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October 26, 2005

38th Parliament, 2nd Session

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Hansard Transcripts

vol. A

Hansard Transcripts

vol. B

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcripts 2005-Oct-26 (PDF)

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L'ONTARIO

Wednesday 26 October 2005 Mercredi 26 octobre 2005

MEMBERS' STATEMENTS

POULTRY FARMERS

PETERBOROUGH CITY

SOCCER ASSOCIATION

WATER QUALITY

ROCKTON WORLD'S FAIR

HOSPITAL FUNDING

TUITION

ACADEMIC TESTING /

ÉPREUVES ACADÉMIQUES

HEALTH CARE

POULTRY FARMERS

REPORTS BY COMMITTEES

STANDING COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT AGENCIES

STANDING COMMITTEE ON REGULATIONS AND PRIVATE BILLS

INTRODUCTION OF BILLS

NO TUITION HIKES ACT, 2005 /

LOI DE 2005

INTERDISANT L'AUGMENTATION

DES DROITS DE SCOLARITÉ

MOTIONS

HOUSE SITTINGS

ORAL QUESTIONS

ECONOMIC POLICY

WATER QUALITY

ECONOMIC POLICY

WATER QUALITY

HOSPITAL FUNDING

VEHICLE INSPECTION CERTIFICATES

WATER QUALITY

COMMUNITY USE OF SCHOOLS

CANCER TREATMENT

MINIMUM WAGE

HYDRO GENERATION

ECONOMIC POLICY

PETITIONS

HOSPITAL FUNDING

CANCER TREATMENT

CRIME PREVENTION

AUTISM TREATMENT

PENSION PLANS

CLASS SIZE

CANCER TREATMENT

PENSION PLANS

MANDATORY RETIREMENT

REGIONAL CENTRES FOR THE DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED

PENSION PLANS

ANIMAL PROTECTION

SERVICES FOR THE DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED

MANDATORY RETIREMENT

ORDERS OF THE DAY

THRONE SPEECH DEBATE

The House met at 1330.

Prayers.

MEMBERS' STATEMENTS

POULTRY FARMERS

Mr. Toby Barrett (Haldimand-Norfolk-Brant): I'd like to inform the House that today is Chicken Day. Now, why would that be of significance?

Well, personally, I grew up with broilers. I'm a former chicken catcher, and as a kid it was always such a thrill to open up the big cardboard boxes with thousands and thousands of day-old chicks

for our barns.

You know, it's of significance for all of us. Supply management, for example, has provided decades of business certainty for our chicken farmers and for our food

system. Chicken is priced competitively with both beef and pork. Supply management balances supply with demand. It prevents overproduction, flooded markets and depressed prices. That's why so many

those in the dairy and poultry sectors.

I would be remiss if I did not make mention of the member from Erie-Lincoln, Tim Hudak, who in 2004 won the celebrity omelette contest at the Smithville

PoultryFest. That would be no mean feat. Tim had a secret herb blend and, of course, fresh local eggs. PoultryFest is coming up this year in Smithville on June 24, 2006. I invite all present to

attend.

PETERBOROUGH CITY

SOCCER ASSOCIATION

Mr. Jeff Leal (Peterborough): I'm pleased to be able to speak to this House today about the Peterborough City Soccer Association, which is

currently celebrating its silver anniversary. Congratulations to everybody involved in the PCSA.

The growth of soccer in our community of Peterborough over the past 25 years has been tremendous. Competitive soccer in Peterborough has come a long way in the

past 25 years. Beginning as a place to showcase the talented men playing football in Peterborough, the club now boasts 28 teams: 25 youth teams from U10 to U18 and three adult teams.

Peterborough City is now a well-respected soccer club for girls, boys, men and women at both the adult and youth levels in Ontario. Our youth teams have also

played at the top provincial level.

What has made Peterborough City so successful? From its modest beginnings, City has built a first-class soccer facility, a respected reputation and a strong club

spirit. All this success is as a result of hundreds of volunteers who each year give thousands of hours to the club and their teams.

I believe the following quotation from the Peterborough City soccer club song is a perfect showcase of the club's spirit:

If you come to Peterborough

we will welcome you

Each man will play his heart out

the 90 minutes through

We carry the city's honour

we'll raise it to the heights

We are the boys

who wear maroon and white.

The future of the Peterborough City Soccer Association is truly exciting. Let us celebrate the past and look forward to another 25 years of Peterborough City

Soccer Association successes.

WATER QUALITY

Mr. Norm Miller (Parry Sound-Muskoka): The situation which has led to the crisis at Kashechewan First Nation bears questioning of the Attorney

General. As the minister who was responsible for aboriginal affairs until quite recently, I would like to ask why you failed to take action sooner.

The community has been under a boil-water advisory for two years, and of course we are all now aware of the 2003 report which identified problems with the

drinking water quality at Kashechewan First Nation. I would hate to believe that the Attorney General was more interested in banning pit bulls and other publicity generating events than the health

and welfare of a northern rural community. In fact, most of this government's focus has been on the urban agenda, at the expense of rural and northern communities. It is equally distressing that

this government was more interested in haggling over who was responsible for taking action than the well-being of its citizens.

Again, my own experience, both in the constituency and in travelling around the north, is that First Nations seem particularly disadvantaged in this regard, with

little interest being shown for their welfare. I suppose the Attorney General was unaware of the province's obligation under the 1992 emergency preparedness agreement between Ottawa and Ontario. We

can only hope that under the current Minister of Natural Resources, First Nations can look forward to greater attention. They shouldn't have to come to Queen's Park to beg to get action.

ROCKTON WORLD'S FAIR

Mr. Ted McMeekin (Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Aldershot): I rise with a great sense of pride to acknowledge and celebrate the 153rd anniversary

of the Rockton World's Fair.

Conceived in 1852 by the Beverley Agricultural Society as a one-day fair, the Rockton Fair now welcomes 100,000-plus visitors over the four-day period each

Thanksgiving. A very special event, the Rockton World's Fair combines agriculture, education and entertainment in a number of delightful ways. In fact, it's the dedication of the Rockton

Agricultural Society and the hundreds of volunteers who each year help to ensure its success. It's truly a celebration of the contribution of our local farmers and of rural life. The Rockton Fair

also provides a considerable boost to the local economy. Visitors to the fair have the opportunity to feast on homemade pies and purchase handmade crafts.

This year we had a very special visitor as we welcomed the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Honourable Leona Dombrowsky, to the Rockton Fair.

She toured the booths and displays and met with local farm leaders. I want to thank the good minister for taking time out of her busy

schedule to attend our much-beloved fair and to let her know

how much her participation was appreciated.

I call on all members of this assembly to join with me today in giving thanks for 153 wonderful years of caring and sharing; 153 years that mark with distinction

and forever the Rockton World's Fair.

HOSPITAL FUNDING

Mr. Gerry Martiniuk (Cambridge): The McGuinty government has created a grave and dangerous situation in my riding of Cambridge and the region of

Waterloo by breaking their promise to proceed at once with the $70-million Cambridge Memorial Hospital expansion and upgrades mandated by the Health Services Restructuring Commission in 2002.

The approved project would fund 98 new beds and further expand the present emergency room. The city of Cambridge, the region of Waterloo and generous citizens

throughout the region have raised the local share of $23 million.

The impact is critical. We have a regional health care system, including St. Marys, Grand River and Cambridge Memorial Hospital, that our families rely on to

provide excellent health care services. Essentially, it is a three-legged stool. If you take one leg away, the entire regional health system will collapse. Without a fully integrated regional

health care system, we cannot attract and retain family physicians or specialists to our communities. Our region already suffers from a severe lack of doctors.

However, in this grave time the good people of the region and Cambridge have come together to fight the McGuinty government's political decision. Our city has

initiated a community-based task force to lobby the McGuinty government. I would like to thank members of that task force.

Premier, I demand that you do the right thing: Stop playing politics with people's lives. Please proceed forthwith with the Cambridge Memorial Hospital expansion

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): Thank you.

TUITION

Mr. Rosario Marchese (Trinity-Spadina): The Canadian Federation of Students had a press conference this morning asking, pleading, urging the

Liberal government to freeze tuition fees for yet another two years. Why are they asking for this? Because students are being gouged. Their future is being gouged. Those who worry about the debt

burden ought to consider supporting the bill that I will be introducing in approximately seven minutes from now. Students are now paying -- Jim Bradley, Minister of Tourism -- 43% of their own

education, versus 22% in 1992. They've doubled. In the deregulated programs they have quadrupled, if not more. To become a lawyer at U. of T. now, you have to spend $17,000 a year, and

it's going to go up to $25,000.

Mr. Peter Kormos (Niagara Centre): You've got to be rich.

Mr. Marchese: Only the rich.

Those connected to the Tories and the Liberals can get into those programs. The rest of us have got to struggle. It's just not right.

I urge the Liberals to appeal to Martin, having struck an accord with Jack Layton, to release immediately the $600 million so that tuition fees can be frozen

and/or reduced. Where is the minister on this? I urge those independent Liberal members to support my bill and to support the Canadian Federation of Students, who are here today.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): Order.

ACADEMIC TESTING /

ÉPREUVES ACADÉMIQUES

Mr. Jean-Marc Lalonde (Glengarry-Prescott-Russell): The McGuinty government's education plan is working in Ontario, and especially in

Glengarry-Prescott-Russell. Our Education Quality and Accountability Office test results are remarkable. Here are some examples:

Grade 3 pupils of the Upper Canada District School Board scored a whopping 70% in math.

Les élèves de la sixième année du Conseil scolaire du district catholique de l'Est ontarien ont obtenu en lecture, en écriture et en

mathématiques 74 %, 73 % et 78 %. Quel succès.

Les résultats combinés de la troisième et sixième année du Conseil des écoles publiques de l'Est de l'Ontario ont augmenté de

16 %.

The combined results of grades 3 and 6 for the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario have increased by 10.5%.

Je suis extrêmement fier de nos élèves. Je tiens à féliciter les élèves, les enseignantes et enseignants, la direction des

écoles, les conseils scolaires et les parents de Glengarry-Prescott-Russell. Cette progression constante des résultats montre que nos élèves sont en bonne voie d'atteindre un

niveau élevé en littératie et en numératie dès l'âge de 12 ans.

The McGuinty government has made education our number one priority and we are well on the way to meeting the targets.

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): There are quite a number of private conversations going on in here, which makes it difficult for the Chair

to hear. Maybe, if we're going to do that, we could take them outside. We have lobbies for those purposes.

HEALTH CARE

Mr. Phil McNeely (Ottawa-Orléans): I rise today to commend our government for its continued efforts to improve health care in Ottawa and

across the province.

Last Friday, our government announced a $78.4-million investment in new critical cancer radiation equipment and new, more efficient diagnostic equipment for our

hospitals. I was pleased to see that the Ottawa region will receive $16.3 million as part of this investment, which comes after years of neglect by the previous government. Over $6.7 million will

go to the Ottawa Regional Cancer Centre to help people with cancer get treatment more quickly; over $6.8 million will be used to purchase new diagnostic equipment for Ottawa hospitals; and over

$2.7 million will go to CHEO to improve care for children.

This investment continues a positive trend for Ottawa, a trend that has seen a near 50% increase in the number of MRI scans as well as thousands of additional

hip, knee, cancer, cardiac and cataract surgeries in just two years. This is great news for my community of Orléans and for all of Ottawa, which we now know was left with some of the worst

wait times after years on the Tory chopping block.

This positive trend isn't limited to Ottawa. Across the province, Ontarians are seeing shorter wait times and are receiving better care thanks to investments

made by our government. We believe that Ontarians deserve the best health care, and these steps demonstrate our commitment to that goal.

POULTRY FARMERS

Mrs. Maria Van Bommel (Lambton-Kent-Middlesex): It is my pleasure to rise today to welcome the Chicken Farmers of Ontario to the Legislature and

to acknowledge the chicken farmers and producers who have joined us in the gallery today.

This year, the Chicken Farmers of Ontario celebrated 40 years of success as a farmer-operated organization representing 1,100 Ontario chicken producers. In 2004,

Ontario produced 319.7 million kilos of chicken meat with a total farm gate value of $525.7 million. More than 5,000 full-time jobs are directly attributable to this industry, and that doesn't

include the spinoff jobs that we have in both urban and rural communities.

The chicken industry in Ontario continues to grow, in no small part attributable to supply management, which is a uniquely Canadian success story. At the

upcoming meeting of the World Trade Organization in Hong Kong, Canada's success is going to be under attack. Chicken Farmers of Ontario are calling upon our trade negotiators to support our orderly

marketing system and protect Canadian agriculture.

This is a particularly passionate issue for me, Mr. Speaker, as you well know. My husband Rene and I are proud to be one of the 32 chicken-producing families in

my riding of Lambton-Kent-Middlesex.

Today, Chicken Farmers of Ontario brought the farm to Queen's Park. I hope all the members of the House will take the opportunity to visit the replica of a

chicken barn that is parked at the front to learn about the chicken farmers, their industry, their challenges and the good work they do. Finally, I hope all members will join me at the reception

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): Thank you.

Hon. James J. Bradley (Minister of Tourism, minister responsible for seniors, Government House Leader): On a point of order, Mr. Speaker: I

didn't hear when that reception was. Did you hear when it was?

The Speaker: I'm certain the member from Lambton-Kent-Middlesex could tell us that.

Mrs. Van Bommel: The reception is in committee room number 2, Speaker.

Hon. David Caplan (Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal, Deputy Government House Leader): What time?

Mrs. Van Bommel: It starts at 5:30, I believe.

Interjections.

Mrs. Van Bommel: Yes, they are telling me 5:30.

REPORTS BY COMMITTEES

STANDING COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT AGENCIES

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): I beg to inform the House that today the Clerk received the report on intended appointments dated October

26, 2005, of the standing committee on government agencies. Pursuant to standing order 106(e)9, the report is deemed to be adopted by the House.

STANDING COMMITTEE ON REGULATIONS AND PRIVATE BILLS

Ms. Marilyn Churley (Toronto-Danforth): I beg leave to present a report from the standing committee on regulations and private bills and move

its adoption.

The Clerk-at-the-Table (Mr. Todd Decker): Your committee begs to report the following bills without amendment:

Bill Pr13,

An Act respecting The University of St. Michael's College;

Bill Pr20,

An Act to revive 1376037 Ontario Inc.;

Bill Pr21,

An Act to incorporate the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies.

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): Shall the report be received and adopted? Agreed? Agreed.

INTRODUCTION OF BILLS

NO TUITION HIKES ACT, 2005 /

LOI DE 2005

INTERDISANT L'AUGMENTATION

DES DROITS DE SCOLARITÉ

Mr. Marchese moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 12,

An Act to implement a ban on hiking post-secondary tuition fees / Projet de loi 12, Loi visant à interdire l'augmentation des droits de

scolarité au postsecondaire.

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.

Does the member have a brief statement?

Mr. Rosario Marchese (Trinity-Spadina): I'm here and our party is here today to plead with the Premier to continue to freeze tuition fees for

yet another two years. The Canadian Federation of Students -- all up there -- are here today to plead with you and your members to continue to freeze tuition fees as a way of avoiding the debt

burden that is growing and getting larger by the minute. They don't want to be gouged, their families don't want to be gouged, and their families don't want their future to be gouged. So they are

pleading with you -- even you, Minister of Finance -- to appeal to the federal government to release the $600 million based on the accord between Layton and Martin so that you can freeze tuition

fees and in fact lower them.

The Speaker: It's a brief statement, not a speech.

MOTIONS

HOUSE SITTINGS

Hon. James J. Bradley (Minister of Tourism, minister responsible for seniors, Government House Leader): I move that, pursuant to standing

order 9(c)(i), the House shall meet from 6:45 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, 2005, for the purpose of considering government business.

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry?

All those in favour will say "aye."

All those opposed will say "nay."

In my opinion, the ayes have it.

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

The division bells rang from 1353 to 1358.

The Speaker: All those in favour will please rise one at a time and be recognized by the Clerk.

Ayes

Arthurs, Wayne

Baird, John R.

Barrett, Toby

Bartolucci, Rick

Bentley, Christopher

Berardinetti, Lorenzo

Bountrogianni, Marie

Bradley, James J.

Brownell, Jim

Bryant, Michael

Caplan, David

Chambers, Mary Anne V.

Chudleigh, Ted

Colle, Mike

Crozier, Bruce

Delaney, Bob

Dhillon, Vic

Dombrowsky, Leona

Duguid, Brad

Duncan, Dwight

Flynn, Kevin Daniel

Fonseca, Peter

Gerretsen, John

Hoy, Pat

Jeffrey, Linda

Kennedy, Gerard

Klees, Frank

Kular, Kuldip

Kwinter, Monte

Lalonde, Jean-Marc

Leal, Jeff

Levac, Dave

Marsales, Judy

Martiniuk, Gerry

Mauro, Bill

McGuinty, Dalton

McMeekin, Ted

McNeely, Phil

Meilleur, Madeleine

Miller, Norm

Milloy, John

Mitchell, Carol

Munro, Julia

O'Toole, John

Orazietti, David

Ouellette, Jerry J.

Patten, Richard

Peters, Steve

Peterson, Tim

Phillips, Gerry

Pupatello, Sandra

Qaadri, Shafiq

Ramal, Khalil

Runciman, Robert W.

Ruprecht, Tony

Sandals, Liz

Sergio, Mario

Smith, Monique

Smitherman, George

Sorbara, Gregory S.

Tascona, Joseph N.

Tory, John

Van Bommel, Maria

Watson, Jim

Wilkinson, John

Wynne, Kathleen O.

Yakabuski, John

Zimmer, David

The Speaker: All those opposed will please rise one at a time and be recognized by the Clerk.

Nays

Churley, Marilyn

Horwath, Andrea

Kormos, Peter

Marchese, Rosario

Martel, Shelley

Prue, Michael

The Clerk of the Assembly (Mr. Claude L. DesRosiers): The ayes are 68; the nays are 6.

The Speaker: I declare the motion carried.

ORAL QUESTIONS

ECONOMIC POLICY

Mr. John Tory (Leader of the Opposition): My question is for the Premier. What specific measures has your government taken to address the loss

of 42,000 manufacturing jobs in Ontario so far this year?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty (Premier, Minister of Research and Innovation): I'm delighted to receive the question. I know the leader of the official

opposition will know that this economy has generated some 193,000 new jobs. You also must be very aware, I'm sure, that we have landed the first new greenfield assembly plant -- we're talking about

manufacturing here -- in some 10 years. It's the first of its kind in 10 years in Canada: Toyota in Woodstock, Ontario. To pursue the matter of what has happened in the auto sector, the member will

also be aware that we have landed $4.5 billion worth of new investment in the province of Ontario in our first two years. I think, by way of an update, that that speaks loudly to our continuing

commitment to secure manufacturing in Ontario.

Mr. Tory: Premier, I asked you about the 42,000 manufacturing jobs that have been lost in Ontario and the 42,000 families in communities

across this province who have been affected by that and who have one less paycheque coming into the house as a result of having lost their jobs.

The latest to close its plants in Ontario is Imperial Tobacco, with 555 jobs lost in Guelph and another 80 in Aylmer. The Guelph Mercury calls the plant

closure a huge blow to the local economy. That's a little different from your Liberal MPP from Guelph−Wellington, who is quoted in the Mercury as saying, "It will cause disruption in the

lives of those that will be laid off, but it does prove government legislation is working."

Premier, 635 people -- 635 families -- just lost their jobs. Is this the official line from your government? Is all you have to say to those 42,000 families

what you just said a minute ago? What are you doing for them?

Hon. Mr. McGuinty: I believe the leader of the official opposition has an understanding of what's happening with respect to manufacturing and

how it's being affected by this era of globalization. We consider it an important responsibility on our part, with regard to what's taking place in our globalized economy, to look for ways to help

manufacturing, in particular, to transition to a point where they are stronger by way of being more productive and more efficient, and also by continuing to invest heavily in the skills and

education of our people.

But back to some important facts: In September alone, this economy generated 17,300 new jobs -- that's net. Again, I say to the member opposite, he may be full

of doom and gloom on the economy, but the facts speak otherwise.

Mr. Tory: As the Premier would say, back to some important facts: Forty-two thousand families in this province have been affected by the loss

of jobs. We're all happy about the gains you talked about, but there are 42,000 families that have been affected by the loss of jobs in this province, and the trend is not limited to Guelph and

Aylmer. In the last round of negotiations between the Big Three automakers and the union, which you referred to, jobs were cut as part of those deals: 1,100 layoffs at Ford in Windsor; 500 to 1,000

layoffs at Chrysler; 1,000 to 1,500 layoffs at General Motors, including St. Catharines. These overshadow the recent Toyota announcement, which we all welcome, by a margin of three to one.

I ask you again, Premier, what specific measures are you taking to help the 2,600 to 3,600 families that have lost their jobs as a result of changes being

implemented, as we speak, by the Big Three automakers? What are you doing for them?

Hon. Mr. McGuinty: I repeat that there have been 193,100 net new jobs created in Ontario in the past two years. The unemployment rate in our

province is at its lowest level since July 2001.

The member is aware of the $4.5-billion investment in the auto sector, and he knows about the thousands of jobs and spinoffs that will be created in connection

with that. But he may not be familiar with others. For example, GlaxoSmithKline recently made a $23-million expansion that will create 75 new jobs. The Automodular Corp. is building a new plant in

Oakville. That's 400 new jobs. Minacs Worldwide is opening up a new call centre in Chatham. That's 300 new jobs. RioCan and Trinity Development Group is investing $151 million in construction of

four new shopping centres in our province. Stream, a Voice over Internet Protocol company, is adding 700 full-time new jobs. Back in my hometown, Dell is adding 500 new jobs. I could go on, but

time does not permit.

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): New question.

Mr. Tory: What the Premier did not mention is that the unemployment level in this province has been above the national average for several

months this year, on your watch, for the first time since World War II.

My question is again to the Premier: Three hundred families in Chesterville, Ontario, in the riding of Stormont-Dundas-Charlottenburgh, have been devastated by

the news that, by the middle of next year, their jobs will be no more. Nestlé Canada will be closing its doors in that community, where they've been in business since 1918. What specific

measures are you undertaking to help the 300 families in Chesterville who will be affected by those job losses? What are you doing for them, specifically?

Hon. Mr. McGuinty: Again, we're not going to pretend, as I'm sure the member opposite would not have us pretend, that somehow there will never

be any job losses, any consolidations, any dislocations ever taking place on our watch as a government. I think he would understand that. I'm sure in fact that he would have, at least one time in

his career in the business sector, been involved in layoffs. I'm sure he is familiar with that negative aspect of business.

But I can say that we feel for those families. We wish that they were not dislocated. We are going to do our very best to make the kinds of strategic

investments to help strengthen this economy. That's why we're investing in the skills and education of our workers; that's why we're getting the fundamental rights; that's why we're making sure

there is a reliable supply of electricity; that's why we're making sure we're limiting the deficit they saddled us with. Those are the kinds of things we are doing to strengthen this economy and

ensure that every Ontarian can find opportunity.

Mr. Tory: Still not one thing for those families. I'll go on.

My colleague for Simcoe-Grey has raised the issue of manufacturing job losses with you directly, as Alcoa Wheel Products in his riding has publicly stated that

the higher electricity costs they're now paying are making them uncompetitive -- 420 jobs at risk.

Backyard Products has already closed down: 230 job losses. Blue Mountain Pottery, closed: 37 people without jobs. Nacan Products, closed: 87 people without

jobs. Kaufman Furniture, closed: 150 people out of work.

In this case, both the mayor and the member for Simcoe-Grey, Mr. Wilson, have asked for nothing more than a round table meeting with you to discuss these job

losses. Since you haven't agreed to do anything else, would you at least agree to have a round table to discuss these job losses in Collingwood and Simcoe-Grey with the member and the people

affected? Will you do that?

Hon. Mr. McGuinty: By way of more good news, we have a new call centre announced today in Cornwall. That's 650 new jobs.

Interjections.

Hon. Mr. McGuinty: I know members opposite may not be interested in this, but those people getting these new jobs are very interested in these

stories.

MCCI announced recently in Thunder Bay that while they currently employ 350 people, they're expanding their plant to double their staff to 700 within one year.

Durham Contact Centre is opening a contact centre in Trenton. The centre is expected to be open by mid-September. It will employ approximately 190 people. I could go on.

The point is this: We don't pretend to be able to stop all these dislocations, but we are working very hard at the other end to ensure that --

The Speaker: Thank you.

Mr. Tory: The question all the way through, of course, has been -- and we'll try one more time -- what will you do for the people who have

been affected, who are losing their jobs in these communities? I asked if you would do something as simple as having a round table, as requested by the member for Simcoe-Grey, and you didn't even

try to answer that question.

Sears Canada recently announced 1,200 job cuts across Canada, with 800 job losses in office functions. The Sears head office is on Jarvis Street in Toronto.

Niagara Falls will also see 240 job losses when the ConAgra plant closes.

My question, to wrap it all up, is simply this: What specific measures will you undertake or bring in for the families in Chesterville, Guelph, Aylmer,

Collingwood, Windsor, St. Catharines, Toronto and Niagara Falls, the 42,000 families that are seeing the loss of a job, the loss of a paycheque in their family in this province right now? What are

you going to do for them?

Hon. Mr. McGuinty: By way of more good news, ISRA Textile Manufacturing in Niagara Falls has announced a new plant, and they're going to

employ up to 500 people. CAMI Automotive in Ingersoll: 400 additional jobs.

Here are the facts, and they are beyond dispute. Since we earned the privilege of serving Ontarians as their government, the economy has generated 193,100 net

new jobs. In September alone, the economy generated 17,300 net new jobs. We have an unemployment rate that is at the lowest rate since July 2001.

We think the most important thing we can do to strengthen people so they can find opportunity in this highly competitive, globalized economy is to invest in

their skills and education. That's why there are unprecedented levels of support for education at the primary, secondary and post-secondary levels, culminating with a $6.2-billion investment for

those people in college, university and apprenticeships.

WATER QUALITY

Mr. Howard Hampton (Kenora-Rainy River): My question is for the Premier. I want to quote some words to you today: "Why did it have to come to

this? Why did we have to come here, our backs to the wall? We're residents of Ontario. This should have been done weeks ago, years ago, months ago." Those are the words of Stan Louttit, the

Mushkegowuk Grand Chief, and he said them today.

Two years ago, the Ontario Clean Water Agency warned your government, the McGuinty government, that the water supply of Kashechewan First Nation was a

Walkerton in the waiting. For two years, the situation got worse; kids got sicker. Premier, why did it take your government, the McGuinty government, two years to listen to the desperate situation

of the people of Kashechewan First Nation?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty (Premier, Minister of Research and Innovation): The leader of the NDP raises an important issue, which is the health,

safety and well-being of families who are living on the reserve in Kashechewan.

I had an opportunity, together with the Minister of Natural Resources, who was there in his capacity as minister responsible for aboriginal affairs -- we had a

very good meeting with the representatives of the community. We also had a very good briefing, an excellent briefing, from a doctor who had recently visited the reserve. The conclusion that I

quickly came to was that, notwithstanding the fact that responsibility, both for water and the health, safety and well-being of community members, lies with the federal government, we should take

the bull by the horns and do what is needed in the circumstances. So we have ordered an evacuation. That will begin at 4 o'clock today. I have committed to Chief Friday and his colleagues that we

will work as quickly as we can to make sure those kids are in school and that the families are getting the necessary treatment.

Mr. Hampton: The report from the Ontario Clean Water Agency -- I emphasize again, the Ontario Clean Water Agency, an arm of your government.

You and your cabinet ministers had this report two years ago. It's very clear: No one should have to drink this water. But for two years you ignored the problem; for two years you tried to say,

"Oh, it's strictly a federal problem." But finally, when it came here and got headline, front-page coverage, you decided, "Oops, maybe it is an Ontario issue."

You could have done this two years ago. You should have done it two years ago. Why did people have to suffer under Third World conditions with contaminated

water for two years while your government ignored the problem?

Hon. Mr. McGuinty: There is a First Nations technical agency -- something of that appellation -- that asked the Ontario Clean Water Agency to

prepare a report, which was then submitted to the federal government. Again, there is no doubt about it: The responsibility for the health, safety and well-being of Ontarians who are located on

reserves lies with the federal government. Mr. Justice Dennis O'Connor has also made it clear that the principal responsibility for water treatment and water quality also lies with the federal

government.

Notwithstanding that, we have insinuated ourselves into this circumstance because we believe that the families living on the reserve deserve nothing less.

There are conditions there which are completely unsatisfactory, not conducive to health, not conducive to the well-being of the families. That's why we've come to their assistance.

Mr. Hampton: It was the Ontario First Nations Technical Services, part of Nishnawbe-Aski Nation, that went to the Ontario Clean Water Agency

and asked for help. They asked the Ontario government for help. It was a health emergency then -- it was a health emergency in April -- when the Minister of Community Safety toured Kashechewan

First Nation with community leaders and Gilles Bisson, the MPP for Timmins-James Bay. He saw it then; it was drawn to his particular attention. In fact, he said, "My God, Gilles, I can't believe

that these communities are in this shape. It's terrible."

You knew six months ago. This community was asking for your help. Why did the McGuinty government ignore these people, residents of Ontario, who were in a

desperate situation? Why did you ignore them six months ago and suddenly you recognize, now that it's on the front pages, that you have a responsibility to do something?

Hon. Mr. McGuinty: Speaker --

Interruption.

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): Stop the clock.

Premier.

Hon. Mr. McGuinty: The issues and concerns have been raised by the community for a considerable period of time now, there is no doubt about

that, and those issues have been raised with the federal government. More recently, issues related to health were raised with us, and we have acted on that very quickly. I think it's incumbent upon

all of us now to do whatever we can to ensure that we're providing whatever support is needed.

As of 4 o'clock this afternoon, we will begin evacuating those members of the community who should be evacuated according to the determination of the medical

experts and the chief. Many members will be located in the community of Timmins. Our responsibilities will now include ensuring that children can go to school. It will also require that we ensure

that the necessary medical attention is brought to all those who have been infected by various illnesses.

The Speaker: New question?

Mr. Hampton: To the Premier: You're trying hard to avoid the issue. Yes, in August 2004, your Minister of Health visited Kashechewan and was

shown the deplorable state of the water treatment system and the deplorable state of the water that people were being forced to drink. In fact, your Minister of Health made several promises while

he was there. So here is the long and the short of it: Your government was asked for help three times -- once when the First Nation went to the Ontario Clean Water Agency; second, when the Minister

of Health was there a year ago; third, when the Minister of Community Safety was there six months ago. You did nothing until we brought the issue here and put it on the front page. Premier, can you

tell the people of Kashechewan why --

Interjections.

The Speaker: Order. I could not hear the last part of the leader of the third party's question. We need to maintain some respect for the

person who has the floor. Leader of the third party -- if you want to complete placing your question.

Mr. Hampton: Premier, you were asked for help three times by representatives of this First Nation over a two-year period. Why did it take you

until it got on the front pages of the newspapers to respond in the way you should have responded in the first place?

Hon. Mr. McGuinty: This is a serious issue, and we have done what we believe is the right thing to do in the circumstances. Now, maybe I'm

missing something. Maybe the leader of the NDP has raised this issue time and time and time again over the course of the past two years, but I believe this is the first time that he has raised this

issue.

I think what we need to do now is turn our minds to the concerns held by that community. The concerns there relate to the poor quality of their drinking water;

they relate to the engineering debacle that is to be found in the construction and location of the water treatment plant; they relate to the fact that young children are not in school; and they

relate to the fact that the community is subject to flooding on a regular basis, and some thought must now be given to relocating the community. I think the responsibility that we have right now is

to address those kinds of issues --

The Speaker: Thank you. Supplementary?

Mr. Hampton: Six months ago, my colleague the member for Timmins-James Bay specifically invited the Minister of Community Safety to go to this

community. So don't try to pretend that no one was bringing this to the attention of your government.

You've cited the report of the Walkerton inquiry. I want to quote Mr. Justice O'Connor: "First Nations are also residents of Ontario. There can be no

justification for acquiescing in the application of a lesser public health standard on certain residents of Ontario than that enjoyed by others in the province.... The province, if asked [by First

Nations], has much to contribute."

Premier, this First Nation asked you three times over the last two years. Why did you ignore their desperate plight?

Hon. Mr. McGuinty: I'm going to make reference to recommendation number 89 from Mr. Justice Dennis O'Connor's Walkerton report, where he said,

"I encourage First Nations and the federal government to formally adopt drinking water standards, applicable to reserves, that are as stringent as, or more stringent than, the standards adopted by

the provincial government."

It makes it clear that the principal responsibility for water standards on reserves is a matter that is shared between the community itself and the federal

government. What we have done is -- notwithstanding the jurisdictional responsibility, which should in fact be assumed by federal government -- we have stepped in. We feel that it's important that

we lend some assistance to the community there, that we lend a hand to the families that have been affected by their water quality challenges. That's why, as of 4 o'clock this afternoon, we're in

the process of beginning an evacuation to bring these families and these children to safety.

Mr. Hampton: Two years ago the people of Kashechewan were asking for help from the Ontario government. A year ago, when the Minister of Health

visited, they were asking for help from the Ontario government. Six months ago, when the Minister of Community Safety visited the community, they were asking the McGuinty government for help. Mr.

Justice O'Connor says there is no justification for your government acquiescing. There are 51 First Nations communities in this province today with boil water advisories. Can you tell me, is your

government going to take action on those or will they have to come here to Queen's Park and hold press conferences to embarrass your government before you take action with respect to them? What

will it be, Premier -- more acquiescence, or are you going to finally recognize that aboriginal people are residents and citizens of Ontario too?

Hon. Mr. McGuinty: There is a real issue here: that of jurisdictional responsibility. The NDP may see this as not being of any importance, but

I think it's of real importance. I think it's important to the communities involved that we get this right. Who has to take charge to ensure that there is, at a minimum, safe drinking water

available to the families on reserves? The Constitution tells us precisely who has that responsibility. It is the federal government. They have failed to discharge that responsibility in the case

of this particular community.

Rather than get into an exchange with the federal government, what we have done is we have taken responsibility. We have done what we believe to be the right

thing to do on behalf of these families. There are extraordinary circumstances that obtain here. We've decided that the important thing for us is to lend assistance immediately to these families,

and that is what we have done. Again, as of 4 o'clock this afternoon, we will begin evacuation of these communities because we think it's the right thing to do.

ECONOMIC POLICY

Mr. John Yakabuski (Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke): My question is for the Premier. I'd like to get back to the subject of jobs and the economy.

Just this past month, I was at a conference here in Toronto. One of the speakers was Warren Jestin, senior vice-president and chief economist with Scotia Capital. They talked about the fragility of

this economy. Member after member of that group kept saying how jobs were tied to energy in this province, and how your energy policy with regard to the high cost of power and the uncertainty of

supply was leaving companies with no option but to shut down operations here, reduce their workforces or cease to plan expansion here in Ontario. Your economic policy and your energy policy are

driving jobs out of this province. Are you going to continue to stand by as that happens, or do you have an economic and an energy strategy?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty (Premier, Minister of Research and Innovation): To the Minister of Economic Development and Trade.

Hon. Joseph Cordiano (Minister of Economic Development and Trade): What a bunch of bunk. A 6.4% unemployment rate, 193,000 new jobs: You don't

know what you're talking about. This economy is on a roll. I've got to say to the member, when you look at Toyota and what they've done, they didn't say, "You have high energy costs." They're a

full manufacturer. What they said was, "This is the place to invest," giving us a huge vote of confidence in this province.

I might add that over the time that party was in government, over the period of time from about 1994 to 2004, FDI, foreign direct investment, in this province

dropped in half. That's the legacy of your economic policies. That's the legacy of a Conservative government.

Mr. Yakabuski: They can announce and re-announce the jobs at Woodstock and Toyota 100 times or 1,000 times if they want, but they simply don't

cut the mustard when it comes to making up for the jobs you have lost in this province: 25,000 jobs in forestry this year alone -- companies like Erco, 150 jobs; Nexen, 23 jobs; Abitibi, just last

week, 360 jobs.

You just can't go blindly waving around your flag of GM or Toyota and Woodstock and not address the job losses that continue to happen in this province as a

result of your policy. What are you going to do to stop the hemorrhaging of business, jobs and prosperity in this province that is happening on your watch?

Hon. Mr. Cordiano: Isn't it interesting. This is what John Tory had to say when he was president of Rogers Cable: "It's a sign of the times.

Most businesses today are finding that they have to reduce their costs and that includes, unfortunately, people costs." He was advocating getting rid of people and getting rid of their jobs. That's

what he was saying when he was CEO of Rogers. That's the kind of management he's going to bring to this place.

I want to repeat all the great investments that are being made in this province: 400 new jobs -- these are auto jobs, manufacturing jobs, at Automodular Corp.

as a result of the Ford announcement in Oakville. Automodular is going to locate in Oakville. That means 400 brand new jobs in manufacturing to support the auto sector.

The list goes on. Dofasco announced, as a result of a number of positive --

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): Thank you. Sit down. New question.

WATER QUALITY

Mr. Gilles Bisson (Timmins-James Bay): My question is to the Premier. Premier, you'll know that in 2003, the Ontario Clean Water Agency, as my

leader said, gave your government a report that said that people were at risk of being sick, and possibly worse, as a result of drinking the water in Kashechewan. You will know that the First

Nations community's Leo Friday, the chief, along with Stan Louttit, were here, along with others, to demonstrate just how bad the situation is and how sick people are.

I've got a very simple question for you: Will you today stand in your place and apologize on behalf of your government for having failed to protect the

citizens of Kashechewan since 2003?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty (Premier, Minister of Research and Innovation): The minister responsible for aboriginal affairs.

Hon. David Ramsay (Minister of Natural Resources, minister responsible for aboriginal affairs): I think we have to have a little historical

reality check here. As you know, the community has never made any direct demand to the province, nor would they want to, because they know that the federal government has a treaty obligation to

take care of that community, as they do of all First Nation communities across this province. The First Nations guard that very, very carefully and they don't want the province coming in on that.

They want that obligation kept by the federal government. That's why they've gone to them. That's why we offered the assistance to the federal government to, "Do your duty to that nation, because

it is your obligation to do it." But when the emergency struck, we stepped up to the plate, and people are starting to leave that community this afternoon.

Mr. Bisson: Minister, don't you come into this House and pretend to understand what those communities want. What they want is for their

children to be safe. They went to your government in 2003 by way of the clean water report. Your government did nothing. On visits to the community, both your Minister of Health, whom I respect,

and the Minister of Community Safety -- this issue was raised. People said, "We are scared of the water. There are problems with the water." People have raised it.

I'm saying to you once again that your government has taken some action as a result of what happened here over the last couple of days. The community has a

simple question: Is the Premier prepared to stand in this House today and say, "I'm sorry for the inaction of this government," and basically do what has to be done from this point forward?

Hon. Mr. Ramsay: I can tell you what the community doesn't want. They don't want NDP-chartered planes full of press coming into the community

when we're trying to get planes out to get people out. That's what we're trying to do, and you're putting on a show there. That's what the community wants. We're trying to charter planes so we can

evacuate people who are sick, who need medical treatment. You're taking up those planes to take the press up.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): Stop the clock. Order. We need to come to order. Order.

Interjections.

The Speaker: I can wait.

HOSPITAL FUNDING

Mr. Khalil Ramal (London-Fanshawe): Monsieur le Président, ma question est pour le ministre de l'Infrastructure.

Minister, Londoners care very deeply about health care, their doctors, nurses and health care facilities. They are especially proud of their hospitals, which

have a reputation as world-class health care facilities. On September 27, you came to London to announce the province's plan for the completion of the children's and women's hospital at London

Health Sciences Centre. We are all incredibly excited about the announcement. However, some of the community seems to be concerned about the new financing process being implemented by the Ontario

government and how it will affect the quality of care in London's hospitals. Minister, can you explain why these concerns may be misplaced and why our government has chosen to finance hospitals in

this manner?

Hon. David Caplan (Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal, Deputy Government House Leader): Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member from

London-Fanshawe for the question. If it's not too late, I want to congratulate you on your appointment to the Chair.

Our government has taken unprecedented action to invest in health care infrastructure like never before. Part of our $30-billion total investment, our ReNew

Ontario program: $5 billion of investment in hospitals and in health care. The big advantages of using the method here is that we can deliver state-of-the-art medical facilities for people, not

only in London but right across Ontario from one end to the other, sooner, faster and more efficiently. People in London will have access to state-of-the-art medical facilities. Those dedicated

professionals, those doctors and nurses, not only will have better working conditions but conditions to be able to treat their patients. Those hospitals will be built sooner, the public interest

will be protected, the quality of care will be of an enormous standard, and I'm excited.

Mr. Ramal: Minister, what can you tell the naysayers who see no difference in the model than that of the P3 model of the previous

government?

Hon. Mr. Caplan: It wasn't just the previous government; it was the NDP, in fact, that introduced P3s into the province of Ontario. We reject

the P3 model of the NDP and the Conservatives.

There are some very key aspects. We've laid that out in a framework for investment called Building a Better Tomorrow. There are five key principles: that

public interest is paramount; that value for money must be demonstrated; that there are clear accountability lines; and that -- this is a critical difference between the NDP-Conservative P3

approach and AFP -- public control is always kept in the hands of the Ontario government and our partners. On the issue of core assets, like hospitals, schools and water, it is that they will

always be publicly owned. Those are significant differences to the NDP and Conservative P3 approach.

VEHICLE INSPECTION CERTIFICATES

Mr. Frank Klees (Oak Ridges): My question is to the Minister of Transportation. Minister, you will know the importance of vehicle structural

inspection certificates. The public relies on those certificates issued by your ministry to ensure both consumer protection as well as road safety. When a consumer purchases a vehicle, they rely on

those certificates to give them confidence that their vehicle is structurally sound. Minister, when a purchase like that takes place and it's found subsequently that the certificate was issued

fraudulently, do you believe your ministry has responsibility in that matter, or do you wash your hands of it?

Hon. Harinder S. Takhar (Minister of Transportation): We take any fraudulent cases very seriously. Any fraud is against the law, and we take

those issues very seriously. If the member has any particular case he is prepared to give to me, we will investigate that.

Mr. Klees: Well, Minister, I do have a particular case. My constituent, 19-year-old Justin Mejia, saved up $7,000 to buy his first car so that

he could get to and from work. He relied on your ministry's safety certificate when he purchased his first car from Mario Malicia, owner of Elite Import Auto Sales of Hamilton. Two weeks later, the

same car was declared structurally unfit to drive by another inspection station of your ministry. Now he's told that it's going to cost him another $8,000 to get the car back on the road. What's

most disturbing to Mr. Mejia is the fact that the Ministry of Transportation is now denying responsibility and refuses to assist him in recovering his $7,000.

Minister, will you commit, first of all, to a full investigation? Second, will you commit to ensuring that the appropriate charges are laid against that

garage, as well as the mechanic who issued that certificate, and will you ensure that your ministry will assist in the recovery of this person's $7,000?

Hon. Mr. Takhar: Let me assure the member that my ministry is aware of this case. This case is under investigation right now. What we will do

is work with this person to make sure that the case does get full attention. I'm not fully aware of the circumstances of this case, but the case is under investigation.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): We're having way too many private conversations around this place. If you want to have other

conversations, take them outside.

WATER QUALITY

Ms. Marilyn Churley (Toronto-Danforth): I have a question for the Premier. Last Thursday, the city of Toronto's policy and finance committee

voted in favour of stopping the big pipe -- York-Durham's sewer system. The committee recognized how this sewer pipe threatens Toronto's and the surrounding region's drinking water supply. Experts,

including your very own Environmental Commissioner, Gord Miller, were among those who spoke to the committee and convinced its members to vote for a motion to stop the pipe. Mr. Miller is very

concerned about the current design and construction and wants it to receive a full environmental assessment. Will you listen to your own Environmental Commissioner by issuing a stop order and a

full environmental assessment of the big pipe today?

Hon. Dalton McGuinty (Premier, Minister of Research and Innovation): I'll refer this to the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of the

Environment.

Mr. John Wilkinson (Perth-Middlesex): I want to thank the member for the question. The member will know of course that it was a committee of

Toronto's city council that dealt with that matter, not the city of Toronto. It is our understanding that the city of Toronto will be dealing with that issue as early as today. I can assure the

member that if the city of Toronto makes a written request to the Minister of the Environment, my minister will give that request immediate attention.

Ms. Churley: I must say I'm honestly surprised by that answer, because your own Environmental Commissioner, your own expert, is telling you to

stop it and call a full EA. Your government bypassed a full environmental assessment and gave permission for a sewer pipe that will move up to 740 million litres of raw sewage daily across York and

Durham to treatment plants in Pickering. If there is even a small break in the bottom half of the big pipe, E. coli and raw sewage will leak directly into the region's groundwater supply.

Geologists have provided warnings that a bedrock fault line passes near the proposed sewer route. Your own Environmental Commissioner wants you to stop the construction of the big pipe for a full

EA. I'm going to ask you again: On the heels of the discussion that we're having today about E. coli contamination of water, will you stop this crazy project, this dangerous project, and order

a full environmental assessment today?

Mr. Wilkinson: I just want to put on the record and to remind the member that the work that is going on currently is subject to 40 legally

binding conditions set out by the Ministry of the Environment. I can assure the member that the Ministry of the Environment is very interested in that work and is doing its job to make sure that

all of those conditions are met. As I mentioned to the member last week, one of conditions was not met previously and we issued a provincial order to deal with that.

As I said, the city of Toronto itself has not dealt with this matter. They will be dealing with it shortly. If we receive a letter, my minister will be giving

that immediate consideration --

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): Thank you. New question.

COMMUNITY USE OF SCHOOLS

Mr. Brad Duguid (Scarborough Centre): My question is to the Minister of Health Promotion. Minister, we're all concerned about the fact that

Toronto and area has been rocked throughout the summer and the fall by youth crime and violence -- gang violence in particular. Our government is acting by getting more police officers on the

street and beefing up our guns and gangs unit, which will go a long way to resolving some of the immediate problems that we have.

At the same time, we must also focus on the causes of this gun violence. Many youth in my community have, in the past, accurately complained that there is

nowhere to turn after school, a sentiment that was echoed in a recent Globe and Mail article, where one gang member lamented about the fact that lack of access to community centres and basketball

courts was certainly contributing to the problem.

Minister, what is the McGuinty government doing to ensure that there are positive opportunities for young people to get involved in after-school

activities?

Hon. Jim Watson (Minister of Health Promotion): I want to thank the member from Scarborough Centre, and I also want to pay tribute to the

education minister and Minister Bradley, who initiated the community use of schools program last year. We listened to community leaders, who told us, quite frankly, that rising rental costs and

extracurricular activity fees were driving individual youth groups and sports leagues out of the schools because they could no longer afford the fees.

The previous government, quite frankly, turned its back on the young people of Scarborough and other communities in this province. I was pleased when our

Premier and our government included $20 million in the last budget for the community use of schools program. As we heard yesterday about the basketball program in and of itself, 10,000 young people

in the GTA area were deprived of the opportunity of playing basketball because of high rental costs. Scarborough Basketball, which Mr. Duguid is interested in, had their user fees reduced under

this program by this government by --

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): Thank you. There may be a supplementary. Supplementary?

Mr. Duguid: I can tell by the heckles today that -- again, I was taken aback yesterday when the opposition expressed total indifference to the

important strides that we're making in ensuring that our young people have access to important recreation facilities and programs. The opposition appear to believe that providing young people with

recreational activities, be it basketball or anything else, for that matter, should not be a priority for this government. I couldn't disagree more.

The previous government killed recreation programs in the province; the third party appears to be indifferent to it. Can the minister share with this

Legislature some examples of how the community use of schools has impacted the lives of our young people?

Hon. Mr. Watson: The Conservatives and the NDP may laugh at our young athletes who want to give something back to their community and get

involved in extracurricular activities, but this program is not just about basketball. Urban Family Outreach, a non-profit charity, was able to run three new summer camps as a result of the

community use of schools because of reduced fees. Rexdale soccer league doubled their participation. Scouts, guides and air cadets were all able to see their fees reduced from $85 to $17.

Yesterday, the NDP insulted the young people who are involved in sports and recreation, one of the great unifiers in our society. They voted against the

community use of schools, thereby endorsing higher fees for young people. I tell the NDP: Why are you against young people getting involved in extracurricular activities? The NDP, once a great

party of principle, is now relegated to cheap stunts, rhetoric and empty promises --

The Speaker: Thank you.

Interjections.

The Speaker: Order. We'll stop the clock for a minute. We can wait.

The member for Durham.

CANCER TREATMENT

Mr. John O'Toole (Durham): It seems that the Minister of Health Promotion is quite pumped today.

My question is to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. I'm asking you a question today, Minister, on behalf of my constituent. This is a gentlemen who's

31 years old, he's the parent of two children, and his spouse is a stay-at-home spouse to raise their children. In 2001 my constituent had exhausted all practical medical remedies for his condition

of ITP, which is a euphemism for a cancer term. His treatment options in Ontario were exhausted and he had no choice but to attend the Mayo Clinic, where he received Rituxan. The suggestion was by

his physician. However, at $17,000, Minister, the question here is: Would you please advise what steps my constituent can take to get this out-of-country coverage for a life-saving condition?

Hon. George Smitherman (Minister of Health and Long-Term Care): I will try to be of some guidance, but it was unclear from the honourable

member if what was being sought was compensation for out-of-country coverage that was acquired by the patient without prior approval. There are circumstances, of course, where an approval process

allows for an Ontarian to access a service outside our province in certain circumstances. Those are well outlined and they're exactly as they were when your party was in office. The gentleman will

have the opportunity, through the Health Services Appeal and Review Board, of taking his case forward. I'm happy to work with the honourable member, with the presentation of a bit more information,

but that would traditionally be the mechanism that would be available to the individual.

Mr. O'Toole: Minister, this is not a new issue. I brought this up during estimates with you directly. I have written you, on April 29, and

again on the 13th. Let's keep this down at the level of human beings, the condition of a family. This is a 31-year-old gentleman with a life-threatening condition and we're asking you to not just

toss this off to the Health Services Appeal and Review Board. I'm asking you today, will you simply look at this file? I would be pleased to share the name personally with you. I have their

permission to do that. Do that for this family. Would you respond to that, Minister, please?

Hon. Mr. Smitherman: Most certainly. As I said in my earlier answer, I am happy to work with the honourable member on this more specifically.

At the same time, in expressing compassion for any individual in Ontario who is experiencing a health difficulty, it is important that I also be conscious of my legal responsibilities and of the

authorities that a Minister of Health has and those that a Minister of Health does not have. I had the chance to answer on a similar question from one of your colleagues. The circumstances are the

same as they have been in our province since, I believe, legislation in 1991; that is, a Minister of Health does not have the discretion to override decisions related to that. But that

notwithstanding, on the honourable member's question, will we assist him in this individual case, getting to the bottom of it? Yes, we most absolutely will.

MINIMUM WAGE

Mr. Michael Prue (Beaches-East York): My question is to the Minister of Labour. More than a million people in the GTA alone are working

themselves to the bone and still living in poverty. The reason that's happening is because Ontario's minimum wage does not pay them enough. Most are workers of colour, most are recent immigrants

and most are women. Some can't come home to be with their children because they are working two or three jobs just to pay the rent. Minister, Ontario's minimum wage is not enough for these workers

to live on. What are you prepared to do, as the new minister, to get these families out of poverty?

Hon. Steve Peters (Minister of Labour): Thanks to the member for the question. Certainly, as a government, we recognize the serious plight of

people in this province, and as a government, we moved forward with raising the minimum wage, the first increase that took place in nine years, because we recognize these are some of the most

vulnerable individuals in the province. On February 1, 2005, the minimum wage was increased for the second stage. We moved forward with a four-year transition to move that minimum wage to $8 an

hour. Certainly we recognize the challenges that this may have impacted on businesses, and that's why we've moved in a responsible manner, phasing this in over a four-year period.

Mr. Prue: I ask the minister, how about being responsible to the working poor, who are making $7.45 an hour, $15,000 a year? We've seen that

ministers of your government are able to eat steak, are able to spend $50,000 in just nine days. That's three times as much as a family of six are able to have in a whole year. These workers work

in health care, manufacturing, retail, hospitality, clerical and service work.

Tomorrow, representatives from ISARC are coming here and they're going to ask you what you're going to do for justice for hard-working people. What are you

going to say to these delegates: that in two years they're going to earn $8 an hour, in two years they're still going to live in poverty and two years from now, these families are still going to be

suffering? Is that going to be your answer, Mr. Minister?

Hon. Mr. Peters: As I said in my opening comment, for nine years in this province there was a freeze on the minimum wage. Even back to your

own time in government, from 1991-95, you increased the minimum wage by 85 cents. We recognize that there was a period of time when some of the most vulnerable citizens in this province had not

seen a wage increase, and that's why we've moved forward. This year saw the second instalment of that increase and, by 2007, the minimum wage in this province will be $8 an hour.

As well, we've moved forward on a number of other fronts, whether it's providing assistance through affordable housing in this province or through community

and social services with the increases in disability support payments. We have a plan in place to help those vulnerable individuals on the electrical front. We've moved forward on child care as

well.

HYDRO GENERATION

Mr. Wayne Arthurs (Pickering-Ajax-Uxbridge): I'd like to preface my question to the Minister of Energy with congratulations. This is my first

opportunity to pose a question to her in the Legislature since her appointment as Minister of Energy.

Minister, I'm aware that you were in Belwood, near Fergus, yesterday and announced a new regulation that will help Ontarians develop clean, renewable energy

right in their own yards. I've had constituents in my riding who are cottage owners asking me about putting up solar panels on the roof of their cottages. Some are even interested in small-scale

wind turbines on their properties up north. These, and Ontarians in general, want to make a positive difference in the air we all breathe, and if they can save some money on their electricity bill

along the way, all the better.

I'm sure there will be plenty of people who would like to know more about these options that are open to them. Minister, can you please tell me how my

constituents can best take advantage of the new net metering regulation?

Hon. Donna H. Cansfield (Minister of Energy): Thanks to the member from Pickering-Ajax-Uxbridge for the question. I would also like to take

this opportunity and publicly thank you for being vice-chair of the conservation action team, who, along with 10 other members, did an absolutely superb job. It also gives me an opportunity to say

that there was an alternative fuel all-party committee that did some excellent work that we're able to draw upon as well. It really does go to show you how important conservation and alternatives

are in this Legislature.

The first thing the cottagers need to do is determine what type of renewable energy they would like to participate in. For example, it could be wind, wind and

water, run of the river -- probably not. It could be biomass, but I doubt it. That would be more for agriculture. They might in fact want to go with the associations and ask for some support and

help, in particular with their local distribution company. You'll find that they will --

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): Thank you.

Mr. Arthurs: My constituents are interested in setting up more than a couple of solar panels; they want to put together larger-scale projects.

I have farmers in my riding who are talking about taking advantage of the biomass they create and using it as another source of revenue. Farmers are talking about putting up wind turbines in their

fields in my riding. There are many thousands of Ontarians who have seen North America's tallest and largest wind turbine, and, with respect to my Toronto colleagues, that's not at the CNE; that's

on the waterfront in Pickering.

There are lots of good ideas out there and a lot of opportunities for enterprising Ontarians. Minister, what are our government and you, as the energy

minister, going to do to help people who simply want to do more than make their meters spin backwards?

Hon. Mrs. Cansfield: As you know, yesterday was about net metering, and it was an opportunity for someone to put in place generation for up to

500 kilowatts. The previous minister asked the Ontario Power Authority to come back with a standard offer, along with the Ontario Energy Board, and we hope that will be here by the end of the year.

There will be opportunities for individuals to generate electricity and sell it directly back into the grid. Not only will we be producing the renewable energy we need to meet our commitment of 5%

by 2007 and 10% by 2010, but at the same time Ontarians will be able to participate in helping us to generate that new capacity as well.

ECONOMIC POLICY

Mr. Ted Chudleigh (Halton): My question is for the Minister of Economic Development and Trade. A recent report from the OECD puts Canada's

productivity rate at 12th in the world. In 2003, we were third. Ontario is the economic engine of this country, and we have lost 10 points under your watch. What are you doing to keep Ontario from

turning into Canada's economic caboose?

Hon. Joseph Cordiano (Minister of Economic Development and Trade): I would point to Roger Martin's studies on productivity rates. When he

looked at the prosperity gap between Ontario and 16 jurisdictions in North America, we were 13th out of 16. During the time we've been in government, we actually closed the gap. We went from about

6,000 per capita GDP at the time we took office in 2003, and that gap has been closed significantly to about 3,000 now. So we're on the right track.

Productivity remains a challenge. One of the things we have done in this province, which I might point out as significant, is with respect to research funding.

We funded $300 million in our ORF. I might add that we have put forward an agenda for commercializing that research, something you didn't do when you were the government.

Mr. Chudleigh: The minister is quite right: Productivity is a challenge. It's a tender balance between delivering government services and

creating an economic environment in which industry and businesses can survive and thrive. Increasing taxes, increasing gasoline prices, increasing hydro rates, increasing costs to businesses, and

on and on, take precious money out of businesses' ability to reinvest in their companies. Without that reinvestment, these companies are not going to be able to maintain their productivity.

Changing the jurisdictions that you measure yourself against doesn't solve the problem. The jurisdiction we're concerned about is Ontario in the Canadian

context, and increasing Ontario's productivity rate is paramount to becoming a successful jurisdiction. I'm not sure you understand this, Mr. Minister, and I'd like to know what you're doing to

turn this situation around, specifically so that companies will have more money to invest in their businesses.

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): I'm going to need a few people to move so that I can see the Minister of Economic Development and

Trade.

Hon. Mr. Cordiano: One of the other things that Roger Martin pointed out was the fact that when that government was in power, they cut the

wrong taxes -- even if you agreed with cutting taxes. We, on the other hand, are reducing the capital tax in Ontario, something you left behind. Roger Martin points out that if you want more

investment in this province, which increases productivity, you should be reducing the capital tax, and we're doing just that. The last budget and the one before it pointed to that.

I say to the member, when you were the government, the productivity gap between Ontario and the US doubled. That was your legacy.

PETITIONS

HOSPITAL FUNDING

Mr. Gerry Martiniuk (Cambridge): I have a petition, signed by good citizens of the region of Waterloo, to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario,

headed "Save Our Hospital."

"Whereas the $80-million expansion of Cambridge Memorial Hospital was approved in 2002 pursuant to the mandate of the Health Services Restructuring Commission;

and

"Whereas the plans for the project have been in the works for the past two years; and

"Whereas the residents of Cambridge and North Dumfries, the city of Cambridge and the region of Waterloo have contributed their share of the project; and

"Whereas the decision to cancel the expansion will adversely affect and diminish health care in Waterloo region;

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

"Resolved that the McGuinty government reverse its decision to cancel the Cambridge Memorial Hospital expansion and hospital upgrades."

I sign my name thereto.

CANCER TREATMENT

Ms. Shelley Martel (Nickel Belt): I have a petition that has been given to me by residents of Toronto. It reads as follows:

"Whereas Ontario has an inconsistent policy for access to new cancer treatments while these drugs are under review for funding; and

"Whereas cancer patients taking oral chemotherapy may apply for a

section 8 exception under the Ontario drug benefit plan with no such exception policy in

place for intravenous cancer drugs administered in hospital; and

"Whereas this is an inequitable, inconsistent and unfair policy, creating two classes of cancer patients with further inequities on the basis of personal

wealth and the willingness of hospitals to risk budgetary deficits to provide new intravenous chemotherapy treatments; and

"Whereas cancer patients have the right to the most effective care recommended by their doctors;

"We, the undersigned, petition the" government "of Ontario to provide immediate access to Velcade and other intravenous chemotherapy while these new cancer

drugs are under review and provide a consistent policy for access to new cancer treatments that enables oncologists to apply for exceptions to meet the needs of patients."

I agree with the petitioners. I have affixed my signature to this.

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): There are too many conversations again.

Petitions? The member for Scarborough Southwest.

CRIME PREVENTION

Mr. Lorenzo Berardinetti (Scarborough Southwest): I have a petition addressed to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and it reads as

follows:

"Whereas Sonny Sansone, community leader and activist at Cataraqui Crescent, along with other residents of Scarborough Southwest are happy with the recent

announcement by the Attorney General regarding guns and crime;

"Whereas gun violence is really affecting the quality of life and safety of residents in the Scarborough Southwest community;

"We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to ensure that any strategy to fight gun violence should include funding for youth programs

like street hockey, basketball and youth empowerment."

I agree with this petition, and I affix my signature to it.

AUTISM TREATMENT

Mrs. Julia Munro (York North): "To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

"Whereas children with autism who have reached the age of six years are no longer being discharged from their preschool autism program; and

"Whereas these children should be getting the best special education possible in the form of applied behaviour analysis (ABA) within the school system; and

"Whereas there are approximately 700 preschool children with autism across Ontario who are required to wait indefinitely for placement in the program, and

there are also countless school-age children that are not receiving the support they require in the school system; and

"Whereas this situation has an impact on the families, extended families and friends of all of these children; and

"Whereas, as stated on the Web site for the Ministry of Children and Youth Services, `IBI can make a significant difference in the life of a child with autism.

Its objective is to decrease the frequency of challenging behaviours, build social skills and promote language development';

"We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to fund the treatment of IBI for all preschool children awaiting services. We also petition

the Legislature of Ontario to fund an education program in the form of ABA in the school system."

PENSION PLANS

Ms. Andrea Horwath (Hamilton East): I have a petition to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario signed mostly by good working people of

Hamilton.

"Whereas every Ontario worker has the right to a secure pension that is indexed to inflation and provides the dignity of a stable and sufficient income for

retirement;

"Whereas pensions represent workers' deferred wages and all pension contributions belong to the workers;

"Whereas people who work all their lives deserve the right to retire with a decent pension at age 65 without having to worry about making ends meet;

"Whereas the pension system is sorely in need of reform; it hasn't been reviewed since 1987 and many Ontario seniors have seen the value of their pensions

vastly reduced over the years;

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

"We call on the government of Ontario to form a special legislative committee on pension reform to study ways to ensure that all workers have the ability:

(1) to participate in a pension plan; (2) to have a real say in how the plan is managed and governed; and (3) to have vesting from day one, indexing, portability from job to job and absolute protection

of their pension through a much-enhanced pension benefit guarantee fund and stronger provincial legislation."

I agree with this petition and have affixed my signature.

CLASS SIZE

Mr. Shafiq Qaadri (Etobicoke North): I have a petition addressed to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and signed by about 1,000 of my

constituents.

"Whereas class sizes have been capped at 20 from grades 1 to 3, we believe that the class size for the junior grades should be capped at a similar

student-teacher ratio. It has been indicated that lower class numbers make for a better learning environment. Regardless of age, all children have the right to equal opportunities for success in

all schools.

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

"The Legislative Assembly will introduce a capped number of students, similar to that of primary grades, for grades 4 to 6."

I sent this to you via page Mandy.

CANCER TREATMENT

Mr. Cameron Jackson (Burlington): "Whereas Ontario has an inconsistent policy for access to new cancer treatments while these drugs are under

review for funding; and

"Whereas cancer patients taking oral chemotherapy may apply for a

section 8 exception under the Ontario drug benefit plan with no such exception policy in

place for intravenous cancer drugs administered in hospital; and

"Whereas this is an inequitable, inconsistent and unfair policy, creating two classes of cancer patients with further inequities on the basis of personal

wealth and the willingness of hospitals to risk budgetary deficits to provide new intravenous chemotherapy treatments; and

"Whereas cancer patients have the right to the most effective care recommended by their doctors;

"We, the undersigned, petition the Parliament of Ontario to provide immediate access to Velcade and other intravenous chemotherapy while these new cancer drugs

are under review and provide a consistent policy for access to new cancer treatments that enables oncologists to apply for exceptions to meet the needs of" their patients in Ontario.

This has my signature of support.

PENSION PLANS

Ms. Shelley Martel (Nickel Belt): This petition has been signed by folks from Guelph and reads as follows:

"To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

"Whereas every Ontario worker has the right to a secure pension that is indexed to inflation and provides the dignity of stable and sufficient income for

retirement;

"Whereas pensions represent workers' deferred wages and all pension contributions belong to the workers;

"Whereas people who work all their lives deserve the right to retire with a decent pension at age 65 without having to worry about making ends meet;

"Whereas the pension system is in sore need of reform; it hasn't been revised since 1987 and many Ontario seniors have seen the value of their pensions vastly

reduced over the years;

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

"We call on the government of Ontario to form a special legislative committee on pension reform to study ways to ensure that all workers have the ability:

(1) to participate in a pension plan; (2) to have a real say in how the plan is managed and governed; and (3) to have vesting from day one, indexing, portability from job to job and absolute protection

of their pension through a much-enhanced pension benefit guarantee fund and stronger provincial legislation."

I agree with the petitioners, and I've affixed my signature to this.

MANDATORY RETIREMENT

Mr. Tony Ruprecht (Davenport): I have a petition addressed to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario that reads as follows:

"Whereas existing legislation enforcing mandatory retirement is discriminatory; and

"Whereas it is the basic human right of Ontario citizens over the age of 65 to earn a living and contribute to society; and

"Whereas the provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Yukon and the Northwest Territories have also abolished mandatory retirement in

various forms; and

"Whereas ending mandatory retirement is a viable means of boosting the Ontario labour force and accommodating the growing need for skilled workers;

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

"The Ontario government should act by abolishing mandatory retirement in the province of Ontario. This is best achieved by passing Bill 211,

An Act to amend

the Human Rights Code and certain other Acts to end mandatory retirement."

Since I agree, I'm delighted to affix my signature to this document.

REGIONAL CENTRES FOR THE DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED

Mr. Garfield Dunlop (Simcoe North): I'd like to present to the House a petition. This pile totals over 7,000. It's from the Huronia Helpers

organization. It says:

"To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

"Whereas Dalton McGuinty and his Liberal government were elected based on their promise to rebuild public services in Ontario;

"Whereas the Minister of Community and Social Services has announced plans to close Huronia Regional Centre, home to people with developmental disabilities,

many of whom have multiple diagnoses and severe problems that cannot be met in the community;

"Whereas closing Huronia Regional Centre will have a devastating impact on residents with developmental disabilities, their families, the developmental

services sector and the economies of the local communities; and

"Whereas Ontario could use the professional staff and facilities of Huronia Regional Centre to extend specialized services, support and professional training

to many more clients who live in the community, in partnership with families and community agencies;

"We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to direct the government to keep Huronia Regional Centre, home to people with developmental

disabilities, open, and to transform them into `centres of excellence' to provide specialized services and support to Ontarians with developmental" disabilities, "no matter where they live."

I'm pleased to sign my name to that, and I will present it to Kiki to take down to you.

PENSION PLANS

Ms. Andrea Horwath (Hamilton East): This is another petition from people in Hamilton.

"To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

"Whereas every Ontario worker has the right to a secure pension that is indexed to inflation and provides the dignity of a stable and sufficient income for

retirement;

"Whereas pensions represent workers' deferred wages and all pension contributions belong to the workers;

"Whereas people who work all their lives deserve the right to retire with a decent pension at age 65 without having to worry about making ends meet;

"Whereas the pension system is sorely in need of reform; it hasn't been reviewed since 1987 and many Ontario seniors have seen the value of their pensions

vastly reduced over the years;

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

"We call on the government of Ontario to form a special legislative committee on pension reform to study ways to ensure that all workers have the ability:

(1) to participate in a pension plan; (2) to have a real say in how the plan is managed and governed; and (3) to have vesting from day one, indexing, portability from job to job and absolute protection

of their pension through a much-enhanced pension benefit guarantee fund and stronger provincial legislation."

Again, I agree with this. I will affix my name and send it to the Clerks' table via Graeme.

ANIMAL PROTECTION

Ms. Judy Marsales (Hamilton West): Thank you for recognizing the wonderful constituency of Hamilton West.

"To the Legislature:

"Whereas we feel that the present penalties for endangering or harming animals are too lenient, we request that these be increased." We have over 700

names.

"We, the undersigned, petition the Legislature of Ontario as follows:

"Increase the penalties for endangering or harming animals."

I agree with this petition, and I will sign it.

SERVICES FOR THE DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED

Mr. John O'Toole (Durham): Recently, I met with the Community Living people and others, who presented me with these petitions.

"To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

"Whereas without appropriate support people who have an intellectual disability are often unable to participate effectively in community life and are deprived

of the benefits of society enjoyed by other citizens; and

"Whereas quality supports are dependent upon the ability to attract and retain qualified workers; and

"Whereas the salaries of workers who provide community-based supports and services are up to 25% less than salaries paid to those doing the same work in

government-operated services and other sectors;

"We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to address, as a priority, funding to community agencies in the developmental services

sector, to address critical underfunding of staff salaries and ensure that people who have an intellectual disability continue to receive quality supports and services that they require in order to

live meaningful lives within their community."

I'm pleased to endorse and support this on behalf of my constituents in the riding of Durham.

MANDATORY RETIREMENT

Mr. Jeff Leal (Peterborough): "To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

"Whereas existing legislation enforcing mandatory retirement is discriminatory; and

"Whereas it is the basic human right of Ontario citizens over the age of 65 to earn a living and contribute to society; and

"Whereas the provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Yukon and the Northwest Territories have also abolished mandatory retirement in

various forms; and

"Whereas ending mandatory retirement is a viable means for boosting the Ontario labour force and accommodating the growing need for skilled workers;

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

"The Ontario government should act by abolishing mandatory retirement in the province of Ontario. This is best achieved by passing Bill 211,

an Act to amend

the Human Rights Code and certain other Acts to end mandatory retirement."

I'll affix my name to this petition.

ORDERS OF THE DAY

THRONE SPEECH DEBATE

Resuming the debate adjourned on October 24, 2005, on the amendment to the motion for an address in reply to the speech of His Honour the Lieutenant Governor

at the opening of the session.

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): Further debate.

Ms. Andrea Horwath (Hamilton East): It's my pleasure to have a few moments this afternoon to make my remarks about the throne speech, which we

heard about a week and a half ago now. I have to say that it's funny -- the timing was interesting -- because kids have just gotten back to school, have been in school for a couple of weeks, and my

son was doing that as well, the usual things. Conversations started around what you're going to have for lunch, and who's bringing what to lunch. It's funny, because when I got here and listened to

the throne speech, the analogy that came to mind was that we here in this Legislature were getting a lunch-bag letdown similar to the ones my son was already describing that his friends at school

were getting.

The throne speech was certainly a lunch-bag letdown for the people of Ontario. Why is that? I think people expected us to come back to an important new vision

that the government was going to lay out with great fanfare, after in fact coming back a couple of weeks later than expected. Theoretically, I was thinking that that extra time was being taken up

for the government to lay out exactly a positive new direction that they were hoping to embark on.

Of course, that was my first throne speech as a member of this House. Having been elected in a by-election, I wasn't able to participate in or attend the first

throne speech that this government read in the House. Unfortunately, my first experience with a throne speech was in fact a lunch-bag letdown. After it was over, my initial thought was, "where's

the meat?" Where is the important, new, bold vision that the government was trying to explain or trying to get at with the throne speech? It wasn't there. Unfortunately, the new agenda was a

non-agenda. The goals and priorities were no different from the 20 or 30 -- actually, 60 or 70 -- promises that the government had already broken. It was warmed-over meat loaf, I think one of the

other members described it as in a discussion about the throne speech. I can't disagree with that description.

It's unfortunate, because when this government was first running for election back in 2003, they made some significant promises to the people of Ontario. We,

on this side of the House, all spent the last two years unveiling, one after the other, these broken promises, broken promises, broken promises. So of course we expected to come back to this House

to a throne speech that set a new course, that was supposed to -- at least in my humble and inexperienced opinion with regard to the way this House works -- re-inspire the people of Ontario, that

was supposed to reconfirm that the government actually does have a plan on something -- on anything. Unfortunately, we found out that the government in fact doesn't have a plan for a heck of a lot

of things.

I'm going to spend some of my time this afternoon talking about some things that I was surprised not to see in the throne speech, that I was disappointed

weren't in the throne speech, that I think ordinary Ontarians were looking for, were hoping for. They were desperately wanting to see some signals that their government understood their issues, was

aware of the concerns they have and was prepared, through the throne speech, to actually start addressing some of the concerns, to actually start acknowledging that the two years so far have been a

wasted two years in terms of the people of Ontario having any recognizable benefit to government policies since the last government was booted out. Unfortunately, that's not the case.

Even with this throne speech now, we're looking at a further two years where the government has still not acknowledged that the people of Ontario have some

real, significant concerns and problems that they expect their government to address. What do we get in the throne speech? The biggest announcement, the thing that everyone was all atither about,

was a rebate on birth certificates if they don't come in on time. Give me a break. If that is the major piece of your throne speech, then you guys have got to get back to the think tank and start

figuring out what exactly your job is.

Does anybody have a problem with the fact that they expect birth certificates to come in a timely manner? Of course not. But the arrogance to expect that every

single person in Ontario can equally take advantage of that offer, that back-of-the-cereal-box kind of offer: "If you don't get it in two weeks, you'll get your money back." But guess what? The

only people who will get their money back are people who have credit cards, because you have to pay by credit card. Why do you have to pay by credit card? Because you have to apply for it on-line.

So there you have two significant barriers for many people in Ontario to even access the big centrepiece of the pitiful throne speech, the money-back guarantee for birth certificates. I shook my

head in absolute surprise.

I represent a riding, Hamilton East, where many people don't have access to the Internet and do not have a credit card. In fact, the very people who are often

searching for documentation, who need things like birth certificates to be able to apply for other kinds of assistance and help, are the ones who are not going to be able to pay for these documents

by credit card. I was absolutely stunned that the government so callously celebrates this announcement and totally glosses over the fact that there are hundreds of thousands, likely millions of

people in Ontario, who will not even be able to get the windfall of the money-back guarantee on birth certificates.

When I talked about the lunch-bag letdown that this throne speech was, what it means for me is that the government has not realized that they need to do some

major initiatives to sustain families in the province of Ontario. Families in Ontario are looking around today. They are looking at their cheque books at the end of the month and are looking at

their accounts at the end of the month, if they're so lucky to have them. They're looking at their circumstances during the month, and at the end of the day, families in Ontario are realizing that

after two years of Liberal governance, they are no better off and, in some cases, are worse off than they were two years ago.

Why do I say that? We're in the month of October. We're almost at the end of the month of October. People are already shaking in their boots to see what their

bills are going to be as their bills start to climb over October, over November, over December. Those hydro bills are going to be going up. Those heating bills are going to be going up. People are

already hurting from the gasoline increases that were not managed at all by this province when they did that huge spike. Yes, they're levelling off, but they're still rather high for people to be

able to afford.

So here we have a throne speech, coming into the winter months, that doesn't even address some of the basic issues that the people of Ontario expect their

government to deal with, just some of the down-and-dirty daily things that people need to have addressed by a government if they're going to see, not even an improvement, but just a maintenance of

their quality of life. As I said, that maintenance has not existed over the last two years. The quality of life of the people of Ontario is very slowly eroding because the government is not

undertaking the kinds of initiatives that the regular people of Ontario, that Ontario's working families, that Ontario's ordinary families expect them to undertake.

Instead, we have a government that decides, after having promised that it's not going to increase taxes, to then turn around and announce almost immediately

that it's going to increase taxes in the form of a health tax for all the people of Ontario. So already one of the initial actions of the government after being elected is to increase costs to the

families of Ontario by putting this health tax on them.

As if that's not bad enough, they decide to implement a health tax that disproportionately burdens lower-income families over those with higher incomes. What

you end up with is people in lower-income brackets having to pay a higher proportion of their earnings, of their take-home pay, if you want to call it that, on the health tax. It's bad enough that

that promise was broken, but when the government deliberately refuses to acknowledge that some people in this province are much better able to pay than others, and therefore to adjust its policies

accordingly, it sends a signal that they are either -- well, I wouldn't say they are ignorant of the facts, because obviously they made that decision based on some kind of information, but they

didn't think it would matter. They didn't think there would be enough of a kerfuffle over the fact that they are hitting the lower-income families harder. I don't know why. Maybe they figure that

lower-income families are not going to be voting for them anyway, so they don't care. I certainly hope it wasn't that. I certainly hope the government wasn't callously targeting lower-income

families, but I can tell you that that is the result of their policy, of the way they decided to implement their health tax.

Do we hear anything about that in the throne speech? No. We don't hear anything about their regressive tax regime, except maybe some allusions to the fact that

the way they are dealing with our health care crisis in Ontario is through ensuring that Bay Street gets its cut of our health care dollars through the implementation of P3 hospitals. Maybe that's

what they see as the way to deal with the health care issues. Now we're paying extra tax dollars with the health premium that this government implemented on the people of Ontario, and guess what?

The money we're now paying as a portion of our taxes every year is going to go directly to Bay Street as the government unfolds more and more of their P3 capital projects, which they vilified the

previous government for when in opposition.

You've got to ask yourself exactly what that throne speech was all about. I have to tell you, on this side of the House, on my measuring stick, it was much ado

about nothing, as they say.

I want to go back a little bit to the energy cost issue, because already we've had calls in my office. The calls in my office last winter went through to the

spring and into the summer. People just got so far behind last winter that even into July and August we were still trying to help them solve their problems when it came to the fact that they

couldn't afford utility costs. In fact, in the city of Hamilton, we've had several fires over the last couple of months and most of those fires were as a result of unsafe use of candles. Those

candles were being used because people couldn't afford to light their homes, they can't afford the hydro costs or they've been cut off and can't afford the reconnection fee. So it's a serious

situation. Has this problem been solved? No. The government has its head in the sand. It has its head in a hole like an ostrich, pretending that somehow the people of Ontario are going to be able

to get through the winter. It's just not going to happen. There are going to be numbers and numbers of families who are not going to be able to get through this winter; mark my words.

It's not only going to be because of the energy costs, because hydro is going up and heating costs are going up; it's also going to be because thousands upon

thousands of families have lost their jobs. Some 42,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost in this province. Those are manufacturing jobs. Those are the jobs that pay decent wages, that have decent

pensions, that have health benefits and dental and eye care. Those are the kinds of jobs that are being lost. The Minister of Economic Development and Trade got up today, talking about the net gain

of jobs in Ontario, but look at the fine print and you'll see that the majority of jobs being created are not the kind that are good, well-paying jobs, where people can actually support their

families on one job, where they can get a decent wage and decent benefits and have a decent quality of life. Those are not the jobs. It's not just a matter of the cost that everyone is going to be

incurring as we roll into the winter months because this government has not addressed some of those major problems in energy and heating costs, but the fact that people are losing their jobs. They

won't even have the paycheques to pay for things like heating and hydro and increasing rents, which I know, Mr. Speaker, for you particularly, is an ongoing issue.

Hundreds of thousands and millions of people in Ontario are tenants, and that government decided when they were running, when they were trying to get votes

from tenants, that they were going to promise that the Tenant Protection Act put in by the previous government -- which did wrong by tenants, in my opinion, and in yours, Mr. Speaker, I know -- was

going to be fixed. In fact, they said they would fix the Tenant Protection Act within one year of being elected. Guess what? It's into the third year and there has been no amendment to the Tenant

Protection Act. Rents are still very difficult for people to cover and landlords are still increasing rents on vacant apartments, so the market is still a different place for people who have

affordability problems in the province.

Speaking of which, whatever happened to affordable housing? Again, this government gets up and pretends that it's building affordable housing. The Speaker in

the chair tonight, when he's wearing his hat as a member of this caucus, happens to be the critic for housing, and guess what? He can tell you as easily as I can tell you that this government is

simply glossing over reality when they talk about their achievements in housing. Something like 65 units have been built in this province. In Hamilton, there are 5,000 families on the waiting list

for affordable housing. In Toronto, it's something like 70,000 families on a waiting list.

So please, let's get down to brass tacks, I tell these government members. Let's go back to the drawing board and start thinking up the real things that are

going to effect real change in this province that Ontario families would like to see.

I talked a little bit about job loss. It's an interesting thing. I was at a couple of events in Hamilton recently, and I ran into some leaders of industry.

Some of our major manufacturing companies were there -- it was a fundraiser for the children's aid society -- and I got a chance to talk to them and just feel them out on how they're feeling about

Ontario's prospects for the future in terms of the viability of their existing manufacturing concerns. They were extremely forthright in their criticism of this government's handling of the hydro

file. It's another thing that could have been addressed in the throne speech, but it wasn't. It's something that the government could have at least acknowledged, could have said, "We've got a plan

for this. We're trying to work with stakeholders, workers and industry to try to solve some of the concerns about the competitiveness of Ontario industry, about the bedrock of jobs that we need to

maintain a decent quality of life in this province." But no, there was nothing there.

And so we watch my leader, Howard Hampton, and our northern members in this Legislature day after day, talking about the forestry crisis in northern Ontario,

about the hundreds and hundreds of jobs that are being lost on a daily basis. That's not like southern Ontario, where you lose a plant and it's very tough on a community. Things are rough, and some

mom-and-pop stores close down because there's just money sucked out of that community. Yes, that happens, but in some of these northern Ontario communities, a whole community can be devastated by

the closure of a mill. One mill just closed last week because of the inaction of this government and their refusal to acknowledge that their hydro policy is closing down companies, closing down

forestry jobs, and is in fact closing down communities in the north.

But it's not just forestry; it's the chemical industry, the manufacturing industry and all of those industries that rely on hydro in large quantities. What

happens is, when they're trying to get the energy they need to run their furnaces and mills, they have to go on to the spot market. Sometimes the price is $2,000 per kilowatt hour. Who the heck can

survive that?

In fact, I was up in the Legislature just last week talking about a mill in Hamilton that's having to lay off its workers at least once or twice a week. At

least once or twice a week, those workers get laid off and sent home because there's not enough hydro to fire the furnaces to keep this steel mill running.

What kind of government ignores those signals from industry, ignores those realities that are happening in the north in forestry, and in the south as well

because a lot of services and companies in the southern parts of Ontario feed those northern mills and feed forestry and the pulp and paper industries; certainly they do. So it's not a northern

versus a southern issue; it's an Ontario issue that should have been addressed in the throne speech about a week ago, but it wasn't there. It wasn't in the throne speech, nor were many issues that

need to be addressed. The multi-faith social justice groups will be here in the next little while. They're concerned too because the problem is that the level of poverty in this province is

increasing no end. This government does not have a plan to deal with the growing poverty in Ontario.

They have not committed to a plan in this throne speech and that's a disgrace for every single one of us.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Michael Prue): Questions and comments?

Mr. Peter Fonseca (Mississauga East): It gives me great pleasure to speak to our throne speech, a speech that at its core focuses on 12

million people, the people who live here in Ontario. It is about strengthening our economy through our greatest resource, and our greatest resource is our human resource, leveraging our people,

because since we came into government we have turned this ship around. We came into government with a $6-billion deficit that has been lowered to $1.6 billion through the great work of our Minister

of Finance and our Premier and the visionary measures that have been taken.

We are making sure that Ontarians get value for money through government, that everything is measured and we can have measurable results. We have brought

stability and peace to our workplace. For eight years, our teachers were always in a situation of strife, with a government not respecting them, not acknowledging them. We made sure that for the

first time in the history of Ontario there were four-year contracts with our teachers. We have long-term contracts with our public service, long-term contracts with our health care providers.

We have turned this ship around and are making headway to where the people of Ontario want to go, and that is a government that is focused on them, focused on

creating an economy that is knowledge-based, on investments in higher education -- an unprecedented $6.2 billion being spent for our colleges and universities, never seen before. These are

milestones that we are achieving at the fastest of paces so that we can make sure we have prosperity today and for the future in Ontario.

This is a great throne speech, something all Ontarians should be proud of, and it gives me great pleasure to have spoken to it.

Mr. Ted Chudleigh (Halton): It's amazing the different perspectives there are on this throne speech. There's a rosy perspective down here, and

then just a few seats down the House this throne speech has been a disaster. In the election campaign of the government over here, there were over 230 promises made to the people of Ontario. Up

until the point of this throne speech, over 50 promises had been broken. This throne speech didn't mention the 170 yet-to-be-fulfilled promises. They're just out there in the ether someplace,

floating around. Perhaps they'll come back; perhaps they won't; perhaps they'll be broken. We don't know what's going to happen to those ones.

In the meantime, Ontario families are struggling to make ends meet. These are real pocketbook issues. These issues deal with jobs. They deal with families who

are bringing home the same money they did two years ago, or if they've had a raise, it's been a very small raise, and yet at the same time they are paying increased crippling health taxes. They're

paying more for gasoline. They're paying more for electricity because this government broke a promise on electricity prices. They're paying more for natural gas. They're paying more in property

taxes. Next year, tuition fees are going to rise, after a Liberal freeze, and those tuition fees are going up considerably -- to say nothing of the physiotherapists, chiropractors and eye exams

that people now have to pay for under this government, which in a form is a tax, when they said they would have no new taxes. So this throne speech is a huge disappointment. I only sit 15 seats

down from the member who thinks this throne speech was the greatest thing in the world. I don't know how long he intends to stay in this House. But as long as you're in this House, I hope that this

is the worst throne speech that you ever hear because Ontario can't take too much more of this.

Mr. Peter Kormos (Niagara Centre): The member from Hamilton East, Andrea Horwath, demonstrates once again what an incredibly valuable

contribution she's making to this Legislature, and how this chamber has been enhanced by her election in the by-election in Hamilton East. It is such a pleasure to work with her. It's such a

pleasure to be the beneficiary of her acute and not uncritical analysis of things that are dealt with on a daily basis here in the legislative chamber.

Folks in Hamilton East should be incredibly proud of the hard work that Ms. Horwath does here, in her riding, in her constituency office and indeed across the

province as she fights for working women and men and their pensions, as she fights for families living in apartment buildings and their right not to have a landlord, a crooked landlord, undermine

their physical security, their health and safety by ripping off the component of the rent that's designed to pay for hydro and heat. That's why Ms. Horwath has, for instance, been such a strong

advocate of legislation: her introduction of the Fred Gloger bill, which would prevent, during the cold months, the termination of hydro and fuel services, natural gas in most cases, when that

would have an incredibly dangerous impact. Look, she indicated that she's the one who rang the alarm bells but this week about landlord-tenant prosecutions in the city of Hamilton not being heard

in provincial offences court until the year 2007 -- not 2006 but 2007. Landlords who are violating the rights of their tenants are running --

The Acting Speaker: Time has expired. Further questions and comments?

Mr. Lorenzo Berardinetti (Scarborough Southwest): I'm pleased to have a couple of minutes to comment on the comments made by the member from

Hamilton East. Before I do that, I just wanted to say that I was quite surprised to hear that the member from the Progressive Conservative Party didn't have a single positive thing to say about

anything that's happening here at Queen's Park, in this Legislature. We've got a plan that we laid out in the throne speech that deals with the major issues that we campaigned on: a better health

care system, a better education system, a functioning energy sector, as well as other key issues which we'll get into later on this afternoon.

Just looking at the health care portfolio, which is so important -- it's right here in the throne speech: The "government is reducing wait times for key

medical procedures by providing: 8% more CT scans; 11% more cancer surgeries; 16% more cataract surgeries; 17% more cardiac procedures; 28% more hip and knee replacements; and 42% more MRI

scans."

This is what people in Ontario want to hear. They don't want to know what the Progressive Conservatives did, holding budget speeches in car parts plants,

giving tax breaks to corporations, and seeing the deterioration of our schools and of our education system in general, as well as our health care system. It has taken years -- it's going to take

years to replace the damage they've done. We're on a path to fix that. We're on a path to bring in a better education system, a better health care system and a number of other reforms that were

included in the throne speech.

A number of other members here today from the Liberal Party will be speaking to that. I think that we've got a very positive, optimistic future to look forward

to, and this throne speech lays the groundwork for that.

The Acting Speaker: The member from Hamilton East has two minutes in which to respond.

Ms. Horwath: I want to thank the members from Mississauga East, Halton, Niagara Centre and Scarborough Southwest for their comments.

I just wanted to follow up on the remarks that the member from Niagara Centre was making just before the end of his time. That was the fact that the Attorney

General gets up in this House on a regular basis and makes claims about reformation of the justice system, while in the city of Hamilton -- and I asked the question, and he had no answer for it

yesterday -- the justices of the peace are in such short supply that when we finally do get the conviction of this particular landlord on charges laid by the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and

Housing, the ministry people are foiled in their attempt to bring justice to these tenants because the Attorney General has not solved the ongoing problem of the lack of justices of the peace in

the system.

The bottom line is that back in January 2005, and again just a couple of weeks ago, the city of Hamilton begged, urged and petitioned this province to fix the

problem of the lack of justices of the peace. He can talk all he wants about the reform of the justice system and all his nice words, but they mean naught if you're in a situation like the city of

Hamilton is in. If there is a serious issue that has to come to trial, has to come to a provincial offences court, guess what happens? It will take one day per month, maybe for the next 10 years,

to be able to address that issue, because there is not enough court time available for these hearings to be scheduled.

It's a sad day in Ontario when nothing was said of that in the throne speech, when the government gets up and pretends that they are actually doing something,

but the reality on the ground, in municipalities like Hamilton, shows that they are doing nothing to address the problem of the backlog in our provincial offences courts.

The Acting Speaker: Further debate?

Mr. Tony Ruprecht (Davenport): I'm delighted to join in this debate on the throne speech. Let me say at the outset that I will be sharing my

time with the very distinguished member from Mississauga South.

We recognize, first, that everything we do depends on Ontario's prosperity, whether it is the ability of our businesses to compete, our capacity to fund a

caring society or the opportunities that will be available to our kids. That's why the McGuinty government is working with Ontarians to strengthen Ontario's economy: in education, in the skills of

our people and in improving the health of our people, fostering innovation, leveraging our diversity and getting fundamental rights approved.

The positive results we've seen over these past two years -- from higher test scores in our schools, to shorter wait times in our hospitals, to over 193,000

new jobs -- are the product of Ontarians working hard, working well and working together.

Education is an example. We have seen smaller class sizes and improved test scores. New textbooks and other learning resources are replacing worn-out, outdated

textbooks, and new library books will stock school shelves, thanks to a $61-million investment.

Every school, regardless of size or geographic location -- and every student -- will benefit from this investment. Our children will also see better conditions

in which to learn. Our Good Places to Learn initiative will support school construction, facilitate repair and renewal projects, in the amount of about $4 billion over three years, and will benefit

over 1.5 million children.

New legislation is on its way, too, in making it mandatory for young people to keep learning until they are 18 years old. The new alternative high school

diploma will recognize the importance of learning a skill or a trade, and we're implementing our Reaching Higher plan for post-secondary education, which will invest $6.2 billion more in

universities and colleges over five years.

I know that many of us here today who are MPPs, on all sides of the House, thanks to the generosity of previous governments -- I'm thinking about the Bill

Davis era and the Robarts era -- in terms of expanding our schools, expanding the horizon of education and creating new universities right across Ontario -- thanks to those opportunities, many of

us are here today. We therefore have a great responsibility on our shoulders to extend again, as a good Ontario government, the dollars and the hope that are needed to produce the students and the

skills so they can compete in the international market.

The world today is just one globe. Our neighbour is not just the person living next to us or the person in the next street, but also the person far away in

another country. It has been said that it's a global economy -- no doubt. Having said that, we know that the person in China is our ne