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November 26, 2020

42nd Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

vol. A

Hansard Transcripts

vol. B

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2020-Nov-26 vol. A (PDF)

L214A - Thu 26 Nov 2020 / Jeu 26 nov 2020

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Thursday 26 November 2020 Jeudi 26 novembre 2020

Orders of the Day

Magna Carta Day Act (In Memory of Julia Munro, MPP), 2020 / Loi de 2020 sur le Jour de la Grande Charte (à la mémoire de Julia Munro, députée provinciale)

Report, Financial Accountability Officer

Members’ Statements

Environmental protection

Christmas

Assistance to persons with disabilities

COVID-19 response

Laboratory services

Scarborough Business Association

SSE Care Solutions

Trans Day of Remembrance

Tenant protection

Violence against women

Lions Clubs

Trans Day of Remembrance

COVID-19 deaths

Question Period

COVID-19 response

Government accountability

Government accountability

COVID-19 response

Government accountability

Government accountability

Social services funding

Government accountability

Government accountability

Small business

COVID-19 response

Environmental protection

Water services

Environmental protection

Environmental protection

Business of the House

Member’s birthday

Deferred Votes

2020 Ontario budget

Reappointment of Chief Medical Officer of Health

Notice of dissatisfaction

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on Estimates

Standing Committee on General Government

Introduction of Bills

Supporting Local Restaurants Act, 2020 / Loi de 2020 visant à soutenir les restaurants locaux

Petitions

Abortion images

Community planning

Long-term care

Optometry services

Long-term care

Municipal elections

Long-term care

Long-term care

Orders of the Day

Main Street Recovery Act, 2020 / Loi de 2020 visant à redonner vie aux rues commerçantes

The House met at 0900.

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

Prayers/Prières.

Orders of the Day

Magna Carta Day Act (In Memory of Julia Munro, MPP), 2020 / Loi de 2020 sur le Jour de la Grande Charte (à la mémoire de Julia Munro, députée provinciale)

Ms. McKenna moved third reading of the following bill:

Bill 201,

An Act to proclaim Magna Carta Day / Projet de loi 201, Loi proclamant le Jour de la Grande Charte.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Further debate?

Ms. Jane McKenna: I’m so thrilled to be here, speaking at third reading of Bill 201, the Magna Carta Day Act (In Memory of Julia Munro, MPP). The road to getting this bill to third reading started six years ago when Julia Munro first introduced the bill. I want to thank all MPPs for your support at first and second reading.

A special thanks to the members on the Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills, especially our committee Chair, the great member from Mississauga–Malton, and our newly elected Vice-Chair, the wonderful member from Ottawa South. The bill was considered by committee on October 7, 14 and 16, and I was pleased to receive support at committee from Omar Ha-Redeye of the Durham Community Legal Clinic, which provides legal services, information, education and representation for historically marginalized and low-income residents in Durham region.

As we begin third reading of this bill today, I can see the finish line. I want to take a moment to look back at where we started. When I was driving here today, I was thinking about the very first time I came into this House in 2011. Lady Munro, which she was affectionately known as, sat right across, there, the third row up. Minister Scott sat between us. But Thursdays, we had our duty day. I learned so much from her when she would sit there. She would sit and talk. Funnily enough, she never did tell me she was a teacher, but you just knew she was a teacher by the way she conducted herself.

There were just so many things that she would have loved. I want to mention a few things today. She would just think this government House leader has done a phenomenal job, and I’ll tell you why. Today, PMBs are what we’re doing here today at 9 o’clock this morning so everybody can appreciate them, instead of on Thursdays when most people have gone home. She would be thrilled that that standing order was changed.

She would also be thrilled because PAs now have an opportunity in this House to actually get up—because they know their file—and be able to continue in the House as opposed to being out there. I know she would just be thrilled with the changes that this government House leader, the member from Markham–Stouffville, has made.

I just want to also shout out first of all to say that I know the member from King–Vaughan—it’s his birthday today. I’ll tell you, when I used to sit across over there, she would love ministers like that. She would say how they made our lives so easy because they knew their files. So happy birthday to him first and foremost, but I wanted to point that out because she made comments about ministers all the time and how wonderfully they knew their portfolios.

I had a conversation this morning with the former Leader of the Opposition, and this is what he said: “She really revered the institution and the important mission we were dispatched to do. She had great respect for MPPs and all of those who made the Legislature function, the traditions of the place and its history. Debate was thoughtful, meaningful and researched. She was never a heckler. She always listened. That demeanour and approach made her a natural Deputy Speaker.” So that was lovely that he said that.

Then I actually spoke with the member from Oxford, and he said to me, “Jane, I went numerous times to her riding, and what she was like here”—

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Sorry to interrupt the member, but when you step over here, you’re out of the range of the microphone, and we’re not hearing you as well as we could if you were standing by the microphone that is lit. Thank you.

Ms. Jane McKenna: Thank you, Speaker. He said that he constantly would go and help—when she had a riding, he would go up, and he said that what she was like in this House was exactly what she was like in the riding when he used to go and speak there. But he also said that she came two times to his riding in Tillsonburg for her dog shows, and he said that as much as she knew her dogs were the best to win, she walked around and encouraged everybody there that they had an opportunity to win as well. He also said to me, “Jane, the most wonderful thing about her was she never lectured.

She never repeated her opinion on you. She always just was thoughtful of the things she wanted you to hear and what she wanted you to say.”

When I got in here and we both sat over there on Thursdays for duty day, I just learned so much. We had, of course, the same people that were there. Just a couple of funny things: John O’Toole used to always grab his cookie and put it in the drawer in a Kleenex. She used to laugh because he used to run in and get it. And then I was thinking this morning driving in about Frank Klees as well, when he used to get up and take his glasses off, and she used to say that every time he took his glasses off, “It’s go-to time,” because he’d get talking away.

I just wanted to bring those because I was driving in this morning and thinking about all those wonderful things about her and just wanted to tell a bit of a story about that.

She also used to say, “You’ll make it what you make it here, Jane.” She used to say that what people think of you doesn’t define who you are. There was always so much talk about the past in here, and she said, “People always talk about your past because they’re insecure of your future.” There were just so many things that I remember she used to say to me about those things, so I just wanted to bring those up.

I’ve got notes everywhere, so I’m going to go back over here, Speaker.

Julia Munro was inspired. She had just purchased a reproduction of the Magna Carta at an auction and it gave her an idea. As a long-time teacher, she saw an opportunity to raise awareness through a piece of legislation. In her words, “People don’t know a lot about” Magna Carta. “To me, that’s just all the more reason to bring awareness to it.” That’s why, on April 2, 2015, York–Simcoe MPP Julia Munro stood up in this place and said, “I’m excited today to debate my private member’s bill, Bill 23, the Magna Carta Day Act, which proclaims June 15 each year as Magna Carta Day.”

Today, Speaker, I’m honoured to continue where MPP Munro left off. Let’s take a moment to review some of the legislative history of Julia Munro’s Magna Carta Day Act. She first introduced it on July 23, 2014. She introduced it again on February 28, 2017, and again on March 20, 2018. It was her last piece of legislation. All three times, the bill passed first and second reading with all-party support. Six years later, I’m introducing her bill again, this time in her memory, as the longest-serving female member of the Ontario Legislature.

She taught high school. She was a history teacher in Markham and Newmarket for 24 years. An interesting bit of trivia: She taught Barenaked Ladies drummer Tyler Stewart at Huron Heights Secondary School. When he was asked who was the most influential person who led him to music, it was Lady Munro.

Before the 1995 provincial election, Julia decided, in her words, that she was “tired of sitting around the kitchen table complaining about politics and decided to get involved.” She was elected to the Ontario Legislature in 1995 during the Mike Harris sweep, defeating New Democrat Larry O’Connor in the riding of Durham–York, getting 61.8% of all votes cast. She was re-elected in 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011 and 2014.

In government, Julia Munro served as parliamentary assistant to the Premier, government whip, parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Transportation, Chair of the Management Board and parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Culture. She lived on a farm near Sutton with her husband, John, and her daughter, Genevieve, and she loved dogs.

Many of us referred to her as Lady Munro because she was an inspiration and a role model for many women. Julia had great courage and was known for her sincerity and for always keeping the public good foremost in her mind. As a politician, she was respected across party lines. She was passionate about history, the Constitution and proper governance. This is why recognizing the importance of Magna Carta in our democracy meant so much to her. She was respectful and compassionate, she cared deeply about the people she served, but most of all, Julia Munro was kind.

So many of us here in this place have wonderful memories of Lady Munro: our Minister of Transportation, who in 2018 was elected in Julia’s former riding, and of course the member for Barrie–Innisfil, who worked for Julia in her riding and at Queen’s Park before her own successful election in 2018.

I also want to acknowledge again the support I’ve received in moving this bill forward from our Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries.

My friend the NDP member from Windsor–Tecumseh, in a debate for this bill back in 2017, said, “We in this chamber are here because we are able to stand on the shoulders of those who came before us.... We are here because of established and accepted rules and traditions, and these rules and traditions are protected by law.”

American author Diana Gabaldon, known for the Outlander novel series, once said, “Things you cherish and hold dear are like pearls on a string. Cut the knot and they scatter across the floor.” Our parliamentary democracy, like a string of pearls, depends on strong connections, a foundation from which everything is built upon.

Magna Carta, or more simply the Great Charter of Freedoms, has been described as the greatest constitutional document of all time and as England’s greatest export. But the Magna Carta came about through a mediated settlement. King John of England had just lost a battle. He needed money to reclaim lost land. To raise money, he increased taxes and created new ones: income taxes, import and export taxes, inheritance and estate taxes, and even a tax on widows that wanted to remain single. Then, after a series of bad harvests, which resulted in increased demand for food and high inflation, the barons, the 1%, revolted, and England was on the brink of civil war.

On one side, there was a very unpopular king, and on the other, landowners that he was at war with over how much money he wanted from them. In the middle was Archbishop Langton of Canterbury, who acted as the mediator. They met at a neutral site, Runnymede, near Windsor.

Let’s get one thing straight: King John didn’t come to the table willingly; in fact, the barons actually chased and captured him. On June 15, 1215, he was forced to sign a document that put limits on his power and guaranteed various rights. The key principles of Magna Carta included that nobody is above the law of the land; the freedom from unlawful detention without cause or evidence; trial by jury was established to settle disputes; and—a major first step in women’s rights—a widow could not be forced to marry and give up her property.

Now, King John wasn’t really interested in giving up power. As MPP Munro said when she first introduced the bill in 2015, “King John felt that he could sign it and then wiggle around it, but history turned out differently.”

The Magna Carta also inspired later charters: in 1217, the Charter of the Forest, which set precedents for the management of shared resources, and the 1258 Provisions of Oxford, which led to the development of Parliament. The principles of the Magna Carta are ingrained within the British common law system and are reflected in the Canadian Constitution and our Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Now, the great part of Hansard is that it captures every word said in this place for all time. I want to knowledge the NDP member for the then riding of Timmins–James Bay and current opposition House leader who, during debate on April 2, 2015, said, “What’s interesting is, some of the kings that we remember as being the better ones actually took the heart of Magna Carta and brought it further.... They started to understand, as a monarchy, that they had to move in a different direction.”

During the same debate, the NDP member for Hamilton East–Stoney Creek said, “The Magna Carta is part of Canada’s cultural and political heritage. It has inspired the truly oppressed around the world. For eight centuries, the Magna Carta has fired the hearts and minds of those who seek justice in the face of tyranny and exploitation.”

During the March 20, 2018, debate, the NDP member from Oshawa said, “Magna Carta stands as a written flashpoint that has lit the fires of challenge and justice, inspiring the truly oppressed around the world. The Magna Carta represents equality before the law, trial by peers, immunity from illegal imprisonment and taxation only by the consent of the citizenry.”

During the same debate, the NDP member for Toronto–Danforth said, “Nelson Mandela cited the Magna Carta in his defence.... He lived in an unjust society under a ... government that denied the rule of law by denying the equality of the people it was meant to serve. Apartheid in South Africa denied the promises of the Magna Carta.”

Speaker, before I share details of the support I received from various members of Ontario’s legal community, I want to go back to Monday, August 11, 2008, to the Standing Committee on the Legislative Assembly that was discussing proposed changes to the standing orders. At about 9:15 a.m. on that day, there was some discussion about petitions, and the NDP member from Welland, the late Peter Kormos, said, “The right to petition goes back to Magna Carta. It was the hard-earned right to petition the King, and it was a historical struggle.

So that petition, the right to petition the King, is a Magna Carta-based right.” I will always remember Peter as being unrelenting in his ability to fight for the underdog, as someone who fought for change and, if nothing else, drew attention to those things which he felt strongly about.

In preparation for today’s debate, I also reached out to some distinguished members of Ontario’s legal community for their thoughts in declaring June 15 Magna Carta Day. Here is some of what I heard:

Teresa Donnelly, treasurer of the Law Society of Ontario, shared her support: “One of the Law Society of Ontario’s primary purposes is to facilitate access to justice for the people of Ontario. The Magna Carta is the foundation of our democracy and it should not be forgotten.”

Joanna Baron, executive director of the Canadian Constitution Foundation, said, “The Magna Carta represents the bedrock of the principle of the rule of law and the individual sphere of liberty against arbitrary power. The Canadian Constitution Foundation celebrates the life of Ms. Munro and applauds the introduction of the Magna Carta Day Act as an important recognition for all Ontarians.”

William Woodward, chair of the Federation of Ontario Law Associations, said, “On behalf of the Federation of Ontario Law Associations I am pleased to support this bill recognizing the Magna Carta, which has provided the foundation for the democratic principles that we as citizens enjoy. I would also like to congratulate and thank you for your efforts in guiding this legislation in memory of Julia Munro who introduced it.”

They say that life can only be understood backwards but must be lived forward. The Magna Carta was the foundation. It started off what we enjoy today: the rules that we abide by in this House, the way we treat each other, the role of the government and role of the opposition. We take a lot for granted with our parliamentary democracy that we inherited from the people who came before us and who fought hard to preserve it.

MPP Munro introduced this same Magna Carta bill three times. With my introduction, this bill has now been debated five times and considered by four different legislative committees. I am so grateful to everyone here for your support to pay the ultimate tribute to Julia Munro, passing a bill in her honour that meant so much to her.

I leave you with a few words from our late colleague: “The ideas contained within the Magna Carta evolved over the centuries.... It signifies that no one, not even the crown, is above the law. That is such an important concept.”

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Further debate?

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: This is quite a moment, I think, to proclaim Bill 201,

An Act to proclaim Magna Carta Day, because I think we all have special ties to the person who introduced this bill. The member from Burlington has given us a very good chronology of events with how it got here today.

The Magna Carta bill obviously has ties to a fallen member, Lady Julia Munro. The member from Burlington was elected in 2011. I, as well, and many of my colleagues, in the class of 2011, came to this Legislature. I listened to the stories of her reminiscing about her communication and relationship with Lady Munro.

I did not have a very close relationship with Lady Munro, but from afar, I surmised that she seemed to be a very nice person, a very thoughtful person and a very reasonable person. From the stories that the member from Burlington talked about, some of the things she said were really true to life, about not bringing up people’s past because someone doing that can mean you’re the one who is insecure, right ? Those are life lessons I think we should all understand, maybe with age and experience.

Her being a history teacher, I think it’s very, very apropos that she is bringing a bill of history to the Legislature, and even though she’s not with us any longer, she is creating history by our passing the Magna Carta bill. It’s very significant. She’s going to leave a legacy in this Legislature, in Ontario, of passing a bill about democracy, passing a bill about equality, passing a bill about how no one is above the law in this province, and in this country, really.

The Magna Carta bill—I’m going to read it, because the

preamble does give a really good explanation of the essence of the bill:

“On June 15, 1215, King John affixed his seal to the Magna Carta, which placed limits on the monarch’s power to overrule the law and protected the rights of ordinary people. The document introduced key principles that hold true in democratic societies today, including equal justice for everyone, freedom from unlawful detention, the right to a trial by jury, and rights for women.

“It is important for the Magna Carta to be honoured and remembered as a document that changed the course of history. The fundamental traditions of equality and freedom that characterize our democratic society—particularly that nobody, not even the Crown, is above the law—originated in this important document.”

It goes on to talk about, “Therefore, Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario, enacts” it as follows.

It very well speaks to the principle of democracy. I think everyone here, we were all elected under a democratic process and we all respect what our role is in the Legislature. Saying that we have to spell out that no one is above the law is kind of unusual for me, because I think everyone should understand that, that no one is above the law, that we’re all held accountable for our actions, and there are consequences to things that we do.

I say that in the context of the Legislature and the kind of legislation we present. There have been many things that as the opposition we agree and disagree with, but that’s what democracy is about. I think Lady Munro understood that. People that you work with in this House have a difference of opinions and they’re entitled to those opinions. She never lectured. When you have an opinion you’re allowed to express that opinion without somebody scolding you, without somebody wagging their finger. As I said, I didn’t know her that well, but as a teacher she obviously was well regarded in her role.

I read a story recently about teachers, and it reflected what a teacher really aspires to. Of course there are so many good teachers. We all have had teachers in our lives that we look up to, and still today we admire them and how they taught us through our educational journey. A student had stolen some money out of a jar in the classroom. It was known that that happened and the teacher said, “The person who did that, please come forward.” No one came forward, so what she did was, she said, “What I’m going to do is, everyone close their eyes in the classroom.

I’m going to check your pockets and whoever has the money—no one will know. We’ll just put it back in the jar and we’ll just move forward.” She went to each student and checked their pockets and found the money and put it in the jar.

Years later, a man came to her and said, “I just want to thank you because you changed the course of my life. That day when you didn’t publicly humiliate me or embarrass me in front of the whole class I felt like I had a reason to do better things with my life, that somebody actually cared.” She was surprised. She said, “Who are you?” She didn’t recognize him. He said, “I’m such and such. Because of you doing that and nobody knew, I just want you to know how you changed the way I saw things.” She said, “I never knew who you were.” He said, “What do you mean?” She said, “I closed my eyes when I went to each student’s pockets.”

So you see, judging people on one act that they do doesn’t help you, because you formulate opinions and judgments, and it doesn’t help the person who can maybe have an opportunity to make a difference in the world, go in a different direction, take a different path.

I found that story very, very endearing, and also very true to how we should operate. That is the sign of a good teacher. I think Julia Munro lived up to that. The member from Burlington talked about how she didn’t lecture and how she didn’t impose her opinion; she listened. It was a wonderful story, and I’m glad that you were able to be friends with her for the short time that we had to engage with her.

We talked about how she loved dogs. She was a dog trainer. I love animals, specifically dogs. We have a pet, Maya. She’s a beagle and she’s one of the family. I think Julia Munro would be very impressed with her. She’s a beautiful specimen. She has all the characteristics of a beagle. She has the saddle, she has the white tip, she has the white breast and she has the markings of a winner in a dog show for beagles. The beagle is with us now, after Julia Munro, but I would have shown her pictures of my prize-winning beagle if she was around.

Back to the bill: I’m going read a little bit about the history. The bill is proclaiming June 15 of each year as Magna Carta Day. As we’ve said, the bill has been tabled a few times by Julia, former MPP for York–Simcoe, who was first elected in 1995 and served in the Legislature until 2018, when she chose not to run for re-election.

The first version was tabled to coincide with the 800th anniversary celebrations in 2015. The 2015 iterations of the bill passed unanimously on voice. Lady Munro was the longest serving female MPP in Ontario’s history. Unfortunately, she passed away in June 2019.

It’s a really great way to pay homage to Julia’s work, because the bill says that it’s also giving rights and freedoms to women. Her having that distinguished title right now of being the longest-serving woman in the Legislature, it’s kind of neat that she was bringing that bill forward.

Magna Carta is Latin for “great charter” and is one of the most important documents in political history, so it’s very significant. It remains a powerful and iconic symbol of civil liberties around the world, advancing the causes of constitutionalism and parliamentarianism.

Described as England’s greatest export, the Magna Carta was first drawn up in Britain and signed by King John on June 15, 1215, to make peace between the unpopular king and a group of rebel barons, limiting the powers of the monarch under the Angevin kings. In particular during John’s reign, the king’s rights had frequently been used inconsistently, often in an attempt to maximize the royal income from the barons.

June 15, 2015, marked the 800th anniversary of the signing—and the organizations and institutions with major celebratory events held in Runnymede, England, to mark the occasion.

The 750th anniversary passed in 1965 with little fanfare, and plans for the 700th anniversary were abandoned due to the First World War. So it took a while before we came to the 800th, where it could have the recognition that it’s due.

It was the first document forced onto the King of England by his subjects, with the objective of protecting their privileges and limiting his powers. Sometimes with legislation or where there’s change, there is conflict; there is a struggle. People rebelled and literally forced it on him. Good thing that he came around and saw the light and did the right thing.

This is something that maybe isn’t necessarily going to change the lives of a lot of people in Ontario, but it’s important, because it is history. From our history is who we are today. Our actions in history frame how we behave, and especially when we talk about how we run the Legislature. That history is significant today.

So I want to send out my sincerest congratulations to Lady Munro’s family on having this be something that the government has put on the order paper and passed through the House. It’s a wonderful gesture. We’re glad to see that the work of members in this Legislature does come to fruition. Sometimes it takes a while, but there are governments that come around to ideas that maybe happened years ago but then become relevant later on in life.

So with that, Speaker, I’m happy to say that of course we support this bill and look forward to it coming into law and royal assent at that time.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Further debate?

Ms. Andrea Khanjin: I’m honoured to speak today on Bill 201, put forward by the member for Burlington in commemoration of the beloved Julia Munro, better known by many as Lady Munro.

Bill 201, Magna Carta Day Act (In Memory of Julia Munro, MPP), 2020: In my speech about this private member’s bill, I want to discuss Lady Munro’s commitment to upholding democracy and reminding our very busy society of what we take for granted every day. After all, she did introduce the Magna Carta Day Act a few times, and she was relentless in ensuring that it was enshrined in current-day history so that we can remember what core principles, convictions and values got us here today. Thus, it is so fitting that the name of today’s private member’s bill also bears her name to pay respect and tribute to her achievements and commitment to freedom and democracy.

I will talk in my speech about the core convictions that Lady Munro held on to. No matter what was popular, she always believed in what was right, and I was very fortunate to learn many valuable lessons from her.

When speaking in the third session of the 41st Parliament, Julia Munro asked the following question in debate of her own private member’s bill, the Magna Carta Day Act: “Eight hundred years later, why does it matter that a King agreed to meet his most influential barons on a field in England to sign a document that he intended to tear up?”

I will get to Lady Munro’s answer in a few moments.

However, I wanted to ask another question that some might ask: What is the relevance of the British Constitution to us in Canada today? Canada is connected with Britain by language. Canada is connected with Britain by customs. Canada is connected with Britain by descent. But Canada’s connection with Britain is more than just these things; Canada and Britain share a monarch, and we share our constitutional development. We have a Constitution that has developed over years—not starting in 1982 or 1931 or 1867. These dates are all important, but none is remotely close to being the point of origin—the foundation.

Up until 1982, the power to amend the Canadian Constitution rested in London, with the British Parliament.

Up until 1931 and the adoption of the Statute of Westminster, Canada was not a fully autonomous state with legislative independence.

Up until 1867, Canada was not a dominion—a confederated country in its own right, albeit with the limitations mentioned above.

The answer to the question I posed—“What is the relevance of the British Constitution to us, in Canada, today?” The answer is, Canada and Britain share, deep in our history—and not always remembered—the Magna Carta.

We share the heritage of the Magna Carta not only with Britain, but also with 15 other realms of the Commonwealth. We also share that heritage with those countries, including the United States, whose foundational documents were inspired by those ideas of the Magna Carta.

To answer Julia Munro’s question of why the Magna Carta matters, I will turn to the answer that she herself provided in debate. She cited a passage by David Frum that appears on the back cover of Dr. Carolyn Harris’s book entitled Magna Carta and Its Gifts to Canada. Mr. Frum wrote: “When you speak your mind without fear, worship God as you think right, enjoy your property in security, or enter a courtroom confident that you cannot be punished until your guilt is proved—then you are standing at the end of a story that begins with these words written in Latin on parchment so long ago.” The words being referred to are written in the Magna Carta, Latin for “great charter.”

The Magna Carta is as near to a foundational document as we get; it’s a piece of sheepskin parchment, after all, four copies of which survive from the year 1215. So it is very appropriate that we are here today to recognize that historic document that is the foundation of our country. If Bill 201 is passed, when it receives royal assent, June 15 in Ontario will be proclaimed Magna Carta Day.

We are also here to honour Julia Munro, whose name appears, for good reason, in the title of this act. Lady Munro was the longest-serving female MPP in the history of the province, serving here for 23 years. During her time in government and in opposition, she held many roles. She taught history for 24 years, including serving as the head of a secondary school’s history department.

There have been a few occasions, I have to say, that I have heard from constituents—as you know, Lady Munro served in York–Simcoe, and later part of that riding became Innisfil, where I serve. There have been a few occasions when I have run into her students, and they certainly think very fondly of her. In fact, one example was when Julia and her husband, John, and I were having breakfast. The owner of the restaurant was actually a former student of hers and said he would never think that he would have been interested in history if it wasn’t for Lady Munro.

Although I was not a student of hers in a high school classroom, I was certainly a student of hers here at the Ontario Legislature for a few years and, of course, throughout my involvement and her involvement in the Ontario PC Party. I miss our chats dearly. She was a great mentor and she was there for me for many hallmarks of my life. For example, she was there when I lost my grandmother, who brought me to this country and raised me and who actually shares a lot of commonalities with Lady Munro.

They both believe that things come and go, and knowledge is forever, and Julia made it her goal, just like my grandmother did, to ensure that people have that knowledge, which is very much strength and power. She was also there for me when I first ran for the nomination, and supported me and gave me her time and advice. She was there when I opened my first campaign office as a candidate.

Certainly, she was never one to let me forget and she reminded many people in this Legislature—I’m sure you may recall this—of the core principles of the PC Party. We’d often have many discussions on this, especially when we were doing policy development. She served on the blue-ribbon panel on financial literacy when the PC Party was creating its party platform. Certainly, we had many discussions on that. Again, it was about keeping that knowledge and uplifting society.

Here are the core principles that she didn’t want us to forget, and I will quote them from our constitution:

“(

a) We believe in freedom of speech, worship and assembly, in loyalty to Canada and to the monarch of Canada and in the rule of law.

“(

b) We believe that government should serve the people and that progress requires a competitive economy, which, accepting its social responsibilities, allows every individual freedom of opportunity and initiative and the peaceful enjoyment of the fruits of his or her own labour.

“(

c) We believe in the ethical and accountable execution of the business of government.

“(

d) We believe that the interests of Ontario are best served by a strong, united and democratic Canada.

“(

e) We believe that economic freedom, entrepreneurial spirit and the right to private property are essential to economic prosperity and political freedom.

“(

f) We believe in the values of the family which encourage tolerance and mutual support.

“(

g) We believe that social justice entails equality of opportunity, including fair and equal treatment for all Ontarians and the provision of support to those in need.”

Lastly, Speaker, “(

h) We believe in and accept our responsibilities for the preservation of Ontario’s heritage and cultural diversity and the conservation and renewal of our environment for present and future generations.”

This shows you the strong convictions that Julia Munro had always upheld, and obviously reminded all of us, because sometimes we could get a little bit lost. But this also shows you that Julia Munro loved history and she loved politics. She was an ardent believer in the power of the system of democracy: the system that has the Magna Carta as its foundation, of course, and the democracy that we have because of the Magna Carta.

In the House, following the announcement that she would not be running for the 42nd Parliament, Julia said this about democracy. She said, “Sitting at the kitchen table won’t cut it.” She said, “It is your responsibility to be engaged.” Well, I take that to heart, because I am engaged. Her licence plate also read—the frame of her licence plate, I should say—“Democracy: Don’t waste it.” Certainly, I try to live up to that every day and try not to waste it.

To end, I do want to end with a few notes. I want to quote Lady Munro from July 23, 2014, on the occasion of her first introduction of Magna Carta Day:

“The document introduced key principles that hold true in democratic societies today, including equal justice for everyone, freedom from unlawful detention, the right to a trial by jury and rights for women.

“It is important for the Magna Carta to be honoured and remembered as a document that changed the course of history. The fundamental traditions of equality and freedom that characterize our democratic society, particularly that nobody—not even the crown—is above the law, originated in this important document.”

Sadly, Julia Munro, Lady Munro, passed away on June 12, 2019, just a few days shy of the 804th anniversary of the Magna Carta. I applaud that everyone wholeheartedly supports this bill, as it is a great tribute to the lovely and graceful mark that Julia Munro has left on the world so that we, as Canadians, can remember that foundation of democracy, what we need to uphold today; and forever, we can remember Julia Munro on that day.

Thank you, Julia, for everything that you have done, and to your family. I’m so glad that we can continue to look at this day, remember you, your values and reflect on what we can do better as a society.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Further debate?

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: It’s very much a pleasure to join the debate today, not only to recognize the amazing work that the member of Burlington has done to reintroduce Magna Carta Day, but to do so to celebrate Julia Munro.

I’m going to start by thanking everyone who has spoken today, because the member from London–Fanshawe spoke to the merits of Magna Carta, and I want to share that she embodies so many qualities that we remember fondly of Julia Munro. I want to thank her for her thoughtfulness. I agree: We should be respecting different opinions in this House, outside of this House, and whenever we try to make a difference.

To the member from Barrie–Innisfil—I wear my heart on my sleeve, everybody. But hearing you speak very, very clearly, Julia Munro knew what she was doing when she shared so much with you. It was like she was passing the torch to the next generation. Hearing you speak shows that millennials can care about the Constitution. You can care about respecting rules and process. You proved in your remarks today that millennials, your generation, actually understand what it means to connect to history. By respecting and embracing history, you’re poised for an amazing future, so thank you for your remarks.

Member from Burlington, I’m going to save you for the end.

But I’m going to talk about two things when it comes to Julia Munro, and that is who she was as a person, who I came to know, as well as what the Magna Carta meant in terms of women’s rights.

First of all, let’s talk about the Julia Munro that I came to love. It was in about 2008 or 2009 the PC women hosted an event to introduce aspiring politicians to what it’s like to not only run in politics but to serve as a woman parliamentarian. I remember the day that I attended this seminar. Julia was part of a panel discussion, and she hooked me. She was very thoughtful, she was very caring, and she shared so many nuggets of wisdom and a little bit of joy in recognizing what it truly means to represent the people from your home riding.

Fast-forward to 2011: My mentor then came to my riding with her husband, John, to help me get into the groove of what it was like to participate in a campaign.

Again, people have spoken about the qualities of Julia Munro. She was true, whether it was on the campaign trail or on a panel discussion incenting women to get engaged or through to how she presented herself in this House.

I have to share with you that Julia, in no matter what role she served here at Queen’s Park and the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, she embodied respect. She embodied respect, as the member from London–Fanshawe pointed out, for differing opinions. That’s how the dialogue becomes richer, when you do have those differing opinions. It’s so important to respect the fact that even though you sometimes differ, you can land in a really good place, and you can make something better because you’ve listened.

Julia also embodied respect for the tradition of this assembly. I think that’s something that we all have taken and embrace because of that. And Julia respected rules and processes. If ever before there was a time to remember the respect that we need to have for rules and processes, it’s now.

Again, this is a lady I came to know and love since around 2008 or 2009. One thing that bonded us together very quickly was the fact that she loved tradition, and she loved her hobby farm. We both were proud to tell everybody that we live on farms. I’ll never forget, one June I was lamenting the fact that we had a poor crop of rhubarb. Well, the next week, guess what was in my office? She had brought in and shared some of her own rhubarb. It’s interesting, I can just envision her now in her garden and thoughtfully caring for whatever she was growing, just the way she cared for legislation here in this House, in a very thoughtful, measured way.

But I have to share with everyone listening today that she had a sense of humour as well. In fact, the member from Chatham-Kent served with Julia as a deputy speaker, and he commented on how she wasn’t opposed to staying up late at night. She was no stranger to the members’ lounge on the third floor, and she was no stranger to a good sense of humour. With that, I want to share with you that—I’ll never forget one caucus meeting we had. We always had our own table to sit at.

At our table, there was the member from Perth–Wellington, the member from Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry, the Minister of the Environment, the Associate Minister of Energy as well as the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade. You can just imagine the banter we would have sometimes. Well, there was one day in particular that there was lot of banter happening. The caucus chair at the time, the Solicitor General, was throwing the stink eye in the corner. Then out of the blue, Julia contributed to the banter. Well, we all fell into belly laughs, and we couldn’t stop it.

So when the Solicitor General actually stood up to ask for some decorum, you saw five, six hands immediately point to Julia, that she was the root cause of it all. And that’s just who she was. She was never more than who she was with. She had such a bright light, and she used that light in everything she did.

Another thing that really bonded us together was the spirit of trying to breed the best of the best, celebrating the science of genetics so you can produce the best of class. I did it; I grew up showing cattle, and I’m proud to have a purebred Boer goat herd that we would take to the Royal and have some national champions as well, just like Julia had champion dogs. Her family raised champion dogs, and she and Genevieve worked so hard on that.

There was one day when I remember she was trying to get somebody to swap House duty with her, because she had to get to the airport to get some straws. Now, not everybody would understand what that means, but I heard it from afar—the member from Perth–Wellington will understand the value of a straw. I’m sure the deputy leader of the opposition party would understand why it was important for Julia to get to the airport to collect these straws. When I heard her say that, I rearranged my afternoon to sub in for her, because I knew.

Her eyes were just sparkling like it was Christmas Day, because she was about to embark on introducing some new genetics to her line of dogs, and that was pretty cool.

That’s who she was. She celebrated what mattered. She celebrated what was true. She celebrated making a difference and being the best a person can be. That’s why this bill is so important. To the member from Burlington: I thank you, because I’m so glad that you too had an opportunity to serve with Julia Munro, and that you too have picked up the torch to bring forward something that was so near and dear to her heart.

One thing that struck me is that we can’t forget that the key principles of the Magna Carta include that nobody is above the law of the land. Freedom from unlawful detention without cause or evidence, trial by jury—it goes on and on, but it all culminates to the point where the Magna Carta has to be recognized as a major first step in women’s rights as well. So think about what you’re doing. Thank you so much for honouring Julia Munro, but more so, to the member from Burlington, I thank you for standing up for women’s rights as well. You are leaving your own legacy by making sure that we honour an amazing person’s legacy unto itself.

That’s why I want to talk about recognizing Julia. I’m the incoming chair for the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians—some of you have heard me speak about this before—for the Canadian region. Recognizing that Julia was considering her retirement, I went to Speaker Levac and I said, “Look, we have a woman here who has proven her commitment to Ontario. She has demonstrated her absolute belief in just and right legislation that leads to laws that will be balanced and fair across the land. And we have a woman in our midst that has led by example and has lit the spark for so many other women.

Could we please consider recognizing her by hanging her portrait in the Remarkable Assembly on the first floor?” He didn’t even blink an eye before he said, “Absolutely.” So I thank Speaker Dave Levac for doing that.

She joins the ranks of so many firsts: our first woman Premier, Premier Kathleen Wynne; our first woman Sergeant-at-Arms; Bette Stephenson etc. The list just goes on and on. I have to tell you, that Remarkable Assembly means something for all of us when we walk into this House. It means that women have paved the way for other young ladies to be inspired, much like the member from Barrie–Innisfil.

With that, I share with you that not only are we recognizing an amazing lady who brought very pertinent legislation to this House, but we’re also recognizing that the Magna Carta represents the bedrock of the principle of the rule of law, and I thank the member for bringing it forward today.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Further debate? Further debate?

Speaker’s prerogative: For those of us who didn’t have an opportunity to speak today, thank you to the member from Burlington for bringing this forward in the name of Julia Munro. Those of us who have served with Julia admire Julia. In fact, some of us actually love Julia. I say to her husband, John, and daughter, Genevieve, that you must be so proud of what you heard here today. Thank you.

Ms. McKenna has moved third reading of Bill 201,

An Act to proclaim Magna Carta Day. Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? The motion is carried.

Be it resolved that the bill do now pass and be entitled as in the—no, you’re going to do that.

The Clerk-at-the-Table (Mr. William Wong): Third reading of the bill. Troisième lecture du projet de loi.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Now I’ll do this. I’m getting ahead of myself. Julia would be on my back for that.

Be it resolved that the bill do now pass and be entitled as in the motion.

Third reading agreed to.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): Orders of the day?

Hon. Paul Calandra: No further business this morning.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Percy Hatfield): There being no further business at this time, this House is in recess until 10:15.

The House recessed from 1001 to 1015.

Report, Financial Accountability Officer

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I beg to inform the House that the following document has been tabled: a report entitled Provincial Infrastructure: A Review of the Province’s Infrastructure and an Assessment of the State of Repair, from the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario.

Members’ Statements

Environmental protection

Ms. Catherine Fife: In

schedule 6 of this year’s budget bill, the Ford government is undermining conservation authorities across the province. The head of the Upper Thames River Conservation Authority says that Ontario’s proposed overhaul of conservation authorities would weaken environmental protections and put more power into the hands of private developers, while negating its fundamental role.

This is the Premier’s latest pro-developer, anti-environment move. He dismantled cap-and-trade, loosened protections on endangered species, tried to open up the greenbelt twice—the list goes on.

None of the province’s conservation authorities were consulted on this bill. Locally, the GRCA has raised serious concerns about the impact these changes will have on their operations. They manage water and other natural resources on behalf of 39 municipalities, close to one million residents. Conservation authorities are similar to public health in many ways: They’re working when we don’t see problems. CAs prevent flooding, protect species, address soil erosion and keep the water in our rivers and lakes clean.

The government chooses not to understand the inherent value of protecting our environment, but let’s talk in their language. Do you know what’s bad for the economy? Flooding—horrible for the economy and people’s livelihoods. Insurance companies are now actively campaigning for flood mitigation strategies. Pollution—also bad for the economy, health outcomes and productivity.

All this to say, the move to undermine conservation authorities stinks of backroom politics. CAs do vital work, and their mandates deserve to be protected.

Christmas

Miss Christina Maria Mitas: Every year on December 25, my family and I join billions of people around the world to celebrate Christmas. For us, Christmas is many things: a time for family, a time for love, a time for good cheer and food and, most importantly, a time for celebration.

On Christmas we commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ, a truly great reason to celebrate. For me, this holiday reminds me to be thankful and reflect on all of the blessings that I have in my life. I am truly thankful this Christmas for my family and my faith.

As our cohort begins our final full day before the Christmas season, I can’t help but feel excited at the prospect of spending quality time with my little ones and making memories that will last a lifetime.

We have all endured an incredibly difficult year, more difficult for many than any other year they have been through. But we have made it through: 2020 is almost over, and I believe that both Christmas and the new year are opportunities for us to not only celebrate but mark new beginnings. I have faith that we will usher in 2021, and it will be a better year for all of us.

We must always have hope for the future, and this time is perfect for finding that hope within ourselves. On reflecting on this year, let us acknowledge the difficulties but also find the silver linings. Perhaps we have strengthened our familial bonds during the additional time that we have had with our loved ones, or gained a better understanding of ourselves. Maybe we have grown more committed to learning and living our faith.

I encourage you all to try to find the good, even in the most difficult of times, and believe doing so means we will not allow ourselves to be defeated or broken by our circumstances. I encourage you to find joy and pride in your beliefs and convictions.

And so I wish a very merry Christmas to everyone in Scarborough Centre and in Ontario, and a holiday season full of faith, family, love, health, success and hope for all of our futures. May you know peace during this blessed time.

Assistance to persons with disabilities

Ms. Peggy Sattler: I rise today to share the voices of some of London’s most vulnerable residents: those struggling to survive on ODSP. People with disabilities in London West have told me they can barely afford rent, much less groceries, a phone and a bus pass, on a monthly income of $1,169. During a time of unprecedented hardship and stress, people with disabilities have been forgotten by this government.

Speaker, please listen to what they are saying:

“It seems everyone has had help with this difficult time except people with disabilities.... I am so saddened by the dignity we must lose, once we are disabled in this province.”

“Disabled is not lazy or stupid, and disabled people can’t just get up and get a job.”

“Why does Ontario pride itself on keeping those who are unable to work held to a life of poverty?”

This government had an opportunity to improve supports for people with disabilities but chose not to, tabling a budget that included no increase to social assistance rates and cutting the meagre pandemic top-up benefit after just four months—a benefit that required an application process few people with disabilities knew about.

It is devastating and gut-wrenching to hear of the increasing number of people with disabilities choosing medical assistance in dying because they have lost the will to live. This government can and must do better.

COVID-19 response

Mr. Sheref Sabawy: It has been a tough year for all of us. However, I am proud to be part of a government that listens to the people. That’s why in my great riding of Mississauga–Erin Mills we held multiple round tables and virtual town halls to make sure that the Erin Mills community is heard here in Queen’s Park; round tables for stakeholders in the hospitality and tourist sectors to hear about the impact of COVID-19 and how we can help their recovery.

I hosted the Minister of Education, Stephen Lecce, at a round table to ensure a safe opening to schools while continuing to lead in providing the best education for our children.

I also hosted a pre-budget consultation town hall with Minister of Finance Rod Phillips and the Mississauga Board of Trade to better shape the Ontario budget and listen to the people and businesses. It is getting harder for businesses in Peel due to the lockdown. That’s why our hard-working Premier Ford has announced a historic $600 million in total to help these small businesses which have been closed. Thank you, Premier Ford.

I want to thank the Minister of Health, Christine Elliott, for the announcement of an extra $22 million for Peel and Trillium Health Partners. Mississauga will get 141 new beds to help alleviate capacity pressures and reduce wait times. Our government protects what matters most, and what matters most is the health and safety of all Ontarians.

While we are celebrating this holiday season apart and safely at home, my office will be offering personalized holiday lawn signs and Christmas cards through our online portal. This will help us feel much closer while we are apart. We will get through this together.

Laboratory services

M me France Gélinas: Since I last spoke about the problems with LifeLabs my constituents are having, waiting outside in the cold, things have gotten worse, not better.

Mr. Phillips is not computer-savvy and couldn’t use the online portal, so he waited three hours on the phone before the call dropped.

Jean-Pierre Lauzon’s wife needs blood work every 10 days. She can’t book an appointment at any of the LifeLabs centres in Sudbury for December 3. Online, everything has a big red X—nothing available.

Victor Boulard tried the 1-877 number for three days. He never got through, so he tried the online portal, but for some reason it will not accept his password.

Mr. Denis knocked on the door of our constituency office. He had given up on the 1-877 number for LifeLabs and he could not navigate the website on his own. So we tried the online portal in our office. It would not let him book because it would not accept his password.

Suzanne and Adolphe Charbonneau will have to wait three weeks, Speaker, for a simple blood test. Adolphe asked me, “Why is this happening? This is paid for by public taxpayers’ money. This is not right.”

I agree with him. LifeLabs is paid by the government and represents an important part of our health care system, and their customer service is just atrocious.

That’s not all. Access to the flu vaccine is not any easier. Whether primary care, public health or pharmacy, nobody has flu vaccines in Nickel Belt.

Scarborough Business Association

Ms. Mitzie Hunter: It’s an honour today to rise and recognize a significant milestone. This week, the Scarborough Business Association celebrated its fifth anniversary. They had over 120 participants at their annual general meeting last night.

While this year has not been business as usual, the Scarborough Business Association has been laser-focused on helping small businesses survive the COVID-19 pandemic. They have been sharing information, tools and resources with their membership. They’ve also taken an advocacy role to fight for the unique needs of Scarborough businesses, such as access to broadband infrastructure for the last mile.

The Scarborough Business Association has also given back to the Scarborough community by fundraising for the Scarborough Health Network, providing PPE and much relief for our front-line health care workers. Despite the pandemic, their work has not slowed. Every week, the SBA hosts a virtual networking breakfast. They have featured many guests, such as Dolf DeJong, the CEO of the Toronto Zoo, and other colleagues and leaders in Scarborough.

I would like to thank all of the members of the SBA, its board, its volunteers, President Hazell and Vice-President Ashwani Bhardwaj for their excellent work in keeping Scarborough connected to its businesses and staying open.

Small businesses need our help now more than ever, in the midst of a second lockdown, and I urge all Ontarians to shop local this holiday season, especially next Wednesday.

SSE Care Solutions

Mr. Billy Pang: SSE Care Solutions Inc. is a local surgical mask manufacturer located in the city of Markham. All masks produced by SSE Care Solutions are 100% made right here in Ontario.

In September, I had the opportunity to tour their production site to learn more about the detailed processes that take place in manufacturing their high-quality masks, and I am very impressed with the safety protocols implemented in their plant.

Last Friday, I had the pleasure to connect SSE Care Solutions to local long-term-care facilities in Markham–Unionville, and witnessed as the manufacturer donated 12,000 surgical masks to each facility—Bethany Lodge and Union Villa.

I want to give special thanks to donors Steve Diakanastasis, Albert Au and Frank Law from SSE Care Solutions Inc. for their generous donation to help keep our seniors and front-line workers safe.

Mr. Speaker, the government has committed to do whatever it takes to protect Ontarians during the COVID-19 pandemic. To deliver the resources necessary to help and support our front-line heroes, since March the government has purchased $1.1 billion in PPE, to ensure our heroes have the essential equipment they need to work safely: 300 million masks, 900 million gloves, 50 million gowns and six million face shields.

As COVID-19 continues to evolve, our government will continue to be there to protect the people of Ontario.

Trans Day of Remembrance

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): It is 10:29 a.m. As per the requirements of the Trans Day of Remembrance Act, 2017, the assembly shall now pause and observe one moment of silence in honour of trans people who have died as a result anti-trans violence. I’ll ask the members to rise and observe a moment of silence.

The House observed a moment’s silence.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you very much. Members may take their seats again.

We’ll resume members’ statements.

Tenant protection

Ms. Bhutila Karpoche: Toronto has been experiencing a housing crisis for years, and the pandemic has made it so much worse. And yet, at the Landlord and Tenant Board, they are currently in the middle of an eviction blitz. Evictions are being carried out at record speed, destroying the lives of individuals and families in minutes.

The second wave is raging, Toronto is in lockdown and the cold is here—and still, tenants are being evicted and thousands are at risk of homelessness. Shelters have no available beds and can become crowded and unsafe. The only alternative for people experiencing homelessness has been to build encampments, where they can at least rely on the support of a network of neighbours who take care of each other. Now people are being evicted from encampments as well.

Where are people supposed to go? All levels of government have done absolutely nothing to address the housing crisis. Worse, governments are actively working against the people. From the eviction bill rammed through this House, through the pandemic, to standing in the way of every creative idea and grassroots initiative to keep people housed this winter, people have had to fight their own governments to gain access to shelter. This is beyond shameful.

I call on all levels of government to take immediate action with a response equal to the massive scale of this crisis. In the meantime, stop getting in the way of people doing something about this crisis.

Violence against women

Ms. Lindsey Park: November is Woman Abuse Prevention Month. Today, I’m wearing a purple scarf as a symbol of the courage it takes a woman to leave her abuser. However, the courage of a woman is not enough. It takes the support of an entire community to end violence against women.

This month, Bethesda House, a shelter for women fleeing domestic violence in Bowmanville, is partnering with shelter agencies across the province for the 8th annual Wrapped in Courage campaign. Anyone can go to wrappedincourage.ca to support local shelters and join the fight to end violence against women.

Speaker, this week also marks Victims and Survivors of Crime Week. Ontario’s victim service providers are an important network of support for women fleeing abuse and violence. During COVID-19, providers reported an increase in calls, particularly from victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking. In my area, Victim Services of Durham Region has been on call 24/7 to be of immediate assistance to these victims. Across the province, the 44 members of the Ontario Network of Victim Service Providers provide help with planning for safety, shelter, clothing and food. They also help find counselling and immediate financial support.

I want to thank all of Ontario’s victim service providers for the work they do every single day.

Lions Clubs

Mr. Randy Pettapiece: Speaker, this year marks the 100th anniversary of Lions Club Canada. In 1920, the first Lions Club outside of the United States was founded in the great city of Windsor, Ontario. Today, there are over 48,000 clubs around the world, made up of 1.4 million men and women.

Speaker, I’ve been a Lion since 1987. When you become a Lion, you make the choice to join a global network of volunteers who serve their communities. Melvin Jones, the founder of Lions Club International, had a simple vision for improving his community. Melvin’s personal motto was that you can’t get very far until you start doing for somebody else. By extension, the Lions motto is, “We serve.”

Across the globe, Lions Clubs are making a huge difference in areas like caring for children dealing with blindness, diabetes prevention and treatment, and partnering with Habitat for Humanity.

Speaking at a Lions convention in 1925, the great American author and disabilities advocate Helen Keller charged Lions with this mission. She said: I ask you to be the “knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness.”

During this challenging time, let’s keep Helen Keller’s message in mind. Speaker, out of the darkness of this pandemic, through our service to others, we will rise to new heights.

I would like to conclude by congratulating Lions Club Canada on this remarkable milestone. Roar, Lions!

Trans Day of Remembrance

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I understand the member for London North Centre has a point of order.

Mr. Terence Kernaghan: Last Friday, November 20, was Ontario’s Trans Day of Remembrance. According to the legislation, since the day fell on a Friday, it is the following Thursday, today, that the Ontario’s Legislature observes a moment of silence.

I would like to thank the Speaker for recognizing this day, a day to mourn and honour the trans people whose lives were lost because of trans misogyny and trans violence.

COVID-19 deaths

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Nickel Belt has a point of order as well.

M me France Gélinas: With 3,554 deaths overall in Ontario and 139 deaths in the past week, I seek unanimous consent for a moment of silence for those who have succumbed to COVID-19.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Nickel Belt is seeking the unanimous consent of the House for a moment’s silence at this time in memory of those who have lost their lives due to COVID-19. Agreed? Agreed.

I’ll ask the House to rise.

The House observed a moment’s silence.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you very much. Members may take their seats again.

It is now time for oral questions.

Question Period

COVID-19 response

Ms. Sara Singh: Good morning, Speaker. My question is to the Premier.

Since Ontario reported its first case of COVID-19 in January, 3,576 people have lost their lives. While the Premier likes to brag that he’s doing well, over 3,000 families have lost a parent, a grandparent, or in some tragic cases, they have even lost a child. Every one of those deaths is a tragedy.

Yesterday, the Auditor General came forward with a thorough review highlighting the failures of the previous Liberal government and this current government’s failure to act. She also offered serious and constructive recommendations on ways to protect human life throughout this pandemic.

Will the Premier stop attacking her for doing that and start implementing her recommendations?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To respond? The Deputy Premier and Minister of Health.

Hon. Christine Elliott: Good morning, Speaker, and thank you. Of course, we offer our condolences to all of those families of the 3,576 people who have died because of COVID-19. It’s a tragedy. None of us wanted to lose even one life, and we’re working very hard to protect the health and well-being of every single Ontarian.

The report of the Auditor General did contain some important ideas about how to deal with some of the systemic problems that she has witnessed over the years, and we were already in the process of implementing some of them, including the modernization of our public health system, when we were struck by COVID-19. However, some of the issues that she raised were issues that were not followed by the previous government. We had to quickly act in order to deal with them, and we were able to do that.

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

Ms. Sara Singh: Throughout the second wave of the pandemic, families have watched nervously as the Premier and his team offered confusing and contradictory directions, claiming to have the support of public health experts who in reality actually disagreed with them.

Leadership means accepting criticism and listening to advice that you may not want to hear. Why is the Premier so unwilling to do that and so unable to admit any flaws in this government’s COVID-19 response?

Hon. Christine Elliott: In fact, we have indicated that there were some important recommendations that the Auditor General made, specifically with respect to some of the issues that hadn’t been dealt with for many years. For example, the pandemic response plan had not been updated since 2013. From 2013 to 2018, absolutely nothing was done.

There was a report by the lab services expert panel in 2015 that commented that we needed to do more to build up our lab panel in the province of Ontario. This was commented on by the Auditor General in her 2017 report. Again, nothing was done.

By the time that we were faced with a pandemic, we had to create a coordinated lab system which did not exist. We did that in record time. Now, the numbers speak for themselves because Ontario now has the lowest rate per capita per 100,000 of any jurisdiction in North America, except the Atlantic bubble and the territories. The numbers speak for themselves.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Final supplementary.

Ms. Sara Singh: Parents are worried about their kids losing another year of school. Business owners are facing bankruptcy and many of them are closing. Working people have lost their jobs. Thousands have lost loved ones. These folks need to know their government is doing everything it can to protect our community and prevent deaths.

But yesterday they saw a Premier defending his right to make decisions behind closed doors and attacking a woman who dared to challenge him. That’s not leadership. When will the Premier start listening to advice from not only the Auditor General but doctors, public health experts and front-line heroes from across our province?

Hon. Christine Elliott: Our government is certainly listening to the experts in public health. We’re listening to Dr. Williams, our Chief Medical Officer of Health, we’re listening to the public health measures table and we’re listening to Public Health Ontario, and all of the decisions that we have made thus far have been based upon the recommendations that have come to us from the health experts. We are not doctors over here. I’m not a public health specialist; I need to take the advice from those who are. That’s what I’ve done, that what the Premier has done and that’s what our government has done throughout.

We are taking every step possible that we can to protect the health and well-being of Ontarians but still being able to keep our schools open—that is so important for the social and mental development of our children—protecting our most vulnerable and protecting our communities. That has been our focus from the beginning and will always be.

Government accountability

Mr. John Vanthof: My question is for the Premier. The Premier’s contempt for the Auditor General was on full display yesterday. She is an expert, third-party-opinion independent officer of this House. His comments showed a total lack of respect for that expertise.

The real question is, if that’s how the Premier responds when an independent officer of the House offers a critical opinion, how are we expected to believe that he would accept the opinion of the Chief Medical Officer of Health, that he would actually allow the Chief Medical Officer of Health behind closed doors to offer an expert opinion and abide by it? How are we to ever to believe that?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Health.

Hon. Christine Elliott: The reality is that we have great respect for the Auditor General. We recognize that there are some situations where there are some criticisms that we are certainly able to accept. We are working on some of the recommendations that she has made in past years, including public health modernization. That was under way at the time that COVID struck.

But as far as the Chief Medical Officer of Health is concerned, we have been taking his advice. You may recall that the Chief Medical Officer of Health was at the select committee in this Legislature last Friday. He was asked whether we as a government were listening to his recommendations, and his response was, “Yes.”

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

Mr. John Vanthof: The government knew yesterday’s damning report was coming. They knew that the Auditor General was raising serious concerns about the role of the Chief Medical Officer of Health, and yet once again in the dead of night they tried to force through an extension of the contract without any outside vision.

Instead of doing everything we can to ensure that the Chief Medical Officer of Health in Ontario is ready to handle future waves of this pandemic, we’ll be voting on a motion to rubber-stamp that extension minutes from now.

Will the Premier do the responsible thing, pull that motion and agree to have the Chief Medical Officer of Health appear before an all-party committee to consider extending his appointment?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The government House leader to respond.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Again, that appointment was taken over two evenings, Speaker. There will be a vote after question period today. I remind the honourable gentleman that when a motion was brought forward to this House to have the Chief Medical Officer of Health appear before the select committee with respect to this appointment, the NDP turned that down.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order. The final supplementary.

Mr. John Vanthof: The Auditor General was simply saying what numerous health experts and front-line staff at hospitals and long-term care have been saying for months: It’s time to stop gagging health experts advising the government.

The auditor recommended that the government follow the recommendation of the SARS Commission, which is: ensure all recommendations made by the Chief Medical Officer of Health are released publicly in order to ensure transparency for the people of Ontario.

The people of Ontario deserve to know what advice the Chief Medical Officer of Health is giving to the Premier. Will he release that information?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Minister of Health.

Hon. Christine Elliott: In fact, that information is released, virtually on a daily basis. The Chief Medical Officer of Health spoke in the select committee last week. He indicated very clearly that he makes his recommendations, and his recommendations are accepted by us. Then we make the policy that goes through cabinet, and then it’s publicly reported.

In addition, Dr. Williams appears twice a week at his own briefings, without any politicians around, to answer questions of the media, to answer questions coming from the issues that the public wants to know about.

Dr. Williams has been front and centre, leading the public health response to this throughout. Nobody is gagged; nobody is muzzled. We are listening to what our public health experts have to tell us, and we are following their recommendations.

And we’ve come through this. There have been 3,576 deaths. That is very, very sad. And I’m not bragging about where we are. However, it is important to note that Ontario does have the lowest rate per 100,000 of any jurisdiction in North America. Clearly, we must be doing something right, and we must be listening—

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

Government accountability

M me France Gélinas: Ma question est pour le premier ministre.

The Auditor General was very clear in her report: One of the reasons we are behind in our COVID-19 response is because the former Liberal government refused for over a decade to implement important recommendations from the Auditor General, to implement the recommendations from the SARS Commission and implement numerous other reports.

Speaker, it’s been over two and a half years since this government came to office, bringing with them big promises to clean up the Liberal waste and patronage appointments—except really the only thing we’ve seen that they’ve managed to do is to replace them with their own. We know that the Premier has not kept that promise. Does he have any regrets?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Minister of Health.

Hon. Christine Elliott: I thank the member very much for the question. In fact, you are absolutely right. We were behind in terms of our ability to start dealing with the COVID-19 crisis because of the fact that the previous government had not followed up on the recommendations of the Auditor General; had not followed up, from 2013 to 2018, on a pandemic plan; had not done the work necessary to create a coordinated lab sequence.

We did that. We did that in record time. We now have a coordinated system. We’ve updated the technology to connect the labs with the testing stations. We have moved forward with public health modernization, which is something that was recommended by the Auditor General. We were moving forward to deal with some of the issues that had been, quite frankly, neglected by the previous governments. We did that in record time during the midst of a pandemic, with the assistance of Dr. Williams and all of the public health experts that were advising us.

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

M me France Gélinas: Speaker, we also learned yesterday from the Auditor General’s fact-based report that on top of sitting on important recommendations, the former Liberal government also refused to update the province’s emergency preparedness plan and strategy.

Again to the Premier: It has been two and a half years. Will the government admit that their choice not to fix these Liberal messes sooner took us from a bad situation and made things much, much worse than they needed to be?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Health.

Hon. Christine Elliott: What I would say is that it’s very unfortunate that we were left in this situation when the pandemic started because of the inaction of the previous government. However, we did rise to the occasion because it’s a pandemic, lives depended on it and we acted quickly. We were the first province to indicate that COVID-19 was a reportable disease, which allowed the local medical officers of health to start their work in testing and contact tracing. We were the first to close our schools to protect our children. We were the second to declare a state of emergency, right after Quebec, and we launched into action immediately because we knew that quick action had to be taken.

We were able to increase our testing from 4,000 tests per day. We’re now at the point where we can test 70,000 per day. We did 47,000 tests yesterday. We have a connected lab system. We have the 34 medical officers of health in constant contact with Dr. Williams, providing us local responses to what they need to do, coordinated by Dr. Williams. We have created a system to deal with a pandemic in record time—

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

The next question.

COVID-19 response

Mrs. Nina Tangri: In September, our government introduced its return-to-school plan. This comprehensive plan has enabled our children to continue with their education, has allowed for vital and safe socialization and has given parents comfort that their children are safe in these difficult times. We have seen countless medical professionals speak up in support of the government’s plan and about the need to keep schools open for the benefit of all children in Ontario.

With that in mind, would the Minister of Education please share the efforts that the government has taken so far that has led to the safe reopening of schools?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Education.

Hon. Stephen Lecce: I want to thank the member from Mississauga–Streetsville for the question and for the interest in ensuring that Ontario students can go to class safely each and every day.

We are at the halfway mark, almost, in this school year and I think we should, irrespective of our political differences, acknowledge the massive amount of work by our front-line doctors, nurses, teachers, EAs, ECEs and principals—everyone on the front lines working together. If there is one truth we could accept, as legislators, it is that there is a real focus and collaboration happening on the ground to keep our kids safe.

Some 1.5 million children in this province are learning each and every day, with every layer of prevention in place, endorsed by the Chief Medical Officer of Health, the very individual who gave us the advice, supported by all parties, to close schools in the spring and reopen them this September.

We have fully funded our plan. We have over 2,700 more teachers, over 1,200 more custodians, over 148,000 more devices and more than 600 public health nurses. Together, these investments and our protocol are keeping our province and our kids safe.

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

Mrs. Nina Tangri: Thank you to the minister for the answer. Schools remaining open is invaluable for our children and parents alike. During this second wave we are seeing a troubling pattern of growing case numbers in the community. It has been said multiple times by Dr. Williams, Dr. Yaffe and many other medical professionals that schools reflect the communities that they are in.

Would the minister be able to share what new efforts the government is taking in order to combat COVID-19 in hot spot areas in order to protect students, education staff and their families?

Hon. Stephen Lecce: Thank you very much, Speaker, for the opportunity. I want to invoke the medical officer of London, Chris Mackie, whom I spoke to recently. Members opposite were heckling, “Who can make these claims?” Well, let’s listen to the medical officer of London. Perhaps he’s an authority to the New Democrat and Liberal members: “A lot of what is happening in schools is a reflection of what is happening in the general community. Our schools have excellent protocols, no doubt, but that’s the case for school boards across the province.”

The truth is, there is an acknowledgement and a consensus among the medical community: first off, that schools remaining open is foundational to the wellness and the mental health of our kids. I think we can accept that premise collectively.

The second is that the intervention we put in place, the protocols, the layers of prevention, the investments in air-flow improvement, the investments in the hiring of teachers and in distancing and the actions we’ve taken to cohort kids—all of this, led by our front-line staff in education, is keeping kids safe.

It is not a coincidence that when you compare us to Quebec, they have four times higher the number of cases per 100,000 in schools. We are doing something right. We’re going to continue today to build up our plan and keep all staff, all students, safe in Ontario.

Government accountability

Ms. Catherine Fife: My question is to the Premier. Yesterday, the Premier stood at his podium and attacked the Auditor General for raising crucial questions about his own choices and his government’s COVID-19 response. It was weird, though, that while the Premier had harsh words about the AG when it’s his own inaction that’s being called out, he had nothing but praise for her when she was doing her job under the previous government.

I’d like to quote. This is what the Premier had said: “Unlike the Liberals, we respect the Auditor General. We respect working with the Auditor General.”

His health minister had glowing reviews for the AG’s work when it wasn’t her job on the line as well. I’d like to quote. She has said, “We do support the work of the Auditor General. We do listen to what she has said.... We think she is thoroughly competent. She knows what she’s doing.”

This government used to believe that value-for-money audits were an important accountability tool. My question is to the Premier: What has changed?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Deputy Premier and Minister of Health.

Hon. Christine Elliott: We do respect the work of the Auditor General. We always have. However, in the case of this particular report, there were some factual inaccuracies that we raised to the Auditor General and asked to have an opportunity to discuss.

The Auditor General points to a document that she indicates was signed off on by the Deputy Minister of Health, indicating that the deputy minister agreed with the contents of the report. In fact, the document that was signed by the deputy minister simply indicated that she had provided the Auditor General with all of the information that the Auditor General had requested pertaining to her investigation, but also attached 21 pages of factual inaccuracies.

That’s what we object to. We want the report to be based on the actual facts, and we have a disagreement with the Auditor General on many of the contents of the report that were not factually accurate.

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

Ms. Catherine Fife: I never thought I would hear a minister in this House challenge the qualifications of the Auditor General.

It’s not just the Premier and his health minister who were praising the Auditor General in the past. The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing told us—and I’d like to quote—“Our independent officers of the Legislature exist to provide the public with unbiased reports and recommendations that rise above the politics of this place, and I find it disgusting that the government would risk eroding the confidence and trust in those officers because they fear taking an electoral hit.” The culture minister has said, “Ms. Lysyk plays an essential role in holding our government accountable.

Her work should be valued and commended, not disregarded and demeaned as the government has done in the past.” Gee, I wonder what has changed.

Speaker, the government’s choices have hurt the people of this province. Attacking the Auditor General does not change that. Will they admit that this isn’t about the AG; it is about their own failure to act on behalf of the people of this province?

Hon. Christine Elliott: Absolutely not. In no way are we challenging the qualifications of the Auditor General, neither myself nor the Premier nor anyone in this government.

The Auditor General does play a very important role as an independent officer of the Legislature. I completely respect that. However, it is important that the information that is coming to the Auditor General and upon which she bases her reports is factually correct. In many cases, the information was not correct. For instance, any suggestion that we were slow in starting our response to COVID-19 is not correct. Any suggestion that we were not relying on the advice of Dr. Williams is not correct. There were many inaccuracies that the deputy minister tried to bring to the attention of the Auditor General. Dr. Williams did as well and I did as well.

I only found out about this report coming forward the day before it came forward. I asked the Auditor General to delay the publication of her report so that we could deal with these issues and try to resolve these discrepancies, but the Auditor General refused to do that.

Government accountability

Mr. Stephen Blais: My question is for the Premier. The Auditor General revealed the multi-million-dollar organizational chart that the Premier has put in place for the COVID-19 response, a structure comprised of some 30 committees, over 500 participants, with the most important committee being the central coordination table.

When the auditor highlighted the challenges with this cumbersome process, the Premier told her to stick to her job, the job she was hired for. She wasn’t a health professional and so this wasn’t her place. Basically, the Premier told the Auditor General to stick to her knitting.

While Ontario has hired a Chief Medical Officer of Health to provide health leadership, the chief medical officer isn’t a part of this committee. In fact, Mr. Speaker, the committee is comprised of career bureaucrats, professional communicators and political operatives. Why did the Premier pay millions of dollars for a slow, bureaucratic, cumbersome committee full of red tape to hear from people he doesn’t believe have the expertise to provide health advice?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Health.

Hon. Christine Elliott: The member has raised another area where there was perhaps a misunderstanding or some factual inaccuracies in the report of the Auditor General.

There were several tables that she spoke about. One was the central command table. That was never set up to be a health table. That was set up as a table that was going to coordinate the response among the many government ministries who had a role to play in dealing with COVID-19. It wasn’t just about health. It wasn’t just about long-term care. It was about many ministries—Solicitor General, Education, Colleges and Universities—many.

It was to help get the ministries out of their silos and be able to speak to each other because that communication is essential—quick communication when you’re dealing with a pandemic; being able to make those decisions quickly. It was not meant to be a health table in the sense of having public health specialists there. It was a coordination table.

Now, Dr. Williams did get involved from time to time when they were discussing specific health issues, but the main table for dealing with the health issues was the command table, which we are required to set up during a pandemic. That was set up—

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

Mr. Stephen Blais: My supplemental is also for the Premier. For months, the Premier told Ontarians he was listening to doctors. Doctors would guide his government’s actions. Doctors would inform the government on what they should do to handle the pandemic.

Like most Ontarians, I thought the Premier was talking about medical doctors. But lo and behold, thanks to the excellent work of the Auditor General, we learned that the pandemic’s most important committee, the one that filters all of the advice and information to cabinet, the one that the minister claims is responsible for the whole-of-government approach, doesn’t actually include the province’s most senior medical professional. In fact, the most important committee responding to COVID-19 is full of political operatives, spin doctors who contribute to providing COVID-19 advice.

Why is the government filtering their COVID-19 advice through political and communications advisers instead of allowing medical experts, medical leaders to do the job the government hired them for, to provide advice—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Health.

Hon. Christine Elliott: As I just indicated, the central command table was not the one that made the health decisions. That was at the health command table, for which Dr. Williams was deeply involved. He was at every single meeting, as was Public Health Ontario, as was the public health measures table, which had a number of the local medical officers of health on that committee, as well as other public health experts. That was the table that advised the government about the measures they were recommending that we take.

I don’t know, perhaps the member didn’t see the presentation made by Dr. Williams at the select committee last week where he was specifically asked if the government was following his recommendations and he indicated yes. He’s also available twice a week to the members of the media and to the public to answer questions. He has indicated very clearly that we have been listening to the health advice we have been receiving since the beginning of this pandemic, and we will keep on doing so.

Social services funding

Mrs. Nina Tangri: My question is to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing.

Minister, as you know, we are now in the second wave the pandemic, and the cold weather has arrived. The government took decisive action during the first wave and announced the first phase of the social services relief funding, which went directly to service managers and Indigenous partners. This funding was critical to provide urgent funding for rent banks, purchase PPE and expand homeless shelters, especially in Peel region and my riding of Mississauga–Streetsville.

Can you please explain what your government has done to prepare our most vulnerable for the second wave ahead of the winter months?

Hon. Steve Clark: I want to thank the member for Mississauga–Streetsville not just for the question but for her tremendous advocacy in the city of Mississauga and the region of Peel. Thank you very much for the question. I’m pleased to stand in the House to speak to our government’s commitment to help the most vulnerable, especially in the face of the second wave of COVID-19.

Last month, Speaker, I was proud to stand with our Premier and fellow ministers to announce the second phase of our Social Services Relief Fund. This funding is part of our government’s $510-million investment to support homeless shelters, create and renovate more than 1,500 units and provide additional funding for rent banks across Ontario.

Our most vulnerable need our support, and I’m proud that our government stands with them, investing in their safety.

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

Mrs. Nina Tangri: Thank you to the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing for that response.

Minister, as the member for Mississauga–Streetsville, I know that the people in my riding have been hard hit throughout the pandemic, including our most vulnerable. I want to be able to tell my constituents exactly how our government is helping vulnerable Ontarians in my riding.

Can you please explain how this funding will be used in Peel region to protect those who need our help?

Hon. Steve Clark: Through you, Speaker, to the member for Mississauga–Streetsville: That is a very important question. Our government recently approved the region of Peel’s entire business case for their second round of social services relief funding. This means that Peel region will receive $9.7 million in new funding for important initiatives like providing rent assistance for an additional 625 households; the acquisition of an emergency family shelter; upgrades to existing shelters in the region; and hiring new staff, purchasing food, new linens, new PPE.

These investments will ensure that our partners have the resources that they need to protect our most vulnerable citizens that continue to battle this crisis. Thank you for the question.

Government accountability

Ms. Marit Stiles: My question is to the Premier. Yesterday’s Auditor General report revealed the government spent $1.6 million to develop the government’s confusing and very ineffective command structure and another $3.2 million to develop their disastrous school reopening plan. All of this money, nearly five million public dollars, went to consulting companies rather than to keeping the people of Ontario, the children of Ontario, safe from COVID-19. How can the government possibly justify these astronomical expenses?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Education.

Hon. Stephen Lecce: We have unveiled a plan with $1.3 billion of investment. That should not be an abstraction to members opposite; it happens to be the highest investment of any province in this country, by far. And why did we do that? Why did we unlock $1.3 billion, of federal dollars, of reserve dollars and of provincial monies? Because in this province, this government believes the continuity of learning is important, is foundational, and we will do everything we can to safeguard the gains, the progress made by our front-line teachers, parents and kids to keep schools open.

It’s why the Minister of Health, under her leadership, and the Premier have taken action province-wide, with further restrictions to ensure we keep schools open, to ensure our kids and our seniors and the most vulnerable remain safe. We will continue today and going forward to build up our plan, respond to this risk and do everything possible to reduce community transmission in this province.

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

Ms. Marit Stiles: I understand why the minister doesn’t want to respond to this, because half the schools in the province now have COVID-19 cases. Every single dollar that this government puts in the pocket of consultants is a dollar that should have gone to keeping families in this province safe. The truth is that this government didn’t like what teachers and epidemiologists, what the experts at SickKids, what parents—advice that they were giving them for free; they didn’t like it, so they went out and they paid US consultants millions of dollars to tell them what they wanted to hear.

Kids are being pulled out of classrooms to quarantine because of uncontrolled outbreaks in this province. Teachers are exhausted from trying to do everything in their power to help their kids because the government has failed them.

Why did the government waste so many millions of dollars instead of listening to the health and education experts right here in the province of Ontario?

Hon. Stephen Lecce: Speaker, the true failure is the campaign of fear advanced by members opposite instead of standing with parents, all of whom face anxiety as we deal with a global pandemic. We’re not an island in and of ourselves when we deal with this global challenge.

What are we doing in this province? The member opposite thankfully introduced a data point, which I know she normatively is averse to doing. Here is a statistic that hopefully—to an objective mind, not an ideological one—may instill some confidence: 99.94% of students in this province do not have an active case. Most importantly, 99.8% of students never had a case of COVID in this province.

Now, Speaker, I recognize that for each and every case it creates angst, but when you compare our plan, for example, to the next largest province, they have roughly four times the rate of transmission than in Ontario for schools. I know that is inconvenient and I know it frustrates—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Davenport will come to order. The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing will come to order.

I’m going to move on. The next question.

Government accountability

Ms. Mitzie Hunter: My question is to the Premier. Unlike the Premier, I want to thank the Auditor General for her report that she tabled yesterday. All her findings were signed off by officials.

The AG notes that when testing and contact tracing is done effectively, a person’s likelihood of transmitting COVID-19 can be reduced by 80%. That’s why Ontarians were shocked to read that the province was delayed in expanding testing capacity despite warnings to the Chief Medical Officer of Health by Public Health Ontario.

It has long been clear that the government’s plan and response to COVID-19 has been opaque, reactionary and marked by disorganization, secrecy and chaos. Now we know that the chief medical officer’s advice has been filtered by a political committee. Ontarians deserve answers on how our leaders are making decisions with life and death decisions. We have just cleared another grim milestone of deaths.

Speaker, through you to the minister or the Premier: Will you commit today to work transparently with public health officials instead of working around them to restore the trust and confidence—

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

The Minister of Health.

Hon. Christine Elliott: It’s hard to know where to start with that question. First of all, on the assertion that the Auditor General made that her report was signed off by the Deputy Minister of Health: That is not the case, nor would it be appropriate for the deputy minister to sign off. That is a decision for elected politicians to make.

What the deputy minister signed off on was, as I indicated earlier, a document indicating that she had filed and provided all of the information that the Auditor General had requested for the purpose of her investigation. But she also attached 21 pages of factual inaccuracies that were not dealt with. I think that’s really important to remember in the context of the Auditor General’s report.

There are some comments that she makes with respect to some systemic issues, which we of course accept. Some of them relate to the failures of the previous government: their failure to act, their failure to update their pandemic response plan since—

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

Ms. Mitzie Hunter: Speaker, I am not going to quibble about who signed off on the report. This government has a very poor record of officials signing off on their reports.

The government’s delay and fractured leadership has severely hampered the ability of public health units to carry out this process effectively in response to COVID-19. In October, Toronto Public Health was so overwhelmed that it made the difficult decision to suspend contact tracing outside of outbreaks in congregate care settings.

These local units need support, Speaker. They are now being asked to do more by this minister and this government. They need funds to do outreach in COVID hot-spot areas. They are asking for the support, and despite the downloading of responsibilities to the public health units, this government has not provided any additional funding since the outset of the pandemic, and they were shamefully left out of this government’s recent budget.

Speaker, through you, back to the minister: Will you commit today to adequately fund public health units to do the important work that this province requires and that they are—

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

The Minister of Health.

Hon. Christine Elliott: To say that I disagree with everything the member opposite said would be a huge understatement.

We have put money in. We have put billions of dollars into protecting the health and well-being of the people of Ontario. We have put over $1 billion in testing, tracing and contact management. We have put extra resources into the hot-spot areas, into Toronto and Peel. We are moving forward with all of the recommendations that we were given by the Chief Medical Officer of Health and the many other public health officials who have knowledge of what needs to be done here, through Public Health Ontario, through the public health measures table and the many, many public health physicians that stand behind them that are volunteering their time.

To suggest that we are not acting on their response is completely wrong. Again, I have to speak to the numbers. They speak for themselves. If we were doing everything wrong, why does Ontario stand number one in North America in terms of the lowest of cases per 100,000?

Small business

Mrs. Nina Tangri: My question is to the Minister of Finance.

We all know that small businesses are struggling due to COVID-19, and we’ve seen incredible economic uncertainty here at home and around the world. I know our government is making unprecedented investments to support businesses today and help them survive the global pandemic, but our job creators will no doubt need help, even when the crisis is behind us.

Minister, what is the government doing to prepare Ontario today, and plan for our economic recovery tomorrow?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The parliamentary assistant, the member for Willowdale.

Mr. Stan Cho: I want to thank the member from Mississauga–Streetsville. I know that small businesses in her riding are facing an incredible challenge during this second wave, and she’s been an unrelenting voice for them here at Queen’s Park.

Speaker, one day, and hopefully soon, COVID-19 will be behind us. When that time comes, every jurisdiction in the world will be competing for jobs and investments. Ontario must be ready. While our focus right now is on protecting Ontarians and supporting businesses, we’re also looking around the corner and laying that foundation for our recovery.

That’s why in our budget, Ontario’s Action Plan: Protect, Support, Recover, our government is investing $4.8 billion in measures that provide direct supports to businesses today and set them up for success and growth tomorrow.

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

Mrs. Nina Tangri: I thank the parliamentary assistant for that answer. Ontario is the economic engine of our country, and my city of Mississauga is home to some incredible job creators. For years, the previous government’s burdensome red tape, skyrocketing hydro bills and rising taxes drove companies, jobs and investment out of my community.

As the parliamentary assistant noted, when this pandemic is behind us, Ontario can’t afford to be second. Can the Minister of Finance explain how the $4.8 billion of investment in Ontario’s recovery will provide the immediate support businesses need and make us competitive for the future global economy?

Mr. Stan Cho: Ontario’s action plan focuses on reducing the immediate fixed costs that job creators pay today, like the employer health tax, a tax on jobs; the provincial portion of commercial property taxes; and industrial electricity rates, just to name a few. These are real costs for businesses, big and small, and they’re paying it today. That’s why our government is reducing them or eliminating them permanently.

As every business owner knows, a dollar saved is a dollar earned, but these measures also lay the foundation for future economic success. The reductions in electricity costs, for example, will take Ontario from the least competitive jurisdiction for energy to one of the most competitive out there.

These measures have an instant impact, but they also prepare us for that important economic success in the months and years ahead when COVID-19 is nothing more than a memory.

COVID-19 response

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: My question is to the Premier.

After COVID-19 outbreaks were initially reported in two units at London Health Sciences Centre’s University Hospital on November 10 and November 11, the Middlesex health unit is reporting that outbreaks have now spread to all medical floors at the hospital. With that news that there are significant cases among patients and staff, the people in my community are worried. They’re worried for their loved ones who work in or are getting treatment at University Hospital, and they’re worried for themselves in case they need urgent care.

According to Dr. Mackie, the medical officer of health, the expanded outbreak is alarming. He said that the health unit is working closely with the hospital officials to implement measures, including halting admissions for the next week, but they cannot do it alone.

How is this government going to help London Health Sciences University Hospital pull through this crisis?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Minister of Health.

Hon. Christine Elliott: I thank the member very much for the question. This has been a concern at a number of hospitals in Ontario with COVID because of the staff contracting COVID, and the patients as well. However, they have specific procedures for outbreak management within those hospitals that they are working on to contain the spread to make sure that the staff—if they’re ill, of course, they need to be tested and be at home. But for the patients there, there are rigorous procedures that are set in place.

We are involved with hospitals on a daily basis to understand if they need further human resources or any other resources in order to deal with it. But we are finding that the hospitals are doing a very good job at containing the outbreaks and protecting the patients within the hospitals.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary?

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: Speaker, I’ve heard from families who didn’t learn about the outbreak from the hospital, even though their loved ones were receiving treatment from there; they learned about it from the media. I’ve heard from families that, after being assured their loved one was in a safe place in the hospital, received a call the next day informing them that their loved ones had caught COVID. I’ve heard from families that, due to the resulting changes to the hospital’s visitor policy, have had to fight to be by their dying loved one’s side. Needless to say, this is a horrible reality that no family should have to live through.

What is this government’s plan to ensure that no other family has to live through this horrible tragedy?

Hon. Christine Elliott: I believe there are several issues here. One is the issue of community transmission that I know Dr. Mackie is working very hard on to contain. He provides us with regular updates about what is happening in his community. He speaks with Dr. Williams, and then decisions are made whether to move your community from green to yellow, yellow to orange, orange to red, with increasing restrictions based on that. That is one way that we are dealing with that: by being in touch with the local medical officer of health and putting in more restrictions if that’s necessary in the community.

Most hospitals right now have patients with COVID and they are using very, very specific precautionary procedures to deal with both the patients as well as the staff, making sure that the staff have the necessary personal protective equipment, making sure that only certain staff are working in those areas. We have working hard to contain the response with respect to COVID within every hospital, and they do have very, very specific, careful procedures for dealing with that.

Environmental protection

Mr. Mike Schreiner: My question is for the Premier. Oakville, Burlington, Halton Hills, Mississauga, Guelph, Thunder Bay, Milton: The list of municipalities asking this government to cancel its rollback of flood protection is growing by the day. Despite the patronizing claim from government that they are helping conservation authorities achieve their goal, conservation authorities are saying that Bill 229 will gut their ability to protect us from flooding at a huge cost to people and communities, because it is giving the minister the power to override science-based decisions.

Speaker, can the Premier explain to the people of this province how the minister can possibly be better qualified to determine the safety of building on a flood plain than experts trained in watershed management and flood mitigation?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To respond from the government? The member for Barrie–Innisfil and parliamentary assistant.

Ms. Andrea Khanjin: Speaker, over the past year and a half, as you know, the government consulted broadly with a wide range of stakeholders about the role of conservation authorities in protecting and preserving Ontario’s natural spaces. Through those consultations, one being in my backyard of Barrie, we heard from many organizations—conservation authorities, environmental organizations—and people across the province on how we could improve the consistency and transparency of all CAs.

Through that, we’ve made several changes that we’re proposing, but we’re still resolute in our commitment to making sure we have far-reaching changes that increase accountability, consistency and transparency. These proposed changes are a mechanism that we want to ensure that there’s consistency across the sector and we can listen to all parties involved.

One thing that we want to be crystal clear on—and any myths that are out there—is about permitting decisions. The decisions are still based on science that is considered in

section 28.1. Just as they did previously, that will continue, and full stop from there. So they don’t need to fearmonger.

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

Mr. Mike Schreiner: Speaking of the member opposite’s backyard, I’d like to quote from a press release from the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority calling on the province to “repeal

schedule 6 of the budget measures Bill 229.” I’d like to offer a second quote from the same conservation authority: “The changes will in fact strip conservation authorities of our ability to ensure that people, infrastructure and the environment are protected from damage and destruction that cannot be repaired.”

I don’t know who the government consulted with, but it doesn’t seem like they consulted with and/or listened to the very people who for over 70 years have made Ontario a jurisdiction that works to prevent flooding.

I ask the member opposite, through you, Speaker: Will the government listen to local leaders today and commit to removing and cancelling their attack on conservation authorities’ ability to protect—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Barrie–Innisfil.

Ms. Andrea Khanjin: I thank the local conservation authority for their work. I worked quite closely with them, actually, on improving Lake Simcoe, as I mentioned yesterday in this House.

But let me be crystal clear to help bust any myths about the minister’s permitting decisions in these situations that the member is discussing. The exact same criteria, standards,

definitions or rules will be considered, and the rigour remains unchanged in these changes. Decisions will be based on science that’s considered in

section 28.1(a), (

b) and (

c) in the act, just as they were previously. That will continue, full stop. Municipalities and provinces will continue to be able to work with conservation authorities and rely on their advice and support for appeals and planning decisions, increasing accountability, consistency and transparency by streamlining land use planning processes through the one-window approach.

The Liberals, the Greens and the NDP like to pontificate at the pulpit about the conservation authorities, but interestingly enough, not once are they featured in their environment plans.

Water services

Mr. Percy Hatfield: My question is for the Premier or the government House leader. Good morning, Minister.

Speaker, we’re dealing with a worldwide pandemic. We’re told to wash our hands frequently to protect ourselves. My Windsor office tells me that people are having their water shut off because they’re falling behind on their payments. Why is the government allowing local utilities commissions to cut off water service during a pandemic?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Government House leader.

Hon. Paul Calandra: I do appreciate the honourable member raising this with me.

I have done a little bit of work on it since he first raised it with me. It’s my understanding—and he is quite correct—that a local utility did provide a moratorium on disconnections in March, which they have since let expire. Obviously, we’re going to take a look at that. My understanding is this is the same utility that was significantly charged by the Ontario Energy Board for disconnecting hydro earlier than they should have.

He raises a very important point. Obviously, this is extremely important. That’s the information I have for him right now, and I will look into it further for him.

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

Mr. Percy Hatfield: Some utilities commissions contract out their bill collection services. These contractors don’t care about a pandemic or hygiene; they just want their commissions.

Will the government give us a clear commitment today that no one else in Ontario will lose their access to water and be hounded by collection agencies because they’ve fallen behind on their bill payments?

Hon. Paul Calandra: Again, I thank the honourable member. He sincerely brought this to me a little bit earlier, and I do appreciate that. I’ve been doing a little bit of work since he first brought it to me.

He is quite correct: Having access to water during a pandemic is incredibly important, so he has my firm commitment that on the conclusion of question period today, I will reach out to the Minister of Energy and inquire for him immediately.

Environmental protection

M me Lucille Collard: My question is to the Premier.

Speaker, in her recent environmental audit, the Auditor General highlighted the failure of this government to ensure meaningful public participation in decision-making processes regarding the environment. Concerns included not giving the public ample time to respond to complex proposals, not notifying the public of decisions in a timely manner, and not providing a sufficient amount of information to the public.

In Bill 229, the government continues this trend of throwing caution to the wind and making reckless changes to the statutes that protect our environment without meaningful consultation.

Could the Premier explain what concrete actions, if any, are being taken to address the Auditor General’s concerns as they relate to the proposed changes to conservation authorities under

schedule 6 of Bill 229?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply on behalf of the government, the member for Barrie–Innisfil and parliamentary assistant.

Ms. Andrea Khanjin: We thank her for those findings.

As I mentioned earlier, there are examples of what our government is doing to ensure that Ontarians have additional time to share feedback.

Of course, it was through this government that we made changes to the EBR to encourage more public consultations and its ability to be something that’s easier for people to use, so they can add comments.

In addition, as seen in July, the ministry initiated a 45-day consultation period on proposed amendments to eight class environmental assessments for proposals to extend projects related to Indigenous land claim settlements, projects within provincial parks and conservation reserves and select Ministry of Transportation projects. Additional consultation time was also provided for Indigenous communities as well as other agencies that specifically requested extensions. So there is proof that we have extensions.

In September, the ministry also posted a proposed list of projects that would be subject to comprehensive assessment for a 60-day comment period.

These are examples of how we have been opening up—

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

M me Lucille Collard: Speaker, watersheds are not bound by municipal borders. The failure of one municipality to protect its watershed affects every municipality within that watershed. This is exactly why each conservation authority includes multiple municipalities, so that the entire watershed is managed in a consistent way.

The changes proposed in Bill 229, however, would require conservation authorities to make separate agreements with each individual municipality, meaning that some municipalities could decide to protect their watershed while others do not.

Can the Premier explain how allowing each municipality to manage their

section of the watershed in their own way will contribute to stronger overall watershed management in Ontario?

Ms. Andrea Khanjin: Again, we’re helping conservation authorities reach their goals by improving their operations and giving them more transparency.

It’s rich coming from the member—because she represents a party that carved into the greenbelt 17 different times, making it look like Swiss cheese, so I question their ideals on the environment. Even thei