have used these tools since they were launched.

In short, we’re reducing the number of claims by increasing awareness and reaching out to employers and employees. We will continue to work on behalf of Ontario employees to ensure that their employment standards rights are protected.

PUBLIC TRANSIT

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Newmarket–Aurora.

Mr. Frank Klees: Speaker, congratulations on your election.

Applause.

Mr. Frank Klees: I’m assuming you’ll grant me the appropriate time for my question.

In Tuesday’s throne speech, the government stated that Ontario families “need to know that their government is there for them.” The residents and business community of York region will be interested to know if that commitment extends to them as they struggle with the personal and economic hardships of a transit strike that is now in its fifth week in York region and far from any sense of a resolution.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): To which minister, please?

Mr. Frank Klees: This is to the Deputy Premier.

Seniors can’t get to medical appointments, students can’t get to classes, and jobs are being lost.

I ask the Deputy Premier, can the residents and the business community of York region count on him and his government to support the back-to-work legislation that will be voted on this afternoon?

Hon. Dwight Duncan: To the Minister of Labour.

Hon. Linda Jeffrey: I’m certainly sympathetic to the York region residents who have been affected by this work stoppage. We understand that transit strikes are inconvenient to residents who need to get to work, school and medical appointments.

As a government, we believe in collective bargaining. We encourage the employer and the employees of the union to return to the table. We share the same desire that the member does to get back to the table and to have our transit service up and running again.

In fact, in the early weeks I reached out to the members from Thornhill, York–Simcoe and Newmarket–Aurora to offer my assistance. We have mediators that are standing by. They’re very successful, and I would encourage the parties to get back to the table.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Frank Klees: Speaker, it took this government less than 48 hours to pass back-to-work legislation when the TTC was on strike here in the city of Toronto. Earlier this year, this government—the Deputy Premier and the Minister of Labour included—voted for Bill 150, which ensured that fair negotiations and a settlement would take place and would ensure that no future disruption of transit services would take place in the city of Toronto. The people of York region—the residents and business community—deserve nothing less.

I would like to know once again from the Deputy Premier, from the Minister of Labour, will she agree, will this government agree, to treat York region’s residents and business community with the same fairness and consideration as they treat the city of Toronto and pass that legislation when it’s voted on in this House later this afternoon?

Hon. Linda Jeffrey: Certainly, for the sake of the community and the families who rely on York transit, we urge the parties to come back to the table. I believe all parties around the table want those parties to come back to have the conversation, and that’s why our Ministry of Labour negotiators, our mediators, are available. They have a good track record. They usually help get these issues resolved. We want to make sure that happens. We understand that the York dispute is an inconvenience; we’re very sympathetic. Again, we offer our assistance. Our mediators are standing by. They want to be helpful.

For the sake of the community and the families who rely on the transit, we urge the parties to get back to the table. Certainly, we want to make that happen, and our services are available at any time.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): There are no deferred votes. This House is in recess until 1 p.m.

The House recessed from 1140 to 1300.

ESTIMATES

Hon. John Milloy: Mr. Speaker, I have a message from the Honourable David C. Onley, the Lieutenant Governor, signed by his own hand.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The Lieutenant Governor transmits estimates of certain sums required for the services of the province for the year ending March 31, 2012, and recommends them to the Legislative Assembly—Toronto, November 23, 2011.

INTRODUCTION OF VISITORS

Mr. Robert Bailey: It’s my great privilege to take this opportunity to welcome to Queen’s Park some very special guests who are in attendance today to support the introduction of the Ontario One Call Act.

In the west members’ gallery, from the Ontario Regional Common Ground Alliance, is Jim Douglas; from Avertex Utility, Bob McKee; from the city of Toronto, Gord MacMillan; from Union Gas, Matthew Gibson, Paul Ungerman, Laura Whitwham, Chris Chetley, Peter Koepfgen, Octavian Ghiricociu and Joe McCartney; and from Enbridge, Matthew Jackson, Sean Bolan, Grant Kilpatrick, Greg Knopinski and Ophir Wainer. Thank you, and welcome.

MEMBERS’ STATEMENTS

BRENT MCKAGUE /

TAMMY FISCHER

Ms. Lisa M. Thompson: I rise today to congratulate and recognize two outstanding individuals and award winners from my riding of Huron–Bruce. Actually, they’re from my hometown of Teeswater as well, so we have a theme going here today.

Last Friday, Brent McKague, better known to his family and friends as “Chief,” was awarded the Junior Manufacturer of the Year Award at the 2011 Huron Manufacturing Excellence Awards.

Brent graduated from Fanshawe College with a degree in mechanical engineering technology. Since Brent joined R&R Machine and Tool Inc., the company has been able to use his expertise to develop a progressive die that his company was able to manufacture for Andex Metal Products.

Brent was happy to return home and work for a small business in rural Ontario where he grew up. Incidentally, some of you may have visited his home farm, as the McKague family hosted the 2008 International Plowing Match.

Secondly, Tammy Fischer was named winner of the Canadian Young Speakers for Agriculture at this year’s Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. Tammy won first place in the senior competition for her speech outlining the top five facts about farming that every Canadian should know.

I want to recognize both Tammy and Brent as community leaders. They are the future of our manufacturing and agriculture sectors. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

SECOND CHANCE PET NETWORK

Ms. Sarah Campbell: I rise today to recognize Second Chance Pet Network, a regional animal welfare organization that provides outstanding services to many communities throughout my riding of Kenora–Rainy River.

Second Chance was founded in 2009. With no animal rescue organizations servicing many of the communities in my riding, the volunteers throughout the district came together to find a solution. Within months, they had already spearheaded a progressive trap, spay and neuter program for feral cats, offered low-cost spay and neuter programs, and created a pet food bank to help low-income families with pets, while offering adoption services out of a pet supply store before they were able to finance their own storefront location. Volunteers even took over municipal pet adoption duties to help improve the coordination of animal control and adoption services.

Earlier this year, Second Chance broke ground on a permanent building, using donations and corporate grants to create a permanent solution to these issues.

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate them for their efforts and offer my sincere hope that this government will see the value in the work that organizations like Second Chance do, and that the government will soon offer some sustainable funding to help them and other animal welfare service providers across the province so that they can continue to provide these important services.

ST. JOHN’S REHAB HOSPITAL

Mr. David Zimmer: Speaker, I am happy to rise to tell you about something that’s happening in Willowdale at St. John’s Rehab Hospital. The hospital has been in existence since 1937. It was founded by the Sisterhood of St. John the Divine. The hospital has pioneered an important level of care as the first hospital in the GTA to specialize in rehabilitation.

In particular, on November 3 I was there with Minister Matthews, and we celebrated the grand opening of the John C. and Sally Horsfall Eaton Centre for Ambulatory Care. The province contributed $35 million. Mrs. Eaton contributed $5 million to the project and for ongoing research in the field of rehabilitation.

The hospital continues to respond to the needs of the community. It has become important in the future of our health care here in Ontario. It does rehabilitation work with patients suffering from strokes, cancer, cardiac arrest and a host of other issues.

I want to say a very sincere thank you to everybody who participated in getting this project up and running, especially the private donors. It is a recognition of the importance of St. John’s in our health care system in Ontario. It’s one of the jewels in the crown of my riding of Willowdale.

AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Northumberland–Quinte West.

Mr. Jeff Yurek: The one beside it.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Oh, the other guy.

Mr. Jeff Yurek: Elgin–Middlesex–London.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Yes. I’m looking at the wrong one. Elgin-Middlesex.

Mr. Jeff Yurek: Thank you, Speaker, and congratulations on your election, and congratulations to the members on re-election and election.

I’m proud to serve the residents of Elgin–Middlesex–London. On their behalf, I take exception to how the government is portraying the auto sector. This government would lead you to believe that the auto sector is strong and growing. It’s simply not true. Three factories in my riding have closed in the last two years—two in the last month. Sterling, Ford and Lear, which alone contributed 6,000 jobs at their peak, have now left our local economy. These are not examples of a strong, growing auto sector. These effects ripple through local economies. The closure of Ford alone has taken away 25% of the tax assessment of the municipality of Southwold.

We need the government to take off their rose-coloured glasses and see the real, true picture of how their economic policies are hurting rural Ontario. The auto sector is failing. The government is failing rural Ontario, and the government is failing the residents of Elgin–Middlesex–London.

EVENTS IN TIBET

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Parkdale–High Park.

Ms. Cheri DiNovo: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I want to extend my congratulations to you and to all the members of the House who have been re-elected.

I stand today to bring your attention to an appalling human tragedy. I sent out a letter to all members about the situation in Tibet on behalf of the Ontario Parliamentary Friends of Tibet, which is a sister organization of the Parliamentary Friends of Tibet in Ottawa.

Since March, 11 young Tibetans in Tibet have self-immolated—set themselves on fire—nine in the last month, and at least six have died, including two nuns.

This grows out of the increasing repression against Tibetans and particularly against a monastery, one of the largest, called Kirti Monastery, in Ngaba. I ask that all members go to the website and sign a petition.

So far in the last three weeks, 600,000 people around the world have signed this petition, standing along with His Holiness the Dalai Lama to call for an end to this repression of religion, particularly the Buddhist religion, in Tibet and of Tibetans generally, many of whom have been incarcerated. Many seniors have been beaten to death. The deaths continue, and the world isn’t watching. We want the world to watch. We want the world to know.

It has been said that unless you stand with the oppressed, you stand with the oppressor. Here’s a chance for every member in this House to stand with the oppressed, to stand up and ask for our national governments to do the same, to stand for human rights and to say so loudly and proudly on behalf of those who are not getting a voice.

This is spreading. There are another 40 Tibetans waiting to self-immolate as we speak. The deaths will continue until we, as citizens in a democracy, do something about it.

I urge you: Please go to standupfortibet.org, sign your name, get involved, get active. I also invite you all to join the Ontario Parliamentary Friends of Tibet.

DIABETES AWARENESS MONTH

Mr. Bas Balkissoon: November is Diabetes Awareness Month and November 14 is World Diabetes Day.

Ninety years ago, Canada gave the life-saving gift of insulin to the world. World Diabetes Day, especially this year, is an opportunity for Canadians to come together and celebrate this important discovery. Today 1,169,000 people in Ontario have been diagnosed with either type 1 or type 2 diabetes, representing approximately 8.3% of the population. This number is expected to continue to grow, resulting in not only a personal crisis for people with the disease but also a tremendous financial burden on the Ontario health care system and our economy.

By ensuring that people with diabetes receive the support they need to manage their illness, we are ensuring a sustainable future for all Ontarians.

I ask the members of this Legislature to join me in commemorating national Diabetes Awareness Month and World Diabetes Day.

PUBLIC TRANSIT

Mrs. Julia Munro: Mr. Speaker, congratulations to you on your being the Speaker.

I want to send a message. The people of York region who depend on public transit have one message for this government: They have had enough of the transit strike and they want it to end. They have had enough of being victims without anyone listening to them. They have had enough of taking cabs to get to work, missing appointments and, for some, missing school.

They want someone to listen. I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, that our party is listening and we are acting. I am very proud that my friend and colleague the member for Thornhill has introduced a bill to end this strike through arbitration and to make transit in York region an essential service just like this government did for Toronto, because our constituents deserve the same consideration and the same respect as people in the city of Toronto.

I wonder if the Liberal members from York region will stand up for their constituents and vote to end the strike. Will they speak out for the thousands of people in their ridings who depend on transit, or will they remain the silent four?

EDUCATION FUNDING

Mr. Joe Dickson: Mr. Speaker, all residents of Ajax and Pickering congratulate you and every person elected to this special House who are here.

Generations of Ontarians have worked together in good times and bad to build this great province. But the McGuinty government recognizes that the next generation will face even bigger challenges and, in an increasingly competitive global economy, those jurisdictions that make the smartest investments in education will have the edge.

I’m proud of the commitment our government has shown to prepare our children for this new marketplace of ideas. Since 2003, Ontario’s investment in education has grown substantially and our students haven’t lost a single teaching hour to labour action. Now more of our students are graduating from high school and more of our students are doing better in reading, writing and mathematics. It’s clear that our commitment to education is paying bigger dividends far into the future.

But it takes all Ontarians working together to build a best future workforce. In particular, the contribution made by Ontario teachers is crucial to ensuring our children realize their fullest potential. Teachers have been entrusted with a vital task, and with hard work, dedication and genuine passion, they are preparing our next generation of good citizens and global workers.

A great teacher can inspire students to do great things, and I see an enormous number of great teachers in our province. So I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ontario’s teachers for all the work that they do in helping us to secure our province’s continued leadership and prosperity.

RM AUTO RESTORATION

AND RM CLASSIC CARS

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Chatham–Kent–Essex.

Mr. Rick Nicholls: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I wish to congratulate you on your recent appointment as our Speaker.

Mr. Speaker, as every member of this House is aware, the entrepreneurial spirit of Ontario businesses burns strong, despite continued neglect by their government.

I rise today to pay tribute to a business that has proudly bucked the trend that has plagued far too many Ontario automobile businesses, to become a world-renowned leader in the automotive field.

RM Auto Restoration and RM Classic Cars is a company headquartered in my riding, Chatham–Kent–Essex, with a strong 35-year history of providing the highest-quality automobiles to customers around the world—that includes Jay Leno, by the way—and continuing to offer quality employment here in Ontario.

Founded as a small, single-car garage in 1976, this small business has grown into the world’s largest auction house for quality automobiles. RM proudly holds four of the top five all-time records for motor cars sold at auctions, and year after year, RM Auto Restoration’s work garners international awards and accolades across the globe.

Owners Rob Myers, Mike Fairbairn and Dan Warrener are solid corporate citizens who are using their business success to revitalize the downtown core of Chatham. Earlier this month, they were recognized by the Chatham-Kent Community Foundation for their outstanding contributions to the community.

Mr. Speaker, as a business owner myself, I understand how difficult it is to be an entrepreneur in Ontario today. I want to offer my congratulations to these outstanding entrepreneurs and pillars of the community from my riding of Chatham–Kent–Essex.

COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP

Mr. Randy Hillier: Mr. Speaker, on a point of privilege: Today, private members’ business will be debated, and many of those bills may pass second reading today. However, those movers will be asked to refer a bill to a committee that has not yet been duly constituted by this House. Under these conditions, we are in fact demanding the members to make uninformed decisions without the requisite knowledge or legislative approval. This invariably will be detrimental and may prejudice the members in their further discussions on their private members’ business. This clearly disadvantages all members of this House.

The introduction of bills without an approved motion to populate the legislative committees, in my view, constitutes a breach of privilege and demonstrates a level of neglect for both the members of the Legislative Assembly and their constituents.

The government appears to not have regard for the importance of having our committees duly constituted in a timely fashion so that members can knowledgeably refer their private members’ bills and motions to an appropriate committee at the time of second reading. As of today, the government has not yet brought a motion to populate the legislative committees with members of this House.

One of the things new members are often told upon coming into this Legislature is that much of the work of the Legislature is done not in the House but in committees. Committees are a crucial and essential component of our parliamentary system. Committees are, in fact, due process of the legislative system. Members are not able to do their work nor serve their constituents properly until committees are duly constituted by this House.

Speaker, I understand that in the standing orders the government does have 10 days to constitute those committees. However, this is also a minority government, and unlike in a majority government, where the population of the committees may not be that important at a time when the government is in control of those committees, in a minority Parliament it is indeed fundamental that these committees are populated promptly.

Speaker, due to the urgency of this matter, as members are preparing for second reading of their bills and in the absence of a motion to duly constitute the standing committees of this House, I believe that this matter constitutes a matter of privilege, and I would ask you to rule upon this. Thank you.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I want to thank the member for submitting the written portion of his discussion for my consideration, so I shall rule. The issue raised by the member from Lanark–Frontenac–Lennox and Addington has, in fact, been a matter for recent discussion among those around this place who have a role or interest in the business of the House.

First, what the member raises is more appropriately a point of order, not a point of privilege, so I will address it as such. Standing order 108 provides for the appointment of the membership of the committees within the first 10 sessional days of Parliament. Today is, of course, only the fourth day of this new Parliament, and so the member simply does not have a valid point of order.

However, let me address the issue in a little more detail for the member. The committees of this Legislature, and there are nine of them provided for in the standing orders, exist as permanent bodies by virtue of their continuing orders of reference in standing order 108. Without membership, however, the committees are obviously unable to perform any work. As mentioned, though, the House has given itself 10 days to assign members to its committees.

As permanent subordinate bodies of the Legislature, the committees are able to receive referrals of bills and other matters, as the House sees fit to make, whether or not the committee membership has been struck. Indeed, the very structure of the standing orders contemplates that this can happen in that the House can consider business during its first 10 sitting days that could result in a referral to one of its committees. If it does, such a committee is fully eligible to receive business from the House, even without presently having members assigned to it at this time. Its members, once appointed, will simply inherit the agenda items that preceded them to the committee.

As the member has pointed out, this could even happen today in private members’ business. I would point out that in fact this has already happened today. A few moments ago, the Minister of Finance tabled the 2011-12 estimates. Upon being tabled, they have been referred to the Standing Committee on Estimates by virtue of standing order 59. This is perfectly in order, as would be the scenario that the member has raised.

I thank the member for his presentation.

INTRODUCTION OF BILLS

YORK REGION TRANSIT LABOUR

DISPUTES RESOLUTION ACT, 2011 /

LOI DE 2011 SUR LE RÈGLEMENT

DES CONFLITS DE TRAVAIL

AU SEIN DES SERVICES

DE TRANSPORT EN COMMUN

DE LA RÉGION DE YORK

Mr. Shurman moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 7,

An Act to provide for the resolution of labour disputes involving companies that provide public transit services to The Regional Municipality of York / Projet de loi 7, Loi prévoyant le règlement des conflits de travail au sein des entreprises qui fournissent des services de transport en commun dans la municipalité régionale de York.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.

First reading agreed to.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member for a short statement.

Mr. Peter Shurman: Thank you, Speaker. This bill, to be debated this afternoon, seeks to end a labour dispute that has gone on for five weeks in York region and to declare transit an essential service in that region.

ONTARIO ONE CALL ACT, 2011 /

LOI DE 2011 SUR ONTARIO ONE CALL

Mr. Bailey moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 8,

An Act respecting Ontario One Call Ltd. / Projet de loi 8,

Loi sur Ontario One Call Ltd.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.

First reading agreed to.

The Speaker