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April 26, 2017

41st Parliament, 2nd Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcripts 2017-Apr-26 (PDF)

L072 - Wed 26 Apr 2017 / Mer 26 avr 2017

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Wednesday 26 April 2017 Mercredi 26 avril 2017

Orders of the Day

Anti-Racism Act, 2017 / Loi de 2017 contre le racisme

Introduction of Visitors

Milton “Bud” Gregory

Dentist Day

Hockey trophy

Oral Questions

School closures

Ontario budget

Pharmacare

Pharmacare

School closures

Energy policies

Energy policies

Opioid abuse

School funding

Climate change

Northern health services

Forest industry

Arts and cultural funding

Child protection

Deferred Votes

Anti-Racism Act, 2017 / Loi de 2017 contre le racisme

Vaisakhi

Visitors

Wearing of scarves

Introduction of Visitors

Members’ Statements

Journey to Freedom Day

Canadian Hearing Society

Insurance coverage

School closures

Dairy industry

Harry Jerome Awards

School closures

Blood donation

Dentist Day

Introduction of Bills

Roy Wilson Real Estate Inc. Act, 2017

East York Foundation Act, 2017

Innocent Persons Insurance Recovery Act, 2017 / Loi de 2017 sur le recouvrement de sommes assurées par des personnes innocentes

Petitions

Dental care

Pharmacare

Hydro rates

Dental care

Water extraction

Nanjing Massacre

Services for the developmentally disabled

School closures

GO Transit

Dental care

Water fluoridation

Orders of the Day

Rental Fairness Act, 2017 / Loi de 2017 sur l’équité en location immobilière

The House met at 0900.

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

Prayers.

Orders of the Day

Anti-Racism Act, 2017 / Loi de 2017 contre le racisme

Resuming the debate adjourned on April 10, 2017, on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 114,

An Act to provide for Anti-Racism Measures / Projet de loi 114, Loi prévoyant des mesures contre le racisme.

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

Mr. Jagmeet Singh: It’s my honour to rise and discuss Bill 114. This bill lays out the framework so that the Anti-Racism Directorate can begin to do its work. For that, it’s a positive step.

The key elements of this bill, Speaker: One is the requirement to ensure that the government sets a plan and implements a plan with respect to the mandate of the Anti-Racism Directorate.

The second broad area that this bill addresses is the collection of data. We know without any doubt that the collection of data is fundamental, is essential in addressing the inequality that exists. Only when we have the evidence or the facts can we then find solutions to the problems. We have to name the problem before we can solve the problem.

So this is all very positive. There is a particular area, though, I want to highlight that’s been flagged as an area where we’re concerned that there isn’t sufficient data collection, and that’s with respect to health data. At the same time, it’s important to acknowledge the importance of maintaining privacy of that data. It’s important to ensure that health records are kept private, that there is a sense of strong security in knowing that your personal information with relation to your health is not being disclosed.

But it is absolutely important that this area also be addressed in terms of—we know that there is disproportionately a greater impact on the lives of someone who’s racialized with respect to police interaction, with respect to employment. We also know that there are connections and intersections between race and health, and it’s imperative that we have that data as well.

So I just want to touch on this particular part that wasn’t addressed in the bill, that was left out, that stakeholders have addressed as a concern. The association of health centres has raised this issue that the health information that would identify and eliminate systemic racism where the connection between health and race exists, data not being covered by this legislation, not being addressed by this legislation, would create a gap where we know that there are significant problems and where we won’t be able to track the data and find solutions.

I just wanted to refer to an

article written in the Toronto Star on February 21, 2017, by Peter Goffin titled “Effects of Racism on Physical Health Should Be Better Tracked, Says U of T Doctor.” The

article quotes from Dr. Onye Nnorom. The doctor establishes how important it is that not only that there is clear evidence of inequality that exists based on race with relation to income and police contact, but that there is very clear evidence that there’s a connection not only between income and health but between race and health.

The doctor cites a report by the United Nations’ Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent. The report indicates that “many people of African descent continue to live in poverty and poor health, have low educational attainment, and are overrepresented at all levels of the criminal justice system.” Dr. Nnorom then says, “Of course, when you can’t afford to eat healthy, you can’t afford to exercise ... this can definitely adversely affect your health.”

The doctor provides a clear example: “For instance, if you’re diabetic and the doctor is telling you to eat fruits and vegetables, if you are struggling financially, a fancy salad is not going to be feasible for you. Nor is a gym membership.”

We know that there are social determinants of health. We know that income and socio-economic status clearly are related to one’s outcomes in terms of health, but we also know that there is a connection, an intersection, between those socio-economic factors and race as well, and we need to make sure that we have the data to actually address this problem. If we don’t know that this is going on, if we can’t point to evidence, it would be very difficult to provide solutions.

Just a little bit of an overview of some of the evidence that we do have so far: “In Canada’s 2011 National Household Survey, black Canadians reported a median annual income of over $24,000, compared to $31,000 for those who are not visible minorities.” We know that for racialized people, their rates of unemployment are higher and there are significant barriers to not only employment but also to education.

The important element of addressing race-based data and looking at the inequality that exists in our society is twofold. First off, we want to ensure that we build a society that’s inclusive, and that would be of benefit to all of us. When we live in a society where there is less inequality, where people are able to access resources in an equity-based manner, we create a society that’s more just, more fair and more cohesive; we all can live together better.

The second area of importance is, when we look at inequality, the findings often all come back to a very similar theme, whether it is inequality based on religion, on race or on gender: The inequality all manifests itself in a lack of access to resources. It really comes down to barriers that people face, and once we acknowledge that those barriers exist based on these equity-seeking factors, we realize that these are barriers that impact people generally across the spectrum, regardless of race or ethnicity or religion; that people in our society continue to face barriers, and those barriers are largely because of access to resources like education.

When we see students who are not pursuing post-secondary education because tuition fees are so high, when we see graduates from university not able to find a job because there are no opportunities for young people, we see more and more that the inequality that exists in our society increases. The gap between those who have resources and those who do not widens.

The issues are all very much the same; the issues are about access to justice, access to opportunities, access to resources. So the analysis of race will certainly address issues of inequality when it relates to those communities that are marginalized, but it actually informs our society about how we can make our society more just for all people, so it’s important for to us look at that.

I want to turn now to some of the specific areas where there is inequality and what we can do to address them.

The first step is to acknowledge that there is inequality, that there is certain discrimination that exists. Let’s make it very clear that in the province of Ontario, in Canada, there is very clearly systemic discrimination and it exists on a number of levels: gender, race, culture, religion. These are some of the factors that inform this systemic discrimination.

I want to talk about the impact. What does it mean when someone is faced with this discrimination? What does it do to the life of a person? What does it do to the person who faces this?

I want to start with policing. We’ve heard a lot about policing and its disproportional impact on racialized people, but it’s important to really understand what that looks like.

With carding and with street checks, Mr. Speaker, we’ve seen police practices which single out an individual based on the colour of their skin. What does that do to that individual? I’ve shared my personal story before. It’s important to humanize what that means. I’ve met with a number of racialized people. I’ve represented them as counsel, as a lawyer. I’ve heard their stories. I’ve experienced things myself.

When you’re going to work or coming home from school or just walking to a friend’s house in your own community or in a neighbouring community or somewhere in the city, the city that you belong to, the city that you live in—you’re walking in your own city and you’re stopped, and there’s no reason for that stop.

If that stop is aggressive in nature, if there’s a tone of aggression in the voice of the officer, which often happens—when your experiences have all been like that, and any time your friends have been stopped they’ve been harassed or mistreated, you already have a notion that this might not go well, just for being in your own community. When you’re stopped repeatedly for doing the day-to-day things that we often take for granted, it literally makes you feel like you don’t belong. That has a powerfully negative impact on your sense of well-being, on your sense of belonging.

There have been reports and studies that show this. If you think about it, if you’re stopped again and again in your own community, you start to feel like there’s something wrong with you for just being you. Just imagine how hurtful that is, how much of a negative impact that would have on your life.

Mr. Speaker, that’s the reality. The reality is that people start to feel a diminished sense of self-worth. They start to feel like they don’t belong as much. That is such a harmful thing to have happen.

So we can look at it on a cold, evidentiary basis, and sometimes we need to do that, but it’s important to understand the impacts on a human level.

It makes people feel like they’re less worthy of being in their society. What happens is—we’ve seen evidence that supports this—we start to see that those young people who are stopped, those adults who are stopped, those people who are stopped because of the colour of their skin are less engaged in civics, are less engaged in their communities, are less likely to vote, are less likely to want to get engaged in community events, and they increasingly have a distrust of those in positions of power. All of this hurts us as a whole. It hurts our society. It does not create a more cohesive society. It doesn’t allow us to flourish and grow together. It’s extremely harmful, extremely hurtful.

If we think about the use of resources, Mr. Speaker, if we have a limited number of police officers, a limited amount of resources, and all those resources are targeted towards a particular race, we’re actually not using our resources in the most effective manner. We’re not actually investigating the activities that need to be investigated. We’re not developing evidence that’s actually targeting certain problems that we want to address. You have a blanket approach, and you don’t get the results that you want. It’s a misuse of our precious resources.

It’s not good for policing to have this blanket approach that stops anyone based on the colour of their skin. It’s hurtful to society because it makes members of our community feel like they’re unwelcome. So it has a twofold negative impact. It’s important for us to acknowledge that.

Having a directorate that’s mandated with collecting data would provide the means for us to have the evidence without having to resort to the excellent investigative journalism of the Toronto Star, or other media, that was essential in uncovering this particular issue. When it comes to street checks or carding, it was the Toronto Star that obtained data that was kept by the police, and they were able to identify this trend, that there is a massively disproportionate number of racialized people who were being stopped by police.

Even though their populations were so small, they were being stopped again and again, multiple times. With the evidence that was uncovered by the Toronto Star, then we were able to push forward and raise issues and raise concerns.

With the directorate, the idea would be that the directorate would collect this data and continually assess, through an anti-discrimination lens, what practices are hurting society, what practices are discriminatory, what practices see a disproportionate impact on people from a marginalized community. That’s a great thing; it’s important. It would be very effective. It would be very useful to have a consolidated source of data with respect to this type of—any time we see discrimination, this would be very effective. This would be very useful.

We actually have a great example in front of us. When we had the data, when we had the evidence that there was discrimination in terms of stopping people based on the colour of their skin, then activists and community organizers were able to use that evidence, use that data, to raise this concern and say, “There’s something wrong with the way policing is being administered. There’s something wrong with policing in general, if we’re seeing this issue happen, and policing in general with relation to people from marginalized communities.

There’s clearly something wrong if this is going on, where there’s such a disproportionate amount of people being stopped based on the colour of their skin, even though they don’t make up a significant part of the population.” That data provided the evidence for community organizers and activists to raise the issue.

I have to congratulate a number of these activists for their advocacy, which resulted in some change. We had the African Canadian Legal Clinic. We had the Law Union. We had a number of community organizers. I have to give a special shout-out to Desmond Cole, who, as a journalist and a writer, used his platform to raise the issue and put forward the problems with respect to what happens in the lives of people in our province.

He shared his very personal story about the number of times that he’d been stopped throughout Ontario, whether it was when he was in university in Kingston or growing up on the streets of Toronto, or just in the community in Toronto—the number of times he was stopped on the street doing nothing, just meeting friends, coming back from work or going to meet another friend. That story was very compelling; it was a very powerful story. Using this platform, we had a number of advocates come forward.

I had the honour of raising the issue in this assembly, and we’ve seen the government take some action. I acknowledge the government has taken action. But here is the second part of the equation: Once we have the data, we also need to ensure that there is some action that takes place. Just collecting the data is a first step, an important first step, a vital first step, but it is only a first step. It’s only because of the hard work of all the community activists and organizers who pushed forward the issue that we actually saw some changes.

So we need to ensure that the directorate links the data to an analysis that results in some policy action, some actual changes that are implemented. Because we’ve seen far too many reports that have been commissioned, that have been written and that have then been shelved just to collect dust. We can’t let that happen again. Once we collect the data, we need a robust process by which that data is analyzed and then there are policies implemented to address those inequalities, whatever they are.

The final component is that we need to continually track the policies to make sure they’re actually achieving their intended outcome. In the case of carding there was an issue and journalists were able to pull up the data that supported that there was something going on that was inappropriate. Through community activism, the government was then pushed to implement changes. Now the third

part is that there needs to be an ongoing assessment of those changes. Are they actually achieving the intended outcome?

In this case, with carding, the regulations that were implemented by the government—there are some regulations which are quite good, I have to acknowledge that. The key ingredient being, if someone’s stopped by the police, they should be informed that they do not have to speak with the police, that they have the right to walk away. Any communication should be voluntary. Ensuring that that’s an element of any police contact, that there is this information that’s provided up front, is essential. It’s one of the key requests by civil liberties and civil rights activists who have been raising this issue.

They said one of the most important things is to ensure that police provide that rights notification, and that’s good.

However, the way that the regulations were crafted—and they received criticism from the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and from the African Canadian Legal Clinic—there is a massive exception that has been put in place. This is where we need ongoing analysis. Does the policy actually achieve the intended outcome? In this case, there is a massive exception, and the exception is that if there’s an ongoing investigation, then the police are not subject to the regulations.

The problem with this exception is that “ongoing investigation” is very broad in definition.

That could mean that if there was an ongoing investigation about something very serious like a series of robberies that were happening in a community but there was no specificity with respect to time, with respect to what specific location in the community, what specific objective factors in terms of the description of the suspects who are involved—without any of those additional elements, just saying that there’s an investigation going on—the current regulations allow for a broad exception that none of the rights notification elements apply anymore.

Basically what it means is that you don’t have to—if there’s an investigation going on generally, any sort of investigation, that could be used as a reason to say, “Well, now I’m no longer going to apply the regulations.” That was the analysis done by a number of legal experts. That exception is too broad. It creates a massive gap in the protection that otherwise this regulation could have provided.

Now this gap exists, but what’s important is that we have follow-up to ensure that we are seeing less discriminatory stops when it comes to street checks or carding. That would be very important, to have a follow-up. It’s so important that we not only address the data and have policies, but that we continue to track to see if the policies are working, and this is an example of how that would help.

What we really want to see as a vision in this province is that we need to apply a lens of anti-discrimination and of anti-racism to everything that we do, much like we need a gender lens with respect to budgets. We know that there are significant gaps with gender pay; that in this time and in this day and age, right now, here in Canada, here in Ontario, we continue to see the circumstance or the situation where women, for the exact same job, the exact same position, continue to get paid as much as 30% less. It’s still going on and it is shameful.

If that’s going on, we need to look at why that’s happening, and a gender lens approach to a budget would look at the issues that are being raised by a budget and look at the impact on gender, and then suggest policies that address that. It’s not enough, again, to identify the problem. That’s the first step. We need to then implement policies to change that, to alter those outcomes.

One of those key areas, for example, if we look at a budget, would be: Where do we see some of the biggest gaps? One of the biggest problems, we know, when it comes to equity issues with relation to women in Canada, but specifically in Ontario, is child care. We know that if we address child care—we have so much evidence that clearly points to this—and make it affordable, make it accessible, then we will literally change the lives of so many women in this province. It will literally address so much of the poverty, so much of the inequality that exists.

Time and time again, we don’t see enough action on this file. That’s another example of where we need to not just identify the problem, but we need to implement policies that will actually change it, that will actually address it.

One of the steps, just to give you a concrete example, was that we needed a commitment from this province that—if you want to address child care, the only way to ensure that we have high-quality, affordable child care is through publicly delivered programs that are not for profit. It’s really clear; the evidence is there. We know this is a fact, and we know that this is true. If we have for-profit delivery models, we know that it compromises care or it’s extremely expensive, and then it’s not accessible. It’s not going to work that way.

Similarly, in this, whether it’s on the policing, on the carding element, we need to make sure that we have policies that actually create the intended outcomes we want.

I want to touch on a couple of other areas.

There is strong evidence with respect to the intersection of race and education. The outcomes we see—that racialized people, young people, don’t see the same level of success in schools—we need to address that. We know what the solution is. Some of the solutions have been suggested by a number of task forces in this province, in this city.

We know that one of the key areas—we’ve seen a failure again on the part of the government to address this—is that we need to see students reflected in their classrooms in terms of representation—in terms of race, religion, culture and ethnicity—in the teachers, the principals and the vice-principals. We need to see that reflected in schools.

That’s something that has been suggested before; it has been recommended before. We know that it works. We know that when young people see themselves reflected in positions of power and authority, like a teacher, like someone who is running the school, it allows that young person to achieve better. It allows them to see that they’re reflected in the institution and that they can then achieve more success. That’s something that we’ve seen this government, again, fail to follow through on.

We need to see that identification of the problem, and then move towards the solution. We need that next step. It’s so vital and so crucial.

This is why I want to broaden the issue: We know that in general, if we address the specific problems with relation to race, we can also address the broader problem of how we make our education system better in general. This is something that we should always look at. The data that we are able to obtain in this area—in education, for example—will also help us make a better education system in general, a more holistic education system, where all students achieve success.

I think it’s important, when we’re addressing the Anti-Racism Directorate, to name some specific elements of racism that exist. I think it’s important to name them specifically because we have to address them specifically.

One of the elements that we need to be very clear about is that there is very clearly a very specific form of racism: anti-black racism. It exists in our society. It’s a specific form of racism. It’s very pernicious, and it needs to be identified specifically and named specifically. It’s important to do so.

We’ve done this in this assembly, and I congratulate all members of all parties for doing this: We need to identify Islamophobia as a specific form of racism. It’s a form of racism which has specifically targeted a community, and that has been very hurtful. Naming an injustice is the way you address the injustice. The fact that there is a clear attack on a particular community, a broad-stroke attack on a religion, is hurtful to our society in a holistic sense, in a general sense, and it’s also very painfully damaging to that specific community.

We also need to continue to name and continue to address the fact that anti-Semitism is a specific form of racism, a specific form of hate, that continues to exist, and we see it growing.

The reason why I wanted to name these, specifically, is that we know that racism, discrimination and hate are all connected. When we see discrimination, it fuels hatred. With hatred—the extreme form of discrimination results in hatred—hatred is not isolated. We know that hatred is far more like a fire than it is like an isolated, specific, targeted approach. And fires, like we all know, spread. So wherever we see a rise in hate, whether it’s based on race or religion, we see it impacting many people.

We can just look to the south to see examples where, as we’ve seen a rise in Islamophobia, we’ve seen a rise in attacks against racialized people in general. There is an example that is just so telling: There were four individuals; two of them were South Asian. In terms of religion, they were Hindu. They were shot at and attacked by a man who said, “I wanted to get those Arabs.” They weren’t from the Middle East; they were actually from India. And they weren’t Muslim; they were Hindu. But it shows you that Islamophobia is not something that’s only targeting Muslims. The idea of hate spreads, and it creates a climate where it’s okay to disrespect someone based on their unique factors.

We’ve also seen a rise in anti-Semitism. People might say that there’s such a difference in terms of framing Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, that they’re so different. But hate is very much the same. Once you allow the climate for hate to exist, it spreads and it grows. That’s why it’s so important for us to address, to name the specific forms of hatred that exist, and also acknowledge that discrimination allows for the climate of hatred to grow. There is a strong connection, and it’s something we need to address that way.

On this issue of the connectivity of discrimination, I think it’s also important to highlight the intersections of racism and when there are multiple factors leading to discrimination or racism. We know that in our community, your race will impact your social determinants of health or it will impact your contact with the police. But we know that when there are intersections, if you are racialized and Muslim, that will increase the level of discrimination you might face.

If you’re racialized and there’s a particular religion and you face physical disabilities, that increases the level of discrimination that you’ll face in your life, whether it’s employment or whether it’s access to opportunities. Sexuality will also increase those. So I think it’s a very crucial moment we have. It’s very vital that the Anti-Racism Directorate acknowledges this intersectionality. I think the directorate is in a great position to address this, to raise this awareness, and to then solve these problems in an intersectional way. It’s a great opportunity, I think, we have here.

We’ve talked about a number of areas of racism and intersectionality, and I want to spend the last bit of my time focusing on this last issue: One of the worst things that we’ve done as a society here in Canada, here in Ontario, and one of things that we all share responsibility for and that we have to address with a shared responsibility model—we all need to work towards addressing this together—is the treatment of indigenous people.

Indigenous people in this province and in this country have received the brunt—and not to compare, but I think it’s very clear, in terms of evidence, in terms of historic and ongoing discrimination and just horrible treatment, that indigenous people have received the worst, the brunt of the racism and of the discrimination in our society. It’s our shared responsibility to (1) acknowledge that, that that’s the case, that that’s factually true; and (2) to really address this issue in a meaningful way. I think the Anti-Racism Directorate is, again, in a strong position to do that. We need to acknowledge that.

It’s our shared, horrible legacy, and it’s incumbent on all of us to rectify that legacy by actually doing some concrete things to address it. So we need to address it, and there’s some key ingredients to this.

I think we need to acknowledge—and the word is very strong, and it’s an appropriately strong word—the genocide that the indigenous people have faced. There’s been both a physical, direct killing of indigenous people, and then a cultural genocide which is effectively another form of genocide. It is another genocide to strip people of their language, of their way of life, of their culture, of their identity. They have suffered this at the hands of Canadians. This is a fact. We need to acknowledge that. It is our shared responsibility to acknowledge that.

Once we’ve acknowledged it, it’s incumbent on us to address this by meaningfully changing the circumstances that they face because, as Canadians, it’s our shared responsibility that they’re in this place in the first place.

There is a number of areas that we need to address: education, employment, access to opportunities, and access to justice, more importantly. I want to start with access to water, something as simple as access to water. It’s unbelievable, it’s literally unfathomable, that in a country as rich as ours and in a country as resource-gifted as ours, we have so many communities in our province, in our country, that don’t have access to clean water. In Ontario, a province that is so rich with clean water, that has such a massive amount of clean water, where we have so many resources, it’s just unacceptable that people are living without clean water.

We know that in certain communities that there is ongoing contamination of their water. We know that in Grassy Narrows—it’s clear their water has been poisoned, their water has been polluted to such an extent that it’s poisonous to the people, but we’re not doing anything about it. We’re not cleaning that water up. The government has to address this, it’s a fundamental element. If we care about addressing and we have a directorate that talks about anti-racism, then we need to fundamentally take care of this basic necessity. People should have water as a fundamental right. It is unacceptable that the water is not clean. We need to address that access to water. That’s a key ingredient.

We know, again, with the police system, that there is a disproportionate contact rate and incarceration of indigenous people. We need to look at solutions to addressing that. We know that too many young people go missing. We know about women who are the missing and murdered indigenous women.

Now, particularly, in a chilling story that we recently saw a couple of years ago, an inquiry was called. Students from certain communities needed to go to larger cities. Indigenous students needed to go to larger cities to get access to high school and to move forward with their education. We know of approximately five or six young people who went to Thunder Bay for schooling and died. Their deaths were under circumstances that it’s unclear how they happened—suspicious circumstances. An inquiry was held to look into what could be done to address that.

The inquiry had key recommendations—recommendations around ensuring that there’s mentoring, ensuring that there’s adequate housing that allows for central community-building for these students who are often hundreds of kilometres away from home, to allow them to build a cohesion in their new communities, to put support systems in place.

One of the key areas that indigenous communities raised that was not addressed was the climate that some of the students indicated that they felt in the city, particularly in this city, that there was a climate of racism that hurt these young people, that when they moved to this city they felt that, and that played some

part in creating the conditions, eventually, for their untimely passing.

We need to be very serious about racism, because it means that people are dying. People are dying as a result of racism. People are being denied access to resources and denied clean water. People who are going away to go to school never come back home. Because there’s something going on here, we need to address it.

We know that there is a massively disproportionate number of suicides that happen in First Nations indigenous communities. We need to address that. That’s a clear sign that there’s something going wrong, that we need to do more.

Where I really want to spend the last couple of minutes is on focusing in on solutions. The solutions are where we need to make sure that everything we do moves towards a solution. Even data has to be collected in a manner such that we are looking towards implementing this information in a policy that will actually rectify the problem. Once we identify it, we need to rectify it.

I ask the government now: We have one case where we can start implementing this process. You have regulations that have been implemented. I hope the government pays clear attention to the ongoing street checks and carding, to ensure that there is no ongoing discrimination, that people are not facing continual discrimination. We need to make sure that this is addressed.

There is a general sentiment that racialized people need to be surveilled, contained or controlled. These ideas of containment, surveillance and control perpetuate negative stereotypes. They create a society that is not holistic, that is divisive, that is divided, that is not coherent.

It’s important that we understand that when we have policies that enact discrimination, it creates a society that’s not reaching its full potential. We’re actually building a society that is not achieving what it can achieve, so it’s important that we work on that.

We know that representation is key. We had a recent report released. After a long court battle and tribunals, a decision was reached that in the Peel region—and this is the finding of the decision-maker. The finding was that in the Peel region, the police had a culture that projected, or that indicated, that South Asians were second-class citizens. This was a result of a decorated, distinguished police officer who was passed over for promotion a number of times and who raised the issue. The decision-makers found that the reason he was passed over was because his policing experience, which was in large

part in the South Asian community, was discredited and not valued because it was in the South Asian community and it was considered of less value.

This is a public structure. This is a public institution that is saying that someone’s policing experience—their hard years of work in the police service—was less valuable, was of less value, of less merit, because most of that experience was in the South Asian community.

Mr. Speaker, at least 50% of the city is South Asian. That’s suggesting that 50% of the population of the city have no value or merit. If you’re a police officer in Brampton or in the Peel region, a vast percentage of your work will probably be with the South Asian community. For the Peel police to say that that means your work is of less value—that is so incredibly offensive and discriminatory.

This is an example of where we need to now have some action. We know that this is going on, that this culture exists, so let’s do something about it.

There is certainly provincial guidance and provincial leadership that can be implemented in this case. The Anti-Racism Directorate is clearly in the best position to provide that leadership in terms of the government, and should do so. That report, that decision, should be something that the Anti-Racism Directorate looks at—looks at the evidence that was presented to the decision-maker, and then implements some policies to address it. It has to be done. This is a serious issue.

I’ll just make my final appeal now and wrap up. We have an opportunity with the Anti-Racism Directorate to really look at: How do we build a more unified society? How do we build a society where there is less inequality, where there is less discrimination, ideally no discrimination? How do we build a better society? Building a better society isn’t just for the equity-seeking communities. It’s not just for racialized people or people of different religions. When you build a better society, a society that’s more cohesive, a society that’s more united, it benefits everyone. It’s a better society for everyone.

When we look at the reasons why people are being discriminated against, often the reasons are socio-economic, meaning their lack of access to education or employment, and these are issues that impact everyone. So when we look at these problems, we’re actually looking at problems that impact everybody in this province, and we can come up with solutions that will then help everyone in this province. I think it’s important to always look beyond, that when we address inequality in one form, we’re actually looking at ways to address inequality as a whole. I think this is an excellent opportunity for us to do that.

I think the government needs to seize this opportunity. If they don’t, please be aware that New Democrats will continue to hold you to account and make sure that we build a society that’s more just, that’s more fair, because that is what we do as New Democrats, and that is what we need to do as Ontarians.

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

Mr. Granville Anderson: I wish to thank the member from Bramalea–Gore–Malton for his remarks. I sat here and I listened to every word he said, and it was very well done and a point well taken.

Our government is taking leadership, Mr. Speaker, a leadership role in trying to eliminate racism, which is a daunting task. Indeed, I don’t think we’ll ever accomplish that in today’s society. Given the fact that we have had to introduce a bill like this, it is saying a lot towards attitudes in this province. Hopefully, it will help to change attitudes and make life easier for our indigenous people, people in the black community and other racialized people in this province and in this country.

When we remove barriers for the most disadvantaged, we improve our institutions and we improve the outcome of their lives. We want to be open and transparent about our work, through public reporting and meaningful dialogue with our communities, to build a better society for all of our people, where people can come together and have job opportunities and opportunities to succeed in life, whether it’s in our school system or in the workplace. This bill goes a far way towards accomplishing some of that.

Speaker, I saw an

article in the Toronto Star over the weekend that’s saying the situation is so bad in this country that they want to remove names from resumés, just in case, just to level the playing field to give people even the opportunity to have an interview. That’s a sad commentary, indeed. When I saw that, I realized we do have a problem, and it goes far deeper than this legislation maybe could ever address.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): The member from Nepean–Carleton.

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: I want to comment on my colleague from Bramalea–Gore–Malton and thank him for his deliberation here today. I take exception to the fact that things are so bad in this country that we’re in worse shape than any other nation. Look, we are not dealing with genocides here in this country while we are seeing it elsewhere, where people are actually being targeted to death because of who they are. That said, I do agree that we have to do more to combat racism, anti-indigenous bigotry, anti-Muslim bigotry and anti-Semitism.

I will bring this to the floor of the assembly because I believe it is very important: The Jewish community continues to be one of the most targeted communities when it comes to hate crimes in Ontario. In the latest Toronto Police Service’s report alone, the Jewish community was the target of 43 of 145 hate crimes in 2016, meaning that 30% of the offences were directed at the Jewish community.

Similarly, in Hamilton, 21 of 115 reported hate crimes in 2016 were directed at the Jewish community. These are not isolated events. They have happened in my own city of Ottawa, and I’m not proud of that. That’s why our institutions across the province need to ensure that we are protecting everyone, including the Jewish community.

I just want to point out the recently launched Anti-Racism Directorate. The minister addressed the need to stop systemic racism and discrimination against a number of communities, including the black community, the indigenous community, as my colleague mentioned, and the Muslim community, yet there’s no mention of a plan to combat anti-Semitism and help the Jewish community, which is one of the most targeted in Canada, so I would ask that the government consider that. Obviously, I support those groups that have been mentioned in the bill, but I do notice a glaring omission of those who are not included.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): The member from Hamilton Mountain.

Miss Monique Taylor: I would like to thank the member from Bramalea–Gore–Malton for his very thorough depiction of the bill. I want to bring it back to another bill that’s before this House at the same time, and that’s Bill 89, and how the two of them really have so much to do with each other. Bill 89 is dealing with our Child, Youth, and Family Services Act and the repealing of the ministry’s current act and putting in this new act.

Right now, there are figures that say that in Toronto 8% of those under 18 are black, yet 42% of children in care have at least one black parent. That’s five times the representation of the general population.

If we’re not gathering data, if we’re not making sure that we’re using data for future use—these are the kinds of things that have happened. We know that so many families are living in poverty and are ending up with their kids in care, and that those same youth are then ending up in corrections. These are all systemic issues, and this is a big part of it.

So I congratulate the member on his work.

I also want to touch base with the member from Nepean–Carleton. I met a Jewish family—and she told me this story about her daughter going to her new boyfriend’s church with him. When she went to the church with him, she said, “Where are the police?” He said, “What do you mean? There are no police here.” She said, “Every time we go to the synagogue to pray, there are police.” That in itself was so mind-blowing for me.

I’m out of time, but thank you for the opportunity.

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

Ms. Harinder Malhi: Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my colleague from Bramalea–Gore–Malton for his comments. I noticed that he mentioned something about a recent glaring case in our own community of Peel. These are the reasons why what we’re doing here is so important.

The proposed Anti-Racism Act is the first one of its kind in Canada, and it would embed the ARD into law. It allows for the collection of race-based data. It is supported by the Information and Privacy Commissioner and provides high privacy standards for the protection of personal information.

We understand that the things that are happening right now in our own community should not be happening. I’ve been following the same case that was referred to in the member’s speech, and I think that many members of our community were shocked to see what happened and the outcome with the tribunal—to see that somebody wasn’t able to move forward based on their race and based on racial issues. We want to be able to support people like that in moving forward in their careers, in our communities.

That is exactly why our government has been so focused on consulting with communities, consulting with people to develop anti-racism legislation, ensuring that it will be incorporated into law and that it can’t be changed.

I also want to comment a little bit on something that the member from Nepean–Carleton said. I don’t think that, in our legislation, we are ignoring any group. We are not focused on any group. All groups are included under this legislation. Yes, we have talked about two of the highly targeted groups in our province, but we’re not ignoring anything. We understand that all groups face some sort of racism. Coming from an ethnic and racial background, I understand how important it is to have protections available for all groups. Everybody should feel safe when they go to pray.

The comment made by the member from Hamilton Mountain: It’s not fair that somebody should think that when they go to pray, there needs to be a police officer there.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): The member from Bramalea–Gore–Malton has two minutes.

Mr. Jagmeet Singh: I just want to acknowledge—I should have done this before—the tremendous advocacy of our leader, Andrea Horwath, in pushing forward the Anti-Racism Directorate in this province. I want to acknowledge that our leader’s determination to get that pushed forward was very crucial.

I want to thank all the members for their comments. I want to thank them all for their responses.

I just want to finish off with two specific examples that I didn’t touch on in my previous speech. The Peel school board saw some really horrible racism as well, and it was targeted against the Muslim community. That Islamophobia was just disgusting to see. It was very divisive, but there was also a shining example of hope when other communities came together to support their Muslim brothers and sisters. That’s something that we need to see more of, the idea that we need to work together.

I absolutely agree that we need to address anti-Semitism. That is clearly an issue that I touched on in my speech, but it is clearly an issue that we need to address and continue to address. Really, whenever we see discrimination or an injustice against one community, it’s an injustice and discrimination against all of us. That’s important.

The final area that has to be touched on is the York school board. The York school board has ongoing issues of systemic discrimination, and it’s been very troubling to see. There’s been a real lack of leadership and a lack of action in that board. We need to see better outcomes; we need to see better results. We can’t have a school board allowing practices that are so clearly racist, that are so clearly discriminatory. That’s essentially the board that’s going to determine the future education of young people.

We need to make sure that they have the brightest future possible, that they have all the access possible to education. Having a climate where their race is not respected, their uniqueness is not respected, is so hurtful to that.

I want to acknowledge those two areas that are also important for us to address, the school boards, and thank everyone for their input.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Pursuant to standing order 47(c), I am now required to interrupt the proceedings and announce that there has been more than six and one half hours of debate on the motion for second reading of this bill. This debate will therefore be deemed adjourned unless the government House leader specifies otherwise.

Mr. James J. Bradley: It will be adjourned?

Interjections.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Minister?

Hon. Helena Jaczek: Yes, Mr. Speaker, we wish for debate to continue.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Further debate? Further debate? Last call for further debate.

Mr. Coteau has moved second reading of Bill 114,

An Act to provide for Anti-Racism Measures. Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? I heard a no.

All those in favour, please say “aye.”

All those opposed, please say “nay.”

I believe the ayes have it.

A recorded vote will be required. It will be deferred until after question period this morning.

Second reading vote deferred.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Orders of the day.

Hon. Tracy MacCharles: No further business, Mr. Speaker.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): This House stands recessed until 10:30 this morning.

The House recessed from 0958 to 1030.

Introduction of Visitors

Mr. Bill Walker: It’s my pleasure to welcome Dr. Totton from Owen Sound and Dr. Drake, who has dental offices in both Sauble Beach and Lion’s Head, and all the dentists and all the staff from the Ontario Dental Association. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mrs. Lisa Gretzky: I’d like to welcome Dr. Lesli Hapak and Dr. Charles Frank. They’re both dentists from the Windsor area.

Mr. Harinder S. Takhar: It is my pleasure to introduce and welcome Dr. Vipin Mithia to the Ontario Legislature today. He is a constituent in my riding of Mississauga–Erindale and is a practising dentist in Mississauga.

I also want to introduce Ninder Thind and Bhajan Thind as well. They are here to watch their son and grandson.

Mr. Robert Bailey: Speaker, it’s my pleasure today to introduce through you to the Legislature Dr. Lesli Hapak, Dr. Kerr Banduk, Dr. Raffy Chouljian and Dr. Charles Frank, all members of the Ontario Dental Association, here with us today.

Mr. Paul Miller: I’d like to introduce Dr. Victor Kutcher from Hamilton, here with the Ontario Dental Association.

Mr. Granville Anderson: I would like to welcome Dr. Graham Baldwin from my riding of Durham, who is here today with the Ontario Dental Association. Welcome.

Mr. Steve Clark: Speaker, I want to introduce to you and through you to the members a constituent from my riding who is here from the ODA. I’d like to welcome Dr. Kim Hansen. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Peter Tabuns: I would like to welcome Dr. Andy Syriopoulos from Toronto–Danforth. We appreciate his presence today. Thank you. Welcome.

Hon. Deborah Matthews: From the ODA: Dr. Peter Fendrich, a great friend of mine.

Career Colleges Ontario is also here today: Paul Kitchin, Diana Boal and Sharon Maloney. Welcome, all.

Mr. John Yakabuski: I’d like to welcome, from my riding of Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke, Dr. Kevin Roach, who is here with the ODA.

Mr. John Vanthof: I’d like to welcome Dr. Rick Caldwell from my riding and everyone else from the Ontario Dental Association.

Mr. Mike Colle: It’s my pleasure to introduce the president of Bryan College, Adriana Costenaro, who is here with Career Colleges Ontario. Welcome, Adriana.

Mr. Monte McNaughton: I’m honoured to welcome family friends of ours to Queen’s Park today, Bill and Jane Bruinink from Mount Brydges—welcome to Queen’s Park—as well as Dr. David Jones from Dorchester.

Ms. Ann Hoggarth: Today, I would like to welcome Alice Jackes-Sweetnam from my riding of Barrie. She’s here with the Ontario Dental Association.

Mr. Raymond Sung Joon Cho: I’m very happy to welcome Clovel Folkes, administrator of Dare to Care HIV/AIDS program, from Jamaica, and Lola Adekoya from my riding. She is also a volunteer for Dare to Care.

Hon. Marie-France Lalonde: I would like to welcome, on behalf of the Ottawa–Orléans community, Dr. Wendy Low, who is here today from the Ontario Dental Association. Welcome.

Mr. Ernie Hardeman: I’m pleased to rise today to welcome a special guest who is in the gallery today, Dr. Malcolm Wood, who is a dentist from the great riding of Oxford. I want to thank him for being here at Queen’s Park today.

Hon. Bill Mauro: In the members’ gallery, west side, from Thunder Bay and the Ontario Dental Association: Dr. Gerry Smith. Great to see you, Gerry.

Ms. Sylvia Jones: Please join me in welcoming, from the Ontario Dental Association, from the beautiful riding of Dufferin–Caledon, Dr. Lisa Bentley and, from Guelph, Dr. Maneesh Jain. Welcome.

Mrs. Cristina Martins: It gives me great pleasure to introduce Nadia Guerrera, a teacher from my riding of Davenport, who is here with a number of students and schools: Michael Power-St. Joseph, Marshall McLuhan, and Cardinal Carter. Welcome to Queen’s Park here today.

Mr. Sam Oosterhoff: I am very pleased to be able to welcome to the Legislature today Kevin Boyce, James Jeffs and John Thompson, from my riding of Niagara West–Glanbrook. They’re from the Ontario Dental Association, and I’m very pleased to have them in the Legislature today.

Mr. Han Dong: It gives me great pleasure to introduce two Career Colleges Ontario representatives from my riding of Trinity–Spadina. Please welcome J.P. Roszell from Anderson College, and George Hood, president of Herzing College.

I encourage all members of this House to pop by the Career Colleges Ontario reception this evening, between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., in the dining room.

Mr. Ted Arnott: I wish to welcome to the Legislature today the mayor of the town of Erin, Allan Alls, and his wife, Diane, as well as Dr. Thomas Drake, who is here with the Ontario Dental Association. Welcome to the Legislature.

Hon. Kevin Daniel Flynn: I met this morning with three great dentists from the region of Halton who have joined us here at Queen’s Park. Vipan, Kelvin and Brenda are with us today.

Hon. Michael Coteau: Joining us today are friends from Don Valley East: from the Trebas Institute, Luisa Tanzi; and Laleh Bighash, from the Academy of Applied Pharmaceutical Sciences. They’re from the beautiful riding of Don Valley East.

Mr. Jim Wilson: I notice that students, teachers and parents from Father F.X. O’Reilly school have just joined us in the gallery behind me. They’re grade 5 and 6 students from Tottenham, in my riding.

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: I’d like to introduce Dr. Jack McLister. He’s the president of the Ontario Dental Association, and he’s here from my hometown of London. I’d also like to introduce Dr. Peter Fendrich. He’s a long-time volunteer and advocate for the ODA. He’s from London as well.

I understand that the dentists are celebrating 150 years, which is very coincidental, because Canada will be 150 too.

Mr. Yvan Baker: I want to introduce three dentists, who I met with this morning, from the Ontario Dental Association: Dr. John Glenny, who is a constituent of mine in Etobicoke Centre; Dr. Domenic Trotti; and Dr. C.P. Giri. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: As we’ve heard, the Ontario Dental Association is here today. I’d like to welcome four dentists in particular: ODA president Dr. Jack McLister; Dr. Jerry Smith; Dr. Lynn Tomkins, who is a constituent of mine; and CEO and executive director Frank Bevilacqua.

Ms. Daiene Vernile: Please help me welcome to Queen’s Park today, from Wilfrid Laurier University, director of government relations and former QP staffer Maria Papadopoulos; and students Kyle Laverty, Aqsa Naveed, Lisa Irimescu, Steve Bagin, Jonathan Ricci, and Jordan Baechler; and their instructor, former Kitchener Centre MPP and friend to many, John Milloy.

M me France Gélinas: J’aimerais souhaiter la bienvenue à mon bon ami le D r Roch St-Aubin, de Sudbury; Dr. LouAnn Visconti, from Timmins; and Dr. Donald Young, from Thunder Bay. They are all dentists, here to celebrate 150 years of dentistry.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Mr. Speaker, I have a great introduction. As we know, April is donor month, and in honour of this month, we have some special guests here today: Kim LeBlanc and Dave Allingham. Kim made the brave decision to donate her 15-year-old son Tyler’s heart, and Dave is the recipient of Tyler’s heart.

I want to thank you both for being here with us today.

Also joining us today from Trillium Gift of Life are president Ronnie Gavsie; communications director Mary Ellen Armstrong; and communications adviser Shilpa Sharma.

This tells us just how remarkable that gift of life can be.

Hon. Yasir Naqvi: I also want to welcome all of the dentists from Ottawa who are visiting Queen’s Park. In particular, I want to thank and welcome Dr. Don Friedlander, who is a good friend of mine and also my personal dentist.

Mr. Todd Smith: Speaker, I know you’ve heard, but the Legiskaters arose last night to beat the Dentinators 16-6 in our game. I want to make a special welcome to the hardest-working player of the game—he saw more rubber than a dead skunk on the 401 in last night’s game—who was the goaltender, Dr. Rick Caldwell. We welcome him.

Mr. Joe Dickson: On behalf of the MPP for Mississauga–Brampton South, the guests of page captain Gurjaap Brar are his mother, Ninder Thind; his grandmother Jasbir Kaur Thind; and his grandfather Bhajan Singh Thind. Welcome.

Hon. Glen R. Murray: I’d just like to introduce two very fine guests from my riding: John Nelson, from the Canadian Business College, and Frank Gerencser, from triOS College, two very fine career colleges in my constituency.

Mr. Percy Hatfield: Speaker, just doing your job, sir: If there’s anyone else in the House who wasn’t welcomed yet this morning, welcome to Queen’s Park.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Everybody’s stepping on my lines today.

Mr. Yvan Baker: I just wanted to welcome the students from Michael Power–St. Joseph High School in my community, Etobicoke Centre, and to welcome Nadia Guerrera, the fantastic teacher who has brought them here today. Welcome.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Further introductions. I’m still doing them, Minister. Minister, go ahead.

Hon. Dipika Damerla: I would like to introduce a constituent, Rodney D’Souza, from CDI College, who is visiting Queen’s Park today and representing career colleges. Welcome, Rodney.

Hon. Reza Moridi: It’s a great pleasure to welcome Dr. Giri and Dr. Elise Wong from my riding. Please join me in welcoming them.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I have a few. The former member for Kitchener Centre in the 38th, 39th and 40th Parliaments—which the Speaker tends to do for former members—John Milloy, is here in the House. Thank you, John. He’s hiding.

Mr. John Yakabuski: He’s as elusive as ever, Speaker.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Also from the riding of Brant, on behalf of the Ontario Dental Association, Dr. Murray Pearson.

I would also like to echo what one of the members said during introductions. At this moment of maximum hockey, it’s my great pleasure to advise members that our very own House team—pun intended—the Legiskaters, won the annual trophy last night by defeating the ODA Dentonators 16-6.

I would also like to invite the victorious players and coaches and anyone else who wants to consider themselves a hockey player involved with the team to pose for a victory photo with the trophy on the grand staircase after question period. Congratulations to our team.

I would defer now to the member for Leeds–Grenville for a point of order.

Mr. Steve Clark: On a point of order, Speaker: In the event that the trophy the Legiskaters won arrives in the chamber, I would like to have unanimous consent that, during question period, the trophy make its way to the desks of the players in rotation.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Looks like we’re starting a Stanley Cup tradition. To the dentists in the room: This is not rubbing your nose in it, I’m telling you right now. We’re not doing that.

The Minister of Children and Youth Services on a point of order.

Hon. Michael Coteau: I found John Milloy. He’s in the east gallery.

Milton “Bud” Gregory

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The government House leader on a point of order.

Hon. Yasir Naqvi: Speaker, I believe you will find that we have unanimous consent to recognize the former member of provincial Parliament from Mississauga East, Mr. Milton Edward Charles Gregory, with a representative from each caucus speaking for up to five minutes.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The government House leader is seeking unanimous consent. Do we agree? Agreed.

Before we proceed, I too would like to draw your attention to the Speaker’s gallery. Please join me in welcoming the family of the late Milton Edward Charles—also known as “Bud”—Gregory, MPP for Mississauga East during the 30th, 31st, 32nd and 33rd Parliaments, who are seated in the Speaker’s gallery: daughter Martinne Oliver and her partner, Ed Howell; daughter Judy Fraser and her husband, Chris Sanders; granddaughter Christie Atkinson and her partner, Nathan Horenburg; and great-granddaughter Kelsey Atkinson Trimble. Welcome to the House. Thank you for being here.

Also in the Speaker’s gallery, to show support, is Mr. David Warner, the Speaker during the 35th Parliament; Mr. Steve Mahoney, MPP for Mississauga West during the 34th and 35th Parliaments; and Mr. Phil Gillies, MPP for Brantford during the 32nd and 33rd Parliaments. Welcome, gentlemen. We’re glad you’re here with us.

I would now ask for our tributes to be paid.

Mr. Jagmeet Singh: I also want to extend, on behalf of all New Democrats, our welcome to you all, all the friends and family and loved ones. Thank you so much for joining us here today.

I took this as an opportunity to learn, and I learned a great deal. I learned three key things from the life of Milton Edward Charles “Bud” Gregory. I learned three key things, and I think these are key things we can share with this assembly.

First, I think it’s important to acknowledge a little bit of background. As we all know, Bud Gregory, Mr. Gregory, was an MPP who served 12 long years here in this assembly. He served five years in his capacity as city councillor in Mississauga, and at the regional level as well. He was born in Toronto in 1926. Over those years, he gave a lot to this assembly, he gave a lot to the province, and I know that was a massive sacrifice for his family.

He taught me three things that I can share with this assembly. One: The pain of losing, but in losing, some of the wisdom that you can learn from that. He mentioned initially, in an article, that losing was a very emotional thing, that there was a lot of extreme anger and hurt at first. There was an initial feeling of resentment: “A feeling that I’d been cast aside.”

But then, in time—and this is something I think we can all learn—afterwards, he realized that politics is really about winning and losing; that’s a part of the game, and it’s not personal. The years that he sacrificed, the years that he gave to the people of Mississauga were not in vain. People appreciated that. But sometimes there comes a change and sometimes there is a desire for change in government that’s not personal. It’s something we can all learn as legislators, that there will be a time that we will no longer be able to serve our communities, but it’s not something personal. It’s time to move on.

He also taught me how to mellow, and I think that’s something that’s very important for all of us sometimes during question period.

He was known as the Mississauga rattler. He was very effective in opposition. It was reported that he took glee in doing his job as an opposition member. He was once a staunch opponent of Mayor McCallion. He would take great joy in calling the NDP at the time the “little red rump.” But later on in life, he ended up being a big fan of Mayor McCallion and was quoted as saying of his one-time political foe that she had done a great job and that he respected her work.

In addition—and I found this quite powerful—on a trip to Zambia, he talked about what he had learned from that exchange on that trip and this is what he said: “Another thing that I learned was that it’s easy to communicate with people who live in different conditions than you’re used to. It’s quite easy to find common interests. The morality of these people is basically the same as ours. Their politicians really want to help their people.”

Sometimes we get caught up in partisanship. We think that we’re on different sides of the House, that we don’t really have the same values in terms of caring about one another and, really, on this trip to Africa with his daughter, Mr. Gregory said that, really, we’re all connected, not just as politicians in different parties, but as people across the world in countries that you’d think you’d have nothing in common with. He said that it’s quite easy to see the common humanity of all people. That’s something that we sometimes lose and I think it’s important. I think it was a part of his mellowing out to realize that.

He also taught me a great way to retire. He did his tremendous years of service: 17 years of his life committed to making this province a better place. He served in a number of roles, both in opposition and in government, notably as a Minister of Revenue, the Solicitor General and the chief government whip. He did a lot for this province, but also knew how to take it easy.

He was a long-time member of Grampa’s Goodtime Gang band, where he played the harmonica and the accordion. He retired in the beautiful area of Prince Edward county, where he settled in Picton. While enjoying time as a golfer and playing the accordion and harmonica, he still realized that, even in retirement, it’s important to give back and continued to give back as a member of the police board in that county.

He taught me a number of things. I salute his great work in this province. I think it’s a lesson we can all learn. These lessons are things we can all share.

Again, I want to thank the family for sharing some of Mr. Gregory with us. Thank you.

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

Hon. Dipika Damerla: It’s a pleasure to rise today to pay tribute to former MPP Bud Gregory. I would also like to welcome the family and friends of Bud who are here today.

I first got to know the name “Bud Gregory” about 15 years ago when my husband and I, for the first time, became proud homeowners. As it happened, the street that led to my new home was called Bud Gregory Boulevard. Almost every single day for the past 15 years, I have turned on Bud Gregory Boulevard to enter my subdivision.

I recall that about that time, I had learned that many of the arterial roads in Mississauga were named after family names of the farmers who owned the surrounding land. These road names recognized the men in the family but left out the daughters who, as we know, would give up their maiden names in marriage. In a touching gesture to do right by their daughters, when these farms were sold to builders, the farmers would request that some of the subdivision street names be named after their daughters’ first names. And so it is in Mississauga we have main roads named Kennedy and Cawthra, and inside streets with names like Maxine Place and Joan Drive.

So I wondered, “Who was this Bud Gregory who had not just his first name on a street, not just his last name, but his full name: Bud Gregory?” I figured he must have been somebody of some consequence. This was back in 2002, when Wikipedia wasn’t yet the default option. I have to admit, over the years, every once in a while, driving on the street, I would wonder, “Who was Bud Gregory?”

Then, around 2013, after I was elected, I met with a stakeholder who asked if I would like to meet his mother, Irene Robinson. Irene had been the Liberal candidate in Mississauga East way back in 1975, so of course I met her. I remember asking her who she had run against, and she said, “Oh, a Conservative named Bud Gregory.” And that is how I finally got to know who Bud Gregory was.

While I never had the privilege of meeting him, Milton Edward Charles Gregory preceded me as the representative for Mississauga East by a quarter of a century. He was first elected as the Conservative member for Mississauga East in 1975. Over the years, he served as chief whip, Minister of Revenue and the Solicitor General. But it was in opposition as the transportation critic that Bud shined the most, and those who knew him say Bud was “the best Minister of Transportation the province never had.”

Bud was a passionate and forceful MPP and was nicknamed “the Mississauga rattler” for his ability to get under the skin of his opponents. A fervent Conservative, he once famously remarked, following a heated debate, “My friend should not be too insulted. I could have done worse; I could have called him a Liberal.” But for all his partisanship, Bud took many stands in this Legislature that could frankly sit very well with us Liberals.

For instance, back on December 8, 1977, Bud spoke in favour of freezing property taxes for homeowners who installed solar energy, arguing, “This kind of heating can be used without chemical combustion and the release of harmful chemicals into the environment.”

On June 5, 1986, as the transportation critic, he introduced a private member’s resolution asking for an Eglinton West rapid rail transit connecting Toronto to Mississauga.

On May 11, 1987, Bud Gregory had this to say: “May I say it is a great pleasure to have the opportunity to speak in the throne speech debate, particularly with a woman Speaker in the chair. It is quite a precedent and I think it speaks well for the future.” He went on to say, “Perhaps someday we can look forward to ... even a woman in the leader’s chair.”

Public transit for Mississauga, keeping seniors in their own homes for as long as possible, a sustainable environment and advancing the role of women in politics are all issues that are important to me today as the MPP for Mississauga East–Cooksville, and it is humbling to know that two and a half decades ago, Bud was already fighting for these issues.

Those who knew Bud knew that he was devoted to his family, friends and the staff that worked for him, a devotion that was returned in full measure.

Fifteen years ago, when I first wondered who Bud Gregory was, I could not have known that one day I would succeed him as the local MPP and pay tribute to him in this Legislature. It is an honour to have had this opportunity. I want to thank his family and assure them that, in the years to come, as I make that turn on Bud Gregory Boulevard on my way home, I will think of Bud and his service to our province. I know I speak for all those who knew him when I say he is missed.

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

Mr. Todd Smith: I, as well, would like to welcome the family, some of them from Prince Edward county and some of them from Mississauga, to the Legislature here today, and his former colleagues as well. I had the opportunity, just a moment ago, to talk to a former colleague of his in the Bill Davis years, Phil Gillies, a former member from Brantford, who was telling me that when Bud was here as the government whip, he said that he was like the pope, and before anybody got anything, they had to kiss the ring. Only he kept his ring in his back pocket.

And so it was with Milton Edward Charles Gregory—“Bud”—cabinet minister, Solicitor General, chief government whip, MPP and Mississauga city councillor. He was a real performer.

When they were being bathed together by their mom back in 1926, his older sister Phyllis was the one who called him “Bud” for the first time, and it stuck for 90 years. He was Bud. In fact, Phyllis takes some responsibility for his success in public service. Bud had a career in the insurance business—it wasn’t all that glamorous—before entering municipal politics in Mississauga, where he served as councillor from 1971 to 1975. Phyllis said that “Milton Gregory” would have been a pretty bland name on election signs around Mississauga. So she coined the phrase “Vote Bud.

It’s Wiser.” There may have been some trademark infringement at the time—I’m not sure—but as we all know, slogans are pretty impressive and important in local politics. And he had a very impressive political life after that.

Much has been already said about the political career of Bud Gregory, but Bud achieved some plum positions, as chief government whip and Minister of Revenue, in the Big Blue Machine era of the Bill Davis government. He became Solicitor General in the short-lived Frank Miller government. He served as an active backbencher, winning several battles, working alongside his Liberal and NDP colleagues, to ensure that Mississauga East was getting the type of investment from the province that that fast-growing city at the time needed.

It’s been said that the only things that Bud didn’t like in life were cauliflower and Liberals. However, his former EA, Michael Burke——he’s the fine-looking gentleman there at the end of the front row—worked for Bud over in the Whitney Block, and he said that Bud had great friends on both sides of the House. Bud always stayed grounded. He had lots of fun in spite of his important government post, and he never took himself too seriously. Michael says that Bud had actually mastered the work-life balance before that concept ever existed.

I knew Bud, and he was a great guy. Certainly, as the member from Bramalea–Gore–Malton mentioned, he mellowed when he moved to the county. He was a very dignified person. He was very elegant and quick-witted. He epitomized grace. Bud had tremendous political skills and a great sense of humour. He was a savvy negotiator. As a matter of fact, when he was working out deals here with the public sector, as Solicitor General, and all the contracts that go along with that—there were some pretty serious things he was working on, but they say that the best contract that he ever negotiated was after he moved to Picton.

As you know, Picton is stuck out in the middle of Prince Edward county, by Lake Ontario. We get a lot of snow there. When he moved in, he went to his neighbours and negotiated for the husband to come and shovel his driveway. That contract existed for 18 years. He never paid them. They shovelled his driveway every time it snowed—and it snows a lot in Prince Edward county—and there would be Bud waving out the window. Everybody loved Bud.

It was thought by many that, after leaving Queen’s Park, he might get back into municipal politics. He left the big-city life for Prince Edward county. He left his perfectly pressed three-piece suits, his chauffeured limousines and big-city life behind. He traded them in for county life. Big, baggy overalls were what Bud wore when he was in Prince Edward county. He had his harmonicas, as was mentioned. He was never directly involved in politics, although he was on the police services board in Prince Edward county. He remained a very recognizable face in the county.

Shortly after arriving in Picton, he joined that gang, Grandpa’s Goodtime Gang. He was the lead singer, and he would play the harmonica and the whistle. His long-time friend Peter Rea, who performs in a rival local band, said that Grandpa’s Goodtime Gang was actually Picton’s second-best band. They were pretty good, and he was a great entertainer.

One time, a young county musician who had grown up in Mississauga was performing a gig with Bud. He learned of Bud’s last name and said, “I know a street in Mississauga”—as the member from Mississauga just said—“named Bud Gregory Boulevard.” Bud replied, humbly, “Yes, they named that street after me.” The young musician said, “Wow, it must be really cool having a street named after you.” And he said, “Yes, it was a great honour to have Bud Gregory Boulevard, until they added the extension onto Bud Gregory Boulevard and called it Trudeau way.” Remember what I told you about cauliflower earlier?

At his popular Thursday night hangout, Coach’s sports bar in Picton, he was known as “Chairman of the Board” by the locals there. In fact, it was Thursday, June 16 of last year that Bud performed for the final time on this earth during an open mike session. He was there on the stage. He was found dead the next morning. But what a great night he had, his final night on this earth, performing in front of that crowd, having a few pops, a few dances. He actually closed down Coach’s sports bar that night with his own very recognizable rendition of Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World. He was quite an amazing guy.

I think we are probably all, as legislators, guilty of this at times: We’re so busy with our own lives that we don’t take the time that we should to appreciate those who have paved the way for us and gone before us and represented our communities either in this place or on Parliament Hill or on our local municipal councils, and take the time to sit down and have the advice of somebody like Bud Gregory. I certainly enjoyed every moment I had talking to Bud Gregory. I will really miss his sage advice and I know we all will.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I thank all members for their thoughtful and heartfelt comments and indicate to the family that we will provide you with a transcript and a DVD of the tributes. I am going to edit the ring story just to make sure that we’re above board in the House.

Having said that, we want to thank the family for the gift of Bud. Thank you very much.

Dentist Day

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The government House leader on a point of order.

Hon. Yasir Naqvi: Speaker, I’m seeking unanimous consent to move a motion without notice regarding the Ontario Dental Association.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The government House leader is seeking unanimous consent to put forward a motion without notice. Do we agree? Agreed.

Government House leader?

Hon. Yasir Naqvi: I move that this House recognize today, Wednesday, April 26, 2017, as Dentist Day in honour of the 150th anniversary of the Ontario Dental Association and to thank Ontario’s dentists for their contribution to our health care system.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The government House leader moves that this House recognize today, Wednesday, April 26, 2017, as Dentist Day in honour of the 150th anniversary of the Ontario Dental Association and to thank Ontario’s dentists for their contribution to our health care system. Do we agree? Agreed. Carried.

Motion agreed to.

Hockey trophy

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): It is my understanding that unanimous consent has passed that the trophy can be displayed on the member’s desk. If the member wishes to display the trophy and pass it to all of the hockey members, he may do so. Congratulations.

Just before we start question period, a reminder that a photo will be taken with the team winners. If the dentists want to show up for the picture, too, they can be in the picture.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I know that we’re going to keep this brisk. It is therefore now time for question period.

Oral Questions

School closures

Mr. Patrick Brown: Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Premier. Listen to these quotes: “For my tax dollars, I want politicians who aren’t frightened to disobey a provincial regime I believe is destructive to human beings.”

“If trustees don’t agree with the funding formula, I expect them to go out on a limb and push back—not implement it.”

“Trustees acted like bureaucrats, when what we desperately need are politicians who will tell the province ‘No.’”

Those are the words of our current Liberal Premier about the school closures that this government is now implementing. My question is, why has there been a complete 180 in the tone of the Premier?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: The Leader of the Opposition has laid out exactly why I ran for provincial office: Because there was a government in office that wouldn’t take our meetings, that didn’t listen to us, that had cut funding across the province—

Mr. John Yakabuski: What happened to you? You’ve become what you were against.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Renfrew, come to order. If this continues, we’ll move to warnings. I’m prepared.

Finish, please.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: There were billions of dollars taken out of education in this province during the Harris years. That is why I ran for provincial office. In fact, there are many members here who ran for provincial office because of the devastation that was wrought by that party when Harris was in office.

I’m proud to be here. We’ve rebuilt our education system. Just 68% of kids were graduating—

Interjections.

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

Interjections.

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

Supplementary?

Mr. Patrick Brown: Again to the Premier: I don’t think the children and the families at the rally outside Queen’s Park today would believe those words from the Premier.

Another quote from our current Premier is this: “A key priority of the McGuinty government has been to keep good schools open. Immediately upon taking office, the government asks school boards to put a moratorium on school closures. This pause allowed the government to develop a new tool for boards to empower local decision-making on school closures.” They wanted a moratorium then. Something has changed.

That was our current Premier advocating for a moratorium on school closures, but right now, when parents and children are pleading for a moratorium, the government is deaf to those concerns. Why have they changed their mind on the moratorium on school closures?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Of course when we came into office there had been, as I said, devastation across the education system in this province. It was absolutely necessary to put a moratorium in place while guidelines were put in place.

Look, Mr. Speaker, I know how difficult it is—and has been for decades—for school boards to make decisions about school closures or potential consolidations. It’s the most difficult decision that school boards have to make. But that moratorium was lifted at least in part because school boards were saying, “We can’t run our boards unless we have the authority to make decisions that are in the best interests of kids.” That means the best programs and the best staffing, and that means that, as schools are built, as new modern buildings are created, there have to be, sometimes, school closures and consolidations.

In the final supplementary, I’ll talk about—

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

Mr. Patrick Brown: Again to the Premier: The Premier said there was devastation when she was running for office. Now, I have a stat here, Mr. Speaker—

Interjections.

Mr. Patrick Brown: I think the government needs to hear this, rather than heckle.

According to the legislative library, this Liberal government has now closed 100 more schools than the previous Conservative government ever dreamed of. They are setting records on school closures. The facts don’t lie, Mr. Speaker. This Premier, this government—they said they were in it for education. This Premier was the education minister—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): It’s actually coming from both sides, too.

Finish, please.

Mr. Patrick Brown: I guess the truth hurts, and that’s why the government benches are heckling.

The reality is that this Premier said she was in politics for education, and she has now closed 100 more schools than any previous government ever dreamed of. This Premier is setting records on school closures—

Interjections.

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

Premier.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I think what we also need to talk about is the 810 new schools that have been built and the 780 new school renovations. There have been schools built in ridings across this province, in rural, northern, suburban and urban communities. There has been a renovation of 780 schools on top of the 810 schools.

So I go back to what I said in the second question: I understand that closing a school or consolidating two schools is a real challenge for school boards. I also know that we have great examples in this province where school boards have worked together, where school buildings have been kept open because there has been co-operation between school boards and municipalities. We need more of that. We’ve put money in place—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Leeds–Grenville.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: —to help boards do that.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): In case he didn’t hear it: The member from Leeds–Grenville, come to order.

Ontario budget

Mr. Patrick Brown: My question is for the Premier. Tomorrow is a big day. The Liberals are allegedly tabling their first balanced budget in many years. But I share the concerns of the Financial Accountability Officer and the Auditor General that the government’s numbers don’t add up. We’ve heard descriptions in the media: “cooking the books”; it’s a “shell game”; it’s “smoke and mirrors.” Regardless of what you—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Stop the clock, please. I’m—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation will come to order.

I’m going to ask the member to withdraw because I don’t want to get into this accusation before or after the budget about anything that’s happening between individuals and making an accusation. So I’d like you to withdraw.

Mr. Patrick Brown: Withdraw.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): You will be able to complete the question, please.

Mr. Patrick Brown: Regardless of the term used, the evidence that the independent officers are highlighting speaks to the fact that the government’s numbers do not add up, and when things don’t add up in Liberal Ontario, there’s usually only one result, and that’s big tax increases or severe budget cuts. If the Premier could share with the Legislature today, which is it going to be? Given the independent officers say the numbers don’t add up, is it going to be a tax increase or a deep cut?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I know the Leader of the Opposition will be in the Legislature, will hear the budget speech tomorrow, and I would think, given his conservative outlook on life, he would be pleased that the books in the province are being brought to balance. He would see that as a positive thing.

But I will say that where we perhaps diverge is, from my perspective and from our perspective, a balanced budget means that we have the opportunity to build on the foundation that we have already put in place in this province. We’ve been building infrastructure. We’ve been building roads and schools and hospitals and bridges and transit. We’ve been investing in children’s education and in the education of our post-secondary students.

We now, with a balanced budget, have a responsibility to make sure we tackle the needs people are confronting in this globally uncertain economy, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.

Interjections.

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

Supplementary?

Mr. Patrick Brown: If it actually was a balanced budget, then I would be pleased, but when the independent officers of Parliament are saying that the numbers don’t add up, that rings alarm bells across the province.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Minister of Labour, come to order. We’re inches away from warning people.

Carry on.

Mr. Patrick Brown: The Minister of Finance has been claiming that there will be a major booster shot for health care funding, but in January the Financial Accountability Officer reported that the government would need to slash its health care budget by $2.8 billion over the next years if it was to meet their balanced budget targets.

Once again, my question to the Premier is: Who are we to believe, the Financial Accountability Officer or Chef Sousa? Please enlighten the Legislature.

Interjections.

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

The member knows better. I ask in this House that we either refer to people by their title or by their riding, and it won’t happen again.

Premier.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Finance.

Hon. Charles Sousa: We have a recipe for success, Mr. Speaker.

Interjections.

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

I’m not amused. My responsibilities are to hold this place in decorum, and any member making it happen in an opposite way is not liked by me. Bring it down.

Please, take that prop—I’m charged with the decorum in this place; I’d appreciate help.

Minister.

Hon. Charles Sousa: Mr. Speaker, the numbers do speak for themselves. We’re increasing our revenues. We’re growing our economy. We’re exceeding Canada, the US and the G7, and we’re balancing the books tomorrow. We’re balancing the books next year. We’re balancing the books the year after that, and we’re investing in the people of Ontario.

Interjections.

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

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): We’re moving to warnings. If I’m not getting help, I’ll give myself some help.

Final supplementary?

Mr. Patrick Brown: Again to the Premier: The reality is, no one believes this recipe the Minister of Finance is putting forward. No one believes this recipe. Let me share the words of the Financial Accountability Officer: “The outlook for the budget balance ... has deteriorated,” and he concluded that “Ontario’s budget would be expected to remain in deficit over the next five years.”

Will the Liberals come clean? You’ve got the Financial Accountability Officer saying one thing. You’ve got the Minister of Finance saying something entirely different. To the Premier: Who do you expect Ontarians to believe? The independent legislative oversight or the Minister of Finance?

Hon. Charles Sousa: Independent agencies around the world, and here in Canada, the Conference Board of Canada, have cited that Ontario’s numbers are the most transparent, with the greatest integrity of any government in Canada. Every year the opposition and naysayers say, “Ontario can never come to balance. Ontario cannot do what they say they will do.” And we exceeded targets—

Mr. Victor Fedeli: Not a true balance.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Nipissing is warned.

Carry on.

Hon. Charles Sousa: We’ve exceeded targets year over year. We’ve been deliberate, we’ve been consistent and we’re balancing the budget. More importantly, the people who believe it are the people who have jobs this year, over 700,000 more jobs since the depths of the recession. It’s families who have more to care for their families. Mr. Speaker, it’s about them, and we’re delivering for the people of Ontario.

Pharmacare

Mr. Jagmeet Singh: My question is to the Premier. Does this Premier believe in universal, public pharmacare for Ontarians?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Health and Long-Term Care.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: I appreciate the question. The member opposite knows that for the past few years our government has been relentless in advocating for a national pharmacare program here in Canada. Quite frankly, we have been the leading political voice in the country advocating for a national program that would ensure that all Canadians have access to medicines, which is critically important.

We know that at least one out of every 10 families in this province and across the country is unable to secure the medicines that are prescribed to them because of financial difficulties. That’s the basis of our advocacy. It’s an issue of fairness and health equity. The social determinants of health are no less important than the other aspects of medicare. That’s why we have been working so hard with this advocacy of—

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

Mr. Jagmeet Singh: Does the Premier think that it’s okay for Ontario to sit by and wait for Ottawa to do something while the people in this province have to empty their wallets to pay for life-saving medication day after day?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Quite frankly, this member is late to the party. We have been working across this country for the last three years in advocating for the exact access to medicines that the member opposite is quite recently—

Mr. Paul Miller: You forgot about Tommy Douglas, did you?

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Hamilton East–Stoney Creek is warned. The member from Ancaster is warned.

Finish, please.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Despite being late to the party and despite recently having found the ability to articulate their advocacy for access to medicines, I applaud the third party for their advocacy. It’s important that all of us who believe in issues of health equity and social determinants of health and the importance of access to prescribed medicine—it’s important that we all work together. I just wish that the third party had been there three years ago. Or two years ago. Or even one year ago—

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

Mr. Jagmeet Singh: Mr. Speaker, all across Ontario people are getting prescriptions that they can’t afford to fill. People are reaching for their credit cards so their kids can get a much-needed asthma inhaler. They’re splitting their pills in half or, worse, going without medication. The NDP plan for universal pharmacare will save lives.

But let’s talk about being late to the party. Instead of doing anything, what has the Premier done? She sent her minister to Ottawa to talk, and—let’s talk about advocacy—last year this government—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The Minister of Natural Resources is warned.

Mr. Jagmeet Singh: —implemented a budget that slashed coverage of drug plans, that slashed coverage for seniors’ drug care and medication. That’s their plan: to slash coverage.

Why is this government so out of touch with what’s going on in this province?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Mr. Speaker, I’m sorry, but I remember things last year a little differently, because I remember that 170,000 more seniors in this province at the time were paying a $100 deductible annually and were paying at least $6 as a copayment each time they refilled a prescription. We brought that 170,000 of the lowest-income seniors into a position where that annual deductible was gone. It was abolished. Their copayment went from $6 per prescription down to $2 per prescription. That had an incredible impact for some of the most vulnerable people in this province.

We will continue to advocate for pharmacare, as we have. I’m glad that the third party has decided to join our efforts towards this end.

Pharmacare

Ms. Catherine Fife: Peter Thurley lives in downtown Kitchener.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I just want to remind people, in case they forgot: When I get to warnings, the next is naming, meaning you’ll leave. Just to reinforce that. You didn’t want to co-operate? I’m going to get it.

Finish, please.

Ms. Catherine Fife: Thank you. My question is to the Premier. Peter Thurley lives in downtown Kitchener. In April 2015, Peter had a series of surgeries that saved his life because public medicare works. But now he’s paying between $700 and $1,000 out of pocket each month for medications he needs because there’s no public pharmacare program in Ontario. Peter has had to stop working because he still is recovering. He no longer has drug coverage. Peter’s wife has some drug coverage, but it’s not enough. They don’t know how they will continue to pay for Peter’s medication.

Peter told me that every dollar his family spends on medication comes directly out of their food budget. Does the Premier think that in a province as wealthy as Ontario this is ok?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Health and Long-Term Care.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Mr. Speaker, we have an excellent program in this province, called Trillium, which is accessible to all Ontarians who find themselves in that very difficult, challenging situation of affordability of their medicines. And it’s an income-based program, Mr. Speaker, so if those costs are exorbitant, if they’re unable to afford them, there’s a place where those families, those individuals can go. They can put in an application based on their expenditures and there will be support for them based on their ability to pay.

I have no doubt that the member opposite is aware of this program. It’s been in existence for many years in the province. I would encourage her to work with her constituent to see if there are measures that can be done through that program and others.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Catherine Fife: The Ontario New Democrats brought in the Trillium program. You’re not listening to his story. Peter had a good job. Peter’s wife has a good job. But getting sick forced them to make decisions that no Ontarian should have to make. We’re used to hearing these stories coming from the United States, not from Canada. New Democrats want to fix this. Your government wants to wait for Ottawa. Can the Premier explain to Peter and his wife why they should have to wait in this province?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Mr. Speaker, I appreciate the fact that the NDP brought in Trillium. They also were the government that eliminated—removed—10% of all the drugs that were on the formulary at the time. When they were government they took almost 250 drugs off the formulary, that were no longer available to Ontarians.

But it’s important that Ontarians understand the efforts we’ve made. We have had great success, in part, because of the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance, where we are finding across the country—with a significant portion, as you can appreciate, here in Ontario—$700 million in annual savings because of the reduction in drug prices we have been able to achieve because of bulk purchasing and bulk bargaining, or working out the price with the manufacturers.

We have reinvested those savings into new medicines that we continue to add. We have more than 4,000 drugs on our formulary today.

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

Ms. Catherine Fife: Talking to Ottawa isn’t going to help the 2.2 million people in this province who have no coverage.

The Liberal government in Ottawa isn’t doing anything to help families like Peter’s. The Liberal government at Queen’s Park isn’t doing anything to help families like Peter’s. Getting access to life-saving medications isn’t going to get easier unless Ontario does something.

The NDP is ready to act on pharmacare. Why doesn’t the Premier of this province believe in universal, public pharmacare?

Interjections.

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

Minister?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Mr. Speaker, I am elated at the change of heart from the member from Kitchener–Waterloo, because we need to remember that it was only during the last election campaign, in 2014, when the NDP committed to finding $600 million in savings. When the member opposite was asked where those savings would come from, she said that they would likely—

Miss Monique Taylor: How many gas plants is that?

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Hamilton Mountain is warned.

Finish, please.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Their new accountability minister, their minister of cuts, would look to find efficiencies in health care and post-secondary education—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): If we’re going to play that game, I’m going to win. The member from Kitchener–Waterloo is warned.

Finish.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: She went on to say, “I would go first to health.”

I am elated that she’s had a change of heart.

School closures

Mr. Bill Walker: My question is to the education minister. The minister has just announced a Liberal Party tour across rural communities to seek solutions to her government’s mass school closures. Mr. Speaker, Ontarians can smell a junket when they see one, and they know this is no fact-finding mission. This is about damage control and the Liberals looking out for their best interests, not Ontarians’.

Through you, Mr. Speaker, I ask: Since the minister did not consult these communities before changing the rules and removing the community impact component from the school closure review process, why should they trust you now?

Hon. Mitzie Hunter: I want to thank the member opposite for this question. First of all, I know that there are parents who are here at the Legislature today to talk about their school communities, and I want to welcome them. It’s very important that we do listen to parents and to schools and to students, and to hear what they have to say.

I also want to be clear that I understand how vital schools are to local communities. They’re the heart of our communities. Every student, every parent, every educator cares about our students and their success.

That’s what we’re focused on, and that’s why we have engaged in consultations: Because we want to ensure—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member for Niagara West–Glanbrook is warned.

Hon. Mitzie Hunter: These engagements are important, because we want to ensure that we hear about the ideas and the information that parents and school communities want to tell us about their local schools.

We want to continue to ensure that we provide the best education possible for all students in Ontario.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Bill Walker: Back to the education minister: You should be ashamed of tearing the hearts out of our rural communities, because that’s what you’re doing.

You blew the public’s trust once before, when you failed to consult them on new accommodation rules, resulting in possibly as many as 600 schools being closed across Ontario.

Considering the serious deficit of trust and credibility with you, Minister, and your government, I want to know: In the spirit of trust and collaboration, why hasn’t the minister included members from this side of the House on the province-wide consultation tour?

Interjections.

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

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Right. Good thought.

Minister?

Hon. Mitzie Hunter: The member opposite is suggesting something that is simply not the case. Just last week, I was in Markdale, and you were there. So there’s nothing that’s excluding you from coming.

Mr. Speaker, these engagements are designed so that we can ensure that we’re providing the best education possible.

That’s what these engagements are about: How do we provide the best education for students in Ontario?

Energy policies

Mr. Peter Tabuns: My question is to the Premier. Last year, the Minister of Energy denied that there was a crisis with soaring hydro bills. Then the government ignored the NDP’s demand for a moratorium on disconnections of hydro through the winter. Only when a crisis had pushed her government into a political corner did the Premier act.

Well, a new crisis is upon us. Starting May 1, Ontario families will start losing their hydro. Does the Premier know how many families will be losing their hydro on May 1?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Energy.

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: I’m very pleased to rise and talk about what Hydro One is doing. Hydro One, which has millions of customers in this province, is extending their winter moratorium until the end of May. That is great news. It just shows that Hydro One is working closely with their customers who have fallen behind on their bills. The extra time will allow customers to take advantage of some of the early savings from Ontario’s Fair Hydro Plan, in which all families, small businesses and farms in this province will get up to, on average, a 25% reduction.

And for those families in the rural or northern parts of our province, that rate will be between 40% and 50%. They will see significant savings—unlike nothing in their plan.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Peter Tabuns: So I guess the rest don’t really count; they really aren’t a factor anymore.

Again to the Premier: If a family heats with natural gas, they have access to up to $1,000 in emergency relief to help pay their hydro and gas bills if they can’t meet their payments. But many rural families don’t have access to natural gas and must heat with hydro. Not only is hydro more expensive, the government only offers these struggling families $600 in emergency relief, not $1,000.

Why does the Premier think it’s fair that rural Ontario families, who are paying some of the highest hydro rates in Canada, don’t have access to relief the way everyone else does?

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: First off, when it comes to the west, the east, the north and the south, this government is acting. I don’t know where that member is coming from with the west.

Also, when it comes to rural, when it comes to remote and when it comes to northern, I just said in the last supplementary—and I know he hasn’t been listening in the last month and a half in terms of what our plan is doing, and I know he probably didn’t pay attention during the technical briefing, but let me remind him: That’s 40% to 50% off for rural or remote families. On top of that, if these families qualify for the Ontario Electricity Support Program, they can get an additional 50% off their bills. So we’re making sure that those in the rural and remote parts of our province are seeing significant relief on their energy bills.

We have a plan. It’s already working; for example, with the OEB. It’s too bad they don’t have a plan that even fathoms to work.

Energy policies

Mrs. Cristina Martins: My question is for the Minister of Energy about a concern that my constituents have raised in Davenport.

Last week, the Ontario Energy Board made an announcement regarding new electricity rates to be effective on May 1. As the independent regulator of Ontario’s energy sector, the OEB is a quasi-judicial board which governs the sector with a mandate to protect ratepayers. It sets electricity rates twice a year, so Ontarians know what to expect with their bills.

As members of this House know well, our government has recognized that Ontarians want relief on electricity costs, and we have acted. Our plan is to lower electricity bills by an average of 25% by this summer. I understand that the OEB has taken early action in beginning to put these savings on ratepayer bills. Would the minister please clarify what the impact is to all Ontarians?

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: I also want to thank the member for that important question. I was pleased with the OEB’s decision to begin lowering rates on May 1 in anticipation of our government’s fair hydro plan. This is the next of several steps which Ontarians will see as we work towards bills being reduced by 25%, beginning this summer, with rates held to inflation for the next four years.

The OEB’s decision means that bills will be reduced by 17%, beginning May 1. That’s even earlier than expected. The rest of our plan is intended to come into effect by this summer in order to achieve the rest of the promised savings. The OEB would require to reduce rates again this summer when final legislation is passed to ensure Ontarians see the full benefit of our plan as soon as possible.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mrs. Cristina Martins: Thank you to the minister for that response and for his hard work on this file, on a file that is so important to my constituents.

Our government heard from Ontarians who were struggling with the cost of electricity, and that’s why we introduced the fair hydro plan. It’s also why, this winter, we gave the OEB the power to ban power disconnections during the winter months. Several utilities actually already have this type of policy, including Hydro One. In fact, Hydro One had already implemented a ban on winter disconnections and introduced a winter relief program to restore power to disconnected customers as part of a broader effect to be a more customer-focused company.

I understand that, yesterday, Hydro One made an announcement where they extended their winter moratorium to provide even more support to customers. Would the minister share with this House the details of that announcement and how it is providing further relief to Ontario ratepayers?

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: Again, thank you to the member for the question. Yesterday, as the member mentioned, Hydro One announced that they are extending their winter moratorium until the end of May. So Hydro One will be working closely with customers who have fallen behind on their bills, and this extra time will allow customers to take advantage of some of the early savings from our fair hydro plan while they work with the company to make sure they get back on the right track.

I was also pleased to see Hydro One take this step, which provides just more evidence of their new customer focus at this company. As part of yesterday’s announcement, Hydro One is also eliminating requirements for security deposits from residential customers, as well as reducing deposit requirements for businesses. This removes a substantial burden for many customers and will put money back in the hands of Ontarians. These actions from Hydro One work together with our government’s fair hydro plan, bringing fair relief for everyone in this province.

Opioid abuse

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: My question is to the Minister of Health. Yesterday, I once again approached the minister to join me in Ottawa with parents and teens who are, right now, struggling with dangerous counterfeit drugs laced with potent and potentially fatal opioids.

In my city, we are at a crisis level. Earlier today I spoke by email with our city’s chief medical officer of health, Isra Levy, who agrees that this is a crisis. Last week, there were 15 recorded overdoses in a 72-hour time frame. Since last Tuesday, there have been a total of 28 recorded overdoses, all told—13 over the weekend. These drugs are like nothing we have ever seen on our streets. The first pill can be fatal. The person taking it may only have taken the pill once.

I’ve written and spoken to the minister and his government many times, and we need his attention on this crisis. Mr. Speaker, will the minister join me in Ottawa and meet the faces of this crisis?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: As always, I appreciate the advocacy of the member opposite on this important issue. I describe it as a crisis. It’s a national crisis. It has obviously got very serious provincial consequences, including in Ottawa.

I was very distraught when I learned of the increase in overdoses as a result, likely, of an increased presence of fentanyl on the streets in Ottawa. I think the member knows this is a multi-faceted approach that we have to take to this. We are working very closely with the mayor of Ottawa, with the local municipality. We will shortly be having a meeting of all municipal leaders that I will chair. The Premier has asserted that that meeting will take place, and it will allow us, I think, to work even more closely with local jurisdictions.

It is important that Ontarians also understand that, in that multifaceted approach that’s required, we unveiled the most comprehensive opioid strategy that this country currently has.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: Back to the minister: Each week when I go home, I meet with Steve Cody, who lost his son to an overdose, and Sean O’Leary, whose daughter is struggling with addiction. Both of them are prominent businessmen who have co-founded We the Parents. They have become grassroots advocates and they spend their spare moments meeting with hundreds of Ottawa parents and their children who have taken these counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl, some of whom have lost their own children.

We have reached a crisis level and, with respect, what is being done is either not working or it is too slow in reaching the people who need the help the most. Will the minister commit today to ensuring that students in our middle and high schools are part of an awareness campaign about the dangers of these new drugs? Will the minister join me in Ottawa, and will he commit to spending resources to alert the parents and their kids to these potentially life-threatening drugs that are now on the streets of Ottawa? The time to act is now, Minister.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Again, I think it’s important that the Legislature and Ontarians not be left with the impression that this government isn’t acting with the highest level of seriousness, including in Ottawa, where we’ve committed this year $1.5 million to the Dave Smith Youth Treatment Centre to support the construction of a new 30-bed residential treatment facility for youth.

I have to say, Mr. Speaker, that the Liberal members of provincial Parliament from Ottawa, particularly the member from Ottawa South, have been working very closely with me and with the Premier in addressing this issue.

It’s important to mention that there are more than 80 pharmacies in Ottawa alone that are providing naloxone, which is a life-saving treatment for those who experience an overdose—80 pharmacies that are being accessed, getting naloxone and naloxone training free of charge through their pharmacist.

School funding

M me France Gélinas: Merci, monsieur le Président. Ma question is for the Premier.

Let me be clear, Speaker: The Premier’s school funding formula discriminates against small northern and rural schools. What does that mean for our kids? In Nickel Belt, four-year-old children who live in Geneva Lake will be on the bus for three hours each day if they want to stay in French immersion.

In the winter, kids leave home in the dark and come home from school in the dark. They are tired. Some of them hate school because of it. Their parents will struggle to convince them to stay in school. I know of little kids who are being bullied right now because they have to pee and cannot hold it for one and a half hours in a bus.

Premier, do you believe that it is acceptable for northern and rural children to grow up without a community school?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Education.

Interjections.

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

Minister of Education.

Hon. Mitzie Hunter: Our priority is to ensure that every student in Ontario receives the best education possible. We recognize the distinct challenges that are facing rural and northern school boards, and that is why we are giving more resources to rural and northern boards than ever before.

The school boards are projected overall to receive $23.8 billion in the 2017-18 school year through the Grants for Student Needs. This is an increase of $849 million from last year. Every board across this province will receive an increase in funding.

Rural boards are projected to receive $3.8 billion in the 2017-18 GSN. That’s an increase of $1.3 million, or a 3.7% increase from last year. We want to ensure that our rural boards have the resources that they need, and that is exactly what we’re doing.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

M me France Gélinas: Our children suffer because of this Liberal government’s school funding formula, and so do our communities. After the school in Naughton closed, the first thing to go was the ice cream shop; then the chip stand; then the one and only store, and now even the one and only gas station is gone.

Dahnja Schoengen moved to Levack so that her six-year-old son could attend French immersion at Levack Public School. She is now worried that Levack will be the next ghost town if this Liberal government continues with its spree of school closures. Yet, when the Premier and her minister hear the fears of families in Levack, they ignore them and just keep right on at it with an unfair funding formula.

This government still has 300 schools on the chopping block. What do they have to say to the worried families in Levack?

Hon. Mitzie Hunter: It’s important that everyone recognizes that the funding formula recognizes the unique needs of our rural and northern boards. That’s why there is $1,200 per student more for rural and northern schools than to urban schools. I want to make that very clear.

I have visited schools in northern Ontario. I’ve visited schools in Sioux Lookout. I want to talk about some of the innovative things that our school boards are doing on behalf of our students. When you look at the Keewatin Patricia District School Board, they’re opening a new secondary school in partnership with Confederation College, with Meno Ya Win Health Centre and Firefly mental health. Because of the unique needs in that community, they are working together to design this unique hub to meet the needs of the students who are in that community so that they have the support that they need. We are supporting the board in that decision as they move forward.

Climate change

Ms. Daiene Vernile: My question is for the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change. The green investments that are outlined in our climate change action plan are now starting to roll out, and we are seeing the tangible benefits of these investments. In my own riding of Kitchener Centre, home energy audits are saving many homeowners a lot of money.

Just over a year ago, Mary Jane Patterson, who heads REEP Green Solutions, a non-profit group that promotes energy efficiency in K-W, came to see me to lobby in favour of home energy audits and retrofits. A few days later, we delivered on that in our budget. In my community, home energy evaluations have doubled. This clearly shows that homeowners and businesses are actively engaged in our climate action plan.

Ontarians know that these investments are lowering their carbon footprint, and it’s lowering their energy costs. Could the minister please explain to the House the long-term value of these investments?

Hon. Glen R. Murray: I know that it probably won’t come as a surprise to many people here that the part of Ontario we know as K-W awesome is out ahead of much of the province on this. The REEP program is truly one of the most innovative in doing education and demonstrating technology. The program and expansion, based on that experience and the member’s advocacy, is going to lead to 1.6 million tonnes of GHG reductions, one of the largest.

This was actually the Premier’s idea to get these audits out so people could learn and understand the technologies, the savings and the development. We’re doing 37,000 of them that will, in the end, not only reduce GHGs but significantly bring down people’s heating and energy bills.

So, no pun intended for the Premier: This is a win-win-win scenario, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary.

Ms. Daiene Vernile: Thank you to the minister for his answer and for his leadership on this important initiative. He has a lot of fans and supporters in Kitchener-Waterloo. It is very encouraging to hear that Ontarians are seeing the benefits of green investments and that they’re taking an active role in fighting climate change. Not only is this helping us to achieve our emission reduction targets, but it’s also helping us to create jobs.

To date, we have produced over 40,000