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May 10, 2017

41st Parliament, 2nd Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcripts 2017-May-10 (PDF)

L080 - Wed 10 May 2017 / Mer 10 mai 2017

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Wednesday 10 May 2017 Mercredi 10 mai 2017

Orders of the Day

Time allocation

Introduction of Visitors

Oral Questions

Probation and parole services

Nurses

Privatization of public assets

Hospital funding

Consumer protection

Ring of Fire

Labour legislation

Anti-Semitism

Services for the developmentally disabled

Mining industry

Disaster relief

Hydro rates

Youth employment

Disaster relief

Introduction of Visitors

Royal assent / Sanction royale

Members’ Statements

Michael Krulicki

Services for the developmentally disabled

Centre espoir Sophie

Palliative care

Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers

Riding of Etobicoke North

Organ and tissue donation

East York Hall of Fame

Ontario budget

Introduction of Bills

St. Pola Drugs Inc. Act, 2017

Childhood Apraxia of Speech Awareness Day Act, 2017 / Loi de 2017 sur la Journée de sensibilisation à l’apraxie verbale de l’enfant

Petitions

Primary health care

Gasoline prices

Epigenetic research

Hospital services

Employment standards

Public transit

Apraxia

Services for the developmentally disabled

Government anti-racism programs

Dental care

Dog ownership

Go Transit

Orders of the Day

Time allocation

Withdrawal of Bill 83

Time allocation

Safer School Zones Act, 2017 / Loi de 2017 sur la sécurité accrue des zones d’école

The House met at 0900.

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

Prayers.

Orders of the Day

Time allocation

Hon. Yasir Naqvi: I move that, pursuant to standing order 47 and notwithstanding any other standing order or special order of the House relating to Bill 127,

An Act to implement Budget measures and to enact, amend and repeal various statutes, when the Bill is next called as a government order, the Speaker shall put every question necessary to dispose of the second reading stage of the bill without further debate or amendment, and at such time the bill shall be ordered referred to the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs; and

That the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs be authorized to meet on Monday, May 15, 2017, from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. for the purpose of public hearings on the bill; and

That the Clerk of the Committee, in consultation with the committee Chair, be authorized to arrange the following with regard to Bill 127:

—Notice of public hearings on the Ontario parliamentary channel, the Legislative Assembly’s website and Canada NewsWire; and

—That the deadline for requests to appear be 5 p.m. on Monday, May 15, 2017; and

—That witnesses be scheduled to appear before the committee on a first-come, first-served basis; and

—That each witness will receive up to five minutes for their presentation, followed by nine minutes for questions from committee members; and

—That the deadline for written submissions be 7 p.m. on Monday, May 15, 2017; and

That the deadline for filing amendments to the bill with the Clerk of the Committee shall be 7 p.m. on Monday, May 15, 2017; and

That the committee be authorized to meet on Tuesday, May 16, 2017, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. for the purpose of clause-by-clause consideration of the bill; and

That on Tuesday, May 16, 2017, at 9:30 a.m., those amendments which have not yet been moved shall be deemed to have been moved, and the Chair of the Committee shall interrupt the proceedings and shall, without further debate or amendment, put every question necessary to dispose of all remaining sections of the bill and any amendments thereto, one 20-minute waiting period pursuant to standing order 129(

a) being permitted; and

That the committee shall report the bill to the House no later than Tuesday, May 16, 2017; and

That in the event that the committee fails to report the bill on that day, the bill shall be deemed to be passed by the committee and shall be deemed to be reported to and received by the House; and

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

That when the order for third reading of the bill is called, 30 minutes of debate shall be allotted to the third reading stage of the bill, apportioned equally among the recognized parties; and

That at the end of this time, the Speaker shall interrupt the proceedings and shall put every question necessary to dispose of this stage of the bill without further debate or amendment; and

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

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

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Mr. Naqvi has moved government notice of motion number 10.

Mr. Naqvi.

Hon. Yasir Naqvi: Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Etobicoke Centre. Before I turn it over to him, I just wanted to say that this is important legislation, as you know, implementing the government’s budget bill, the government’s agenda and, particularly, introducing OHIP+ pharmacare, a universal pharmacare program for our children and youth, ensuring that we are building Ontario up and building an Ontario which is stronger and healthier.

I’m confident that the member from Etobicoke Centre, who worked very hard on this bill and on this budget, along with the Minister of Finance, will share with us why this motion is important and why we need to move forward with the passage of Bill 127.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member is aware that it is a rotation and that we’ll come to the member from Etobicoke Centre on full rotation.

Further debate?

Mr. Todd Smith: Good morning. Let’s be clear as to why we’re here this morning debating what we’re debating. This government couldn’t manage a two-car funeral, Mr. Speaker. That’s why we’re here. They’re forcing through their budget in a very limited amount of time. They don’t want us talking about the budget because there were a lot of magic beans that were used in this budget. There was a lot of masking of facts and smoke and mirrors that were used in this budget that they don’t want us to talk about, and they’ve done a very, very poor job on planning how it’s going to make its way through this House. That’s why we’re faced with the motion we’re faced with today.

This is the sixth budget that I’ve debated in this Legislature. Actually, that’s not true. I’ve debated five. We’ve had six budgets presented in the Legislature since I’ve been here in 2011, but one of them we didn’t get to debate because an election was called, so we debated it when it was presented again in 2014.

What we’re dealing with here today is a time allocation motion on the budget bill, which is an omnibus piece of legislation that amends 33 different schedules—or, at least, there are 33 schedules in this budget bill today. When you listen to what the House leader just described, we’re talking about a very, very limited scope of debate on all of these different schedules that are in the budget bill this year.

So we’re here this morning debating one of the most, if not the most, restrictive time allocations that I’ve seen in my six years in the House: an afternoon for committee hearings and a morning for clause-by-clause on a budget?

This bill has 33 schedules and was introduced just a couple of weeks ago by the finance minister. The government here is stating nothing short of the fact that it would prefer members not do their jobs. It would prefer us not to take a closer look at the budget that was presented. Keep in mind, this is a government that at times has had to offer dozens of amendments on its own government bills, its own legislation, because they’ve messed up serious technical details involved with the implementation.

On a massive omnibus piece of legislation, the government believes 30 minutes of debate at third reading is sufficient—not just 30 minutes per party; 30 minutes shared in the Legislature, 30 minutes at third reading to debate the budget for the province of Ontario. It’s unbelievable. People should be outraged, but they don’t really know what’s going on, because for some this is inside baseball. Really, it’s amateur hour on behalf of the government of Ontario, because they can’t get their House in order. That has been proven time and time again over the last 14 years that they’ve been in power. They’ve messed up everything.

You look at the health care system in the province of Ontario and the mess we’re in there. You look at our education system and the mess we’re in there, closing schools all across the province. The most school closures anywhere ever are happening right here in Ontario. You look at our energy sector, and we could go on forever there about the mess they’ve made on our electricity system and the prices that we’re paying.

I digress.

As I said earlier, the bill has 33 schedules, and the government is saying that it requires less than one minute per

schedule at third reading. It’s unbelievable. That should tell you everything you need to know about how the government views the voters who send us here to Queen’s Park to debate on their behalf.

The stated rationale for doing this, by the way, is that the government knew that in order to introduce a different piece of legislation, the government had to pass the budget first. So debate in this House is left to suffer, public scrutiny is left to suffer, because the government House leader’s office and the Premier’s office don’t know how to manage the House schedule. We know they don’t know how to manage the province’s finances. That has been very clear.

They’re playing all kinds of games with the numbers to make it appear as if they have a balanced budget in Ontario, when I think every financial expert out there knows that they haven’t done that. Debate in this House suffers as a result.

As a general rule, budgets are supposed to be financial plans for the government. We’re not only supposed to know where the money is coming from, but we’re also supposed to know where it’s being spent and how much of it is being spent there. On that score, the budget is surprisingly light on details as it pertains to the major-ticket items that are supposedly included in it. You can pretty well point to something that the government likes in this budget, and there’s a detail that comes up instantly that highlights something that the government left out.

You can start with the centrepiece of this Liberal budget, the pharmacare, if you want. It’s the only thing that every Liberal went out and talked about the day after the budget—because I think nobody took them seriously when they told them that it was a balanced budget when clearly it wasn’t a balanced budget; it was an artificial balance. It’s the centrepiece of this budget, according to the government. But what was missing in the budget book? What was missing in the documents? The actual price of the program.

They say that it will cost the treasury $465 million every year, and they say that because it’s not actually written anywhere in the budget. If you wanted to find that out in the lock-up, you had to ask a bureaucrat to get the information you were looking for.

I want you to imagine something: A government comes out with a signature social program expansion—the one talking point that they wanted all government caucus members to go out and pump up in the immediate wake of the budget—and the cost of it isn’t in the province’s central financial document, which is either an incredible omission on the part of the Ministry of Finance, or it’s because the government doesn’t actually know how much the program is going to cost.

Let’s examine what information has been publicly available by the government and its ministers.

The government is saying that the cost of the program is $465 million. That’s to cover everyone under the age of 25 through the existing Ontario drug benefit for the entire prescription schedule. There are approximately four million people under the age of 25, give or take, according to the relevant minister. So the simplest thing to do would be to take the $465 million that the government says that the program costs and divide it by the four million eligible, and you’d get a per person cost for the program. In this case, it’s about $116 per person.

Government members will point out that there are a lot of people under 25 who don’t use any pharmaceuticals, and that’s true. That could be an explanation for why the government’s program, which covers significantly more drugs, costs roughly the same as the program of the third party, which covers significantly more people. Or you can think that both of them just pulled numbers out of the clear blue sky, which is probably what happened. Or you can think that—

Mr. Taras Natyshak: No, we did math.

Mr. Todd Smith: I want to move on to a couple of figures from CAMH to combat the point being made that young people use fewer pharmaceuticals than their more experienced counterparts.

By the time a Canadian hits 40—

Interjections.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Are we finished yelling across the aisles at each other now? I hope so.

Continue.

Mr. Todd Smith: By the time a Canadian hits 40—one in two have or will have had a mental health concern. Some 70% of mental health problems have their onset during adolescence—

Interjection.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): The member from Essex would like to say something?

Mr. Taras Natyshak: You won 50 bucks. You should be happy.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): That’s right. I don’t know who I bet, though.

Go ahead.

Mr. Todd Smith: People aged 15 to 24 are more likely to experience a mental health concern or substance abuse concern than any other age group. Some 34% of Ontario high schoolers indicate a moderate to serious level of psychological distress. Finally, according to Children’s Mental Health Ontario, one in five youth will experience some form of mental health problem.

I don’t know the degree to which pharmaceutical care is going to aid in improving these statistics, but I do know that the formulary contains hundreds of drugs to deal with issues of the central nervous system. You can find them all online at the ministry website.

I respectfully submit that any belief that this program won’t cost that much because we’re dealing with a part of the population that tends to be more physically resilient ignores the current reality of Ontario youth. You may not pay for the same medications that are currently being used by Ontario drug benefit recipients, but that doesn’t mean you’ll end up paying for less of them.

For that cost not to be itemized in the province’s fiscal plan, which we’re being asked to vote on, is malpractice on the part of the finance minister. A five-minute Google search gives you considerable reason to doubt the figure that this government has put on its signature proposal in the budget.

I also want to point out that the Minister of Finance stated on The Agenda that the reason that he picked 25 as the cut-off age is because it was a round number. I’m not sure how many bureaucrats work in the Ministry of Finance—I know this government spends millions on private sector consultants, as though working in the PricewaterhouseCoopers building made you an endangered species—but none of them could come up with a better reason for 24 or 25 being the cut-off than it just happened to be a round number, so that’s encouraging as well.

Let’s turn to the actual fiscal plan of the province, because this stuff tells us a lot about money coming and money going out of the government. According to the Ministry of Finance, home resales were up 9.7% last year and the average price was up 22.3% province-wide. Between real estate, construction, and banking and finance, a full 30% of the Ontario economy is tied up directly or indirectly in a hot housing market. Real estate, rental and leasing was a leading sector in real GDP growth in the province last year.

These are numbers that the government confirmed in the budget when it admitted that it took in hundreds of millions of dollars in additional land transfer tax revenue last year. It’s a bubble so big you could leave Willy Wonka’s factory in it.

Last year, the province’s Environmental Commissioner said, “Land use planning and development is really Ontario’s oil sands.” I’m saying all of this to prove a point this morning. When the commodity price on oil hit the skids, it blew a multi-billion-dollar hole through the middle of that province’s books. Alberta is still experiencing record unemployment levels.

Leveraging the province’s fiscal state on a single sector of the economy, which the Ontario government has very much done in this budget when it comes to the real estate sector, is a dangerous proposition for all Ontarians. The finance minister and the Minister of Economic Development get up and they crow about the state of the province’s economy daily, but the reality is that our books are founded on quicksand, not rock.

It’s a perfect storm of record-low interest rates for a decade, a strong American economy and a weak dollar. If you remove a single factor there, this all comes down really fast. If you have interest rates like we did in the 1990s, you’ll pull a lot of demand out of the housing market and you’ll end up with a lot of house-poor people who bought when the rates were really low, and that 30% of the economy tied into the real estate sector starts to face a major stress test. The prosperity the government talks about is nothing more than a mirage. We aren’t more productive. We’re just printing cheap money, and we have been for a long time.

If I could move on from housing to energy, as the energy critic, I’d like to take a couple of issues close to my portfolio and expose the government’s mismanagement when it to the province’s asset sales strategy. In this budget, the government counted over $2 billion in increased asset sales revenue from two years ago. Roughly 60% of that increase is the sale of Hydro One shares. The rest is cobbled together from a number of real estate transactions, including the sale of Ontario Power Generation headquarters just south of Queen’s Park, at College and University; the Seaton and Lakeview lands, and a few other transactions that took place as well.

The Hydro One sale is resoundingly unpopular in this House and across the province. We all know that. Opposition members found out from talking to people. The cabinet found out from talking to their pollster David Herle, but at least we can all agree on the fact that sale of Hydro One is extremely unpopular.

The thing is, you can’t balance the budget and call it a balanced budget with the one-time sale of assets. It’s an artificial balance because the government isn’t dealing with the structural issues in the province of Ontario.

You can only sell Hydro One once, and as we learned late Monday night, the government has already sold off more than 50% of what was once a public power entity in Hydro One. That’s done. It’s over. You can’t count on that money again. You book the money once. Unless you’re going to keep selling, you can’t double-count the money. You can’t do it. Although, as I said earlier, we’re dealing with a Liberal government, and it wouldn’t be the first time that they double-counted money. We’ve seen that in budgets year after year.

Just before I finish, I’d like to touch on something that should have been in the budget but wasn’t, and that was the government’s electricity debt financing scheme. Page 216 of the document reads as follows: “Under PSAS”—the public sector accounting standards—“the results of government business enterprises are required to be reflected on the province’s financial statements based on international financial reporting standards (IFRS). As of April 1, 2016, the province will consolidate the results of those two rate-regulated entities as they would be reported under IFRS....

The entities themselves will continue to issue financial statements prepared on a US” generally accepted accounting principles-basis.

For the last 20 years, we’ve generally held electricity debt in the province at the Ontario Electric Financial Corp., or the OEFC. Now, you may or may not like that, but the reason that we’ve done that is to make the province accountable for the debt that it incurs there, to make it transparent. What page 216 admits is that part of the reason that the government is about to bury over $25 billion in principal debt and another $25 billion in interest at Ontario Power Generation is so that the province doesn’t have to account for it; it becomes OPG’s problem. Really what it becomes is a problem for electricity customers in the province of Ontario down the road.

This year, 62 days—make that probably 70 days now—after the government announcement of their rate-scheme plan, we still don’t have legislation on how they intend to do that. A $1-billion equity injection had to be made by the province to kick-start the process, and that was in the budget, but what we didn’t see is legislation in the budget, and we still haven’t seen legislation in this House, as to how they are going to deal with this $50 billion in debt that ultimately should be represented in the province’s budget, but it’s not. It’s being hidden over at OPG.

The $1 billion, according to finance bureaucrats in the lock-up, is reflected in the debt line for the province. So the $1 billion is there to get the program started; the other $49 billion is nowhere to be seen, which tells you all you need to know about this scheme. The government could debt-finance rate reduction on its own books. By the admission to public servants, not to mention the Ontario Energy Board’s own rate report release of April 20, that’s what it’s already doing. It’s creating the rate reduction mechanism at OPG so that it can get away with keeping it off its balance sheet.

Otherwise, we’d see a growing debt at OEFC, and we’d have to move Hydro One sale money over there to finance it.

So we’re not seeing where the latest tranche of OPG shares that was sold on Monday is going to end up, but you can imagine that it’s probably not going to be used to build infrastructure in the province of Ontario. It’s probably going to be used to show that they’re trying to balance next year’s budget as well. It’s not going to where it’s intended to be going, and our finance critic has done an outstanding job at explaining where that money is actually going.

It’s going to trick the people of Ontario into believing that this government is a prudent manager of the province’s finances, when clearly it’s not doing that. It’s not going to pay for infrastructure, as the ministers would like you to believe, as the Ontario Liberal government would like you to believe. It’s going to create an artificial balance of the books in the province of Ontario, and it’s right there in the budget book if you actually go and take the time to read it.

So, the House is asked to review the government’s general fiscal direction. The budget presented lacks substantial costing figures for its central promise. It lacks any kind of recognition of the risks to Ontario’s economy. It finances new operating costs on the back of one-time revenue, and it employs accounting tricks to bury a mountain of new debt to avoid immediately servicing it.

We know this government’s track record when it comes to health care and education and energy, and I could go on and on and list all of the ministries. The House expects—the House is asked, with 30 minutes of debate shared, to approve all this? Speaker, it simply can’t do that, and we won’t. Thank you for your time this morning.

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

Mr. Peter Tabuns: Speaker, thank you for this opportunity. It’s always an honour to rise in this House, but, unfortunately, this is not an honourable motion before us.

The motion to time-allocate debate on the budget reflects this government’s increasing irritation with the democratic process. It sees consultation, it sees openness, as an inconvenience, something that, really, they’re not interested in. Seriously, they’re not interested in hearing the will of the people.

So it’s no wonder that they don’t want extended debate or consultations on this budget. For one moment, Speaker, let’s look at the impact of this budget on the city of Toronto. The mayor of Toronto was very clear. He said this budget turns its back on the city, and frankly, there are two areas where I think we need to consider this.

The first is that this budget doesn’t provide money to help deal with the backlog of repairs at Toronto Community Housing. The city had proposed a one-third, one-third, one-third share between the city, the federal government, and the province to deal with those outstanding problems. The province has no money in the budget to deal with that. What that means is that hundreds, if not thousands, of units will be closed to people who desperately need that affordable housing. This is on top of the millions of dollars that this government has cut from the allocation for housing over the past few years.

If people are worried about homelessness, if people are worried about families who are in desperate circumstances, living in cramped accommodations that they can’t afford, turn to this government, because when the crisis came in this city, this government turned its back.

The mayor of Toronto also talked about the abandonment of Toronto’s needs for help with mass transit. In particular, the funding is not there to proceed with the relief line. If you’re stuck on the Yonge subway and you can’t get on a train in the next few years because it’s already packed, think of Kathleen Wynne and the Liberal government in this province. They turned their back on Toronto with this budget. They can give whatever protestation they want, but in the end, the city of Toronto will have more homelessness and more gridlock because this budget ignores its real needs. It ignores its real needs.

Speaker, this budget bill before us is supposed to be about the budget. Interestingly, one of the schedules deals with the legislation in Ontario that regulates oil and gas extraction—and there actually is an oil and gas industry in Ontario. It’s pretty small, but it’s there. Within the last 12 months or so, I introduced a bill to stop fracking or ban fracking in Ontario, and I was told at the time by the relevant minister that there was no need to have such a bill because, in fact, the rules didn’t allow it.

Well, the rules are being rewritten in a budget bill. It has nothing do with this province’s expenses. Rules are being rewritten in a way that’s not clear. Will in fact this allow fracking in Ontario? That’s not certain at this point. It’s buried in the bill. It has nothing to do with the budget. It’s a very convenient way of putting through something that could be extraordinarily controversial without actually having to come out and say, “We’re changing the rules on gas and oil extraction in Ontario. Get ready for people to start injecting fluids into the rocks under your homes in southwestern Ontario. Get ready for that.”

Speaker, that alone is a bill that should stand on its own and have full public consultation and full explanation. So it’s no surprise that this government doesn’t want to have extended consultation, extended debate on this budget.

Speaker, as you’re well aware, Ontario is at a tipping point. This province has been made unstable by this government. It’s getting harder and harder to build a good life in Ontario. It’s getting harder and harder to get ahead. Costs are up, wages are flat and services we count on, like health care and education, are squeezed. If we don’t make substantial changes soon—and this budget will not make those changes—we should have real worry about what will happen to our children and their children in the decades to come.

Because increasingly, if you’re in your 20s and 30s, it is extraordinarily difficult to get a decent job, a long-term job, one that pays enough to actually establish a life. Too many young people in my riding and across Ontario are forced to live with their parents because they can’t get the income they need to set up their own lives.

For Ontarians who are waiting for a $15 minimum wage, this budget is silent. For 85% of Ontarians who want a publicly owned Hydro One, this budget just continues the process of taking the one-time money from the sell-off of an asset that this province built over a century. It takes that one-time money to make the books look good. And that’s it; that is the sum total of it.

For millions of Ontarians without drug coverage—this bill, although it introduces a drug plan that will be useful to some people, for millions, they’re simply left out. They have no coverage at all. They will have to wait for a change of government to actually get the pharmacare they need.

This budget does not undo the damage that’s been caused by the Liberals over their rule of this province since 2003. It’s been a long time. A lot of damage has accumulated. This budget will not correct that. In the end, it’s the “I’m sorry” budget. It’s too late; it’s too little. It actually isn’t going to deal with the problems that we face.

I want to speak a bit about the impact of this budget on health care. The highlighted announcement is drug coverage for our children and young people. In itself, that’s not a bad thing. It’s inadequate, but in itself, it’s not a bad thing. But we actually need a much broader, bolder, more comprehensive program that covers the millions of people who have no drug benefits at all right now—none. What’s to be done for them? Frankly, with this budget, nothing. They’re on their own. They are left to deal with problems as best they can—and we pay for that.

We pay in the ill health of friends and relatives who can’t afford the medications they need, and we pay for it because they will wind up in emergency rooms and in hospital beds, dealing with the consequences of not having had that medication. It will add to our health care costs. It will slow down health care in this province. We will all pay for a lack of action on their part.

Hospital funding will leave many hospitals forced to continue cutting costs. The promised increase of 3% for the sector and a 2% minimum for each hospital is below what’s needed, according to the Ontario Hospital Association. The increase is over $300 million less than what is needed to actually put our hospitals on a sound financial footing.

This government can talk about the money that it’s putting in. It’s taken so much out, it’s put the health care system in such a difficult position that even with what they’ve put in this budget, the situation in hospitals is going to fall short of what it needs to be, and people will pay for that. People will pay with their health. They’ll pay with lost years of life. It will have consequences.

What they’ve done does not undo the damage of fired nurses, cancelled surgeries and overcrowded emergency rooms. We’ve had questions raised in the House about people going into hospitals that were so packed, they weren’t allowed to get a bed; they were put up in the television room or forced to sleep in the shower or forced to sleep in a hallway. This is not going to correct that. It’s not even going to take the major first step that’s needed to correct that.

For education, nothing in here to undo the damage to our schools. Speaker, go into schools in your community, go into the schools across this province, and you’ll see the results of neglect, of underfunding of capital repairs that make the schools more expensive to operate, and ultimately, more expensive to repair later. If you don’t correct a leaking roof now, you’re going to have a lot more plaster, drywall and structural issues to deal with later.

Fifteen boards will see special education cuts of $4.6 million. That alone is an extraordinary thing to be able to say about a budget. The money that we need on child care—it’s not there; nothing new to deal with the child care crisis in this province.

It’s no surprise to me that this government doesn’t want to have a long debate or public consultation on its budget. It would get into deep trouble if people know fully what’s on the table.

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

Mr. Yvan Baker: I appreciate the opportunity to speak to the motion by our House leader. I have to say that the reason we are here, the reason we are bringing forward this motion, is frankly because of the procedural tactics that the Progressive Conservatives brought forward. Let’s be clear here: This bill has a number of measures that are really important to people in a number of areas, and I’ll talk about that in a moment. We want to make sure—I want to make sure—that people have access to those things, those improvements, as soon as possible. We can’t afford to delay. It’s really unfortunate that the opposition—the PCs—tried to do that.

Ms. Lisa M. Thompson: You’re spinning.

Mr. Yvan Baker: This is just the truth; these are just facts. I hear the heckling from the other side. That’s usually a sign that the truth is hurting.

It’s unfortunate that the PCs decided to put forward a reasoned amendment. They did that—the record shows that—to delay the debate of this bill, of this critical piece of legislation. We would have had more time for debate had the opposition not done that, so the opposition needs to take responsibility for that. Frankly, while the opposition is playing those procedural games, we’re taking action and we’re moving forward.

The alternative would be letting the opposition continue with its procedural tactics to delay and drag out this process, as they’ve done in the past. I won’t support that. Those of us on this side won’t support that sort of thing.

This is a budget that’s designed to help the people of Ontario, and we need to move forward with that. The people of Ontario want us to move forward with that as quickly as possible and get on with the work. The fact that the PCs are using this procedural motion and now arguing that we should move things along is disappointing, to say the least.

The member of the PC caucus who spoke raised a number of issues. I won’t address them all, but one of the things that he talked about was the fact that—he suggested that somehow we don’t want to look at this bill in detail. If this bill goes to committee, it can be looked at in detail, just as other bills are. Again, if the reasoned amendment hadn’t been brought forward by the PCs, then we wouldn’t be in this position, so we’d have even more time.

He talked about how, when government bills get brought forward, we, the government, sometimes bring forward many amendments, make many amendments to the bill. How is that a bad thing? That’s an indication that the government is listening and trying to make the bill as good as it can possibly be.

So to make out that us listening to the people of Ontario who are impacted by legislation and then adjusting to try to make the legislation as strong as possible, I think, is disappointing—and it’s a little worrisome that that member wants to be in government and then doesn’t want to, presumably, amend legislation that he might bring forward or his government would bring forward. So it’s disappointing.

The member opposite talked, again, like the other members of the PC caucus have done over the past several days, about the fact this is—they’ve argued that this is not truly a balanced budget, because they argue about the cap-and-trade revenues that are being brought in as a result of this budget. Let’s be frank about that. The cap-and-trade revenues are not being used to balance the budget. Those revenues are dedicated to specific projects, so there are expenses tied to that revenue. We aren’t using the proceeds of asset sales to balance.

If you look in this document and you look back over past fiscal years, every year, governments—Liberal, PC or NDP—are constantly in the process of either buying infrastructure and assets, buying capital or selling capital. When you sell capital, due to the way it’s accounted for under the accounting rules, there can be a gain on the sale of an asset. Certainly this year, like in past years, those gains are there. But to suggest that’s how we balanced the budget is to ignore the fact—and I wish the opposition were just honest with people about that.

There’s mention of—

Interjections.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): The member will withdraw his comment.

Mr. Yvan Baker: I withdraw, Speaker, that I wish the opposition were forthright about that.

The last thing that has been argued is this argument that, because of the difference in accounting treatment in perceived ways to account for pension assets—because the Auditor General disagreed with the initial accounting that had been brought forward by the professional civil servants—somehow we’ve used inappropriate accounting, which is shocking to me, given that a number of blue-chip accounting experts were brought forward to look at the accounting. They reaffirm that the way we accounted for it this year was the same as we accounted for in the past, and that is the appropriate way to account for things.

I just wanted to mention those points because I think that raising those points and suggesting that there’s some sort of game being played here is really disappointing.

The other thing I will say is that I want to read from an

article that was written about this very topic. This is actually in the Toronto Sun, and this was written by David Reevely. He quotes the leader of the PC caucus. He says that this was a question raised by the Leader of the Opposition in question period to the Premier.

“‘Mr. Speaker, it [has] a $5-billion operational deficit through cash grabs, pension assets and one-time and unusual revenue,’ leader Patrick Brown charged in the Legislature, kicking off question period Monday morning. ‘Will the Premier come clean and admit to the House the budget is not balanced?’”

Then David Reevely goes on to say, “Of course she would not. Because it’s a stupid question.” That’s what David Reevely writes in the Toronto Sun.

It’s very clear that this line of attack by the PCs is really, in my view, a sign that they can’t find something of substance to criticize so they’re telling a story that they’re hoping people buy into about how we’ve somehow falsely balanced the budget.

I have worked in business most of my career. I’ve advised large companies on how to invest their money. I’ve studied economics. I’ve studied accounting. I’ve studied finance. I know a balanced budget when I see one. This is a balanced budget, and the evidence demonstrates that.

The member from the NDP spoke about a number of items. I have to say that I may disagree with members of the NDP caucus on a number of things, but at least the NDP is debating the issues. They’re debating the things that matter to the people of Ontario and they’re focusing on the decisions that are being made through this budget that touch the people of Ontario.

There were a few issues that they raised. One is that the member for Toronto–Danforth, I believe, raised the issue of fracking. Let’s be very clear: The changes that are in the budget bill are changes that have nothing to do with fracking. I have to be clear that we are not considering applications for fracking. This government is not doing that.

Interjection.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): The member from Kitchener–Waterloo.

Mr. Yvan Baker: I just want to make sure that that’s clear to all members of this House. This has nothing to do with fracking. Hopefully the member will appreciate that and understand that that’s not what it’s about.

He said that this government has shortchanged Toronto. Again, I couldn’t disagree more. I think the facts show otherwise. I was on Newstalk 1010 this morning talking about this very issue.

I have to say that when you look at the investments that we have made in the 416, in the city of Toronto—transit is a great example of this. The vast majority of new projects that are being funded in the city of Toronto—the Eglinton Crosstown, the UP Express, the Scarborough subway, SmartTrack, the streetcars—for all of these new projects that are being built in the city of Toronto, the vast majority of that funding is coming from the provincial government. We have supported transit in Toronto like no government ever has in the past. So to suggest that somehow we’re shortchanging Toronto is incredibly disappointing to me. Hopefully the member understands that he stands corrected.

The member from the NDP talked about school funding, that there’s a lack of school funding. He talked about the need to build more schools and the fact that we need more funding for school boards, to operate the education system.

I have good news for the member opposite. I have good news for the member for Toronto–Danforth. That’s exactly what this budget is proposing. This budget is proposing $16 billion over 10 years for school infrastructure. That’s new schools in communities across this province. There is an additional $6.4 billion over three years for operating funding to fund the education system. I just wanted to make sure that the members were aware of that.

The member talked about how there’s a lack of funding for child care. I’m a little surprised. I’m standing here by the minister, who has been working so hard on this file. The government has committed through this budget—and previously, frankly—to 100,000 new child care spaces for the people of Ontario; 24,000, if I’m not mistaken, in the upcoming year.

These are significant investments that are going to make a difference for people and make health care more accessible.

I wanted to make sure that those points stood corrected so that we are basing our discussion on what is in this budget and how it’s going to help the people of Ontario.

Speaker, I want to highlight a few other elements of this budget that I think are of fundamental importance.

For me, one of the highlights of this budget is health care. I represent a riding, Etobicoke Centre, which has one of the highest percentages of seniors of any riding in the country, so one of the things that I hear about from members of my community a lot, whether it be from seniors or those folks who are caring for their aging parents or grandparents, is how we can improve our health care system. When I look at this budget, it demonstrates that we’re trying to make that a priority.

We’ve got a $7-billion booster shot for the health care system—the OHIP+ pharmacare program for young people under 25, making over 4,400 prescription drugs free, starting January 1, 2018. There are four million young people under the age of 25 who are going to benefit from this, and they’ll know that all those pharmaceutical drugs I just talked about are going to be covered. In addition, this helps families, because very often, especially for the younger children, those prescription drugs are paid for through their parents. This is going to help those families.

I’m excited about that measure and how it helps families.

We’re going to have $9 billion over 10 years to build hospitals. That’s incredible, when you think about what that will do for access to care in communities across the province. In Etobicoke—and the member for Etobicoke–Lakeshore is here, and I know the member for Etobicoke North is very proud of this, too—Etobicoke General Hospital is in the process of being expanded significantly. That’s just one example of how communities are going to be benefited by these types of investments. I’m really excited about that.

There’s $5 billion in new money just for operating funds for hospitals. So we’re not just building new facilities and infrastructure, but we’re also supporting the operation of those facilities.

A few other quick highlights that I think are particularly relevant, especially to my constituents in Etobicoke Centre—the new OSAP. We’re now going to have 210,000 young and mature students who are going to get access to free tuition. I think that’s really exciting. I had a youth advisory group last night, and the focus of the conversation was financial literacy. One of the issues that came up was the need to think about how to plan for your post-secondary education. The speaker who was at this meeting presented the fact that the new OSAP will do what I just talked about.

Some of the young people knew about it, but some of them didn’t. They were really excited about that. She talked about how that’s going to impact their financial future. It’s really exciting.

The Career Kick-Start Strategy will help young people get experience in the field that they’re studying. That’s incredibly powerful and impactful. As someone who struggled to get his first job coming out of post-secondary, I know what that’s like. This will be life-changing for a lot of young people. It’s an important step.

The member opposite talked about housing. We’ve made significant investments in housing across Ontario and in the city of Toronto, so to suggest that we’re shortchanging Toronto is simply not right.

There are a number of measures to help seniors: the transit tax credit; the investments in long-term care; the dementia strategy, which I’m incredibly excited about. As a PA, Minister Naidoo-Harris, who is sitting next to me, was in charge of travelling the province and consulting with people on the dementia strategy. In fact, she came to my riding, Etobicoke Centre, to hear from my constituents. Those are examples. That dementia strategy is something that we desperately need.

I could go on and on, Speaker.

I’m incredibly proud of this budget, not just because of all these measures that will touch the lives of the people of Ontario, but because we’re able do this because we’ve balanced the budget. We’ve balanced the budget as a result of two major factors: one is a strong economy that has grown, that has allowed us to invest; but also because we’ve taken a solid, sound approach to balancing the budget, finding savings in the budget and doing it in a methodical way—not the slash-and-burn approach of the PCs, not the 100,000-job-cut approach. We went methodically, program by program, through the government’s finances to find savings, and I’m incredibly proud of that.

The last thing I would say is that when I see members of the opposition, and I’m referring to the PC Party, stand up and talk about how we need to pay down debt—“You should be paying down debt; we need to reduce the interest rates”—okay. On the other hand, in the same statement, within the same 30 seconds, almost in the same breath, they say, “Oh, but also you need to fund more of this and more of that in my riding.” That’s hypocritical.

I would ask that the PC Party stand up—

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): The member will withdraw that last comment.

Mr. Yvan Baker: I will withdraw, Speaker.

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

Mr. Yvan Baker: I would simply ask the real PC Party to stand up. Are you saying you want us to spend more in those areas, or are you saying you want to cut, slash and burn? Is this the PC Party of Mike Harris, who slashed and burned public services, the party that ran on the 100,000 job cuts in the last election? Is it that PC Party? Or is it a PC Party that’s saying, “No, we need to invest in the services that matter to the people of Ontario, like health care, education, social services, child care, and others”?

I’m going to ask once again: Will the real PC Party please stand up?

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

Mr. Jim McDonell: It’s always fun—I guess we have some stand-up comics across the aisle here from Etobicoke Centre.

They’re trying to make this latest cut-off of debate in the House just another, “Well, it’s somebody else’s fault.” But how do you release a budget the last week of April and expect that when you’ve only got one month left—plus one day in June, with a week off—you can get it through without doing exactly what they did here?

Last year, they went around with the committee and they issued the budget before the committee even stopped meeting. They issued it in February, if you remember. This year, we started the finance committee early and finished in the middle of January, and they issued the budget in the last week of April, almost May. Then they turn around and try to blame us because we’re holding it up. This is just what they do.

They talk about how, yes, we have some projects we’d like to do, but just consider for a second that when they came into power, the revenue the government was collecting, I guess under the former Ernie Eves budget, was about $65 billion. This government is collecting over $130 billion, almost $70 billion more each year. Yes, there’s money for projects, but we would not spend the money on scandals like the gas plants. You talk about the UP Express and the over-expenditures this government has done. Everything they do is over budget and delayed. And what do they do? How do they fix that?

They usually give the person a bonus. So if you’re working for the government and you want to get a bonus, just fail and you get a bonus. That’s what this government has done.

There are just so many things you look at here. We talk about the recent school issue with the closures. From a financial point of view, they’ve got a situation here that’s a real mess, and not just in my riding; I share it with Grant Crack, the member from Glengarry–Prescott–Russell. In Alexandria, we’ve got five schools that are all less than 50% full. So what are we going do, close them all? That’s the current plan.

The promise here is, “Well, close a few more schools and we’ll build a new one.” Look at the cost of that. If we’re going to build infrastructure, let’s put some priorities around the infrastructure and decide what we’re going to do. Yes, education is very important, but let’s bring some of the numbers together. It’s not working. When you take a small population and you divide it in four, it doesn’t work.

There are so many problems in this province that we have to look at. Health care: Our only hospital back in Cornwall—it’s in the Toronto Star—138% of capacity. We’ve got people lying on stretchers in hospital hallways, empty offices—anywhere they can find. This is not a one-time occurrence; this happens every spring. Since I’ve been here, they’ve asked for more facilities. I go back to my first year here. It was so bad, they had to create 32 spaces over in the old general hospital, and they were bragging that no, it’s time—“We have the facilities; we’re going to get rid of them. We don’t really need them.” I guess it was a mistake that they created them.

So we looked into them and when we talked to the CCAC, what we were told was just ludicrous. They were trying to tell us that when they crunched their numbers we had more existing beds today without the 32 than we would need in 2030. So you’re sitting there, and I go back, “Well, you know, there are two things here: First of all, the Auditor General said we have the worst wait times in the province, over three years’ wait times.” And now you’re telling me that due to population projections, the population doubles. The seniors population doubles by 2030, so we have double the beds that we actually need.

How can that be? We have the worst record, and double the facilities. So really, by their numbers, half of our beds should be empty. And they said, “Well, that’s what our numbers show,” but those are the numbers that this government gives out. They just don’t make sense. But they’re the holders of the information, the holders of the projections. People like to believe what they’re hearing from the government, but they’re getting tired of it. They’re looking at the results; they look at that 138%.

Normally the hospitals wouldn’t say anything. I’ve witnessed them myself, actually, a group of people being warned by the government saying, “If you embarrass us, don’t expect—next year will be worse.” If you talk to these groups, if you talk to Community Living or you talk to hospitals, they’re told that all of the time, so you never hear anything from the hospitals.

After the last election—surprise, surprise—we heard that there have been no increases in the hospital budget for four years. Now, what agency would you not give an increase to for one or two years, and not hear something? Four years in a row, and not a word to the public because they’re intimidated; it’s an attitude. It’s just something in the way that they operate that next year could be worse.

We’ve asked that question of a group of social services, and that’s what they’re told. They said that if there’s a negative news article, “We’d better know about it the day before, and next year will be worse. So all we do, as hydro rates go up and as wages go up, we silently cut people. That’s all we can do.” You look in North Bay, where they’ve cut hundreds of nurses. That’s what this government is doing.

They sit here and they now want to cut off debate, because I guess they don’t like these stories. There are people who actually sit down and listen to what goes on in the House, and they hear these stories. That’s what’s happening in our ridings. I look at the talk about some of the things that we’ve got going here. They have the children’s aid bill that they’re trying to push. They can’t say we’re debating it, that we’re delaying things, because it’s the government that has over 200 amendments in it. We’ve been waiting since 2012 for a bill.

They come through, they finally put it through, and obviously it looks very rushed. They introduced it last year, and now they’re trying to push it. The government puts in 200 amendments, almost double what the total opposition put in. Do they not know what’s going on here? How could that be?

And everything we do is about cutting off delegations. We tried to get the delegations able to speak for a reasonable amount of time—couldn’t get that. They say they want to hear from the public, but just as we hear here, five minutes. Somebody that comes from my riding, if you drive it’s about a five-hour drive, maybe five and a half hours depending on the traffic, and you’re given five minutes to speak on something that they say is crucial to the province.

What have we not seen so far? We haven’t seen legislation on the hydro plan. Will that be rushed through? We’ve been waiting ever since this House first came back in February, when they finally realized that there’s a problem in this province with hydro costs—nothing. We’re sitting back here with two legislative weeks left and no legislation. I imagine it will be introduced—maybe it’s an election budget. It will say, “Look, if you don’t vote for us, we’ll never get this legislation through, because we didn’t get time to get it through before the session ended.” It’s mind-boggling what’s going on here.

The members say that we’re always asking for things. Yes, we are asking for things. We’re asking for a better job from this government. A government that takes in that amount of money every year—imagine, $70 billion a year. Yes, we’re asking for $200 million for a hospital. That’s a small amount when you look at the total you’re collecting.

But the real question is, where are you spending the $70 billion? Because the budget was balanced before—I know I’m slightly over my time. I remember when I was newly elected mayor of South Glengarry, the MPP went around the first year of the budget and they spent $3 billion in the last week of March of that year, 2004. The word was, “The money is flowing, but it’s going to come out at the end of March. We can’t get the cheques all delivered because we’re so busy getting to the photo ops.” You can imagine: $3 billion unbudgeted. They stood here and they said, “Wow, Ernie Eves’s budget overspent.”

They took power in October. So how much money did they spend? They promised they wouldn’t raise taxes; the first thing was they put the health tax in. But $3 billion in one week just for transfers to the municipal governments—now, I know they collected that back as they cut funding by $100 million over the last couple of years, but it’s just sad when you look at what’s going on. And then we hear that type of talk over there.

Let’s stand up for Ontario. Let’s be honest with people and let’s tell people what we’re really spending here. It’s a waste of time.

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

Ms. Catherine Fife: It’s a pleasure to join the debate this morning on time allocation. It’s a pleasure because it gives me an opportunity to point out that this is a budget, more so than any other budget, I would say, in the history of this government, that needs to be fully, comprehensively debated, unpacked and revealed for what it is. This is definitely an election document, there’s no doubt about it—lots of shiny things.

The feedback that I’ve received from the people of Kitchener–Waterloo, the people who were looking for information on housing, on infrastructure, because we’ve been waiting for—you remember the bullet train, Mr. Speaker. The bullet train is not coming to town any time soon.

Really, when we look at the major planks of this budget, this government once again ignores the voices of the people of this province, particularly on the Hydro One sell-off. This will remain, I think, one of the greatest betrayals of the people of this province ever in history. For sure, it is the greatest transfer of wealth from the public sector to a public asset, like Hydro One, which generated revenue for health care, housing and education, the core values of the work that we do here at Queen’s Park—compromising those revenues in a go-forward position to try to appear as if you are balancing the budget. To the credit of the people of this province, they are not buying it.

There’s a major, fundamental difference between where we are right now in 2017 and where we were in 2014. You’ll remember going into that first election, Mr. Speaker, the people were angry; there was no doubt about it. They were angry about the gas plants, the $1.1 billion. They were angry about eHealth and not having a finished product after $8 billion of investment. They were angry about smart meters, which turned out to be not so smart. They were angry about Ornge and the loss of life and the loss of investment.

They were angry about the $8 billion that Infrastructure Ontario overspent in the great promise of infrastructure investment in the province of Ontario—but Bay Street did very well through those deals.

I think there was genuinely a sense of scandal fatigue. They were cynical; they were disappointed. Those big numbers, like $1.1 billion—that’s a lot of money. But today, they get a hydro bill, and because of the decisions that have been made by this government on the energy file—from fully privatizing green energy in the province of Ontario, signing contracts with independent private companies at 36 cents per kilowatt hour when the competitive rate was six or eight cents.

When the Auditor General says that to date we have spent $37 billion more than we ever needed to, to bring in green energy in the province of Ontario—these numbers are so big. But on the energy file, people open their hydro bill every month. They are doing everything—they’re doing their laundry in the middle of the night. They’ve changed their light bulbs. They’ve retrofitted their house. And still, their hydro bills have gone up 300% in this province. They are mad, and they have every right to be mad.

What does this government do with this budget? They double down on selling off Hydro One. They have not listened to the emotion, to the pain that the people have experienced. We have brought those stories to this Legislature, as is our responsibility to do, about the people who are choosing to heat or eat, about the businesses that are leaving the province of Ontario because the time-of-use high energy costs have pushed them out of this province to go to more competitive jurisdictions.

We have seen the loss of jobs and we’ve seen the loss of income and we’ve seen the loss of revenue, quite honestly, to this place. We have seen people make devastating decisions. We have seen the cost of hydro affect health care in the province of Ontario. I will never forget the CEO of a hospital in Windsor saying that his hydro costs for that hospital had gone up $7 million over the year. He said, “We can’t cut anything more. We can’t do anything more without hurting people.” That was his plea in 2015 to our finance committee, because I used to travel around the province, and it was our responsibility to bring that lived experience back to this place.

But what does this government do? In this budget, they commit to continue to sell off Hydro One. They’ve lost the majority of the shares. This energy minister is bragging about the fact that the oversight isn’t there anymore and that the government doesn’t really have the majority to actually do anything about hydro. They have left hydro costs in the province of Ontario up to those who are in their interest—their interest as a private for-profit company is to make money; it isn’t to deliver energy at a cost that is acceptable to the people of this province.

I have to tell you, the response after the last tranche sell-off on Monday was swift. Today in the Toronto Sun—I’m going to bring these voices to the Legislature, as is my responsibility to do—Fred Hahn says, “Let me be clear. On behalf of our union, on behalf of the tens of thousands of Ontarians who are part of the Keep Hydro Public Coalition—we will continue to fight against the sale of Hydro One until the Liberals stop this wrongheaded plan, both in the courts and on the ground.” And they are in court. The government is in court today fighting the people of this province; it’s unbelievable.

Smokey Thomas says, “The sale of Hydro One was always intended to transfer a treasured public asset to private investors for the sole purpose of enriching those investors.” True.

Our leader, Andrea Horwath: “By giving up the province’s majority stake in Hydro One, Kathleen Wynne is doing even more damage to our hydro system. Her short-sighted sell-off of Hydro One will drive up electricity bills for the residents, businesses and municipalities of our province.”

This is this government’s track record. This is their legacy: the largest transfer of wealth from the public sector to the private sector. And it is a pattern. It is a pattern on the energy file. It is a pattern on the health care file, with the contracting out and the privatization of health care services in the province of Ontario.

It’s interesting, because there’s a sense of desperation, truly, right now with this government, because now they are in this fight with the mayor of Toronto. Today in the Globe and Mail—the stakes keep going up, right? The parliamentary assistant to the finance minister can stand up and say, “We’ve never done more for the city of Toronto.” But I’m telling you right now, the mayor of Toronto, John Tory, is going to bat for the people of this city, because the goal of infrastructure and transit investment in this city, which is the economic engine of this province, requires partnership.

It requires, as we have proposed, sustainable funding in a rational and a reliable model—one third, one third, one third—and that is what we have made the commitment to.

But today in the Toronto Star: “Mayor John Tory is threatening to stop planning work on a transit project favoured by the province unless Queen’s Park commits money to build the relief line subway.

“Speaking at a press conference Tuesday morning in Riverdale, Tory said he was considering blocking progress on the Yonge subway extension, which would extend the TTC’s Line 1 (Yonge-University-Spadina) subway into York region.

“The project has the backing of local politicians north of Toronto, including influential Liberal cabinet ministers in Premier Kathleen Wynne’s government.” This is a line in the sand, but that line keeps getting deeper and deeper, Mr. Speaker.

The

article goes on to say, “The mayor said his job was to alleviate crowding on the transit system, ‘not to make it worse.’

“‘The Yonge Street north extension will only add more passengers to the Yonge Street subway, and without relief, I can’t allow that to happen.’” That’s today’s Toronto Star

article by Ben Spurr, the transportation reporter, who very clearly outlines that this budget does nothing for the city of Toronto to alleviate the pressure. If you travel on the TTC in this city, as I do, redefining yourself as a sardine happens pretty quickly when you get into those cars, Mr. Speaker.

So the mayor has signalled to those members across, the Liberal members from the GTA, from the 905, that this budget does nothing to help them with the social housing backlog or with the maintenance of our current housing stock, which will leave 1,000 units closed in this city. It does nothing to help him plan to alleviate the pressure on the transit system, which gets people to and from their workplaces, which connects our productivity as a city. And quite honestly, to double down on the sell-off of Hydro One, Mr. Speaker, is unconscionable. The people of this province are mad as hell, and they’re not going to take it anymore.

It is not a budget that can be supported. Shame on this government for time-allocating it. Shame on you for limiting the voices of the people of this province so that they don’t get to clearly articulate their disappointment and their sense of betrayal from this government, because this budget will not undo the damage of 14 years of Liberal government in Ontario. It’s our job to hold you to account, but you are limiting our ability to do so, and that’s a sad day for this Legislature.

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

Debate deemed adjourned.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): It being close to 10:15, this House stands recessed until 10:30 this morning.

The House recessed from 1013 to 1030.

Introduction of Visitors

Mr. Lorne Coe: Good morning. It’s my pleasure to introduce Leigh Arseneau from the Ontario Association of Naturopathic Doctors, who operates a practice in the great town of Whitby.

Hon. Kevin Daniel Flynn: Speaker, I’d like to introduce two naturopathic doctors from my riding of Oakville, here with us today to celebrate Naturopathic Medicine Week. Please extend a warm welcome to Dr. Scott Clack from Touchstone and Dr. Nyla Jiwani from the Oakville Naturopathic Wellness Centre in Oakville.

Mrs. Julia Munro: It’s my pleasure to be able to welcome Robert Lawrence, Michael Lawrence, Alena Lawrence and Mary Anne Silver to question period today. Rob Lawrence is the best sign guy anybody ever had.

Mr. Granville Anderson: Speaker, I would like to welcome Dr. Katrina Cox and Dr. Stephanie Elliott, who are here from my riding of Durham today with the Ontario Association of Naturopathic Doctors. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Ms. Lisa M. Thompson: I’m pleased to welcome, from my home municipality of South Bruce, Mayor Bob Buckle, Deputy Mayor Mark Goetz, councillors Margie Bates and Mike Niesen, and the administrator/treasurer, Kendra Reinhart.

Miss Monique Taylor: I’d like to welcome the family of one of our page captains today, Claire Le Donne. With us is her father, Dino; mother, Freda; grandmother, Nina; and sisters—who were both former pages—Gabrielle and Bridget. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

I also have some other guests here from Hamilton. We have Bruno Farrugia, Jon Ingalls and Karen Coulter. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Hon. Marie-France Lalonde: I am delighted to welcome in the House our good friends from the co-op sector, les gens du milieu coopératif ce matin : Howard Brown, Laura Casselman, Blake Keidan, Peter Cameron, Luc Morin, Claudette Gleeson, Simone Swail and Julien Geremie, qui sont ici aujourd’hui pour nous parler des coopératives, to talk about the great work they do as a co-operative.

Mr. Sam Oosterhoff: I’ve been informed that today is the member for Kitchener–Conestoga’s birthday, so on behalf of the House I wanted to wish him a very happy birthday.

Ms. Catherine Fife: Speaker, it is my pleasure to welcome my aunt and uncle, Arnold and Marilyn Chiasson, from the great riding of Leeds–Grenville.

Ms. Soo Wong: I’d like to welcome the Ontario Association of Naturopathic Doctors here at Queen’s Park.

I also want to introduce Dr. Elvis Ali, who has been a naturopathic doctor in my riding of Scarborough–Agincourt for over 25 years. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Jeff Yurek: Speaker, I’d like to introduce all the naturopathic doctors who are here today, including John Wellner, the CEO of the association. Welcome.

Ms. Daiene Vernile: Speaker, I’m so delighted to welcome back to Queen’s Park from Kitchener Centre former page Ethan McCready-Branch, who is here with his siblings Eli and Brent and his dad, Greg Branch, who did the driving. They came to check out your Lego display.

Mr. Steve Clark: I want to introduce to you and through you to the members of the Legislative Assembly constituents from my riding of Leeds–Grenville. I want to welcome a naturopathic doctor from the municipality of North Grenville, Shawn Yakimovich.

Since I drive a car from Chiasson Ford, I want to welcome the Chiassons to Queen’s Park as well.

Hon. Indira Naidoo-Harris: I would like to introduce Lisa Priest and other staff members from the Ministry of the Status of Women who are here today. Welcome to question period and welcome to Queen’s Park. Great to have you all here today.

Mr. Jeff Yurek: There’s a group in the Legislature that will be here soon. It’s page Maggie Yurek’s class from Monsignor Morrison. The grade 7s are here. Of note, her teacher this year was my grade 8 teacher, Brock Austin. It will be great to see him in the audience when they do show up.

Mr. Percy Hatfield: I believe we have one of the naturopathic doctors here today who is a city councillor in Chatham, Brock McGregor. Welcome to Queen’s Park, sir.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I too would like to welcome the naturopathic doctors from my riding of Brant, but as a life lesson for the member from Elgin–Middlesex–London, I’d like to introduce my wife. In the Speaker’s gallery, Rosemarie is here. Thank you, dear.

I couldn’t resist. I’m probably going to pay for that, too. Anyway, I thank all members’ visitors for being here.

It is therefore now time for question period.

Oral Questions

Probation and parole services

Mr. Patrick Brown: My question is for the Premier. Part two of Global TV’s Carolyn Jarvis’s exposé on Ontario’s probation system was just as disturbing and shocking as the first part. I want to be very clear. The member from Ottawa Centre led the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services for two years. He is currently the top legal officer in the province. He can pass the buck to someone who’s been on the job less than five months or he can own up to the systemic failure in the system that he oversaw for two years, a failure that was outlined in a scathing Auditor General’s report and a follow-up report that showed he didn’t solve the disaster in our probation system.

This is his mess. He should take responsibility. My question is to the Premier: Will you fire your Attorney General?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: No, Mr. Speaker, I will not do that.

Obviously, there are situations that are of great concern to all of us and we are working to deal with those, but in partnership with our police services and justice partners, we’ve made Ontario one of the safest jurisdictions in North America. That is a testament to the work of our police services. It is a testament to the work of our parole officers, our probation officers.

The reality is that we have people working in this province who have made this one of the safest jurisdictions in Canada. Ontario is also home to six of the 10 safest census metropolitan areas in the country. I am very proud of the work that is done by the people who keep our communities safe. Are there disturbing situations that need to be dealt with? Absolutely.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Patrick Brown: Again to the Premier: I’m sorry, that’s not good enough. The reality is our probation officers are saying that our communities aren’t safe because this government has not taken this seriously.

Let me give another example. Look at the story from yesterday’s report. Kyle McLauchlan was convicted of child luring in 2013. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail and three years of probation. But just two years later, he committed the same crime. This is child luring. According to sources, not once did a probation or police officer check in on him in the community to make sure he was following the rules of his release.

Our probation officers are saying there is a major risk to community safety here. Can you imagine that, someone who’s convicted of child luring is out on probation, and there’s no one checking up on him? It’s ridiculous. It’s offensive.

Yesterday, this government laughed when I asked this question. I want them to take it seriously. I want the Premier to understand that our community is at risk. Children are at risk. Will the Premier do the right thing and fire her Attorney General?

Interjections.

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

Premier?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Let me just say off the top that our Attorney General is one of the strongest men with integrity in this province. He works hard. He works tirelessly for his constituency and for the people of Ontario.

Our Attorney General is in politics because he believes in social justice. He believes that we can make Ontario better. He believes that the rule of law is what we need to follow. He also believes that government has a role to play in putting protections in place for families across the province. He does not believe that filling our jails and vilifying and criminalizing every action of young people, people in our province, is the way to go.

We need to transform our system. He is leading that transformation along with our Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services. I understand that it is easier for the Leader of the Opposition—

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

Mr. Patrick Brown: Again to the Premier: I just gave you an example where someone was convicted of child luring and went out and committed the same offence, and your response was to praise your Attorney General for the great job he’s doing.

They have dropped the ball. They have failed the test of leadership. Our communities are not safe because they’ve neglected to make sure that there are no loopholes.

Let me give you an example of what they said yesterday. The Attorney General said it’s not him; it’s another minister. That minister said, “I wish that there was never an area that we need to improve but it does happen.” It does happen? Can you believe that is the response? It does happen? Our communities are at risk and it’s okay that it does happen?

I want them to clean up the mess; I want them to close the loopholes. I’m going to ask the Premier again. We have dangerous criminals who aren’t being checked up on, and someone’s got to be accountable. This exposé was shocking. To the Premier: Knowing that our communities are at risk, will you hold someone accountable for this incredible negligence and incompetence?

Interjections.

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

Premier?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I never said that there weren’t disturbing situations. In fact, I led my answer with saying that there are disturbing situations. Of course there is more that we can do. I take this very seriously, as does our Attorney General, as does our Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services.

But, Mr. Speaker, the fact is that we have one of the safest jurisdictions in North America. The fact is that we are hiring more officers. We are putting more resources in place. We will continue to work to keep our province one of the safest, if not the safest, in North America.

What I will not do is buy into rhetoric that vilifies one person as though somehow that is the solution to systemic issues. I would ask the Leader of the Opposition to look at his record as a member of the Harper government as he talks about law and order and as he talks about vilifying people and putting people—

Interjections.

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

New question?

Nurses

Mr. Patrick Brown: My question is for the Premier. I’ve had the privilege of meeting hundreds of nurses this week as we celebrate Nursing Week in Ontario. They shared with me countless stories of how they want a government that supports and defends our province’s nurses, not a government that attacks the health care system. Just look at the last two years. This government has fired 1,600 nurses.

How does the Premier reconcile the fact, during this Nursing Week, that her government has fired 1,600 nurses?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I want to just say to all of the nurses in the province that we value their work. We understand how critical that work is to families across the province. I’m about to have a nurse in my own family. My youngest daughter is going to graduate from nursing this June, and I am more than proud that she has chosen that career.

We will continue to invest in health care personnel in this province. We’ve made a huge investment in our budget, a $7-billion boost to the health care system. That will mean that there will be more personnel and that hospitals will be able to deal with the challenges that they have, including hiring more front-line health care personnel. We have hired more nurses. We will continue to hire more nurses.

We’ve also listened to nurses when they’ve talked to us about their scope of practice. We’ve increased their scope of practice, and that makes the health care system work better.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Patrick Brown: Again to the Premier: Not only did they fire 1,600 nurses in the last two years, they continue to fire nurses despite the fact that a report, and this is shocking, from the Canadian Institute for Health Information—I think everyone trusts CIHI—confirmed “a dangerous reality about health care services first identified by” RNAO.

What this CIHI report said is that Ontario’s RN-to-population ratio is now the worst in Canada. No matter what spin the Premier gives, because of this firing of nurses we have the worst—the absolute worst—RN-to-population ratio in Canada.

Can the Premier please tell us, can she please reconcile to us why, here, during Nursing Week right now in Ontario, she is proud of the fact that her government has overseen Ontario having the lowest RN-to-population ratio in Canada?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: The Leader of the Opposition is assiduously only talking about RNs. He is not talking about nurse practitioners. He is not talking about RPNs. The reality is that since 2003, more than 28,949 nurses have begun to work in Ontario. That is a huge investment in nurses in this province.

In 2016, the number of nurses employed in nursing in Ontario increased for the 12th consecutive year. Every single year, more nurses have been hired. That was necessary, because when this government came into office under my predecessor, there had been nurses slashed, there had been nurses demeaned across this province, and there was a huge gap. That’s why there are 28,900 more nurses working in Ontario than there were when we came into office. Every year, more nurses are hired, and we will continue on that track.

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

Mr. Patrick Brown: Again to the Premier: Since I can’t get an answer on the nurse firings, one other thing I heard this week, when it came to Nursing Week—I was visiting the Vanier Centre for Women, the correctional institute, and I also visited oncology at SickKids. There was one common thing that was raised to me from the RNs. They said they couldn’t believe the government’s oversight that they were not included in the PTSD legislation.

Listen, these nurses have to see things we never want to see. They are affected. The government has been saying they’re going to look at it—maybe; maybe down the road. I’m telling you, Mr. Speaker, we need nurses to be included in the PTSD legislation. It’s the right thing to do. No more delays.

Can we get a commitment and a promise today from the Premier that no longer will there be this oversight? Over 8,000 nurses have signed the petition pleading with the government to include them in the PTSD legislation. Mr. Speaker, will the Premier give us that assurance today and do the right thing?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Labour.

Hon. Kevin Daniel Flynn: Thank you very much to the Leader of the Opposition for that question. I would ask where the Leader of the Opposition was a year ago when we were passing this legislation. That was the time to bring it forward, when we honoured our first responders, when we honoured our firefighters, our police officers, our corrections officers, our nurses in corrections facilities. You sat on your hands.

The third party helped us—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Stop the clock. To the Chair, please.

Hon. Kevin Daniel Flynn: Thank you, Speaker.

Speaker, we are dealing with all the first responders. Nurses in correctional facilities are covered under PTSD legislation, so you should do your homework. You should do your homework before you ask questions like this.

Interjections.

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

New question.

Privatization of public assets

Mr. Peter Tabuns: To the Premier. Yesterday, in a self-congratulatory press conference, the Minister of Energy touted the Liberal government’s short-sighted decision to sell off yet another batch of Hydro One shares. What he neglected to mention, though, was that the further privatization of our hydro system will ensure that hydro bills for everyday Ontario families will continue to climb.

Why are the Premier and her Minister of Energy so excited that families who are already struggling will be left further behind?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Mr. Speaker, I know that the member of the third party understands that building infrastructure in this province is important. He lives in an urban riding. He represents an urban riding that needs those investments. In fact, we continue to make investments in transit—

Interjections.

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

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: We know that the net proceeds will be reinvested in new infrastructure. I know he supports investing in infrastructure. We made a decision to maximize the value of our assets in order to make those critical new infrastructure investments. We are going to continue to do that.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Peter Tabuns: Again to the Premier: The loss of the province’s majority stake in Hydro One will cost Ontarians dearly. People’s hydro bills will keep going up, and they will lose out on the services that revenue from Hydro One used to pay for.

Our hospitals, schools and long-term-care homes are already at a tipping point because of Liberal cuts. The sell-off will make the situation even worse. How can the Premier justify this boondoggle for Bay Street investors at the expense of the people of Ontario?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Energy.

Interjections.

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

Minister of Energy?

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: Once again, I’m pleased to rise to talk about what we’re doing to continue to make rates affordable for all Ontarians across the province.

The Ontario fair hydro plan has already reduced rates by 17%. They’ve seen that by—

Interjections.

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

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: Once again, I’ll repeat: Rates have dropped down, as of May 1, by 17% compared to last year; and by July 1 of this year, if passed through the legislation, we will see an additional 8%, bringing that total, on average, to 25%.

But the media know—I know the official opposition knows—that rates are set by the OEB. It’s too bad that the third party doesn’t understand that component.

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

Mr. Peter Tabuns: Well, clearly the minister doesn’t know how energy works in this province.

The Premier has no mandate to sell off Hydro One. It will hurt everyday families. It will put further strain on our public services. She knows that 80% of Ontarians oppose this sell-off, and yet she insists on moving forward.

Why is the Premier allowing already wealthy Bay Street investors to get filthy rich off the backs of ordinary Ontario families?

Interjections.

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

Minister?

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: It’s not just this party that understands how the electricity system works. We’ve been working hard with stakeholders throughout the province to come forward with a fair hydro plan that’s going to reduce rates by 25%.

I know the third party can’t understand how the OEB applies the rates. They can go to their website. It’s explained there very clearly. But the criticism—what’s interesting with their obsession with Hydro One is that it’s even more harsh. Tim Kiladze of the Globe and Mail calls the belief that ownership of utilities in Ontario affects rates one of the biggest misconceptions about electricity. Even Brady Yauch, an economist of the Consumer Policy Institute and frequent government critic, calls the idea of privatization increasing rates “a straw man.”

You know what? When it comes to doing right for the people of Ontario, we’re building the infrastructure, we’re building the hospitals, we’re building the schools because we have a plan to build Ontario up, unlike the opposition parties.

Hospital funding

M me France Gélinas: My question is for the Premier. Yesterday, Ontarians learned about 87-year-old Roelfina Dillerop. Roelfina was admitted to the Brampton Civic Hospital, but before she was moved into a hospital room, she spent five long days in the hallway of the ER.

Does the Premier think that a sick, elderly woman like Roelfina should be seen by her doctor in a public hallway of the busiest emergency room in Ontario?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I believe that she and every other patient in Ontario deserve the very best care, and I believe physicians should have the opportunity to see their patients in the best circumstances.

We recognize that hospitals need support, that they need an injection of funding, which is exactly why $500 million in funding is included in our budget to go directly to hospitals. That means a minimum 2% increase across the board for every hospital, but across the board it’s more than a 3% increase to hospitals’ budgets, and that’s on top of the $495 million that was already put on their base last year.

We recognize there is a need. That’s why our budget addresses it.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

M me France Gélinas: By the time Roelfina finally got her hospital room, her doctor told her family that she was severely dehydrated and that her stay in the hallway of the ER had made her respiratory condition worse. Roelfina never got better. She died at Brampton Civic Hospital.

Does the Premier see the connection between her years of frozen hospital budgets, her years of cuts to front-line health care workers, and heartbreaking stories like Roelfina’s?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: This is a tragic situation, and I’m very sorry to hear about it. What I recognize, and what our government and our budget recognize, is that there is a need to put a direct investment in hospital funding to increase that base, particularly in high-growth areas. I believe the member of the third party said this is a Brampton hospital. This is one of the highest-growth areas in the province, and so on top of the general injection of funding into hospitals, we’ve recognized that those high-growth areas need an additional amount of support.

Of course, there should be support for every patient across the province. That is what we strive for. That’s why our budget addresses the challenges that hospitals are facing right now.

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

M me France Gélinas: Brampton Civic Hospital said it point blank: They are overburdened by the large number of patients coming into the emergency department. Their ER sees, on average, 400 people per day. This is 160% more than what they were built to care for. The vice-president of medical affairs is even more blunt. He says that they need at least 200 more beds in the short term and 600 in the long term, just to keep up with what they have right now.

Does the Premier plan to address this crisis in Toronto, in the GTA—what’s happening at Brampton Civic?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Again, I say to the member opposite that we understand that not only does there need to be an increase to the base funding of hospitals, which we have put in place—$500 million on top of the $495 million that was put in place last year—we recognize that in high-growth areas there is a need for building.

I was at the Trillium Health Centre, announcing that we would be investing in an increase in beds, because we recognize, particularly in the communities—the member of the third party acknowledges the GTA—where there is that high population growth, we need to make capital investments as well. We are doing that. We recognize the challenge. That’s exactly why our budget has addressed those issues.

Consumer protection

Mr. Randy Hillier: My question is to the Premier. After 10 years, I thought I’d seen every imaginable government incompetence, but that all changed last week. Maureen, who’s a constituent, tried to trade in her car, but it turns out that Fred and Pebbles Flinstone have a lien registered against it. Maureen received her used vehicle information package from ServiceOntario, which showed no liens on the car. However, the car dealer would not pay her because the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services had registered a lien against her valid VIN number in the names of Fred and Pebbles Flinstone. The documents prove that there are other false liens in place on more vehicles.

Why did the ministry register liens on valid VINs in the names of Fred and Pebbles Flintstone, who live on the yellow brick road, and why did it take nine months to get it fixed?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Government and Consumer Services.

Hon. Tracy MacCharles: I want to thank the member opposite for the question. As he knows, when I heard about this issue yesterday, I said that I was on top of it and I’d get to the bottom of it, and that’s what I’ve done.

ServiceOntario was contacted by this individual in March, and the ministry discharged a lien at that time. We understand that she has since successfully sold her car. It appears that what happened in this case is, testing was done, and test liens were entered into the system by a technician—so it’s a human error—in relation to these VINs. These testing pro formas were not removed immediately. ServiceOntario, of course, is reviewing what happened.

To my knowledge, there are no other similar cases, but I am committed to making sure that the right protocols are in place going forward.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Randy Hillier: Again to the Premier: Clearly, we all knew that this was

an act of gross incompetence, as everyone knows that the Flintstones live on Rocky Road in Bedrock, USA, and that Fred drives a foot-mobile, not a 2006 Chevrolet Uplander.

I contacted CarProof, which carries the PPSR database. They were informed by this government that Maureen would have to hire a lawyer to expunge these liens.

How many more Mystery Machines have had liens placed on them in the names of Scooby-Doo and the gang and other Saturday morning cartoon personalities?

Speaker, I’m glad that the minister has worked on this and guaranteed to expunge this false and animated lien against Maureen. But will she guarantee that others affected by these loony-tune shenanigans won’t take nine months to get fixed?

Hon. Tracy MacCharles: I appreciate the member opposite’s sense of humour.

I do take this issue very seriously, as the Minister of Government and Consumer Services. As I said before, to my knowledge, this has not happened before, and I’m making sure that it doesn’t happen again.

I heard this morning that his constituent is very pleased with the information she received of late from ServiceOntario.

Just for your information, as well, when a lien is removed, it generally displays on the system for 60 days, showing it has been discharged. Once that lien is discharged, I want to emphasize, too, it does not affect an individual’s ability to sell their vehicle.

I thank the member for bringing this to my attention yesterday. ServiceOntario will continue to provide any information he may need to respond to his constituent.

Ring of Fire

Mr. Michael Mantha: My question is to the Premier this morning. Yesterday, the Premier was in Sault Ste. Marie. After conveniently forgetting to mention her lack of action on the Ring of Fire, she was asked by a reporter what was going on with the $1 billion she promised for development. The Premier said, “That billion is available. It’s there.”

Can the Premier tell us exactly where the money is since it didn’t appear in her budget this year?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Mr. Speaker, we have committed $1 billion to building infrastructure in order to open up the Ring of Fire.

What I also said yesterday—because the member of the third party has not taken the whole transcript—was that we are working with the Matawa First Nations. We are determined that this development will be done in conjunction with First Nations.

I also said that our history in this province and in this country is riddled with bad examples of not working with First Nations, of not stewarding the land, of not being a partner, of not sharing the resources and the wealth of this land with First Nations. We’re not going to do that again.

We are going to work in conjunction with First Nations. We are going to work to open up those communities—because, of course, this is about the wealth that’s in the ground in the Ring of Fire, but it’s also about the economic development of those communities that circle that very treasure that’s in the land.

Interjections.

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

Supplementary?

Mr. Michael Mantha: I’m still looking for that money in the budget.

This is just another example of the Premier making big promises and not following through. She was bragging about how her budget would help the north, while at the same time there is no money at all for the Ring of Fire.

When will this Premier learn that the people of Ontario see through her desperate political tactics, and start walking the walk, in addition to talking the talk?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I was very clear yesterday, and I’m clear today, and I know that all of our members have been very clear: That billion dollars has been allocated. It is there. It is there to build the infrastructure, to get going on that road.

Hon. Charles Sousa: All part of page 73.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: On page 73 there’s a reference to that money. We have been working with the First Nations. We will continue to do that.

When I was in Sault Ste. Marie yesterday, I was actually correcting what had been said by members of the opposition, information that was in fact not accurate, because that money has not been removed. We are committed to investing in the Ring of Fire. We’re working with the First Nations.

I’m sorry if the third party and the opposition don’t think that that’s a worthwhile endeavour. We know that if we are actually going to live up to truth and reconciliation in this country, then province by province, territory by territory, we have to change the relationship between indigenous and non-indigenous people.

Interjections.

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

New question.

Labour legislation

Ms. Ann Hoggarth: My question is for the Minister of Labour. Yesterday in the House we heard the minister respond to the Leader of the Opposition and refer to the PCs’ Bill 83. Upon reading this bill, I, too, find myself wondering how the opposition can speak about protecting Ontario’s workers while Bill 83—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Stop the clock. I dealt with this yesterday; I’m dealing with it today. It will be on government policy, please.

Ms. Ann Hoggarth: This seems incredibly troubling. How could a bill that would abolish card-based certification and disrupt labour relations in the construction industry be supported by others who now pretend to care about labour issues? This bill refers to union members as predators and implies that unions are undemocratic.

Could the minister speak to clarify the implications of Bill 83?

Hon. Kevin Daniel Flynn: Thank you to the member for that important question. I agree with the member. It was puzzling to me as the Minister of Labour. I try to work with the opposition parties, but some days it’s hard to figure them out.

We’ve got a private member’s bill, Bill 83, coming forward. The policy of this government—and the policy of this government for a number of years—has been card-based certification in construction. We have that policy because it makes sense. It’s an industry that’s mobile.

Interjections.

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

Finish, please.

Hon. Kevin Daniel Flynn: It’s an industry that is mobile, with projects that are often limited in duration. Our building trade unions, our construction unions work in partnership with incredibly successful Ontario companies. They fought long and hard for this process, and I don’t agree with any member of this House who thinks it should be taken away.

Bill 83 simply is not government policy, and it doesn’t benefit workers in this province.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary.

Ms. Ann Hoggarth: Thank you, Minister, for your answer and your passion on this topic. It is clear that this bill would be a step in the wrong direction. Under our labour law, it would take us backwards in labour relations in this province, in a time when it is imperative to modernize and innovate.

We continue to hear more and more about how the world of work is changing. In today’s workplaces, people are no longer keeping traditional nine-to-five business days or taking weekends off. It is common for Ontarians to be self-employed or have part-time or temporary employment. We need to ensure that we do all that we can to provide support for these changing workplaces.

Minister, can you please elaborate on what you are doing to address these changes and the challenges that they present?

Hon. Kevin Daniel Flynn: Thank you for the supplemental. I’m happy to stand in the House this morning to speak on this very, very important issue.

We all in this House know that the world of work is changing. We’re facing challenges that are presenting themselves head-on as those changes take place. We started this very important conversation with the people of Ontario about two years ago. We talked to advocates. We talked to organized labour, businesses, workers, about what we wanted our labour and employment laws to look like. We know that fundamental changes are needed to create that sustainable framework where everybody in Ontario gets to share in the economic success of this province.

We’ve got to stay competitive in this fast-paced, global economy, but we need to protect workers while we do that. We need to give them the protection they need and the protection they deserve. We want to reward those excellent employers in the province. They need a level playing field—the ones that obey the law.

I have the final report. I look forward to bringing it to the House very soon.

Anti-Semitism

Mr. Patrick Brown: My question is for the Premier. In the recently launched Anti-Racism Directorate, the minister addresses the need to stop systemic racism and discrimination against a number of communities. Yet there is no mention in this plan to combat anti-Semitism, to help the Jewish community—a community that is still one of the most targeted in Canada. Many Jewish community groups have come and raised this concern not only with the government but with the opposition.

Will the Premier ensure that the Jewish community in Ontario will be included in the ongoing work of the Anti-Racism Directorate? And will the Premier ensure that education on anti-Semitism is offered in all educational programs the director will aim to implement?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Absolutely, Mr. Speaker. I think it is a solid assumption of, I would say, everyone in this House, that as we fight systemic racism, anti-Semitism is absolutely central to that struggle and we would never step away from that. We will continue to work to make sure that wherever there is racism, whether it is anti-Semitism or whether it is Islamophobia or whether it’s anti-black racism, we root that out and that we make sure that our young people, as they go through school—you know, Mr.

Speaker, we put in place an equity and inclusive education strategy many years ago to restore equity and anti-racism education within the education system because it had been removed, and we are absolutely committed to doing that across society.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Patrick Brown: Again to the Premier: I think it is straightforward that we would all make that assumption. That’s why it was surprising that there was this oversight initially. I’m encouraged the Premier is saying that they will correct this oversight.

The reality is, the Jewish community continues to be one of the most targeted groups when it comes to hate crimes in Ontario. In the latest Toronto Police Service report alone, the Jewish community was the target of 43 of 145 hate crime offences in 2016, meaning that 30% of the offences were directed towards the Jewish community. Similarly, in Hamilton, 21 out of 115 reported hate crimes in 2016 were directed towards the Jewish community.

These are not isolated incidents, and certainly the Jewish community is a target of hate. That’s why I’m asking the Premier to guarantee, to assure this Legislature that the Jewish community will—and to get a commitment from the government that they will make an amendment that this oversight will be corrected. Can we get a commitment to an amendment on their legislation that will be supported by the Premier and all their members?

Interjections.

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

Premier?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Well, there is a pattern developing. It is very important that every time there is something said that actually is not accurate, we counter that, because I do believe that the truth and facts really matter in Ontario.

So let me read from the anti-racism strategy, Mr. Speaker, on page—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Premier?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Let me just read from the anti-racism strategy, page 171 in the budget document. There are four points, and then the fifth point, which outlines what’s part of the strategy, says: “Public education and awareness initiatives targeting racism, including Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.” Mr. Speaker, it is right there.

Services for the developmentally disabled

Miss Monique Taylor: My question is to the Premier. Children needing developmental services are made to jump through hoops to get the supports they need. Families go into debt and are threatened with losing treatment because the money that they’ve been promised doesn’t come. Cuts to special education means schools are understaffed and unable to provide the supports they need. As families struggle through teenage years, they are burdened with the thought of what’s to come as their child becomes an adult and their services are lost.

In 2014, the Select Committee on Developmental Services recommended that recipients of Special Services at Home funding not lose that funding before Passport funding is in place.

When will the Premier act to ensure that essential services continue for vulnerable young adults?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Community and Social Services.

Interjections.

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

Minister of Community and Social Services.

Hon. Helena Jaczek: First, I would like to acknowledge the great respect that I, my ministry and this government have for those families who do care for their loved ones with developmental disabilities. That’s precisely why we have more than doubled our budget since we took office to provide those supports and services for those with developmental disabilities.

The member did refer to the Passport program. This was a program that our government initiated in 2005-06. Initially, those most in need were accommodated—some 800 people. Through the years, we have grown that program considerably, and with the $810 million in the 2014 budget, we were able to increase from 13,000 individuals receiving Passport for a grand total now of 24,000 people receiving that support.

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

Mrs. Lisa Gretzky: Back to the Premier: These people need action, not platitudes from this government. Families have come here today to rally and fight for their children. They’re here because their adult children are waiting years for the developmental services they need. Parents and other family caregivers are scrambling for support. Some have had to quit their jobs to pick up the slack created by your government.

Right now there are 11,000 waiting for Passport funding, with no guarantee it will ever come; 14,000 are waiting for supportive housing. Some can wait 22 years or more. Your government brags about eliminating the wait-list from three years ago, but the crisis in developmental services is still here, and it’s growing.

When will your government eliminate the wait-list for developmental services and actually support these families?

Hon. Helena Jaczek: Mr. Speaker, it sounds like the member opposite will be supporting our budget this year, because we are proposing some $677 million in addition to the $2.1 billion we already provide.

And of course, we are taking action. In fact, again, in terms of the Passport waiting list, what we do is we ensure that priority cases receive Passport funding first. They’re prioritized very carefully according to their unique needs and their risk factors. Individuals with the highest need receive funding in as little as seven days, with about 75% receiving funding within six months.

We’re working very hard on the residential support side, and this year’s budget does include a component to particularly serve those who may be inappropriately housed in long-term care, hospitals or even in correctional facilities.

Our government is full of—

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

New question?

Mining industry

Mr. Arthur Potts: My question is to the Minister of Northern Development and Mines. We are fortunate, of course, that in Ontario we have an abundance of natural resources, including rich mineral deposits that support our province’s mining industry and our manufacturing sectors.

According to the Ontario Mining Association, Ontario was number one in mineral production in Canada in 2015, producing far more than a quarter of the national total. And the value of this mineral production has gone up from—

Mr. John Yakabuski: He’s right in front of you. Why don’t you just ask him?

Mr. Steve Clark: Hand it to him. Hand him the question.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke and the member from Leeds–Grenville will come to order.

Mr. Arthur Potts: I was saying that the value of mineral production has gone up from $5.7 billion in 2003 to $10.8 billion in 2015. Our government is continuously working to support the mining industry in all areas across the province.

There are a number of programs in place to support our developing and modernizing industry. Ontarians want to know how the government is taking steps to ensure that our industry will continue to be a national leader—

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

Minister of Northern Development and Mines?

Hon. Bill Mauro: Thank you very much for the question. I want to thank the member for that.

Northern municipalities, dozens of them, understand the importance of the mining industry and the forest industry to their economies and the regional economies. That’s why, for a very long time—a number of years now—we have had a flagship program in place to support not only mining but the large industrials across northern Ontario. We call it the Northern Industrial Electricity Rate Program, or NIER. That program is permanent. It provides, on an annual basis, a guaranteed $120 million to help large industrials in northern Ontario deal with their energy costs. That can represent as much as a 25% reduction for these large industrials in northern Ontario.

The NIER program alone, since its inception, has supported large industrials in northern Ontario to the tune of $730 million. That is a massive investment in large industrials in northern Ontario specifically, today, dealing with the mining sector. Lots of other programs are in place as well that perhaps I’ll have an opportunity in the supplementary to reference.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Arthur Potts: Thank you, Speaker, through you to the minister, for the great work he is doing to advance the mining industry in northern Ontario and for explaining how the Northern Industrial Electricity Rate Program is working in helping my constituents in Beaches–East York and their investments in the mining industry, and helping to create the manufacturing we need.

I understand that the government of Ontario is investing $100 million annually to strengthen communities across the north through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp. This corporation is working to build strong and prosperous northern communities. It offers unique programs to help foster hope and opportunity across the north. The corporation does this by investing in northern businesses and municipalities. A vast majority of these projects have been extremely successful.

However, I understand these investments come with conditions that recipients are expected to adhere to. Would the minister please elaborate on the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corp. and how our government ensures these funds are used to support job growth in the north?

Hon. Bill Mauro: Again, I thank the member for the question. I want to clarify an issue that came up earlier this week in the House in relation to the NOHFC and, in particular, a company called Great Lakes Graphite.

I want to address the implication or the narrative that was attempted to be created the other day and make sure that people understand that there is significant third-party due diligence that is attached to all of the private sector applications that flow through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund.

Disaster relief

Ms. Laurie Scott: To the Minister of Municipal Affairs: As the minister knows, in my riding, the township of Minden Hills has been hit hard by the recent flooding. With water levels expected to continue to rise, businesses are being washed away and people are exasperated. I was in touch with the local funeral home in Minden, and despite placing 10,000 sandbags and deploying 23 sump pumps, overnight, unfortunately, they lost their battle. The owners felt helpless that their livelihood literally went under water.

The situation is desperate. The people feel that their government isn’t acting to help them in their hour of need. Currently, the government’s own website only shows the Ottawa River flood areas as being under assessment.

As the minister responsible for Ontario disaster recovery assistance, what is the government doing to help Ontarians in Minden Hills in this emergency?

Hon. Bill Mauro: Thank you for the question. Let me first commend and thank all of the volunteers and first responders in a number of communities right across Ontario who are dealing with what is, by their own estimation in their own calculations, a massive historic flooding situation. People will know that it’s not only Ontario; Quebec has been massively and significantly affected as well.

Before I go into some detail in the supplementary, I would tell the member that Ottawa is being considered, but we have already activated the program when it comes to Renfrew county. As I understand it, they were the first piece of geography in Ontario that was significantly affected. The team from the ministry was on the ground. They went in, and they did their work. The water was so significant in the Renfrew county example that they were unable to even do an assessment. They made a recommendation to me, and we activated the program in Renfrew county.

That one is done and behind us. The work now continues for people to see if they’re able to get support through the program. Ottawa is being considered, and I’ll speak more directly to Minden in a second.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Laurie Scott: Of course, the community has been incredible in its assistance, but I joined the mayor of Minden yesterday in calling on the minister to urgently deploy the Ontario disaster assessment team to Minden and the surrounding areas. I was told that the government doesn’t deploy assessment teams until after water levels have receded. Not only is this absolutely unacceptable, it is not accurate. People can’t wait. They need assistance right now.

Will the minister activate the disaster recovery assistance program immediately to Minden Hills so that people will know that the government will provide assistance for those affected? You need to do it now, Minister.

Hon. Bill Mauro: The answer is simply no, I won’t. I won’t activate the program right now, and the member should clearly understand this. We’ve had an opportunity to talk about it. The assessment team needs to have an ability to get on the ground, create an assessment, define an area of geography and delineate the range and who might be eligible.

Now, as I said to you, as well, it’s not necessary in certain circumstances for them to do an assessment if the water has not receded, if the rain continues. It’s possible an assessment can come back to me without them actually being able to see it because the rain has persisted.

Speaker, there is work that has to be done, but I caution people not to overestimate or raise expectations on what may be eligible through our program. There’s a municipal side and there’s a private side. The private side deals simply with the essentials, if in fact they’re eligible. The program is not a replacement for insurance.

We understand how traumatic this is for communities and for people in those communities. We have a program that helps, but I’m really concerned with people trying to expedite a process and raising expectations for their community members. I have reached out to a number of mayors and talked to them directly on this file, I would say, Speaker. We are doing what we can. The program is in place. We’ll let the process unfold.

Hydro rates

Ms. Cindy Forster: My question is to the Premier. Jack O’Neil is a friend, a long-time community senior activist and president of Friends Over 55 Recreation Centre in Port Colborne. It is the oldest independent, non-profit seniors recreation centre in the Niagara region. The services are dependent on membership fees and donations.

Last year, the centre’s hydro bill was just over $150 for the month of April. This year, their hydro bill—I have it here—is almost $600. If this government doesn’t put a stop to the sell-off of Hydro One, it’s going to be impossible for Jack to afford to pay these bills while still keeping his centre open.

What is the Premier going to do today for Jack and for seniors in my community who risk losing programming and services because of skyrocketing hydro bills?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Energy.

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: I know the Minister of Seniors Affairs will want to answer in the supplementary as well, but when it comes to hydro bills, the costs for electricity, all of those bills in this province will be going down, by summer, on average 25%. I know the honourable member mentioned Hydro One. Hydro One customers with designations of R1 and R2 will see a 40% to 50% reduction on their bills as well.

Mr. Speaker, we are addressing many of the concerns that people have when it comes to hydro bills. When it comes to seniors, we are ensuring that the Ontario Electricity Support Program is being enhanced by an additional 50%. So on top of the 25%, and the 40% to 50%, when you add in another $540 a year, rates for seniors in this province are coming down significantly and long-lastingly.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary.

Ms. Cindy Forster: We’ve seen the commercials but we haven’t seen the legislation.

We learned yesterday that the Premier is going to sell off more shares of Hydro One. This comes days after the Premier actually defended Hydro One’s executive pay increases of 500%. Meanwhile, seniors in my community could lose programming and services, and Jack and the seniors at the seniors centre are seeing these skyrocketing hydro bills that are going through the roof.

Will the government put a stop today to further sell-off of Hydro One and put vulnerable seniors ahead of shareholders?

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: When it comes to vulnerable seniors, we’ve acted with the fair hydro plan, where they’re going to see a 25% reduction on their bills. There’s also the Ontario Electricity Support Program, where they’re going to see a 50% increase to that rebate so they can see another $540 off their bills. When it comes to vulnerable seniors, when it comes to vulnerable people in this province, it makes you wonder why they would put them on the last page of their plan.

We have made sure that we are acting. We are acting as quickly as we can to bring forward a comprehensive piece of legislation that will ensure a 25% reduction by summer—so much so that the OEB, in anticipation of our plan, have brought forward an additional 9%, bringing the reduction right now to 17%.

When it comes to the sale of Hydro One, we will make sure we invest that money in infrastructure across this province.

Youth employment

Ms. Daiene Vernile: My question is for the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development. We have a lot to celebrate o