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March 8, 2017

41st Parliament, 2nd Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcripts 2017-Mar-08 (PDF)

L052 - Wed 8 Mar 2017 / Mer 8 mar 2017

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Wednesday 8 March 2017 Mercredi 8 mars 2017

Orders of the Day

Modernizing Ontario’s Municipal Legislation Act, 2017 / Loi de 2017 sur la modernisation de la législation municipale ontarienne

Introduction of Visitors

Oral Questions

School closures

Hospital funding

Hydro rates

School closures

Child protection

Cancer treatment

Sexual violence and harassment

Long-term care

Pay equity

Affordable housing

Correctional facilities

Child care

Pay equity

Genetic discrimination

Minimum wage

Notices of dissatisfaction

Correction of record

Correction of record

Visitors

Introduction of Visitors

Members’ Statements

Village of Cobden

Leis Wood Products

Jacob Ralston

Women’s Rural Resource Centre

Canadian Hearing Society workers

International Women’s Day

Lucio Pavone

Canadian Federation of University Women

School closures

Introduction of Bills

Personal Injury and Accident Victims Protection Act, 2017 / Loi de 2017 sur la protection des victimes de lésions corporelles et d’accidents

Petitions

Medical assistance in dying

Primary health care

Government anti-racism programs

Lake Nipissing walleye fishery

Long-term care

Hydro rates

Environmental protection

Grandview Children’s Centre

Hydro rates

School closures

Employment standards

Introduction of Bills

Tax Fairness for Realtors Act, 2017 / Loi de 2017 sur l’équité fiscale pour les courtiers en valeurs immobilières

Orders of the Day

Supporting Children, Youth and Families Act, 2017 / Loi de 2017 sur le soutien à l’enfance, à la jeunesse et à la famille

Adjournment Debate

Correctional facilities

Genetic discrimination

The House met at 0900.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Good morning. Please join me in prayer.

Prayers.

Orders of the Day

Modernizing Ontario’s Municipal Legislation Act, 2017 / Loi de 2017 sur la modernisation de la législation municipale ontarienne

Resuming the debate adjourned on February 28, 2017, on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 68,

An Act to amend various Acts in relation to municipalities / Projet de loi 68, Loi modifiant diverses lois en ce qui concerne les municipalités.

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

Mr. Peter Tabuns: It’s a pleasure to rise and address Bill 68,

An Act to amend various Acts in relation to municipalities.

My colleague the member from Windsor–Tecumseh had an opportunity to speak to this bill about a week or a week and a half ago, and I have to say that he made some very useful commentary on this bill. I thought that as our municipal affairs critic he had gone through and picked out those things that were important, those things that had to be commented on.

I will take an opportunity to go back to some of his earlier comments but I want to note—before I talk about some of the pitfalls or failings in this bill—that there are amendments incorporated in this bill that provide greater power and responsibilities to municipalities to take into account climate change and energy planning in their planning processes. I have to say that this is a useful move on the part of the government. I think that all municipalities, over the years to come, are going to be spending an awful lot more time addressing the energy issues, addressing the climate issues.

I know that here in the city of Toronto a study was done about three years ago looking at the impact of climate change on the city itself. I don’t know if any other municipalities have done it. One of the things that, for them, was most startling and most difficult to handle was the realization that the city sewer system would not actually be adequate for future rainfall events, that rainfall that we’ve seen on a once-in-100-year basis will become far more frequent.

Frankly, the city is faced with spending many billions of dollars to upgrade the sewer system not just to ensure safety of the person, but simply to ensure that basements don’t flood on a regular basis throughout this city. The idea that all municipalities will have to start addressing these issues is a good one.

As the legislation is written, there isn’t as much about adaptation; it’s more about mitigation, about reducing the amount of greenhouse gas that’s put into the atmosphere. I think that’s good. I think that’s a positive thing. I hope that municipalities take advantage of the legislative powers that have been given to them to actually put in place plans to look at energy needs and bring forward programs, regulations and activities that will protect the local environment and, at the same time, protect the global environment.

My colleague from Windsor–Tecumseh talked about a variety of things when he talked about this piece of legislation. One of the things he talked about were the changes in the bill to allow more rapid collection of unpaid taxes.

In the past, municipalities would have had to wait for three years before they could take a property and sell it for unpaid taxes. As my colleague noted, it’s now a two-year limit, or will be, once this act is passed.

Oh, you’ve changed, Mr. Speaker. It’s so good to see you.

He notes that municipalities, as you’re well aware from your previous experience with municipal councils, have to have a balanced budget. They can’t run deficits. Increasingly, as people face financial pressures, their ability to meet their tax payments has been flagging.

My colleague, quite correctly, talked about the fact that this province hadn’t addressed the hydro affordability problem as a substantial factor in people’s difficulty in meeting their bills and dealing with tax arrears. It will be very interesting to see what happens when this government brings forward its bill on hydro fees, hydro rates.

We in this party have brought forward a plan to deal with rising, soaring hydro rates. We think it’s a practical plan, one that doesn’t put an undue burden on future generations and one that actually deals with the structural problems that we face here in Ontario when it comes to electricity prices.

The government has brought forward a plan, which is essentially going to Money Mart to borrow large volumes of cash to pay current bills. It’s not a sustainable approach. It may be popular, but not sustainable.

My colleague from Windsor–Tecumseh noted that he was seeing more people dealing with tax arrears because in fact they were having difficulty meeting their hydro bills.

The government has responded to the needs and the concerns of municipal governments, because it’s saying, “Okay, people can’t pay their bills. We’ll give you the opportunity to seize their property more quickly and allow you to deal with your financial constraints.”

But the government doesn’t address the underlying issues, doesn’t deal with rising hydro rates and doesn’t deal with the change in work in this province. Increasingly, we’ve been losing those well-paid, high-skilled jobs, and we’re becoming a province in which people are working shorter hours. They’re more often working part-time, more often working for lower wages and more often working on an unpredictable basis. They don’t know when they’ll be called in to work or not. Obviously, such people have huge difficulty paying all of their bills, including their municipal tax bills.

My colleague from Windsor–Tecumseh, talking about Windsor, noted that in 2016, about 100 properties were registered under tax lien. In the years before that, we were seeing 200 properties a year, but I’m told he was told by senior officials in the finance department of Windsor city hall that we will see about 1,450 additional properties come up for registration this year. Speaker, that indicates the difficulties that the population is having in meeting its bills, and certainly the difficulty that municipalities have in ensuring that they have income.

The member from Windsor–Tecumseh noted that since 1953, the Municipal Act had been updated roughly every 10 years or so. When that happened, there were public consultations held, an opportunity for people who had difficulty with their municipality to say, “Here are changes that we need in the act,” and an opportunity for municipal officials, elected and employed, to talk about what was needed to allow municipalities to function more effectively.

But this time, that wasn’t the case. The public wasn’t asked to come in and speak about the shortfalls in municipal legislation. The public wasn’t engaged in any way that was discernible to my colleague and, frankly, discernible to me.

Again, as my colleague said, it would have been fairly straightforward for the minister or members of the government to wander through Tim Hortons in any riding that they were representing and talk to people and at least get some early sense—although that may or may not have happened, it’s never a substitute for a proper public consultation process, one that is missing here.

Municipalities are struggling with downloading, downloading that was put in place by Mike Harris’s Progressive Conservative government. There was about $3 billion that was dumped on the laps of municipalities. And as you’re well aware, Speaker, municipalities have been struggling ever since, dealing with those problems. Here in the city of Toronto, Toronto Community Housing, which is a responsibility of the city of Toronto—a large part of that housing used to be run directly by and financed by the provincial government, and it’s now in the city’s hands. This government has reduced, on an ongoing basis, support for that housing.

When you talk to those who work with Toronto Community Housing, who are trying to make it work based on the municipal tax base, they find they don’t have enough money. Frankly, Speaker, that has meant an ongoing degradation in the level of maintenance of those units and a loss here and there now of units that are no longer habitable, but a great fear that we will start to see the loss of whole buildings. The download that was created by the Conservatives and perpetuated by the Liberals has left cities in a position where they can’t actually provide the funding necessary for community and social housing.

Speaker, you also have to know, of course, that selling off our publicly owned Hydro One by this government has undermined the finances of the province as a whole. Hydro One earns revenue of $700 million to $800 million a year. By selling off 30% of that asset, we’re losing about $200 million a year. As the Financial Accountability Office has said, that means a long-term reduction in revenue for the province of Ontario and a long-term reduction of our ability, frankly, to fund and support social programs like affordable housing.

Now, that wasn’t part of this act, but the failure on the part of the government to protect provincial revenues, to hold on to revenue generators, means that no matter what this act says, it is going to be more difficult for the province in the future to actually provide the services it has to provide and, frankly, to upload expenses from municipalities—something that is going to need to be done if those municipalities are going to remain viable, if they’re going to be able to provide the services, the roads, the sidewalks, the police, the fire and the public health services that are needed for modern municipalities.

My colleague also noted that there was a failure in this act to actually give powers to municipalities across Ontario, to increase the range of taxes they could collect, to put them on the same footing as the city of Toronto, and that’s a problem. That is a problem because those municipalities, like the city of Toronto, find that the property tax base is not enough for them to actually provide the services that citizens need, but they don’t have the wherewithal to reach out more broadly.

“The City of Toronto Act”—I’ll quote my colleague—“allows for an alcoholic beverage tax. It allows for an entertainment and amusement tax. Parking levies could range from 50 cents a day for each spot to as much as $1.50. Toronto has the ability to tax tobacco between 1% and 10%.”

Now, my colleague is correct: Very few municipalities in Ontario would actually take advantage of those taxing powers—no question. But as he says, that’s not the point. Don’t Ottawa, Windsor, Hamilton, Guelph, London, Thunder Bay have responsible governments? Aren’t they grown-up levels of government? Should they not have powers that the city of Toronto has to actually deal with their financial difficulties, with their financial responsibilities? I think that my colleague was correct. The Liberals missed an opportunity here. As he says, “They could have slipped that in here as easy as pie.” Who knows, Speaker?

Who knows? But when this bill goes to committee—and I have no doubt, given the numbers in this House, that it will go to committee—there may be amendments to deal with some of these outstanding problems in the bill.

My hope, at least if this bill goes to committee, is that there will be broad consultations and that people across Ontario will be made aware that there are hearings and that they will have the opportunity to intervene and speak.

Still, it would have been much better, prior to the introduction of this bill, for the government to have held a consultation process so that people would have that opportunity to say what should be in the bill. It’s always so much easier, before the bill is actually committed to the printer, to get those things in. Once it gets here—and it’s just our nature; just the kind of people we are—it can be a bit harder to actually change.

This bill speaks as well to the requirement for legislation integrity commissioners. I have to say, I do admire the sense of wit of my colleague from Windsor–Tecumseh. He had to say: “Let’s talk about integrity for a moment. We all know what that is. Some of us even claim to have a fleeting relationship with it.” I think it was Winston Churchill, talking about Stanley Baldwin, who said that Stanley Baldwin occasionally stumbled across the truth, but when he did, he’d pick himself up and go on as he had before. I think my colleague from Windsor–Tecumseh has the same dry sense of humour when it comes to integrity.

As my colleague said, every member of this House has the provincial Integrity Commissioner, that we deal with. Where we falter, where it’s brought to the Integrity Commissioner’s attention or where the Integrity Commissioner notices, then that commissioner can call on us to address the issues that have come up.

In this bill, existing municipal integrity commissioners will have some of their powers expanded. They will be doing work on code-of-conduct provisions as well as the conflict of interest act. They’ll be working with municipalities on procedures for ethical behaviour. There will be an educational component to their work as well.

One thing that my colleague noted, though—and he has a good point—is that the bill allows 180 days as the period of time from the time a complaint is launched against a municipal politician—a councillor or a mayor—before things are addressed. As he says: Why not 30, 60 or 90? If a complaint is launched against a municipal politician and it takes many, many months to resolve that complaint, that person, innocent or guilty, is presumed to have done something wrong by the public. Whether people are right or wrong to assume that is beside the point; it’s just simply what happens.

My colleague notes, and I think he’s right, that having something hang out in the air like that for six months can make it very difficult for a councillor or mayor to function. It makes far more sense to try and expedite that process and resolve those questions as quickly as possible. I think my colleague is right to say that these cases need to be resolved fairly quickly. The saying is, “Justice delayed is justice denied.” And I think he’s right. In this case, that will be an issue, and frankly, in an election year, it can be a huge issue.

If someone has an integrity problem, that problem needs to be addressed, needs to be assessed and needs to be ruled on in a rapid basis. Failure to do that is not good for the population as a whole, because people want these things resolved quickly, and it’s certainly not good for the politician who is affected.

There’s a

section in here that requires municipalities to develop policies on the relationship between members of council and the employees of that council. He speculates that this may be related to some complaints about Mayor Bradley of Sarnia.

Mr. James J. Bradley: No relation.

Mr. Peter Tabuns: We have had a disclaimer from a member in this chamber that he is not related, and I accept that disclaimer.

Mayor Bradley is dealing with that issue; the city of Sarnia is dealing with that issue. Whether that issue sparked this piece of legislation or this part of the legislation I don’t know, but it does make sense to have a code of conduct so that everyone knows the rules that are in place, so that everyone knows what the safety zones are, what the red lines are.

Also note, Speaker, that there’s a new provision for pregnancy and parental leave. I think everyone in this House can support the leave provisions. Clearly, if you don’t attend council on a regular basis, at a certain point, council decides that you’ve given up, but in relationship to pregnancy and parental leave, it needs to be recognized in this society that the current system is not fair to women. We want more women in public life, certainly on municipal councils, and this change is a useful one.

I’ve just touched on this bill. I appreciate the work of our municipal affairs critic, the member from Windsor–Tecumseh, in doing his leadoff and actually doing an assessment of what’s before us. I look forward to the debate and the comments from my colleagues. There’s no doubt that there needs to be an update to the legislation. Like my colleague, I wish that this update was done in the context of a wide-ranging consultation. Thank you.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Questions and comments?

Hon. Bill Mauro: I want to thank the member for his comments and his remarks. He spent a bit of time talking about or, actually, criticizing the former Conservative government for their downloading exercise. Before I make my comments, it’s important to note for people in municipalities who are residential property taxpayers that when we say “downloading,” what we’re talking about is that the former government that was referenced by the member was taking work and costs that were formerly borne by the province of Ontario and basically putting them onto the backs of the municipal residential property taxpayer.

Where he went off course in his remarks was he implied that we were continuing and perpetuating that downloading exercise when, of course, exactly the opposite is the case.

He went on to talk for a while as well about the city of Toronto specifically when it came to the downloading exercise. Speaker, what I would tell you and what I would tell people right across the province who have all benefited from our uploading exercise, but specifically in the city of Toronto: This year, just on uploading costs alone, the city of Toronto and all the residential property taxpayers in the city of Toronto will benefit from almost $450 million to $500 million in uploaded costs that come off their residential property tax base.

In addition to that, the city of Toronto has benefitted from about $2 billion in gas tax funding since we brought that in. Of course, we’ve announced that their annual rate will double beginning in 2019, be doubled by 2021. They’ll be getting $340 million every year in gas tax starting in 2019 as that gets doubled. It’s quite the opposite of what the member tried to imply when it came to downloading.

We have been uploading. All municipalities across the province have benefitted from that—from $1.1 billion in 2003 up to $4 billion in financial assistance for all 444 municipalities in the province of Ontario.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Questions and comments?

Mr. Victor Fedeli: I’m pleased to rise to discuss Bill 68. There was a tremendous amount of municipal sector employees and organizations that took time to submit comments to our PC caucus. This bill looks at a number of items that municipalities have requested and this also affects a number of acts, including the Municipal Act, the Planning Act, the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act, the Building Code Act, the Development Charges Act, the Education Act, the Public Transportation and Highway Improvement Act and the Forfeited Corporate Property Act. There are many more, including the Northern Services Boards Act.

The committee meetings that will result from this bill moving on: Those committee meetings need to be held throughout Ontario, not just here in Toronto. There are 444 municipal bodies in Ontario—444.

Now here’s why this bill needs to travel and be heard. We need to hear from many of these communities. On the same day Bill 68 was introduced, the government also introduced Bill 70. It was what we call an omnibus bill. It had more than two dozen different acts, including, strangely, the Municipal Act was affected.

Not only does this bill affect it, but typical of the Liberals, what they did that week was cut off debate, held a vote at 11:45 in the morning to send that omnibus bill to committee at 1 o’clock that day, and that was it. It ended at 6 o’clock that day. Nobody from the north, nobody from rural Ontario was able to find out about this, scramble and come to Toronto that day. That was typical of what this government did, and that’s why we need to have a committee across Ontario.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Questions and comments?

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: I’m glad to contribute to Bill 68, the Modernizing Ontario’s Municipal Legislation Act, 2017. Our municipalities, our ridings that we represent are so important. They’re such a link to the Legislature as to the legislation that we create that affects our municipalities. One of the things that municipalities talk about is the struggling revenue sources that they have. Their budgets are stretched to the maximum.

I went to OGRA a couple of weeks ago. I met with representatives from the city of London. One of the topics they had that they wanted to talk about was transit. London is embarking on an expansion and improvement of their transit plan. They have submitted their application to the government and other documents that they require in order for the government to approve funds.

They said that the government seems to be favourable, but there’s not a definite answer back as to whether or not the funding will be there on the provincial portion. The municipality is going to contribute one third. They’re asking the province to contribute, as well as the federal government.

One of the things they mentioned that they were concerned about is that this government said in October 2016, there was a report that they were waiting for in order to finalize some of these discussions and funding proposals. Apparently, at the time, when we met with OGRA, at OGRA, that report hasn’t been done. They haven’t heard anything. There’s silence from the government on that report.

I’m going to maybe approach the Minister of Transportation today and ask him about that report and where that is. If that’s the missing link for them to move this project forward for the city of London, I’d like to know that so that I can push this government to get that information and come back with a decision on transit that’s so important to our municipality. It will be an income source. It will be a job creator. We need that in London.

Our London is one of the largest cities in southwestern Ontario. We are a leader. Having an expansion and improving our transit will move our city forward.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Questions and comments?

Mr. James J. Bradley: I always enjoy hearing the member for Danforth offer suggestions to this House about legislation coming forward. He wasn’t entirely accurate, in my view, in his assessment of the bill, which I expected because he’s going to place an emphasis, as a member of the opposition, on that which may not be up to his standards.

I want to tell him that there was extensive consultation that took place. The public consultations ran from June 5, 2015, until October 31, 2015. The government held a number of consultation meetings with municipal stakeholders, including the city of Toronto, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, municipal staff, provincial and local accountability officers, and the ministry met with business stakeholders who expressed an interest in the review. It was a pretty wide discussion that took place with people across the province about what should go in to a bill of this kind.

On the issue of downloading, I’m glad he mentioned it, because sometimes people forget this, that the last time the Conservative Party was in power—or as they’re called, the Progressive Conservative Party—they downloaded financial responsibilities to municipalities. Particularly the rural people out there would know some of these roads that were downloaded. Our government made a decision to upload those costs to the provincial level of government so they wouldn’t be borne by the property tax, where we felt they should not be borne.

I know that every time a council meets in the province of Ontario, they credit the provincial government for doing this; they thank the provincial government. I can remember, when we were looking at ways to save money to be able to balance the budget, some people suggested, “Why don’t you stop the uploading process that’s benefiting municipalities, but going on the tax base of the province?” We did not do that, and I think municipalities are better off as a result.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): The member from Toronto–Danforth has two minutes.

Mr. Peter Tabuns: I appreciate the opportunity. I want to thank the Minister of Municipal Affairs, the member from Nipissing, the member from London–Fanshawe and the member from St. Catharines for their comments on my speech.

I want to start with the member for St. Catharines. If I wasn’t clear enough in my remarks, I will just emphasize that there should have been a broader public consultation, that members of the public who care about municipal issues didn’t get an opportunity to be part of those discussions. I think our critic for municipal affairs set that up fairly well in his initial speech. If I did not make that clear enough, I hope that I have with this correction.

I want to note the Minister of Municipal Affairs’ comments. When you actually look at the commentary from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, in 2015, they were saying that municipalities were facing a huge tab for operating the social housing that was downloaded to them by the provincial Conservatives and that the province simply had not lived up to its promises to help with that. In 2013, the city of Toronto lost $150 million in funding from the province for housing and there’s been a continued reduction in support for housing in Toronto, which has meant a deterioration of those buildings and, ultimately, a loss of housing.

Similarly, the city of Toronto, but my guess is it’s the same with Ottawa, Hamilton, London—those municipalities used to have a very good funding program from the province. Half the operating costs came from the municipality—for the city of Toronto, over $300 million per year. A promise to increase the gas tax a year after the next election is not an adequate commitment to actually dealing with that download.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Further debate.

Ms. Ann Hoggarth: First of all, I’d like to let you know that I’ll be sharing my time with the Minister of Seniors Affairs. Also, I’d like to say happy International Women’s Day to all of the colleagues in the House, to all the women who are watching out there and to all the women who don’t have time to watch out there because they’re busy with families or their jobs.

As part of this legislation, we are proposing to ensure that elected municipal officials can take time off for pregnancy or parental leave, and it’s fitting that on this day we’re talking about this. The offices of members of council would not become vacant because of an absence related to pregnancy or parental leave for 20 consecutive weeks or less. The provision would apply to a member who has adopted a child as well. This would ensure that all new parents have access to clear policies and can have a 20-week leave period.

I’d like to thank the member from Kitchener Centre, who introduced this policy through a private member’s bill, Bill 46. This bill passed second reading with all-party support, and I’m proud to say that it has been included in this legislation.

In

schedule 1,

section 33 of Bill 68, we are also proposing to ensure that all councils have policies regarding pregnancy leaves and parental leaves for members. This legislation, if passed, would lower barriers to elected office for new parents, including new mothers. There are lots of things that new mothers need to do, whether they have their biological child or whether they have adopted a child. Everyone knows how chaotic and hectic it can be, and that time needs to be special between the mother, the child and the family.

This legislation, if passed, as I said, would lower barriers to elected office for new parents, including new mothers. We hope it will encourage more women to enter politics and be at the decision-making tables in local governments.

I also am pleased to see that there is a

section about climate change. What’s going on south of the border is very scary to me, because what happens there will affect us. Climate change, of course, as we know, is one of the most significant challenges of our time. Its impacts are already being felt in communities across the province, this country and around the world. We’ve seen an increase in the number of extreme weather events like flooding, tornadoes, more frequent heat waves and more severe episodes of freezing rain. These events can pose serious and costly threats to public safety and infrastructure.

A key part of meeting our climate change goals will include supporting municipal leaders in making changes at the local level. We know that local governments need to have the powers and flexibility to respond to these challenges that their communities are facing. I know that my mayor, the mayor of Barrie, Jeff Lehman, is supportive of this bill and looks forward to implementing it.

The changes we are proposing focus on better positioning municipalities to do this effectively. We’re proposing to give municipalities the clarity they need to pass bylaws related to climate change. They would also have the option to require green standards in the construction of new buildings in certain circumstances. Municipalities would also develop policies to protect the tree canopy that is crucial in increasing climate change resiliency. When I first moved into the house I’m in now, I was in there two days and, all of a sudden, I looked out the sliding glass doors at the back and heard this awful crack.

It was a gigantic machine cutting down the forest behind my home. We have to make sure that, when possible, that does not happen.

I urge everyone to support this bill.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): The minister responsible for seniors affairs.

Hon. Dipika Damerla: I’d like to begin by saying that my new title is Minister of Seniors Affairs. With that said, good morning to everybody. I’m very pleased to share my time and speak to Bill 68, the Modernizing Ontario’s Municipal Legislation Act.

My colleague did a fantastic job of speaking on this bill. She focused quite a bit on the parental leave and on the climate change piece, so I will focus my comments on the integrity commissioner piece, open meetings and prudent investment.

I do want wish everybody a happy women’s day and recognize the MPP from Kitchener Centre for her leadership on the parental leave piece, which, of course, affects both fathers and mothers, but certainly affects mothers and is a big step for women. I’m glad that this bill and that part of the

section was spoken to today, given that it’s International Women’s Day.

I’m really pleased that Bill 68 is proposing that every municipality have a code of conduct and provide access to an integrity commissioner. This would promote a more consistent level of accountability across our local governments. As MPPs, we are all familiar with the Integrity Commissioner and the role of the Integrity Commissioner that we value so much. I think it’s really timely that this bill now provides that every municipality should have a code of conduct and an integrity commissioner.

What I really like about the way this proposal is structured is the fact that it recognizes that municipalities have different sizes and different resources. That’s why it provides for the option that municipalities would have the option to pool their resources and share an integrity commissioner or hire a commissioner on a fee-for-service model. It’s really well structured. The intent is access to an integrity commissioner and some flexibility that allows municipalities to tailor how they would avail themselves of the services of an integrity commissioner. This is something in line with what all modern democracies are moving toward, which is greater integrity and transparency.

The second piece that I want to speak to is about open meetings: again, keeping in line with democracy and technology that is allowing us to provide for greater transparency in governing. Currently, there isn’t enough clarity under the Municipal Act as to which meetings ought to be open to public scrutiny. I’m sure many of us have read in the papers about cases where city councillors may have met and made decisions in what could have been or should have been a public meeting but was not a public meeting.

To clarify, the proposed amendment would change the definition of a meeting to apply to council and local board meetings where a quorum of members is present, and they deal with a matter in a way that materially advances the council’s or local board’s business or decision-making.

The use of the word “materially” advancing decision-making is really important because that’s a word that everybody understands. It’s being introduced there to ensure that an informal, casual gathering of four or five city councillors in perhaps a public place or events that they are attending generally as part of their daily lives doesn’t turn into public scrutiny if material advance is not being made for the local board’s business or decision-making.

The final piece that I want to talk about is giving some more flexibility to municipalities as they conduct their business, and this time it is around where they invest their funds. Under current legislation, municipalities can only invest their funds in a list of eligible investments. There is, of course, good reason for that. These are public funds and it’s important that they are prudently invested.

This brings us to the proposed change. The proposed change, if passed, would provide municipalities with the option to invest according to prudent investor standards. What this does is it allows a municipality a slightly broader range of eligible investments but keeps in mind the original intent, which is that all investments are to be prudent.

Taken together, Mr. Speaker, all of these proposed pieces of legislation do one of three things: They either increase transparency or they increase parental rights or—

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Thank you.

I apologize profusely for leaving the word “of” out of your title. Sorry about that.

Questions and comments?

Mr. Jim McDonell: I’m proud to rise on behalf of my residents in Stormont, Dundas and South Glengarry.

In my time back in municipal politics, we had a considerable loss of funding from this Liberal government over the years, and each year was just a little bit more gone, a little bit more gone. The farm tax rebate was something that I kind of led a charge on for the county system. Of course, the carrot is out there: “We’re going to look at it.” Of course, they never do. In our case, it was about $1 million a year. With a township budget of $5 million or $6 million, it’s a huge amount of money, as you can see. It’s something that—

Interjection.

Mr. Jim McDonell: Yes, Mike Harris took it out, but you promised to fix it. When we went through that election, you promised to fix it.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): I like it better when she’s quiet.

Mr. Jim McDonell: I think we forgot. We talk about the downloading, but what Mike Harris did is he uploaded 65% of our tax base, which went to school boards. When I was back in the municipality, the municipalities agreed with that. It was a neutral change.

We have seen anything but a neutral change since this government came in. We have had lots of promises. They stood up yesterday and bragged that they were only closing 600 schools. That is not counting the schools they closed four or five years ago through 2020. In our riding, they closed another five or 10 schools back then. So this is not a one-off. This is something that’s been going on a little at a time. We look at the unfunding each year. They went through a $25-million cut per year for four years—$100 million out of that. So let’s not say that the municipalities are better off.

And that doesn’t even talk about the downloading that this bill talks about. It’s more services. Maybe it’s not a cut in money, but what it is is more legislation, more requirements and more costs for municipalities, which are already taxed out of existence.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Questions and comments?

M me France Gélinas: While I was listening to the Minister of Seniors Affairs, I couldn’t help but think, like the previous member, that there are extensive school closure reviews going on through my riding. There are so many people who come and complain against the school board meetings, about how they are not transparent, and how they use the rules that the government has given them to make sure that the public is shielded from hearing what they have to say and from holding them accountable for the decisions that they make.

There is a group in my riding who wants the Rainbow Board “meeting for what they might do in the future to be held during the public part of the meeting.” But, no, the rules say that they can go in camera. What they do is, they have three hours of in camera, where people have to hang around. There is no place to sit at the meeting; there is no place to be part. Then, all of a sudden, they do the public part of the meeting when nobody is around and nobody is allowed to be in, or anything of the sort.

To say that Bill 68 will fix that—no, because they can only enforce the rules that are there. The rules that are there were made by that government, to shield school boards from accountability to the people who elected them and care about keeping their schools open.

Like my colleague from Toronto–Danforth was saying, this bill needs to tour. This bill needs people’s input to make it true and real to what their angle is.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): The member from St. Catharines.

Mr. James J. Bradley: I was happy that the two government speakers made reference to the financial assistance provided by the government of Ontario to municipalities. Since this government was elected in 2003, we have worked hard to improve the provincial-municipal relationship, and I think that’s appreciated by many.

I know that in 2017, municipalities are benefiting from now over $4 billion in ongoing provincial support, including the uploads of $2 billion. These are uploads which reverse what the previous Conservative government did when they downloaded those responsibilities financially to municipalities.

The OMPF: $505 million in unconditional supports to municipalities. That’s primarily, and understandably so, in rural and northern municipalities.

The OCIF: $100 million a year, which will increase to $300 million a year in 2018-19.

We decided to take a portion of the gas tax—I don’t call it the “gas tax.” I’ll call this fund the “provincial transit fund.” We take two cents of the gas tax; that will go to four cents of the gas tax. That has had a profound effect on local transit systems, where the gas tax now is $334 million to 99 municipalities, including many small, rural and northern communities. That’s extremely beneficial to them. It allows them to expand their service and to enhance their service. We see much better buses now, for instance, more environmentally sensitive buses, which operate in a better fashion and have better fuel efficiency.

I’m pleased that the government of Ontario has made those moves in recent years. I commend the members for sharing that information not only with the people of this House but with all those who are watching on television today.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): The member from Haldimand–Norfolk.

Mr. Toby Barrett: As we’ve heard from debate this morning—and there is an opportunity here, where we’re opening up the municipal debate and opening up the Municipal Act and the Planning Act, given the very important and significant impact that municipalities have on people in Ontario.

If you look at all the municipalities together, they’re spending something like $53 billion a year on programs and services. There are 444 municipal governments, with decisions being made by 2,800 locally elected officials, decisions that have a tremendous impact on the people in Ontario.

Brant county is a good example of that, where we’ve just seen one of the largest annexations of prime farmland in southern Ontario, with the approval, of course, of the Minister of Municipal Affairs, Bill Mauro. This deal gobbles up approximately 9,000 acres of prime farmland, with Brantford annexing 6,700 acres and extending services. It enables another 2,150 acres, mostly of farmland, to be available for development.

This is leapfrog development. This is outside the greenbelt, something that we quite ruefully saw happen in the Caledonia Six Nations area about 10 years ago, which was the trigger for 10 years of grief down that way.

We have to monitor this. I know that the National Farmers Union have been tracking these large-scale purchases of farmland by corporations—in the Brant case, corporations based in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): The minister responsible for—of seniors affairs.

Hon. Dipika Damerla: You still got it wrong, Speaker, but it’s okay.

Interjection.

Hon. Dipika Damerla: Oh, okay. Well, I guess.

It gives me great pleasure to provide some final wrap-up comments. One of the issues that the opposition raised was around the downloading of services. I think it’s fair to say, and we can all agree that the evidence is there, that on balance this government has net uploaded more services back to the province of Ontario. The member from St. Catharines actually gave a number: $2 billion in uploads, and an additional $2 billion of funding that wasn’t there when we first came into government. Not to mention that, down the road, there will be more gas-tax funding. I can tell you that the good people of Mississauga are really, really pleased with the uploading of funding.

Speaking more to this bill, I know that the people of Mississauga will be very pleased with the idea of an integrity commissioner at the municipal level. I also know that the good people of Mississauga will be very pleased that now there’s a clear definition and expectation of which meetings by councillors have to be open to the public. These are really important steps when it comes to transparency.

The other thing that this bill does, which I also know is very important to this government, is that we do believe that each level of government has its own jurisdiction, and it ought to be respected. This bill goes some way in, once again, restoring some more powers to municipalities, and greater flexibility in how they go about their business. Overall, I know that the people of Mississauga are going to appreciate this bill.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Further debate?

Mr. Rick Nicholls: It’s my pleasure to rise this morning to address Bill 68, the Modernizing Ontario’s Municipal Legislation Act. This is a bill that actually does contain some very positive measures, but it’s also full of a few concerning elements. We are pleased that the legislation looks at a number of items that municipalities requested, such as the

definitions of meetings, expanding prudent investor rules to all municipalities, and moving the start date of new councils.

The PC caucus is also pleased to see the updates to the Municipal Conflict of Interest Act, which includes new options for penalties. As servants of the public, elected officials—we believe—must be held to a high standard.

The Association of Municipal Managers, Clerks and Treasurers of Ontario conducted a survey last year stating that 86% of Ontario councils have a code of conduct or are developing one. The municipalities of Chatham-Kent and Leamington already have their own codes of conduct for council. For those municipalities that have resisted adopting a code of conduct, this will in fact make them mandatory. It’s a small percentage of stragglers, but it’s important to get everybody on board.

Bill 68 also seeks to address the issue of closed-door meetings. By including a clearer definition of what constitutes a meeting, it will make rules easier for the public to understand. Additionally, it will stop the use of informal gatherings of councillors in an effort to get around closed meeting rules.

This is a positive step to increase accountability and transparency, and that’s something that I will always support. However, I was saddened to see another

section of the bill that would reduce transparency and accountability.

As our critic noted in his remarks, we have some serious concerns about the government’s proposal to allow municipal councillors to call in to council meetings instead of attending in person. It’s not transparent. That’s not accountable. Even Liberal MPPs understand that this is a bad change to make. The last time this government tried to pull off this change, their own members voted it down. They said that it was an accident, but they might have been being modest.

The reasoning given by the government was that it would make it easier for rural and northern communities where weather may prevent councillors from attending meetings. Well, if that’s the reason, then why would they extend this change to the City of Toronto Act as well? Are Toronto suburbs considered rural to the Ontario Liberals? Well, it’s also worrisome that the ministry was unable to answer the question of whether calling into a meeting would count as an absence. How is it even possible to try to make this change without having an answer to such a basic question?

Specifically, this bill would grant new abilities, meaning that, “A member of council, of a local board or of a committee of either of them, can participate electronically in a meeting which is open to the public to the extent and in the manner set out in the bylaw provided that any such member shall not be counted in determining whether or not a quorum of members is present at any point in time.”

What does “participate electronically” mean, exactly? Maybe the next move for this government will be allowing people to Skype into council meetings; or maybe they’ll want to let people Snapchat their support during votes. Perhaps this Liberal government will also want to be able to tweet a new tax. Who knows? Maybe they’ll eventually try replacing MPPs in the Legislature with holograms.

Speaker, the truly ridiculous thing is that the Liberals are working hard to ensure politicians can skip meetings and vote from the beach in Florida. I know it sounds wild, yet here we are in 2017 and electronic petitions are still not accepted by the Ontario Legislature. That really says it all about where their priorities lie. Companies are designing autonomous cars, but in Ontario you can’t file a petition electronically. Instead, the government wants people to be able to vote from the beach in another country—and I say that with a rather perplexed look on my face.

Technology should be used to help people have their say, not to help politicians get their way. That’s all I have to say about that.

There are also a few other troubling elements of this bill dealing with election financing. Last year, Minister McMeekin said, “We hope to increase transparency in municipal elections, so we are proposing a framework to regulate third-party advertising in order to increase accountability for advertisers and ensure more fair and transparent support. This would include setting contribution and spending limits.”

Sounds good, right? Well, not so fast. Only a few months later, the same government introduced this bill, which seeks to dramatically increase those very same contributions they previously said they wanted to limit. They would increase from $750 to $1,200. This change would mean that fewer, larger donors would be helping to decide crucial elections through large campaign contributions.

Bill 68 seeks to make a change that would allow municipal staff to access private property with no requirement to ask permission. The bill states: “A municipality may enter on land adjoining land owned or occupied by the municipality, at any reasonable time, for the purpose of maintaining or making repairs or alterations to the land owned or occupied by the municipality but only to the extent necessary to carry out the maintenance, repairs or alterations.” It’s all about private property.

This would cover routine maintenance and non-urgent repairs. I’m sure that many people would not feel comfortable in their homes knowing that municipal staff can enter at any time without notice for non-emergencies. This is an invasive, overreaching power that could do a lot of harm in the wrong hands.

Bill 68 also dumps new costs onto municipalities while this government cuts the grants they depend on. Specifically, this bill requires municipalities to provide access to an integrity commissioner. This is a positive thing, but the question is, who will pay for this? Not the province, that’s for sure.

Although it is helpful that the bill would allow municipalities to share an integrity commissioner with one another to cut down on these extra costs, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario recommended instead that the provincial Integrity Commissioner be the default adviser for municipalities. That would address the concern about extra costs being dumped to municipalities.

Despite some of this bill’s positive elements, I cannot support a bill that has the potential to damage our democracy. The removal of transparency and accountability by allowing elected officials to skip meetings and participate electronically will surely lead to some politicians spending more time away from the communities that they are supposed to be serving. It will provide a degree of separation at a time when officials and their constituents should be coming together.

So, Speaker, it’s for these reasons that I am unable to support Bill 68, Modernizing Ontario’s Municipal Legislation Act, at second reading. We also know that the government has a majority government and of course this bill is going to pass, but I would hope that the minister and those in committee would have an open ear to amendments that we would be bringing forward.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Questions and comments?

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: It was interesting to hear the member’s discussion on this bill. He talked about the Integrity Commissioner and closed-door meetings, and one of the things that there has been very much interest around is transparency and accountability and openness when it comes to the government. Having some guidelines under that provision of closed-door meetings is needed so that the public feels, when there are those meetings held behind closed doors, that the items addressed are not of a public interest. That’s good to see.

I noted here, Speaker—and I wonder if the government side has an answer for me—that the public input was strictly based on email submissions, and my understanding is that this wasn’t travelled throughout the province. One of the ministers talked about having an open forum from June 2016 until October 2016. But I’d like to ask the question of the government: Was that strictly for submissions by email or did they actually travel the province and hear from the public? I think that’s very important to openness and transparency. Many people prefer to have their presentations done in person.

It also talks to the point of where the government is going about voting during municipal decisions. If they are going to use electronic means to do that, maybe now they are using electronic means to do their consultations. I would appreciate some clarity around how they got public input on this bill, and I am looking forward to having that answer.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Questions and comments?

Hon. Bill Mauro: I want to thank the member from Chatham–Kent–Essex for his comments. Speaker, I can tell you that in 1997, when I was elected to Thunder Bay city council, representing Northwood ward for six years, from 1997 to 2003, I think that most people that were municipal officials at that time would tell you that there was a very different relationship that existed between municipalities across the province of Ontario and the provincial government of the day. I don’t think that’s a partisan comment. I think it’s a fact, and I think it’s a reason why a lot of people ran for provincial office in 2003.

They were not a happy bunch. I include myself in that group. It was certainly part of the decision-making for me in terms of why I chose to run provincially.

When the member was making his comments, Speaker, and some of the criticisms or comments contained in his remarks—I think if you look at it a little closer, you would see that some of the steps we’re taking in this legislation demonstrate a respect for the municipal order of government.

He spent a fair bit of time talking about electronic meetings. I think it’s important to know that people miss meetings all the time already. This might actually enhance participation. It’s important for the public to know that you still need to have quorum before you can hold a public meeting. It will not be considered a meeting unless there is quorum. You can’t have more people phone in or Skype in or however it would be done. There has to be a quorum in person for the meeting to occur.

That’s one example. It would be enabled by the municipality. They would have to pass a bylaw. We’re not forcing it on them, and that ties back to my remarks at the beginning. This is a demonstration of our respect for municipalities as an order of government that has an ability to make their own choices. This is an example of that. They can pass a bylaw to do it, or they don’t have to. It would be up to them.

Broadening municipal investment powers is another example. They can’t run deficits on the operating side. We’re changing the rule to allow them to invest differently to help them perhaps gain better returns, if they so choose, and to be able to sustain themselves more appropriately and better than they already can. Thank you for your time.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Questions and comments?

Mr. Jim McDonell: It’s a privilege to rise and comment on the member from Chatham–Kent–Essex. Municipal governments, as was said here earlier, spend $53 billion a year. It’s a huge amount of money. When I go back and meet with my six different councils, they all talk about the lack of funds available.

I remember being part of the eastern wardens’ caucus back in 2006, and there was a substantial cut in the transfer payments down from the province, at least according to the municipalities. We took that on at the Ontario Good Roads Association and ROMA that year, through asking and putting that question on the floor of the bear pit over and over again; finally, the government relented, because they were embarrassed about it. They talk publicly about all the help, but this was a clear case of a major cut.

So what action do we see this government take? Next year’s rules were changed. You couldn’t ask the same question twice. So instead of really getting at the root of the problem, they just make it so the next year it can happen seamlessly. And of course that’s what has happened.

They talk about the uploading, but what they aren’t saying is that, yes, they uploaded $100,000 of land ambulance this year, but they also reduced the OMPF funding by the same $100,000, so it’s not really a benefit. Unfortunately, if I talk to the city that looks after those services—they would be happy if they had just reduced it by the same amount, but they find they are reducing their transfer payments to their OMPF funding by more than what was uploaded, so they are in a worse place than they were before. It’s a serious problem at the municipal level.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): The member from Toronto–Danforth.

Mr. Peter Tabuns: Speaker, there has been a fair amount of debate about whether or not there has been a big upload on the part of the province to help municipalities or whether, in fact, the reverse is true.

There is no question, as we’re debating this bill, that far more pressing for municipalities than many of the changes that are before us—and I think it’s fair to say they are largely housekeeping changes—is the necessity to change the fiscal relationship between the province and the municipalities. My colleagues from the opposition were saying this in their remarks.

Municipalities are paying the freight for social and community housing. They don’t have the money to do it, and thus that housing falls into disrepair.

Municipalities are paying the full freight for their transit systems. They don’t have the money from the fare box to actually do the work that’s necessary. I know this for Toronto with certainty, but I think it applies to Ottawa, London, Hamilton and Windsor. They don’t have the money to provide the transit systems that those cities require.

Until there is an actual addressing of the download issue, we aren’t going to have municipalities functioning in the way they have to function. We can have 10 versions of this bill come forward, 10 versions with 10 other fixes in it, but as long as the money issue is not resolved, then the municipalities, with whatever other changes happen, aren’t going to function the way they need to function.

This government should have brought in more than just this bill. It should have brought in a package addressing the financial imbalance between the province and the municipalities. It should have addressed the municipal difficulty and put municipalities on a much sounder financial footing. They haven’t done that. This bill won’t do what needs to be done.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): The member from Chatham–Kent–Essex has two minutes.

Mr. Rick Nicholls: I’d like to thank the member from London–Fanshawe and the Minister of Municipal Affairs, as well as the member from Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry and the member from Toronto–Danforth, for their insightful comments. Whether we agree in full with all comments or not, that will be decided, I’m sure, at a later point in time.

Speaker, when we take a look at this bill—again, it’s Bill 68, Modernizing Ontario’s Municipal Legislation Act—there are 13 different acts involved. You might almost call it an omnibus bill.

As the PC caucus, we really did appreciate the municipal sector employees and organizations who took time to submit their changes and to share their submissions with our caucus. That helped to form the basis of our stand pertaining to Bill 68.

I mentioned earlier the fact that people can in fact phone in to meetings and so on. I know that the Minister of Municipal Affairs commented on that. He’s saying that, really and truly, with regard to electronic voting, people must be personally in the meeting in order to vote, in order for a quorum to occur. I appreciate the clarification that he gave there, but again, he’s not forcing a lot of these changes. He said that municipalities will have to perhaps vote and create a bylaw for that themselves.

Again, on this side, our PC caucus is all about openness, we’re all about transparency, and mostly, we’re also about accountability. That’s the important thing.

I’m also glad and pleased to see that Chatham, Kent and Leamington already have a code of conduct. Of course, this is very important for all municipalities to have.

Thank you very much.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Thank you.

Second reading debate deemed adjourned.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): It being a quarter after 10, this House stands recessed until 10:30.

The House recessed from 1014 to 1030.

Introduction of Visitors

Mr. Monte McNaughton: I’m honoured today to welcome guests from the University of Toronto, students from the U of T—I hope I get all your names right: Claudine Sierkowska; Luis Lopez-Guzman; Sangshin Jung; Venessa Sectakof; Trevor Hume; Spencer Caul; Felix Burns; Sarah Wapner; Spencer Russell; Michael Lo; Andrew Royce; Daniel Cook; Gordon Lam; and Yingshuo Li. Welcome to Queen’s Park today.

Mr. Michael Mantha: Today, page captain Hailey McLeod from the great riding of Algoma–Manitoulin has some family here along with her: Gary McLeod, her father; grandmother Margaret McLeod; and sisters Emily and Lily McLeod. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Hon. Helena Jaczek: Please help me welcome to Queen’s Park this morning, in the public gallery, students from St. Augustine Catholic High School in my riding of Oak Ridges–Markham.

Mr. Sam Oosterhoff: I’m pleased to welcome to the Legislature the guests of page Luca DiPietro from my riding: his uncle Marco Torelli; and his cousin Vincent Torelli. Welcome to the Legislature.

Mr. James J. Bradley: I’d like to welcome to the public gallery today Wendy Feldman and her Humber College class on policy research and analysis.

Mrs. Gila Martow: Today we have the francophone young parliamentarians here, and I just want to introduce Charlotte Bouthillette from Newmarket–Aurora and Valerie Chevrier from Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry. I was hoping my colleague was going to be here to introduce Valerie.

Congratulations to FESFO, la Fédération de la jeunesse franco-ontarienne, pour le Parlement jeunesse francophone de l’Ontario. Bienvenue à Queen’s Park.

Mr. John Yakabuski: Also joining us for the francophone youth model Parliament today, from my riding of Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke, I have Annie Steep from Jeanne-Lajoie and Dorian Pearce from L’Équinoxe.

Hon. Chris Ballard: I’m delighted to also welcome a resident, a youth, from my riding of Newmarket–Aurora, Charlotte Bouthillette, who will be attending tonight’s francophone youth Parliament reception. Welcome to Queen’s Park, Charlotte.

Mr. Monte McNaughton: I’m not sure if she’s in the chamber yet, but I’d like to welcome a good friend of mine and a good friend to many MPPs: Brenda Hodgson from the Ontario Prayer Breakfast. She’ll be joining us soon.

Mr. John Vanthof: It’s an honour for me to introduce the parents of today’s page captain, Rowan Glover. They are Kate and Rob Glover, proud residents of Englehart, Ontario, my hometown.

M me Sophie Kiwala: Je voudrais faire une grande bienvenue à deux étudiants, Alexandra Allain et Nathan Feuillat, de l’école Mille-Îles de Kingston. Bienvenue.

L’hon. Marie-France Lalonde: J’aimerais accueillir, en mon nom et au nom de tout le monde, les jeunes du Parlement jeunesse francophone de l’Ontario, spécialement ceux de ma circonscription d’Ottawa–Orléans, qui sont avec nous aujourd’hui.

Hon. Michael Coteau: In honour of International Women’s Day, please help me in welcoming the youth from Black Girls Magazine to the chamber this morning. They are led by the editor, Annette Bazira-Okafor. These young ladies are all writers and journalists for this magazine. They’re incredible young ladies and I’m happy they’re here today.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Welcome. We’re glad you’re with us.

Hon. Eleanor McMahon: I’d like to welcome to the Legislature today folks from Interactive Ontario, in particular their executive director, Christa Dickenson, who is joining us today in the members’ gallery.

I’d like to invite all members of the House to attend, over the lunch hour in rooms 228 and 230, an interactive digital media expo and a reception.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Further introductions? I have one of my own. In the Speaker’s gallery today we have with us Mr. Sultan Ali Al Harbi, the consul general of the United Arab Emirates, the first in the entire Gulf region to have a consulate in Toronto. He is accompanied by Dr. Bourini from the business, trade and media

section of the consulate. Welcome to our guests.

Oral Questions

School closures

Ms. Laurie Scott: Happy International Women’s Day to everyone.

My question is to the Deputy Premier. Since her colleague the Minister of Education ran away from CP reporter Allison Jones yesterday when asked about school closures, maybe she will answer her question today. How many Ontario schools are under threat of closure?

Hon. Deborah Matthews: Happy International Women’s Day as well.

I am delighted to be here today to talk about significant improvements in education right across this province. When we took office, only 68% of students were graduating from high school—only 68% of students. We now have exceeded 85%. What I can tell you is that our education system is delivering real results. Our students are doing—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Stop the clock.

Mr. John Yakabuski: Pardon me, Speaker. I’m sorry.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): No, it’s too late. The member from Renfrew, come to order. I’m also going to invite you to not make comments to the people behind me. The convention is ignorance. I would appreciate the tone remaining civil.

Deputy Premier.

Hon. Deborah Matthews: Speaker, when you measure our education system by the success of our students—which is, I think, a very fine way to measure the success of our education system—Ontario is a world leader. People are coming from around the world to understand what happened here in Ontario.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I’m going to ask the member from Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound to come to order. I’m doing so with the anticipation—I do not want to move to warnings, but I will.

Carry on. Wrap up, please.

Hon. Deborah Matthews: I will address in the supplementary the question that was asked, but what’s really important is, our students are rocking.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Laurie Scott: Back to the Deputy Premier: Yesterday, the Minister of Education said that it’s not about the number of schools and said that she wouldn’t give an arbitrary number. Well, that’s great, because nobody wanted an arbitrary number; they want a real number.

I’ll try again. Mr. Speaker, how many schools are under threat of closure? Is it as high as the 600 schools the minister previously identified?

Hon. Deborah Matthews: I think the numbers speak for themselves. Since 2003, we’ve increased education funding to $22.9 billion. That’s an increase of almost 60% since they were in office, Speaker. And despite declining enrolment, per pupil funding has increased more than $4,500, an increase of 63%. Funding for rural boards has increased 43% since we took office, despite declining enrolment of 14%.

Since 2003, our government has opened 810 new schools, significantly renovated another 780 schools, and that includes 450 new and improved schools in rural Ontario. We build. You—

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

The Liberals may have made up their mind about Our Lady of Peace and signaled that there will be more closures to come when they voted down our motion on a moratorium on school closures, but it’s not too late for them to change course. They can still announce a moratorium today. I’m giving you a chance.

Mr. Speaker, will the Liberals announce a moratorium on school closures until they can get the process right? You’re the ones closing the schools down in the province of Ontario—you.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Be seated, please.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): You can’t hide.

Deputy Premier.

Hon. Deborah Matthews: As I was saying, we build; they cut. We have built 810 new schools and significantly renovated another 780 schools in this province, and that includes 450 new and improved schools in rural Ontario.

We are investing in the creation of new schools, better schools, because we are a party that believes in education. We are a party that believes that every child in this province deserves the opportunity to achieve their full potential, and they do that in schools. That’s why we’re making the investments we are.

Hospital funding

Ms. Laurie Scott: To the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care: This past week I was shown a letter written to a doctor. It read, “Your patient will be placed on the waiting list for a surgical consultation.” Can you guess how long that wait time is? It is “approximately two years.”

Now, Mr. Speaker, two years is far too long a wait for a surgical consultation. How is that an acceptable wait time for Ontario patients?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Not knowing the specifics of this case, generally, I would agree with the member opposite that two years is too long of a period to wait. That’s why we’re working with our physicians, with our front-line health care workers, with our primary care providers that are that foundation and often the gateway to specialist access.

We’re working with them through a variety of different means to speed up the two elements of referral, which are both equally important: the time for an individual to get from their family doctor or their nurse practitioner to see a specialist in the first place, and then if a specialist deems that a further intervention—a surgical procedure, for example—is required, that time as well.

Despite the fact that we have, across the board, particularly with regard to surgery, either the best or close to the best wait times in all of this country, we’re continuing to make improvements.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Laurie Scott: Back to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care: On Monday at the Queensway Carleton Hospital, 22 patients were left on stretchers in the hallway, waiting for a room. One gentleman was put behind a privacy screen and given a wheelchair to sit in because there wasn’t a stretcher for him.

Stretchers in the hallway, no beds available: Is this the health care legacy that this government wants to leave behind?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: With regard to Queensway Carleton Hospital and other hospitals that have, over recent weeks, experienced capacity issues—and I don’t find it any more acceptable than the member opposite does. That’s why we’re continuing to make investments so that we can alleviate those pressures.

The member opposite, I think, would probably agree that there is an element of this where we saw an outbreak of flu, but also respiratory illnesses this winter. Part of the effect that we’re seeing is an annual effect due to the flu, and this flu is worse, certainly, than it was last year.

But we’re making investments, including in Queensway Carleton Hospital and others, to ensure that they have the necessary funding to do the important work they do: the Ottawa Heart Institute, a 4.1% increase in funding last year; the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group, a 2% increase; the Ottawa Hospital, a $14-million, 2% increase as well, to help them deal with these capacity issues.

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

Ms. Laurie Scott: Back to the minister. Leah Levesque, vice-president of patient care and chief nursing executive at Queensway Carleton Hospital, had this to say: “I would say it is a crisis when you are cancelling surgery and you’ve got 22 patients who are on stretchers,” and desks are being pushed aside to make room for hospital beds. Those are the words of front-line health care workers.

How is it acceptable for Ontario hospitals to be forced to use office space as makeshift hospital rooms? It’s not acceptable. You have to do something.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: As I mentioned in the previous responses, we’re making the necessary investments to allow those hospitals and others across the province to deal with those capacity issues.

But what we won’t do is we won’t make the kind of commitments and promises that the party opposite did to cut 100,000 jobs, many of them in the health care sector, as they did in the last election. We’re not going to do what they did when they were in government and literally close dozens of hospitals across this province and cut thousands of hospital beds.

Mr. Jim Wilson: We did not.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: I know the former Minister of Health is suggesting that they somehow didn’t, but the facts remain that they closed dozens of hospitals when they were in government.

We won’t do that. We will make investments. We made an almost 3% increase in the health care budget last year. We continue to invest in those elements of the health care system that we’re proud of. We have some of the best records in the country in terms of performance.

Hydro rates

Ms. Andrea Horwath: On behalf of New Democrats, I also want to wish all the women legislators and staff and all the people who work in this building who are women a happy International Women’s Day, as well as all the women across Ontario.

My question is for the Acting Premier. Over the past few months, I’ve been welcomed into the homes of many women in this province who are worried about their skyrocketing hydro bills, women like Adele from Cambridge, a single mom who fought back tears as she told me how her children go with less because her hydro bill has doubled in recent years.

Why doesn’t the Liberal government come up with a plan that will permanently lower Adele’s hydro bill and invest in the services that her family needs, instead of saddling her kids and their kids with the bill?

Hon. Deborah Matthews: I want to start by saying that we are implementing a plan that reduces the average hydro bill in Ontario households by 25%. We have already done the first 8%, and we are looking to take the further 17% off later this year. So let’s remember that we are implementing a plan that will help people like Adele. That is for all the households: 25%, on average.

For those who are low-income families, there’s even more support, and for those who live in the rural parts of Ontario, there is even greater relief.

We have a plan. We’re implementing a plan. It addresses the stories that we heard from people across this province. I’m proud of it. I wish the leader of the opposition would stand up and say, “Good work.”

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Well, Speaker, Adele doesn’t just need lower hydro bills; she needs good health care and she needs good schools for her kids. Instead of investing in health care and education, the Premier’s hydro plan gives an extra $40 billion to her well-connected friends on Bay Street. Bringing Hydro One back into public hands will put $7 billion into the public purse. It will mean we can invest in families like Adele’s again.

Doesn’t the Acting Premier think that making $7 billion is better than spending $40 billion?

Hon. Deborah Matthews: You know, Speaker, I was really pleased when the NDP actually came up with a plan to bring down hydro prices, because we had heard lots of identification of the problem from the opposition parties, both parties, but we didn’t see much by way of solutions.

So I was very pleased when I heard that the NDP was coming forward with a plan, until I read the plan, and there just was nothing there that would bring down hydro prices. There was nothing there that would achieve the goal that we all want, which is to provide immediate relief for people who are facing real challenges when it comes to their hydro prices.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Final supplementary?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, if there’s nothing there, why did they scramble so fast to put something out themselves? That’s what I want to know.

All across Ontario, we need to invest in schools, in hospitals, in child care and in stronger public services. Stopping the sell-off of Hydro One and returning it to public ownership will give the people of this province a $7-billion payday and lower their hydro rates permanently.

How is the Liberal government’s $40-billion investment in bankers on Bay Street going to help women like Adele, her children and her grandchildren, live a better life?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Be seated, please.

Deputy Premier.

Hon. Deborah Matthews: Speaker, let’s be clear: Our plan is fast. It is substantial. It is widespread. It is long-lasting.

Interjections.

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

Hon. Deborah Matthews: The NDP plan, sadly, is very vague. It relies on these expert panels to be struck sometime in the future. Their biggest idea, to buy back the shares of Hydro One, does not take one penny off one bill in this province. There is zero evidence that keeping—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Carry on.

Hon. Deborah Matthews: As far as I can tell, the only idea in their plan is to get the deputy leader elected leader and then Prime Minister of Canada, and he will give them 5% off.

Interjections.

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

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Start the clock.

New question.

School closures

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My next question is for the Acting Premier. In her one-year report on the progress of her community hubs plan, the Premier told Ontarians that she believes “the province needs to remove barriers to community hubs” and that she was “proud to say” that they “are doing just that.”

But a freedom-of-information document the NDP obtained reveals that the Liberal community hubs plan is being threatened. By what? By the Liberals’ own so-called school board modernization plan, and they know it.

Can the Acting Premier tell us why the Liberal government is telling Ontarians one thing in public, but acknowledging in private that they are doing the exact opposite?

Hon. Deborah Matthews: Minister of Infrastructure.

Hon. Bob Chiarelli: We are actively encouraging and supporting opportunities for community hubs, to use excess school space in particular. The Ministry of Infrastructure is embracing an active role in making it easier for community partners to offer integrated and coordinated services through community hubs. In fact, the Minister of Education has about $450 million to work with school boards and communities and municipalities, with particular emphasis on rural communities, to engage community hubs.

There are many services and communities that can benefit from coming together around a school and animating the community to come together to provide services that people need. There is money in the budget. There are resources that are made available to community leaders to enable them to create hubs, and it’s going—

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

Supplementary?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: The FOI also shows that—and I’m quoting now from the FOI—“some schools calculated as being underutilized are actually at full capacity.” The government’s own documents show that they are closing fully utilized schools based on the failed Mike Harris-era funding formula that the Liberals have not had the political will to fix after 14 years.

Since this government knows that their formula to determine school closures is broken, can the Acting Premier please explain why their government continues to close schools across this province en masse?

Hon. Bob Chiarelli: Deputy Premier.

Hon. Deborah Matthews: I was very pleased yesterday to see that the Minister of Infrastructure and the Minister of Education sent a letter to community partners, to municipalities, to school boards, to say that the best solutions are local solutions: Work together to find the best use, to find the opportunities in your community to put these schools to work.

There is hard work to do. When enrolment is declining, we need to put resources into teaching our students. But those schools are an important part of a community. We all understand that in our own communities, and that’s why we’re inviting and we’re actually putting money into the notion that if communities work together, if school boards who serve the same geographic area can work together, if the municipalities and communities all work together to devise proposals for these buildings, we want to be supportive of that.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: People are already doing that and the Liberals are still closing the schools. They’re doing exactly the opposite of what this Deputy Premier just said. The Premier and her Liberal government are telling communities that they support community hubs and they’re telling parents they’re investing in schools, but in reality the Liberal government has closed 227 schools since 2011, while knowing that at least some of those schools were at full capacity, with some even being used as community hubs and housing child care centres, for example.

Can the Acting Premier explain to the people of this province and explain to parents why she’s closing full-capacity, good, neighbourhood-supporting schools, when those families who depend on them are watching them fulfil a broken funding formula from 14 years ago?

Interjections.

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

Deputy Premier?

Hon. Deborah Matthews: Speaker, on this side of the House we actually respect school boards and respect the difficult decisions that they have to make. But what I can tell you is that we are active partners in this new model of community hubs. We think that there are opportunities here. We’re inviting municipalities, community groups and school boards to work together to find these solutions.

But I do want to repeat—this is a fact—that Ontario has opened 810 new schools. We have renovated an additional 780 schools, and that includes 450 new and improved schools in rural Ontario. We remain committed to our students. We remain committed to ensuring that they have the best spaces in which to learn.

Child protection

Mrs. Gila Martow: My question is to the Minister of Children and Youth Services. Mr. Speaker, when I still worked as an optometrist—and believe me, I miss it every now and then—I spent considerable time implementing electronic medical records in an eye care clinic. I was no IT expert, yet I managed to purchase my hardware, software and staff training within a budget. In contrast, this government has spent over $27 million just to consult on the software design of CPIN, our new Child Protection Information Network.

All of us are committed to the idea of a province-wide electronic data system for child welfare, but can the minister assure us that this time the government is implementing a system that will do everything workers and children need it to do?

Hon. Michael Coteau: I want to thank the member for the question, because it is an important question. CPIN, the information network we’re implementing across the province, is going to ensure that when young people enter child protection, their information will be protected, but also that it will be shared among different protection service agencies.

We want to make sure that when a young person is placed in protection in Oshawa and for some reason moves to Toronto, there’s a communication line and no child is left behind. This is our plan to ensure that children are at the centre of decision-making, and that when they move from one jurisdiction into the next, all people who are there to make sure that they’re safe have the right information, on time, and the most relevant information to date.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mrs. Gila Martow: Again to the minister: Mr. Speaker, I think Ontario residents really do believe that Jeffrey Baldwin and Katelynn Sampson might be alive today if Ontario’s children’s aid societies had had a central database that would have flagged their murderers as unfit guardians.

The government has spent hundreds of millions on CPIN, yet few child welfare agencies are using the system, and it still needs costly upgrading and training. This new database isn’t practical and is not even fully searchable.

Our social workers are now being asked to be trained stenographers rather than helping children. They must spend hours typing, since no one seemed to have the thought to make CPIN voice-input-friendly.

Will the minister tell us why Ontario residents should count on his government to suddenly show information-technology savviness?

Hon. Michael Coteau: Mr. Speaker, I hope the member opposite doesn’t think that this is just an easy task of putting in some information and moving it from here to there. We’re talking about millions of records that date back many years. When it comes to children, we need to make sure that the information that’s being inputted is done accurately and it’s done with efficiency.

I’ll tell you that, to date, we’ve moved 40 million records, representing 15 societies. That’s a lot of information that is being moved. That represents 37% of all children and family records, to date, that have been moved.

We’ve got a plan moving forward. We didn’t want to do this overnight, because we have to be careful on the approach. We have five more societies that are scheduled to be moved over into the CPIN system.

Mr. Speaker, I’m proud of the progress we’ve made. But we need to do this in a very careful way so that we don’t make mistakes, and it’s exactly what the member opposite is suggesting.

Mr. John Yakabuski: But the Premier said she’d made mistakes.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I wouldn’t risk it.

New question.

Cancer treatment

M me France Gélinas: Ma questions est pour le ministre de la Santé et des Soins de longue durée.

Carmen Sebastian is a 68-year-old woman who has advanced-stage cancer. She is one of the 100,000 Canadian women who get diagnosed with cancer each year. On Friday, Carmen got a very disturbing voice mail, telling her that there was a province-wide shortage of chemo drugs and her treatment would be delayed indefinitely.

Speaker, I cannot imagine the worry and the stress that Carmen and dozens of other patients went through this past weekend. Carmen has a simple question, and I hope you’ll agree that she deserves an answer: Why was there no backup plan to prevent cancer patients like Carmen from having their cancer treatment cancelled?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Speaking directly to Carmen: I can only imagine the unnecessary stress and anguish that she and her family and loved ones had to go through as a result of that phone call.

Mr. Speaker, it is important that those of us in the Legislature and Carmen and Ontarians know that this was a national issue. It wasn’t specific to Ontario. It was the result of a quarantine by Health Canada of thousands of vials of 5-FU, which is the specific anti-cancer medication used in a number of situations, including breast cancer.

However, when we were alerted to this—on the same day, Friday of last week—and Cancer Care Ontario was as well, we immediately contacted Health Canada and put into motion a process that resulted, on Monday afternoon, in more than 3,000 vials of this cancer-treating medication being released by Health Canada.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

M me France Gélinas: Speaker, our health care system failed. It failed people like Carmen, who had to live through having her cancer treatment cancelled.

I would like the government and the minister—after he agreed that he learned about this last Friday—I would like him to answer another question that a lot of Ontarians are wondering about: Will the minister tell us exactly how many Ontario hospitals actually ran out of this chemo drug, and how many patients were affected and had their cancer treatments cancelled because of this shortage?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: After we got involved on Friday through the ministry and Cancer Care Ontario—in conversations with Health Canada, they understood just how much of a priority this was.

Over 3,000 vials were released Monday afternoon. Mackenzie Health received vials yesterday afternoon. They have now either rescheduled or are in the process of rescheduling every single one of those individuals. They’re opening a clinic as well this weekend and are confident that, within the week, they will have provided the appropriate treatment to all of those individuals.

We have a mechanism in place to ensure coordination. I can also say that Mackenzie Health was the only hospital that was impacted by this shortage. That problem is now solved.

Sexual violence and harassment

Ms. Sophie Kiwala: My question is for the Minister of the Status of Women. Today is International Women’s Day, and we celebrate the achievements of women and look ahead at the work that needs to be done to create a fairer society.

In fact, just last Friday we were reminded of the fight that we, as a society, still face. I, along with thousands of other Canadians, was appalled to hear that there are those who still believe that “a drunk can consent.”

Last September, I hosted a sexual violence and harassment community networking and advocacy session in my riding of Kingston and the Islands. This session brought together key members of our community who work tirelessly to fight sexual violence and harassment.

I know that our province has done extraordinary work to fight this mentality. On Monday, I was pleased to see an update to the sexual violence and harassment action plan. This is a step in the right direction, but I know and we all know that there is more work that still needs to be done.

Speaker, through you to the minister: Can you please update the House on the ongoing work being done around sexual violence and harassment?

Hon. Indira Naidoo-Harris: Thank you to the member for this very important question and for her ongoing advocacy on this issue.

Speaker, as a politician, a woman and a mother, the statistic that one in three women will experience some form of violence in their lifetime is absolutely unacceptable to me. All Ontarians deserve to feel safe from sexual violence and harassment in their communities, workplaces, homes and schools.

In this province, we believe strongly that consent has to be affirmative and ongoing—yes means yes and no means no—which is why we’ve built consent into the updated physical health and education curriculum and why we launched our two public awareness campaigns, #ItsNeverOkay and #WhoWillYouHelp. We not only want to raise awareness about sexual violence but also challenge attitudes and encourage behavioural change. After all, we must talk to our children about safety.

This is all a step in the right direction. We’re calling on all Ontarians. We all have a role to play in ending violence against women and girls.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Sophie Kiwala: Thank you to the minister for her answer. I know that this government recognizes the importance of educating the public on sexual violence and harassment.

Unfortunately, the members in this House are well aware that violence against women remains a real danger in society. In fact, more than 10,000 women and over 6,900 of their children were served by a violence-against-women shelter last year. Let’s be clear: Violence against women impacts us all. It’s not just the women who are victims; it’s their children, their families and also their communities.

Our government recognizes this and has increased spending on programs to reduce violence against women by over 60% since 2003. However, we know that there’s more work to be done. Could the minister please outline how we continue to support the violence-against-women sector in Ontario?

Hon. Indira Naidoo-Harris: Minister of Community and Social Services.

Hon. Helena Jaczek: Thank you to the member from Kingston and the Islands. We both visited Kingston Interval House in her riding, and it was obvious that she was recognized as a great supporter of women fleeing domestic violence.

My ministry invests $147 million annually to support the violence-against-women sector. Last summer, we opened a new shelter in Elgin county, and earlier this winter I announced the building of a new shelter in Dryden.

Through the $1-million Rural Realities Fund, we helped rural, remote and northern communities address the unique challenges they face.

Along with partner ministries, we launched Ontario’s Strategy to End Human Trafficking. Part of the strategy is a partnership with the Ontario Native Women’s Association to deliver five indigenous human trafficking liaisons.

Our government continues to invest in supports and services to ensure we’re building a safer future for every woman and girl in this province.

Long-term care

Mr. Bill Walker: My question is to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. Allister and Marion McKerroll have been together for 69 years. They were community builders and even helped build a nursing home, the International Odd Fellow and Rebekah home on Brooks Street in Barrie. But when Allister and Marion got sick and frail, the province’s long-term-care system forced them apart.

Both the Premier and the health minister have stated in this House that spousal reunification in long-term care is “extremely” and “personally” important to them, and keeping couples together is the highest priority: “There is no other priority.”

My question, then, is if it’s so extremely and personally important, and if there’s no higher priority than keeping couples together, then why have Allister and Marion been forced to live apart for over a year?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: I appreciate learning here in the Legislature of this couple. Not that long ago, we had a situation in another part of the province where I have to say the member, an NDP member at that time, engaged me very directly, privately, and we worked hard together, collaboratively, to try to find a solution. Ultimately, we were successful in finding a solution for those individuals who, for a variety of reasons, found themselves in similar circumstances.

I would invite the member opposite; I would be enthusiastic—overjoyed in fact—to have the opportunity to work with him to see if we might resolve this particular case.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Bill Walker: Back to the minister: Well, Premier Wynne wrote to the family last month, on February 24, to acknowledge the separation and said that she’d ask you to deal with it. So either she didn’t do what she said or you’re not doing anything with the file.

Sadly, the McKerrolls are not the only couple forced to live alone and die alone under your long-term-care policies. There are others who have been told by the CCACs that, due to high wait times—the McKerrolls’ case is 3.5 years to five years—it’s not even worth trying to live together in long-term care.

The fact is, you left Ontario with a severe shortage of beds. As of today, there are 26,500 seniors on your wait-list, a list that will double to 50,000 within five years. The Ontario Association of Non-Profit Homes and Services for Seniors and the Ontario Long Term Care Association have asked to you start fixing this mess by adding at least 2,500 beds in the upcoming budget. Given the heartache, given the inexcusable wait and the suffering of all these seniors, will you commit to adding those beds as an absolute bare minimum?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Mr. Speaker, the member, I think, knows that we have committed to redeveloping 30,000 beds over the next number of years, but over approximately the last decade, we have added 10,000 new beds to the long-term-care system, and we continue to make important investments.

As well, I do recall the couple in question, and I do recall it because the member from Barrie has been discussing this case with me, is directly involved and is directly involved with my ministry in trying to resolve it. We have been working hard through the ministry with the member from Barrie to resolve this particular situation.

Pay equity

Ms. Peggy Sattler: My question is to the Acting Premier. The year 2017 marks the 30th anniversary of pay equity legislation in Ontario. After 30 years, however, the lack of active enforcement of pay equity laws has contributed to a gender wage gap that is stuck at 30%—a gap that is significantly wider for immigrant and indigenous women and women with disabilities.

The closing the gender wage gap steering committee called for amendments to the Pay Equity Act in its final report last August. More than six months after the release of that report, nothing has happened.

Can the Acting Premier explain why she is dragging her heels on the immediate actions, like amending the Pay Equity Act, that would make a huge difference to close the gender wage gap for women in Ontario?

Hon. Deborah Matthews: To the Minister of Labour.

Hon. Kevin Daniel Flynn: Thank you to the member for that excellent and timely question. There’s no doubt—I think all members in this House will agree—that the gender wage gap still disadvantages women across Ontario and across every jurisdiction, and we need to deal with it. Other parties in the past have said that they would deal with it, but they haven’t.

We haven’t made the progress that needs to be made. The conversation that is taking place right now in the province of Ontario involves some very real work that was done by the gender wage gap working group. They worked on behalf of government. They came from business, they came from labour, they came from the civil service; they brought us their best advice. We’re moving that on now. We’ve got a group together of some of the best minds in this province, some of the best minds on this issue. Their first meeting is scheduled for April 13.

I want Ontario to be a leader in this. We should all want Ontario to be a leader in this. It’s simply time. The level of tolerance for the gender wage gap simply has expired in this province, Speaker.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary? The member from Welland.

Ms. Cindy Forster: This government has had 14 years. When the non-unionized auto manufacturers recently sought changes to workers’ personal leave, the Premier changed the law for them overnight through quiet regulation. When large construction firms like EllisDon sought reforms that negatively impacted workers, you quickly changed the laws for them.

What are you going to do today for the majority of low-paid workers in this province—almost 60% of them women—to have decent, secure work that pays at least a $15-an-hour minimum wage?

Hon. Kevin Daniel Flynn: Thank you again to the member. As I said, this is a very timely question, Speaker.

I’m proud to stand in this House. With the Changing Workplaces Review, with the Gender Wage Gap Strategy, we’re confronting issues where the solution has escaped previous governments. We’re taking concrete action. When the advice came forward from the gender wage gap working group, there was work to be done in the future but they told us, “There are things you can do right now,” and we acted upon that, Speaker.

Gender-based analysis is used by this government. It’s required. When we’re passing any policy that relates to this government, it needs to go through a gender-wage-gap lens. That wasn’t done in the past. It should have been. Under this government it is being done. We’re moving ahead on this issue. We’re determined to put an end to the gender wage gap in Ontario.

Affordable housing

Mrs. Cristina Martins: This question is for the Minister of Housing and minister responsible for the Poverty Reduction Strategy. On behalf of many of my constituents in Davenport, I’d like to raise a critical issue, an issue I have raised in the past.

Rental costs are rising at a dramatic pace in the Toronto area. I’ve heard from my constituents about a lack of stability in the price of their rents, making it difficult for people to find affordable rental options. This is an issue that does not just affect those who are less fortunate, but oftentimes middle-income earners and young professionals who are just building lives and careers in the city. Not being able to budget for housing leads to insecurity that makes it difficult for one to plan for one’s future.

Mr. Speaker, what is the government’s position on rising rental costs in Davenport and across Ontario?

Hon. Chris Ballard: Thank you to the member for her steadfast advocacy on this issue. Mr. Speaker, finding an affordable house in a community we love is a goal we all share. It’s about putting down roots. It’s about raising a family and spending each day in a place we truly love.

I know Ontarians face real challenges in our booming market as they search for an affordable place to live. Too many are feeling the pinch of a rental market that’s struggling to keep up with demand. Through the Residential Tenancies Act, we provide protection for tenants. The act ensures that rent increase guidelines are kept to a maximum of 2.5% per year for units built before 1991. For 2017, the rent increase guideline is 1.5%.

But we know there’s more that needs to be done. That’s why we’re looking at ways to ensure and increase protections for tenants.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mrs. Cristina Martins: I’m pleased to have had many important conversations with the minister about the rising rents facing my constituents, and always appreciate his attention to this critical issue.

I’m pleased that the minister shares and understands my concerns. Individuals and families deserve the peace of mind of knowing that they can secure an affordable home that will provide them with a reliable foundation where they can live comfortably, secure employment, raise their families and thrive. That’s what we all want.

The supply of affordable rental units in Toronto is dwindling, and government must take action to address this. Mr. Speaker, will the minister inform this House what actions he’s undertaking to get more affordable rental options into the market?

Hon. Chris Ballard: Thank you again to the member for Davenport. Ensuring a robust supply of affordable rental units is critical to ensuring people have options to choose from. This includes working with our municipal partners to make secondary suites—those are the self-contained residential units that already exist in many homes—available quickly, helping communities better respond to renters’ needs.

We’ve also just passed legislation that allows communities to use a new tool, a tool called inclusionary zoning, to require that affordable units be created and kept long-term in new residential developments. Our government is also freezing the municipal property tax on apartment buildings to provide some relief to renters.

Mr. Speaker, 82% of rental units in the province are pre-1991 buildings, and because of that, they’re protected by rent control. But I know booming areas face concerns. I’m continuing to look at ways to increase the supply of rental options across the province.

Correctional facilities

Mr. Rick Nicholls: My question is to the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services. In May 2016, your Liberal government announced that the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre’s main facility would have its body scanner installed by the end of this month. After a drug overdose death at EMDC, former Minister Orazietti said that he would prioritize the installation of the body scanner.

Now, the new minister’s office is saying the scanner is “prioritized for installation in fall 2017.” You keep using the word “prioritize.” I do not think it means what you think it means. How exactly does failing to meet a deadline mean “prioritize”?

L’hon. Marie-France Lalonde: J’aimerais aussi souhaiter une belle journée de la femme à toutes les madames ici et partout en Ontario.

Just to make sure, I said my little piece. I thank the member opposite for his question. First off, one of my most important responsibilities as minister is the safety and security of our staff and our inmates. Our government has recognized the challenges surrounding contraband at our correctional facilities, which is why we’ve announced $9.5 million in funding to install body scanners at each and every facility across our province by 2018. This makes Ontario the first jurisdiction in Canada to install body scanners at every jail.

We’ve installed one of the first scanners at the adjoining regional intermittent centre right next to the EMDC, where we can have inmates scanned in exceptional situations. EMDC will be getting a body scanner this year. I can confirm that 11 facilities already have—

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

Mr. Rick Nicholls: Words are empty; they need to be followed up with action now.

Back to the minister: Ontario’s gold standard jail, Toronto South Detention Centre, was recently called a “$1-billion hellhole” by Toronto Life magazine. The jail has been a disaster from the start. Unbreakable window were broken by inmates. Officers worried that inmates would grind glass into powder and blow it into their faces. They were told by management to wear goggles. Negative pressure rooms for inmates with contagious airborne diseases regularly malfunction. The software system controlling cameras, intercoms and locks regularly stops working.

When I asked why a female officer was trapped in an elevator with inmates for an hour, the staff were slapped with a threatening memo to keep quiet. Well, it didn’t work. Staff keep speaking out and the truth has been told about the cells.

Speaker, to the minister: Why did the government go ahead with Toronto South Detention Centre’s experimental design despite warnings from the Auditor General and staff?

Hon. Marie-France Lalonde: Again, I want to thank the member for his good question. I want to take the time today, actually, to recognize the hard work our correctional officers, our nurses, our maintenance staff and our cooking staff—everyone who works with challenging situations at times every day to keep our institutions and our inmates safe.

I recognize that the Toronto South Detention Centre is not without its challenges, and we know that more work needs to be done for it to live up to its full potential. We need to hire more staff, reduce the lockdowns and improve the overall condition of the institutions.

In fact, I was there a couple of weeks ago. I visited the jail and I saw a group of passionate staff who are dedicated to their vital role in maintaining law and order in our society. Through this visit, I got a sense of the progress that actually needs to be made. Our government is committed to the transformation, and I’m working on this.

Child care

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My question is for the Acting Premier. This government talks a lot about child care, but we see no action. They talk about the need to get women back into the workforce and the reality that child care is just too expensive for a lot of families, but when it comes to taking action, this government fails.

Last week, the Liberal government voted against investing in not-for-profit public child care centres. Can the Acting Premier tell us why she believes private corporations should be making money off children?

Hon. Deborah Matthews: The minister responsible for early years and child care.

Hon. Indira Naidoo-Harris: I want to thank the member opposite for this very important question. I want to be very clear about what we mean when we’re talking about funding for child care operators. This type of funding supports subsidies for low- and middle-income families. It actually supports programming for children with special needs, and supports increased wages for skilled child care workers and early childhood educators. What I’m trying to say is essentially that this funding follows the child.

Absolutely, we understand the important role that non-profits play in our child care system. That is why in Ontario, 70% of child care centres are non-profit. Past capital investments have only gone to school-based, not-for-profit child care.

Speaker, families expect us to give them more options, not fewer. That means ensuring that all Ontarians have access to quality, affordable child care spaces in rural areas and urban areas.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: All evidence points to the fact that not-for-profit and public child care is higher quality. In fact, when it comes to special-needs kids, they are being served better in not-for-profit and public child care. That’s just the reality that exists. But instead of supporting that model, the Liberals are spending public dollars on for-profit, private child care.

I guess this shouldn’t be a surprise, Speaker. This Liberal government always seems to prioritize the well-connected and well-off over everyday families. The Liberal government must understand that regular families need support, and that investing in non-profit child care is the best way to help the people who really need it.

Why do the Acting Premier and her Liberal government want to see child care being traded on the stock market and kids being profited off of by private companies?

Hon. Indira Naidoo-Harris: I’m so happy and pleased to be answering this question, because absolutely we are building child care in this province. We are transforming it, making it more accessible and more affordable for all Ontarians, not just for some Ontarians.

The bottom line is this: Not all Ontarians have access to for-profit and not-for-profit centres in this province. We have to build a system that supports all Ontarians. In some instances, in northern areas, the only way to create more access is to ensure that those centres in those areas actually get the support they need. We are not going to go in one route or the other; we’re going to ensure that all Ontarians and all Ontario families get access to good-quality child care.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Be seated, please.

New question.

Pay equity

Ms. Ann Hoggarth: My question is for the Minister of Labour. As you’ve heard already, today is International Women’s Day. This day celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women, but it also challenges all of us to seek change in society. The theme for this year is #BeBoldForChange, which calls for a better working world—a more inclusive, gender-equal world.

Ontario has been bold for change. In particular, our Minister of Labour has been looking at change in the working world through the gender wage gap consultations. Can the minister please update the House and talk about the progress that we are making?

Hon. Kevin Daniel Flynn: I want to thank the member for that question, the interest that she has and her advocacy. I also want to wish everyone a happy International Women’s Day. To the women, to the men, to the boys and girls in this House: This should be a day that we’re all engaged in.

I’m so confident that the #BeBoldForChange theme is going to continue to get people all over the world engaged on this issue. Speaker, this is an issue that begs the attention of all members of this House. It crosses partisan lines. This government is absolutely committed to closing the gender wage gap and to building on the progress we’ve already made.

As I outlined earlier, Speaker, the first meeting of the group is April 13. We’re going to get the best advice, we’re going to get the best feedback, and we’re going to make sure that the advice we received in the past is implemented. We’ve taken those immediate steps that we could take without further consultation.

We are “bold for change” in the province of Ontario. We’re going to increase fairness in this province. We’re going to close the gender wage gap.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary.

Ms. Ann Hoggarth: I want to thank the minister for his answer and for being such a strong advocate for closing the gender wage gap. He is right: We all need to work together, because International Women’s Day reminds us that, despite our progress, there is still work to do. On average, women still earn less than men, and, simply put, this needs to change.

We also know that all women across the economic spectrum are affected by the wage gap, but the gap is more pronounced for women who are minorities, aboriginal, newcomers or living with disabilities.

Deloitte reported that the gender wage gap represents 2.5% of Ontario’s GDP, and closing it could generate $11.6 billion in an increased annual consumption of goods and services.

Speaker, through you to the minister, could the minister please explain what else our government is doing to ensure women continue to play an important role in our working world?

Hon. Kevin Daniel Flynn: Speaker, thank you very much for that very good question; I want to thank the member again.

It’s not only the right thing to do; the fact of the matter is that equality for women when it comes to the Ontario economy—to any economy—simply makes good business sense as well. It makes sense for workers. It makes sense for business. It makes sense for our economy. It increases productivity. It strengthens skill sets. It contributes to a healthy workplace. It prepares for the workplace of tomorrow.

It was great to see the Ontario Federation of Labour here at Queen’s Park this morning contributing to this very important conversation.

Speaker, women play a critical role in our labour force. At the Ministry of Labour, we’re determined to improve the working lives and the conditions of all workers in Ontario, including women. On International Women’s Day, we’ve got to redouble our efforts to engage with labour and business, and continue to make Ontario one of the best places in the world to work.

Genetic discrimination

Mr. Michael Harris: My question is to the Acting Premier. Speaker, this government’s federal Liberal counterparts in Ottawa today have an opportunity to take a great legislative step towards ending genetic discrimination. And yet, while government members here in Ontario seem brave enough to take that step provincially—and I commend the member for Eglinton–Lawrence for his private member’s bill that would take similar steps—their federal cousins seem to be getting cold feet.

After federal attempts to gut the bill last month, the justice minister has been polling our Premiers to drum up further opposition. Speaker, the justice minister is looking for advice—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Chief government whip, second time.

Mr. Michael Harris: Bill S-201 goes to a vote this afternoon. Will the government assure their federal cousins today that the people of Ontario don’t have time for constitutional, jurisdictional excuses; they want action to end genetic discrimination? Will you agree?

Hon. Deborah Matthews: Attorney General.

Hon. Yasir Naqvi: I thank the member opposite for asking the question, albeit an odd question. It sounds like this is a question that the member should be asking in the federal Parliament, because he is talking about a federal piece of legislation that is not up for debate in this House. I think the member is referring to a bill called S-201, which may be voted in the House.

The federal Minister of Justice, I understand, has advised her caucus that the bill may be unconstitutional because of a division of powers between federal and provincial governments under the Constitution of Canada. Whatever the case may be, Speaker, that is a decision of the federal Parliament and of the federal Minister of Justice, and has very little to do with this Parliament.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary.

Mr. Michael Harris: I will remind the minister that the federal justice minister issued your government a letter asking for input, and so therefore it does become an Ontario issue.

Speaker, of course, Ontarians and Canadians deserve to live free of discrimination. In fact, constitutional experts consulted on the federal bill agreed that it does not overstep on jurisdictional boundaries.

The government member from Eglinton–Lawrence here in the province of Ontario—your member—called it “appalling that they’re hiding behind this provincial jurisdictional, constitutional excuse for not ... ending discriminatory practices in provinces.” He called it “mind-boggling,” and I agree with that member. The federal justice minister has turned to the Premiers for support. Will the Premier give her support to end genetic discrimination? Yes or no?

Hon. Yasir Naqvi: Once again, Speaker, this is a federal matter. I’m not in any position as the Attorney General for the province of Ontario to be giving constitutional advice to the federal government. They have a very robust ministry of justice, they have a very robust constitutional branch, and they have the full capacity to be able to provide any legal advice whatsoever.

The federal Minister of Justice has written, I believe, to the Council of the Federation. I leave it to that secretariat to be able to opine. But it is not our place to be giving advice on constitutional matters to the federal Parliament. That is solely within the sole discretion of the federal Parliament.

What I know is that under our Human Rights Code we have very clear laws when it comes to discrimination on any grounds, and that includes grounds like genetic discrimination. I do want to applaud the member from Eglinton–Lawrence for bringing a private member’s bill dealing with genetic discrimination. He’s always ahead of time, and I believe that bill has passed through second reading.

Minimum wage

Miss Monique Taylor: My question is to the Acting Premier. Two weeks ago, striking workers from York University and the University of Toronto came to Queen’s Park to hold a silent vigil. I had the opportunity to hear some of their stories.

One in particular hit hard. This cafeteria worker on strike, a single mother paid just $12 an hour, found it impossible to make ends meet. Just providing lunch for her daughter is always a challenge. Through tears, she told me that sometimes she has to ask the bus driver to let her on for free so that she can go to work. A single working mother shouldn’t have to str