role="main" class="main-container container js-quickedit-main-content" id="main-content">

May 30, 2019

42nd Parliament, 1st Session

< Previous sitting day

Next sitting day >

Hansard Transcripts

vol. A

Hansard Transcripts

vol. B

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2019-May-30 vol. A (PDF)

L112A - Thu 30 May 2019 / Jeu 30 mai 2019

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Thursday 30 May 2019 Jeudi 30 mai 2019

Orders of the Day

Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Amendment Act (Interim Period), 2019 / Loi de 2019 modifiant la

Loi sur la Société de protection des animaux de l’Ontario (période intermédiaire)

Introduction of Visitors

Wearing of carnations

Wearing of pins

Oral Questions

Education funding

Health care funding

Fire in Pikangikum

Government policies

Government contracts

Autism treatment

Autism treatment

Consumer protection

Government fiscal policies

Victims of crime

Mining industry

Invasive species

Broadband infrastructure

Children’s services

Visitors

Introduction of Visitors

Members’ Statements

Arts and cultural funding

Pediatric palliative care

Community Care St. Catharines and Thorold

Anniversary of Sikh massacre

Motions

House sittings

Petitions

Celiac disease

Public health

e-Learning

Legal aid

Student safety

Library services

Fish and wildlife management

Library services

Toronto Transit Commission

Long-term care

Private Members’ Public Business

Planning Amendment Act, 2019 / Loi de 2019 modifiant la

Loi sur l’aménagement du territoire

Nancy Rose Act (Paediatric Hospice Palliative Care Strategy), 2019 / Loi Nancy Rose de 2019 (stratégie des soins palliatifs pédiatriques)

Planning Amendment Act, 2019 / Loi de 2019 modifiant la

Loi sur l’aménagement du territoire

Nancy Rose Act (Paediatric Hospice Palliative Care Strategy), 2019 / Loi Nancy Rose de 2019 (stratégie des soins palliatifs pédiatriques)

The House met at 0900.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Let us pray.

Prayers/Prières.

Orders of the Day

Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Amendment Act (Interim Period), 2019 / Loi de 2019 modifiant la

Loi sur la Société de protection des animaux de l’Ontario (période intermédiaire)

Ms. Jones moved second reading of the following bill:

Bill 117,

An Act to amend the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act / Projet de loi 117, Loi modifiant la

Loi sur la Société de protection des animaux de l’Ontario.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I’m pleased to recognize the Solicitor General to lead off debate.

Hon. Sylvia Jones: I would like to start off by saying that I will be sharing my time with the Minister of Agriculture as well as the members for Brampton South and Perth–Wellington.

I am pleased to lead off debate on Bill 117. For anyone who has had the 30 seconds that it will take to read the amended 117, this is clearly an interim measure. But it is a measure, nonetheless, that we need to be taking as a government.

I really want to begin by thanking some members of my staff and the OPS who basically worked for the last week on these changes: Deputy Minister Mario Di Tommaso, Ady Ibarguchi, Michelle Astill, Stephen Beckett, Debbie Conrad, Brian Loewen and John Malichen-Snyder. There is no doubt in my mind that I work with some of the most talented and engaged individuals in this ministry, and it is a constant and daily pleasure to have their expertise assist us in our government.

I’m proud to begin second reading debate of Bill 117. It is estimated that over 60% of Canadian households have a pet. In our homes, animals offer us friendship and companionship. They are treasured members of our families. In zoos and aquariums, animals help to open the minds of children, expose us to the larger world and introduce us to the greater natural diversity of our planet.

For all that they give us, we must give back. We do that by making sure we have laws in place to protect them from abuse and neglect, and to hold accountable people who do not properly look after animals under their care. Animals cannot speak for themselves, so we must speak for them.

As many of you are aware, after 100 years of enforcing animal welfare laws in the province, the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has informed the government that it will no longer continue the role past June 28, 2019. Despite repeated attempts by my ministry to convince them to continue this vital animal protection role until our government has a new animal protection framework in place, the OSPCA has refused, leaving animals vulnerable, and animal welfare organizations powerless to protect them.

While several other partners currently play a role in the enforcement of animal welfare laws, the OSPCA in its current form only enables inspectors of the OSPCA, its affiliates and, in limited circumstances, police officers to exercise the powers and authorities of inspectors under the act.

My parliamentary assistant, the honourable member from Brampton South, will provide additional details of Bill 117 later on, but I would like to provide an overview of these amendments, share some of the feedback our government has already received from animal welfare organizations, and outline our path forward.

First, I’d like to provide the honourable members with a snapshot of animal enforcement in the province of Ontario. Enforcement of animal welfare legislation links to many complex issues. In addition to animal abuse and cruelty, an animal welfare situation can involve links to mental health, hoarding, domestic violence, puppy mills, pets in care, dogfighting and cockfighting, and other criminal acts, to name a few. That is why many partners are currently involved in animal welfare in the province, and that is why a model that has been in place for over 100 years cannot be replaced overnight.

The Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals currently provides coverage to approximately one third of Ontario. We know that there is a lot of room for improvement in the current legislation. We are developing a new, permanent model to ensure that appropriate measures are in place to provide animals and their owners with the protections they deserve and that the people of Ontario expect. Our goal is an approach that is transparent and accountable, and ultimately improves the animal welfare system across Ontario.

In order to develop the new model, we are consulting with many partners and with the people of Ontario. On April 8 of this year, my ministry began surveying municipalities, local service boards, municipal police services, First Nations police services and the OPP. That survey ended at the end of April, and the results are being analyzed carefully, to inform our new model. In addition, consultations will continue with policing partners and municipalities over the next weeks and months.

We are also consulting the agricultural industry, veterinary organizations, advocacy stakeholders and other animal welfare organizations. We are also looking at models that may be working in other jurisdictions.

The consultations are further highlighting the complexity of the issues that the new model must respond to, and the need for continued work and consultation with these partners to ensure that the new permanent model achieves our goals.

We are also seeking public feedback through an online survey, to ensure that the people of Ontario have the opportunity to share their thoughts to help improve animal protection. That survey closes next week, but I’ll return to that.

Today, we are proposing an interim approach to ensure animal welfare enforcement can continue in Ontario beginning the morning of June 29, the day the OSPCA plans to completely withdraw from their enforcement role.

How did we arrive at this point? In January, a Superior Court justice struck down law enforcement provisions of the OSPCA Act due to lack of oversight, transparency and accountability, but suspended his ruling for a year so that the animals would continue to be protected.

On March 4, the OSPCA told my ministry that it would no longer enforce the OSPCA Act as of April 1 of this year. This was later extended to June 28, but with some exceptions. The OSPCA also indicated to the ministry that they would no longer be enforcing in relation to livestock and horses as of April 1. On March 26, I wrote to the OSPCA and asked that they continue to enforce animal welfare laws until the government introduces a new animal welfare enforcement model. The OSPCA, unfortunately, refused. This means that for the first time in a century, the agents who are responsible for animal welfare will no longer enforce the laws that protect animals.

After hearing from many affiliates that they have had a strong interest in continuing the role of enforcing animal welfare laws in their communities, our government acted to enable them to do so. On May 17, as many of you will know, I filed regulation 59/09, which allowed local humane societies that want to continue enforcing animal cruelty legislation to continue in that role as we transition to a new model. It required the chief inspector of the OSPCA to appoint certain employees of the OSPCA affiliates as inspectors under the OSPCA Act.

Unfortunately, the OSPCA leadership indicated their intention to be in contravention of the act by refusing to have a chief inspector in place. The OSPCA Act expressly states, “The society shall appoint an employee of the society as the chief inspector.”

This is extremely disappointing and, frankly, puts animals in harm’s way. Their decision has the effect of tying the government’s hands. Bill 117 is a way of untying them. If passed by this House, these amendments would create special provisions during the interim period that would enable me to appoint a chief inspector who would no longer have to be an employee of the OSPCA, empower the chief inspector to appoint any person as an inspector under the act, and allow me to prescribe a class of persons who may exercise the powers of inspector.

These amendments are a bridge between the existing OSPCA Act and a new, permanent animal welfare enforcement model that our government plans to introduce later this year. They are, in fact, what a number of local humane societies have been asking for so that they can continue their important enforcement role during this transition period.

Let me share a bit of what we’ve been hearing since introducing the proposed Bill 117 on Monday.

From Humane Canada: “Humane Canada is pleased to see [the Solicitor General] introduce legislation to protect our animals’ safety in the interim as we develop robust animal protection legislation that provides transparency and accountability.”

From the Windsor/Essex County Humane Society: “We are very pleased at the government’s efforts to ensure that an effective transition plan is in place for the remainder of the year to protect Ontario’s animals. Our organization looks forward to working with others to create a new animal welfare and law enforcement structure in Ontario that will be a model for other jurisdictions.... We appreciate the government’s willingness to take the steps needed to make this smoother transition possible.”

From the Lincoln County Humane Society: “Bill 117 will enable the province to appoint a chief inspector who will empower humane society inspectors to continue their vital work to protect Ontario’s animals. The expertise of this specialized group of inspectors brings specific skills that benefit animals.... As the Ford government provides leadership on this important issue and continues to move forward for protection of Ontario’s most vulnerable creatures, we stand alongside our government.”

From Adrienne McBride, executive director of the Guelph Humane Society: “The Guelph Humane Society is one of the affiliated humane societies that has willingly stepped forward to offer our continued assistance as the province works towards a new permanent enforcement model ... Bill 117, which, if passed, would enable our organization to continue the enforcement work it is already doing to protect animals in Guelph and Wellington county. This temporary legislative measure will keep animals safe in the interim.”

From the Humane Society of London and Middlesex: “This temporary legislative measure ... will allow the provincial government the appropriate time to build a more robust, transparent and accountable animal protection system in Ontario.”

From the Hamilton/Burlington Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals: “The Hamilton/Burlington SPCA is ready to continue serving” our “community through animal protection, enforcement and investigation services as the province works toward a new, permanent enforcement model.”

From Kathrin Delutis, executive director of the Humane Society of Kitchener-Waterloo and Stratford-Perth: “The Humane Society of Kitchener-Waterloo and Stratford-Perth is one of the affiliated humane societies that has stepped forward to offer our continued assistance as the province works towards a new, permanent model.

“Our board of directors has been very clear that we want to continue to provide animal protection in our community. We have been providing this service for many years in Waterloo region”—with the exception of Cambridge—“and Perth county, and are committed to ensuring that the animals who don’t have a voice have the care and protection they need while a more robust, transparent and accountable animal protection system can be developed for Ontario.”

I’m not quoting from all of these local humane societies in an attempt to pat myself on the back. This is about reacting and responding to what local humane societies have asked for and have proactively reached out and said: “Notwithstanding what the head office of OSPCA is talking to you about, we want to continue animal protection and enforcement in our communities.” So I acknowledge and thank them for their proactive approach, and I want to ensure that we have the legislation to allow them to do that.

Our government won’t allow one person or one organization to block efforts to allow willing local humane societies to help reduce harm and minimize gaps in enforcement. Our proposed amendments, if passed, will allow these organizations and many more affiliates to continue the important enforcement work that they’ve already been doing for many years. If passed, these amendments are the best option to protect animals through this interim period by giving the province greater flexibility to enable local humane societies, prescribed enforcement entities, and potentially others, if necessary, the ability to deliver enforcement of animal welfare laws.

I stress that this is a temporary solution that will help to fill the gaps while we build a new, permanent enforcement model and develop a legislative framework for the future. Animal welfare is complex. Its stakeholders range from veterinarians, pet owners and animal advocacy groups to livestock farmers. We are talking to all of these groups and more, as well as municipalities and police services. For the sake and safety of our animals, I am not going to rush the new long-term model. The stakes are too high. We will take the time that is needed to get the new model right. That includes making sure that the people have their say.

While work is under way to develop a better long-term system, we are seeking public feedback through an online survey to ensure the people of Ontario have an opportunity to share their thoughts to help improve animal protection. I am proud to report that we have already received 6,000 responses in the first three days. We are now close to 11,000 submissions, with another week to go before the survey closes on June 6.

Such a high response rate clearly demonstrates the public interest in animal welfare, and we are listening. I would like to provide a small sampling of those responses.

“It is critical that the government make animal welfare and animal control a priority in this province. Please make this a priority and do the right thing to put in place measures that provide strong protection for animals.”

“There needs to be clear guidelines and laws in place for the protection of animal welfare.”

“Animal welfare is extremely important in Ontario, and the new regulations need to provide a clear and simple pathway for reporting abuse and protecting animals.”

I want to assure the people that this feedback will go directly into shaping Ontario’s new, permanent animal welfare enforcement model, and I encourage everyone who has not yet done so to have their say by going to www.ontario.ca/protecting-ontarios-animals.

Allowing animals to go unprotected is simply unacceptable to our government. We can all agree that protecting animals is important to the people and is important to their government. Since this government was elected, we have clearly stated that the animal protection enforcement system across this province can be and will be made better, and we are taking action to do so. Bill 117 is the first step along that path.

Interjections.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Jennifer K. French): Order.

I recognize the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Hon. Ernie Hardeman: Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. I’m pleased to rise today to speak to this very important piece of legislation that intimately impacts those in our agricultural communities here in Ontario.

First, I’d like to recognize the hard work of the Solicitor General and her entire ministry in working swiftly yet thoroughly to make sure that absolutely no animal welfare cases fall through the cracks during this period of transition, as we develop a new animal protection system in Ontario. We appreciate her leadership on this important issue.

Our government takes animal welfare very seriously. Following the withdrawal of the OSPCA from enforcement of livestock and equine cases, our government acted quickly to ensure that all livestock and equine welfare cases were directed to the local police authorities across the province. My ministry and our farm organizations continue to provide expertise to police authorities, as needed, in partnership with our local veterinarians.

This was not an easy decision to make during this transition. Our government has worked with the OSPCA for over a century and the OSPCA has always assumed a role of care and protection of animals. Their withdrawal from enforcement of livestock and equine cases put our government in a difficult position, leaving the enforcement to local police authorities to assume this role in the meantime.

We are extremely grateful to the local enforcement authorities in partnership with OMAFRA and local veterinarians, who have filled in the gaps of the OSPCA withdrawal and are working to understand the complex nature of farming and standards of care for livestock.

Our government is currently developing a new animal protection model that better protects animals and livestock across the province. We have an opportunity to improve the current broken system. It must be more robust, more transparent, more accountable, and must put animal welfare first. The OSPCA chose to abdicate their responsibility of the enforcement of livestock and equine cases, ending over a century of shared partnership with the province.

While it has left our government in a difficult position, this is our opportunity to create a system that better protects all animals and better understands the unique standards of care that are applicable to livestock and equine animals, not just domestic pets.

Madam Speaker, our farmers are already world leaders in maintaining the highest standards of animal care. They rely on the welfare of their animals to make a living, just like they rely on taking sustainable care of the land and the environment where their animals thrive, to continue making a living for generations. Anyone who has talked to a farmer about their animals can see how much they care about them, their health and well-being.

Farmers and farm organizations are committed to the humane treatment of all animals—livestock, poultry, equine, domestic pets and wildlife. Ontario’s farm organizations continue to uphold high standards of care in line with codes of practice and normal farming activities. However, I have seen some unfortunate circumstances where, in cases of animal neglect, mental health is a contributing factor as to why individuals can struggle with taking proper care of their animals.

When people struggle with their own internal battles, often ashamed to ask for help or speak up about their problems, these struggles are often reflected in relationships with others in their lives, including how they take care of their animals and livestock. Taking care of one’s self is important and necessary to be able to take care of others, and this includes how farmers handle their livestock.

I’ve heard from farm organizations that having memorandums of understanding with livestock groups is a critical part to maintaining and improving animal care. Our farm organizations want to be part of the discussion and they want to be part of the solution. Livestock groups help to foster co-operation between the animal protection enforcer and the farmer. This is especially important in cases where mental health issues are also in question. Our farm groups want to help make sure that the well-being of farm animals is not compromised and that farmers have the support they need to succeed.

The need to address farmers’ well-being is why I have launched a public awareness campaign to highlight mental health challenges suffered by those in the farming community and to encourage people to ask for help. As part of the campaign, I’ve held a series of round tables with members of the agricultural community to encourage open dialogue and to discuss how we can highlight the resources available for people in need, and to break the stigma around asking for help.

Combating mental health and addictions issues is one of our government’s top priorities, and that is why we are investing $1.9 billion in mental health and addictions support. Understanding the needs of our farmers to better support them in their well-being is reflected in the well-being of their livestock and businesses, in return.

While our government does more to address mental health issues across Ontario, we’ll also be tackling the important need to update and modernize our animal welfare laws. The Ministry of the Solicitor General is currently consulting to help inform the design of a more robust animal protection enforcement system for Ontario. The consultation process to create new legislation and understand what our farmers need in terms of support is critical for generating public understanding of what normal farming practices and standards of care are for livestock.

We have been very proactive in making sure that our livestock organizations and stakeholders are engaged and participating in the public online survey, which is open until June 6 of this year, to provide feedback related to reporting and enforcement of animal welfare complaints.

I want to commend the Solicitor General for taking time to go to Guelph to meet with agricultural leaders. I know they appreciated the opportunity to provide input, and I want to commend our agricultural organizations for taking the time to put forward detailed, thoughtful proposals to help develop a new animal protection model for Ontario. Our sector deals with some unique challenges, such as biosecurity, and inspectors need to understand these issues to ensure they do not put our animals at risk.

Consulting with our farmers and those who understand these details intimately is exactly what our government is doing as part of the process in creating the new animal welfare system. We know that a one-size-fits-all formula does not work for different kinds of animals. Standards of care for each group of livestock are so intricate and unique from one group to another, and this cannot be equated to proper standards of care for domestic pets. Our goal is to take these differences into consideration when creating new legislation and make sure the proper protection, education and understanding is in place for each group.

Our government was elected on a mandate of fixing 15 years of mess left by the previous Liberal government. This includes an opportunity to create a new animal welfare system, where our government has long maintained that the system needs change and can be more robust. It needs to protect animals in rural Ontario as effectively as it protects animals in downtown Toronto.

I want to commend the farm organizations and livestock groups for their work to identify what works and what doesn’t, and the opportunities to strengthen and improve the system. Farm groups play an important role in upholding animal welfare, establishing strong codes of practice, working to ensure that all farmers meet those codes of practice, and providing expertise when requested.

On January 1, Ontario Superior Court Justice Timothy Minnema ruled that it is not constitutional for the province to give private charities the policing powers of animal cruelty enforcement without government oversight to ensure accountability and transparency.

He said, “Although charged with law enforcement responsibilities, the OSPCA is opaque, insular, unaccountable, and potentially subject to external influence, and as such Ontarians cannot be confident that the laws it enforces will be fairly and impartially administered.” He continued to say, “The OSPCA appears to be an organization that operates in a way that is shielded from public view while at the same time fulfilling clearly public functions.”

This is exactly the problem that our government is looking to fix as part of the consultation process with livestock groups, legal experts, police authorities and many other stakeholders. Our government was elected to restore accountability and trust in government, and this includes restoring accountability and transparency within the animal protection system. A comprehensive animal review system administered by government and paid for by the taxpayer must be transparent and accountable to the people and the governing body that administers it.

As we work to consult and to create a new animal protection system in Ontario, our government is proposing a solution to work with the local OSPCA affiliates that are willing and able to continue operating during this transition period.

The OSPCA has been a government partner for over a century, and it will not be a quick fix or a one-size-fits-all formula to develop a new animal welfare system that oversees a variety of animals across the province, with new accountability and transparency measures.

We are grateful that the local affiliates have come forward, offering to assist in the meantime, and we want to empower them to make sure that absolutely no cases fall through the cracks as we work to create a better and improved system for Ontario. This piece of legislation does exactly that. We want to make sure that all willing and able affiliates have proper guidance and leadership from the chief inspector, and that they have access to the appropriate resources and tools they need to continue operating in the interim.

I hope the members opposite understand the urgency of this issue and will support us in voting in favour of this legislation.

Thank you very much, Madam Speaker, for allowing me this opportunity to speak to this important bill.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Jennifer K. French): I recognize the member from Brampton South.

Mr. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: Thank you very much, Madam Speaker, and good morning to everyone.

I’m very proud to be speaking in support of our government’s proposed amendments to the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. This is a very important piece of legislation.

I want to start my remarks by thanking the Solicitor General for all of her hard work on this piece of legislation. This is something that the ministry has been working on for quite some time now. Obviously, we know that throughout the past couple of months, the situation has changed. It’s great to see a minister be so proactive, and the ministry and the entire team be so proactive, on an issue that is so important to so many individuals across this province—almost every single Ontarian.

I had the opportunity last week, during my constit week, to also participate in some of the consultations. I had a chance to visit my colleague Jill Dunlop in her riding, and we got a chance to sit with many different stakeholders within the industry. It was a great hour and a half that we spent with all of these stakeholders. They all had a different view, or they all had a different perspective, that they were able to add to the lens from which we need to tackle animal welfare legislation. That was a great opportunity.

We also had some fun. I got a chance to ride on a horse, thanks to Jill, and the horse was okay after.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Jennifer K. French): I hate to interrupt. A reminder to all members that we refer to members by their riding or their title. Thank you.

Mr. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: My apologies, Madam Speaker. My colleague from Simcoe North. I do apologize for that. It slipped. Thank you for that correction.

I also then had a chance to visit my colleague, who I will not name, from Sarnia–Lambton. I also had a chance to host animal consultations there with a diverse group of stakeholders whereby, once again, we were able to learn a lot about what was needed in the legislation, what was missing, and treating this as an opportunity to move forward.

We also had a chance to visit a farm and we met Lee, I believe her name was, who rescued horses. The situation was so sad. OSPCA officers had taken us to this farm for that specific reason. They wanted to show us an incredible story of a farm, about a year and a half ago, that they had visited. The individual had mental health illnesses. There were about 90 animals, deprived of food and deprived of water. This individual had rescued 21 of those animals. It was really great to see. She showed us the before pictures and the after pictures, and the name of the horse was Freedom.

When they transported the horse to the farm, it was unbelievable. The horse could barely walk. The horse was in their stable for about 12 hours, and if we know—horses need to move constantly. They need to be standing. It’s healthy for them. But this horse didn’t have enough energy. There was absolutely no food for them. There was absolutely no water for them.

We don’t know how long that took place. When the officers rescued this horse, Freedom, she was basically out in the snow. It was in March, so the snow was melting, and the weather conditions were also not appropriate. But, thankfully, farmers like Lee were able to step up to the plate and rescue 29 animals. Freedom was in the worst condition. But it’s incredible to see how far Freedom had come, because that horse was so—

Mrs. Robin Martin: So free.

Mr. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: Just so free. We saw the videos from before where the horse would not even be able to stay in the same room as another human because they had absolutely no trust of any individual. And now, it’s great to see that Freedom will be participating in her first show coming up in the next week. So it’s amazing to see what farmers and community members can do to step up and really support animals. That’s why this piece of legislation is so important. That’s why we need to make sure that Ontario has a robust animal welfare legislation. That’s why the protection of animals is so important to the people of Ontario and, especially, our government.

The Ministry of the Solicitor General wears many hats. It’s responsible for law enforcement, emergency preparedness, the rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders, fire safety and prevention, forensics, death investigations and animal welfare—paw prints as well as fingerprints. The ministry gets a lot of mail, and the care and well-being of Ontario’s animals consistently tops the list in volume. Just look at the overwhelming response we have received to our survey.

Just like the Solicitor General had previously mentioned, we had over 6,000 responses in the first three days, and almost 11,000 responses with eight more days to go. So I do ask all those watching and anyone interested to please participate in this survey.

The people of Ontario are sending a message, and this government is listening. I want to quote Humane Canada, who have come out in support of this to really underlie what they think and where they think we’re going as a government:

“Humane Canada is pleased to see Solicitor General Sylvia Jones introduce legislation to protect our animals’ safety in the interim as we develop robust animal protection legislation that provides transparency and accountability. Bill 117, if passed, will enable the province to appoint a chief inspector who could appoint local humane societies to continue their important work in protecting our animals. This is in response to the OSPCA indicating that they will no longer provide protection or enable affiliates to continue their work following June 28.

Humane societies are the only specialized force in the country dedicated solely to animal protection, and we look forward to working with the government of Ontario throughout this consultation to ensure an enforcement role for local humane societies, ensuring protection for our animals.”

Amendments to the OSPCA Act, 2018, are an important step on a journey this government began almost from taking office. Let me give you a bit of recent history. In January of this year, a Superior Court justice struck down law enforcement provisions of the OSPCA Act, 2009, because of a lack of oversight, transparency and accountability. He didn’t close the door on animal welfare law enforcement. He suspended his ruling for a year so that animals would not be vulnerable and unprotected.

The Solicitor General spoke about animal welfare in Ontario in February, assuring the people that, “Our government will continue working for the people and will explore options to ensure appropriate measures are in place to provide animals and their owners the protections they deserve and that Ontarians expect. We have already begun conversations with stakeholders and will continue seeking ideas and input in the coming months.

“Our goal is an approach that is transparent and accountable, and ultimately improves the animal welfare system across Ontario.”

The government’s budget 2019 backed up the Solicitor General’s statement. It reads:

“Many households across the province have a pet, and these pets are part of family life. The government recognizes the importance of animal welfare for small animals and livestock. Ontario’s government for the people is actively reviewing existing legislation to ensure appropriate measures are in place to provide animals and their owners with the protections they deserve and the people of Ontario expect.

“The province has already begun conversations with stakeholders and will continue seeking ideas and input. The goal is an approach that respects the rights of the people of Ontario and ultimately improves the animal welfare system across the province.”

The OSPCA’s notice to cease enforcing animal welfare law in the province as of June 28 will leave a significant gap in animal protection across the province. Or rather, it could have left a significant gap if the government had not taken decisive action to ensure animals remain protected while the government designs a better system.

A number of local humane societies have already stepped forward to offer their continued assistance as the government works towards a new, permanent enforcement model. The Superior Court justice’s suspension of his ruling clears a path for them to do so until the end of this year. The government’s proposed legislative amendments would enable other entities to enforce the OSPCA Act during this transition.

Causing animal distress takes on many forms and is not always obvious. According to the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, all vets will encounter animal abuse in their careers, including physical abuse such as inflicting injuries, causing unnecessary pain, and cruel and inappropriate methods of training such as taping a dog’s mouth shut to prevent it from barking. Sometimes the problem is simple neglect, such as an owner forgetting to feed a pet or bring them water, or leaving a pet outside in sweltering or freezing conditions.

Every year in North America, hundreds of pets die from heat exhaustion because they were left in parked vehicles while the owner popped into a store or left the car for longer periods with the window open only a crack.

There are also cases of emotional abuse such as denying an animal social interaction; animal hoarding, which is usually performed by individuals who will take strays home but do not know how to care for the animals that they have taken in; dogfighting, a vicious blood sport where a fight can last between one to two hours, exposing dogs to very severe injury and a prolonged and painful death; and puppy and kitten mills, where dogs and cats are mass produced, often in the cruelest of conditions.

This is just a short list and underscores the need for trained and skilled inspectors. Municipalities and police have expressed concern that the government is preparing to download animal welfare responsibilities on them. This is not the intention of these proposed amendments. The government understands their concerns. Not all municipalities have staff who are trained in animal welfare, inspections and investigations. Not all police services have the capacity to transport animals encountered during an animal-related investigation or incident, or have space for sheltering.

The government can assure its municipal and policing partners that this is an interim solution. Various local humane societies have told the government that they have experience to perform enforcement work during the transition period.

I would now like to outline the amendments the government is proposing.

As we have noted, the OSPCA has been enforcing animal welfare laws in the province for the past 100 years. Under the OSPCA Act, only inspectors of the OSPCA, its affiliates and, in some limited circumstances, police officers have the power and authority of inspectors under the act. Only the OSPCA corporately, or the chief inspector—who must be an employee of the OSPCA, as per the current act—can appoint animal inspectors who are enabled to enforce the act and use the powers set out in it. This has set the OSPCA up as the only game in town. Police officers in parts of the province can enforce the act, but only where the OSPCA or an affiliate does not function.

For purposes of transition, the government’s proposed amendments, if passed, would enable employees of other entities, such as humane societies, to enforce the act. The Solicitor General would be enabled to appoint a chief inspector who would no longer have to be an employee of the OSPCA. The chief inspector would be empowered to appoint any person as an inspector under the current act. The Solicitor General would be able to prescribe a class of persons who may exercise the powers of an inspector.

What does the government seek to achieve from these amendments? The OSPCA is pulling out of animal welfare enforcement in less than a month. That is the cold reality we all face. The OSPCA has been asked by the Solicitor General to extend their enforcement capabilities until the end of the year. They have refused. After carefully considering the alternatives, the government’s proposed legislative amendments are the most effective transitional response to the urgent need to support animal welfare laws in the interim period.

It taps into the experience of animal welfare organizations across the province and leverages the willing capacity in the province without having to rely on OSPCA co-operation, which they have made clear they are not prepared to extend. And it sets the stage for a new permanent animal protection enforcement model that will be more robust, transparent and accountable.

Without these proposed transitional legislative amendments, there are few, if any, options available to ensure that there is animal welfare law enforcement in the province. Ensuring animal welfare is a humane responsibility shared by Ontarians and supported by strong animal legislation and enforcement. The government is encouraged by the positive response it has received to its proposed amendments. The public can clearly see that this government is taking animal welfare seriously and ensuring that there is continued enforcement by willing local humane societies in the absence of the OSPCA.

Animal advocates can be assured that on the other side of this legislative bridge, there will be a new model—stronger, more transparent and more accountable than ever before—to protect and keep animals safe.

Building the first new enforcement system in 100 years will take time. It will be built on the experience of animal welfare stakeholders, agriculture, the life experiences of pet owners and animal lovers, and those who have stepped up to report and prevent animal abuse and animal distress. The government is fortunate to have such knowledge, expertise and passion to guide the ministry as it prepares to roll out a new model for 2020.

But in the here and now, we must build a network of local humane societies and other prescribed animal welfare organizations to take up the call of animal welfare across the province and deliver enforcement of animal welfare laws. Bill 117 provides the tools, and I call on all members of this House to support its passage.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Jennifer K. French): I recognize the member from Perth–Wellington.

Mr. Randy Pettapiece: Thank you, Speaker. I’m pleased to rise today to speak on Bill 117, an important piece of legislation which directly affects those in our agricultural communities.

To begin with, I would like to recognize the hard work of our Solicitor General. I’ve been here since 2011, and I’ve had the privilege of serving the constituents of Perth-Wellington since 2011. I have always been able to go to the Solicitor General if I needed some help or to ask questions, and she has certainly helped me along the way, so I do appreciate her efforts here.

Her ministry has worked swiftly and thoroughly to make sure that no animal welfare cases fall through the cracks during this period of transition. This is a difficult and challenging file to work on. It goes without saying that animal welfare is a complex issue. I want to thank you, Minister, for your leadership on this important file.

I believe I am uniquely positioned to speak on this piece of legislation, and the larger issue of animal welfare, because of my agricultural background. For many years, my parents were dairy farmers. I also had the opportunity to participate in 4-H and show cattle when I was younger.

From a young age, I learned the importance of caring for our livestock and animals. A farmer’s livestock is their most important and valued possession. As a kid, I even remember naming some of our dairy cows, as most children do.

Later in life, I also transported livestock part-time for a few local companies in my riding of Perth–Wellington. I understand the stress and pressure that our livestock truckers face each day on the road. They are concerned for the health of the animals, the biosecurity of our food system and the safety of the public.

Since being elected in 2011, I have always tried to bridge the gap between farmer, transporter and animal welfare. I have worked with my federal counterparts surrounding CFIA legislation and new Transport Canada regulations.

Provincially, our caucus has long maintained that the system needs to change and become more robust, transparent and accountable. Earlier this year, our government announced plans to develop a better, long-term system, a system that is more robust, transparent and accountable. I will speak more about this later.

The OSPCA had provided animal welfare protection services in Ontario for over 100 years. On March 4, 2019, they provided the province with less than 30 days’ notice that they intended to discontinue those services as of March 31, 2019. Their withdrawal from enforcement of livestock and equine cases put our government in a difficult position.

Bill 117 itself is a temporary measure. It will minimize gaps in enforcement, after the OSPCA gave less than one month’s notice that they were withdrawing the animal protection services they had provided for over 100 years. The legislation, if passed, would allow the province to appoint a chief inspector, who could in turn appoint qualified local inspectors, including local OSPCA affiliates, to ensure that animal protection enforcement continues.

Under the leadership of our great Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Honourable Ernie Hardeman, our farm organizations continue to provide expertise to police authorities as needed, in partnership with local veterinarians.

The OSPCA’s decision to end their century-long role as a provider of care and protection for animals placed more pressure on our local police forces. I know that Mr. Hardeman and I are grateful to local enforcement authorities, in partnership with OMAFRA and local veterinarians, who have filled in the gaps of the OSPCA withdrawal.

Developing a new model for our animal protection cannot be rushed, and it’s frankly too important not to get right. Bill 117 is a temporary solution to fill in gaps while we transition to a new model.

Our farmers are already world leaders in maintaining the highest standards of animal care. Like my parents, and later my family, we rely on the welfare of our animals to make a living, and to continue to make a living for generations to come.

In my past careers, I have seen some unfortunate circumstances where, in cases of animal neglect, mental health is a contributing factor as to why individuals can struggle with taking proper care of their animals. Taking care of oneself is important and necessary to be able to take care of others, and this includes how farmers handle their livestock.

I commend Minister Hardeman on highlighting the mental health challenges in modern-day farming. We have both been hosting mental-health-in-agriculture round tables across the province. In January, I hosted one in Stratford, in my riding of Perth–Wellington. We want to encourage an open dialogue and to discuss how we can highlight the resources available for people in need and to break the stigma around asking for help.

This past fall, grain farmers experienced a high level of DON in their corn crops. Many farmers struggled to find markets for their corn. Under the leadership of the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, our government responded as quickly as possible to the crisis through a variety of mechanisms; however, I know that many farmers in my own riding struggled mentally and financially last fall. The mental-health-in-agriculture round table in Stratford touched on the DON issue, but many livestock farmers also attended. It is not easy taking care of 120 dairy cows for 365 days a year.

Supporting our farming communities and their mental health and well-being is also an important component of protecting the animals they care for. Combatting mental health and addictions issues is one of our government’s top priorities, and that’s why we are investing $1.9 billion in mental health and addictions support. Understanding the needs of our farmers to better support them in their well-being is reflected in the well-being of their livestock, and their businesses in return.

Farm organizations, livestock transporters and animal protection enforcers must work together. I remember when I was transporting pigs. Some inspectors would work with the trucker or farmer to address issues they may have seen. It was a co-operation between all parties, and the animals were all better off in the end.

Many local agriculture groups in my riding of Perth–Wellington want to help shape the next animal protection framework. There needs to be a greater understanding of modern agriculture and how much money a farmer will spend to keep their animals happy and healthy. After 15 years of Liberal mismanagement on this file, our government is going to listen to all parties to help build a more robust, transparent and accountable animal welfare system.

Madam Speaker, the Ministry of the Solicitor General is currently consulting to help inform the design of a more robust animal protection enforcement system in Ontario. I know the Solicitor General is well aware of the importance of our agriculture sector and farmers. Her riding of Dufferin–Caledon is home to many farm families and livestock farmers, and I’m sure she is hearing some of the same concerns as I am in my riding of Perth–Wellington. Yet, I want to commend the minister for taking time to go to Guelph to meet with our agriculture leaders. Our government is listening to our farm families.

I want to thank them for taking the time to put forward detailed, thoughtful proposals to help develop a new animal protection model for Ontario. We are seeking public feedback through an online survey to ensure the people of Ontario have the opportunity to share their thoughts to help improve farm protection.

Our government has been proactive in making sure that our livestock organizations and stakeholders are engaged. I know I have spoken with many concerned farmers in Perth–Wellington. They just want to ensure that their animals are treated properly while maintaining biosecurity. Our government is listening to farm families with first-hand knowledge of animal husbandry. The survey is open until June 6 to provide feedback relating to reporting and enforcement of animal welfare complaints. I encourage all agriculture groups, livestock transporters and the general public to participate in the survey. You will directly inform Ontario’s new animal welfare model.

Our government knows that a one-size-fits-all formula does not work for different kinds of animals. Standards of care for each group of livestock are unique from one group to another, and this cannot be equated to proper standards of care for domestic pets.

Speaker, as you know, our government was elected to restore accountability and trust in government. This does not just include restoring accountability and trust in our finances, but restoring accountability and transparency within our animal protection system. An animal welfare system administered by the province and paid for by the taxpayer must be transparent and accountable to the people.

The OSPCA has been a government partner for over a century, and it will not be a quick fix to develop a new animal welfare system that oversees a variety of animals across the province and with accountability and transparency measures. Bill 117 intends to help ensure animals remain protected during the transition to the new enforcement model. We want to make sure that all willing and able affiliates have proper guidance and leadership from the chief inspector and that they have access to proper resources and the tools that they need to continue operating in the interim.

Madam Speaker, I want to speak to you a little bit about my experience, and perhaps you may know some of these things. I don’t know how many animals you’ve loaded on a livestock truck in your lifetime, but I’m going to give you a little lesson on how it’s done and what goes on in these large livestock trailers.

Depending on the livestock you’re loading, there’s different compartments in those trailers. There can be six compartments for large animals, such as cattle, and then it can be transformed into 10 compartments for hogs, and depending on the size of the animal, that’s how many hogs or cattle you put in each compartment. And this does a number of things. It keeps the animals from crowding each other. It also gives them a chance that they can lay down if they like to on long-distance hauls.

Even though I had been, part-time, trucking livestock for a number of years, we were required—I think about 20 years ago they started this—to take courses on how to handle livestock safely. All trucking companies do that now, where their truckers are certified that they know how to handle animals humanely and with care. Some of the things we used to do years ago, they don’t do anymore. I do know that with the larger trailers they have—and I might warn you, if you ever go up to one of those trailers and look inside at the animals, don’t get too close because every once in a while one relieves itself and you can get splashed. So just be careful if you’re doing that. I’ve seen that happen.

But anyway, the standards have changed. In hot weather you can’t put as many animals on a truck as you can in cold weather because it just gets too hot for them. You have to keep moving in hot weather to keep the airflow in there for the animals. There’s all kinds of different things. In fact, some trailers right now, the newer trailers, have feed and water in them for long distances. So transport companies are doing all they can to ensure that the welfare of the animals in their care is well taken care of and that the animals arrive at their destination in good shape.

Unloading the animals is another procedure that can be interesting. You have to unload them in a certain way, that you don’t have too many running down chutes at any one time, because they can trip and fall and certainly get injured that way. There’s all kinds of aspects to hauling livestock other than just driving the truck down the road to a plant somewhere. Truckers also on long-distance hauls will stop every once in a while and check the animals to make sure they are in good shape and they’re not being injured while they’re in the trailer.

Madam Speaker, I hope the members opposite understand the importance and the urgency of this legislation and will support it with us.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Jennifer K. French): Questions and comments?

Mr. Joel Harden: Thank you to our colleagues in government for bringing forward this legislation today. I agree, the welfare of animals is something that all of us in this House should take as a foremost concern.

In the two minutes I have to comment on the legislation, Speaker, I’d like to raise two stories from Ottawa Centre. One near and dear to my heart is a regular visitor to our constituency office. Her name is Rosemary, and she’s asked me at any given opportunity—and here, we have one—to talk not just animal welfare but what animals do to remedy a serious problem in our society, and that is social isolation. Rosemary is a senior. Rosemary visits our office with a cat all the time. She’s so attached to her cat, Hannah, that she travels with Hannah everywhere she goes.

Unfortunately, Rosemary is one of the seniors in Ottawa Centre who is precariously housed, who deals with significant poverty. One of the things she’s decided to do in our city is to be an ambassador for the importance of pets and for people to take their pets to places of leisure, to various buildings. That’s an existing problem that Rosemary has asked me to raise here for the record, and so I’m doing it.

The other person I’d like to bring up from home is a constituent. Her name is Alix Packard. Alix is one of the advocates that I know the member for Lanark–Frontenac–Kingston and someone who used to serve in this House, Cheri DiNovo, have worked with on the issue of breed-specific legislation in this province and the discrimination without evidence against pit bull terriers. There are many pit bull terriers in Ottawa Centre, Speaker.

I am one of those politicians who can’t walk past a dog without petting them with the owner’s permission, and I think it’s high time that we as a Legislature take a step to acknowledge that there is discrimination written into animal welfare legislation. To build upon this good work, let’s take that on as a project in this sitting. Take care.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Jennifer K. French): Questions and comments?

Ms. Christine Hogarth: I’m quite thrilled to comment on this, and I want to thank the Solicitor General and her team for such a swift action to protect our most vulnerable animals and our pets. Any time I have the opportunity to speak about my pets, my Bruce and Edward—we all love our animals and we all have—they’re a special part of our families. And it’s not just our home animals; it’s our farm animals, it’s those animals that are out there that do need protection from all of us.

Earlier this year, I brought in my private member’s bill to talk about protecting our pets. It was the Protecting Our Pets Act, which received unanimous consent in this Legislature. I wanted to thank everybody for their support on my private member’s bill.

We can always do more when it comes to protecting our animals and our animal welfare. There are people out there who are just cruel. They neglect, and there’s just a lack of care. I appreciate our government stepping up to make sure that those animals are looked after in the interim. I want to mention that word again: it’s the interim. It’s a temporary measure. That’s why we have to swiftly pass this legislation, so we can make sure animals are protected while we put together a larger plan to look after our animals in the future. Just to anybody watching out there, there is a consultation online.

We have encouraged it to our members and anyone who came to our public consultations on animal welfare, to ensure that they get their voices heard.

There are so many people out there in our communities who give of their time to volunteer, to rescue animals, to rescue dogs, cats, horses, pigs and any type of animal out there. They all need our help. I want to thank all those volunteers who give of their time and their money to make sure that these animals are protected and not in danger.

Once again, please go online. You have until June 6 to comment on the future of our animal welfare. And to the minister and her team, thank you very much for bringing swift action to this. Again, thank you, and I hope the NDP will certainly support this legislation moving forward.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Jennifer K. French): Further questions and comments?

Mr. Tom Rakocevic: It’s always an honour and a pleasure to rise. I’m really proud to have been able to attend an important animal rights rally that happened earlier this term, and I’m so proud to have been able to read a petition about animal rights here.

I’ve also had the incredible honour to be invited to many local schools. When I talk to the children there, we talk about so many different things. Certainly about the importance of politics and caring about your community, but amongst young people the issue of the environment and animal rights and animals is so important to them. I really hope and feel that this next generation will treat animals and species with a lot more love and respect than the grown-ups of the past have. So I do feel and hope that the future will be better for the species that we share this planet with.

Animals and pets make a huge difference in the lives of people. I want to talk about my dear, dear neighbour Mr. Silva. I love him like an uncle. He is now in his retirement. His home is a little quieter these days because unfortunately, about a week or so ago he lost his dear little, sweet dachshund, Coco. Every day when the window was open, I would hear the dog barking and him saying, “Coco, it’s okay, it’s okay.” The dog loved him so much. You could see it. It was like family for them.

I also want to mention one of my closest friends, who lost his amazing dog, Vegas, who was with him as a companion for 15 years. My friend would actually bring the dog, Vegas, who was like his own kid, to seniors’ homes to be a source of company to some seniors who were living in isolation. We have, as a species, especially with dogs, evolved with them, and the bond between humans and pets—dogs and all animals—is strong. I think we could all do better, and I’m happy to be able to discuss animal rights. It’s so important.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Jennifer K. French): Further questions and comments?

Mr. Michael Parsa: Speaker, this is probably one of the most important and sensitive legislations to me, and perhaps to many of my colleagues in this House on all sides. Animals are often referred to as buddies, best friends, and even members of our family. They offer us their unconditional love and ask for very little in return.

Animals cannot at all speak for themselves. That’s why they turn to us for protection, and it is our duty to do whatever it takes to support and protect them. That is why I’m proud of our Solicitor General, Sylvia Jones, and her hard-working and caring parliamentary assistant, Prab Sarkaria, for finding a temporary solution to this matter after the OSPCA announced that they will no longer be providing the services of animal protection which they had been doing for over a hundred years.

Speaker, I’m so happy to hear that the ministry is also not going to rush this. It is too important, and we need to get it right. I encourage all those who have an opinion to share their suggestions with the minister and her team at www.ontario.ca/page/protecting-ontarios-animals.

There are so many good people out there who love animals, who love pets—many in this House; I have talked to them. We just heard another story from my colleague across, whose neighbour lost his pet, and he is hurt by it. We’ve all gone through it. But as much as there are so many great people who care for our animals and love our animals, unfortunately there are also people who are not so good, and we need laws in place to protect our animals from them, which is why this is so important.

Again, I’m so thankful to the minister and her team for stepping up and doing this so swiftly, but also taking the time to do it right, because it’s very, very important that we get it right for our animals.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Jennifer K. French): Before I return to the member, a reminder to all members to please use people’s ridings, to please refer to people by their ridings or titles going forward.

I believe I return to the Solicitor General for her remarks.

Hon. Sylvia Jones: Thank you very much, Speaker.

To the members from Ottawa Centre, Etobicoke–Lakeshore, Aurora–Oak Ridges–Richmond Hill and Humber River–Black Creek, thank you for your feedback and interest in Bill 117. I think it’s pretty clear, based on the size of the legislation, that this is in fact an interim measure to ensure that animal protection in the province of Ontario continues past June 28. The members of this Legislature and the people of Ontario have our assurance as a government that we will get this right. We will listen to the feedback that is currently being collected and provided by, frankly, many, many stakeholders who have a keen interest in this file.

It strikes me every time we speak about animal welfare in the Legislature: Often stories come forward about beloved pets and the impact that they have made on our lives and our communities. So I am keenly aware of the importance of getting this legislation right, of making sure that animal welfare in the province of Ontario is something that continues to be a priority for our government. It’s something that a lot of people are watching, and a lot of people are making sure and hoping that we take the time to do it right.

This interim measure will ensure that over the course of the coming months, while we do that due diligence, we can also ensure that local humane societies who have been doing an incredible job protecting animals and animal welfare in the province can continue to do that important work.

Thank you, Speaker. I look forward to further debate.

Second reading debate deemed adjourned.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Jennifer K. French): Seeing the time on the clock, this House stands in recess until 10:30.

The House recessed from 1015 to 1030.

Introduction of Visitors

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Before I ask the members to introduce their guests, I would like to introduce a special guest in the Speaker’s gallery this morning. The press gallery’s summer intern, Yusra Javed, is here. Welcome to Queen’s Park. We’re delighted to have you here.

Mr. Mike Harris: This is an extremely special day for me. I’ve actually got my whole family—finally. It only took a year to get them all here at once, but my wife, Kim; daughter, Gemma; son Jaxon; son Maverick; son Ryder; and son Emeric are in the front row here today.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Terence Kernaghan: It gives me great pleasure to welcome Maciek Piekosz and Alfonso Campos Reales from the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Doug Downey: I would like to welcome Renee Brown and Wes Crank, the parents of the page captain today, Matthew Crank.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: I would like to welcome members from the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association to Queen’s Park today: Laura Hillyer, John Karapita, and Allen Wynperle, who is from my riding, particularly, of Hamilton Centre. Welcome, trial lawyers.

Mr. Mike Schreiner: I would like to welcome three of my constituents from ABISS who are here with the Ontario Trial Lawyers today: Ashley Tindall, Sheila O’Reilly and Deanna Pelino.

I’d also like to welcome family members of my legislative assistant, Samantha Bird, who are visiting Queen’s Park for the first time: Susan Jeffrey, Jennifer Cobb, Garth Vanstone and Gail Vanstone. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

L’hon. Michael A. Tibollo: Je voudrais présenter trois invités très spéciaux à l’Assemblée législative ce matin. Je voudrais d’abord vous présenter M. Daniel Giroux, président de l’étonnant collège francophone Collège Boréal, situé dans la belle ville de Sudbury. J’aimerais également souhaiter la bienvenue à M. Marc Despatie, directeur des communications, de la planification stratégique et des relations gouvernementales au Collège Boréal.

Ils sont rejoints par le fils de M. Giroux, M. Damien Giroux, qui avait été récemment sélectionné au cinquième tour des sélections 2018 de la LNH par le Minnesota Wild. Damien joue actuellement pour le propre Saginaw Spirit de la LHO. Damien est l’un des plus récents Franco-Ontariens à avoir été sélectionné par la LNH. Quel accomplissement pour cet incroyable athlète de l’Ontario. Au nom de tous les membres de l’Assemblée législative, bonne visite à Queen’s Park.

Mr. Faisal Hassan: I would like to welcome a new page from my riding of York South–Weston, Felipe Gaertner, of Immaculate Conception.

I would also like to welcome his parents, Luis and Livia Gaertner, and Daniela Falomo, a teacher of his. Welcome to Queen’s Park. Welcome to your House.

M me Nathalie Des Rosiers: I’d like to welcome Colleen Burn, Laurie Tucker and Éliane Lachaîne. I had the pleasure of meeting them this morning. They are members of the firm Burn Tucker Lachaîne in Ottawa, and members of the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association. Bienvenue à Queen’s Park.

Mr. Dave Smith: I’d like to welcome members from the Brain Injury Association from Peterborough: Teryl Hoefel, Carolyn Barber, Kim Belfry, Trevor Connelly, Elaine Devlin and Kayla Lambert.

Mr. Tom Rakocevic: I’d also like to welcome OTLA and ABISS. Thank you for your advocacy and some great conversations this morning. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Logan Kanapathi: It is a great pleasure for me to introduce 45 members of the Armadale Older Adults Club from Markham, present in the gallery today.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for London West—

Mr. Logan Kanapathi: I’d like to recognize club president Ranjiv Puri, vice-president Kaleshwar Parsad, and secretary Satya Arora. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I apologize for interrupting.

The member for London West.

Ms. Peggy Sattler: I would like to welcome 11 amazing grade 8 girls from London, from Wortley Road Public School, Tecumseh Public School and St. Martin Catholic School who are here today with the London West Girls’ Government: Rachael Noble, Laura Dionne, Maya Hall-Hinds, Ariana Richardson, Laila Seif, Isabella Gilbert, Genevieve Harvey, Julia Harvey, Shelby Hayes, Emma Meidlein and Maggie Slabon, as well as four volunteers who are accompanying them: Brenda Irwin, Katie Slabon, Sandra Gilbert and Amanda Stratton. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Gilles Bisson: Point of order.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): We’re still in introductions. Point of order, the member for Timmins.

Mr. Gilles Bisson: I’d like to do the point of order before we get into actual question period. We were under the impression that the Premier will be here, and we’re getting sort of contradictory “may” or “may not.” Can we please know—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): We don’t make reference to the absence of members, first of all. Secondly, I don’t think it’s a valid point of order.

We’re still introducing guests. The Minister of Finance.

Hon. Victor Fedeli: I would like to welcome two North Bay guests, Spencer Merritt and Brent Wood.

Mr. Joel Harden: I’d like to introduce three folks from Ottawa Centre who are here with the Ontario trial lawyers: Laurie Tucker, Éliane Lachaîne and Colleen Burn. Welcome to the people’s House. Thanks for being here.

Hon. Monte McNaughton: I know they’re not in the chamber yet, but I’d like to welcome to Queen’s Park today my wife, Kate, and my daughter, Annie.

I also would like to introduce to the House the member of Parliament for Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound, Larry Miller. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

M me France Gélinas: J’aimerais accueillir M. Damien Giroux, un joueur de hockey avec l’Esprit de Saginaw qui joue dans la ligue ontarienne de hockey. Bienvenue à Queen’s Park, Damien.

Mr. Vincent Ke: I’m happy to introduce my guests and my friends upstairs. They are from China. They’ve come to Canada to attend the Canada-China science and tech innovation collaboration summit.

Their names are: Wang, Aiming; Wang, Honghao; Liu, Limin; Liu, Ye; Shen, Zhi Gang; Huang, Beibei; Zhu, Kaihua; Jin, Puming; Lin, Xingyong; Chen, Guibo; Lin, Aiming; Yang, Jianfen; Lin, Zhao; and Dongmei Chapman.

Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Ms. Catherine Fife: From the Brain Injury Association of Waterloo Wellington, we have Lynda Abshoff, the executive director; Michael Abshoff, a brain injury survivor; Mary Bozoian, a board member; and Sarah Nafziger; and, from the riding of Durham, from MPP Taylor’s office, grandmother Elsie Ferguson, mother Lisa Yakeley and daughter Lauren Yakeley as well. Welcome to your House.

Ms. Donna Skelly: I’d like to welcome Sean Shannon, Reena Chawla and Simon Langer from Diabetes Canada, as well as Glen van Gulik, Krista Henry, Kirsten Kelleher and Jillian Rideout from the Salvation Army, who are visiting the Legislature today.

These individuals are here representing organizations that, I’m pleased to say, supported my private member’s motion to help reduce the amount of clothing that is sent to our landfills. I’d like to invite all members of the Legislature to join us for a group photo on the grand staircase right after question period.

Ms. Jessica Bell: I’d like to welcome Simona Jellinek, Allen Wynperle and Laura Hillyer from the Ontario Trial Lawyers Association to Queen’s Park, as well as Anna Dewey and Anna Lerner from TTCriders; John Di Nino, the ATU Canada president; and Christine Broeze from ATU Local 1587. Thank you for joining us at Queen’s Park. Welcome.

Mr. Kaleed Rasheed: I would like to welcome a good friend of mine, Muhammad Alam from Alam Law, to Queen’s park.

Ms. Andrea Khanjin: I want to welcome my good friend and supporter Roger Winter here today. I also saw that Amanda Mooyer is with us today too. Thank you.

Mr. Sam Oosterhoff: I have the great privilege of welcoming to the Legislature today many members who are here with the Ontario Brain Injury Association, representatives from across Ontario. I encourage all members of the Legislature to go to room 228 following question period this morning and meet with some of them. Thank you.

Ms. Rima Berns-McGown: I’d like to welcome three people from Beaches–East York today: MJ Perry, Marian Ord and Jackie Ogier. Welcome to your House; welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Daryl Kramp: I am really, really pleased today to welcome a former colleague, a very, very good friend, of course a serving federal member for the wonderful north country up there and, quite frankly, the second best fisherman that I know. But most importantly I would really like to welcome his long-suffering wife, Darlene—Larry Miller and Darlene.

Ms. Effie J. Triantafilopoulos: Today is World MS Day. I would like to welcome, from the MS Society of Canada, Justin Cochrane, Catherine McCormack, Lisa McCoy, Phil Dewan and Treena Gracey. Thank you.

Mr. Stephen Crawford: This morning I’m pleased to introduce to the Legislature members of our Oakville community youth council. I’m pleased to have launched this initiative, and this is their inaugural visit to Queen’s Park. I’m pleased to introduce Andrei Adam, Bogdan Basaraba, Riaz Mahmud, Dorian Knight, Harry Dai and Benjamin Jesseau. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Ms. Lindsey Park: I’d like to welcome Colleen Burn and Éliane Lachaîne in the members’ gallery. I’d like to welcome you to Queen’s Park. They’re from Burn Tucker Lachaîne, and Colleen was my articling principal way back when I was becoming a lawyer. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I recognize the very patient member for Burlington.

Ms. Jane McKenna: Aw, thank you, Speaker. I’d like to welcome, from the beautiful riding of Burlington, Laura Hillyer and Claire Wilkinson. I had the privilege of going down and speaking to them today. Have a wonderful day here today at Queen’s Park.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Points of order now. I think we’ve concluded the introductions.

Wearing of carnations

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The first one I’m going to recognize is the member for Nickel Belt.

M me France Gélinas: Thank you, Speaker. I believe you will find we have unanimous consent to wear a beautiful pink carnation—

Interjection: Red.

M me France Gélinas: Red. Sorry about that—in honour of multiple sclerosis awareness day. They are red.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Nickel Belt is seeking unanimous consent of the House to wear a red carnation in honour of MS Day. Agreed? Agreed.

Wearing of pins

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Flamborough–Glanbrook, on a point of order.

Ms. Donna Skelly: I’m also seeking unanimous consent for members to wear pins to show support for all of the work that charitable organizations do through their clothing donation programs.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Flamborough–Glanbrook is seeking unanimous consent to allow members to wear a pin in honour of the organizations that raise money through clothing donations. Agreed? Agreed.

The member for Timmins has a point of order.

Mr. Gilles Bisson: Mr. Speaker, you will know that the understanding of standing order 10 is that the government has recalled the House for this Sunday. In that vein, the government is skipping out of question period, so I seek unanimous consent to move a motion in order to have a question period on Sunday.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): First of all, there is no order in council prepared as of yet to call the House back. We have not received official notice in that respect, so we can’t entertain a point of order of that nature at this time.

Oral Questions

Education funding

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My question is to whoever on the other side wants to answer it. School boards are facing—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order. Stop the clock.

I apologize to the Leader of the Opposition for interrupting her.

Start the clock.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My question is to the Premier. School boards are facing overwhelming challenges this year as a result of cuts imposed by the Ford government. They’re being forced to fire teachers and lay off education workers. Courses on everything from hands-on technical learning to arts education are being eliminated.

The Premier finally backed down on his plans to impose retroactive cuts to municipalities this year and agreed to hold the consultations he should have been holding in the first place. Will he now agree to do the same thing with school boards?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I recognize the Acting Premier.

Hon. Victor Fedeli: I want to begin by reminding the people of Ontario that the previous government was spending $40 million a day more than they took in. We have developed a budget that was passed yesterday that puts us on a path to balance. It’s a five-year path to balance, but it protects what matters most. It protects our health care and it protects our education. In fact, we’re adding $1.4 billion over the next three years in the education budget—a $700-million increase in the education budget this year—and $1 billion to create 30,000 child care spaces. In fact, 10,000 of them will be in schools.

These are the kinds of things that we have passed in our budget yesterday, increasing the education budget, that the NDP voted against yesterday. They voted against the $700-million increase in the education budget.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: What we did was vote for the people of Ontario by voting against that terrible budget.

Once again the Premier, and apparently his finance minister, didn’t do their homework, and our kids are the ones who get punished for that. Yesterday, the Toronto District School Board started issuing bumping notices as more teachers are displaced due to government cuts.

The Halton board has heard from 7,000 parents who reject the government’s cuts to class sizes, and mandatory e-learning. I’m sure that if they were here, they would have voted against the budget too. They’re calling for consultation before these cuts are rolled out. Will the Premier provide it?

Hon. Victor Fedeli: Minister of Education.

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: Again, it’s an honour to serve in the role of education minister. I have to share with you that, since we’ve been in this position for almost a year now, we’ve come to realize that there’s a lot of waste throughout Ontario that needs to be addressed. When we conducted our consultation this past fall, teachers, parents, community-minded people and students alike, when we were talking about efficiencies, they pointed their fingers towards school boards, saying that there is a lot of opportunity for school boards to look from within and see and identify ways that they could realize efficiencies, so that’s what we’re asking school boards across this province to do.

While we’re increasing our budget contributions to education to the tune of $700 million—$90 million of which is going to special education—we’re increasing funding for student transportation. That list could just go on and on. We’re asking school boards to find—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you.

Final supplementary?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: It’s pretty disappointing for the children and the parents of this province to see an education minister who refuses to acknowledge the devastation that her cuts are going to cause. The consequences are for our kids and their futures, and they are devastating consequences. They mean, of course, fired teachers, larger class sizes, fewer course options and more cuts in the classroom.

The Premier finally admitted, as I said, that it was wrong to cut public health, wrong to cut child care and wrong to cut emergency services this year. Why is he so unwilling to consider taking some time before imposing these reckless cuts that will have lasting impacts on our students in our schools?

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: I completely reject the fearmongering that continues to come from the Leader of the Opposition. The fact of the matter is, we know there are opportunities for school boards to sharpen their pencils. In no way should students suffer because of mismanagement.

We have school boards throughout Ontario that are working with us. They’re saving one to four cents on the dollar from within, so they’re not impacting the classroom. Unfortunately, we have other school boards that, seemingly, the members of the opposition are propping up to add to the cause of anxiety throughout this province. They’re propping them up and saying, “You know what? It’s okay that you’ve been unaccountable and you’ve mismanaged or carried a deficit for the last four or five years. That’s okay.” Because that’s their mentality.

But we were elected with a mandate to get Ontario back on track. We invite the school boards across this province to work with us to reduce wasteful spending from within and make sure we have a good learning environment—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you.

The next question.

Health care funding

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My next question is to the Premier. But I have to say, the Minister of Education doesn’t even understand that school boards can’t run deficits. That’s pretty worrisome.

I do want to say before I bring my question forward that, of course, we have a very important game today, which is the Raptors game. I think everybody in this Legislature is excited about that. Maybe it will change the tone a little bit here. I just want to say that it’s really great to see so many cities that are getting involved as well and so many communities. I hope people are safe out there. I hope people behave well and are safe, and I wish the police forces all the very best in their efforts to keep everybody safe and well.

On that note, my next question again, as I said, is to the Premier. The Premier’s claim that families won’t be facing health care cuts is looking less and less credible by the day. Among the $2.7 billion in cuts found by Ontario’s independent Financial Accountability Office was actually a $22-million cut to cancer screening—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for King–Vaughan, come to order.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: —a $22-million cut to cancer screening—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Sorry. Stop the clock. The member for King–Vaughan is warned.

Start the clock. Leader of the official opposition.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: I think I’ll take the opportunity to say that again then, Speaker: It was a $22-million cut to cancer screening, a reduction of nearly 20%.

Can the Premier explain the rationale for eliminating one-fifth of Ontario’s budget for cancer screening?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Acting Premier.

Hon. Victor Fedeli: Thank you for the question. I need to continue to remind this Legislature about the many investments that we are making. We’re starting already with an increase in the health budget of $1.3 billion this year alone, a budget that this NDP opposition voted against. We are adding $384 million to hospitals, $267 million to home care, $1.75 billion to create 15,000 new long-term-care beds, many of which are already started in the ground today, and—I’ve said this many days now; I cannot believe the NDP voted against this—$90 million providing free dental care to 100,000 low-income seniors. How dare you? How dare you vote against those seniors?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Stop the clock.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order. Order. It seems appropriate to remind the members that we have a large number of guests who are with us today in the House to observe our proceedings. We have to think about what standard we hope to set today and how impressed they will be when they leave. I would ask all members to think about that.

Start the clock. The Leader of the Opposition, I believe, had the floor.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Thank you, Speaker. I have to say that what I can’t believe is that this minister is still trying to spin the budget. The fact of the matter is, the Financial Accountability Officer is independent, and he has identified $2.7 billion in cuts to the health care system.

I’ve got to say: Cancer screening is absolutely vital for the detection of cancer. It can literally save lives. Of all the Premier’s cut-first, plan-later budget decisions, this may have the most serious consequences for people. Will the Ford government reverse this cut before Ontarians’ lives are literally put at risk?

Hon. Victor Fedeli: Minister of Labour.

Hon. Laurie Scott: I say to the Leader of the Opposition: What message is she not hearing from this government? We have increased spending in health care this year, totalling $63.5 billion—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Waterloo is warned.

The Minister of Labour had the floor.

Hon. Laurie Scott: Mr. Speaker, we’ve increased spending in health care, totalling $63.5 billion. We have made investments in low-income seniors’ dental; $384 million in hospital operational funding; $27 billion over 10 years for hospital infrastructure spending; $174 million for mental health and addictions services; a $267-million increase in home and community care; and 15,000 more long-term-care beds, over half of which have been announced. Mr. Speaker, I don’t know why the opposition—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Stop the clock. Order. The member for Carleton will come to order. The Solicitor General has to come to order. The member from Hamilton East–Stoney Creek has to come to order.

Start the clock. The Leader of the Opposition, final supplementary.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: It wasn’t so long ago that Conservatives supported independent officers of the Legislature like the Financial Accountability Officer, but now they expect us to ignore the experts. We’re not going to do that, Speaker. Nobody believes this government anymore, and we certainly are seeing the evidence from the FAO to back up what people know, which is that the budget spin is not the case and that, in fact, these cuts are going to hurt families very, very deeply.

The evidence is clear: cuts to cancer screening, cuts to public health, cuts to hospital funding, a total of $2.7 billion in cuts to the health care budget, and a return to the Mike Harris era of closing hospitals, closing hospital beds and firing nurses. Why won’t the government admit that these cuts have consequences for families and consequences for our health care system?

Hon. Laurie Scott: Mr. Speaker, I will again reiterate some of the many, many investments we’ve made in health care, like $384 million in additional funding in hospital operational funding; $27 billion over 10 years for hospital infrastructure spending; a $267-million increase in home and community care; and long-term-care-bed investments: over 7,000 of those beds already announced, and redeveloping 15,000 long-term-care beds.

Mr. Speaker, the government has seen what the Liberals and the NDP have done to health care, and that is like 1,000 people waiting for health care in the hallways of the hospitals that we have now—backlogs of some 30,000 people waiting for long-term-care beds. That’s what you did when you supported that Liberal government. That’s the state of the health care system you gave to us, and we’re fixing it.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Stop the clock.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order.

Start the clock. The next question?

Fire in Pikangikum

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My next question is also to the Premier. But I have to say, I don’t know how a $2.7-billion cut in health care is going to solve hallway medicine, Speaker. It’s not; it’s going to get much, much worse with this government. The people deserve better than that.

But as we speak here today, there’s another issue that’s very concerning unfolding in our province, Speaker. The people of the Pikangikum First Nation are facing serious threats from a forest fire. A state of emergency has been declared. Yesterday, I spoke with Chief Amanda Sainnawap about the need for more planes to be assigned to help get people out of her community.

Can the Premier tell us what help the province of Ontario is prepared to provide to the community?

Hon. Victor Fedeli: Minister of Indigenous Affairs.

Hon. Greg Rickford: I appreciate the honourable member’s question. I can assure her that fire crews and fire aircraft started fighting this fire yesterday—at 1:30 this morning. It’s been a very late night and a very early morning as the Joint Response Coordination Centre, including the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre, together with the Department of National Defence, has mobilized fixed-wing aircraft from Ontario and Hercules from the Department of National Defence. As we speak, people are being evacuated.

I’d like to appreciate the late-night texts between myself and the member of provincial Parliament from Kiiwetinoong. We’ve coordinated our efforts with Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler and Chief Amanda Sainnawap, a tremendous leader here. The community is under siege and the province of Ontario has mobilized all of its resources to move people out of that community safely.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: I spoke to the chief yesterday and she expressed to me her concern that smoke from the approaching fire may soon hinder visibility of aircraft to land.

This is a community that, of course, is still reeling from a youth suicide crisis, that just lost another young person to suicide on Tuesday night. It is clearly a time where every bit of help matters.

It’s our understanding that evacuation is very slow because there are only 80 to 100 people that can fit on every plane, and there’s really only one plane that’s doing evacuations, so we need more planes there to get more people evacuated more quickly.

I appreciate the minister’s response and the government’s actions thus far, but I guess what I’m asking for is a commitment to ensure that we unconditionally provide all the help that’s needed to support the people of Pikangikum and get them out of harm’s way.

Hon. Greg Rickford: Mr. Speaker, this is a very serious matter, and I can assure the member that all assets with respect to aircraft have been mobilized. What we’re trying to do now, in my most recent conversation with Chief Amanda Sainnawap and community leaders across northwestern Ontario, is to identify towns and cities in northwestern Ontario that can be either hubs or destination cities. Pikangikum has close ties to Dryden and Kenora. These would be more appropriate places, as the initial evacuations are going to Kapuskasing. We appreciate the folks in Kapuskasing for their efforts.

They’re very good at this, but it’s 860 kilometres away from Pikangikum. Timmins, another host city, is some 920 kilometres away.

I’ve spoken to mayors from across northwestern Ontario and hotel operators that I have close ties with, and we’re mobilizing quickly to ensure that these folks have a safe, comfortable place to be while we deal with this emergency.

In the community itself, Mr. Speaker, the Ministry of Natural Resources has planes coming in and out of there to deliver fire crews, as the community may be at risk. That means soaking down buildings but, as well, moving people out. We have every plane possible helping Pikangikum at this time, and I appreciate everybody’s support in this place at this time for those efforts.

Government policies

Mr. Paul Calandra: My question is to the Minister of Economic Development and the government House leader. Fifteen years of Liberal governance in Ontario brought reckless spending that has buried our province in debt. Now, Mr. Speaker, I know you’re happy to appreciate that the days of abusing taxpayers’ dollars are over in the province of Ontario. Ontario voters demanded value for their money when they headed to the polls last year. Voters across our province elected a PC government knowing that a change in our leadership at Queen’s Park would deliver greater transparency and accountability to Ontarians.

Since taking office, this government has taken proactive measures to stand up for Ontarians.

We have done so much, and I’m wondering if the minister could remind this House of the steps our government has taken to support the hard-working people across our great province.

Hon. Todd Smith: I’d like to thank the member from Markham–Stouffville for the question this morning. I also want to thank him for the outstanding work that he’s doing in representing the constituents in his riding and also assisting our Minister of Energy in ensuring that we’re cleaning up the Liberal hydro mess, in the great work he’s doing as a parliamentary assistant there.

Speaker, we were elected on a promise to make life more affordable for the people of Ontario, and that’s exactly what we’re doing and that’s exactly why we’re continuing to fight Justin Trudeau’s reckless, dangerous, expensive carbon tax that he’s imposing on provinces across the territory. This is something that is being supported by our counterparts right across the country.

Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak with many of them at the interprovincial trade meetings in Halifax. We talked about what an egregious tax this is, what a job-killing tax this is. That’s why we’re standing up tall for our farmers; we’re standing up for our small business people, our large manufacturers, our commuters, our drivers in Ontario. We’re doing everything that we can. No taxes, no fee increases under this government, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question?

Mr. Paul Calandra: I want to thank the minister. Minister, all that we’ve accomplished in one year for most governments would have been enough. They would have packed it up and moved on. In fact, we’ve accomplished more in one year than the Liberals did in 15 years. Now, the Liberal accomplishments were lean, but what they accomplished was raising debt, raising taxes for the people of Ontario, making life harder for the people of Ontario. In over 15 years, they set a record. They set a new high bar in how to spend people’s money to accomplish nothing.

We’ve done just the opposite. We have put more money back in people’s pockets. We’ve put ourselves on a path to a balanced budget. We’re protecting what matters most to the people of Ontario, because a strong Ontario is a strong Canada.

I’m wondering if the minister could continue to highlight some of the things that we’ve accomplished over the last year.

Hon. Todd Smith: Again, thanks very much to the member from Markham–Stouffville. You know, he’s right. We have accomplished a lot. The Liberals accomplished a lot too, Mr. Speaker. They doubled our debt in Ontario, making Ontario the most indebted sub-sovereign jurisdiction around the world: $340 billion in debt. It’s unbelievable, the mess that they made.

We’re working hard to clean that up. We’re working hard to ensure that Ontario is a destination where foreign direct investment wants to come and set up and create jobs. We’re making sure that our job creators who are already here can create more jobs by reducing red tape. We’ve taken many, many steps in reducing red tape through Bill 47, the Making Ontario Open for Business Act, and the Restoring Ontario’s Competitiveness Act. Other red tape bills are coming, Mr. Speaker, to ensure that we can make Ontario the most competitive place in North America—on the globe—to do business. That’s what we’re focusing on, while at the same time ensuring that we’re not raising taxes or fees—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you. Next question, the member for Essex.

Government contracts

Mr. Taras Natyshak: My question is to the Acting Premier. Since coming to office, the Premier has incurred millions in legal fees and settlements on everything from Hydro One to Alykhan Velshi’s contract with the OPG, even to Tesla’s electric cars. Speaker, legal experts are now calling the Premier’s plan to rip open the contract with the Beer Store “a public policy gaffe of epic proportions.”

Can the Acting Premier tell us how much of the taxpayers’ dollars he has budgeted for legal fees and eventual settlements?

Hon. Victor Fedeli: Thank you very much. I appreciate the question.

You know, Speaker, this is not just about beer and wine, it’s not just about bringing choice and convenience, but it’s about creating fairness for the people of Ontario. Now, it’s interesting to know—and I’m quite sure most people in the gallery would not know this—that the government of Ontario does not own the Beer Store. Yes, we own the LCBO, but we do not own the Beer Store. It is owned by three global beer multinationals, not the people of Ontario.

We have retained a special adviser, who told us that it was a bad deal for Ontarians and that this contract stifles competition, it keeps prices artificially high and it prevents new craft beer entrepreneurs from getting a strong foothold in the market.

The previous government put multinational profits ahead of people, and we’ll make good on our promise—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Niagara Falls has to come to order.

The member for Essex for his supplementary.

Mr. Taras Natyshak: It’s obvious that protecting what matters most isn’t taxpayers’ dollars in the province of Ontario under this government.

For a guy who claims to support unbridled capitalism, the Premier seems to really enjoy meddling in the economy. Whether it’s millions of dollars spent in our electricity sector or his plan to mandate businesses to display partisan ads or pay a $10,000-a-day fine, the Premier seems to have a gift of landing his government in court. Unfortunately, it’s Ontarians who are going to pay the price.

Will the finance minister tell us today how much he has budgeted of the people’s dollars for legal fees and eventual settlements?

Hon. Victor Fedeli: Minister of Energy.

Hon. Greg Rickford: We’re obviously concerned with the court of public opinion. The people of Ontario have a right to know that in Windsor–Essex alone, the two hospitals down there are going to incur costs of $800,000 because of this job-killing, regressive carbon tax that that member supports—

Mr. Taras Natyshak: What does that have to do with any part of this question?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Essex, come to order.

Hon. Greg Rickford: In 2019 alone, the automotive products sector in Windsor–Essex is going to incur $1.5 million because of the job-killing, regressive carbon tax—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Sorry to interrupt. The member for Essex is warned.

I apologize to the minister for interrupting him.

Hon. Greg Rickford: The member opposite talks about stickers; we’re talking about sticking it: how he and that party have stuck it to the people of Ontario for a significant cost that we need not incur to fight our environment. We can lower GHG emissions with an Ontario-made plan without adding on a job-killing, regressive carbon tax.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Stop the clock. We’re not yet halfway through question period, and I think it’s important to remind the members that our practice has been in recent months that if you’re warned and if the Speaker has to call you to order again, you may very well be named.

Start the clock. The next question is from the member for Ottawa South.

Autism treatment

Mr. John Fraser: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Acting Premier. Last week, I joined parents and grandparents of children with autism at a round table in my riding of Ottawa South. Here are some of the concerns that they expressed: The new OAP needs to be needs-based; the age cap and categorization of children are barriers to care; and there is no transparency around the expert panel, and it’s late.

We also know that the government secretly froze the wait-list last fall, and now we know that no new families have been able to register for the program. Since April 1, there has been no intake for the new OAP.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Minister of Children, Community and Social Services must come to order.

Mr. John Fraser: My question for the Acting Premier is: Does the Acting Premier believe that this is acceptable?

Hon. Victor Fedeli: Minister of Children, Community and Social Services.

Hon. Lisa MacLeod: Let me address a couple of the erroneous messages that I just heard. First, 500 children have received their childhood family budget letters this week, so we’ve started to remove kids off the wait-list as of April 1, just as I promised.

I want to address the fact that the wait-list was frozen: That’s completely untrue. In fact, the system was broke and broken; that’s why I had to go to Treasury Board to sustain the children that were on the plan for an extra $102 million. Thanks to the Treasury Board president, thanks to the finance minister and thanks to the Premier of Ontario.

I’d also like to address one other thing: He said that the autism advisory panel is secret. I’d invite the member to check Twitter right now, because the names of those who are on the list have just been released.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question.

Mr. John Fraser: I’d like to thank the minister and I’d like to remind the minister that there are parents who are here every day, and you’re not just responding to me; you’re responding to them.

The intake is not open, and you know that. I’m glad you’ve announced the expert panel, but there was no transparency—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I’m going to interrupt the member. You’ve got to make your comments through the Chair. When addressing each other in the House, comments through the Chair.

Mr. John Fraser: There has been no transparency around it. We know that you’re doing 500 letters a month, which means many families are going to wait years for care. You’ve done 500 letters, but you know the list is bigger.

This week, the Premier said in an interview that people who are raising concerns “have their hands in the public trough.” So let’s look at the Premier’s record: First of all, he has made OHIP+ OHIP-minus—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I’m going to ask the member to withdraw his unparliamentary comment.

Mr. John Fraser: I withdraw, Speaker.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): And conclude your question.

Mr. John Fraser: So let’s look at the government’s record on children so far: They’ve made OHIP+ OHIP-minus, halved the increase for social assistance, fired the child advocate, put the families through hell, cut the funding from the children’s aid society—and the list goes on and on and on, and every day we learn something new.

Has this government declared war on children? And, Mr. Speaker, through you, does the minister think that opposing these things is having your hand in the public trough?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I’m going to ask the member to withdraw.

Mr. John Fraser: I withdraw.

Hon. Lisa MacLeod: Let’s be perfectly clear: 500 children this past month are now off the wait-list. That was our priority on April 1. We are delivering on that commitment. We believe every single child with autism in the province of Ontario should get a level of support from their Ontario government, unlike the previous Liberal administration that allowed three out of four children, or 23,000 children, to languish on a wait-list—a system that was broken that required an additional injection of $102 million just to keep 8,000 children in service. No one has lost service; 500 more children have gained service.

I wish he had checked out Twitter if he wants to talk about transparency. There are over 26,000 people following me.

Mr. John Fraser: Oh, wow.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order.

Hon. Lisa MacLeod: They would know, and he should know, that Dr. Marie Bountrogianni, the former minister of children and youth under Dalton McGuinty, is co-chairing my panel.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order. Stop the clock. The member for Ottawa South has to come to order.

The next question.

Autism treatment

Mrs. Robin Martin: My question is to the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services. Our government inherited a broken, broke, inequitable and unsustainable Ontario Autism Program that left 75% of the precious children waiting for services languishing on a wait-list indefinitely. I was pleased when the minister took action earlier this year to introduce a new plan that would clear that Liberal wait-list and ensure that every child with autism would receive support. These were important steps, but the minister has also promised that this government will do more.

Over the past month, our government has been engaging with parents, family members and service providers to help inform how we can best provide additional enhancements to support children and youth with autism who have complex needs.

Speaker, can the minister update the Legislature on the progress of our government’s consultations?

Hon. Lisa MacLeod: I appreciate the opportunity to respond to the member from Eglinton–Lawrence. I’d like to thank you for all the work and the advocacy you have provided to our government with respect to this particular file.

As I mentioned in the previous question, my commitment and my priority has always been to eliminate the wait-list of 23,000 children—three out of four children in Ontario with autism—that we inherited.

The government has engaged in public consultations through an online survey and six telephone town halls. I’m pleased to report that over 2,300 Ontarians participated and completed the survey. Over 1,250 Ontarians participated in our telephone town halls.

I’d also like to thank members of this assembly, including the Green Party leader, the NDP member for Kitchener–Waterloo, as well as many members, including the Minister of Transportation, who have held round tables in their constituencies. We’re taking that feedback.

I’m pleased to announce today that we are releasing the autism advisory panel, which will be co-chaired by the Liberal minister of children and youth from 2003 to 2006, Marie Bountrogianni, and the executive director of Autism Ontario, Marg Spoelstra—and many more who I’m excited to tell you about—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you very much.

The supplementary question.

Mrs. Robin Martin: Through you, Speaker, thank you to the minister for that response and for her relentless work since day one to ensure that every child with autism receives support from the Ontario government, as they deserve.

I am glad to hear that so many Ontarians have participated in our government’s consultation on this important issue. I will continue to encourage families in my riding of Eglinton–Lawrence to participate, to help inform additional enhancements to the Ontario Autism Program.

Speaker, can the minister please elaborate on how these consultations and the new advisory panel will ensure that Ontario has a program where children with autism who have complex needs receive appropriate support?

Hon. Lisa MacLeod: I’m very excited. As we know, our initial commitment was a $321-million program, which was an enhancement of $56 million from the previous Liberal administration. In fact, what we did after April 1 is, Premier Ford decided he would unlock an additional $300 million, so we’ll be working towards a more needs-based system for the kids with the most complex needs, and we extended their contract.

I am so excited that Dr. Marie Bountrogianni and Margaret Spoelstra will co-chair this extremely talented group of people, including the Ontario Autism Coalition, including ONTABA, including Autistics for Autistics, other clinical experts from across the province, as well as parent advocates. They will feed all of that information that we have heard to see how we can best address a needs-based system in the province of Ontario with the most expensive system this province has ever come forward with, with over $600 million dedicated towards children with autism in this province.

I could not be more proud to be part of Premier Ford’s administration so that we can put forward a good, sustainable program, unlike what we inherited.

Consumer protection

Mr. Tom Rakocevic: My question is for the Premier. The Toronto Raptors are heading to their first-ever NBA finals tonight, and we’re all excited.

Kawhi, Canada loves you. Stay with us. It’s going to be maple syrup for life. You know it’s sweet.

But watching the game at the Scotiabank Arena is just out of reach for too many fans. Game one Raptors tickets sold out within half an hour thanks to a feeding frenzy by scalpers, forcing Raptors fans to pay $2,000 for the average seat. Even standing room on the balcony was going for over $1,000.

One of the first things this government did was side with scalpers and rip up protections that would have capped ticket resales at 50% of their original value. Shame. Why does this Premier believe Raptors fans should be gouged like this?

Hon. Doug Ford: Minister of Economic Development.

Hon. Todd Smith: I could tell you, over here on this side of the House, we are extremely excited about tonight’s game, one of the NBA finals. I’ll tell you, Mr. Speaker, that’s Kawhi the PC government is fully behind the Toronto Raptors.

The NDP could bring anything grinding to a halt with negativity, even something as exciting as this. But what we’ve done is—we saw the previous Liberal legislation that was completely unenforceable. There was absolutely no way that we were going to be able to enforce this. What it actually was doing was driving more people to the black market. So we’ve taken some steps: increasing penalties to discourage black market ticket sales, cracking down on illegal ticket bots, making ticket sellers provide clear and easy-to-understand information about ticket availabilities, getting rid of the print-at-home fees. We’re doing everything we can to support Ontarians and the Toronto Raptors.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Stop the clock. The member for St. Catharines has to come to order. The member for Windsor West has to come to order. The member for Hamilton East–Stoney Creek has to come to order. Yes.

Start the clock. Supplementary question.

Mr. Tom Rakocevic: Last year, the Toronto Star and CBC revealed that Ticketmaster, who monopolizes the sale of Raptors tickets, was double-dipping and secretly helping scalpers online. Rather than stand up for sports fans, the Minister of Government and Consumer Services is siding with scalpers. He saw no problem with tickets being resold for $60,000—$60,000, Speaker. No everyday family can afford that.

When it comes to ticket sales here, there’s no transparency, and the only real choice for fans is to get ripped off by ticket sellers. That’s the only choice fans have here. Will the Premier direct his minister to reverse course and start protecting fans and standing up for sports fans in this province?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Members please take their seats.

To the minister to reply.

Hon. Todd Smith: Mr. Speaker, while the NDP and the Liberals are focused on playing politics with ticket prices, we’re celebrating the fact that for the first time in their 24-year history, the Toronto Raptors are in the NBA finals. It’s a very exciting time.

As you can imagine, the arena holds 20,000-plus fans, not 60,000 fans like in the early days at the Rogers Centre or at the SkyDome—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Stop the clock. This is the Parliament of Ontario. It’s not a basketball game. We’re not spectators at a basketball game.

Start the clock. To the minister to reply.

Hon. Todd Smith: Speaker, this is a historic run by Canada’s NBA franchise. People in this city are ecstatic. They’re going to be down at Jurassic Park, formerly known as Maple Leaf Square, and spread all the way over to the SkyDome. Tens of thousands of fans are going to be packing bars and restaurants, and not just in Toronto; the Raptors have swept the country. I was just in Halifax; representatives from across the country are excited. I know Jurassic Park east is going to be in Pickering. This is an exciting time—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Stop the clock. The member for Hamilton East–Stoney Creek is warned.

Next question? Start the clock.

Government fiscal policies

Mr. Stephen Lecce: My question is to the Minister of Finance. On June 7, 2018, our government received a mandate to lower taxes, to grow the economy, to balance our budget, all while protecting the social services our families depend on. Under the leadership of our Premier, we are acting decisively to restore confidence in the markets and hope in our workers that Ontario’s best days remain ahead.

Under our plan, Ontario is leading the nation in economic growth. We are leading the nation in attracting the most immigrants to this pluralistic province. We lead the nation in jobs growth—170,000 overwhelmingly full-time private sector jobs in the province of Ontario. Mr. Speaker, we’re just getting started.

We unveiled a responsible plan, budget 2019, that places Ontario on a prudent plan to balance, while returning thousands of dollars back to the pockets of families, seniors and our young people, exactly where it belongs.

To the minister: Can you outline how our plan for jobs and growth is instilling confidence in investors at home and abroad?

Hon. Victor Fedeli: Thank you to the member from King–Vaughan. Yesterday, Fitch announced that they are moving Ontario’s outlook from negative, as it was under the Liberals, to stable, as a result of the responsible path that we have put the province on.

Speaker, during a recent meeting with Fitch, we explained our five-year path to balance, our debt reduction strategy and the initiatives we have already taken to control runaway spending. We told them how our government is creating a climate that is open for business, open for jobs, by lowering taxes, providing more focused training programs and eliminating unnecessary regulations and red tape. This is great news from Fitch, and it’s a result of our government taking a responsible approach to balancing the budget while protecting what matters most: our world-class health care and education system.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question?

Mr. Stephen Lecce: Back to the minister: Yesterday, as the minister noted, the Fitch credit rating agency announced that they are moving Ontario’s outlook from negative, as it was under the Liberals, to stable, as a result of the responsible path that we have put our province on. This government is taking immediate action to unshackle this province from the constraints imposed on them by the former provincial and current federal Liberal governments.

Yet the Liberals are content increasing deficits and imposing higher debt levels on our children—debt that leads to service cuts or tax hikes; debt that crowds out future governments’ abilities to invest in a sustainable health and education system. The Liberals have demonstrated no fiscal restraint, no value for money, no plan to make life affordable. No way can these Liberals return to power and further erode the social services of our children.

That’s why, from day one, we’ve taken action to unleash the potential of our province and our people. Minister, could you outline further evidence that our plan is working, from creating jobs to attracting investment, and signalling to the world about Ontario’s renewed economic momentum?

Hon. Victor Fedeli: This news from Fitch came just two days after DBRS rating agency confirmed the province’s rating, as well, as stable. DBRS stated: “The ratings are supported by the province’s diverse and growing economy, effective debt and liquidity management practices as well as the improving direction of fiscal policy.”

They further added: “The change in fiscal policy is clearly positive from a credit perspective and there appears to be a genuine and credible commitment to addressing the province’s budget imbalances and gradually reduce the debt burden.”

Our plan is working, and the world is taking notice. The business community in Ontario created 170,000 jobs in the last year. For the first time in 15 years, businesses once again have confidence in Ontario as a place to invest, grow and create great jobs.

Victims of crime

Ms. Sara Singh: My question is for the Premier. This week is Victims and Survivors of Crime Week, a chance for us to work with victims and survivors to have their voices heard in our criminal justice system.

Sadly, this government doesn’t believe that victims of crime deserve support. Maybe that’s why they’re cutting millions of dollars that would have gone towards compensating victims of violent crime, money that covers things like their funeral costs, physical therapy and their loss of income.

Does the Premier believe that cutting compensation is a just outcome for victims and survivors of heinous acts of crime?

Hon. Doug Ford: The Attorney General.

Hon. Caroline Mulroney: The NDP has just voted against a budget that will increase support for victims of crime from $25,000 to $30,000 a year.

Under the old system, victims of crime were waiting from one to up to three years to get the compensation that they needed in the aftermath of a crime. So, our government took action to ensure that victims of crime are getting the compensation that they need in a faster, more efficient way. That is why we’re switching from an adjudicative model to an administrative model. That means that a victim will no longer have to appear before an adjudicator to decide on how much compensation should be paid, and that they will be able to submit their paperwork and receipts to the ministry, who will issue a simple receipt.

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to ensuring that victims get the support that they need in a more timely, efficient way, and we will continue to do that.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question?

Ms. Sara Singh: Back to the Premier: Unfortunately, that’s not what we’re hearing from advocates across this province who are concerned about this government’s cuts and the new funding compensation model for victims and survivors.

The Toronto Star has reported that a victim of human trafficking was previously awarded the maximum amount of $25,000, entirely for pain and suffering. She planned to use this money to get her life back on track, go to school and support her two children. But with these new cuts, survivors like her will not be able to get the much-needed support that they deserve.

Why is the Premier making it harder for victims and survivors of crime to access the supports and services they need for a speedy recovery?

Hon. Caroline Mulroney: To ensure that our government is meeting the needs of victims of crime—and the member opposite is highlighting some of the growing needs that victims of crime are facing. Victims of human trafficking require great support. To address those growing needs, the Ministry of the Attorney Gener