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May 30, 2016

41st Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcripts 2016-May-30 (PDF)

L178 - Mon 30 May 2016 / Lun 30 mai 2016

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Monday 30 May 2016 Lundi 30 mai 2016

Introduction of Visitors

Truth and Reconciliation Commission / Commission de vérité et réconciliation

Visitor

Oral Questions

Autism treatment

Health care funding

Hospital funding

Hospital funding

Hospital funding

Mercury poisoning

Newcomer Settlement Program

Health care funding

Water quality

Housing services for the developmentally disabled

Nurses

Electoral reform

Energy policies

Hospital funding

Visitors

Correction of record

Member’s birthday

Visitors

London Knights

Visitors

Member’s birthday

Consul General of Turkey

African Union flag-raising

INTRODUCTION OF VISITORS

MEMBERS’ STATEMENTS

Multiple sclerosis

Injured workers

Hospital funding

Highway improvement

School tours

Commemorations in 2017

Amateur sports

Government services

Russian-Canadian Cultural Aid Society

Special report, French Language Services Commissioner

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs

Introduction of Bills

Representation Amendment Act (Wahnapitae First Nation), 2016 / Loi de 2016 modifiant la

Loi sur la représentation électorale (Première Nation de Wahnapitae)

Treaties Recognition Week Act, 2016 / Loi de 2016 sur la Semaine de reconnaissance des traités

Harold Coles Inc. Act, 2016

Motions

Private members’ public business

Order of business

Order of business

Statements by the Ministry and Responses

Victims and Survivors of Crime Week / Semaine des victimes et survivants d’actes criminels

Student safety

Victims and Survivors of Crime Week

Student safety

Victims and Survivors of Crime Week

Student safety

Petitions

Automotive dealers

Autism treatment

Elder abuse

Health care funding

Health care funding

Government services

Off-road vehicles

Employment standards

Government services

Energy policies

Employment standards

Flat Stanley

Orders of the Day

Treaties Recognition Week Act, 2016 / Loi de 2016 sur la Semaine de reconnaissance des traités

Treaties Recognition Week Act, 2016 / Loi de 2016 sur la Semaine de reconnaissance des traités

Time allocation

The House met at 0900.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Good morning.

This week, the House will be paying tribute to deceased former members Michael Dietsch and Leonard Joseph Quilty. I ask that members keep their memory in mind during prayers today.

Please join me in prayer.

Prayers.

Introduction of Visitors

Hon. David Zimmer: It is my pleasure, and the pleasure of this House, to rise in the House to introduce and welcome, on behalf of the government and all parties, those who have gathered with us here today. It is an honour to be joined by indigenous peoples from across Ontario on this important day. I would like to welcome survivors of residential schools; those people and organizations that support them; and the indigenous youth, leaders and elders who have travelled from across this province to be with us here today on this historic occasion. Thank you all for being here.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I would very much like to introduce my grandchildren Olivia and Claire Wesley; their dad, Stanley Wesley; and my partner, Jane, who have joined us for this important day.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): As is the tradition, we have with us in the members’ gallery Chris Bentley, from London West in the 38th, 39th and 40th Parliaments. Chris, welcome. Also with us we have the former Premier of the province of Ontario, Mr. Bob Rae.

As ordered on May 19, this House is now adjourned during pleasure.

Truth and Reconciliation Commission / Commission de vérité et réconciliation

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): May I please have the chamber doors opened for the entry of the elders and indigenous guests. Please rise.

Pray be seated.

Remarks in indigenous languages.

First, let me acknowledge that we are standing on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the New Credit. As Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, I am honoured to welcome you to the Legislature today, on behalf of all members of the provincial Parliament.

I’m honoured to host the survivors of Ontario’s residential schools in the Speaker’s gallery today. These men and women bore witness to a dark past in our province’s history. They were torn away from their families, punished in celebrating their culture, and many suffered unthinkable acts. But they were strong. They endured, but the pain remains.

Today, it is my hope that we are now witness to a brighter future, one that allows their grandchildren and their great-grandchildren to move forward in the spirit of reconciliation.

At this time, I respectfully invite Elder Jim Dumont and his associate Elder Shelley Charles to recite a prayer to begin the proceedings.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you, Elder Dumont.

At this time, the three party leaders will address the House. I now invite the Premier to offer her remarks.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I rise today to express a personal commitment as Premier and the commitment of the government of Ontario to being full partners with indigenous peoples on our journey towards reconciliation and healing.

I first want to thank the other parties for their co-operation in convening this special assembly and to recognize those whose presence makes today a historic and hopeful occasion: Ontario Regional Chief Isadore Day and other chiefs in attendance—I know there are many here—Métis Nation of Ontario President Margaret Froh; Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres President Sheila McMahon; the president of the Ontario Native Women’s Association and the Native Women’s Association of Canada, Dawn Lavell-Harvard; Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami President Natan Obed; Cree elder and residential school survivor Andrew Wesley; and all of the residential school survivors, indigenous leaders and youth who are here today.

I also want to thank Elder Jim Dumont for his opening prayer with Elder Shelley Charles, and Métis Senator Verna Porter-Brunelle, who, along with Elder Jim Dumont, will provide closing prayers.

Je veux remercier tous les jeunes des régions autochtones d’être ici aujourd’hui afin de nous aider à franchir cette étape de notre cheminement vers la réconciliation.

Indigenous people are the original occupants of this land that we call Ontario, and over thousands of years they developed distinct languages, cultures, economies and ways of life. This long history means that we are assembled in a sacred and traditional gathering place for many peoples of Turtle Island. I want to show respect for this by acknowledging that we’re on the traditional territory of several indigenous nations and pay special recognition to the Mississaugas of the New Credit, and by recognizing the history and contributions of First Nation, Inuit and Métis peoples.

Our shared history begins around 400 years ago. When Europeans first arrived, the generous partnership of indigenous peoples helped them to establish profitable enterprises and settlements.

In 1763, the Royal Proclamation confirmed the original occupancy of indigenous peoples and paved the way for nation-to-nation treaties between the British crown and indigenous peoples. Treaties were negotiated and signed with the intent of delivering mutual benefits.

In Ontario, most of this happened hundreds of years ago. To some, seven generations ago can seem disconnected, but we know that our history is always shaping our present. And for some of us, treaties are part of the history that shapes our prosperity. Treaties granted us land to live on and water to drink. They’re the foundation on which the short history of our country has carried forward—a history in which every generation has built a better life by building on the achievements of the past.

But that is only one side of our story. For indigenous people in Ontario, this same history created a very different reality. Despite the promise of early treaties and the respectful nation-to-nation partnerships they established, indigenous people became the target of colonial policies designed to exploit, to assimilate and to eradicate them. Based on racism, violence and deceit, these policies were devastatingly effective. They disempowered individuals and disenfranchised entire communities.

When Canada became a country 149 years ago, the legacy of violent colonialism only gathered momentum. From coast to coast to coast, the residential school system set out to “take the Indian out of the child” by removing indigenous children from their homes and systematically stripping them of their languages, cultures, laws and rights. Children were physically, emotionally and sexually abused, and many died.

These heartbreaking stories are hard to hear. For generations of indigenous people, these stories were their lives.

Les récits des survivantes et survivants nous brisent le coeur et il est difficile de les entendre, mais nous devons tous les écouter.

Canada’s residential schools are closed, but they have been closed for not even one generation. Echoes of their racist colonial attitudes can still be heard, and the echoes of a society-wide, intergenerational effort of cultural genocide continue to reverberate loudly and painfully in the lives of indigenous people today.

However we choose to measure a person’s opportunity and security in life, a disturbing gap exists between the indigenous and non-indigenous population. It is the gap created by a country that abused and betrayed its indigenous people. It is a gap that swallows lives and extinguishes hope across generations.

For a long time, indigenous peoples’ call for justice could not be heard across this yawning gulf because Canada did not want to hear them. It is thanks to the resiliency of those who endured the abuses of the past that we are finally listening. Thank you for finding the strength and courage to come forward and tell your stories and the stories of those who were lost. In opening our eyes, you have given us this chance to move forward as partners and the opportunity to say we are sorry. So before I go on, I want to show my respect for all the survivors and all the victims by offering a formal apology for the abuses of the past.

As Premier, I apologize for the policies and practices supported by past Ontario governments and for the harm that they caused. I apologize for the province’s silence in the face of deaths and abuses at residential schools. And I apologize for the fact that the residential schools are only one example of systemic, intergenerational injustices inflicted upon indigenous communities across Canada.

By adopting policies designed to eradicate your cultures and extinguish your rightful claims, previous generations set in motion a force so destructive that its impact continues to reverberate in our time. And so I want to apologize for all of this by saying I am sorry for the continued harm that generations of abuse is causing to indigenous communities, families and individuals.

À

titre de première ministre, je présente nos excuses pour les abus et trahisons du passé et pour le mal qu’ils continuent à causer dans la vie des autochtones aujourd’hui.

No apology changes the past, nor can the act of apology alone change the future. In making this apology, as in making the political accord last summer, I hope to demonstrate our government’s commitment to changing the future by building relationships based on trust, respect and indigenous peoples’ inherent right to self-government.

This act of apology is not the end, nor is it the beginning. It is but one step on the journey to reconciliation and healing that we are committed to walking together. Last year at this time, we took one of those steps when Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission held its closing ceremonies in Ottawa. I was honoured to participate in the Walk for Reconciliation, and I want to thank Justice and now Senator Murray Sinclair, the commission, and all the survivors who participated for helping to illuminate a dark past, for honouring all of those who lost their lives and for pointing the way forward.

Ontario has already taken first steps on this journey forward. They’re highlighted in The Journey Together, which is a report that we’re releasing today. It outlines how Ontario is further responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s findings and calls to action. Today, Ontario commits to working in partnership with indigenous leaders and their communities to undertake 26 new initiatives that will help build trust and respect into our relationships and build opportunity and security into the lives of indigenous people.

These next steps begin, as I have today, with efforts to help everyone in our province understand the truth about our history. We will educate all Ontarians about the horrors of the residential school system, the betrayals of past governments, and our rights and responsibilities as treaty people—because in Ontario, we are all treaty people. This will include the work we are doing to ensure our education curriculum teaches every child in Ontario the truth about our past and what it means for all of us today.

In addition to further actions to commemorate victims and educate Ontarians, Minister David Zimmer intends to introduce legislation today that would declare the first week of November as Treaties Recognition Week.

The Journey Together also introduces and enhances programs focused on closing opportunity gaps and ending intergenerational cycles of trauma. It guides our actions to enhance indigenous voices in the administration of justice and build a justice system that is responsive to indigenous legal principles, autonomy and cultures. And because indigenous languages and cultures are critical to the well-being of communities and to reconciliation itself, we will take a number of actions to support indigenous communities in protecting and promoting traditional knowledge, languages and oral histories.

Finally, we will rename the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs the Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation.

The commitments Ontario is making in The Journey Together are supported with an investment of more than $250 million over the next three years. But funding commitments alone cannot undo generations of racism and abuse. To do that, we truly need to learn from our past, which is why our programs and actions will be developed and evaluated in close partnership with our indigenous communities, openly and respectfully.

We are also working to incorporate indigenous elder and youth perspectives into decision-making across government, because reconciliation cannot be compartmentalized; it is a society- and a government-wide journey.

We will also work closely with Canada’s federal government, whose commitments to reconciliation are encouraging and vital to our success.

We understand that there will be setbacks as we walk this road, as we unlearn the patterns of previous generations and replace them with new, healthy relationships. But setbacks will not weaken our resolve to walk together to a place of trust, accommodation and friendship. We do not approach reconciliation as something we need to get over with. We approach it as something that we need to get right.

Mr. Speaker, indigenous partners, my fellow Ontarians, there is no more denying our past or hiding from the truth. The duty owed to indigenous peoples is enshrined in our laws and in our values as Canadians. Building trust, respectful relationships with indigenous peoples and taking steps to end intergenerational cycles of trauma and inequality: That is our present task. One day, it will be our history.

With the steps we’re taking together to build a country that lives up to its laws, its values and its reputation as a force for good in the world, we’re walking a path that connects us across generations. We are undoing the harm caused by our past, and building a society where future generations of indigenous and non-indigenous can walk together as equals, living in peace and harmony on the land that we now share. Walking this journey together, we will not fail. Chi meegwetch. Niá:wen. Marsi. Thank you.

Applause.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I would now like to ask the leader of Her Majesty’s loyal opposition to bring his remarks.

Mr. Patrick Brown: As leader of Her Majesty’s loyal opposition, on behalf of the entire Ontario PC caucus, I am honoured to receive the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on this very special day here on the floor of the Ontario Legislature.

Today, it is truly an honour to share this floor with our elected colleagues, elders and special guests. I acknowledge, as the Premier has, Isadore Day, Ontario Regional Chief of the Chiefs of Ontario; Margaret Froh, president of the Métis Nation of Ontario; Natan Obed, president of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami; Dr. Dawn Lavell-Harvard, president of the Ontario Native Women’s Association; Sheila McMahon, president of the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres; Andrew Wesley, a residential school survivor; and Verna Porter-Brunelle, Métis senator.

With the official release of the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission nearly a year ago today, I can still remember the emotional response I had when reading the findings for the very first time.

The Indian residential school system is a tragic

chapter in our history, and has resulted in lasting and profound impacts on our indigenous communities to this day. As you know, over 6,750 individuals and residential school survivors contributed to the commission during the seven-year process that began in 2008. This includes the combined and unique experiences of our First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples. I’d like to personally thank each of these survivors for going through the difficult and emotional task of recalling their own experiences with the residential school system in Canada for the benefit of future generations.

Cela inclut l’expérience combinée et unique de nos peuples de Premières Nations, des Métis et des Inuits. Je voudrais remercier personnellement chacun et chacune de ces survivants de passer par la tâche difficile et émotionnelle de rappeler leurs propres expériences avec le système des pensionnats au Canada pour le bénéfice des générations de l’avenir.

The stories they are telling are harrowing, and I thank them for their extraordinary courage to speak.

Anybody who takes the time to read the Survivors Speak component of the final report can’t help but be profoundly moved. The numbers are staggering: Over 150,000 First Nations, Inuit and Métis youth were part of the residential school system. Torn from their homes, they were forced to assimilate to a culture not their own. At these schools, children were subject to physical, emotional and sexual abuse. One out of every 25 of these children died there. Some were buried in unmarked graves, their parents and families not notified. It stands in stark contrast to the Ontario and the Canada that we know and celebrate today, and an education system that many take pride in.

It is critical to remember that survivors live among us. I look forward to working towards the 94 calls to action as a parliamentarian, Ontarian and Canadian, and towards bringing truth and reconciliation between our nations. As a province, our commitment is to live and work together with our First Nations, Métis and Inuit partners to ensure the principles of trust, mutual respect and shared benefits. We are committed to supporting survivors and to continuing to strengthen relations with our aboriginal partners.

As the official opposition, we will continue to work hard to ensure that the government of Ontario will continue to work towards this goal and to ensure that the necessary supports are being provided to our aboriginal communities.

We look forward to reaching across the aisle and working not only with our counterparts but also directly in partnership with indigenous communities, because all apologies, all statements, all recommendations and all ceremonies are empty and inconsequential gestures without concrete and meaningful action. Now, more than ever, it is time for us to come together as a province to work hard on behalf of all Ontarians, and that begins by recognizing the mistakes that were made in the past.

For their hard work and perseverance, I would like to thank the chair of the commission, Justice Murray Sinclair, as well as commissioners Marie Wilson and Wilton Littlechild, along with all those who previously served on the commission, for their immense contributions that led us to this day.

Thank you, again, to all our special guests who have joined us this morning. Thank you. Merci. Meegwetch.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. I would now like to invite the leader of the third party to bring her remarks.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, Elder Dumont and Elder Charles, Regional Chief Day, President Froh, President Obed, President McMahon, President Dr. Lavell-Harvard, Rev. Wesley and all the indigenous leaders, youth and residential school survivors who have joined us here today. Thank you for being here. Meegwetch.

I want to thank all of the elders, chiefs and guests who are here today in this House on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation.

There was a time when this House, this province and its institutions were not just complicit, but part of authorizing and allowing the most egregious and harmful policies towards First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples.

For years, governments in this province and in this country did everything they could to ignore and violate the human rights and treaty rights of indigenous peoples, to eliminate cultural practices and to eliminate aboriginal governments—replacing existing forms of aboriginal government and in the process disempowering aboriginal women, who held significant, powerful roles in many First Nations—to destroy indigenous communities and destroy families. Canada engaged in cultural genocide.

As the chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Justice Murray Sinclair, writes in the commission’s final report, residential schools are “one of the darkest, most troubling chapters in our nation’s history.” They targeted the most vulnerable people: children.

They tried to break the spirit of indigenous peoples, and as Justice Sinclair says, “That any indigenous person survived the culturally crushing experience of the schools is a testament to their resilience, and to the determination of those members of their families and communities who struggled to maintain and pass on to them what remained of their diminishing languages and traditions.” It is a testament to survivors like Rev. Wesley and to the strength of First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples across Canada. And this recognition today in this House is long overdue.

There are two pieces to the commission’s work: truth and reconciliation. Today we can learn the truth. It is written in the volumes of the commission’s report. We can read and learn and begin to try to understand the real foundations on which this country and this province is built. We can learn the truth: that child neglect and abuse was at the core of the residential school system. We can learn the truth: that the government failed to provide the funding, the food, the medical treatment, the proper housing, the duty of care that we owe to every child.

We can learn the truth and recognize that the legacy of the residential school system is its intergenerational impact on current and future First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples.

La vérité, nous pouvons l’apprendre. But only if we continue to listen. The hearings may be over, the report may have been written, today’s responses may have been delivered, but the listening cannot stop, because the work of reconciliation, the work that we must do, is only just beginning.

Of course it’s true that some progress has been made, like the work that’s been done to ensure that this history is part of our curriculum—that’s important. But the commission’s findings demonstrate the ongoing failure right here in Ontario to live up to our responsibilities. For too many people in this province, racism and systemic discrimination continue to shape their lives, the conditions in which they live and the doors that are open to them. Neglect, mistreatment and abuse have been part of the lives of so many First Nations, Inuit and Métis people and women, and a national inquiry into the murdered and missing indigenous women is long overdue.

Far too many First Nations communities continue to live without clean, safe drinking water in our province. Today there are at least 133 drinking water advisories in effect in First Nations communities across Canada, and 90 of those drinking water advisories are for First Nations communities right here in Ontario, from Attawapiskat to Curve Lake to Pikangikum and Shoal Lake 40. In this province, children are growing up without safe, clean drinking water. Parents are trying to feed their families without safe, clean drinking water. Elders are living without safe, clean drinking water. And that’s unacceptable.

It is unacceptable that any family is forced to live without decent housing. And it is unacceptable that so many First Nations communities do not have access to the health care that people need. In this province today there is a state of health emergency in many First Nations communities, a health emergency born of decades of discrimination and neglect but borne out in extreme health inequities and suffering, a severe shortage of physicians and health care providers and medical equipment in First Nations communities and lives that are being cut short by diseases like rheumatic fever, diabetes and hepatitis C.

Today, on behalf of Ontario’s New Democrats, I want to take a moment to express our full support for the apology that has been issued by the government of Ontario and by the Premier this morning. It is an important and long-overdue apology, but it alone is not enough, and I know that she acknowledged that by some of the other commitments that were made along with that apology. We’ll be doing our job to make sure that those commitments are adhered to.

We must all show—all of us—the political will and the determination that exists today to solve the problems that communities face: to ensure that everyone in this province has safe drinking water and safe housing; to clean up lands and rivers that are contaminated with toxins, like the Wabigoon River, that is central to the way of life for the Grassy Narrows First Nation—which we know can be done, as long as the political will is there; to ensure that women and children and men can all live free of violence; to ensure that every family has access to the health care that they need in their communities; and to ensure that children and youth have access to the opportunities that they need to start their lives and look forward to their own futures.

We owe it to every family that was torn apart. We owe it to every victim and every survivor. We owe it to future generations to do everything we can to build a future free of racism, discrimination, inequity and injustice.

That is our task moving forward. If we accomplish it over the years, we will have achieved reconciliation. It’ll be a long, difficult journey, but we will take it together.

Meegwetch. Merci beaucoup. Thank you all very much for being here on this historic day.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I would like to thank all three leaders for their heartfelt comments.

At this time I would like to start our remarks in reply and begin with Isadore Day, the Ontario Regional Chief.

Chief Isadore Day: Bonjour. Remarks in indigenous language.

Good morning.

Remarks in indigenous language.

First of all, I want to acknowledge the Creator, creation, the prayers and the protocols.

I want to acknowledge the ceremony this morning and the elders who are with us who helped us with the invocation to get us started on this very, very important event today.

I want, as well, to acknowledge the Indian residential school survivors, the living and the deceased. They’re among us today, both physically and in spirit.

I want to acknowledge Premier Kathleen Wynne and your cabinet colleagues—good morning; and the official opposition and PC Leader Patrick Brown. I’d like to acknowledge NDP Leader Andrea Horwath as well.

I’d like to acknowledge all First Nation leaders who are with us here in the gallery and who have assisted us in coming here today to respond to this very momentous occasion.

I want to acknowledge the ITK president, Natan Obed; as well, the MNO president, Margaret Froh; and the NWAC president, Dawn Lavell-Harvard.

I also want to acknowledge all those organizations that are among us here to share in this celebration. There are many, many people that should be acknowledged here today—far too many to list: my respects to all of you.

I also want to note, in appreciation, the significance of being in the Ontario Legislature. I understand that this is a very, very historic event. The opportunity to stand here in respect and acknowledgment of the apology today very much is heartfelt by us, Premier, and the members in the House here today.

It is an honour to be here today. We’re gathered together to acknowledge the important effort of reconciliation by the Ontario government. Today, we journey together toward the restoration of the rights originally recognized through sacred and binding treaties with our ancestors, and reparation of lives of First Nation people damaged by Indian residential schools in Ontario.

We’re here today on the traditional land of the Mississaugas of the New Credit. This is a land walked upon and shared by so many peoples from so many indigenous nations. We are the Anishinabek, Mushkegowuk, Onkwehonwe, and the Lenape—the first peoples of Turtle Island. This is our land, Ontario, land of blue waters.

We stand here today in the presence of the spirits of our ancestors; in the presence of the spirits of those leaders who signed the Treaty of Niagara in 1764, the Lake Superior and the Lake Huron treaties, the Williams Treaties and the numbered treaties; and in the presence of chiefs and grand chiefs who are descendants of those who represent this unbroken line connecting our people to this present-day relationship with the originating colonists—the Ontario citizen today and the settler kin of the Métis people.

We also stand in the presence of the troubled spirits of our children, our youth, our sisters, mothers and grandmothers. Far too many have taken their lives or have had their lives stolen. Far too many continue to suffer under poverty and despair, not of their choosing, not of their wish or desire, but as a sustained result of colonization deception of the peace and friendship in the treaties—unfortunately here in the province of Ontario. We speak about the missing and murdered indigenous women and girls in this province.

As we stand in the presence of our residential school survivors, we are reminded of a system meant to kill the Indian in the child. Not only have they suffered unspeakable abuse, but their children and grandchildren have also suffered. How terribly sad that this horrible legacy continues to impact our present generations, as is so evident in the current suicide crisis of our children and youth. The vast majority of us as First Nation people across this land can speak of the direct impacts of this dark legacy. Yes, many of us have lived in the direct darkness and shadows of the evil that was so evident in so many of those schools.

The Indian Act of 1876 formalized the chains of oppression that we, as First Nation people, continue to struggle to break free of to this day. Combined colonialism—the Indian Act along with the full implementation of the residential school system—would become the malevolent scheme towards the destruction of our humanity. This colonial force created such a high level of dysfunction and despair for so many generational decades that its effects continue to impact the well-being of our families to this day through intergenerational trauma, a communal post-trauma experienced in all First Nations in this province.

We also continue to be subject to policy and legislation that shapes and controls our lives to this day and the progenies of the Indian Act system: unjustified and unjust jurisdiction against our people and our lands. The deepness of poverty that continues to kill our people is not right. This has never been right in a land as rich as Ontario. Our ancestors did not envision these present horrors when they agreed to share the wealth of this land. This goes against, again, the original peace and friendship treaties of this land.

Our peoples were never included in the discussions when vast tracts of land here in Ontario were illegally sold to immigrants from Europe in order to pay off debts of the War of 1812. If our peoples had not been allies in that war, Ontario and Canada may have never existed.

Our peoples were never part of the discussions when Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia formed Confederation in 1867. Yet, today, we are subject to a division of powers and not formally welcomed by the federal family on this land—oddly like uninvited guests on our own land.

Before 1867, the marginalization of indigenous people had already begun through discriminatory and inequitable measures. We were already being forced into small reserves. We had begun to lose our rights, traditions, cultures, languages and sustenance to life. We began to lose our children to residential schools. We had become prisoners in our own lands: Canada’s apartheid—it is real. It is the true subject of reconciliation in this province today.

Premier and members of the Ontario Legislature, this is your time to cast a light on a dark and painful history. Let the healing begin.

The spirit of change is upon us. The highest courts of this land tell us the Constitution protects indigenous ways of life, our culture and the connection to our lands. The Constitution can now affirm and begin to formally recognize, through reconciliation, inherent and treaty rights—never relinquished as pre-contact and original indigenous peoples of this land.

The political accord being implemented in Ontario, the commitments of both the federal and provincial governments that follow the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action, and the full adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples—these are all powerful signals of a new relationship based on equality, restitution and recognizing our sovereignty as nations.

Today, we will walk together on the path towards building happy, healthy First Nation families and communities. We will end the scourge of suicide. We will end the epidemic of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls. We will return our children to their families. We will work together to build economies in the spirit and intent of the treaties. We will work together to combat climate change. We will work together to return Ontario to the beauty and bounty that first attracted settlers to our lands. We will strengthen indigenous peoples’ connection to our mother—Mother Earth.

In conclusion, we must turn all of our efforts and seek the full involvement and inclusion of our Indian residential school survivors in all aspects of moving forward, for it is they who have carried the full burden and experienced the darkness of this history. They must never again feel left out, alone or abandoned. This process, Premier, these investments, they belong to these residential school survivors. As the Regional Chief of Ontario, I will be making every effort possible to ensure that the residential school survivors are a part of each and every aspect of this investment and this policy coming from this House moving forward.

Today, we move closer to fulfilling the original intent of the treaties envisioned by our ancestors. Premier and all those present in this legislative House, today we reclaim our rightful place in Ontario. May the Creator bless all of you, and may our ancestors feel the warmth of reconciliation in this new era of healing. Meegwetch.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): We will now hear from the president of the Métis Nation of Ontario, Margaret Froh.

Ms. Margaret Froh: Good morning. Bonjour.

Remarks in indigenous language.

My name is Margaret Froh. I am the president of the Métis Nation of Ontario, and I’m very honoured to be here this morning to address the Legislature, and be here with residential school survivors, as well as First Nations and Inuit leaders.

I want to begin by acknowledging the territory that we’re on, and I want to thank the elders for the prayers—how we started our day—but how we started this morning in the House as well.

I also want to acknowledge Premier Wynne and your cabinet. I want to acknowledge the leader of the official opposition, Patrick Brown, as well as the leader of the NDP, Andrea Horwath, and all of you—all of you who sit in this Legislature for this historic event that’s happening today.

I want to acknowledge the First Nation and Inuit elders, community leaders, citizens and guests who are present in the House this morning, and I want to acknowledge our Métis citizens and members of our provisional council of the Métis Nation of Ontario, our Métis provincial government, who are here with us today to witness this historic event.

Premier Wynne’s announcement today and the apology that has been shared is, I believe, another significant milestone in the efforts that Ontario is making in committing to establish strong and collaborative relationships and partnerships with indigenous peoples in Ontario.

Last year, the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission came to a close and, with it, the final report and the 94 calls to action were issued—and I stress the term “action” in that sense—to address the legacy of the Indian residential school system in Canada. I believe Ontario’s announcement today acknowledges that hugely negative impact that the residential school system has had in our communities and continues to have in our communities. I believe it charts a course of action, a way forward for us to begin to address that legacy.

Métis, First Nations and Inuit children, families and communities suffered under Canada’s residential school system and its assimilationist policies. However, the Métis experience of residential schooling remains largely untold. For many Métis children, residential schools and day schools that were operated by the churches and the religious orders and supported by provincial and federal governments were the only option for receiving an education. For some, they were made to go to school.

For others, they were sent by their families in the hope of an education and a brighter future for their families and for their communities. And as with First Nations and Inuit, Métis families and communities continue to be deeply affected by the legacy of residential schools.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission dedicated an entire volume of its report specifically to the experience of Métis people within the residential school system. Quoting from that report: “The Métis experience of residential schooling has been overlooked for too long.... There is no denying that the harm done to the children, their parents, and the Métis community was substantial. It is an ongoing shame that this damage has not been addressed and rectified.”

The vast majority of the 94 calls to action issued by the TRC in their final report are inclusive of all indigenous people, and the actions announced here today must do the same. They must include Métis, First Nations and Inuit. If we are to effect any real change and advance reconciliation in our province, Métis must be at the table along with our indigenous family.

I want to acknowledge and give thanks to TRC Chair Justice—now Senator—Murray Sinclair, and Commissioners Chief Wilton Littlechild and Dr. Marie Wilson for the care, attention and deep commitment they showed in the work that they did. They have provided all Canadians with a true gift in the statements they have gathered on behalf of survivors and in that vision that they have provided for a way forward, for a way forward in healing and reconciliation.

I want to acknowledge and give thanks to all the survivors and their families, including those who are here today, for having the courage to stand and tell their stories. They’ve shared so much in that truth-telling process.

What is abundantly clear from Canada’s truth and reconciliation process is that there is much work that needs to be done to advance healing and reconciliation in Canada, both between indigenous and non-indigenous people but also between and among our own indigenous nations as well.

The TRC final report and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples together provide a blueprint for moving forward in that work of reconciliation in Canada. Six months ago, I was here, along with the leadership of the Métis Nation of Ontario, and all three parties in this House stood in support of the Métis Nation of Ontario Secretariat Act. That recognized the unique structure of our Métis Nation government, and that, I believe, was

an act of reconciliation.

We stand here again today, this time again with all-party support, for this statement on reconciliation and supporting and acknowledging that apology that you’ve offered, Premier Wynne. On behalf of the Métis Nation of Ontario, I want to acknowledge that the apology that’s been offered by the province of Ontario is very much welcomed.

I also want to acknowledge the government for taking this important step today to specifically address those 94 calls to action in the TRC’s final report and to do so through a collaborative process in close partnership with Métis First Nations and Inuit peoples in Ontario.

The Métis Nation of Ontario is very proud of the respectful and productive relationship that we have with the government of Ontario, as demonstrated through our MNO-Ontario Framework Agreement. We’re going to build on that solid foundation to work with Ontario towards and advancing reconciliation.

As a Canadian, I recognize that I have a role to play in the process of healing and reconciliation. Indeed, every single one of us, as Canadians, has an important role to play in that work. The Métis Nation of Ontario is committed to working with Ontario, with all of the parties, with other indigenous peoples and with all Ontarians to advance that end.

Together, I believe we must chart a new course forward for our province and for our country, one that’s based on respect, understanding and trust. Today we remember the past, but it also brings great hope for the future, and with that, with this work to advance reconciliation, we will build a much brighter future for all of us in Ontario. Merci. Meegwetch.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. Now we’ll hear from the president of the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Mr. Natan Obed.

Mr. Natan Obed: Remarks in indigenous language.

Good morning. Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak with you today. Premier Wynne, leaders of the opposition, my fellow leaders and elders, all of you here today in the gallery as well: Thank you so much for being here. This is indeed an historic day for Canada.

It’s very unlikely that a representative of Inuit would be speaking with you here today. This is the land of our indigenous brothers and sisters, First Nations and Métis. But it is also unlikely when we think about the history that Inuit have had in our colonial relationship with Canada. Inuit have been visiting and have been subjected to many policies that have changed our life courses, and many of the things that have happened to us have happened in Ontario.

So today, with our population of 60,000 across Inuit Nunangat, our Arctic homeland, we have 25% of that population that live outside of our settlement regions, and many thousands of Inuit live in Ontario. The histories behind those shifts in populations sometimes have to do with many things that all Canadians would consider to be normal, such as going away for school or job opportunities.

But there are too many people that have left our homeland out of necessity or out of systemic racism and policies that have not provided people with the ability to live in their homeland, and are here either in Ontario out of unfortunate circumstances or because of our legacies, such as the residential school system.

It’s profound to think of the effect that the residential school system has had on indigenous peoples in Canada. For Inuit, our experience happened in a time of great change, after World War II. Many Inuit didn’t live in communities until after World War II, when the Canadian government forced a number of different policies on us in a very short period of time.

The residential school experience was one of many that took our children and those whom we loved dearest away from us. So I want to recognize all of those who still struggle with what happened during that time—not just the residential school survivors but their families and all who loved them. Their lives are forever profoundly changed, and what is happening here today is going to chart a new course.

For all the things that happened in the last 50 or 60 years to indigenous people and to Inuit in Canada, it had a start in the sense of profound ownership of one population over another, and we hope that reconciliation now will bring the true meaning of the term “self-determination” back to indigenous peoples.

For Inuit, self-determination is not limited to our boundaries. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples clearly states that indigenous peoples’ rights are wherever they reside, rather than specific to our homelands. So as this reconciliation process happens and decisions are made about how monies flow and what populations are going to receive services or supports, the true test will be whether or not Inuit will be a part of those discussions as partners, as indigenous people, or the alternative, which is so often linked to further ways to keep our populations in poverty and at the lower margins of society.

Reconciliation demands action, and you’ve shown action here today. But also from action comes a test—a test of whether or not, when things get difficult, when decisions that should be made based on the tenet of self-determination are at odds with the needs of other interests—whether they be economic or whether they be political or in the governance of the way in which decisions happen in the bureaucracy, or wherever decisions happen that affect the rights of indigenous people.

The true test is, what are we going to do? What are the citizens of Ontario, the members of the Legislature, the cabinet, what is the Premier going to do when tough decisions need to be made that are not necessarily in the best interest of one political party, communities or individuals? I think that ultimately, the respect that we have for one another needs to go beyond just sympathy, to a true sense of understanding the relationship that indigenous people have with this province and with every single citizen.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to speak with you today. Naqurmiik.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. I would now like to call upon Sheila McMahon, the president of the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres.

Ms. Sheila McMahon: Boozhoo.

Remarks in indigenous language.

My home community is Couchiching First Nation. I’ve lived in Fort Frances, Ontario, for many years, off-reserve.

The friendship centres have travelled a long road to be strong, vibrant cultural hubs for our communities to gather and celebrate what it is to be indigenous. We did not always travel this road with many friends outside of our own communities. It has taken society a long time to shine light in the dark corners of our collective histories. Only now are you beginning to come to terms with what this history means for you, and about who you are. That is why we are here.

The reconciliation work ahead of us should be marked and acknowledged in a way that is recognized by all of us. It is in itself a step in the direction of transforming the way we see each other.

This is also the role of the friendship centres: to create space that celebrates indigenous people and act as that bridge between indigenous people and non-indigenous people and communities. In that way, friendship centres are simultaneously an embodiment of indigenous identity and reconciliation. Since the very first investments in friendship centres in the 1970s, a different set of relationships was created: a different way of us seeing ourselves because of what we were able to accomplish, and a different way for you to see us because of what we were achieving.

We do not take this for granted. We have worked for decades to come to this place, where we can finally have an honest conversation about our shared history and not to be strangers in our own land. We acknowledge this monumental step towards reconciliation, which will change the future for generations to come. It’s a good day today. I believe it started when we went to our sunrise ceremony, and I’d like to say meegwetch.

When we hold our feathers, we speak of honesty and truth, and we speak from the heart. And when I say thank you, meegwetch for listening, I’m speaking from my heart.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I would now call upon Dr. Dawn Lavell-Harvard, the president of the Ontario Native Women’s Association.

Dr. Dawn Lavell-Harvard: Aanii. Boozhoo. Bonjour. Good morning. Please let me start by acknowledging the indigenous peoples of this territory.

Remarks in indigenous language.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, honoured elders, Madam Premier, leaders Patrick Brown and Andrea Horwath, and all of the very, very important people who are here today. This is truly a historic moment.

We are honoured to participate in this historic event towards reconciliation with indigenous peoples. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission report represents an opportunity for indigenous families, for indigenous women to be restored to our traditional leadership roles and to restore balance to our communities and our nations. When we include our women in the decisions that affect our lives, we will actualize community change, and we will have the restoration of balance and well-being in our communities.

Our journey together in this country began with indigenous women being systematically targeted and subjugated by colonial practices. These practices have broken our families, broken our relationships, but our strength and resiliency is key to community healing for our families. It’s our community and our responsibility. This is our traditional way of being. This is our role as women, as mothers, as leaders.

Reconciliation means more than just the restoration of our relationship. Our women, our people have unaddressed grief and intergenerational trauma, as the residential schools severed the most important bond: the bond between indigenous children and their mothers and their families. This system exposed our children to a cycle of violence that continues today. But we know that violence is a learned behaviour, and therefore we also know that we can unlearn this behaviour.

We can make a change through holistic healing frameworks that acknowledge our shared history and our interconnectedness, that acknowledges the good and the bad and learning from our past. If we are going to stop the crisis of missing and murdered indigenous women, the crisis of suicide in our youth, we must do better.

Reconciliation with indigenous women must create the space for re-empowerment, and, through this capacity-building of our communities, we will set in motion the prospect for family healing. We know the current child welfare models must involve the voice of women and families. It is our role as mothers and community leaders, in order to renew the cultural identity and family well-being. There’s a reason it’s called our “mother tongue.” Our mothers are the first teachers; the teachers of our language, the teachers of our culture, the transmitters of our identity.

It is for these reasons, it is for those future generations to have those teachings, that we continue on this path together when times become difficult and indeed it would be easier to walk away, that we remember that we have a very difficult job to do and we must stay the course.

For many of our women, these maternal and cultural responsibilities continue to be unfulfilled because our children continue to be taken, continue to be placed in the care of the government. Many of our women are denied the right to parent their own children. The community suffers, the families suffer, but, most importantly, the children are still suffering.

We are here today, collectively, to honour these children and the families. These are our families. We’re here to honour the victims and the survivors of the residential schools. It was because of the courage of those brave souls, who spoke out, who shared their unimaginable pain and suffering—the horrors of abuse, not only in their bodies, but in their hearts and minds. We shall never forget.

Courage is not the absence of fear, but the strength to carry forward in the face of fear. They had that kind of courage to carry on. It is because they had such courage, the courage to speak the truth, that those who heard their stories are forever changed. In their honour, we shall remember. Never again—never again will anyone be able to say that it was a well-intentioned effort gone awry.

Never again will they be able to say, “It wasn’t that bad; lots of children go to boarding school.” Never again will we be able to deny the tragic reality of our joint history and the ugly truth upon which this country was founded. We shall remember because we owe it to those children who never returned home, those children who died within those walls.

We have heard their truth, and now we must share their courage. There can be no reconciliation when there’s no conciliation in the first place. We cannot simply repair a tear in the fabric. We must have that kind of courage to begin a long-overdue process of weaving a new fabric for Canada and for Ontario, a new fabric that incorporates the fibres of all of our beings.

One of our most important teachings as Anishnawbe people is from the sweetgrass: that one blade is very easily broken; when we bundle them together, it is strong; and, when we take all of our bundles together and we braid them, you cannot break this. Whether this is our people in each bundle or whether this is the different political parties, some things are too important to allow political stripes to get in the way. It’s time that we set that aside and bond together because together we are stronger, and together we can do better.

I acknowledge the courage it took to apologize and the commitment of this government, the commitment of everyone in this room, to move forward in a good way. This is indeed a historic day. Now, together, we will begin the next

chapter of our story. We can and we must do better. This time, let it be better for us all. Chi meegwetch.

Applause.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): We will now hear a representative for all survivors of the residential school system, Mr. Andrew Wesley.

Rev. Andrew Wesley: Remarks in indigenous language.

I come to you this morning with humility. I come to talk to you about the residential schools.

The old ones tell us that when we come into this world, we’re given one canoe and one paddle. As we travelled the rivers of life, for many of us, the survivors, we got stuck in the rapids, and we stayed there for many, many, many, many, many years, before we started talking about the abuse.

Remarks in indigenous language.

Many of us that were in school, we experienced many abuses that we already heard the Premier reading from the report. Those experiences are true. We carry it today, as we go in this life.

One time, I heard Martin Luther King Jr. speaking about, “I have a dream.” In that dream, he talked about the mountain. Just a while ago, I heard Justice Sinclair talking about the mountain. Us survivors, we’ve been to the top of the mountain. On top of the mountain, we were given new fire to talk about our hurts, our pain, our struggle. We were given to be bold. We were instructed to be strong. We were instructed not to be ashamed. We were instructed not to be afraid to talk about dehumanization. We were not afraid to talk about the traumatization of our spirits.

We came down from that mountain, and we’re telling you the truth of what happened. We’re telling you the truth because we’re tired of being hurt. We want to travel with the rest of you in a good way. From that mountain, we gained the strength we needed.

Many of us went to the various TRC hearings to be able to tell our story, not to be afraid to cry the way we cried when we were abused like little kids, not to be afraid to cry as an adult and as a grandfather.

To me, reconciliation didn’t mean anything for a long time. Why should I reconcile? I didn’t do anything wrong. Why? I was taken away. I was beaten up. But I didn’t do anything wrong. Why should I reconcile to the government and to the church?

But because of my wife and her strength and her encouragement, I started to understand what reconciliation is all about. And as I got old, I started to understand more, that I have to talk about the abuse and be able to release the pain that I was carrying. Now I understand what reconciliation is all about. I understand.

You know, when a hunter is about to go out and get food for his family, the night before he goes out, he speaks to the game that he’s going to bring home to ask for forgiveness. From that mountain, we were given the power to honour the people that abused us, because we want to live a good life.

Remarks in indigenous language.

Applause.

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

I would now call upon Elder Verna Porter-Brunelle, Métis senator, and Elder Jim Dumont for the closing.

Ms. Verna Porter-Brunelle: Good morning. Bonjour. Tansi. I am honoured and very humbled to have been asked to come here today. I would like to recognize Premier Wynne, I would like to recognize all the elders who have come here today, and the members of the House.

Creator, we pray and thank you for each and every day you have blessed us here on Earth with your many gifts of water, trees, spring flowers and the air we breathe. Many of our brothers and sisters are not so fortunate, but today our leaders have shown compassion, and with your guidance, Creator, we will be on the path of healing and helping. Wrap your loving arms around the families that grieve for their children. Send your spirit to those who feel they have no meaning here on Earth. A good lesson is that we not take life for granted.

Let us show respect and understanding to the struggles of our indigenous people. We are indigenous people: First Nations, Métis and Inuit. As Métis citizens, we fought in wars and our ancestors and family members attended residential schools, but we have been forgotten in many ways. But we are strong, and we’re a proud Métis people. We have fallen, we have gotten back up, and we are now united and stronger.

We may be miles apart from some of the indigenous people but our hearts are connected. Our heartstrings ache when we hear of another suicide. Today, with renewed commitment from our leaders, help from our Creator and prayers from all of us here today, there will be a brighter future coming. We honour our ancestors who have gone to the spirit world and we are very proud today. The sun will shine again on our people.

Aujourd’hui, nous sommes très encouragés par les bonnes nouvelles. On demande au Créateur de nous donner l’espoir et l’encouragement nécessaires pour guérir des relations du passé.

Several years ago, I was honoured to be the master of ceremonies for the Honourable James Bartleman, past Lieutenant Governor. He had written a book, As Long as the Rivers Flow. When I went to get my book signed, I told him I didn’t quite like his book. I said, “I’m having a hard time getting through it. I’ll read two pages and I have to put it down.” That’s how graphic everything was, and it was a true story. His answer to me was, “Keep reading—it gets better.” So I’m leaving you with this today: Keep reading; keep fighting for our rights. It does get better. Meegwetch. Thank you.

Mr. Jim Dumont: Remarks in indigenous language.

When we opened the day, we sent out a message to the spirit in all those sacred places where the spirit dwells. And we ask the spirit to look this way toward us and to help us in what we’re doing. We ask that of our mother the Earth also, and of our relatives in this creation. And when we do this in this way, we know that the spirit answers us. We know that our mother won’t let us down, and we know that our relatives care about us and they will answer what we ask as well.

And so, when we are finished doing what we have come here to do, then we are obliged to talk to the spirit again, to talk to our mother the Earth and our relatives that we’ve asked this of, because in the way that they think, the way that the spirit thinks—what they are being called on to do—they answer us because of how much they do care about us. They will remain true to that obligation that they have made. So we have to let them know that we are finished what we have come here to do.

In our thanksgiving, we thank them for the way that they have helped us. It must have been that they responded to us and did offer this help, because in a place where, a lot of times, people aren’t kind to one another—because there’s something in this system, that people think that to govern a country, you are obliged to be at odds with one another. But we have heard in this House today, in recognition of the true and vital importance of attending to the issues of the original people of this land, that everyone will work together.

Maybe it’s just me who thinks that, but it must be a hard thing to do, to actually say that in this place. But both sides of the House have said that, and that means something to us.

We can say the spirit must have heard us, so the spirit nudged us from time to time, to remind us of our responsibility and the way that we should act and the way that we should be, in trying to work together, and that it’s important that we be honest and true to one another. The spirit must have reminded us of that.

In these words, in all of the words that were spoken, we have reminded one another about our relationship that we have, and that what all of the treaties are about isn’t, first of all, about surrender and ownership and possessions and compensation. Treaties are about relationship, and we have to find a way that we can be truly related to one another in a good way in this country, in this land, in this province. That’s what we committed ourselves to do when we signed those treaties. That’s the way we entered those treaties.

In the same way that we opened this session today, from the time we stood in the presence of the rising sun to here in this lodge, in this House, we made a commitment to the spirit, and in doing that, we said, “Even here in this place, the spirit is working.”

That’s the way we enter all agreements. We make that agreement in the presence of the spirit and we have to be true to that. We have to own up to that responsibility and we have to remind one another of the importance of that. We have to figure out how we can do that in a good way, not only to make up for the wrongs of the past but to find a good way into the future. So the spirit must have heard us and must have responded.

Even those things that we fail to mention are a reminder to us that all those that we ask must be wondering why we never talked about them. We didn’t say anything about the animals. We didn’t say anything about the vegetation, the grass and flowers. We didn’t say anything about the rocks, the minerals. We didn’t say anything about the trees when we talked here together.

The absence of that really stands out to the spirit. So it must be telling us that we need to consider those things, because we know that if anything ever happens—that there are no longer any medicines flowing, and that something happens so that the food that grows up from the earth is not edible any more—kindness will disappear from the earth. We will not know how to care about one another. If anything happens that we cut down all the trees, truth and honesty will be gone amongst us. If anything ever happens to the animals, we will lose our ability to share with one another.

If anything ever happens to the rocks and the minerals, as it is happening in this country, the very strength that we need to live our life and to live up to the things that we believe in, that strength will be gone.

We need to make that connection in everything that we do. At the end of whatever we’re speaking about, whatever we’re gathered together about, we always say “all my relatives.” When we say that, what we’re saying to all of our relations in this creation as well as our human relations: “We are all related to one another and I will include you in my words. I will include you in my thoughts. I will include you in the decisions that I make.”

We end in that way, asking the spirit to continue to bless us with life and letting all of our relations know that we have considered them and we have been noticed by them.

Remarks in indigenous language.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I have been extremely honoured and deeply humbled to preside over this historic ceremony this morning.

Remarks in indigenous language.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Our escort, please.

Visitor

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Before we finish with the order, I would also like to introduce Mr. James Bartleman, the former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.

With the House’s indulgence, I would like to take a five-minute recess to prepare the House for question period. If I do not receive any feedback, I’m going to assume that we are going to take a five-minute recess to allow people to leave and to prepare the House.

This House stands recessed for five minutes.

The House recessed from 1047 to 1053.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): It is now time for question period.

Oral Questions

Autism treatment

Mr. Patrick Brown: Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Premier. I didn’t think this government could get more callous, but the next thing you know, the member from Mississauga–Streetsville called the police on Melanie Palaypayon, the mother of a six-year-old boy with autism. Melanie just wanted to be heard, but instead her own MPP sent the police to her door.

It’s one thing to refuse and cancel meetings. It’s another thing to block the parents of a child with autism on Twitter. But what I can’t believe is that they’d have the nerve to call the police on a constituent. And regardless of that apology, that action is completely unacceptable. Melanie simply wanted a few answers. Specifically, she wanted to ask, “Who are you to decide my child’s future? Who are you to decide he is not worthy of a better life?”

So my question to the Premier is, who is this Premier to decide that this six-year-old, Xavier, is not worthy of a better life?

Interjections.

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

Premier?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Mr. Speaker, I’m tempted to say, “And now for something completely different.”

Let me begin by reminding the member that the member has apologized to Ms. Palaypayon. I know he’s profoundly sorry for the circumstances that resulted in the anxiety caused to her and her family.

We know how important it is to listen to constituents on all matters. Our caucus members have been meeting with families from across Ontario to explain how the new autism program will work, to make sure that they are getting the information that they need. It is of concern to us if families are not getting the information they need in terms of transition, because at the root of the new autism program is the intent and the directive to make sure that every child in this province who has autism gets the service and the intensity of service that they need.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary.

Mr. Patrick Brown: Back to the Premier: This is not an issue to make jokes about. This is a heartbreaking, real-life story of the callousness of this Liberal government.

I met with Melanie and her six-year-old son, Xavier. She is an amazing mother with an equally amazing son. I’m happy that the member finally, belatedly apologized, but it was only after this government got embarrassed on the front pages of the newspapers. It wasn’t right, it got exposed and that’s why the apology finally happened.

It’s not just kicking a child with autism off from the waiting list that we’re seeing this government undertake; it’s cutting care at the province’s children’s hospitals. Last year, the Liberals cut 42 jobs—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Excuse me. The member from Beaches–East York—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I would like to do my job, please.

The member from Beaches–East York will withdraw.

Mr. Arthur Potts: Withdraw, Speaker.

Mr. Victor Fedeli: It’s getting to be a habit.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): That’s not going to help.

Please finish.

Mr. Patrick Brown: Mr. Speaker, this is a pattern. An example is the 42 jobs at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario. SickKids in Toronto has been forced to operate at over 100% capacity.

How much longer will the Liberals turn their backs on the most vulnerable children in Ontario?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: We are increasing funding to health care each and every year. We are putting $333 million into a new autism program in order to provide a better program. That’s $333 million more than is already in the system.

The point of doing that is to make sure that we provide programming for kids who are right now sitting on a waiting list and not getting any service. That status quo is unconscionable. We have to make sure that we provide the service that those kids need.

Mr. Speaker, the investments that we have made in health care, the investments that we’re making in autism are about providing the services that children, seniors and families across this province need. That’s the intention of the investments that we’re making and we’re seeing results, which I’ll speak to in the supplementary.

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

Mr. Patrick Brown: Back to the Premier: When the Premier says, “investments in health care,” her investments mean cutting 42 staff at CHEO. Her investments mean kicking 2,200 kids off the list for desperately needed IBI. Her investments mean you have SickKids at overcapacity. Her investments are the diminishment of health care in Ontario.

The Premier says that their investment in autism is the right course, is evidence-based, but let me point out what the Ottawa Citizen wrote. In January 2014, a report from the Autism Spectrum Disorder Clinical Expert Committee stated that the therapy should not be cut for children over the age of five. There is no evidence to back up your approach. There is no evidence to back up your cuts. Mr. Speaker, my question to the Premier is, where exactly is the evidence found to defend taking IBI from kids over five?

Interjections.

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

Premier?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Speaker, therapy is not being cut to children over five. The point is that there are children sitting on waiting lists who are not getting any service at all—

Interjections.

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

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: The fact is that this program is about getting more service to more kids—16,000 more kids getting service, kids who are getting service now, making sure that they go through a transition.

I’ve met with the organizations of parents who are concerned about this. I’ve listened to them. The minister and I have talked about the reality that perhaps we need to look at direct funding as part of the model. That’s something that parents have brought forward to us.

Miss Monique Taylor: Perhaps.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: The member opposite heckles, “Perhaps.” The fact is, $8,000 of transition is direct funding. What we’re looking at is, is there a better way to help those families make the transition?

We’re working hard on this side of the House to make sure that kids get service. The opposition can choose to negate that. The reality is, more kids need—

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

Interjections.

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

New question.

Health care funding

Mr. Patrick Brown: My question is for the Premier. It’s clear that this government is cutting health care across the board. They slashed $815 million from physicians for patient care, not to mention the 1,400 nurses cut in Ontario in the last year. Clinics are closing all across the province.

But what most people don’t see day to day is the ridiculous and unacceptable overcrowding in Ontario’s hospitals. When I first saw it in Brampton, I couldn’t believe that hospital beds were littered in the hallway. That can’t happen in Ontario.

What fantasy world is this government living in when they say they are investing in health care? Instead of getting beds out of the hallway, this government has the nerve to run self-congratulatory radio ads about what a great job they’re doing out there.

Mr. Speaker, my question is, someone has to take responsibility. Will the Premier do the right thing and make sure her Minister of Health takes responsibility for the chaos—

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

Interjections.

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

Premier?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I know the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care is going to want to comment in the supplementaries.

Mr. Speaker, let me just talk about what’s happening as a result of the investments that we are making, and have made, in health care, including the billion dollars more that was in this budget that the opposition voted against.

Ninety-four per cent of Ontarians have access to family health care providers. The independent Wait Time Alliance has made a statement that we’ve gone from the worst to first for reducing wait times. That’s in hip and knee replacements, cataract surgery, cardiac care, radiation oncology, MRIs, CT scans and ultrasounds.

The Fraser Institute—let me just pause there—the Fraser Institute, great friends of the member opposite. Their 2015 Waiting Your Turn report revealed that Ontario has the second-shortest overall wait times in Canada.

The results speak for themselves. The investments that we have made, and are making, are making a difference. We will continue to make those investments and improve health care in Ontario.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Dufferin–Caledon will come to order.

Supplementary.

Mr. Patrick Brown: Back to the Premier: I realize the government’s talking points are, “Everything is fine,” but I would love to have the Premier name a single patient, a single nurse, a single physician in the province of Ontario who isn’t fed up with this government’s cuts.

Let me share with you an

article from the Toronto Sun. I think Christina Blizzard summed it up very eloquently when she said this government is taking a “hacksaw” to health care in Ontario—

Interjections.

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

Please.

Mr. Patrick Brown: Mr. Speaker, if the government members want to heckle about the

article on their hacksaw approach to health care, why don’t they listen to this quote from the Ontario Health Coalition? Natalie Mehra said, “There’s no tracking of the health cuts by the health ministry....”

There is “no planning behind the cuts and no attempt to” get things right. She said “there’s no actual plan” for our hospitals.

Mr. Speaker, since it is now clear the Minister of Health isn’t doing his job, isn’t planning for health care in the province, and given the fact there’s going to be a cabinet shuffle, will the Premier show the Minister of Health the door?

Interjections.

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

Premier?

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

Interjections.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Mr. Speaker, of course, I’m kind of happy that rather than answer it herself, she handed that question to me.

The leader of the official opposition knows—I’m sure he’s seen the figures—that the vast majority of the hospitals across this province function and operate within less than 100% occupancy.

In fact, the figures that are currently reflected are the Q4 figures, which represent a period in time, those January, February, March months, where, typically, because of flu season and other factors, we do often see an incremental increase. But even with that, only 11% of the hospitals across the province indicated occupancy pressures.

When you look at the trend, even compared to 2013—or rather between 2014 and 2015—the number of hospital sites that have reported a point in time occupancy rate greater than 100% has decreased by 32% over that period of time.

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

Mr. Patrick Brown: Back to the Premier: The Liberals’ failure to properly fund health care is leading to hospitals bursting at the seams. Across the province, hospitals are over capacity because of the government’s cuts. SickKids, over capacity; London Health Sciences Centre, over capacity; Rouge Valley Health System in Ajax and Pickering, over capacity; the Juravinski Cancer Care Centre in Hamilton, over capacity; the Peterborough Regional Health Centre, Brantford General Hospital, Ottawa Civic and General hospitals, all over capacity.

The Minister of Health has this crisis on his name. This crisis is—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Minister of Agriculture, come to order.

Please continue.

Mr. Patrick Brown: This is a crisis created by the Minister of Health. This is because of the incompetent leadership on health care.

My question is this: Will the Premier answer directly? Will she do a favour to Ontario’s patients and fire this Minister of Health?

Interjections.

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

Minister?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: In our budget, we’ve allocated an additional $345 million specifically to the hospital environment. But if you look back a couple of years, since 2013 we’ve also dramatically increased the number of acute care beds in Ontario. It’s increased by approximately 5% of the total number of beds, to almost 20,000 beds now in the province, an increase of nearly 1,000 beds in that time period alone. But other important indicators as well: We have seen an increase, because of population increase, in the number of ER visits, but we’ve seen that ER wait times have either stayed the same or in fact they’ve improved.

Those important outcomes that patients are and should be looking to in terms of the quality of care that they’re receiving, the re-admission rates, which are staying the same or declining, and our ability to accommodate people in ERs—we are seeing and continuing to see progress in those areas.

Hospital funding

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My question is for the Premier. Documents obtained by New Democrats show that somewhere in Ontario there is an unnamed hospital that needs $287 million in repairs to address health and safety concerns, imminent breakdown and code compliance. What hospital is that?

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

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Mr. Speaker, we acknowledge that we have more than 150 hospitals across this province. We’re building new hospitals like the new hospital in Oakville, the Humber River Hospital as well. They just had a ground-breaking ceremony in Orangeville for the Headwaters improvements that are being made.

We recognize that going forward in two areas—maintenance, and renovations and repairs—we’ve increased in the most recent budget an additional $50 million a year to go towards that. But we’re also investing $12 billion over the next decade to make the kinds of improvements that Ontarians across this province expect to see in their hospitals.

We have hospitals that are literally months old. We have hospitals that are decades old. We continue to invest in both areas to make sure that they’re able to maintain themselves properly, and we’re building, renovating, expanding and rebuilding where necessary as well.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Next on the list of hospitals in dire need of repair is a hospital that needs $252 million in maintenance repairs. Which hospital is that?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: I’m proud of the work that we’re doing across the province in making sure that Ontarians have access to the highest quality of care. We do that as close to home as possible.

The leader of the third party—and certainly the opposition party as well—knows of some of the efforts that we’ve been making over the last year, including in places like the Trenton hospital, to make sure that the services that those individuals rely on are provided.

In the Leamington hospital there was a decision made, quite frankly, by the hospital itself to close the obstetrics ward. We weren’t prepared to accept that as a government and we worked diligently—I worked with the member representing Chatham–Kent–Essex as well—to make sure that those birthing services, those obstetrical services, were maintained. In fact, I think he would probably agree with me that we’ve even been able to enhance the services that are provided there. We’ve provided funding for three new obstetricians to work there in concert with midwives providing that holistic support.

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

Andrea Horwath: Next on the list is a hospital that urgently needs $171 million in maintenance. I would just ask the Premier, which hospital is that?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: That’s precisely why we committed $12 billion over the next decade. We have a process in place. The leader of the third party might just want to randomly select hospitals and invest in them; we have a very rigorous process through the ministry, together with Infrastructure Ontario, where we will look at both maintenance and repairs but also those new builds that are required from time to time.

What I don’t understand is, if this is such an important issue to the third party, why they voted against our budget that allocated $50 million in new money on renovations and $12 billion over 10 years for new builds.

Hospital funding

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My next question is for the Premier. Last December, the Auditor General said there was $2.7 billion needed for hospitals in order to bring them up to a good state of repair. Now documents obtained by New Democrats show that deferred maintenance in Ontario hospitals actually exceeds $3.2 billion, but the government refuses to tell us which hospitals are in the worst shape. In fact, the government said that if they revealed the names of the hospitals, contractors could lose confidence that they would get paid.

Why is the Premier letting hospitals fall into disrepair, Speaker?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Actually, as the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care has said, we recognize that there is a need for upgrades, for maintenance and repair, which is why $12 billion over the next 10 years has been put in place to actually address those.

There is a process in place whereby the condition of the facilities is made clear. There’s obviously an order in which those facilities have to be addressed and that’s what the $12 billion is for. I would have thought that the leader of the third party would think it was important to allocate that money because she understands that there is a need among hospitals.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, the Auditor General said that the funding wasn’t keeping up. In fact, hospitals are having to dip into operating budgets just to cover their capital costs. Now we’ve learned that the backlog is even higher than what the Auditor General identified in her report. Ontario has 142 hospitals with over $3 billion in deferred maintenance. The government refuses to reveal which hospitals need the most repairs, and instead of planning ahead, the government has no idea how much more maintenance will be needed over the coming years.

Health care is the government’s silent crisis, Speaker. Failing to do urgent repairs will only make it worse. Will the Premier admit that there is in fact a silent crisis in health care here in the province of Ontario?

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

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Only the NDP can turn a positive into a negative. I think the reason they’re doing that is that they’re a little embarrassed that they didn’t vote in favour of our budget that allocated $1 billion of new money to the health care budget and, in addition to that, $12 billion over the next 10 years. And we have $50 million on top of an existing $50 million a year for that important maintenance, renovations and repairs.

It’s not surprising that they’re taking this position. It’s easy when they’re the third party to have this sort of rhetoric, but I just need to remind the Ontario public that when they were in power they closed 24% of all acute care beds in this province. They closed 13% of all the mental health beds in this province, reducing hospital funding in their last budget and reducing health care funding in the budget before that. That sounds like a lot of cuts to me.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Nurses are being fired at a rate of three per day. Hospital beds are being closed. Wait times are increasing. And the Liberals are letting hospitals crumble here in the province of Ontario. When people go to the hospital, they’re being treated in the hallways. There are labels on the hallways saying, “Hallway room 1,” “Hallway room 2,” “Hallway room 3.” That’s what people are dealing with when they go into a hospital here in Ontario in 2016.

How much worse does it have to get for the Premier to admit that there is a crisis in our health care system?

Interjections.

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

Hon. Eric Hoskins: The only crisis would have come if that party had won the last election because they committed to reducing the budget by $600 million, saying—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Minister.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: That’s what the member from Kitchener–Waterloo said: that $600 million would come from health care and education. She actually said that she felt she would go to health care first.

The truth is, if you listen to the Ontario college of nurses, the 3,000 more nurses in this province last year, about 8,000 of them in the last several years, many of those in the hospital environment. I just said that we’ve increased, since 2013, the number of hospital beds in the province, the acute care beds, by more than 1,000. We have among the shortest, if not the shortest, wait times in the entire country.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Member from Hamilton East–Stoney Creek, come to order.

Carry on, please.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Try as they might, they can’t use rhetoric against facts. The facts demonstrate that we’re continuing to invest and we’re seeing that progress.

Hospital funding

Mr. Victor Fedeli: Good morning, Speaker. My question is for the Premier. North Bay Regional Health Centre has borne the brunt of the impact of this government’s waste, mismanagement and scandal. Over $50 million has been cut over the last three years, resulting in cuts to nursing, emergency, cleaning, cataract surgery, psychiatric care and forensic units.

Specifically, the Liberal government has fired 350 full-time staff, including 100 nurses. They’ve cut 60 hospital beds at our five-year-old facility, a facility the community fundraised for. And now, rumours are swirling that the hospital’s cancer clinic will be closed by the end of the year. Can the Premier tell the people of Nipissing that our cancer clinic will not close?

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

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Rumour-mongering like this is not helpful, and I’m sure it’s creating anxiety in the community. We have no plans to change the level, quality and location of cancer services at the North Bay Regional Health Centre—the new North Bay Regional Health Centre, by the way. The funding has increased since we came in power to that health centre by 126%, or almost $100 million.

We’re seeing great results. I wish the member opposite would commend the hospital and the physicians, where we’re seeing cataract surgery go down by 370 days, a decrease in the wait time of 87%. This is a victory. I’m so proud of this hospital. I’m so proud of the management, the hard-working health care professionals. The member opposite should champion their hard work.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary.

Mr. Victor Fedeli: I’ll share the message with the 100 nurses you fired.

Back to the Premier: These are headlines announcing the Liberal—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Come to order.

Question, please.

Mr. Victor Fedeli: These are the headlines announcing the Liberal government cuts all throughout the north: “Health Sciences North Lays Off 102 Employees and Closes 64 Beds;” “28 Beds Close in Lakehead Psychiatric Hospital;” “St. Joseph’s Care Group Cuts 11 RPN Jobs;” “Timmins and District Hospital Cuts 38,” followed by another heading, “Timmins Hospital Cuts 40 Jobs;” “Temiskaming Hospital Cuts 15 Jobs, Including Nine Nurses;” “Sault Area Hospital Cuts 73 Staff,” followed by another heading, “Sault Hospital Funding Cut By $10 Million; 35 Positions Cut.”

Speaker, this government’s waste, mismanagement and scandal have hurt northern families. Will the Premier tell us today, does she support these cuts to health care or will she shuffle out the Minister of Health?

Interjections.

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

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Start the clock. The member from Nipissing will come to order.

Minister of Health.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: I can only imagine what would have happened, Mr. Speaker, if that party had been given the opportunity to cut 100,000 jobs in the broader public sector, and many of those—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Member from Nipissing, second time. Minister of Labour, come to order.

Minister, finish, please.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: In hospitals alone in northern Ontario—we recognize the need to improve and modernize infrastructure. That’s why 23 new hospitals have been built or are under way in the north, Mr. Speaker. Thunder Bay regional hospital, Health Sciences North in Sudbury, North Bay Regional Health Centre, Sioux Lookout health centre, Sault Area Hospital, West Parry Sound Health Centre, Mattawa general hospital—we’ve increased hospital funding in the north by 54%. We have seven community capital projects under way and—

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

New question.

Mercury poisoning

Will the Premier commit today to an action plan to clean up the Wabigoon River so that future generations don’t have to grow up poisoned and the community of Grassy Narrows can heal?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I appreciate the question. I have not yet seen this report. I’m very interested to see the science on which it’s based. I have been to Grassy Narrows. We’ve established an Ontario/Grassy Narrows Mercury Working Group to lead a discussion about what the solutions are, Mr. Speaker. My understanding is that there has been testing that has been ongoing, that the group will have a broad scope of inquiry, but that there are complicated issues around the settling of the mercury in the water at Grassy Narrows.

As I say, I don’t know the source of the report. I understand there’s some suggestion there is still new mercury that is leaking. I don’t know the source of that. I look forward to looking at the report. But rest assured that we are very much engaged, even before this report came, on trying to figure out how make sure that people in Grassy Narrows have clean water and a clean environment to operate in.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary.

Ms. Sarah Campbell: Members of Grassy Narrows First Nation will travel this week, as they do every year, the 1,700 kilometres to Queen’s Park to once again call on this government to do something, to act on the contamination of their traditional fishing and hunting lands.

During this time last year, the Premier said, “The scientists have said to us there are questions about how to actually do the cleanup because ... the sediment at the bottom can actually cause further damage.” Yes, Speaker, this needs to be done very carefully, but here today a report written by scientists says that it is possible to clean up the river. In the press today, the response from the Ministry of the Environment to this new report is word for word the same as the ministry comment from February. How is this possible? Truth and reconciliation: It means being honest with our relationships with our First Nations partners.

Will the Premier commit today to the cleanup of the mercury in the Wabigoon River once and for all?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: This is an extremely important issue. It’s an extremely important issue, obviously, because of the health of the people who live at Grassy Narrows; it’s extremely important in terms of the economy of Grassy Narrows. I know the member opposite is aware of that. I haven’t seen this particular report but, as I said, the working group that has been established will have to take this information into account.

If there is a way to clean up that river without disturbing the mercury and making the situation worse, then obviously we want to look at that. When I was at Grassy Narrows, that was one of the first questions I asked: Is there a way of cleaning up this mercury so that it doesn’t actually further contaminate the water, the fish and the other wildlife? Obviously, we will look at the information, the ministry will look at the information, but the working group that is tasked with this specific subject is going to take this into account and look for a way forward.

Newcomer Settlement Program

Ms. Soo Wong: My question is for the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and International Trade. Ontario’s Newcomer Settlement Program supports agencies like the Centre for Immigrant and Community Services, better known as CICS, in my riding of Scarborough–Agincourt. This agency has provided almost 50 years of comprehensive, diverse programs for newcomers of all ages. These settlement programs support communities to integrate in our province. Since 2003, our government has invested over $82 million in the Newcomer Settlement Program. Each year, nearly 80,000 immigrants benefit from our investment.

Speaker, through you to the minister, can he please inform the House what the Newcomer Settlement Program is doing to support new Canadians?

Hon. Michael Chan: I want to thank the member from Agincourt for asking the question. Over the next two years, 2016-18, our Newcomer Settlement Program will provide $20 million in funding to support 114 projects across Ontario. The funding will improve access to services by providing support to 97 settlement agencies, of which 19 are new. It will double the number of francophone service providers to attract and integrate francophone newcomers. It will also provide a threefold increase in settlement funding to expand services in northern Ontario and improve service access for vulnerable immigrant populations such as refugees.

This is just beginning. We will continue to support refugees as they integrate with Ontario communities.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary.

Ms. Soo Wong: Thank you to the minister for the response. It is reassuring to see that our government understands the importance of supporting agencies like CICS and the Chinese Professionals Association of Canada to help newcomers settle in our community.

I’m also very pleased to see that the NSP-funded services are available to a broad range of newcomer groups, such as permanent residents, Canadian citizens, refugees and refugee claimants, provincial nominees and temporary foreign workers, including live-in caregivers and international students, because many of my constituents of Scarborough–Agincourt have benefited from these programs.

Organizations funded through the NSP have a proven track record of providing quality services to newcomers, possess the organizational capacity to deliver quality services and demonstrate sustainability and appropriate financial management.

Speaker, through you to the minister, can he please outline the Orientation to Ontario immigrant services and what it offers to new Canadians?

Hon. Michael Chan: The NSP has been a great success. The Orientation to Ontario program is a service that helps current recent immigrants get quality information about settling in Ontario. The program is coordinated by COSTI Immigrant Services and is delivered in local communities by a network of 19 settlement agencies.

An estimated 2,500 recent newcomers in 24 Ontario communities will benefit from the program in 2015-16. The program features a workshop series on settlement-related topics and a workbook for participants that includes settlement information and planning tools. There is also a website that is a great source for pre-arrival and settlement information.

Health care funding

Mr. Jeff Yurek: My question is to the Premier. This government’s record on health care has been disastrous. The Minister of Health has placed this system into a state of perpetual crisis. Last year alone in London, Windsor and the rest of southwestern Ontario, we’ve seen a cut to health care services and longer wait times. Due to this minister’s freezing of hospital budgets, we’ve seen hospitals forced to cut staff or cut services in order to balance the budgets.

St. Joseph’s hospital in London has had a $17-million budget shortfall which saw 60 nurses fired. Windsor cut 120 nursing jobs with a $20-million budget shortfall. All knee, hip and joint replacement surgeries were cancelled or postponed for January, February and March because of a lack of funds.

The Premier has not answered the questions from the member from Nipissing or the member from Simcoe North. Does she have confidence in this minister and will she replace him?

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

Hon. Eric Hoskins: I appreciate the question. It gives me an opportunity, because it has been some time since I’ve been able to speak about the new investments in the 2016-17 budget, $1 billion, so that our entire health care budget is roughly $52 billion. It’s substantial to say the least. But, as part of that $1 billion, we’re investing in a whole set of things.

I’ve spoken, obviously, on the $345 million going to hospitals and the $12 billion going to the new capital investments, but I haven’t had an opportunity to say things like 85 million of new dollars for that important area of recruitment and retention of nurses, of occupational therapists, of dietitians, many of them who are in the front line, who are working in our family health teams or other similar environments; or, importantly, the work of my parliamentary assistant, the member from Ottawa Centre—I hope—

Interjection: Ottawa South.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: An investment of $75 million to fund new hospice beds across the province.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary.

Mr. Jeff Yurek: The only person who has confidence in this minister is the Premier herself. Just talk to the health care professionals across the province. They are disgusted with the lack of access that they have had due to this government and the public attacks this government has had on not only doctors, but also pharmacists in this province. The Premier seems fine with this action.

We have seen the stem cell transplant system fail, resulting in deaths in this province, and the Premier is fine with this. We’ve seen this minister nurture a culture of fear in the home care system and the Premier is fine with this. But the line was drawn a few months ago when Pete Verberne, a 61-year-old Alzheimer’s patient, was forced to sleep on the floor in restraints for eight days because the hospital was understaffed and over capacity. Even the member from London North Centre says this was absolutely unnecessary.

The health care system has been in perpetual crisis for years. There have been cuts in services, cuts in nurses and our hospitals are over capacity—

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

Minister.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Obviously, it’s a big question, and I’ll do my best to answer it to the satisfaction of the member opposite. But we are investing so much money in new investments that are relevant to Ontarians. I think, at the end of the day, what Ontarians look to are the outcomes. Are they able to access a family doctor or a nurse practitioner? Ninety-four percent of them of them are. In fact, just the year before last, the most recent figures show 900 new physicians began practice in this province. That’s roughly almost four times the rate of population growth.

So we’re making investments in our doctors. We’re continuing to increase the line for compensation for doctors. There were 3,000 more nurses practising in our province last year alone, according to the Ontario College of Nurses.

We’re continuing to make those important investments in people, in property and in the facilities that people depend on across this province.

Water quality

M me France Gélinas: Ma question est pour la première ministre. This morning, we all heard Dr. Dawn Lavell-Harvard, the very eloquent executive director of the Native Women’s Association, tell us what we already knew: that 90 First Nations communities in Ontario do not have safe drinking water. In Attawapiskat, it contributed to a rash of skin lesions for young children. Here in Ontario, in 2016, First Nations children are sick because of untreated water. Does the Premier think that it is acceptable that, after 13 years of Liberal government, First Nation Ontarians in 90 communities still do not have safe drinking water?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I do not think that it is acceptable that any Ontarian anywhere in the province would not have access to clean, drinkable water. It is unacceptable to me, absolutely.

At the root of the ceremony that happened this morning and all of the work that we have done as a government to work with First Nations and, quite frankly, with the previous federal government to engage them to try to get them to work with us—we’ve moved ahead, Mr. Speaker. We have put in place a plan to address drinking water, and I think now we have a federal government that will work with us on that.

But it is absolutely our objective to address the challenges of drinking water on-reserve, to take all of the expertise that we have in Ontario and the technology that we have and work with the federal government and the First Nations to put in place the right water supply for each of the First Nations in the province.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary.

M me France Gélinas: We all know that water is a basic human right. The rest of us in Ontario, we take it for granted. But when I asked during estimates for the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs, I’m told that it is a federal responsibility. But you know what, Speaker? Infrastructure needs in First Nations are an Ontario responsibility. We don’t need to pass the buck on that one.

I would like the Premier to tell this House, when will First Nation Ontarians, living in 90 First Nation communities—communities like Curve Lake, like Pikangikum, like Shoal Lake 40, like Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug—have safe drinking water?

Interjections.

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

Premier?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: The member opposite might know that each situation is somewhat different. For example, in Pikangikum, it’s my understanding, when I was there, that there is clean water but the water doesn’t flow to people’s houses. In that case, there’s an issue of building the infrastructure and making sure that that clean water can actually get to the houses.

In other situations, there are water treatment plants—

Interjection: So that’s acceptable?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: It’s not acceptable. It’s not acceptable, but the situation is different community by community.

That means we have to work with the communities and with the federal government to make sure that, if it’s the transportation of water or whether it’s the water system itself, whether it’s the training of the folks on the ground to make sure that the troubleshooting can happen—all of that has to be done and it must be done in partnership with the First Nations and with the federal government. That’s the work that we’re doing in our government, Mr. Speaker.

Housing services for the developmentally disabled

Mr. Chris Ballard: My question is for the Minister of Community and Social Services. Last week, I was pleased to be with the minister in Aurora for a funding announcement of almost $1 million over two years for a project that will offer a number of housing alternatives for people with a range of complex developmental disability needs in my riding of Newmarket–Aurora.

The Why Wait demonstration project is a collaboration between York Region Lifetime Independent Facilitation, York Support Services Network and Montage Support Services. Minister, I understand that this project is part of the broader Developmental Services Housing Task Force initiative that you mentioned in the House this year. Can the minister please provide us with an update on the recent work of the housing task force and the progress being made for residential services in Ontario?

Hon. Helena Jaczek: Thank you to the member for Newmarket–Aurora for the question and for hosting me last week to announce the funding for the Why Wait demonstration project.

As the member knows, these projects are part of a recent announcement of the second round of six creative community-based housing initiatives for adults with developmental disabilities. Our government has committed up to $6 million over two years for demonstration or research projects which includes $2.13 million to support these six projects in Ottawa, Essex, Sarnia–Lambton and Newmarket–Aurora. This is part of our three-year, $810-million investment to support the transformation and modernization of developmental services.

The Developmental Services Housing Task Force has been doing extensive work in the area of creative residential services, because we know that there is no one-size-fits-all housing solution for adults with developmental disabilities.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary.

Mr. Chris Ballard: Thank you, Minister, for outlining the work this government and your ministry is doing.

In conversation with residents and leaders in my community, it’s very clear the importance that adequate access to residential services has on the lives of individuals living with disabilities and their families. There continues to be a need for more creative residential options and day supports and respite services. This is something that individuals, their families and the developmental services sector have known for a long time. However, the government’s $810-million investment is making a tremendous difference in the lives of thousands of Ontarians.

Mr. Speaker, can the minister please elaborate how efforts like the Developmental Services Housing Task Force will create more opportunities that focus on inclusion, choice and independence?

Hon. Helena Jaczek: We know that individuals with developmental disabilities have unique needs and that there is a demand for a broader range of housing solutions. This is why the six projects selected cover a wide range of supports, including developing a DSW co-op, so that families have a pool of trained and qualified staff to hire using their Passport funding; using technology to increase independence and quality of life; and digital tools to support francophone families in their search for housing.

I’d like to thank the hard work of agencies, families, community partners and the housing task force members. We have an opportunity to expand our knowledge and learn how creative partnerships can help us provide new housing support options. I look forward to future partnerships that we can learn from so that they can be replicated to help more people in the future.

Nurses

Ms. Laurie Scott: My question is for the Premier. Day after day, I hear from constituents in my riding and across this province about the harsh reality of this government’s incompetence, whether it’s freezing budgets at mid-sized hospitals like Ross Memorial; Peterborough Regional Health Centre being forced to eliminate 153 nursing positions; 61 RNs cut from St. Joseph’s in Hamilton; or 70 nurses cut at the Trillium health centre in Mississauga. No area of this province has been spared from the government’s failure to deliver on the home care, long-term care and mental health care that our patients need.

The minister has failed his mandate to ensure that the needs of Ontario’s patients be at the centre of our health system. While the Premier pledged to be different than her predecessor, we see that she is running down the path away from our patients, ruthlessly firing 1,400 nurses in the last year. Mr. Speaker, will the Premier finally support the growing needs of Ontario’s patients?

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

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Well, try as I might, Mr. Speaker, I just have to go back to this allegation from both opposition parties that somehow we fired 1,400 nurses over the last year. Again, are you telling me that you don’t believe the Ontario college of nurses, the body responsible for regulating nurses? On their website they’ve indicated that 3,000 more nurses—the majority of those in hospitals—are working in this province. I’m a little dismayed, I’m a little perplexed as to why they just dislike, don’t trust and don’t believe the Ontario college of nurses, because I think that that’s probably the best and most independent source of information that we have.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary.

Ms. Laurie Scott: Mr. Speaker, back to the Premier: The government is out of touch. Those numbers are true. I didn’t make them up; I didn’t pull them out of thin air. But you no longer—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Come to order.

Please finish—and put the question.

Back to the Premier: Since you haven’t answered the member from Simcoe North, the member from Nipissing or the member from Elgin–Middlesex–London, are you going to remove the Minister of Health?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Order.

Minister of Health and Long-Term Care.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: I would imagine the member opposite is, therefore, a member of the College of Nurses of Ontario. So call them up, tell them you’re a paid member and ask them how many more nurses are working in our hospitals and working in our communities last year alone. It’s 3,000 net—not any gross number that the member opposite might want to talk about; a net increase.

But that’s understandable, because maybe her relationship isn’t that great, because it was her government that fired 6,000 nurses when they were in power. It was her former government that described them as out of time, out of sorts, hula hoops, and it was her government that closed 10,000 hospital beds.

You talk about devastation in the hospital closures. We’re rebuilding the mess that they created.

Electoral reform

Ms. Catherine Fife: My question is to the Premier. The government has introduced its election reform bill. It shuts down critics, helps the Liberal Party and makes it nearly impossible for non-partisan citizens’ groups to get their message out. Instead, it opens the doors to partisan government advertising dominating the airwaves. It cracks down on public advocates, but leaves the door open to lobbyists.

This legislation is clearly about helping the Liberal Party. Can the Premier explain why they refuse to move ahead with a transparent, non-partisan panel?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Government House leader.

Hon. Yasir Naqvi: Again, I remain baffled by the question from the NDP, because to every single opportunity that was given to them to participate in a conversation around what the bill should contain, they said no. They refused to engage in any conversation whatsoever, because they probably want to delay the process, because they have so much housecleaning to do on their end that they won’t engage in the process. The official opposition engaged in the process. The Green Party of Ontario was quite engaged in the process, but the NDP? No, no, no. No substantive ideas, but stall and delay tactics.

We have put forward a very robust plan to consult the public. As you know, Speaker, the bill has been tabled and has been referred to the standing committee for consideration over the summer months. We will be debating the motion dealing with that, on which I sought unanimous consent, which was denied by the NDP. We look forward to working and listening to Ontarians.

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

Ms. Catherine Fife: We fully understand that the Liberals remain baffled on a number of issues, but this process is about restoring confidence in the electoral system. The truth of the matter is that the Liberals wrote this legislation behind closed doors. They didn’t consult a single expert. They didn’t consult Ontarians. They didn’t listen to the concerns raised by the opposition. This is about helping the Liberal Party and shutting down any public criticism. Now they’re taking control of the committee process.

Will the Premier put partisanship aside and open this process up to a non-partisan panel, chaired by an independent person and not under the complete legislative control and total veto of the Liberal Party of Ontario?

Hon. Yasir Naqvi: Yes, Speaker, we remain baffled by NDP flips and flops every single day. It baffles every single one of us, because they keep flipping and flopping on all their positions.

Speaker, when we sent them a letter inviting them to a meeting on the draft legislation, they said no. When we reached out to them on May 2 asking them to attend a meeting on the draft legislation, they said no. Then, I sent them documents from my briefings with the official opposition and the Green Party and asked for their input. They said no.

But apparently, they have some sort of suggestion out on a Facebook page addressed to the Premier and she still hasn’t received the letter. This is how the NDP has been stalling the whole democratic process around ensuring that Ontarians get a say on the draft legislation as soon as possible. This afternoon, we will be drafting the motion so that as of June 6—

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

Energy policies

Ms. Ann Hoggarth: My question is for the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. As part of the Climate Change Action Plan, cap-and-trade proceeds will be invested transparently into initiatives that will help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These investments will create good jobs in sectors like clean tech and construction, help small and medium-sized businesses reduce greenhouse gas pollution, and help households save money on energy costs. Last week, the government shared the first set of these planned investments that will utilize these proceeds to drive our goal to fight climate change.

Building on the success of the Green Investment Fund’s dedication of $92 million for energy retrofits to social housing across this province, Minister McMeekin and Minister Murray announced a further plan to increase the energy efficiency of not only social housing but also private rental apartments.

Mr. Speaker, through you, will the minister share with the House the details of this investment and speak to how it will reduce costs?

Hon. Ted McMeekin: That’s a terrific question. What can I say? That’s a good question; I’ve got a good answer.

Of course, reducing emissions, as everybody in this House knows, is a key priority for our government and that starts with social housing and select units in the private housing sector. That’s why, as part of our climate action plan, we intend to provide up to $400 million for apartment building retrofits and $500 million for social housing retrofits. That’s going to help with installing energy-efficient boilers, windows, insulation and lighting.

To be quite frank, investing cap-and-trade proceeds in this way is really going to help to not only provide additional access to affordable housing but do it in a clean and environmentally sensitive way.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Ann Hoggarth: Thank you to the minister for that answer. When we can invest in both combatting climate change and helping low-income Ontarians with the transition to a lower-carbon economy, I think that’s a huge win-win.

This announcement is part of the soon-to-be-released Climate Change Action Plan. The CCAP will outline the actions we are taking to ensure Ontario reaches its greenhouse gas emissions target and will focus on making it easier and faster for consumers and industry to access new low-carbon technologies. The minister has committed that the action plan will be out before the House rises.

Can the minister please inform the House on the action plan and the real, positive benefits it will have on people’s lives and in the fight against climate change?

Hon. Ted McMeekin: To the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change.

Hon. Glen R. Murray: I want to thank the member for Barrie who has been such a great champion. It’s interesting: We visited homes in her constituency that are net-zero or low-carbon homes. The sale advantage is that they come without a heating or cooling bill.

I think it was a humbling experience for Minister McMeekin and I, when we were at Green Phoenix housing, because they have retrofitted that. And why did they do it? Because their heating costs were becoming expensive for their low-income tenants. By reducing their emissions by 40%, they dramatically cut the costs of living in the home. And what they d