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November 16, 2009

39th Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcripts 2009-Nov-16 (PDF)

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L'ONTARIO

Monday 16 November 2009 Lundi 16 novembre 2009

INTRODUCTION OF VISITORS

ORAL QUESTIONS

GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS

GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS

TAXATION

TAXATION

GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS

TAXATION

TAXATION

GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS

LONG-TERM CARE

FLU IMMUNIZATION

ELECTRONIC HEALTH INFORMATION

TAXATION

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL WINTER FAIR

GOVERNMENT SERVICES

BUS TRANSPORTATION

INTRODUCTION OF VISITORS

MEMBERS' STATEMENTS

DIABETES

REMEMBRANCE DAY

ADOPTION

RUN FOR THE CURE

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL WINTER FAIR

RURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

FULL-DAY KINDERGARTEN

VETERANS

TAXATION

INTRODUCTION OF BILLS

ONTARIO TAX PLAN FOR MORE JOBS

AND GROWTH ACT, 2009 /

LOI DE 2009 SUR LE PLAN FISCAL

DE L'ONTARIO POUR ACCROÎTRE

L'EMPLOI ET LA CROISSANCE

WORKPLACE SAFETY AND

INSURANCE AMENDMENT ACT

(ALTERNATE INSURANCE PLANS), 2009 /

LOI DE 2009 MODIFIANT LA LOI

SUR LA SÉCURITÉ PROFESSIONNELLE

ET L'ASSURANCE CONTRE

LES ACCIDENTS DU TRAVAIL

(RÉGIMES D'ASSURANCE

CONCURRENTS)

STATEMENTS BY THE MINISTRY

AND RESPONSES

TAXATION /

IMPOSITION

DIABETES

TAXATION

TAXATION

DIABETES

PETITIONS

TAXATION

TAXATION

MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES

TAXATION

DIAGNOSTIC SERVICES

HOSPITAL FUNDING

TAXATION

PROTECTION FOR WORKERS

HOSPITAL SERVICES

SOCIAL SERVICES FUNDING

TAXATION

IDENTITY THEFT

SALE OF DOMESTIC

WINES AND BEERS

ORDERS OF THE DAY

TIME ALLOCATION

TIME ALLOCATION

TECHNICAL STANDARDS AND SAFETY STATUTE LAW AMENDMENT ACT, 2009 /

LOI DE 2009 MODIFIANT DES LOIS

EN CE QUI A TRAIT AUX NORMES TECHNIQUES ET À LA SÉCURITÉ

The House met at 1030.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Good morning. Please remain standing for the Lord's Prayer, followed by a moment of silence for inner thought and personal reflection.

Prayers.

INTRODUCTION OF VISITORS

Mr. Mario Sergio: I have the pleasure of introducing a delegation from the wonderful city of Ferrandina, from the region of Basilicata, in the province of Matera, led by the mayor, Raffaele Ricchiuti: Counsellor Vincenzo La Guardia; Ingegnere Angelo Lisanti; Ingegnere Manny DiLecce, president of the Basilicata Cultural Society of Canada; the vice-president, Pat Tremamunno; secretary, Vince Primucci; and public relations, Danny Liberatore. I welcome them to Queen's Park in our beautiful province, and I hope they have a wonderful time.

M me France Gélinas: I would like to introduce some guests in the gallery: Stacey Papernick, who is with the Ontario Nurses' Association; Dorothy Algar, who is a PSW and a bargaining unit president; Vicki Cunningham, who is also a PSW; Denise Murphy, who is a registered practical nurse; Stephanie Smith, a PSW; Lillian Marino, who is a supporter; and Andy Summers, who is the regional vice-president of ONA.

Il me fait également plaisir de vous présenter différents membres de l'Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens. Je commence avec M. Conrad Mazerolle, qui est de mon conté; j'ai également Anne Vinet-Roy, qui est la vice-présidente et représentante de la FEO; il y a M me Emilie Brochu, qui est la co-présidente de l'unité 62 de l'Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens; nous avons Denis Bonin de Sturgeon Falls, qui est vice-président; M. Paul Baril, qui est sur l'exécutif de Hearst; M me Caroline Brazeau, présidente de la

section locale 103 de North Bay; et Sylvie Bédard, qui est de l'AEFO 60A de Cochrane. Bienvenue à Queen's Park.

Hon. John Milloy: I think members will want to join me in welcoming, in the members' gallery, Herb Epp, the former member of this Legislature from Waterloo North, who served our community ably for many years. We welcome him to Queen's Park.

Interjection: And former mayor.

Hon. John Milloy: A former mayor of the city of Waterloo.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Welcome back.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I want to welcome Robyn Lin as a new page, and welcome her mom, Andréa Chun, and her sister, Tasha Lin, who are with us in the gallery. Welcome.

M. Jean-Marc Lalonde: Il me fait plaisir de vous présenter des représentants de l'Association franco-ontarienne des conseils scolaires catholiques : Carole Drouin, Dorothée Petit-pas, ainsi qu'une interne, Maegan Baird. Bienvenue à Queen's Park.

Hon. Margarett R. Best: Good morning. Today I would like to welcome the students from Cornell public school in the riding of Scarborough–Guildwood. They will be joining us shortly in the Legislature and the galleries.

Mr. Dave Levac: I have two delegations that have come to join us today from the riding of Brant, one in support of a page—Sean Stemler, Victor Levesque—and another one in terms of a very large charity event that they supported to have lunch in Queen's Park today: Lisa Meggs, Randy Meggs, Caelan Meggs, Susan Cross, Steve Cross, Syd Bolton, Chris Milmine, Pat Foley and Spencer Milmine. They are joining us today for the workings of Queen's Park. Thank you very much, and we enjoy their presence here.

Mrs. Carol Mitchell: It is my pleasure to introduce Cathy Steckle, who is in the members' gallery today, and her daughter Valerie is our new page today. You'll recognize the name Steckle as a longstanding member of Parliament from the riding of Huron—Bruce.

ORAL QUESTIONS

GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS

Mr. Tim Hudak: A question to the Premier: The $7-billion sweetheart deal that your former Deputy Premier, George Smitherman, negotiated with Samsung caused cabinet leaks and news of an internal rift. Premier, what is it about this deal that had half your cabinet "gang tackle" George Smitherman?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty: This is a great opportunity for me to speak about our Green Energy Act and the tremendous influx of investment it has created. One of the things we set out to do is to ensure that we—that is Ontario, the people of Ontario—stood head and shoulders above every single other North American jurisdiction. In six years we've gone from about 10 wind turbines to 670. They recently built, just outside of Napanee, the third-largest solar farm in North America. That is just the beginning of an explosion of new investment that we're going to attract here in the province.

It's about finding new opportunity in the green economy, creating green jobs and doing ever more so that we can shut down our coal-fired plants and produce a cleaner environment for the people of Ontario.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Supplementary?

Mr. Tim Hudak: Back to the Premier: I think everybody heard about this gang tackle of your former Deputy Premier except, obviously, for the Premier himself. Let me tell you, Premier: Cabinet broke solidarity to speak out against this deal, quite frankly, because Premier McGuinty refused to ask the tough and uncomfortable questions that a Premier needs to ask of his ministers, particularly George Smitherman.

It looks like some of your cabinet wised up to Smitherman's ways after he wasted some $837 million in the eHealth boondoggle with sweetheart deals for Liberal friends. Or maybe the Premier heard from the Canadian Wind Energy Association, the Association of Power Producers of Ontario or others who said that a sweetheart deal was "manifestly unfair."

Premier, why don't you release the Samsung deal to the public so that taxpayers can decide if it's a fair deal or another giveaway as your minister went out the door?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty: Every day we learn more and more about what the leader of the official opposition stands against. Some day it would be nice to learn what he stands for. He now tells us he's against Ontario's Green Energy Act, which I can tell you is making —

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Minister of Municipal Affairs—it's not helpful.

Premier?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty: We now know that the leader of the official opposition remains firmly planted in the 19th century. He stands opposed to the Green Energy Act. He is against any initiatives pursued by Ontario, collectively through their government, to pursue new opportunities in the green economy. We are moving ahead. We're moving ahead aggressively. We have the most proactive and aggressive legislation in all of North America. There's only one other place on this planet which is moving more quickly—and we're on the move—and that is Germany.

Again, I repeat: We are moving as quickly as we can to put in place more capacity when it comes to manufacturing our wind turbines and our solar farm materials, the kinds of—

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you. Final supplementary.

Mr. Tim Hudak: It's the Premier who's stuck in the 19th century with backroom deals that make Tammany Hall look honest. CanWEA, APPrO and CanSIA wrote you on behalf of an industry that is investing billions of dollars in Ontario but were passed over so you could do a sweetheart deal with a Korea-based company. I'm here, Premier, to say that special sweetheart deals should not be required to achieve the province's energy needs, but the Premier keeps getting caught doing backroom deals rather than open tendering.

Premier, let me ask you this: Did you offer any other energy company the same sweetheart deal that you've given to Samsung?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty: I don't know what my honourable colleague is afraid of. We are prepared to do business with any company that approaches us and can settle on terms that are advantageous to the people of Ontario, whether that's Samsung or anybody else. One thing we are absolutely committed to doing is finding opportunity in the green economy to ensure we create more green jobs, whether that involves the greening of existing and traditional jobs or the creation of brand new green jobs; for example, installing and maintaining wind turbines.

But more than that, we want to put in place capacity so that we can build wind turbines and solar panel materials, so that we can export those to the United States and other parts of Canada. Therein lies tremendous opportunity in the green economy for Ontarians.

GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS

Mr. Tim Hudak: Back to the Premier on the same topic: The PC caucus isn't afraid. We're simply worried about a Premier who would rather negotiate shady backroom deals on something as important as our energy supply. Then I'll ask the Premier: If this is not a shady deal, would the Premier tell us who he and his former Deputy Premier have met with from Samsung to negotiate this deal?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty: I appreciate the continuing interest on the part of my honourable colleague when it comes to us aggressively prosecuting the Green Energy Act. It would have been nice to have had their support at the time when we introduced the legislation and it became law in the province of Ontario. But now I gather he wants us to find other ways to involve more people. What I say to the leader of the official opposition is, if he's aware of any business that wants to do business with the province of Ontario, wants to get on board when it comes to building a new and stronger green economy, then we're open to his suggestions.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Leader of the Opposition.

Mr. Tim Hudak: Premier, what the industry associations have said about your shady deal is that it "appears to allow the government to direct long-term power purchase agreements and significant transmission capacity to a single company." One would expect that before picking a foreign-based company for a sweetheart deal, the Premier would have met with company representatives to work out the details. But no one from Samsung is registered with the lobbyist registry, not even company executives.

We know the Premier has made it a habit of breaking his promise to stop sole-source sweetheart contracts, but why is the Premier also breaking the lobbying law?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty: The purpose of the Green Energy Act, as you well know because we stated this in the Legislature many times over, is to create new jobs. In fact, our commitment is to create 50,000 jobs in the next three years in domestic manufacturing and assembly, architecture, construction, trucking, servicing and installation, financing, engineering, electricians, inspectors and computer software and hardware.

My honourable colleague tells us that he's somehow concerned about the implication this will have for domestic business. The single most important thing that we can do to strengthen this economy and create jobs is to put in place a harmonized sales tax, so I would ask my honourable colleague to stand up and do something that is admittedly difficult for that party, which is to lend their support for the HST in the province of Ontario.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Final supplementary.

Mr. Tim Hudak: Premier, this is not about the Green Energy Act; it's about the transparency and the integrity of billion-dollar contracts for our energy future, issues the Premier no longer seems to care about, because the Premier knows the energy industry was caught by surprise when the Premier and his former Deputy Premier, George Smitherman, abandoned them to seal this deal with Samsung. They warned you that this foreign-based company has little experience in renewable energy generation and development in our province. The news that no one is registered with the lobbyist registry moves this deal from suspect to shady.

Premier, is this one of the many reasons why your cabinet lost confidence in George Smitherman?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty: Again, we're very proud of the work that we continue to do as a government and proud of the leadership demonstrated by Minister Smitherman when he served in his capacity as Minister of Energy and Infrastructure.

Our commitment is to create 50,000 new jobs in the green energy sector and to do that as quickly as we can. If there's any company anywhere in the world which wants to approach us and has some kind of an offer or proposal with respect to doing business, of course we're going to sit down with them, and if we can come to terms that are advantageous to the people of Ontario, then of course we will do that; that is what is expected of us.

TAXATION

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My question is to the Premier. Ontarians are struggling through a deep recession. This government's cure: a new tax on gasoline and home heating. By this time next year, if the McGuinty government has its way, Thunder Bay seniors Anne and Milton Marion will be paying 8% more on their $600 heating bill.

Why is this Premier ramming through a new tax that will make Anne and Milton Marion's life so much less affordable?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty: I appreciate the question, I really do, but I would rephrase it a little bit. "Why do poverty groups and food banks support our package of tax reforms?" I think is a good way to put the question.

I think it's important to keep in mind that under our package of tax reforms, 93% of Ontarians will get a permanent tax cut. That takes effect in January of this coming year, by the way. The average family with an $80,000 income will see a 10% tax cut in their personal income taxes; 90,000 low-income Ontarians will no longer pay any personal income tax. And here's an important example: A single parent on social assistance with two children will save over $1,200 under our tax plan.

This is about helping all Ontarians, but we pay particular heed to those in low-income groups.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Supplementary?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: For every dollar the HST will cost consumers, only 18 cents are being returned through income tax cuts, and this Premier knows it.

Wherever I travel in the province, I hear worried Ontarians who are talking about the HST. In fact, Rich Whitehead from St. Catharines said this: "Five years ago I worked one full-time job 10 kilometres from home and struggled to make ends meet. Now, having lost that job, I drive to Mississauga to work one full-time job and race home to work a second part-time job in the evenings. I have trouble paying for things like groceries and utilities. We've cut back in every way we can ... there's not even enough for necessities. You're kicking me while I'm down. The HST will hurt my family."

Why is this Premier kicking Ontarians like Rich when they're down?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty: I want to draw to my colleague's attention a very important report that was released recently by Dr. Jack Mintz. It was peer-reviewed by four economists, including Don Drummond and Jim Stanford of the CAW, so we've got quite a spectrum there in terms of economists who've looked at it. What Dr. Mintz said is that because of our package of tax reforms, over the course of the next 10 years, 591,000 more jobs will be created than otherwise would have been the case.

Fundamentally, this is about jobs. It's about ensuring that gentlemen like the one referred to by my colleague have the opportunity to earn a good living, to enjoy a good standard of living and to look at his kids with a sense of pride, knowing they're making it on their own. This is about building more jobs in the province of Ontario and it's about building a better future for all Ontarians.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Final supplementary.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Last year, Jack Mintz said that the HST was going to kill up to 40,000 jobs a year, and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce agrees. In fact, the finance minister said that Jack Mintz was nothing but an Alberta academic whose ideas simply don't work. What a change of heart, all of a sudden.

Here's what I care about: I care about what Roger and Monique Byrne from eastern Ontario say about the HST. I care about what they say about the HST, and here it is: "We live in a rural area where it is necessary to drive to our jobs. Please do not add to our already stretched ... budget."

Sue Vellinga, from the GTA, says this: "As somebody that has lost their job due to the terrible economy of Ontario, I think this would be a huge mistake."

Brenda Moore adds: "I'm a single mom. I hold two jobs. I think this is absolutely terrible."

Why isn't the Premier listening to Ontarians like Brenda, Monique, Rich and Sue?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty: I think it is newsworthy when the head of the NDP in Ontario abandons food banks and poverty groups who are in support of our package of tax reforms. This is what they said at the 25 in 5: Network for Poverty Reduction in response to our budget: "This budget has moved the bar forward on housing, tax credits and child benefits in ways that will make a tangible difference in the lives of many Ontarians."

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): The member from Hamilton East will come to order when asked, please.

Premier?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty: What we're doing, through the budget, is paying close attention to the needs of our low-income earners by providing them with special benefits—in many cases, eliminating them from the tax roles entirely—and at the same time giving special supports to our businesses so they can grow stronger, so that we can create, over the course of the next 10 years, somewhere in the neighbourhood of 600,000 more jobs.

TAXATION

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My next question is to the Premier as well. The Premier is asking Ontario families to pay more for daily essentials—home heating, hydro, gas for the car—and at the same time, he is telling them to brace for closed emergency rooms and funding cuts. If people are going to be paying more than ever before in this province, why are they getting less from their government?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty: My honourable colleague is not prepared to accept a fundamental precept of Ontario history: We have always come together during difficult times; we have always done whatever is necessary to build an ever-stronger province.

Today, what we are going to do is ensure that we maintain the economic capacity in the province of Ontario to continue to fund good schools for our children and their children, to continue to fund good health care for our children and their families, to continue to fund good and strong environmental supports for our children and their families.

What I'm saying is, this is not an easy thing for us to do, but we have always, as a society, built good schools to serve all of us, built good health care to serve all of us and built a strong economy that delivers good jobs for all of us. This is about all of us. My friend opposite believes it's just about the individuals; it's about the individuals doing something together for all of us, a stronger economy and a brighter future.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Supplementary?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: For every dollar this government takes from consumers in new sales taxes, they're going to be handing out $1.06 in corporate tax giveaways. To Ontario families, the Premier says, "These are tough times. You'll have to pay more, while your emergency rooms close."

Why is the Premier hitting Ontario families with a new tax that makes life more expensive, while handing out billions and billions of dollars in tax cuts to profitable corporations?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty: I know it's an old saw for the NDP: "Corporations bad; all corporations bad." I just don't think that washes anymore, especially in an era of globalization.

I think my honourable colleague does understand deep in her heart that it's very important, in a jurisdiction that has an economy that is so export-driven like Ontario, that we ensure that our exporters, particularly our manufacturers, can be competitive in an era of globalization. We have to help them get their costs down. That's what the HST is all about: It's about ensuring that we have a strong manufacturing sector here that can grow and create more jobs.

The very people my honourable colleague purports to stand up for are dependent upon those corporations getting stronger and those businesses getting stronger, growing and creating more jobs. This is about 600,000 more jobs; it's about a bright future.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Final supplementary?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: It does nothing for the struggling corporations, and that's a fact. The struggling corporations aren't going to be getting anything from this; it's the profitable corporations that are going to win big on this tax change.

But do you know what? Jobless numbers in this province continue to creep up—everywhere I go, people tell me that they are worried—and instead of practical solutions, Ontario families are getting a new, job-killing tax on gasoline and home heating, and what else? They're told to brace for cuts.

But there are winners in the Premier's plan; there are obvious winners: a $2-billion corporate tax giveaway to profitable corporations and $1 million a day for high-flying consultants in the province.

Why are the concerns of everyday Ontario families and small businesses at the bottom of the Premier's list of priorities?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty: I appreciate the representation, but I can't agree. I've got to keep coming back to this because I think it's salient. Why do poverty groups and food banks support our package of tax reforms? They're doing that because they understand the package in its entirety. They know that we're going to take people who are paying income tax now, 90,000 of those in the lowest income levels, to ensure they're no longer paying it. We're talking about doing something like a single parent on social assistance with two children saving over $1,200 under our tax plan.

Most importantly for all of us, this is about creating 600,000 more jobs over the course of the next 10 years than otherwise would have been the case. It's about making an effort now to build a bright future—

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you.

GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: My question is for the Premier. Jason Grier is George Smitherman's former chief of staff and current riding president. Mr. Grier also is the vice-president of a national lobby firm where he bills himself as a specialist in infrastructure, health and energy procurement—all Mr. Smitherman's old files. Over the past three years, Mr. Grier was registered to lobby your government, including Mr. Smitherman.

What is the total amount of taxpayer money that was spent on deals between Mr. Smitherman and his top fundraiser/riding president?

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): I would ask the member to rephrase that question and not be specifically drawing a member in and impugning motive.

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: Premier, what is the total amount of taxpayer dollars that were spent between the Minister of Health, Infrastructure and Energy, and Mr. Grier?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty: The honourable member alleges that because there is an individual who works on a riding association that there's somehow something unfortunate with that. There is a lobbyist at Strategy Corp. who is the first VP of the Ontario Conservative Party. There is a senior executive at Edelman who is the CFO and treasurer of the Ontario Conservative Party. There are a number of Conservative riding association presidents who are advocates or lobbyists on particular issues, including funding private religious schools.

We encourage all Ontarians to get involved in the political process, and if that includes serving on a riding association, that's something that we support.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Supplementary?

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: In two years those people might have to lobby us, because we'll be in government when your sorry government is thrown out. But we know Mr. Smitherman—we know he had a reputation for handing out sweetheart deals, and he handed Grier's clients over 100 million in taxpayer dollars.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): The member from Renfrew will come to order.

Please continue.

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: I must have gotten their goat, but they didn't hear, I don't think, properly: $100 million went to Mr. Grier's clients. Those clients included Emergis, Merck Frosst, Abbott Laboratories and others. They all received $100 million, total, in contracts when Mr. Smitherman was at the helm. If Mr. Grier knocked on Mr. Smitherman's door, then his loyalties were divided between two people: one, looking out for his clients' interests by getting them government contracts; secondly, looking after Mr. Smitherman's interests as his top fundraiser.

I have a question for the Premier. What have you done about the cozy and suspect deals totalling more than 100 million taxpayer dollars?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty: I'll name the program my colleague is reluctant to name: It's the Gardasil funding program. It's a three-year program funded by the federal government, aimed at vaccinating grade 8 girls against HPV. This is what my friend is complaining about. We're proud of that program. We think it's a benefit to our families that'll particularly benefit the young women, grade 8 girls.

TAXATION

Mr. Michael Prue: My question is to the Minister of Finance. Before the last budget, the Minister of Finance commented on Alberta-based Professor Jack Mintz's budget proposals. To quote the Minister of Finance, this is what he had to say: "We don't agree with Mr. Mintz.... That old neo-conservative attitude didn't work."

Why is the minister now embracing Professor Mintz and that old Conservative attitude?

Hon. Dwight Duncan: The member opposite knows—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Minister?

Hon. Dwight Duncan: The member opposite knows that the reference was about something other, another piece of work that Mr. Mintz had done. Mr. Mintz last week released a study that looked at this government's budget. It studied that budget and concluded a number of things, first and foremost that the government's plan will create 591,000 net new jobs over the next 10 years. Mr. Mintz also concluded that it will raise family incomes and individual incomes over the 10 years.

I remind the member opposite that it was peer reviewed by a number of economists of all political stripes, including Jim Stanford of the CAW, and they all concluded what that member and his party won't acknowledge: that this government has a plan for job creation. It has a plan to get this economy back on its feet. It's no longer about the old bromides and the false rhetoric.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Supplementary?

Mr. Michael Prue: In an earlier study, Professor Mintz said that harmonization would stifle job growth. Another study sponsored by the chamber of commerce found the same, and other studies anticipate job losses in home building and tourism, but the McGuinty government paid Professor Mintz to issue a new report, a report other economists have dismissed as "pretty dubious." I realize the minister paid his new best buddy good money for a new report wherein he was paid to change his mind, but does this minister really expect us to buy that old neo-conservative analysis?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Stop the clock.

Minister?

Hon. Dwight Duncan: You'd be surprised who has in fact hired Mr. Mintz; it's amazing what my friend Mr. Bradley finds in the boxes in his office. It turns out that the NDP government hired Mr. Mintz in 1993, and what was his advice offered on? It was offered—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Stop the clock.

Minister?

Hon. Dwight Duncan: Mr. Mintz is a well-regarded economist. I have—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Stop the clock.

Minister?

Hon. Dwight Duncan: Mr. Mintz is a well-regarded economist who says that we are going to create 591,000 net new jobs with this plan. His work has been peer-reviewed and his work has been used by the New Democratic Party and used by the Conservative Party. We don't agree with him on everything, but this study—

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you, Minister. New question.

TAXATION

Mr. Charles Sousa: My question is to the Minister of Revenue. My constituents are concerned. They're hearing from the Conservatives and from the NDP that the harmonized sales tax will kill jobs at a time when we need them most. Recently, Jack Mintz—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Stop the clock for a moment. I just want to remind the member, as he begins that question, that I have delivered a couple of statements in the House recently about use of language. Specifically, I made it clear that it's not acceptable to make allegations either directly or indirectly of any member of the House. I just want to remind the members from the government side that making assertions or asserting misrepresentations from another party and setting up the member to do the same will not be tolerated.

Mr. Charles Sousa: Recently, Jack Mintz, former president and CEO of the C.D. Howe Institute and at the University of Calgary, released a report regarding the HST's effect on Ontario's economy. The report confirms that, as a result of this comprehensive tax package, within 10 years Ontario would see an estimated 591,000 additional new jobs, increased capital investment of $47 billion and an 8.8% increase in overall annual worker incomes. This report was reviewed and endorsed by prominent and respected Canadian economists from the financial, academic and labour sectors.

Minister, who should we believe on this: those who are playing politics with Ontario's economic future or a group of Canada's leading economists?

Hon. John Wilkinson: I want to thank Dr. Mintz for doing the report because what he was able to do, after we introduced the budget in March, was to look at the entire package of tax reforms that we introduced.

I know that my good friend the Minister of Finance will be introducing a bill that will see some $15 billion worth of tax relief for people and businesses over the next three years, and I would think that all members would want to vote in support of providing some $15 billion worth of income tax stimulus to our economy.

What Dr. Mintz was able to do, looking at the entire package—not just part of it but the entire package—is to predict, as the member was saying, that we will see an increase of 591,000 net new jobs in the province of Ontario and that we will see some $47 billion worth of more investment in our province and a rise of real income by as much as 8.8%. That's—

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you. Supplementary?

Mr. Charles Sousa: Over the past months I've met with many constituents who have questions about our tax reform package. Ratepayers, condo owners and seniors in particular all have concerns about how the reforms will affect them. At the same time, they understand and appreciate that in order to compete and recover we need to take bold action to attract investment and jobs in Ontario. I fully support an initiative that strengthens our economy and the prosperity of Ontario families.

This afternoon, Minister Duncan will be introducing legislation that proposes significant personal income tax cuts; 93% of Ontarians will receive a personal income tax cut to the tune of $10.6 billion; 90,000 Ontarians will no longer have to pay personal income tax; and by cutting the lowest income tax bracket by 17%, it will make it the lowest in Canada. Minister, how will these tax cuts affect the people of Ontario and those in my riding of Mississauga South?

Hon. John Wilkinson: What this economy and what our province need is more jobs. Because of this global economic recession, which didn't start in this province or this country—it has affected families. They have lost their jobs, and we need to give them hope by having a new tax reform package in this province—the first substantial tax reform of sales tax since 1961, designed specifically to make sure that our businesses are more competitive on the world stage, because frankly that's exactly where we compete today; 80% of what we manufacture in this province is exported outside of this province.

So it is important to give our businesses that competitive advantage, because what it means for families is that there will be 591,000 more families in the province of Ontario that will be able to tuck their kids into bed at night knowing that mom or dad has a job and that there is a brighter future for them. We have tax measures that are designed specifically to make sure that this reform is very progressive, and I look forward to—

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you. New question.

GOVERNMENT CONTRACTS

Mr. John Yakabuski: Premier, Jason Grier has been very successful as George Smitherman's top fundraiser. Over the past two years, Grier helped raise almost a million dollars for George Smitherman. That's three times more than the next-best fundraiser among the Liberals and 10 times more than the fundraiser for the Premier himself.

How much did Grier raise from clients who got government contracts from former minister George Smitherman?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty: There's always a lot of fun to be had in opposition when you go on these speculation missions. I just don't believe they add much to the public interest.

What I do think adds to the public interest is that any Ontarian who chooses to get involved in the political process helps strengthen our democracy. Obviously that's something that Mr. Grier has done in the past. The accusation they made a moment ago was that he was involved in getting the government to spend money.

In fact, it was the federal government who spent the money; they spent it on Gardasil, which is an important medication that is aimed at vaccinating grade 8 girls against HPV. We think that was an important and well-justified use of federal taxpayer dollars.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Supplementary?

Mr. John Yakabuski: This is not speculation. While Smitherman awarded more than $106 million in taxpayers' money to Grier's clients, the clients donated large sums to Smitherman's and the Liberal Party's coffers. For example, Emergis contributed over $9,000, while Abbott—

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): I just ask the honourable member—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): I don't need any help from the government House leader, thank you very much. For that, stop the clock, please.

I just ask the honourable member to be cautious in his words of impugning motive. As well, I've let this go to a degree, but I think we need to be cautious that we do refer to members by their riding names.

Mr. John Yakabuski: Abbott Laboratories contributed over $10,000. Merck Frosst gave over $17,000. Premier, you promoted former minister George Smitherman, member from Rosedale, to your elite budget committee on Saturday, then you accepted his resignation the very next day. Is it because you discovered former minister Smitherman was for sale?

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): I just ask the honourable member to withdraw that comment, please.

Mr. John Yakabuski: Sorry, Speaker. Is it because you—

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): I ask the honourable member to withdraw the comment.

Mr. John Yakabuski: I withdraw.

Hon. Dalton McGuinty: My honourable colleague tells us something about what he claims are contributions to a particular riding association. I don't have the facts and figures with me here to tell me how much those same companies contributed to the Conservative Party. If they did, that would not be a bad thing; that's how the democratic system works.

But again, I'm not clear as to why my colleague opposes a three-year program funded by the federal government aimed at vaccinating grade 8 girls against HPV. We think that was a good use of taxpayer dollars, even if those were federal taxpayer dollars.

LONG-TERM CARE

M me France Gélinas: Ma question est également pour le premier ministre. This morning, people from Port Perry have joined us for question period. They are the personal support workers and nurses who provide the personal care and support to residents at the community nursing home in Port Perry, and they are being laid off. They are here today because they want you to stop the major cuts to their residents' care.

Premier, before you pat yourself on the back and talk about past investments, why, in spite of these investments, are we seeing layoffs and reduced care for frail elderly in our long-term-care homes?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty: To the Minister of Health.

Hon. Deborah Matthews: I know that all members of the House agree that caring for our precious seniors or our people who are in long-term-care homes is one of our true responsibilities as a government.

We remain committed to improving the quality of care when it comes to long-term-care homes. I know that my colleague the member from Nipissing did some excellent work in this regard, and we've continued to build on that. When it comes to the quality of care in our long-term-care homes, we remain committed to it.

I look forward to the supplementary, where we can discuss that a little bit more.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Supplementary?

M me France Gélinas: How can we improve quality of care in long-term-care homes when staff are being laid off? A total of 250 hours of personal and nursing care will be gone each and every week because those people are being laid off.

The home is already struggling to provide the care that the residents need, and soon there will be 34 fewer minutes of hands-on care for each of those residents. That's less time for bathing, toileting and feeding, and the list goes on.

Will the minister reassure the patients, their families and the staff that the money that has been invested will go to care, not to profit, and that it will halt the layoff of those important health care providers?

Hon. Deborah Matthews: I am more than happy to look into the case of this particular home, but I can tell you that we are increasing staff capacity. We're adding 2,500 more PSWs and 2,000 more nurses. We've already raised the level of daily care to 3.26 hours, and we're working toward raising it even further, to 3.5 hours, by 2011. We're also building more capacity. We're building new homes, and we're improving those that already exist, those that are old.

I can tell you that our record speaks for itself. We've increased funding for long-term care by over $1 billion—that's a 50% increase—and we've funded 6,100 new full-time staff, including 2,300 nurses, who are delivering 11.9 million more hours of hands-on care.

FLU IMMUNIZATION

Mr. Yasir Naqvi: My question is for the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. On Friday we heard that the list of priority groups eligible to receive the H1N1 vaccine has been expanded to include all children aged 13 and under, and adults 65 and older with underlying health conditions. This is welcome news for parents in my riding who have been anxious to get their children vaccinated. They urgently want to protect their families from the spread of this virus.

The expansion, however, does not include children over 13, the kids in high school. This could prove to be inconvenient for families who have children in both elementary and high schools, as they would not be able to take them to get their vaccine at the same time.

Minister, please explain to the families in my riding and throughout Ontario why only children 13 and under have been added to the priority groups at this time.

Hon. Deborah Matthews: The member is right: We want to protect Ontarians from H1N1 as quickly as we possibly can. However, as long as the supply of vaccine that we're getting from the federal government is limited, we simply must roll out our vaccination program in phases. This strategy ensures that those who need the shot the most get it first.

I think every parent in this province can agree that we want to protect our kids from H1N1. That's why we recently announced that we are opening up the vaccine program to all kids aged 13 and under. The decision was made based on available supply of vaccine. We don't yet have enough to vaccinate children of all ages, and we need to protect young children, who are most at risk.

I certainly understand the concerns of parents who want to vaccinate all their kids, and I can assure them that as we get more supply, we will roll out the vaccine to more groups, including older children.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Supplementary?

Mr. Yasir Naqvi: I know that Ontario parents will be relieved to know that their children can now be immunized against the flu, starting this week.

But Ottawa has a vaccine shortage and has temporarily stopped public clinics until it receives more vaccine, which is worrying for many of my constituents. Parents in my riding will want to get their children vaccinated, but they can't do that if the clinics are not open. There are also still others in the priority group who have not yet received their vaccine. I understand Ontario receives the vaccine from the federal government and that we will get more very shortly.

My question for the minister is, has this vaccine been received yet, and when will Ottawa's portion be delivered so that they can restart clinics for our kids and other priority groups to get protected from H1N1?

Hon. Deborah Matthews: This week, Ontario's allocation of vaccine is 414,000 doses of the adjuvanted vaccine, and we have hopes that we will get an additional 272,500 later in the week. We have received the bulk of the 414,000 doses, and workers at the government pharmacy are busy repackaging the vaccine for distribution today.

I understand the concerns of the member and the parents in his riding. It's unfortunate that Ottawa was short on supply and had to temporarily stop the public clinics for a couple days, but I'm pleased to be able to report that we're shipping out 30,000 doses to Ottawa this morning and will be shipping more vaccine to Ottawa as soon as we get it—hopefully, more this week.

I'm hopeful that, with this supply, Ottawa will be able to restart their public clinics as soon as possible and begin to immunize children. In the meantime, of course, many parents are—

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you. New question.

ELECTRONIC HEALTH INFORMATION

Mr. Ted Chudleigh: My question is for the Premier. The eHealth scandal has cost you a second minister, Premier. Now that George Smitherman is out of cabinet, now that the member for Toronto Centre—

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): I just remind the honourable members to use riding names, please.

Mr. Ted Chudleigh: Now that the member from Toronto Centre is out of cabinet, he doesn't have to answer who got rich off taxpayers' money, how they are connected to the McGuinty Liberals and why a senior public civil servant who blocked the auditor's investigation wasn't disciplined.

The $837 million wasted, member for Toronto Centre, wasn't their money, wasn't your money; it was the hard-earned money of Ontario taxpayers. Why are you rejecting our call for a public inquiry and standing in the way of the public knowing who misspent their money?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty: To the Minister of Health.

Hon. Deborah Matthews: Ontarians expect their tax dollars to be spent wisely. So do I, and so does our government. That's why we have moved forward to enthusiastically embrace the recommendations of the Auditor General. We have greatly reformed our procurement policies. This is the right thing to do. I thank the Auditor General for making the case that it's something we should do. We've curtailed unnecessary expense claims. We have additional mechanisms for accountability and transparency.

It's very important to acknowledge that we are proceeding with the implementation of eHealth. It's critical to the sustainability of our health care system that we embrace the technology through eHealth. That's why we're expanding the number of doctors who will have access to eHealth technology. We know that patients get better care—

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you. Supplementary?

Mr. Ted Chudleigh: You know that you tied the Auditor General's hands during the inquiry. The Premier knows who got rich off taxpayers' money, because the McGuinty Liberals did the deals. The Ontario taxpayers who are footing the bill for the billion-dollar boondoggle don't know.

I'll be introducing the eHealth Ontario Spending Accountability Act later this week. Will the Premier tell his caucus to give swift passage to my bill and order the public inquiry now?

Hon. Deborah Matthews: The successes at eHealth are significant. All of our hospitals are now filmless. The day of the old X-ray films is over. All of that imaging is done digitally. This is of better quality and much less expensive for us. We have four million Ontarians already with electronic health records, and we're moving to bring in six million more over the next three years.

We have a drug profile viewer in our emergency room, so that emergency room physicians can very quickly find out what drugs have been prescribed to a patient in their emergency department. These would include patients who are recipients of the Ontario drug benefit plan—so our seniors, our people with disabilities and people on social assistance and so on.

The RFQ for our diabetes registry closed on August 28, and those—

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you. New question.

TAXATION

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My question is to the Minister of Finance. As the minister should know, Windsor is a hard-hit community. The unemployment rate there is nearly 14%. Since last December, almost 10,000 jobs have disappeared. Tourism is a key sector in Windsor.

My question is this: Why is the minister bringing in a new tax on gasoline, hotels, air, train and bus travel?

Hon. Dwight Duncan: The job creation plan that we put forward in the budget will create 591,000 net new jobs. Why doesn't she answer why she doesn't support the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers' Association, who says that this will allow them to produce more vehicles in Ontario? Why doesn't she quote the tourism industry, who is supporting this plan with a whole package of changes we made? Why? Because she doesn't want to tell the whole story.

You know, when she takes the unemployed in my home community and uses them for cheap political fodder in this Legislature, she ought to be ashamed—just like when she opposed us helping the auto industry several months ago. In fact, we put together a package that will create jobs in 10 years. It is supported by the automotive sector and supported by many other industries that employ people in my community. That's why we're doing it. It's about jobs, sir. It's not about sitting back and doing nothing.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Supplementary?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: British Columbia's council of tourism associations estimates that the move to the HST there will cost 5,200 direct tourism jobs and will take a 545-million-dollar bite out of the provincial economy each and every year. Ontario's tourism sector is much larger than BC's and employs more than 200,000 people, including thousands in the Windsor area.

Why is this minister plowing ahead with a tax that will surely kill even more jobs in hard-hit Windsor?

Hon. Dwight Duncan: We have a whole package of reforms that are aimed at helping the tourism sector. We've been working with the tourism sector.

What this tax will do, what this package will do, according to independent advice, is create 590,000 net new jobs in the next 10 years. That's why the vehicle manufacturers support it. That's why the forestry sector supports it. That's why a range of other business groups support it. The other reason, the other part of this package, which the member conveniently ignores, is that those people that have suffered the most in my community will pay less in taxes. Those people that are getting their jobs back, those people that are back to work in the auto plants today—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Minister?

Hon. Dwight Duncan: That's why the food banks have supported the policy. That's why she ought to listen to Hugh Mackenzie, who I know has spoken to her on numerous occasions. That's why the NDP's Fair Tax Commission suggested doing this some years ago.

This is the right package to create jobs for communities like Windsor. This party is seizing the future. That party is locked in the past. This is about jobs. It's about—

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you. New question.

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL WINTER FAIR

Mr. David Zimmer: My question is to the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Minister, yesterday marked the conclusion of the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. Every year I visit that fair and every year I see the excitement there. The fair, with its focus on agriculture and rural life, provides those in the urban areas of Toronto and the GTA a real chance to experience life in the agricultural sector.

Minister, can you share with us what, from your point of view, were some of the highlights of the fair, and how did the fair showcase agricultural and rural life here in Ontario?

Hon. Leona Dombrowsky: I'm delighted to have the opportunity to respond to this, first of all to thank the organizers, all of those involved at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair for the excellent job that they do to put on a show every year when the country comes to the city.

Those of us from rural Ontario think it's very important that our urban customers, if you will, have an understanding and an appreciation of the significance of the agriculture industry, that industry that feeds us. Also, anyone who visits the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair would see a number of initiatives that are supported by the provincial government, some in partnership with the federal government: the Growing Forward campaign, they can get information about the Premier's Award for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence, the Pick Ontario Freshness—there are lots of booths there that are promoting—

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Supplementary?

Mr. David Zimmer: Minister, events of this size bring in really big tourist dollars to local economies. The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair certainly did. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people come to the Royal. It provides an economic boost to Toronto and the GTA. Restaurants, hotels, retail shops and entertainment venues are patronized while attendees are visiting the city.

Minister, can you give us some more information on what we expected in terms of numbers of attendees and the economic impact on the local economy?

Hon. Leona Dombrowsky: Again, I think it's very important for members of this House and all the people of Ontario to understand how important this event is in educating all people in Ontario about the significance of the agriculture industry in the province. I commend not only the organizers but the schools that last year there were 500 schools that had students come to the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. There are over 300,000 visitors to this fair annually, where they can see the very best of rural Ontario showcase what they do.

It's also an advantage for those in the agriculture industry who participate in the competitions at the fair. When they win, it makes their product—whether it's meat, animals, vegetables or whatever—more marketable. It has more value to them. So there's no question that—

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you. New question.

GOVERNMENT SERVICES

Mr. John O'Toole: My question is to the Ministry of Government Services. Minister, as of February 2010, Ontarians can buy a licence plate bearing the distinctive Support Our Troops yellow ribbon logo. This is a good idea that was already introduced by my good friend and colleague Garfield Dunlop, the member from Simcoe North. His private member's resolution asked that the government of Ontario and the Ministry of Transportation support our troops by incorporating the yellow logo on the licence plates.

The disappointing part of this, Premier, is the fact that you've turned this into another tax grab; a good idea—now it's a tax grab. Minister, can you explain how much this new Support Our Troops logo is going to cost?

Hon. Harinder S. Takhar: I am very proud of our Canadian troops and the outstanding work they do all over the world and inside Canada. It is important for us to take any opportunity to showcase their work and raise awareness about the kind of work they do all over the world, and we are very, very pleased to partner with the Canadian Forces personnel assistance fund on the new yellow ribbon graphic plates to raise awareness and show support for our troops. Ontarians will be able to purchase, as the member said, vehicle plates with the yellow ribbon logo from Service Ontario beginning on February 1, 2010.

Like any other charity, the Canadian Armed Forces applied to the graphic licence program, which has been in place since 1994, and we have used the standard ways to pay royalties to all the charities. The NDP government has done it, the Conservative—

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you. Supplementary.

Mr. John O'Toole: So I thought, at the True Patriot Love event, which was held last week on Remembrance Day eve, it was rather cynical of the Premier to introduce this motive that night. However, the

article in the Toronto Sun brings out the real points for a reality check: What is the cost of the new plates? While we all know that the personalized plates are $314 and the other plates are $77, what you're actually going to give to the Canadian Forces personnel assistance fund is $2 or $4. Where is the 98% of the new revenue from this source going? Is it going to fund programs or is it going to fund the troops?

Minister, my question is, when drivers decide to buy this new yellow licence plate, are they really supporting the troops or are they supporting Dalton McGuinty?

Hon. Harinder S. Takhar: It's really unfortunate that they are trying to politicize a very good idea to support and create awareness for our armed forces.

Let me just read what the Department of National Defence has to say: They are pleased to have engaged in an endeavour that will allow individuals to demonstrate their support for the Canadian Forces. Any amount of charitable donations are welcome and will be used to provide financial assistance to CF members and their families.

Let me also read from what Karl Walsh, president of the Ontario Provincial Police Association, said: "The Ontario Provincial Police Association is extremely proud of our troops. We thank the Ontario government for listening to our request to include the yellow ribbons on our licence plates and for giving Ontarians the option to express their support."

Mr. Speaker, I can read one more. This is from the sergeant—

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you. New question.

BUS TRANSPORTATION

Mr. Howard Hampton: My question is for the Minister of Transportation. The minister will know that in just a couple of short weeks, Greyhound is slated to discontinue bus services across northwestern Ontario between Sault Ste. Marie and the Manitoba border. Many people wonder what is going to happen.

People, especially seniors, who need to

schedule trips to Thunder Bay or Winnipeg to see medical specialists or for surgeries don't know if they should or if they can, because they don't know if they're going to have bus service. Students who are away at college or university need to know, is there going to be a bus service so they can get home for Christmas and back again? Other people who are trying to make travel plans need to know, is there going to be a bus service to the airport in Winnipeg or Thunder Bay or Sault Ste. Marie? This has gone on now for many weeks.

Can the minister tell people if Greyhound is going to continue the bus service, or are people going to be left high and dry by the McGuinty government again?

Hon. James J. Bradley: Well, despite the comments the member made about Greyhound—they were not very glowing comments, previously—we have been working, along with Greyhound and along with others in the area, to ensure that there is a replacement service should they make a final decision to discontinue it. In fact, there are at least two other companies that are interested in pursuing the routes that are there.

The member will know that this has already happened, where Greyhound has made a decision in the past to abandon a service. Greyhound ended its bus service between Hearst and Thunder Bay. You'll recall that Caribou Coach Transportation Co. is now providing bus service between Hearst and Thunder Bay. Last summer, Greyhound ended its service between Fort Frances and Thunder Bay. Caribou Coach Transportation Co. is now providing the bus service between Fort Frances and Thunder Bay. We anticipate that this will happen once again—

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you. Supplementary?

Mr. Howard Hampton: This is astounding. Bus service may end in two weeks, and the response of the McGuinty government is, "Well, we don't know." Hundreds of thousands of people have no other alternative in terms of transportation, and the response of the McGuinty government is, "We don't know."

Maybe the minister can tell me this: If Manitoba can create an agreement with Greyhound, why can't the McGuinty government find common ground with Greyhound to preserve bus services to communities that have no other alternative in northwestern Ontario?

Hon. James J. Bradley: I can say to the member, again, I remember he said, "I have no doubt that they're probably losing money in some places, but this is more than anything else a bargaining tactic" that they're involved in. I guess if you open the vault and decide that you're going to subsidize a company that you said was engaged in some kind of bargaining tactic—if you capitulate to them, then I suppose, in that circumstance, Manitoba may wish to do that.

At the national meeting of transportation ministers, we established a working group to deal with this on a national basis. But I can inform the member that there are companies that are interested in pursuing this particular service, and I am optimistic that those companies will decide that this is a reasonable course of action to follow and that we will see service taking place appropriately for the people in the area thanks to the representation—

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you. The time for question period has ended. There being no deferred votes, this House stands recessed until 1 p.m. this afternoon.

The House recessed from 1140 to 1300.

INTRODUCTION OF VISITORS

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: I'd like to introduce some guests who are going to be in the chamber and some who already are: Peter Coleman of the National Citizens Coalition; Kevin Gaudet of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation; Fabio Iannicca of CI Investments, who's bringing a few friends; Armand Conant of the Canadian Condominium Institute; Dean McCabe of the Association of Condominium Managers of Ontario; and Paul Bailey and Phil Slack, who are right over here to my left, from the Ontario public sector retirees coalition. They're here because they can't afford a $3-billion tax grab.

MEMBERS' STATEMENTS

DIABETES

Mr. Gerry Martiniuk: I'm proud to recognize, on behalf of Tim Hudak and the Progressive Conservative caucus, world diabetic day. In Canada, there are more than 2.46 million people who are living with some form of diabetes. In fact, Canada has the sixth-highest incidence per capita of juvenile diabetes in the world.

Last December, I introduced Bill 137,

an act to permit students with diabetes in our schools to receive certain monitoring and emergency treatment. This bill was inspired by the experiences of my constituents Brooke and Jade Bordman, seven-year-old twins who suffer from type 1 diabetes.

Sadly, when my bill was presented for second reading, the McGuinty government abandoned diabetic children across this province and ordered its members to vote against it.

Shame on you, Dalton McGuinty, for being against helping our young children who suffer from juvenile diabetes.

REMEMBRANCE DAY

Mr. Phil McNeely: Last Wednesday, over 2,600 people gathered at the cenotaph outside the Orleans branch of the Royal Canadian Legion to honour Canada's fallen war heroes and veterans during Remembrance Day ceremonies. The sun was shining and the weather was pleasantly warm during the ceremony, which began with a parade led by the RCMP Pipes and Drums.

I would like to acknowledge the hard work done by the Remembrance Day committee members of Branch 632, including branch president Frank Stacey; past president Bud Dion; Jim Ferguson, Woody Boudreau and Earl Patrick; parade sergeant Ray St. Louis; MC Stella Limoges; and, last but not least, Barb Shier and the rest of the members of the Women's Auxiliary, who prepared a wonderful reception afterwards.

I would also like to take this time to recognize Legion members who have passed away over the past 12 months: Gordon Armstrong, Charles Balik, Joe Banville, Bonnie Lee Bergman, Raymond Bigelow, Ray Dean, Jean-Guy Denis, Howard Drummond, Alvi Dunn, Donald Haggart, Barb Hunt, Larry Lapointe, Paul Le Courtois, Nan Morrice, Daniel Ottway, Maurice Paquette, Harry Poloz, Gerry Purchase, Paul Radelet-Beaudry and Walter Wheatley. May they rest in peace.

ADOPTION

Ms. Sylvia Jones: November is National Adoption Awareness Month, and I'd like to acknowledge the commitment that Ontario families make to adopted children in our communities.

Adoption is an integral part of ensuring a secure and stable life for Ontario children. The impact that a family can have on an adopted child is immeasurable, and adoptive families serve to strengthen our communities.

Currently, there are over 9,000 Ontario children in foster care who are waiting to be adopted. Ontario CASs have paid for over 1,500 home visits to Ontario families waiting to adopt. Clearly this is an issue that grows in importance every day.

Families, volunteers and organizations that raise awareness on this issue do so for a number of reasons: to educate Ontarians about the merits of adopting, to develop ties with those who have been impacted by adoption, and to support efforts to shape policy and legislation that will benefit the adoption community.

Adoptive families, volunteers and children's aid society workers should be commended for raising awareness on this issue and for wanting to provide children with a better quality of life.

However, with the Liberals' drastic budget cuts on Ontario CASs, it is uncertain whether the resources are available for foster children to find adoptive families. The future of thousands of foster care children is in jeopardy due to the Liberal government's unwillingness to provide adequate funding. Adoptive families and all adoption advocates need our continuous support.

RUN FOR THE CURE

Mr. Bill Mauro: In early October I had the pleasure of participating in the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure. This year's organizing committee included Kathy Barr and Karen Uchman as co-run directors, Elyse Schebesch as program coordinator, Danielle Dunn as teams coordinator, Andreas Petersen as site coordinator, Peter Whittington as route coordinator, Kylee Childs as registration coordinator and Raeanne Slongo as the CIBC liaison. Additional committee members included Jody Buttman, Terry Lagimodiere, Renee Miller, Louise Nastor, Beth Wilkie, Whitney Kelly and Tiffany Schebesch.

Thunder Bay was the fourth official site to hold a run, and 2009 marked the 13th year that the run was held in Thunder Bay. The first Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation Run for the Cure had 625 participants and raised over $35,000. This year's run had approximately 1,000 runners and raised over $100,000, the final tally still not being in—all of this, of course, supported by a total volunteer base of approximately 75 members, continuing to cement Thunder Bay's reputation as an incredible community when it comes to volunteerism.

We also have a private member's bill on the order paper that would see breast screening services provided free of charge to women aged 40 to 49 years.

Next year's run will be held October 3, 2010. I encourage the community of Thunder Bay, not just the running community, to mark this date on their calendars and support this incredible, wonderful run.

ROYAL AGRICULTURAL WINTER FAIR

Mr. Ernie Hardeman: On Friday, November 13, Tim Hudak, leader of the official opposition, and I were pleased to tour the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. The Royal is an opportunity for farmers to show off some of the best in agriculture that we have to offer in Ontario, from the horse shows and livestock to giant vegetables and innovation in agriculture.

Tim Hudak and I appreciated the opportunity to speak to farmers from across Ontario and hear their concerns. I want to particularly recognize the soybean and grain farmers, who this year created the Soy House to demonstrate the hundreds of products which are now being produced from soybeans. It is this type of innovation and partnership with business that we need to strengthen and grow our agriculture industry in Ontario.

As they say at the Royal, this is an opportunity for the city to meet the country. It is a chance for the people of Toronto to see where their food comes from and to say thank you to the farmers we depend on.

I want to commend the organizers of the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair for another great year. I especially want to thank Bill Duron and Bob Jadavji for taking the time to meet with us. I know that having the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall officially opening the fair made it a special year, but as always it is the participants who make the Royal great. On behalf of Tim Hudak and the PC caucus, I want to recognize and thank all the farmers who participated in the fair and made it a success again this year.

RURAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Mr. Jean-Marc Lalonde: Last Friday, I had the pleasure of welcoming Minister Dombrowsky to Glengarry—Prescott—Russell. The minister visited both the St-Albert cheese factory and the new Optimiste Performance Hall in Rockland. At St-Albert cheese, the minister took

part in a tour highlighting the modernized equipment that is now up and running. This new equipment is the result of $1.3 million in funding through the eastern Ontario development fund. I would like to thank the minister for taking the opportunity to network with factory workers and a number of local milk producers who are part of the century-old farmers' co-operative.

The minister's second stop was at the inauguration of the new Optimiste Performance Hall in Rockland. This was an evening filled with local talent at the community's new facility for sports, recreation and cultural events. This facility was made possible in part thanks to the McGuinty government's investment of more than $460,000 to help the municipality purchase furnishings and equipment for this performance hall. This funding is part of the rural economic development program.

Thank you again to Minister Dombrowsky. Glengarry—Prescott—Russell welcomes you anytime.

FULL-DAY KINDERGARTEN

Mr. Rick Johnson: Full-day kindergarten is one of the most important investments we can make to give our kids a head start and ensure Ontario's long-term competitive advantage.

Dr. Charles Pascal, the Premier's special advisor on early learning, found that one in four children start grade 1 significantly behind their peers. He also found many never entirely close that gap. But our government's full-day learning program will help turn this around.

This program will benefit up to 35,000 children across Ontario in its first year of implementation. We will start phasing it in next September and have this optional program available across the province by the 2015-16 school year.

The young students in this program will learn from Ontario's dedicated teachers and early childhood educators during the regular school day. They will improve their reading, writing and math skills and experience a smoother transition to grade 1. Schools will also offer extended day programs.

This program will put our youngest students on the path to success in school and beyond. It is one more example of the commitment our government has made to giving Ontario's students the best education possible and making Ontario even stronger.

VETERANS

M me France Gélinas: On Friday, November 6, I had the pleasure to meet with Yvon Brière and his wife, Lucie; Randy Hill; Dan Draper and his wife; and other veterans. What is the bond that ties them together? They all suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, after they served our country in the military and could not get the help they needed.

They selflessly served with the armed forces in missions overseas with the United Nations or NATO. They put themselves in harm's way and witnessed very tragic events; then, they came home to Ontario traumatized. They were different people upon their return.

PTSD is an illness. Like many other mental illnesses, it is treatable and people can get better, but they will only begin the journey to recovery if they are identified and have access to treatment.

They have organized themselves into a support group called Veterans UN/NATO Canada. In Sudbury, they meet once a week, on Wednesdays from six until eight, in Little Montreal.

Last week, this Legislature did not sit so all members of this House could attend and reflect on Remembrance Day ceremonies across this province. At this time of remembrance, we need to double our efforts to ensure that all our veterans, upon their return from their missions overseas, receive the best possible treatment they deserve for putting themselves in harm's way for all of us.

TAXATION

Mrs. Carol Mitchell: Our government recently announced new point-of-sale exemptions to the proposed harmonized sales tax. These new exemptions will help save Ontarians money on everyday items such as a cup of coffee or a newspaper. However, there are many other important benefits of our proposed HST that will help Ontarians keep more money in their pockets.

For instance, our proposed tax package will provide 93% of Ontario taxpayers with a personal income tax cut, and nearly three million low-income families will receive a new permanent sales tax credit of up to $260 for each adult and child per year. This is one of the most generous sales tax credits in Canada. What's more, the HST will remove $4.5 billion a year in embedded sales tax, and we will be providing new housing rebates of up to $24,000 for new homes.

These are just a few more examples of how the proposed HST will benefit Ontarians by ensuring that they are able to keep more of the money that they work hard for. The HST is an important initiative that will help move our province forward and keep Ontario stronger than ever before.

INTRODUCTION OF BILLS

ONTARIO TAX PLAN FOR MORE JOBS

AND GROWTH ACT, 2009 /

LOI DE 2009 SUR LE PLAN FISCAL

DE L'ONTARIO POUR ACCROÎTRE

L'EMPLOI ET LA CROISSANCE

Mr. Duncan moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 218,

An Act to implement 2009 Budget measures and to enact, amend or repeal various Acts / Projet de loi 218, Loi mettant en oeuvre certaines mesures énoncées dans le Budget de 2009 et édictant, modifiant ou abrogeant diverses lois.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry?

All those in favour will say "aye."

All those opposed will say "nay."

In my opinion, the ayes have it.

Call in the members. This will be a five-minute bell.

The division bells rang from 1315 to 1320.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): All those in favour will please rise one at a time and be recorded by the Clerk.

Ayes

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): All those opposed?

Nays

The Clerk of the Assembly (Ms. Deborah Deller): The ayes are 49; the nays are 24.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): I declare the motion carried.

First reading agreed to.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): The member for a short statement.

Hon. Dwight Duncan: During ministerial statements.

WORKPLACE SAFETY AND

INSURANCE AMENDMENT ACT

(ALTERNATE INSURANCE PLANS), 2009 /

LOI DE 2009 MODIFIANT LA LOI

SUR LA SÉCURITÉ PROFESSIONNELLE

ET L'ASSURANCE CONTRE

LES ACCIDENTS DU TRAVAIL

(RÉGIMES D'ASSURANCE

CONCURRENTS)

Mr. Hillier moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 219,

An Act to amend the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 to provide employers with the right to participate in alternate insurance plans / Projet de loi 219, Loi modifiant la Loi de 1997 sur la sécurité professionnelle et l'assurance contre les accidents du travail pour accorder aux employeurs le droit de participer à des régimes d'assurance concurrents.

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

First reading agreed to.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): The member for a short statement.

Mr. Randy Hillier: This bill amends the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act to allow an employer, at any time, to participate in an insurance plan that is offered by a private sector insurer instead of the public insurance plan, as long as that insurance plan meets the regulations and the requirements of employment safety.

STATEMENTS BY THE MINISTRY

AND RESPONSES

TAXATION /

IMPOSITION

Hon. Dwight Duncan: I rise today to present the 2009 fall budget bill, the Ontario Tax Plan for More Jobs and Growth Act, 2009, which, if passed, would provide Ontario individuals, families and businesses with more than $15 billion in tax cuts over three years: $10.6 billion for Ontario individuals and families and $4.5 billion for our businesses on both Main Street and Bay Street.

The global recession has created challenges for governments all over the world. Intense global competition for investments and jobs poses an increasing challenge to Ontario's traditional sources of prosperity. We are working to lessen the impacts on our families and businesses by making significant investments in stimulus, in skills training programs, post-secondary education and early childhood learning.

But there is more to do. As important as short-term stimulus measures are, we need to position Ontario for future prosperity to help this province get on the right track for economic growth and job creation. That's why the McGuinty government set out a plan in the 2009 budget to make Ontario even more competitive and to create more jobs.

Our government is introducing this fall budget bill to implement tax cuts for people and businesses, and the harmonized sales tax. The proposed HST and tax cuts would increase business investment, create new jobs, raise incomes and reduce prices on many consumer purchases.

La TVH et les réductions d'impôt proposées augmenteraient les investissements des entreprises, créeraient des emplois, hausseraient les revenus et diminueraient les prix pour de nombreux achats faits par les consommateurs.

This is the right plan at the right time. The proposed income taxes would mean that 93% of taxpayers would pay less in personal income tax and 90,000 low-income Ontarians would no longer pay any provincial personal income tax. We are cutting the lowest tax rate from 6.05% to 5.05% on the first $37,000 of income, making this bracket the lowest income-tax bracket rate among all the provinces.

That's not all. We are almost doubling the property and sales tax credit for seniors. This means more money in the pockets of Ontarians.

We are proposing additional support to Ontarians during the first two years of transition to the HST. Starting in July 2010, eligible Ontario families would receive $1,000 and individuals would receive $300 in the form of three payments. Studies show that businesses pass on their savings from the HST to consumers. TD Bank predicts that 80% of the savings to businesses would be passed on to consumers in the first year and rise to 95% by the third year. That means lower prices for hard-working Ontario families.

A recent study by Jack Mintz, the Palmer Chair of Public Policy at the University of Calgary, shows substantial benefits to Ontarians from the HST and other tax cuts. His study finds that within 10 years, our modernized tax system would result in an estimated 591,000 net new jobs. It will raise annual incomes by up to 8.8% for Ontario families and increase capital investment in our province by $47 billion.

Interjections.

Hon. Dwight Duncan: The NDP may laugh at that, but we want to see more jobs in Ontario. That's what this package is all about.

In addition to benefiting from the HST, Ontario businesses would benefit from our proposed corporate income tax cuts. The income tax cuts for businesses would enhance the benefit of the proposed HST by attracting even more business investment into Ontario and creating even more jobs.

Les réductions d'impôt sur le revenu des sociétés rehausseraient les avantages de la TVH proposée en attirant encore davantage d'investissements d'entreprises en Ontario et en créant encore plus d'emplois.

Beginning July 1, 2010, the general CIT rate would be cut from 14% to 12% and further reduced to 10% over three years. The CIT rate on manufacturing and processing, mining, logging, farming, and fishing would be cut from 12% to 10% next July, creating jobs in the north. The small business CIT would be cut from 5.5% to 4.5%, and the small business deduction surtax of 4.25% would be eliminated.

Today we saw the parties opposite vote against a plan that will create jobs and tax cuts for individuals, families and businesses. This plan contains a fair, balanced and progressive package of tax cuts for both people and businesses that, when combined with the HST, would put more money back into the pockets of hard-working Ontario families and create jobs. Now is precisely the right time to modernize our tax system so that when the effects of this global recession end, and they will, Ontario's economy is more competitive and better able to create jobs.

We have a plan to invest in our future and position our economy for prosperity and growth. Working together, Ontarians will confront the challenges and emerge stronger and more prosperous than ever before.

DIABETES

Hon. Margarett R. Best: I rise in the House to mark the occasion of Diabetes Awareness Month, sanctioned by the United Nations and recognized in cities around the world. Diabetes is a serious disease that can give rise to very serious consequences. Right now in Ontario, approximately 969,000 Ontarians live with diabetes. This number is anticipated to increase by 1.2 million by 2010. This alarming fact is precisely the reason the McGuinty government is continuing the proud history of diabetes care in Ontario which was initiated by Sir Frederick Banting at the University of Toronto with his breakthrough discovery of insulin some 90 years ago.

With two ministries working together, the Ministry of Health Promotion and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, we are delivering an integrated diabetes strategy focusing on prevention, management and treatment of this debilitating disease. The McGuinty government's strategy will help improve the health and health care of Ontarians living with diabetes and for those at high risk for developing the disease.

The province is moving forward with a number of new initiatives that will further help people manage and prevent diabetes, including:

—creating 51 new diabetes education teams across the province;

—expanding chronic kidney condition services, including additional clinic visits and increased home dialysis treatment;

—creating up to 14 regional coordination centres to help better organize and manage local diabetes programs; and

—expanding diabetes care and prevention resources, including new education kits for newly diagnosed patients; community-based prevention programs for high-risk groups; enhanced services through EatRight Ontario and a new Stand Up to Diabetes website.

Risk factors for type 2 diabetes include unhealthy weight, sedentary lifestyle, family history, high blood pressure and cholesterol. Research, however, informs us that a combination of healthy eating, engaging in regular, daily physical activities and maintaining a healthy weight can help to prevent type 2 diabetes. As the Minister of Health Promotion, my mandate includes promoting healthy eating and active living to prevent disease. By providing supportive environments, information and services, we can empower Ontarians to live healthier, more active, longer lives.

One of our key programs supporting our government's diabetes strategy, which I would like to draw to the attention of all Ontarians, is our EatRight Ontario service, a resource that can empower Ontarians in the fight against diabetes. EatRight Ontario provides Ontarians with access to nutrition information from registered dieticians by calling 1-877-510-5102 toll free or by visiting ontario.ca/eatright. EatRight Ontario also offers a menu planner, a new interactive online tool based upon eating well with Canada's Food Guide recommendations to help Ontarians prepare nutritious meals and achieve healthy weights.

The Ontario government is also working on a wide range of initiatives, including funding for prevention programs, specifically with Toronto, Peel and northwestern health units. These are areas with a very high incidence of diabetes. Working side by side with these health units, we continue to develop our programs to prevent diabetes and to raise awareness of the risk factors specifically for communities that need it the most.

Our efforts to prevent and manage diabetes also include public education to raise awareness of the severity of diabetes and related complications, especially for at-risk populations including low-income communities and people of aboriginal, Asian, South Asian, Hispanic and African-Caribbean descent.

Improving the health of Ontarians is a priority for our government. Our diabetes strategy is part of our government's commitment to Ontarians and to continuing to work together with our partners and with all Ontarians to address diabetes in a collaborative, concrete and meaningful way.

To all Ontarians, I say to you: Stand up to diabetes.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Responses?

TAXATION

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: I want the Minister of Finance to look at this public gallery behind me and look at the public face of taxation. Those are the people who are going to suffer from your $3-billion tax grab.

Indeed, the taxpayers in this province should be alarmed that the Liberals are attempting to ram through the single largest sales tax increase in Ontario's history, using a dirty and underhanded procedural trick.

On behalf of Tim Hudak and the PC caucus, I stand here in opposition to this bill. This is clearly a desperation tactic from a government that has already had to cave in and provide special exemptions on the HST. Now they are panicking, and further, trying to cut off public debate.

In the Progressive Conservative caucus, we feel that this is an abuse of power. It is the job of the official opposition, under the leadership of PC leader Tim Hudak, to protect the public interest and public trust in the face of such undemocratic moves. We're already consulting with several leading parliamentary experts on the tactics that are available to us to prevent the Liberals from succeeding in shutting us down.

Interjections.

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: They're trying to shout me out as I speak. We will use every available tool at our disposal to defend the Ontario families behind us and the Ontario families in front of us and the families to the right—

Interruption.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): We welcome all guests. As much as you may wish to participate in the—

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: Stop the clock.

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): No, I'm not stopping the clock.

As much as you may want to participate, you're not allowed to participate, and I would ask that you respect that.

Member?

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: On their behalf, we're calling for public consultation in every community, from Ottawa to Niagara to Windsor to Hamilton to North Bay to Thunder Bay—right across this province—because in a few short years, this Liberal government has brought us from first to worst in economic growth. They have grown our deficit by $25 billion. We are now accepting welfare payments from the federal government because of their mismanagement, and now they want to raise taxes on the backs of these hard-working people. They want to do that; they look at them as their own personal ATM machine. This is unacceptable.

That means every condo owner, every soccer mom, every hockey dad—every single Ontarian, on July 1, 2010, is going to have to pay 8% more on home heating, Internet access fees, plumber and electrical fees and cellphones—and that's all before they leave their house in the morning, because when they step outside, there's 8% more on snow removal, 8% more on maintenance fees, 8% more on gas in their car.

Interjections.

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: He can continue to try and shut me down, but he will not shut this province down—

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): I ask a number of ministers to please come to order.

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: Now it's the portion of my speech where I get to tell them it's more than just a tax grab because once we sign this agreement, Ontario will relinquish its constitutional tax power. As part of the HST, the McGuinty government will relinquish a significant portion of our sales tax powers to the federal government. That means this Legislature will no longer have direct control over what is and what is not subject to direct taxation power, nor will we be able to change taxation in our province.

Secondly, Ontario's support of the HST means the tax can be hidden at point of purchase. This is an important point. When the HST was introduced in 1997 by their good friend Jean Chrétien, his government allowed that once 51% of Canada's population had agreed to the HST—and that means Ontario and British Columbia—tax-included pricing could be made possible by the federal government. That means once the Liberals in BC and Ontario agree to the HST, our sales tax may not be transparent much longer.

Despite the Liberals' rhetoric—this is my third point—that the value-added taxes are the norm in 130 countries in the provincial level, that's not the case. Even though they continually use the line, "More than 130 countries are doing this," the fact is only Brazil, a developing nation, has a value-added tax at the national and subnational level.

Finally, once implemented—this is the most important point—it is impossible to repeal. And they know that. They've locked us in for five years. We're not allowed to reduce it until two years—and you know it, and you have got to be held responsible and accountable to the people of this province. Hold the public hearings and hold them across the province.

TAXATION

Ms. Andrea Horwath: It's my pleasure and in some ways my pain to speak on behalf of New Democrats in the introduction of this Liberal government's harmonized sales tax bill today.

Today, November 16, we all know in the province of Ontario, evidenced by the tabling of this bill, that this McGuinty government just doesn't get it. They don't get what the needs of the people of this province are. At a time when families need help with the growing cost of living, what do they get? They get a bill that makes life much less affordable. At a time when we need to restore consumer confidence in the province of Ontario, at this point in time during the recession, what do we get? We get a bill that does the exact opposite.

We get a bill that will dampen down consumer confidence because everything is going to go up by 8%. At a time when the government should be encouraging job creation, what do we get instead? We get a bill that makes it harder to find a job in the province of Ontario.

You know what? New Democrats provincially and federally oppose this 8% tax on gas, home heating, hydro, haircuts, vet bills, Internet access—the list goes on and on and on—taxi fares, domestic travel. The Minister of Finance shakes his head and he knows that the list goes on and on and on. Unfortunately, in five minutes I don't have time to name all the items that are going to be impacted by the HST.

Two hundred thousand jobs have been lost just in the last year in this province. Ontario families are looking for a plan to create jobs, a plan that's going to make our economy work for them. Instead, they get a new tax on the basics, a new tax that, according to the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, will kill up to 40,000 jobs every single year. The chamber of commerce predicts 3,300 fewer jobs in construction, 9,800 fewer jobs in professional areas, 3,500 fewer accommodation and food service jobs, 4,600 fewer manufacturing jobs. This is what the Ontario Chamber of Commerce says. This is their information, their study.

The harmonized sales tax should raise a lot of money for public services like health care, but it's not going to even do that. Instead, the money is going to corporate tax giveaways. That's where the money is going to go—corporate tax giveaways. For every single dollar that the HST is going to cost consumers, $1.06 will be going out the door to business tax cuts. Meanwhile, the McGuinty Liberals are telling Ontario families to brace themselves for coming cuts because of the deficit that is currently being run by the province. "Pay more," McGuinty says, "and get less."

But not everyone loses with the McGuinty Liberals. We've all seen this. In this plan, profitable corporations get $2 billion of income tax cuts. That's $2 billion every year to companies that are doing just fine. Instead of rewarding companies for creating jobs or helping struggling companies that are forced to lay off workers and roll back wages and benefits, the government is helping to reward companies that simply don't need the help right now.

There are other winners too, and we've seen them: well-connected insiders and consultants at $1 million a day; that's the priority of this government. The priority of this government should be the people of this province, who need life to be more affordable, who need to get real jobs, who need a government that understands the role of government to help people get through a recession, not to whack them when they're down and not to hurt them when they're already hurting.

DIABETES

M me France Gélinas: It is hard to believe that the Minister of Health Promotion was standing in this House and telling us that diabetes is a priority for this government. She's certainly not there to listen to our answer, and she presented Diabetes Awareness Month on a day when nobody is paying attention to diabetes because we're kind of busy with the HST right now—

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): I remind the honourable member about making reference to members' attendance.

M me France Gélinas: I can tell you that diabetes awareness is something that is important to the members of the New Democratic caucus, and it is something that we have tried to put forward solutions to. The decisions for healthy eating bill is something that would help the obesity epidemic and certainly help with the diabetes epidemic, but the Minister of Health Promotion hasn't seen fit to bring this bill forward to committee. There's lots that can be done—

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you.

PETITIONS

TAXATION

Mr. John Yakabuski: I have a petition to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

"Whereas residents in Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke do not want the McGuinty Liberals' new sales tax, which will raise the cost of goods and services they use every day; and

"Whereas the McGuinty Liberals' new sales tax of 13% will cause everyone to pay more for gasoline" for their cars, "heat, telephone, cable and Internet services for their homes, and will be applied to home sales over $400,000; and

"Whereas the McGuinty Liberals' new sales tax of 13% will cause everyone to pay more for"—the petition is outdated now—"meals under $4, haircuts, funeral services, gym memberships, newspapers, and lawyer and accountant fees"—of course they've backed off on that—"and

"Whereas the McGuinty Liberals' new sales tax ... will affect everyone in the province: seniors, students, families," farmers "and low-income Ontarians;

"We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

"That the McGuinty Liberal government not increase taxes for Ontario families."

I'd like to thank Ed and Eleanor Quesnelle from my hometown of Barry's Bay for doing such a great job of getting petitions signed. I sign this and send it down with Robyn.

TAXATION

M me France Gélinas: I have a petition called "Stop the Unfair Tax Grab," signed by 840 people mainly from the London area.

"Whereas Ontario has lost 171,000 jobs since October and over 300,000 manufacturing and resource sector jobs since 2004; and

"Whereas many families are facing the threat of layoffs or reduced hours; and

"Whereas, rather than introducing a plan to sustain jobs and put Ontario's economy back on track, Dalton McGuinty and his government chose to slap an 8% tax on everyday purchases while giving profitable corporations a $2-billion income tax cut;

"Be it resolved that the undersigned call on the" Legislative Assembly of Ontario "to cancel the scheduled implementation of" the harmonized sales tax.

I fully support this petition, will affix my name to it and send it to the table with page Saeyon.

MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES

Mr. Bill Mauro: I have a petition addressed to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario that reads as follows:

"Whereas we currently have no psychiatric emergency service at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre in Thunder Bay, Ontario;

"We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly to support the creation of a psychiatric emergency service in emergency at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre in Thunder Bay, Ontario."

I support this petition and affix my signature to it.

TAXATION

Ms. Sylvia Jones: This petition was signed by people before the Libs backtracked on a couple of things.

"Whereas the residents in Dufferin—Caledon do not want a provincial harmonized sales tax that will raise the cost of goods and services they use every day; and

"Whereas the 13% blended sales tax will cause everyone to pay more for gasoline for their cars, heat, telephone, cable and Internet services ... and will be applied to home sales over $400,000; and

"Whereas the 13% blended sales tax will cause everyone to pay more for meals under $4, haircuts, funeral services, gym memberships, newspapers, and lawyer and accountant fees; and

"Whereas the blended sales tax grab will affect everyone in the province: seniors, students, families and low-income Ontarians;

"We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

"That the McGuinty Liberal government not increase taxes for Ontario families."

I affix my name to it and give it to our newest page.

DIAGNOSTIC SERVICES

M me France Gélinas: I have this petition asking for a PET scanner for northeastern Ontario.

"Whereas the Ontario government is making ... PET scanning a publicly insured health service...; and

"Whereas by October 2009, insured PET scans will be performed in Ottawa, London, Toronto, Hamilton and Thunder Bay; and

"Whereas the city of Greater Sudbury is a hub for health care in northeastern Ontario, with the Sudbury Regional Hospital, its regional cancer program and the Northern Ontario School of Medicine;

"We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to make PET scans available through the Sudbury Regional Hospital, thereby serving and providing equitable access to the citizens of northeastern Ontario."

I fully support this petition and will affix my name to it and send it to the table with page Simon.

HOSPITAL FUNDING

Mr. Bob Delaney: I have a petition addressed to the Ontario Legislative Assembly. I would like very much to thank the members of the Effort group for having supplied it to me, and particularly Tariq Noor and Ali Chaudhry. It reads as follows:

"Whereas wait times for access to surgical procedures in the western GTA served by the Mississauga Halton LHIN are growing despite the ongoing capital project activity at the hospitals within the Mississauga Halton LHIN boundaries; and

"Whereas 'day surgery' procedures could better be performed in an off-site facility. Such an ambulatory surgery centre would greatly increase the ability of surgeons to perform more procedures, reduce wait times for patients and free up operating theatre space in hospitals for more complex procedures that may require post-operative intensive care unit support and a longer length of stay in hospital;

"We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

"That the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care allocate funds in its 2009-10 capital budget to begin planning and construction of an ambulatory surgery centre located in western Mississauga to serve the Mississauga-Halton area and enable greater access to 'day surgery' procedures that comprise about four fifths of all surgical procedures performed."

I am pleased to sign and support this petition and to ask page Iman to carry it for me.

TAXATION

Mr. Ernie Hardeman: I have a petition signed by literally thousands of my constituents in Oxford county.

"Whereas residents of Oxford do not want Dalton McGuinty's new sales tax, which will raise the cost of goods and services they use every day; and

"Whereas the McGuinty Liberals' new sales tax of 13% will cause everyone to pay more for gasoline for their cars, heat, telephone, cable and Internet services for their homes, and will be applied to home sales over $500,000; and

"Whereas the McGuinty Liberals' new sales tax of 13% will cause everyone to pay more for meals under $4, haircuts, funeral services, gym memberships, newspapers, and lawyer and accountant fees; and

"Whereas the McGuinty Liberals' new sales tax grab will affect everyone in the province: seniors, students, families, farmers and low-income Ontarians;

"We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

"That the McGuinty Liberal government not increase taxes for Ontario families."

Thank you very much for allowing me to present this petition.

PROTECTION FOR WORKERS

Mr. Tony Ruprecht: This petition has to do with exploitation of vulnerable foreign workers. It reads as follows:

"To the Parliament of Ontario:

"Whereas a number of foreign worker and caregiver recruitment agencies have exploited vulnerable foreign workers;

"Whereas foreign workers are subject to illegal fees and abuse at the hands of some of these unscrupulous recruiters;

"Whereas the federal government in Ottawa has failed to protect foreign workers from these abuses;

"Whereas, in Ontario," former governments "deregulated and eliminated protection for foreign workers;

"Whereas a great number of foreign workers and caregivers perform outstanding and difficult tasks on a daily basis in their work, with limited protection;

"We, the undersigned, support" the government's bill, "the Caregiver and Foreign Worker Recruitment and Protection Act, 2009, and urge its speedy passage into law."

Since I agree, I'm delighted to sign this petition.

HOSPITAL SERVICES

Mr. Ted Chudleigh: I have a petition to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

"Whereas the town of Milton is the fastest-growing community in Canada, with a population that is expected to surpass 100,000 people by 2014; and

"Whereas the Milton District Hospital is designed to serve a population of 30,000; and

"Whereas young families, seniors and all residents of Milton are currently unable to access quick and reliable health care; and

"Whereas the excellent doctors and nurses at Milton District Hospital are constrained by unacceptable conditions and a lack of resources;

"We, the undersigned, petition the government of Ontario to immediately approve and initiate the process to expand Milton District Hospital and to provide adequate interim measures to prevent further suffering for the people of Milton."

I'm pleased to sign this petition as I agree with it and pass it to my page Alana.

SOCIAL SERVICES FUNDING

Mr. Bob Delaney: I'm pleased to present this petition, addressed to the Ontario Legislative Assembly on behalf of ErinoakKids on North Sheridan Way in Mississauga. I especially thank Ian Fernandes and Anya MacNeil for having collected these signatures. It reads as follows:

"Whereas the population in Peel has tripled from 400,000 residents to 1.2 million between 1980 to present. Human services funding has not kept pace with that growth. Peel receives only one third the per capita social service funding of other Ontario communities; and

"Whereas residents of Peel cannot obtain social services in a timely fashion. Long waiting lists exist for many Peel region service providers. The child poverty level in Peel has grown from 14% to 20% between 2001 and 2006...; and

"Whereas Ontario's Places to Grow legislation predicts substantial future growth, further challenging our already stretched service providers to respond to population growth;

"We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

"That the province of Ontario allocate social services funding on the basis of population size, population growth, relevant social indicators and special geographic conditions;

"That the province provide adequate growth funding for social services in Peel region; and

"That Ontario develop, in consultation with high-growth stakeholders, a human services strategy for high-growth regions to complement Ontario's award-winning Places to Grow strategy."

I very much agree with this petition. I'm pleased to sign and support it and ask page Cairistiona to carry it for me.

TAXATION

Mr. John O'Toole: I'm pleased to present a petition on the dreaded HST, which reads as follows:

"Whereas Premier Dalton McGuinty is increasing taxes yet again with his new 13% combined sales tax, at a time when families and businesses can least afford it;

"Whereas by 2010, Dalton McGuinty's new sales tax will increase the cost of goods and services that families and businesses buy every day. A few examples include: coffee, newspapers and magazines; gas for the car; home heating oil and electricity; haircuts; dry cleaning; personal grooming; personal fitness; home renovations; home services; veterinary care and pet care; legal services; the sale of resale homes and funeral arrangements;

"Whereas Dalton McGuinty promised he wouldn't raise taxes in the 2003 election. However, in 2004, he brought in the health tax, which costs upwards of $600 to $900 per individual, and now he is raising our taxes again;

"Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

"That the Dalton McGuinty government wake up to Ontario's current economic reality and stop raising taxes on Ontario's hard-working families and businesses."

I'm pleased to sign this, endorse it and send it to the table with Nicolas, one of the new pages.

IDENTITY THEFT

Mr. Tony Ruprecht: This petition has been received and sent to me by the Consumer Federation Canada and has to do with the fastest-growing crime in North America, identity theft. It's to the Parliament of Ontario and the Minister of Government Services and reads as follows:

"Whereas identity theft is the fastest-growing crime in North America; and

"Whereas confidential and private information is being stolen on a regular basis, affecting literally thousands of people;

"Whereas the cost of this crime exceeds billions of dollars;

"Whereas countless hours are wasted to restore one's good credit rating;

"Therefore we, the undersigned, demand that Bill 38, which passed the second reading unanimously in the Ontario Legislature... be brought before committee, and that the following issues be included for consideration and debate:

"

(1) All consumer reports should be provided in a truncated (masked-out) form, protecting our vital private information such as SIN and loan account numbers.

"

(2) Should a consumer reporting agency discover that there has been an unlawful disclosure of consumer information, the agency should immediately inform the affected consumer.

"

(3) The consumer reporting agency shall only report credit inquiry records resulting from actual applications for credit or increase of credit, except in a report given to the consumer.

"

(4) The consumer reporting agency shall investigate disputed information within 30 days and correct, supplement or automatically delete any information found unconfirmed, incomplete or inaccurate."

Since I agree, I'm delighted to sign this petition.

SALE OF DOMESTIC

WINES AND BEERS

Mr. Toby Barrett: I've got 1,752 names on a petition from my riding alone entitled "Say Yes to Beer and Wine Sales in Convenience Stores," distributed by the Ontario Korean Businessmen's Association.

"Whereas the province of Ontario restricts the sale of beer and wine to the LCBO, a few winery retail stores and the Beer Store, and the three large beer companies are owned by multinationals;

"Whereas other provinces (notably Quebec) have been selling beer and wine in local convenience stores for many years without any harm to the well-being of the public;

"Whereas it is desirable to promote the sale of beer and wine in a convenient manner consistent with a contemporary society;

"Whereas it is essential to support local convenience stores for the survival of small businesses;

"Whereas it is obvious from the current market trends that the sale of wine and beer in convenience stores is not a question of 'if,' but 'when';

"We, the undersigned, hereby petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to amend the Liquor Control Act to permit the sale of beer and wine in local convenience stores to the public throughout the province and to do it now."

I sign this petition.

ORDERS OF THE DAY

TIME ALLOCATION

The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Government House leader.

Hon. Monique M. Smith: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

I move, that pursuant to standing order 47 and notwithstanding any other standing order or special order of the House relating to Bill 212,

An Act to promote good government by amending or repealing certain Acts and by enacting two new Acts, when the bill is next called as a government order the Speaker shall put every question necessary to dispose of the second reading stage of the bill without further debate or amendment, and at such time the bill shall be ordered referred to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs; and

That the vote on second reading may be deferred pursuant to standing order 28(h); and

That the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs be authorized to meet on Thursday, November 19, 2009, during its regular meeting times for the purpose of public hearings on the bill and on Thursday, November 26, 2009, during its regular meeting times for clause-by-clause consideration of the bill; and

That the deadline for filing amendments to the bill with the clerk of the committee shall be 12 noon on Tuesday, November 24, 2009. At 5 p.m. on Thursday, November 26, 2009, those amendments which have not been moved shall be deemed to have been moved, and the Chair of the committee shall interrupt the proceedings and shall, without further debate or amendment, put every question necessary to dispose of all remaining sections of the bill and any amendments thereto. The committee shall be authorized to meet beyond the normal hour of adjournment until completion of clause-by-clause consideration.

Any division required shall be deferred until all remaining questions have been put and taken in succession, with one 20-minute waiting period allowed pursuant to standing order 129(a); and

That the committee shall report the bill to the House no later than Monday, November 30, 2009. In the event that the committee fails to report the bill on that day, the bill shall be deemed to be passed by the committee and shall be deemed to be reported to and received by the House; and

That, upon receiving the report of the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, the Speaker shall put the question for adoption of the report forthwith, and at such time the bill shall be ordered for third reading; and

That, on the day the order for third reading of the bill is called, two hours shall be allotted to the third reading stage of the bill, apportioned equally among the recognized parties. At the end of this time, the Speaker shall interrupt the proceedings and shall put every question necessary to dispose of this stage of the bill without further debate or amendment; and

That the vote on third reading may be deferred pursuant to standing order 28(h); and

That, in the case of any division relating to any proceedings on the bill, the division bell shall be limited to five minutes.

The Acting Speaker (Ms. Cheri DiNovo): Further debate?

Mr. Ted Chudleigh: The time allocation, of course, is a drastic measure that this government seems to have taken. It's something that has been used from time to time in this House. However, on a bill of this size, which contains two complete bills within it, it is somewhat surprising that this government would bring in a time allocation bill after a mere—I think there have been six and a half hours of debate on this bill, and that seems to be rather modest for debate on a bill of this nature.

A few weeks ago, when I spoke to this bill on second reading, I said, "I suspect that we're going to see a time allocation motion on this bill sometime in the future. I hope that time allocation bill is in the distant future." It appears that I was absolutely correct in that statement, that this government would time-allocate this bill. I am extremely disappointed that the time allocation took place with such rapidity.

There are any number of quotes that could be used regarding the time allocation bills that have been introduced in this House before. Many of these comments have been made by members of the government.

Jim Bradley, the member for St. Catharines, has been very vocal about the use of time allocation motions throughout his career here. I quote from his comments on December 10, 2002: "I find it most unfortunate as well that this bill will be rammed through with what we call a time allocation motion or what is known as closing off debate. If nobody cares about this, governments will continue to do it. No matter what those governments are, they will continue to do it. It's not healthy for the democratic system.

It relegates individual members of the Legislature to the status of robots, and that's most unfortunate." That was from a minister of the crown who sits on the other side of the House, Mr. Bradley, who is the member for St. Catharines. Those were his comments. And he goes on—there are about five or six different quotes that he has used, talking about time allocation motions and how they stifle debate and how they shut off that democratic process.

The Minister of Community Safety, Mr. Bartolucci, said on November 25, 2002, "I stand to speak against any type of time allocation motion because in this instance, as in other instances, it stifles debate in this House and doesn't enhance the democratic process. In fact, it does not allow the general public, the people in Ontario, to have a say in the important bills that this government should want to be taking out to committee and to have input etc." His quote was made on a bill to amend the Highway Traffic Act, which was one specific bill; it wasn't a compilation of many, many bills. It wasn't 324 pages long, as this bill is. It didn't incorporate two other bills in it.

It's most unfortunate that these time allocation motions have come before the House in the way in which they have.

I've also mentioned how the Liberals have shortchanged democracy with this bill. This time allocation motion has flushed a bit more democracy down our drain. This motion cuts off the voices of Ontarians.

This time allocation motion seems to follow a Liberal pattern: bad government in the name of good government—because this bill is called the good government bill, and the way it's going through this House, I would suggest that it's a bad bill and it's a bad way of running government. So it's bad government in the name of good government. It's a lack of accountability in the name of accountability. It's a scandal that this thing is taking place, and that scandal, of course, is covering up other scandals that this government seems to have got itself involved in during the summer of scandal in Ontario.

The Liberals are doing this as they introduce the new accountability act. An example where the Liberals are rejecting accountability, such as the billion-dollar eHealth scandal—there's no accountability in there. The Liberals snickered and sneered as the Progressive Conservatives called for a full public inquiry that would ensure a full, independent and fair examination of the scandal, yet this bill, which is time-allocated and will pass in about 10 days, will restructure the way in which public inquiries take place. It will give the government a lot more control over how those public inquiries take place.

If you read the new process that public inquiries will operate under, one would suspect that the government could scope the conclusions of an inquiry, taking away the independence of a public inquiry.

I wonder if the quality of persons who have served in the past, doing some of the wonderful public inquiries that we've had in the past in Ontario—whether the quality of persons who do those and do them because they are totally independent—whether they will want to serve on a public inquiry if in fact their hands are tied in many of the instances that they are dealing with in public inquiries. That would be a shame, because I think a public inquiry from time to time is something that is extremely necessary in Ontario in any democratic government, as are royal commissions.

Royal commissions are perhaps a leg up, of a higher stature than public inquiries, and those things can be extremely valuable to democracy, can be very valuable to Ontario and can be very valuable to the way in which this province operates. To constrain any one of those processes, as this bill tends to do, I think is a great shame and a great loss of one of the truly valuable tools that democracy has in the province of Ontario.

The Auditor General acknowledged that there are questions which remained unanswered in this billion-dollar eHealth scandal. In his report, he was not able to delve into areas in which he thought that perhaps contracts were let in an unusual way. He fell short of saying that they were illegal, but he wanted to inquire further into that area and find out whether those contracts were indeed inappropriate in the way in which they were let, especially untendered contracts. What did the Liberals say when the Auditor General asked those questions?

They said to Ontarians, "No, we will not undertake a full examination of how your money is spent." They said no, very clearly. This Liberal government said no to accountability.

During this scandal, we have seen two ministers, both implicated in the billion-dollar scandal, resign, two ministers who, as a result of their resignations, will not be able to address questions in this chamber; two ministers who have avoided responsibility; two ministers who have ducked the question, "How was your $1 billion wasted?" Again, the Liberals say to Ontarians, "Sorry; accountability doesn't apply to us." I sometimes wonder whether Ontarians understand how much money $1 billion is. I'm not sure that the concept of $1 billion is well understood.

We can call it 1,000 million, but the concept of $1 billion—it's such a vast amount of money that I'm not sure that people understand how big a chunk of dough that really is.

The Liberals, as they sneered and snickered at our call for accountability, also voted down bringing the former eHealth CEO, Sarah Kramer, and the former board chair, Alan Hudson, before the legislative committee to be questioned. I haven't spoken to either of those people, but I would suspect that Sarah Kramer would love to come before a committee to clear her name. Her name has been dragged in the mud and she has been listed as perhaps one of the people who were responsible for some of this action.

I would think that she would look forward to an opportunity to come before a committee, come before a public inquiry, and to clear her name and to re-establish the reputation that she had prior to this experience.

The former board chair, Alan Hudson, someone who volunteered their time to run as chair of the eHealth operation—again, I'm sure he would find it a good thing to come before a legislative committee to be questioned, and I'm sure he would look forward to the public inquiry and to telling us what he knew and why things happened as they did. He might also tell us how the Liberal government was involved in some of those decision-makers.

Two more key figures in Ontario were denied the opportunity to demand account of how you spent your money—two more denials for accountability by this Liberal government.

I'm not sure if the Liberals have forgotten, but the $837 million that was wasted by George Smitherman, the member for Toronto Centre, and the $240 million wasted by his follower, David Caplan, who is from Oriole, I believe, wasn't their money. It didn't