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April 3, 2017

41st Parliament, 2nd Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcripts 2017-Apr-03 (PDF)

L062 - Mon 3 Apr 2017 / Lun 3 avr 2017

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Monday 3 April 2017 Lundi 3 avril 2017

Singing of national anthem

Anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge

Introduction of Visitors

Anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge / Anniversaire de la bataille de la crête de Vimy

Oral Questions

Executive compensation

Executive compensation

Executive compensation

Executive compensation

Medical assistance in dying

Hydro rates

Small business

Hydro rates

Mental health and addiction services

Transportation infrastructure

Drive Clean

Tenant protection

Colleges

School closures

Introduction of Visitors

Members’ Statements

Battle of Vimy Ridge

Social programs

Palliative care

South Muskoka Cavalcade Ford Bantam Bears

Canadian Hearing Society

Drive Clean

Highway construction

Ted Ormston

Battle of Vimy Ridge

Royal assent / Sanction royale

Petitions

Services for the developmentally disabled

Dental care

Home inspection industry

Government advertising

Long-term care

Elevator maintenance

Hospital funding

Privatization of public assets

Nanjing Massacre

Hydro rates

Domestic violence and sexual violence

GO Transit

Gasoline prices

Orders of the Day

Protecting Patients Act, 2017 / Loi de 2017 sur la protection des patients

The House met at 1030.

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

Prayers.

Singing of national anthem

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Northumberland–Quinte West on a point of order.

Mr. Lou Rinaldi: Speaker, I believe you will find that we have unanimous consent to put forward a motion without notice regarding the singing of O Canada in the Legislature.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Northumberland–Quinte West is seeking unanimous consent to put forward a motion without notice. Do we agree? Agreed.

Mr. Lou Rinaldi: Speaker, I move that, following the prayers on the first sitting Monday of each month, the Canadian national anthem be sung in the chambers.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Northumberland–Quinte West is seeking unanimous consent to sing the national anthem at the beginning of the month. Do we agree?

Motion agreed to.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): This being the first sitting day of the month of April, in accordance with the motion just passed, I therefore now invite everyone to join us in the singing of the Canadian national anthem.

Singing of O Canada.

Anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge

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

Hon. Yasir Naqvi: Speaker, I believe you will find that we have unanimous consent that members be permitted to wear pins to recognize the 100th anniversary of Vimy Ridge, and that a representative from each caucus speak for up to five minutes on this landmark occasion.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The government House leader is seeking unanimous consent to wear the pins and to have each caucus speak for up to five minutes on this wonderful occasion. Do we agree? Agreed.

With the consent of the House leaders or representatives, shall I do introductions first? Agreed? Introductions first, before we make our presentations.

Introduction of Visitors

Mr. Ernie Hardeman: I’d like to welcome Justin Saunders to the Legislature today. This is Justin’s first day volunteering in my office, and I would like to welcome him to Queen’s Park.

Ms. Cindy Forster: I would like to introduce Dan Patterson, the president of Niagara College, who is here with us today. Welcome, Dan.

Hon. Deborah Matthews: This is Colleges Week, thanks to a motion of the House led by our member from Brampton West, so I am delighted to welcome everyone here from Colleges Ontario, in particular Fred Gibbons, who is president of Northern College and chair of Colleges Ontario; Don Lovisa, who is president of Durham College and chair of Colleges Ontario’s 50th anniversary committee; Peter Devlin, the president of Fanshawe College in London, Ontario; and Gurpal Singh Bhatia, who is the president of the College Student Alliance.

There are many other presidents and chairs who are here today, and we welcome you all.

Mrs. Gila Martow: I’d like to welcome some representatives of the Ontario Medical Students Association here today: Yoel Green, from my riding of Thornhill, as well as Karishma Manji; Kota Talla, Vivian Tam and Heena Kapoor, a fantastic volunteer. Welcome, all of you.

M me France Gélinas: I, too, would like to welcome Bill Best, the president of Cambrian College.

J’aimerais souhaiter la bienvenue à Daniel Giroux et Stéphan Plante du Collège Boréal. Bienvenue à Queen’s Park.

Ms. Ann Hoggarth: Today, I’d like to welcome Coralea Kappel, a University of Ottawa medical student from my riding of Barrie; and also, MaryLynn West-Moynes, the president of Georgian College in Barrie.

Mr. Bill Walker: I would also like to welcome MaryLynn West-Moynes, the president of Georgian College in Owen Sound.

Mr. Percy Hatfield: I’m pleased to introduce our page captain today and her family, who are here from my riding of Windsor–Tecumseh. Laura Middleton attends Prince Edward Public School in Windsor. Laura’s mom is Diane Middleton, her dad is Matt Middleton, and her older sister is Jenna Middleton.

Welcome to Queen’s Park, and congratulations, Laura.

Hon. Bob Chiarelli: I’m proud to welcome Cheryl Jensen, the president of Algonquin College in Ottawa. She is here to participate in colleges day. We’re very, very proud of the work she’s doing at Algonquin.

Mr. Lorne Coe: I’d also like to welcome the president of Durham College, Don Lovisa, and Pierre Tremblay, the chair of the board of directors of Durham College to Queen’s Park, as well as the grade 10 students and teachers from R.S. McLaughlin Collegiate and Vocational Institute. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Ms. Peggy Sattler: I’m pleased to welcome Linda Franklin and Jane Holmes, who are here today from Colleges Ontario; and also Peter Devlin, the president of Fanshawe College, an institution of which I’m proud to be an alumnus.

Hon. Tracy MacCharles: I have three people from my riding here today: Muriya Choudhary, Yusra Choudhary and Hamayal Choudhary. They are having lunch with me today.

From the college sector, we have Don Lovisa, the president of Durham College, and Pierre Tremblay, the chair of the board of Durham College. And I want to give a shout-out to Ron McKerlie and the team at Mohawk, where my son goes to school.

Mr. Victor Fedeli: We have with us today George Burton, the president of Canadore College in our riding of Nipissing.

Mr. Wayne Gates: I’d like to welcome to the Legislature of Ontario today my good friend the president of Niagara College, Dan Patterson.

Hon. Jeff Leal: In the west members’ gallery is my good friend Tony Tilley, the president of Fleming College.

In the east members’ gallery, I’ve got the opportunity to introduce the guests from the Ontario Waterpower Association. There’s a reception this evening with president Paul Norris, Peter McLennan, Heather Ferguson, Karen McGhee, Ben McGrath, Scott Delyea, Kaitlyn Leigh, Bob Allen, Michelle Lavictoire and Stephen Somerville. This association is headquartered in the great riding of Peterborough.

Mr. Todd Smith: I’d like to welcome, from Colleges Ontario, the brand new president of Loyalist College in Belleville, Dr. Ann Marie Vaughan who joins us all the way from Newfoundland. We love having you in Belleville.

Mr. Percy Hatfield: My buddy Dan Allen is here. Dan’s a former city councillor in Windsor, but he’s here as chair of the board at St. Clair College in Windsor and Chatham.

Mr. James J. Bradley: I’d like to welcome Dr. Dan Patterson, the president of Niagara College.

Miss Monique Taylor: I’d also like to welcome Ron McKerlie, who’s here today from Mohawk College. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I don’t see them in the gallery yet, but I want to welcome two of my oldest friends in the world, Glen Sharp and Stephen Coxford. I’ve known them since I was four, Mr. Speaker; we went through school together. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

M me France Gélinas: I would like to welcome Benjamin Cassidy and Nel Vandermeer, both students from the Sudbury campus of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine; Stephen Bennett, who’s at the Thunder Bay campus of the Northern Ontario School of Medicine; and Samik Doshi, who is from the University of Toronto—all medical students. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

L’hon. Marie-France Lalonde: Au nom du caucus d’Ottawa, j’aimerais accueillir la présidente de La Cité ici à la Chambre. Bienvenue. Merci d’être avec nous, et merci pour l’excellent travail que vous prodiguez à notre francophonie.

Ms. Peggy Sattler: I would like to extend a warm welcome to the large delegation of students from the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at Western University. They include Cory Lefebvre, Gunjan Mhapankar, Susan Wang, Alysha Ahmed, Gary Lucas, Trystan Nault, Adriana Cappelletti and Lauren Crosby. Welcome.

Hon. Kevin Daniel Flynn: From Sheridan College, the home of Come From Away, president Mary Preece has joined us here today.

Mr. Jim McDonell: I’d like to welcome Glenn Vollebregt from St. Lawrence College in Cornwall. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Hon. Mitzie Hunter: I would like to welcome, from my great riding of Scarborough–Guildwood, the president of Centennial College, Anne Buller, as well as Anne Sado, the president of George Brown College, Chris Whitaker from Humber College and my friend David Agnew from Seneca College.

Hon. Glen R. Murray: I would like to welcome my friend from George Brown, Anne Sado, who, along with Centennial and Mohawk Colleges, are building the first non-residential greenhouse gas-free, net positive buildings in Ontario. That tells you something about our college sector, Mr. Speaker.

Mr. Granville Anderson: I’d like to welcome the president of Durham College, Don Lovisa, and the chair of Durham College, Pierre Tremblay. Welcome.

Hon. Kathryn McGarry: I’d like to welcome, in the west gallery today, Giuliana Guarna and the medical students I met with this morning at a wonderful breakfast. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Hon. Michael Coteau: I’d like to welcome a guest of page captain Kishan Muhundhan who’s joining us here today: his mother, Renuga Sathasivam—I think I pronounced that correctly.

Also, I’d like to welcome David Agnew from Seneca College. There’s a lot of young people from Don Valley East who attend that college. Welcome to the Legislature.

Ms. Sophie Kiwala: I’d like to welcome, from St. Lawrence College, Glenn Vollebregt, the president and CEO; Michael Adamcryck; Andrea Seepersaud, the manager of multimedia design; and André Léger, the Associate dean school of contemporary teaching and learning, and Ontario medical students from Queen’s University, Julia Milden, Sean Davison and Hélène Morakis. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Hon. Bill Mauro: I’m pleased to introduce, in the west members’ gallery, from Thunder Bay, representing Confederation College, president Jim Madder.

L’hon. Marie-France Lalonde: Merci, monsieur le Président. Le nom de notre chère présidente à La Cité est Lise Bourgeois.

Mr. Lou Rinaldi: I would like to welcome Ryan Singh, the person who inspired the singing of O Canada.

Mr. Todd Smith: I just noticed we also have the president of the Loyalist College board, June Hagerman, joining us today as well. Welcome, June.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): We have with us today in the Speaker’s gallery some heroes: the delegation from Portugal comprised of military veterans. They are led by General Joaquim Chito Rodrigues and Colonel Lucas Hilário. Welcome and thank you for your service.

Before we do our tribute, it is my understanding that some members may not have received the pins, so I would ensure that each gallery—when there’s an agreement from the House leaders—has the pins, and enough to go around to everybody. So if that’s not the case today, I’m hoping that it will be rectified.

Anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge / Anniversaire de la bataille de la crête de Vimy

Mr. Michael Harris: Today I rise on behalf of the Ontario PC caucus and of course our leader Patrick Brown.

At 5 a.m. on April 9, 1917, 30,000 Canadian troops huddled below France’s cold, unforgiving Vimy Ridge awaiting a signal that would spark one of the bravest and brutal military operations, and change the course of history forever.

Some four days later, the clearing smoke revealed the price that our proud Canadian heroes were willing to pay for our freedom—for the world’s freedom—as reports revealed, 3,598 Canadians killed, 7,004 wounded and one battle-scarred strategic and vital Vimy Ridge taken and secured, now in the hands of the Allies.

Speaker, over those four days, all four Canadian divisions worked in concert to do what previous Allied forces had failed to do: stand up to the enemy at this critical dividing line and push him back until victory was finally and decidedly secured. Despite withering machine-gun fire and counter-artillery from the German line, the four Canadian divisions pushed forward. Despite brutal hand-to-hand combat and casualties mounting, the four Canadian divisions pushed forward, breaking into the German trenches and capturing many of their objectives the first day of the assault.

One by one, over the four days, in wave after wave, Canadian troops stormed, fought and overtook four separate lines of defence the Germans had long maintained as a virtual unbreakable wall of enemy dominance. One by one, heroic troops took each successive step, breaking what couldn’t be broken, as they marched onward to the victory they would not be denied. By 6:15 a.m., the Germans’ black line had been taken; 45 minutes later, under smoke and still falling snow, the first division advanced and took the red line. By 11 a.m. the blue line was under Canadian control, and by 2 p.m. the brown line was secured.

Step by devastating step, our Vimy heroes marched on, until, by the morning of the fourth day, the northernmost part of the ridge, defended by the elite Prussian guards of the German army, had finally been taken. When the sound of booming artillery had silenced, the ultimate sacrifice of our Canadian troops secured five kilometres along the line, and 4,000 German soldiers were captured along with hundreds of heavy guns and supplies.

But, Speaker, we had gained much more than just land and guns. The unwavering will and never-surrender onslaught brought by those heroes on that lonely cold ridge in many ways marked the emergence of the Canada we are so proud to be a part of a century later. In the words of Brigadier-General Alexander Ross, “It was Canada from the Atlantic to the Pacific on parade. I thought then, and I think today, that in those few minutes I witnessed the birth of a nation.”

Indeed, Speaker, the united effort that saw Canadians from all parts of our vast, great nation fighting side by side at Vimy Ridge marked our first step into nationhood, steps that saw our troops come together both on the ground on that escarpment and back home, when our national pride swelled to hear that our Canadian Corps had succeeded where so many had failed. It was a moment when Canadians felt nationhood, a pride in ourselves.

In the coming week, there will be many of us in Canada taking our own steps towards marking the 100 years since the heroic Canadian capture of Vimy Ridge, an opportunity to share our national gratitude for the bravery, heroism and true Canadian grit of those who sacrificed all for us on those cold April mornings.

I look forward to the chance to join my colleague from Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound and thousands of schoolchildren from across Canada, and so many others, as we step foot on the ground that was secured for us one century ago. Where 100 years ago, battle raged, today there now stands a radiant Vimy monument on land gifted to Canada by the French government after the war.

Many are familiar with the memorial and statue of a woman representing Canada, a young nation mourning her dead. Below is a tomb to remind us of the soldiers killed in France who have no graves. While we recognize overseas, we also recognize the work of our Vimy Foundation and ongoing efforts that have helped launch a state-of-the-art Vimy Visitor Education Centre near the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France.

I believe that history comes with a duty to remember those who sacrificed so much on those plains in northeastern France and every other conflict where Canadians have lost their lives protecting us.

In these coming days, and indeed every day, Speaker, I look forward to ceremonies overseas and here at home to recognize the sacrifice of our Vimy heroes in France who gave us the pride and honour to stand strong and free today here in Canada.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: It’s an honour to be able to stand here today, 100 years after the victory at Vimy Ridge. I’m proud to be representing the NDP caucus and New Democrats around the province.

It seems only appropriate that it coincides, this celebration of Vimy, with the 150th anniversary of Canada, and Ontario as well. It’s hard to imagine a moment in Canadian history, in fact, that has more to teach us than that cold, snowy day in France. Of course, the main narrative we hear now is that April 9, 1917, was the day Canada truly became a nation. As French philosopher Ernest Renan said, “Nations are made by doing great things together.” And, truly, our soldiers that day were doing something great: They were standing up for a vision of the world and of Canada that still guides us today.

It was the first time that all four divisions of the Canadian Corps fought together during the war under Canadian command. They were prepared to sacrifice their lives to defend the ideas of freedom and democracy.

Unlike other countries whose origin stories often involve painful civil wars and internal strife, Vimy Ridge gave this young, 50-year-old country a story of heroism and of idealism and of enormous sacrifice. The enormous sacrifice of thousands of soldiers and the loved ones they had left behind would mark a turning point in the Great War.

Of course, it was called the Great War because there had never been anything like it before, and those who survived it hoped that it would be a lesson, to avoid the same mistakes in the future. I wish we could say that lesson was better learned.

We owe a great debt of gratitude to the men and women who served Canada proudly, fighting the occupation of Europe. Speaking from the territory of the Haudenosaunee and the Mississaugas of the New Credit, I think it is important to remember, acknowledge and honour the First Nations soldiers who served in the Great War. An estimated 4,000 First Nations soldiers served in World War I as part of Canada’s military. Despite not being granted the rights of citizenship, First Nations were subject to conscription in the latter parts of the war, and many First Nations veterans found that on returning home, the resources and programs that helped other veterans were not available to them.

Recently, Canada lost our last surviving veteran of the Great War, so now we must work even harder to remember their sacrifice and learn from these hard-fought lessons. The 11,285 Canadians are remembered by name at the Vimy Ridge memorial. They died performing what they saw as their duty for the country and for humanity. So, 100 years later, it is our duty as Canadians to keep their memory alive.

We must always honour their bravery and sacrifice, remember what they did, remember the great cost the war had on their friends, families and all Canadians, and do whatever we can each day to really live the lessons they taught us: to avoid conflict where possible, to work tirelessly for peace and to stand up against oppression and hate in our communities, within our borders and throughout the world.

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

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: It’s with great honour that I rise today to mark the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge. I’m also pleased that the Deputy Premier will be travelling to France to represent the Ontario government there.

C’est un honneur de prendre la parole aujourd’hui à l’Assemblée législative pour souligner le 100 e anniversaire de la bataille de la crête de Vimy et rendre hommage aux militaires du Canada qui ont fait l’ultime sacrifice lors de la Première Guerre mondiale.

When war broke out in 1914, Canada’s affairs were still governed by the United Kingdom, and suddenly and automatically we were at war. Thousands of young Canadians wanted to do their part and made the brave choice to enlist. Leaving their small towns for the first time, these young people travelled a world away across the ocean, not knowing if they would ever return.

My grandfather, Charles Wynne, signed up as soon as he finished medical school at U of T at the beginning of the war. He served the entire war and, afterwards, at a military hospital in Scotland. At the Battle of the Somme he was gassed, but he survived. My grandfather lived until I was nine, and I spent a lot of time with him. Not once did I hear him mention the war. He never talked about the war. I did know that the terrible, constant cough that he had—the reason he had to be close to Sunnybrook hospital—was that he had been gassed, but I didn’t know what that meant.

So many of our families have stories like these, Mr. Speaker. In a country that had a population of fewer than eight million, no one’s life was left untouched by the Great War. My grandfather was one of more than 240 people from Ontario and more than 600,000 Canadians, including our First Nations soldiers, acknowledged rightly by the leader of the third party, who served in the war. More than 60,000 of those soldiers were killed in the trenches and in the battlefields of places like the Somme, Passchendaele, Mount Sorrel and Vimy Ridge. It was the largest number of Canadian deaths in any war.

Yet for all its horror and suffering, the Great War, as has been said by my colleagues, was a defining moment for our young country. Canada came together in 1867 as an unlikely political union, a diverse people spread across a vast land. In 1914, we still didn’t know a lot about each other. We had little in the way of national identity. The Great War changed all of that, and the battle of Vimy Ridge was the defining moment, a turning point in our collective memory. As has been said, it was the first time all four divisions of the Canadian Corps fought as a united force.

When Canadian forces ultimately prevailed where all other Allied attempts had failed, Canada stepped out of Britain’s shadow and into the light of nationhood. On the front, in the medical camps and here on home soil, men and women from across Canada banded together. Ultimately, that hard work and sacrifice paid off. Canada’s stunning victory at Vimy Ridge helped turn the tide of the war and became an international symbol of Canadian grit and perseverance.

Today we honour the legacy of Vimy Ridge and the soldiers who fought and died for their country. We show our gratitude to the families of soldiers for all that they have sacrificed. While we glorify the memory of those who have served and the legacy of bravery their sacrifice has given us, I think we must never glorify war itself.

As Premier and as the granddaughter of one of those brave Canadians who 100 years ago looked into the dark abyss of war and did not blink, I express my deepest gratitude and respect. May we never forget their sacrifice.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I thank all members for their very respectful comments about Vimy Ridge. And here’s to all veterans, past and present.

Therefore, it is now time for question period.

Oral Questions

Executive compensation

Mr. Patrick Brown: My question is for the Premier. The CEO of Ontario Power Generation earned nearly $1.2 million last year. The CEO of Hydro One earned $4.5 million last year. In total, the top five executives at Hydro One made a whopping $11 million.

Mr. Speaker, when people across Ontario can barely afford to keep the lights on and can barely afford their hydro bills, how can the Premier allow these salaries that are completely out of control?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: The Leader of the Opposition makes the point that people across Ontario are struggling with their hydro bills. That’s why we’re removing 25% from those hydro bills, come this spring. That’s why, for people in more rural and remote communities, they’re going to see more like a 40% to 50% reduction.

We have a plan. We are implementing that plan. We know that there are people who are burdened by their electricity bills across the province. That’s why we have the fair hydro plan, and that’s exactly why it is going to reduce people’s bills across the province by 25%.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Patrick Brown: Back to the Premier. It’s not just the million-dollar salaries at Hydro that the Premier does not want to address. It’s not just the energy sector. The government has backed up the Brink’s truck for executives across all government agencies.

Let’s take a look at the president of the Union Pearson Express—or should I say the former president, Kathy Haley. She resigned March 21, 2016, but she still managed to earn $230,000—not bad for three months’ work.

How does this government manage that? How does this government allow salaries that are completely out of control, and try to justify that it’s appropriate, whether it’s $4.5 million for the Hydro One CEO or $230,000 for three months’ work? Give me a break. The average Ontarian can’t afford their hydro bill, and they’re allowing this? It’s not right. How does the Premier allow this?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: President of the Treasury Board.

Hon. Liz Sandals: Of course, as everyone knows, we released on Friday the public sector salary disclosure, the sunshine list. I think it’s important to understand what’s on the sunshine list. The sunshine list lists the salaries of Ontario’s public service and broader public sector people who have been paid more than $100,000. It’s important to realize that that’s not necessarily their annual salary. In the case of people who have retired after serving in the public sector for a number of years, they may have vacation pay owing, they may have severance pay owing. What you’re seeing is not 25% or 50% or 100% of annual salary. It represents those adjustments retracted on severance.

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

Mr. Patrick Brown: Again to the Premier. I appreciate why the Premier doesn’t want to be on the record on what her government is paying executives. But hearing the talking points from the minister that a $4.5-million salary is appropriate because there are things like vacation pay—or $230,000 for three months’ work? Mr. Speaker, it doesn’t wash. The reality in Ontario is, those nurses working twice as hard because of Liberal cuts, they’re not part of this millionaires’ club. Those maintenance crews at schools that are falling apart aren’t part of those raises. It’s offensive.

The reality is these salaries are out of control. I want the Premier to stand in this House and say that she supports this and say why she has allowed it. How can you pay $4.5 million to the Hydro CEO when nowhere else in Canada do they allow salaries like that?

Hon. Liz Sandals: Of course, we recognize that $100,000 is a lot of money. It’s more than the average Ontarian makes. What we have seen is that when you look at the increase in salary, the average salary in the last year is about $116 more than the average salary in the prior year, so not a huge shift.

What we do see each year is more and more people on the sunshine list. Of course, that’s because the legislation that created this in the first place, the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act, 1996, has the $100,000 threshold embedded right in the legislation. In fact, were the threshold to have inflated, the current threshold would be about $150,000, and 84% of the people on the list would be dropped.

Executive compensation

Mr. Patrick Brown: Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Premier. Over 123,000 people were on the sunshine list, but there were untold thousands more missing, and some would have been at the very top of that list.

Why did this government choose to hide the salaries of Hydro One’s highly paid executives? Are there any more members of this millionaires’ club? I’m sure there are. We’ve seen that in the top five salaries that were required to be released. How many more millionaires from Hydro One did this government hide?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: If the Leader of the Opposition is asking how many and how much people are earning in the private sector, in every publicly traded company and every corporation around the province—if that’s what he’s asking, and he thinks there should be legislation that would go beyond what is already required in terms of disclosure, I think he should say that. I think he knows that Hydro One has moved into being a publicly traded company.

I know that these salaries are high. I know that they’re much higher than the vast majority of Ontarians’. I also know that people are struggling with their electricity bills. That’s why we have a plan. That’s why we are going to reduce people’s electricity bills by 25%. We’re actually taking action because we recognize that people are challenged across the province.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Patrick Brown: The Premier can’t have it both ways. The government still has the majority of shares of Hydro One. What they have allowed to happen with these out-of-control salaries is wrong. The Premier knows it’s wrong: $4.5 million for the CEO; $2.9 million for the executive vice-president; $1.7 million paid to the chief financial officer; $1.4 million paid to the chief operating officer; and $1.2 million to another executive vice-president. This millionaires’ club at Hydro One that the Premier has created is wrong.

Everyone in Ontario knows these paycheques are too much. Mr. Speaker, through you, I’m asking the Premier to do the right thing while they still have the majority of the shares and rein in these offensive executive salaries.

Interjections.

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

Interjections.

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

Premier?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I really do understand why the Leader of the Opposition is taking this track: because he has no plan and no idea how he would reduce electricity bills.

As I said, I know these salaries are high. We know that people are struggling with electricity bills. That’s why we are going to reduce people’s hydro bills.

We remain committed to continued regulation of Hydro One. We made that quite clear from the outset. Hydro One has now transitioned into a publicly traded company. It’s not a government agency. I would think that the Leader of the Opposition would understand that.

Hydro One has made changes. In fact, in the first year of their going public, they’ve actually found $60 million in savings. What’s happening is that Hydro One is becoming a better company. We knew that that was going to happen. They are publicly traded and they are regulated by the rules for publicly traded companies.

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

Mr. Patrick Brown: Again to the Premier: In the entire sunshine list, with 123,000 names on it, only two people topped $1 million. Hydro One has five senior executives making $1 million, and that is only the ones we know about, the ones that the government hasn’t hidden. There could be untold others in this millionaires’ club.

And we have the Premier, who still has majority control, trying to have it both ways. She has allowed these salaries. The Premier knows that she could rein this in, but instead of actually taking responsibility, she’s blaming others. We heard one minister blame GO train riders who couldn’t understand, and now the Premier is trying to blame the opposition for salaries that she handed out, for salaries that she approved. They’re the government. They’ve created this mess. Do the right thing and rein in these offensive executive salaries.

Interjections.

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

Premier.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Energy.

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: I’m very pleased to rise and address this subject. As the Premier mentioned, and as the opposition doesn’t seem to know, Hydro One is now a publicly traded company. The decisions over compensation are not made by the government.

But let’s put some context into this, Mr. Speaker. The executive salaries at Hydro One—

Interjections.

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: Let’s have some context here. The executive salaries—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I can get up and down. I’m still healthy enough.

Finish, please.

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: The executive salaries at Hydro One make about 0.1% of their total budget. Even if the member opposite cut these salaries in half, that wouldn’t take one cent off of a single customer’s bill.

That just shows that they have absolutely no plan and no idea on what to do in the electricity sector. Our 25% reduction, on average, will make sure we help every small business, family and farm—

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

Executive compensation

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My question is for the Premier. The sunshine list was released on Friday, and there was one very notable company name that was not on it. That was Hydro One. We know that the Hydro One CEO raked in a salary of $4.5 million in 2016, a 500% increase from the last time the CEO’s salary appeared on the sunshine list.

Can the Premier tell Ontarians why her priority seems to be protecting the salaries and anonymity of the people at the top, instead of regular Ontario families and businesses that are struggling just to get by?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: My priority is to make sure that everyone in this province gets relief on their hydro bills: a 25% reduction for every family in this province who pay electricity bills in their homes, relief for those small mom-and-pop shops on main streets in communities, relief for farmers. We recognize—

Interjections.

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

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: We recognize that there are people across the province who need that relief, which is exactly why we’re putting a plan in place that actually will reduce people’s electricity bills. People will see those reductions come the summer. That is in direct response to people’s concerns about their ability to pay their electricity bills.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: By privatizing Hydro One, Premier Wynne ensured three things: that those at the top can make massive salaries, that the rest of us will pay massive electricity bills and that she could throw a blanket of secrecy over the whole mess.

What does the Premier have to say to Ontarians who are struggling to keep up with their hydro bills and are outraged by her continued insistence on selling off Hydro One, while hiding how much top executives are being paid?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Let me once again be very, very clear. I know that the leader of the third party loves to conflate these issues, but changing the direction on broadening the ownership of Hydro One would not take one cent off one electricity bill anywhere in this province, as much as the leader of the third party would like to pretend that that was the case—not one cent, not off one electricity bill.

We have brought forward a strategy, a plan, that is going to take people’s bills down—a 25% reduction across the province—because we recognize that people need that support. The investments that we have made in the electricity system to make it clean, to make it reliable, have a cost associated with them.

We are going to reduce people’s bills, on top of the 8% that people have already seen, by another 17%, because we know that they need that support.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: It is disgusting that while people are suffering and some can’t even pay their hydro bills, we have executives at public utilities raking in millions. The CEO of OPG was the highest-paid public employee last year, and the CEO of Hydro One made over $4 million.

In Montreal, Bombardier, a private company, listened to public pressure and is holding off on massive pay increases for the company’s top staff after hundreds of Quebecers rallied outside the company’s headquarters.

Here in Ontario, people are equally outraged by the planned pay hikes for Hydro One’s CEO, especially amid soaring hydro bills. Why won’t the Premier do the right thing and rein in the salaries of the executives at Hydro One?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Let me just say again that I recognize that people across the province are struggling with their electricity bills, which is exactly why the fair hydro plan will reduce people’s electricity bills by 25%. That is the context within which we are having this conversation.

We have a plan that we have brought forward that will reduce people’s bills substantially. In more rural and remote communities, people will see a reduction of 40% to 50%. We know that people need that support. We know that they need those reductions.

At the same time, the broadening of the ownership of Hydro One is directly related to our ability to invest in infrastructure—transit and transportation infrastructure—that the leader of the third party does not support but which is necessary to the well-being of this province.

We are going to continue on that path. Hydro One has found $60 million in efficiencies. They are a better-run company, and people will see reductions on their electricity bills this summer.

Executive compensation

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My next question is for the Premier. The problem the Premier has is that nobody believes her anymore. Nobody believes anything this Premier says anymore.

The Wynne government’s priorities are backwards. It’s not just in the energy sector; it’s health care too. Six of the top 10 highest-paid public employees in 2016 were hospital CEOs. Health care dollars should make it to bedsides, not stop at the corner offices.

Ontarians need health care that they can count on, and they won’t get it if the Premier continues to allow these exorbitant salaries while also allowing hospital hydro bills to soar.

When will she finally put patients’ needs first, stop her ridiculous, unwanted sell-off of Hydro One, and cap hospital CEO salaries so that public money actually goes to patient care?

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

Hon. Eric Hoskins: I think all of us appreciate, in the first instance, that hospitals are independent corporations. But we expect, as we do across government, that when they make decisions with regard to allocation of public funds, they take into consideration the opportunity and responsibility to allocate as much as possible towards front-line care, that high quality of care that they provide.

It’s no different than in our hospitals. That’s why I’m particularly proud that we also, as a government, passed the Public Sector and MPP Accountability and Transparency Act. It sets out certain parameters and expectations that we do have.

But we need to recognize that we need to provide our hospitals with the ability, as independent corporations, to manage their affairs so that they are able to truly provide the highest quality of care and allocate resources responsibly to that effect.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: The sunshine list also grew yet again this year, but because of her wrong-headed decision to sell off Hydro One, the salaries of the executives are hidden from the public. Thanks to the Premier’s meddling, we don’t have any idea how much public money was spent on salaries at Hydro One.

How can the Premier claim to care about the mess that she has created in our public hydro system if she won’t even open the books at Hydro One? What is this Premier afraid of?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: To the Minister of Energy.

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: I know, as the Premier said, our government strongly believes in ensuring that public salaries are fair to employees but also reasonable to the public purse.

When it comes to Hydro One and OPG, following the process that is laid out in our government’s framework, OPG sought appropriate comparators set for compensation at a level that is restrained but competitive for that industry.

I understand that the salaries at OPG can seem surprising. It is important to remember some key facts, Mr. Speaker: These are experts—technical, nuclear experts—and we want these operators in our plants to be the best in the world.

The most recent compensation frameworks for OPG’s nuclear leadership team reflect performance initiatives paid out only if the company attains certain goals during refurbishment, which, I’d like to say right now, is ahead of

schedule and under budget because of the dynamic team that we have at OPG.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, only a Liberal cabinet minister would say million-dollar salaries are “restrained.” Only a Liberal cabinet minister would have the gall to say that.

The sunshine list this year reminds Ontarians that this Premier and her government are only out for themselves and those at the top. She has refused to disclose salaries at Hydro One, even though the government has yet to finish its sell-off. She’s allowing millions to be funnelled to top hospital executives while Ontarians get less and less front-line health care.

Will the Premier wake up and realize that the people of Ontario need a leader who will fight for them, not just allow those at the top to rake in millions while protected by a veil of secrecy that she has thrown over her unpopular decisions?

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: Again, we recognize that we brought forward a framework to help keep salaries restrained, Mr. Speaker.

Talking about Hydro One, in that time since we’ve broadened the ownership of Hydro One, they have become a better-run company—they sure have. It’s providing better service and better value, both to its customers and to the province. Just a few of the customer initiatives they’ve taken out in the last few months:

—introduced more active customer communication, calling customers directly with issues;

—introducing a voluntary ban on winter disconnections;

—giving customers choice with their billing cycles, helping them to manage their bills better;

—introducing e-billing and working towards mobile billing; and

—ending the practice of security deposits for new customers.

Last year, that executive group saved $60 million.

Medical assistance in dying

Mr. Jeff Yurek: My question is to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. Speaker, last week during public hearings of the government’s medical assistance in dying bill, we heard from several conscientiously objecting doctors concerned they will be forced to participate in medical assistance in dying by making an effective referral.

The minister announced the creation of a care coordination service that will allow patients to seek medically assisted dying themselves. Speaker, with the introduction of this service, can the minister guarantee that the conscience rights of all physicians will be protected and no doctor in Ontario will be forced to make an effective referral?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: I’m very pleased to receive this question this morning, as we proceed through the various legislative components, ultimately, hopefully, with the passage of the bill responsible for medical assistance in dying.

I have said many times here in the Legislature, and also publicly outside of the Legislature, my deep, profound respect for anyone, let alone those health care professionals, who, for reasons of conscience, has made that decision that they do not want to participate in medical assistance in dying. I respect that. The federal legislation, and the provincial legislation that’s proposed, in no way requires them or asks them to participate in medical assistance in dying.

In the supplementary, I’m happy to speak to two other measures that we have and will be putting in place, which will provide additional supports, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Jeff Yurek: Back to the minister: Speaker, the minister cites concerns about access to medical assistance in dying, but the policies in British Columbia and Alberta that don’t require doctors to make referrals have shown that conscience rights protections are not a barrier to access.

If the current policy is upheld and doctors are forced to make effective referrals for medical assistance in dying, many fear they will have no other choice but to leave the profession altogether.

Mr. Speaker, if doctors are forced to make effective referrals, how many doctors will be forced to stop practising, and how many more patients in Ontario will become orphaned?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Shortly after the federal legislation became law in this province, we created a clinician referral service. Any health care professional can contact that service, which is run through the Ministry of Health, to identify practitioners who are prepared to provide advice, do an assessment and a number of them also, if required and requested, to provide medical assistance in dying.

We also have committed publicly—and we are close; I would say next month, or perhaps even at the end of this month—that we will have in place a care coordination service which is available to any Ontarian, including patients, loved ones and caregivers, to directly interact with health care professionals, to seek advice and also to secure that pathway, should they so decide to pursue medical assistance in dying.

Hydro rates

Mr. Peter Tabuns: My question is to the Premier. In 2015, then-Energy Minister Bob Chiarelli promised that the privatization of Hydro One wouldn’t drive up hydro rates. In fact, he said, “Hydro One will now be an even stronger-performing, customer service-focused company and any efficiencies created can be passed on to consumers to help reduce rates.”

Well, late last Friday, Hydro One filed its distribution rate application for 2018 to 2022. Instead of reducing rates as promised, Hydro One wants a 6.5% rate increase next year and a total increase of 20% by 2022.

Will the Premier finally admit what 80% of Ontarians—

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

Premier?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Energy.

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: I’m very pleased to rise and address this. Let’s remember something important here too, Mr. Speaker: Our government is lowering bills by 25% on average for households and as many as half a million small businesses and farms, starting this summer. It’s the single largest reduction in the province’s history, with rates also held to inflation for the next four years.

We will achieve this reduction no matter the outcome of this application. In fact, Hydro One’s rural customers will be seeing even greater reductions from our fair hydro plan. We’re expanding the support for these customers facing the highest delivery costs in the province, including Hydro One’s rural customers. As a result, some of these Ontarians will see reductions as large as 40% to 50% on their bills. These are truly substantial savings, and the fair hydro plan will work for all.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary.

Mr. Peter Tabuns: In 2015, the Premier’s privatization czar, Ed Clark, said “private sector discipline” would mean lower rates for Hydro One customers.

Private sector discipline means that the Hydro One CEO’s salary is now six times what the previous CEO had been earning, paid for by ratepayers. Private sector discipline means that Hydro One is fighting to keep the benefits of a $2.6-billion tax cut that would normally benefit ratepayers. And now, private sector discipline means a 20% increase for Hydro One, so Ontario families can pay more profits to private investors.

Ontario ratepayers can’t afford any more private sector discipline. Will the Premier stop her short-sighted sell-off of Hydro One and return it to public ownership?

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: Once again—

Interjections.

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

Minister of Energy.

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. Again, the OEB, our judicial regulator, makes sure that they will review this application. In the past, they have denied applications and they have decreased applications. Of course, we’re not going to prejudge where they’re going to go with this, unlike the opposition.

When it comes to Hydro One, as mentioned, $60 million in savings that do benefit and go back to the ratepayers, unlike what the opposition is saying. Again, a better-run company, voluntarily bringing forward and introducing that—

Interjection.

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

Carry on.

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: Of course, introducing a voluntary ban on winter disconnections; giving customers choice with billing cycles, helping them to better manage their bills; and let’s not forget, with the fair hydro plan, a 40% to 50% reduction for Hydro One R1 and R2 customers.

Small business

Ms. Daiene Vernile: My question is for the minister responsible for small business. By contrast to what the opposition has been telling the public, the facts show that small businesses in Ontario are continuing to thrive under the government’s watch. Ontario has created 700,000 new jobs since the recession and the unemployment rate has dropped to 6.4%—the lowest in eight years.

In the first three quarters of 2016, Ontario led all G7 nations in economic growth, but sadly, we’ve heard the opposition talking down Ontario’s economy rather than promoting all the advantages our province has to offer, from our highly educated workforce, clean air, clean water, renewed roads, bridges and transit, and our nation-leading health care system.

On this side of the House, Speaker, we understand the important contribution small businesses make in the province. Could the minister please update this House on the status of small businesses in Ontario?

Hon. Jeff Leal: I want to thank the member from Kitchener Centre for the question this morning. Interestingly enough, Mr. Speaker, our daughter Shanae was in Kitchener over the weekend checking out Laurier university as a possible destination for school this fall. She said, “Dad, I want to pass on to you: Make sure you tell the member from Kitchener Centre that things are booming in Kitchener these days. Things are booming.”

Let me say, with over 500,000 small and medium-sized enterprises in Ontario, SMEs make up 99.7% of all business in the province of Ontario. This is appropriate to the Kitchener area—between 2012 and 2014, 69% of SMEs in Ontario reported increased average yearly growth of sales. Through our Eastern Ontario Development Fund and the Southwestern Ontario Development Fund we have funded over 200 projects, 35,000 jobs--more than $1.7 billion in investment.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Daiene Vernile: I would like to thank the minister for his response. Should his daughter choose to attend Wilfrid Laurier University, we would welcome her with open arms.

Speaker, we know that development funds are having a major impact across the province in helping owners grow their businesses, and we’ve certainly seen this in Kitchener Centre. But business owners must deal with a number of input costs and pressures when trying to manage their bottom line. Recently, the cost of electricity has been of particular concern. There’s no doubt that the investments that we’ve made in cleaning up and improving our electricity grid puts serious pressure on small businesses as it did for households.

The government has taken action to help Ontarians across the province with the cost of electricity through the fair hydro plan. We know that this is going to help not only households but small businesses as well.

Speaker, could the minister please clarify how the fair hydro plan is going to impact small businesses in the province?

Hon. Jeff Leal: Minister of Energy.

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: I want to thank the member for that question. Our plan to lower bills across the province by 25% will help every single household, but it will also help a half a million small businesses and farms.

The Premier has recently had the opportunity to visit many of these businesses. Businesses like the Bookshelf, in Guelph, which owns both a bookstore and a restaurant in the same building—this bookstore and restaurant will be saving more than $1,000 a month under our plan; or J’adore Fine Cheese and Chocolate located near Barrie: They will save as much as $350 a month during the summer. This is a business in the Leader of the Opposition’s own riding.

Ontarians are beginning to wonder: Will the opposition be supporting our plan to lower rates for homes and businesses or will they simply continue to throw mud and offer no credible plan of their own?

Hydro rates

Ms. Laurie Scott: My question is to the minister of rural affairs and small business. I’m sure the member heard about the closure of Roland’s Steakhouse, a local institution in the Peterborough area. Roland’s has operated for 60 years. The restaurant was a popular fixture in the community and was a contributor to the local economy.

Do you know what finally drove them to close their doors? It was the outrageous hydro costs resulting from this government’s misguided policies. The owner of Roland’s shared his hydro bills with me and after seeing them, I’m not surprised he was forced to shut down.

Rising hydro costs are hurting the rural economy in our area, and the government’s poor excuse of a relief plan will do little to undo more than a decade of runaway increases. My question to the minister is: How much longer will he stand by watching successful rural businesses like Roland’s close as a result of the government’s mismanagement of the hydro system?

Hon. Jeff Leal: I really want to thank the member from Haliburton–Kawartha Lakes–Brock for the question. But there’s another story to Roland’s and the mayor of Peterborough, Daryl Bennett, set the record straight on his Cogeco cable show on Friday.

The fact of the matter is that the owners—whom I know very well—were offered a substantial amount of money for the property for a commercial development. The mayor was very clear: This was strictly a commercial development. The owner was offered a substantial amount. I know the area very well. It’s a stone’s throw from my house in Peterborough. There’s going to be a substantial commercial development.

The other thing that played into this: Peterborough is very fortunate that a Keg franchise came to Peterborough because they have confidence in the Peterborough area, and Hobart’s set up a steak house in downtown Peterborough. That’s the other story of this. The mayor of Peterborough set the record straight.

Interjections.

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

Interjections.

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

Supplementary?

Ms. Laurie Scott: Again to the minister: We’re not talking about some abstract idea here. This is a real business, real jobs lost because of the government’s misguided policy decisions.

Last January—

Interjections.

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

Please.

Ms. Laurie Scott: Last January, the owner paid over $2,000 for hydro. This past January, his bill had jumped to over $4,000. That’s double, in just one year—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Minister of Municipal Affairs.

Ms. Laurie Scott: —and all this after spending $23,000 replacing all of the lighting with efficient LEDs—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Stop the clock. Right after I ask him to stop, he says it again. Minister of Municipal Affairs, second time. I’m not amused by everyone who decides to disrupt the House.

Please finish.

Ms. Laurie Scott: Mr. Speaker, with the trend in hydro going upward, things were only going to get worse for Roland’s. In the owner’s own words, he saw no chance for survival.

Again, when will the minister take the concerns of rural businesses seriously and ensure that they are not driven out by the consequences of your government’s decisions?

Interjections.

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

Minister.

Hon. Jeff Leal: I do appreciate the supplementary from the member from Haliburton–Kawartha Lakes–Brock, but I would strongly suggest—and I will organize—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke, second time.

Finish, please.

Hon. Jeff Leal: I would volunteer to organize a viewing. We’ll get the tape from Cogeco. His Worship Mayor Daryl Bennett, the mayor of Peterborough, will provide—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Simcoe–Grey, come to order. The member from Nepean–Carleton, come to order, and the member from Leeds–Grenville, come to order.

You can have wrap-up sentence, please.

Hon. Jeff Leal: Well, Mr. Speaker, if the folks opposite are questioning the veracity of the mayor of Peterborough, I’ll certainly give him a call about this today. In fact—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. That’s it.

The member from London West.

Mental health and addiction services

Ms. Peggy Sattler: My question is to the Premier. Ontario medical students are here today to lobby MPPs about mental health, and one of their top priorities is to reduce wait times for services. I commend these students for their advocacy.

I listened to the Premier as she talked to them this morning. I was struck by the contradiction between what she said to the students and what is happening in London, where her government is refusing to approve an innovative partnership between the hospital, EMS and the Mental Health and Addictions Crisis Centre to get non-acute patients much quicker access to service, while reducing ER wait times.

If the Premier is serious about reducing mental health wait times, why is she not finding a way to allow our London pilot project to proceed, so we can start helping people now?

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

Hon. Eric Hoskins: It is accurate that, since last fall, the Middlesex-London Emergency Medical Services approached and sought support from the Ministry of Health for review on a decision on this suggestion for a pilot program for a diversion protocol. Because the crisis centre is not a designated hospital, that would have solved the problem, had they decided to come under the auspices of London Health Sciences Centre.

But, in fact, in March of this year, after extensive discussions—including with my ministry and the LHIN and the proponents and the crisis centre themselves—the crisis centre opted not to pursue that site designation.

As a result, we’re left with a situation where there are two acts: the Ambulance Act and the Health Insurance Act. The Ambulance Act looks at patient care standards. The Health Insurance Act looks at what is an insured service. I’m happy, in the supplementary, to go into the challenges there.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Peggy Sattler: Two weeks ago, my constituent Angela Cameron-Jolly was forced to wait seven days on a hallway stretcher in the mental health ER. This weekend, Londoners were appalled to learn the details of Angela’s experience in the pages of the London Free Press. They were ashamed of a broken system that treats mental health patients so callously.

I received an email that sums up how Londoners are feeling, and it reads:

“I am horrified that this is our reality ... To the elected officials, we owe our friends, neighbours and family better than this. We owe Angela (and all the others) so much more. A solution seems possible, in having ambulance able to transfer to the crisis centre. It is worth trying on a temporary basis. Let’s get this done.”

Does the Premier agree that Angela deserves an apology, and will she approve the pilot project now?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: I want to begin by acknowledging our medical students who are here with us today, and particularly their focus on mental health. I think that, with the investments the province is making, they know better than anyone just how important this is to their practice, but also to their patients, the clients, whom they’re trying to support.

We’re working hard with all of the proponents. I would suggest to the member opposite that she join that process and work with me. If she wants to continue to raise this—this is the fourth time in the Legislature. I think most colleagues around this Legislature know that I actually work hard with my colleagues to find solutions.

I’m confident that we will find a solution in this case, but it is challenging because there are two acts. I’m not prepared to break the law. But at the same time—and there’s a meeting actually taking place this week between the ministry and all of the partners involved—I’m confident, together with the support from the—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. Sorry. Time’s up.

The member from Barrie.

Transportation infrastructure

Ms. Ann Hoggarth: My question is to the Minister of Transportation. I know that the members on this side of the House recognize how important it is for our province to have a comprehensive transit and transportation network. To have that network, we need to have good roads. Our roads help the economy thrive, and they connect us to one another.

It isn’t just about our provincial highways. If the people don’t have a way to get onto our highways, they don’t serve much purpose. In Barrie, we have Highway 26, which is classified as a connecting link because it connects people in my community to a number of our provincial highways, the closest being Highway 400.

Speaker, I know that the Minister of Transportation recently made an announcement about our government’s commitment to these vital roads. Would the minister please provide the members of this House with more information on his recent Connecting Links announcement?

Hon. Steven Del Duca: Of course, I want to begin by thanking the member from Barrie for her question and for being such a strong advocate for her community.

I was pleased just a few days ago, on Friday, to be in Sault Ste. Marie to announce that municipalities are receiving funding through the 2017-18 provincial Connecting Links Program.

This year we had $25 million in funding available that we are using to support 19 projects right across the province. This includes nearly $45,000 for the rehabilitation of Bayfield Street from Coulter Street to Cundles Road on Highway 26 in the member from Barrie’s community.

Our government is investing in these roads because we understand how vital they are to communities across Ontario. We especially know how important these roads are to small, rural and northern Ontario, and that’s why the majority of funding is going towards Connecting Links in those communities.

Our government will continue to make the investments that both our municipal partners and our residents depend on and deserve.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Ann Hoggarth: Thank you to the minister for his answer. I know that this is welcome news in my community of Barrie, and that the funding will help make for a much smoother ride on Highway 26.

Speaker, I remember when our government announced in the 2015 budget that we were introducing the new Connecting Links Program. I also remember back in 2016 when the Premier announced that the program would be growing. It was clear to our municipal partners, including my community of Barrie, that they had been heard loud and clear when they said that the funding available for OCIF wasn’t enough. The communities are very pleased that the government is taking strong action.

Would the minister please let the members of this House know what our government is doing now to make this important program even better?

Hon. Steven Del Duca: I thank the member from Barrie for the follow-up question. She is absolutely correct: Both the new Connecting Links Program and our commitment to growing the program came in response to what we were hearing from our municipal partners. While we listened, the parties opposite chose to ignore those voices when they voted against the new program in the 2015 budget and the additional funding in the 2016 budget.

We’ve now heard again from municipalities who are excited about the program and are excited about the fact that the amount of funding for Connecting Links continues to grow: up to $30 million for the 2018-19 year.

But we’ve also heard concerns about what the projects are actually eligible to support. That’s why this past Friday, in Sault Ste. Marie, I also announced that we’ll be updating the program guide to allow for even more projects to be eligible, including road widening.

While I was in Sault Ste. Marie, we announced that that community will receive $2.3 million from this program for this year. I’m excited to see the great work that we are doing, and we’ll keep—

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

New question.

Drive Clean

Ms. Lisa M. Thompson: My question is for the Premier. The Ontario PC caucus has been calling for Drive Clean to be scrapped for over six years. It is a program that has long outlived its usefulness and is a burden on drivers in this province.

This program has always been designed to be temporary. Mr. Speaker, it’s time to take Drive Clean to the scrapyard. Will the Liberals finally cancel this burdensome and expensive program?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of the Environment and Climate Change.

Hon. Glen R. Murray: Oh, that so un-green party over there, Mr. Speaker—it’s so frustrating some days.

Drive Clean, every year, keeps several hundred thousand cars that don’t meet standards off the road. I was just in Quebec with my colleague David Heurtel, and what was I asked by car dealers and by the people in Quebec? “Can you convince the government of Quebec to introduce Drive Clean?” Why did they ask that? Because Quebec is at risk of becoming the beater capital of Canada, because it doesn’t have regulations.

We have no interest in Ontario in having Ontario become the beater capital of Canada, which is what the opposition would like to see.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Lisa M. Thompson: So it continues: This is why Ontario has lost trust in this government. I actually thought that member opposite would comment on his idea that Drive Clean is free, but that is simply not true. They spin so often.

But we need to make it clear right here today that instead of the driver paying for this outdated program, now everyone pays, because the fee has simply been shifted to the taxpayer. Drivers and non-drivers are now paying for this redundant program that is simply Liberal virtue-signalling, as we just saw. The fact is there is already a 95% pass rate here in Ontario.

BC phased out their program years ago. It’s time for Drive Clean to ride off into the sunset. Will the Liberals finally cancel the program today?

Hon. Glen R. Murray: If we cancelled the program, we would have hundreds of thousands of vehicles on the road causing problems with air quality. What we did do—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I think I know why he’s not looking at me. The member from Niagara West–Glanbrook, come to order.

Finish, please.

Hon. Glen R. Murray: In 2014 alone, 185,000 vehicles were retired or had to be upgraded.

People aren’t paying for it. It’s actually being paid from two major sources. The surplus is being used to cover the costs, and we’re using—

Mr. John Yakabuski: Several hundred thousand?

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Okay, I’ll do it. The member from Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke is warned.

Finish, please.

Hon. Glen R. Murray: The other thing is we’re using new technology called—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Huron–Bruce.

Hon. Glen R. Murray: —so people will soon be able to report in virtually, saving them the trip, which will save huge amounts of money.

Tenant protection

Ms. Cheri DiNovo: My question is to the Premier. Last month, over 30 community and non-profit housing organizations from across Ontario wrote to the Minister of Housing with concerns about his new inclusionary zoning regulations. They fear that the government plans to force municipalities to pay developers for each unit of affordable housing created under inclusionary zoning. They correctly point out that such a measure would prevent municipalities from passing inclusionary zoning bylaws.

Will the minister assure us that the rumours are not true and that the new inclusionary zoning regulations will encourage municipalities to pass bylaws and not discourage them?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Housing.

Hon. Chris Ballard: Thank you to the member for that really important question. We understand the growing concerns throughout the GTHA regarding the booming housing market and the impact it’s having on affordable housing in this region. We understand that many families need peace of mind that they will be able to find an affordable house, so they’ll have that stability.

It’s why our government is focused on increasing the supply of affordable housing. In fact, this past winter the government passed the Promoting Affordable Housing Act, which sets up the enabling framework for inclusionary zoning in Ontario. We’re continuing to work to put inclusionary zoning into practice in communities across Ontario. We’re focused on partnerships. We continue to talk to municipalities in the private sector to finalize the regulatory framework that will guide the implementation.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Cheri DiNovo: Back to the Premier: These housing organizations, along with the NDP, have been seeking inclusionary zoning legislation for years. I tabled the first inclusionary zoning bill back in 2009.

The government resisted inclusionary zoning for years, even as affordable housing wait-lists grew and provincial housing budgets shrank. But last year, the government finally seemed to say yes to inclusionary zoning. It would be an enormous betrayal if the government introduced a poison pill that would make it harder for municipalities to pass inclusionary zoning bylaws.

Will the minister assure Ontarians who need affordable housing that no such poison pill will be in his new inclusionary zoning regulations? Will he assure us?

Interjections.

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

Minister?

Hon. Chris Ballard: Thank you for that follow-up. What I will assure the member—and really, I’m a bit stymied, because I think the member opposite should be absolutely ecstatic, given that the third party has pushed for inclusionary zoning legislation for many, many years. It’s here, Mr. Speaker.

We need to get it right. What we need to do is to make sure that everyone involved in putting affordable housing in place has a seat at the table and that we get the formula right. That’s what we’re doing. We’re taking the amount of time that it takes to get this right, so that municipalities and builders and affordable housing providers are comfortable with this new legislation.

Colleges

Mr. John Fraser: My question is for the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development. This past fall, the member for Brampton West introduced a private member’s motion to declare this week Ontario’s official Colleges Week. This was not only a celebration of the accomplishments of colleges, but a recognition of an important milestone. Fifty years ago, then-Minister of Education Bill Davis pioneered Ontario’s system of colleges of applied arts and technology.

Speaker, we know that colleges are leaders when it comes to partnerships with business and industry and that they are key parts of the economic fabric of communities across the province. I know this is true of Algonquin College and La Cité collégiale in my riding of Ottawa South.

My question for the minister is: What is our government doing to mark the milestone of 50 years of Ontario’s college system?

Hon. Deborah Matthews: Thank you to the member from Ottawa South for this really important question. Early this morning, I was at George Brown College and was delighted to announce that we’ll be honouring this historic 50th-anniversary milestone by make a one-time capital investment of $50 million for our colleges.

This investment will support colleges in undertaking initiatives that enhance student learning, such as the purchase of specialized software for teaching, new lab and shop equipment, technology to modernize existing classrooms and labs, and other projects as well.

From the very beginning, colleges were designed to give recent high school graduates an alternative to university and to facilitate retraining to those who were looking to take on new challenges, allowing people to shift readily from one job to another.

With our rapidly changing economy, this flexibility, this nimbleness, is a really important part of our college system.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. John Fraser: Thank you to the minister for her answer. Over the 50 years since their inception, more than two million students have graduated from Ontario’s colleges. Ontario’s colleges have incredible capacity and scope. They are key drivers in all different sectors of our economy.

Former Premier Bill Davis had a vision of a college system that would fill the need for skilled graduates who are ready to take on the complex challenges our province would face. Can the minister tell us more about how that vision has been achieved and how colleges have grown and changed since the system was established more than half a century ago?

Hon. Deborah Matthews: Speaker, we are so grateful for the foresight of Premier Davis. In fact, he plans to be here this afternoon to help us celebrate this occasion.

We have come a long way in 50 years. Today, Ontario’s 24 colleges offer hundreds of programs in areas including robotics and advanced automation, commercial beekeeping, brewmastery, dental hygiene, and doula studies. In fact, there are more than 900 college programs offered in our colleges. Their breadth and variety touch on almost every area of our day-to-day lives.

They’ve been vital partners to our government in providing opportunities for underrepresented groups and giving them a high-quality and meaningful education. Their commitment to expanding access has been enormously valuable as we transform OSAP to be more generous, more transparent and more progressive.

I extend my heartfelt congratulations to our colleges. We know that the next 50 years will bring even more exciting opportunities in Ontario.

School closures

Mr. Bill Walker: My question is to the education minister. Ontarians want you to stop blaming everybody else for the massive school closures and process under your watch. The chair of the Bluewater District School Board has called on you to be honest and come clean on who’s really to blame for the school closures. That would be you, Minister. Will you take responsibility and save our schools and our communities with a moratorium so you can fix the funding formula, as your government promised in the previous two elections?

Hon. Mitzie Hunter: Ensuring that Ontario’s students have the best education possible is the priority of this government and the members on this side of the House.

I’ve actually spoken to the chair of the Bluewater District School Board, and we have talked in common cause of what is in the best interests of the local school boards and ensuring that when school boards do have to make very difficult decisions, they are well supported in that. So ensuring that they get meaningful input from all sides of the community is critical.

But having an arbitrary moratorium—even the chair of the school board says that is a bad idea, that it is not going to solve anything, because there are times when school boards do need to make those decisions, when a change is required. If there are innovative solutions that can be found, that is exactly what we expect the school boards to be doing, together with their local municipalities and with their communities, to provide the best education possible for all of Ontario’s students.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Bill Walker: Back to the education minister: If he’s so in touch with you, why did he write this

article in the local paper asking you to be honest and to come clean?

The minister suggests she wants collaboration. Markdale and Paisley have both given you partnerships and money to fill up the gaps of your broken school funding formula. In Markdale, a single-school community, Chapman’s Ice Cream has committed millions of dollars, as have a development company and the municipality of Grey Highlands. In Paisley, a single-school community, local council is also offering you money, along with Bruce Power’s projected growth related to the refurbishment. This is partnership and collaboration.

Minister, will you be a promise-breaker or a collaborator?

Hon. Mitzie Hunter: I am so delighted to talk about how we are collaborating with our school boards—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Minister.

Hon. Mitzie Hunter: —how we’re collaborating with Ontario’s 72 school boards right across this province to ensure that we provide students with the best education possible, including in the member opposite’s own riding, where, since—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound is warned.

Finish, please.

Hon. Mitzie Hunter: —where, in fact, since 2003 we have opened 10 new schools in the member’s own riding. That is an example—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Well, we’ll have to do it. The member from Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound is named.

Mr. Walker was escorted from the chamber.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I would advise people not to be helpful.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): There are no deferred votes. This House stands recessed until 1 p.m. this afternoon.

The House recessed from 1203 to 1300.

Introduction of Visitors

Ms. Cheri DiNovo: I’m pleased to introduce, in the gallery, members of Stitching Our Own Social Safety Net: Susan Bender, Dawn D’Cruz, Andrea Hatala, Daniela Mergarten and Mark Shapiro. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Members’ Statements

Battle of Vimy Ridge

Mr. Toby Barrett: One hundred years ago today, three young brothers from our area’s Houghton township were fighting in France as part of the Canadian Corps, 14th Battalion. Within a matter of days, all three brothers would be dead. Bill West, age 20, and Arthur West, age 27, were killed April 9, 1917, during the Battle of Vimy Ridge. Their third remaining brother, Lewis West, age 21, would die September 7 from wounds suffered at Vimy.

A poem in the 1917 Simcoe Reformer tells us this:

Three brave brothers from Houghton,

Went to fight the German foe,

Arthur, Lew and William West,

While others would not go....

And the poem goes on, Speaker.

All told, 16 Norfolk boys were killed April 9 at Vimy Ridge, and nine more in ensuing days at the Battle of Vimy. Over 625,000 Canadians answered the call to arms—an incredible turnout from a total population of 7.5 million people. By war’s end, over 67,000 had been killed, 35,000 killed in action.

There’s an excellent book that is titled Norfolk Remembers: The Great War, authored by Grant Smith. It goes into great detail of what occurred during the First World War. It has photographs of every local military person who was killed during the Great War.

Social programs

Ms. Cheri DiNovo: Ontarians are impacted by cuts to almost every social program: health, social assistance, housing, education, legal aid, daycare and more. The Stitching Our Own Social Safety Net project was organized by a group of low-income survivors and allies, some of whom are here, to take action. They stitched together a social safety net to put pressure on the government to restore our social programs. The 200-foot-long social safety net consists of art squares that represent social programs that are in need of more government funding.

Following this project, the SSSN launched a postcard campaign to ask for support from Ontarians of these five demands in policy and budget decisions: restore social assistance rates to the levels they were prior to the Harris government cuts; raise the minimum wage; devote 1% of the Ontario budget to sustainable and affordable housing; fully fund dental services for low-income people; and lower post-secondary fees.

There are 1,700 postcards that have been signed by people across the province calling on the government to take action. They call for a focus on social priorities in the budget and on the failure of the Legislature to address the growing inequality. They have been delivered to the Premier.

Houselink Community Homes is the lead organization. I am proud it’s in my riding of Parkdale–High Park. I hope that these good people are heard, and, more to the point, I hope that the government responds.

Palliative care

Mr. John Fraser: Yesterday, I had the privilege of participating in the launch of the Palliative Care Outreach Program, hosted by Temple Israel. The public forum, called Living and Dying with Dignity, centred on a discussion about advanced care planning and volunteer-based palliative care outreach.

Speaker, I was honoured to join Senator Sharon Carstairs and Dr. Paul Hacker, a palliative care physician, on the panel yesterday. I want to thank Pamela Cogan and Rabbi Morais for hosting this event. It was a very important event. Also on hand were Jim Nininger and former mayor Jackie Holzman, who are spearheading the compassionate communities movement in Ottawa. I want to thank them for their efforts as well.

I’ve long been guided by the firm belief that how we care for each other at the end of our life deserves the same kind of attention that we give to the beginning of life. People need access to quality end-of-life palliative care, and it’s the responsibility of all of us in the community—government, practitioners, community, family, friends and volunteers.

I applaud this initiative and I encourage all citizens of Ottawa and all groups in Ottawa to take a look at the compassionate community effort that’s going forward and to join so that we can, in community, support each other.

South Muskoka Cavalcade Ford Bantam Bears

Mr. Norm Miller: I’m delighted to rise in this House today to recognize and congratulate the South Muskoka Cavalcade Ford Bantam Bears on becoming the all-Ontario provincial champions.

With the series tied 2-2, game 5 offered a winner-take-all scenario, and it was wonderful to see the community come out to Bracebridge Memorial Arena to support the team and enjoy the fun, competitive atmosphere.

The Bears played a great game. They outshot their opponents 30 to 12. With goals from Jack Lyndon and Dustin Labelle, the Bears defeated St. Mary’s Rock 2-0.

While achievements in sport should always be celebrated, sport is about the experience. The goaltender from St. Mary’s Rock played remarkably, and both of the teams should be proud of their efforts. Sport is about more than winning and losing; it’s about an athlete’s development, lessons learned and the lasting memories they share with teammates and friends.

In addition to physical activity, participation in sports can help build self-esteem and confidence. It can motivate a young person to excel academically and learn the benefits of goal-setting and preparation.

People in our society are not always able to participate in sports like hockey because the cost is so expensive. We have to be careful to not allow the cost of organized sport to prevent people from participating. Otherwise, they will lose out on all the positive benefits and attributes that sport has to offer.

I would like to thank the Bears head coach, Dan Blum, and all the staff, volunteers and parents who make it possible for young people to pursue their sporting goals.

Congratulations to the Bears, our 2017 all-Ontario provincial champions.

Canadian Hearing Society

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: I’m pleased to rise today to speak about an important issue that is affecting many communities across the province, and that is the Canadian Hearing Society strike.

In my riding of London–Fanshawe, critical services for more than 6,000 deaf and hard-of-hearing people in our community rely on vital services that the London workers offer. The workers in London are a component of 227 Hearing Society staffers across Ontario who went on strike on March 6. Their last contract expired four years ago.

For the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, this job action feels like a second blow after the Robarts School for the Deaf was placed on the chopping block by the Minister of Education only last year. Parents, children and advocates rallied successfully to prevent the closure, but the fear among the deaf and the hard-of-hearing community hasn’t subsided, given that about 40% of the striking workers are deaf.

I, along with my NDP colleagues, have shown and will continue to show our support for the workers who have been on strike for weeks now. We will continue to stand with you in an effort to protect all vulnerable workers to get the fairness they are entitled to from their employers. I encourage everyone to stand up for the families and children in their community who rely on these vital services and help get these workers the job protections they deserve.

Drive Clean

Ms. Ann Hoggarth: My constituents in Barrie often express concern about paying for Drive Clean, but they’re also worried about the long-term consequences of carbon pollution.

This is why many of them were very pleased to learn this past Saturday, April 1, that our government eliminated the $30 Drive Clean test fee on light-duty vehicles, including most cars, vans, SUVs and light trucks. This will save people money and make it easier for owners to ensure that their vehicles are running efficiently with minimum emissions. Removing these fees is not just part of our plan to make life more affordable but also to make our province more livable.

Ontario’s Drive Clean program tests 2.3 million vehicles per year and, in doing so, helps reduce emissions that cause smog and poor air quality, cutting emissions from vehicles by about one third each year. Since its introduction, the program for light-duty vehicles has prevented approximately 400,000 tonnes of smog-causing pollutants from being released into the air that we breathe.

Making Drive Clean testing more accessible reduces the burden on household budgets while continuing our commitment to build a clean and sustainable Ontario. In Martha’s words, “It’s a good thing.”

Highway construction

Mr. Jim Wilson: I rise today on behalf of the town of Collingwood and its citizens. By not completing the last leg of the new Highway 26 at the east end of town, the province is holding up job creation and economic development.

Today, I’m calling on the province to pay for and finish the five-laning into town and extend Sir Sandford Fleming Drive through to Highway 26, a move that will spur significant commercial development in the area. This development will result in the creation of more than 70 new jobs.

The issue with the highway has been unsolved now for five years, and that’s totally unacceptable. The mayor and council are at their wits’ end, and so are members of the business community. They expect better from this government.

I have written to the minister on several occasions about this matter, but apparently, common courtesy has gone out the window, as I can’t seem to get a response.

Enough is enough. The time for the government to finish the job is now. The people of Collingwood are watching and waiting, and they know there’s an election just 15 months away.

Ted Ormston

Mr. Mike Colle: I’d like to honour the passing of Judge Ted Ormston in this House today. Judge Ted Ormston was born in Timmins, Ontario, made his way to St. Pat’s college in Ottawa, then was eventually practising law and was appointed to the bench.

Judge Ormston was quite a remarkable individual, because his motto was, “Sometimes you have to close the books and open your heart.” He looked at each person before him in his court as a human being, especially those with mental illness. He presided over the mental health court at Old City Hall in Toronto. That’s an amazing place, if you want to see real life and real people. Anyway, he treated everyone with respect and dignity.

He also served as chair of the Consent and Capacity Board, where again he tried to help people who were going through difficult times. He was also the mental health chair of the commission in Canada. He was an incredible individual who cared for every person who stood before him.

We sometimes hear negative things about judges, but this judge, Ted Ormston, was a humanitarian and a true lover of everyone who had problems.

Ted, we are going to miss you. God rest your soul.

Battle of Vimy Ridge

Ms. Lisa M. Thompson: As the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge draws near and we see how Canada, our veterans and our citizens stand proudly, we must all pause and reflect.

I recall driving past the monument in France from afar and just marvelling at its grandeur. I had the opportunity to visit, years later, an interactive museum in Ypres that absolutely highlighted the horrors of war. We shall never forget what our Canadian soldiers did on our behalf.

Most recently, in December, my husband, Dennis Schiestel, and our friends Darren Schiestel, Cindy Devos, Jim and Judy Gowland and Marilyn Ashley actually had the opportunity to visit Vimy Ridge. Our cabbie, when we arrived on the ridge, said, “Welcome to Canada.” For those of you who don’t know, in appreciation for all that was done, France gave Canada Vimy Ridge.

It was there I imagined what it felt like as I was in the tunnels: the dampness, the anxiety, the energy that those soldiers must have been feeling when they were told that the battle they expected on April 8 was delayed because of a late season snowstorm and that they had to stay in the darkness and think about their future, there with their comrades awaiting battle.

It is there where I saw the interactive centre, which was first approved and worked on by our Conservative friend Erin O’Toole, come together. It was there, in December, that I saw the sod laid where our Canadians will proudly travel later this week. I wish them safe travels—and be proud.

Royal assent / Sanction royale

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): At this time, I beg to inform the House that in the name of Her Majesty the Queen, Her Honour the Lieutenant Governor has been pleased to assent to a certain bill in her office.

The Deputy Clerk (Mr. Trevor Day): The following is the title of the bill to which Her Honour did assent:

An Act to authorize the expenditure of certain amounts for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2017 / Loi autorisant l’utilisation de certaines sommes pour l’exercice se terminant le 31 mars 2017.

Petitions

Services for the developmentally disabled

Mr. Ted Arnott: I have a petition to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, and it reads as follows:

“Whereas Community Living Guelph Wellington has a significant pay equity obligation;

“Whereas direct support workers have experienced and continue to be threatened with reductions in hours of work and layoffs resulting in staff reductions;

“Whereas the quality and level of service to the individuals supported has been compromised;

“Whereas base funding to developmental services organizations in Ontario has been frozen for over five years;

“Whereas pay equity is a human right;

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

“

(1) To direct the Ministry of Community and Social Services to provide Community Living Guelph Wellington with one-time emergency funding to ensure services and staffing are maintained at reasonable levels;

“

(2) To renew yearly funding increases at least at the rate of inflation for all developmental services organizations in the 2017 budget.”

Dental care

M me France Gélinas: I have hundreds of names on this petition that was sent to me by the Sudbury Community Legal Clinic, and I’m glad to read it into the record.

“Whereas lack of access to dental care affects overall health and well-being, and poor oral health is linked to diabetes, cardiovascular, respiratory disease, and Alzheimer’s disease; and

“Whereas it is estimated that two to three million people in Ontario have not seen a dentist in the past year, mainly due to the cost of private dental services; and

“Whereas approximately every nine minutes a person in Ontario arrives at a hospital emergency room with a dental problem but can only get painkillers....;”

They petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“—ensuring that plans to reform the health care system include oral health so that vulnerable people in our communities have equitable access to the dental care they need to be healthy;

“—extending public dental programs for low-income children and youth within the next two years to include low-income adults and seniors; and

“—delivering public dental services in a cost-efficient way through publicly funded dental clinics such as public health units, community health centres and aboriginal health access centres to ensure primary oral health services are accessible to vulnerable people in Ontario.”

I support this petition, will affix my name to it and ask Charlotte to bring it to the Clerk.

Home inspection industry

Mr. Lou Rinaldi: “Whereas home inspections are an integral part of the real estate transaction; and

“Whereas there are no current rules and education system to qualify who is and who is not a home inspector; and

“Whereas the public interest is best served by protecting consumers against receiving a bad home inspection;

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

“Ensure the speedy passage of Bill 59, Putting Consumers First Act, 2016, and mandate the government of Ontario to bring in a strong qualifications regime for home inspectors.”

I will send it to the table with Keira.

Government advertising

Ms. Sylvia Jones: My petition is to stop taxpayer-funded partisan ads.

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas since 2006 the Auditor General of Ontario had been responsible for reviewing all government advertising to ensure it was not partisan; and

“Whereas in 2015 the Wynne government watered down the legislation, removing the ability of the Auditor General to reject partisan ads; and

“Whereas the Wynne government has since run ads such as those for the Ontario Pension Plan that were extremely partisan in nature, which cost almost $800,000; and

“Whereas the Wynne government is currently using taxpayers’ money to run partisan hydro ads; and

“Whereas history shows that the Wynne Liberal government has increased government ad spending in the year prior a general election;

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

“To immediately restore the Auditor General’s authority to review all government advertising for partisan messages before the ads run.”

I support this petition, affix my name to it, and give it to page Matthew to take to the table.

Long-term care

Ms. Peggy Sattler: I would like to thank London West constituents Victoria Stirling and Mary Kroetsch for collecting signatures on a petition to create a minimum long-term care standard.

“Whereas quality care for the 78,000 residents of (LTC) homes is a priority for many Ontario families; and

“Whereas the provincial government does not provide adequate funding to ensure care and staffing levels in LTC homes to keep pace with residents’ increasing acuity and the growing number of residents with complex behaviours; and

“Whereas several Ontario coroner’s inquests into LTC homes deaths have recommended an increase in direct hands-on care for residents and staffing levels and the most reputable studies on this topic recommend 4.1 hours of direct care per day;

“We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to:

“Amend the LTC Homes Act (2007) for a legislated minimum care standard of four hours per resident per day, adjusted for acuity level and case mix.”

I fully the support this petition, affix my name to it, and will give to page Eashvar to take to the table.

Elevator maintenance

Ms. Sophie Kiwala: “To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas elevators are an important amenity for a resident of a high-rise residential building; and

“Whereas ensuring basic mobility and standards of living for residents remain top priority; and

“Whereas the unreasonable delay of repairs for elevator services across Ontario is a concern for all residents of high-rise buildings who experience constant breakdowns, mechanical failures and ‘out of service’ notices for unspecified amounts of time;

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

“Urge the Ontario government to require repairs to elevators be completed within a reasonable and prescribed time frame. We urge this government to address these concerns that are shared by residents of Trinity–Spadina and across Ontario.”

I agree with this petition and assign it to Sophie.

Hospital funding

Mr. Jim Wilson: “To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Stevenson Memorial Hospital in Alliston is challenged to support the growing needs of the community within its existing space as it was built for a mere 7,000” emergency room visits per year and now experiences almost 40,000 “visits annually; and

“Whereas the government-implemented Places to Grow Act forecasts massive population growth in New Tecumseth, which along with the aging population will only intensify the need for the redevelopment of the hospital; and

“Whereas all other hospital emergency facilities are more than 45 minutes away with no public transit available between those communities; and

“Whereas Stevenson Memorial Hospital deserves equitable servicing comparable to other Ontario hospitals;

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

“That the Kathleen Wynne Liberal government immediately provide the necessary funding to Stevenson Memorial Hospital for the redevelopment of their emergency department, operating rooms, diagnostic imaging and laboratory to ensure that they can continue to provide stable and ongoing service to residents in our area.”

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

Privatization of public assets

M me France Gélinas: I have this petition that comes from my riding, and I’d like to thank Henri St-Germain, who signed the petition. It goes as follows:

“Whereas once you privatize Hydro One, there’s no return; and

“Whereas we’ll lose billions in reliable annual revenues for schools and hospitals; and

“Whereas we’ll lose our biggest economic asset and control over our energy future; and

“Whereas we’ll pay higher and higher hydro bills just like what’s happened elsewhere;”

They petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“To stop the sale of Hydro One and make sure Ontario families benefit from owning Hydro One now and for generations to come.”

I fully support this petition. I will affix my name to it and ask Taylor to bring it to the Clerk.

Nanjing Massacre

Ms. Soo Wong: I have a petition addressed to the Legislative Assembly.

“Whereas the events in Asian countries during World War II are not well-known;

“Whereas Ontarians have not had an opportunity for a thorough discussion and examination of the World War II atrocities in Asia;

“Whereas Ontario is recognized as an inclusive society;

“Whereas Ontario is home to one of the largest Asian populations in Canada, with over 2.6 million in 2011;

“Whereas some Ontarians have direct relationships with victims and survivors of the Nanjing Massacre, whose stories are untold;

“Whereas the Nanjing Massacre was an atrocity with over 200,000 Chinese civilians and soldiers alike were indiscriminately killed, and tens of thousands of women were sexually assaulted, in the Japanese capture of the city;

“Whereas December 13, 2017, marks the 80th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre;

“Whereas designating December 13th in each year as the Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day in Ontario will provide an opportunity for all Ontarians, especially the Asian community, to gather, remember, and honour the victims and families affected by the Nanjing Massacre;

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

“That the Legislature pass the Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day Act, 2016 by December 8, 2017, to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre, which will enable Ontarians, especially those with Asian heritage, to plan commemorative activities to honour the victims and families affected by the Nanjing Massacre.”

I support the petition and will give my petition to Raj.

Hydro rates

Mr. Norm Miller: I have a large number of petitions given to me by Dr. Gordon Creasor from Huntsville. The petition reads:

“To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas electricity rates have risen by more than 300% since the current government took office; and

“Whereas over half of Ontarians’ power bills are regulatory and delivery charges and the global adjustment; and

“Whereas the global adjustment is a tangible measure of how much Ontario must overpay for unneeded wind and solar power, and the cost of offloading excess power to our neighbours at a loss; and

“Whereas the market rate for electricity, according to IESO data, has been less than three cents per kilowatt hour to date in 2016, yet the government’s lack of responsible science-based planning has not allowed these reductions to be passed on to Ontarians, resulting in electrical bills several times more than that amount; and

“Whereas the implementation of cap-and-trade will drive the cost of electricity even higher and deny Ontarians the option to choose affordable natural gas heating; and

“Whereas more and more Ontarians are being forced to cut down on essential expenses such as food and medicines in order to pay their increasingly unaffordable electricity bills; and

“Whereas the ill-conceived energy policies of this government that ignored the advice of independent experts and government agencies, such as the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) and the independent electrical system operator (IESO), and are not based on science have resulted in Ontarians’ electricity costs rising, despite lower natural gas costs and increased energy conservation in the province;

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

“To take immediate steps to reduce the total cost of electricity paid for by Ontarians, including costs associated with power consumed, the global adjustment, delivery charges, administrative charges, tax and any other charges added to Ontarians’ energy bills.”

I have signed this, Mr. Speaker, and will give it to Zara.

Domestic violence and sexual violence

Ms. Peggy Sattler: I have a petition to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

“Support Survivors of Domestic Violence and Sexual Violence.

“Whereas half of all Canadian women have experienced at least one incident of physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, and approximately every six days a woman in Canada is killed by her intimate partner; and

“Whereas a 2014 national survey showed that Canadian workers who experience domestic violence often disclose the violence to a co-worker, and that the violence frequently follows the worker to work; and

“Whereas the experience of domestic violence and sexual violence can cause significant physical, mental, emotional and financial hardship for survivors, their families, and society as a whole; and

“Whereas Canadian employers lose $78 million annually due to domestic violence, and $18 million due to sexual violence, because of direct and indirect impacts that include distraction, decreased productivity, and absenteeism; and

“Whereas workers who experience domestic violence or sexual violence should not have to jeopardize their employment in order to seek medical attention, access counselling, relocate, or deal with police, lawyers or the courts;....

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“That the Legislative Assembly pass Bill 26 to provide employees who have experienced domestic violence or sexual violence ... with up to 10 days of paid leave, reasonable unpaid leave, and options for flexible work arrangements, and to require employers to provide mandatory workplace training about domestic violence and sexual violence.”

I fully support this petition, affix my name to it and will give it to page Kishan to take to the table.

GO Transit

Mr. Lou Rinaldi: I have a petition to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

“Whereas Cambridge, Ontario, is a municipality of over 125,000 people, many of whom commute into the greater Toronto area daily;

“Whereas the current commuting options available for travel between the Waterloo region and the GTA are inefficient and time-consuming, as well as environmentally damaging;

“Whereas the residents of Cambridge and the Waterloo region believe that they would be well-served by commuter rail transit that connects the region to the Milton line, and that this infrastructure would have positive, tangible economic benefits to the province of Ontario;

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

“Direct crown agency Metrolinx to commission a feasibility study into building a rail line that connects the city of Cambridge to the GO train station in Milton, and to complete this study in a timely manner and communicate the results to the municipal government of Cambridge.”

I will affix my name and it send it to the table with Sophie.

Gasoline prices

M me France Gélinas: I would like to thank Mrs. Dawn Graham from Val Therese, a very good friend of mine, for signing this petition. It goes as follows:

“Whereas northern Ontario motorists continue to be subject to wild fluctuations in the price of gasoline; and

“Whereas the province could eliminate opportunistic price gouging and deliver fair, stable and predictable fuel prices; and

“Whereas five provinces and many US states already have some sort of gas price regulation; and

“Whereas jurisdictions with gas price regulation have seen an end to wild price fluctuations, a shrinking of price discrepancies between urban and rural communities and lower annualized gas prices;

“We petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

“Mandate the Ontario Energy Board to monitor the price of gasoline across Ontario in order to reduce price volatility and unfair regional price differences while encouraging competition.”

I fully support this petition, will affix my name to it and ask good page Naomi to bring it to the Clerk.

Orders of the Day

Protecting Patients Act, 2017 / Loi de 2017 sur la protection des patients

Resuming the debate adjourned on March 27, 2017, on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 87,

An Act to implement health measures and measures relating to seniors by enacting, amending or repealing various statutes / Projet de loi 87, Loi visant à mettre en oeuvre des mesures concernant la santé et les personnes âgées par l’édiction, la modification ou l’abrogation de diverses lois.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Ted Arnott): I recognize the member for Northumberland–Quinte West.

Mr. Lou Rinaldi: I will be sharing my time with the member from Scarborough–Agincourt, the Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation, and the President of the Treasury Board.

Speaker, it is a pleasure to stand in this House and to talk about Bill 87, the Protecting Patients Act. It’s a bit multi-faceted, but at the end of the day it’s all to make sure that people who need assistance are protected and that they get the best possible attention. That’s what I want to talk about.

One of the pillars of this bill is strengthening sexual abuse provisions within the ministry. What does this really mean?

What this really means is to better define a patient-provider relationship, giving the government the authority to make regulations setting out criteria regarding who is and who is not considered to be a patient for the purpose of professional misconduct matters involving sexual abuse, prohibiting sexual interaction between regular health professionals and former patients for a minimum period of one year after the end of a patient-provider relationship, and giving each college the regulation-making authority to extend this period of time with respect to their own members where appropriate.

It also expands the list of acts of sexual abuse that result in mandatory revocation of a regulated health professional’s certificate or registration. It ensures immediate cessation of practice when a panel of a discipline committee makes a finding of professional misconduct involving sexual abuse for which mandatory revocation is required. It will introduce a mandatory penalty of suspension for all findings of sexual abuse that do not involve contact for this mandatory revocation as required. It prohibits the use of gender-based restrictions on a professional certificate of registration.

It would also increase maximum first-time fines for failure to report an incident of sexual abuse to a health regulatory college to $50,000 for an individual and $200,000 for an organization.

These are substantial changes that, if the bill passes, we’ll propose. Once again, it’s all for the protection of the patient. When anybody seeks any kind of medical help, they’re normally in some type of dire straits, so we want to make sure that they are protected under those circumstances.

This bill, if passed, would enhance patient support through the complaints, investigation and discipline process. So what does that mean, Speaker? It would fund therapy and counselling as soon as a complaint of sexual abuse by a regulated health professional is filed, so there will be immediate attention given to that particular individual. It will provide regulation-making authority to allow for additional patient support and additional roles and functions for the patient relations committee. This would just increase the oversight and provide assistance as we move along.

There’s more, and I invite my colleagues to further speak about this bill and its importance. I will say that at the end of the day, Mr. Speaker, this bill should go to committee and—sorry, third reading—and let’s get it passed. It’s all for the good of patients. It’s good for our constituents. I hope we can get this done.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Ted Arnott): The member for Scarborough–Agincourt.

Ms. Soo Wong: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I’m very pleased to stand this afternoon in support of Bill 79.

As many of my colleagues know, there are five schedules to this particular bill, but in my limited time I’m going to focus on

schedule 1, the amendments to the Immunization of School Pupils Act. As a former public health nurse, I’m reading this particular

schedule with great interest. I also want to do a shout-out, Mr. Speaker, to my colleague the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration because tomorrow I’ve been invited back to one of her high schools, Western Collegiate, which is where I started my public health nursing. I was their nurse. I was dealing with immunization and suspension. How timely, as I’m speaking about this bill and why this bill is important to all Ontarians, especially our youngest citizens.

If passed, we are choosing to vaccinate our children to protect them from disease and also protect vulnerable children who can’t get vaccinated for a variety of reasons.

As we speak today, I just checked the Toronto Public Health website. There are 66 cases of mumps right now that Toronto Public Health is investigating, and that’s a concern. The other piece is that about two years ago, there was a measles outbreak in the city of Toronto.

These vaccinations are very, very important to the health of our youngest citizens. That’s why the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care is making amendments to this particular bill to ensure that parents keep their child’s immunization records up to date.

I know as a parent, Mr. Speaker, you yourself know that we have been giving out those yellow cards, the infamous yellow cards, to keep all the immunization records up to date. Well, we also know that parents move. Those immunization cards—the President of the Treasury Board is nodding her head. She knows what I’m talking about, as a former Minister of Education—that if these cards are lost, guess what? The child can get suspended. If this legislation is passed, it will make it easier for parents and reduce unnecessary suspensions due to out-of-date immunization or the loss of records. Why should a four-year-old child lose out on a day in school because of the loss of a yellow card?

The changes would also make keeping track of the child’s immunization record easier for parents and for public health as well, which will contribute to the health and well-being of all Ontarians.

Strengthening the exemptions and recording requirements for school-based vaccinations is part of Immunization 2020, the Ontario five-year strategy to improve its publicly funded immunization program.

The other piece here is that we also have to remind everybody who is watching today, and also my colleagues, that there is a burden for parents who currently have to report themselves and whose child may face suspension. When the letter comes out through Toronto Public Health to a local school board, somebody has to deliver that letter. Oftentimes, the principals have to do that difficult task because they are enforcing the legislation.

If passed, the legislation also advances the Immunization 2020 vision of a province-wide registry. Last week, all of us had an opportunity to meet with a stakeholder, meaning the Ontario Medical Association. They are supportive of this kind of initiative to have province-wide tracking of all immunizations, to ensure improvement in service delivery, but more importantly, to modernize the immunization system.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, in my limited time, if passed, the legislation would require parents or guardians who are considering not immunizing their child for non-medical reasons to participate in education sessions delivered via a public health unit in their municipality.

I remember doing that for a long, long time. As someone who has been in public health, this is of critical importance. We have got to make sure, before you exempt your child from being immunized, that you have been educated, you have been informed and, most importantly, that you make the right choice for the health of your child.

I encourage everyone to consider this particular bill and move this legislation forward, because September is around the corner. We want to make sure this legislation is ready for the next school year so that every young person is immunized and, if they can’t be immunized, that there is an information session for the parents or the guardians.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Ted Arnott): The Minister of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation.

Hon. David Zimmer: Thank you, Speaker. I do want to speak to Bill 87, the Protecting Patients Act, and I want to just touch on about seven points, but very briefly.

What this legislation is going to do is strengthen the sexual abuse provisions in the RHPA. How do we go about that? The first thing we’re going to do is better define and clearly define what constitutes a patient-provider relationship. That’s the very first step. Is there a patient-provider relationship? When we define that, then we are going to move into certain protections, if you will, or prohibitions, once that relationship is defined. The act will clearly define that relationship. Right now, there is, in some situations, some ambiguity about whether that patient-provider relationship exists.

Once the relationship has been defined, the act will clearly prohibit sexual interactions between regulated health professionals and former patients for a minimum of a year after the end of the patient-provider relationship. It will give each college the regulation-making authority to extend this period of time with respect to their own members where appropriate. It will expand the list of acts of sexual abuse that result in mandatory revocation of a health professional’s licence. It will introduce mandatory penalties, and so on.

The second thing that the bill will do, if passed—and this is very important—is enhance patient supports throughout the complaints, investigation and discipline processes. It obviously is a very difficult and stressful time for a patient involved in a complaint. There need to be supports and guidance throughout that very difficult process. This bill will ensure that that assistance is available.

The third thing that the bill does is it improves the complaints, investigation and discipline processes themselves. Essentially, it will provide regulation-making authority for the college to clarify the various responsibilities and functions regarding the parties and the investigators to a complaint and the process and progress of a discipline process. There are provisions that will allow a panel of the Inquiries, Reports and Complaints Committee to more expeditiously impose time limits, term limits, and conditions on various aspects of the process.

The other thing—and this is important too, because there are cases where these complaints may be, in some cases, enhanced or otherwise resolved by the use of an alternative dispute resolution mechanism that will be set up by the health regulatory colleges. That’s another way of dealing with a complaint, short of a formal disciplinary hearing: an alternative dispute mechanism.

The fourth thing that the bill does is that there are aspects of the bill which will modernize the college governance rules and regulations. The new regulation-making authority for the minister will be available for the minister to establish requirements regarding the composition of committees that each college is required to have, as well as the composition regarding the various panels within the college.

The fifth thing that the b