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April 25, 2007

38th Parliament, 2nd Session

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Hansard Transcripts

vol. A

Hansard Transcripts

vol. B

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcripts 2007-Apr-25 (PDF)

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L'ONTARIO

Wednesday 25 April 2007 Mercredi 25 avril 2007

MEMBERS' STATEMENTS

ORGAN AND TISSUE DONATION

STRATFORD FESTIVAL

MINISTRY OF CITIZENSHIP

AND IMMIGRATION GRANTS

ORGAN AND TISSUE DONATION

MINISTRY OF CITIZENSHIP

AND IMMIGRATION GRANTS

ARTS AND CULTURAL FUNDING

KOREAN CANADIAN

WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION

RED HAT SOCIETY

PUBLIC HEALTH

DEPUTY CLERK

VISITORS

INTRODUCTION OF BILLS

ELECTION STATUTE LAW

AMENDMENT ACT, 2007 /

LOI DE 2007 MODIFIANT DES LOIS

EN CE QUI CONCERNE LES ÉLECTIONS

PUBLIC SECTOR SALARY DISCLOSURE

AMENDMENT ACT, 2007 /

LOI DE 2007 MODIFIANT LA LOI

SUR LA DIVULGATION

DES TRAITEMENTS

DANS LE SECTEUR PUBLIC

MOTIONS

HOUSE SITTINGS

VISITORS

STATEMENTS BY THE MINISTRY AND RESPONSES

PEDIATRIC FORENSIC

PATHOLOGY INQUIRY /

ENQUÊTE SUR LE SYSTÈME

DE MÉDECINE LÉGALE PÉDIATRIQUE

ELECTORAL REFORM /

RÉFORME ÉLECTORALE

CLIMATE CHANGE /

CHANGEMENT DE CLIMAT

PEDIATRIC FORENSIC

PATHOLOGY INQUIRY

ELECTORAL REFORM

CLIMATE CHANGE

ELECTORAL REFORM

VISITORS

ARCHIE CAMPBELL

ORAL QUESTIONS

MINISTRY OF CITIZENSHIP

AND IMMIGRATION GRANTS

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

MINISTRY OF CITIZENSHIP

AND IMMIGRATION GRANTS

ONTARIO ARTISTS

MINISTRY OF CITIZENSHIP

AND IMMIGRATION GRANTS

EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS

PETITIONS

REGULATION OF ZOOS

HUMBER RIVER REGIONAL HOSPITAL

ORDERS OF THE DAY

USE OF ELECTRONIC

DEVICES IN HOUSE

EDUCATION AMENDMENT ACT

(PROGRESSIVE DISCIPLINE

AND SCHOOL SAFETY), 2007 /

LOI DE 2007 MODIFIANT

LA

LOI SUR L'ÉDUCATION

(DISCIPLINE PROGRESSIVE

ET SÉCURITÉ DANS LES ÉCOLES)

The House met at 1330.

Prayers.

MEMBERS' STATEMENTS

ORGAN AND TISSUE DONATION

Mr. Frank Klees (Oak Ridges): On behalf of John Tory, the leader of the official opposition, and the Ontario PC caucus, I'm pleased to acknowledge National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week.

Ontario is a world leader in successful transplants, but this year alone there are over 1,750 Ontario patients who are on the waiting list for life-saving transplants, and one person dies every three days waiting for a transplant in this province. We have reason to be encouraged, however, as Ontarians are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of organ donation thanks in large part to organizations such as the London Transplant Gift of Life Association, who join us in the Legislature today.

I also want to acknowledge the work of the Citizens Panel on Increasing Organ Donations, under the leadership of Dr. Ted Boadway, which released its report last week containing 26 specific recommendations that, when implemented, will increase organ donations and save lives.

I call on the Premier and the Minister of Health to make it a priority of the government to implement those recommendations without delay. A good start would be to pass into law Bill 67, which is before the Legislature and is entirely consistent with the panel's recommendations. That will be a clear signal that the Ontario government has heard and is responding to the call for action on this important issue.

STRATFORD FESTIVAL

Mr. John Wilkinson (Perth–Middlesex): I'd like to invite all members and all Ontarians to come and experience world-class live theatre in my hometown of Stratford.

The Stratford Festival's 2007 season, running until November, is well under way and includes four plays by Shakespeare, two musicals, one revival, and seven works new to the festival. I'm delighted that Premier McGuinty visited Stratford just last weekend to enjoy a preview of the musical Oklahoma.

Drawing audiences of more than 600,000 people each year, the festival season includes a wonderful array of 14 productions offered at our four theatres.

If that were not enough, the season also includes a full program of festival fringe activities, including concert recitals, discussion sessions and readings by celebrated authors.

I want to thank the government for its continued investment in both tourism and arts and culture initiatives in the province of Ontario, including the $41 million of proposed new spending outlined in our most recent provincial budget.

I want to entreat all members to visit Stratford.

Finally, I want to recognize the amazing tenure of artistic director Richard Monette. After an unprecedented 14 seasons as the artistic director, preceded by 20 seasons on the stage, he will be genuinely missed after his retirement at the end of this season. Richard has given so much of his heart, soul and talent to the Stratford Festival that no amount of applause could pay him adequate tribute.

All the plays of Shakespeare are referred to as his canon of work. To quote Richard Monette, please come and celebrate his "last kick at the canon."

MINISTRY OF CITIZENSHIP

AND IMMIGRATION GRANTS

Mr. Garfield Dunlop (Simcoe North): This year, we are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Ontario Trillium Foundation. I was pleased to attend the recent reception hosted by CEO Robin Cardozo.

Thousands of organizations across Ontario, representing a cross-section of the diversity of our province, spend countless hours filling out complex applications in their quest for funding.

Hard-working and dedicated OTF staff work closely with the organizations, helping them with applications and making sure the process is transparent. The dedicated OTF grant review team scrutinize the applications and choose those that are successful.

The program awards assistance to groups representing the following: the environment, recreation, social programs, public safety, and the arts.

The money is well spent and appreciated and, above all, transparent and a wise use of public funds.

But we now have a new program, a program that is partisan, a disgraceful, Guité-style misuse of taxpayers' dollars, chaired by the election campaign chair of the Ontario Liberal Party and part-time Minister of Finance, Greg Sorbara. The program is called slush-fund-gate, and it's a cousin of the scandalous federal Liberal program called sponsorshipgate. The money is funnelled to the son of Guité and has to be rolled out before the end of the fiscal year—a true slush fund.

Ontario taxpayers should be reminded that on top of a string of broken promises, scandal now is the norm for this McGuinty government: one scandal after another and one broken promise after another.

The hard-working taxpayers of Ontario are paying for grants to Liberal-friendly organizations—

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

ORGAN AND TISSUE DONATION

Ms. Deborah Matthews (London North Centre): It's a real honour for me to stand before this House today, during National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week, to recognize the London Transplant Gift of Life Association for the wonderful work they do. This terrific group, made up of recipients, pre-transplant patients, donor families as well as community partners, strives to ensure that everyone who needs a transplant has the opportunity to get one.

The partnership between the London Health Sciences Centre's multi-organ transplant program, their director, Dr. William Wall, and the London Transplant Gift of Life Association has created a leading transplant program in Canada. Over 200 transplants are performed annually at LHSC, and the rate of organ donations in London continues to be one of the highest in Canada, due in large part to the efforts of this passionate group of volunteers.

I'm delighted to welcome to the House today Jane Tucker, founder and president of the London Transplant Gift of Life Association, as well as several of the association's directors, donor families and recipients. Carl and Lorraine Laing are here, Shirley and Ross Rowe are here, and I believe others are here as well. Welcome. I ask you to join me in thanking them for their tireless efforts to save and enhance more lives through the gift of organ and tissue donation in Ontario.

MINISTRY OF CITIZENSHIP

AND IMMIGRATION GRANTS

Mr. Ted Arnott (Waterloo—Wellington): When I first learned that the Minister of Citizenship was going to give a minister's statement on the grants scandal on Monday, I thought for a moment that he was going to do the right thing and apologize.

Not only did he not apologize, he broke his promise to release the specific criteria upon which the previous grants had been determined.

Clearly, there were no objective and defensible criteria, and as such, this was an egregious waste of taxpayers' money. How else could you characterize the expenditure of $20 million of the taxpayers' money with absolutely no due diligence, no financial background information requested of the grant recipients and no fundamental evaluation as to whether or not a need actually existed?

This is surely a question which the Auditor General of Ontario must address, and he must do so and report his findings before October 10 to ensure that the McGuinty Liberal government is held to account for what has happened. It appears on the surface that with about five months to go before a provincial election, a desperate Minister of Finance, who also acts as chairman of the Ontario Liberal election campaign, allocated this money to the Minister of Citizenship. He then assigned him the task of shovelling the money out the door without any normal accountability provisions, in a blatant effort to generate support for the Liberal Party in that election.

The people of Waterloo—Wellington and Halton Hills will be outraged by this abuse of the public trust and the taxpayers' money. Instead of generating support for the Ontario Liberal Party, as the finance minister/campaign chair had planned, this scandal will only expedite the government's demise.

ARTS AND CULTURAL FUNDING

Ms. Cheri DiNovo (Parkdale—High Park): I read a letter from Wayne Samuelson, who is the president of the Ontario Federation of Labour, representing thousands and thousands of cultural workers, to the Minister of Culture:

"Introduced as part of the 2007 budget measures, the proposed act provides no meaningful change to the material status of artists and cultural industry workers...." They "have been calling on the Ontario government to implement meaningful legislation that will improve artists' capacity to improve their wages and working conditions.

"We note with regret that your government has ignored the recommendations of its own advisory council. Despite a lengthy consultation undertaken by your Advisory Council for Arts and Culture, virtually all substantive recommendations contained in its report were left out of the proposed Status of Ontario's Artists Act....

"Your government has designated the first full weekend in June to be an annual Celebrate the Artist weekend. We urge your government to celebrate the artist by making amendments to this legislation that will genuinely improve the status of all of Ontario's artists and cultural industry workers."

It's signed by Wayne Samuelson on behalf of literally thousands—tens of thousands—of cultural workers in this province.

KOREAN CANADIAN

WOMEN'S ASSOCIATION

Mr. David Zimmer (Willowdale): I rise to talk about the great work of an important, hard-working organization in Toronto. Two weeks ago, the McGuinty government announced a $50,000 grant to support the Korean Canadian Women's Association Family and Social Services.

I want to highlight how indispensable the KCWA's work has been to many new Korean Canadians and the community at large. This not-for-profit organization was started in 1985 by a group of Korean women concerned with women's and family issues. The association offers a variety of information and referral services, from ESL classes to skills training and employment workshops. It provides social support for at-risk women, children and youth. Last year, it served more than 772 clients on a one-on-one basis.

KCWA has a proven track record of serving its community with integrity, care and professionalism. Its mandate to "empower Korean-Canadian families and other vulnerable members of the community at large to live free from violence, poverty and inequality" is an admirable objective.

I want to echo what Minister Colle said last week: "Supporting an organization like KCWA Family and Social Services helps us facilitate the economic and social richness that builds diversity in Ontario."

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

RED HAT SOCIETY

Mr. Ernie Parsons (Prince Edward—Hastings): I'm sure everyone will want to join with me in welcoming representatives from the Red Hat Society who are with us today. They're from the communities of Belleville and Carrying Place and Stirling and Picton—a wonderful part of Ontario.

For those of you who have not heard of the Red Hat Society—and there may be some, but they have literally hundreds of thousands of members across the world—they are an organization that has two guiding principles. One is, they have no rules; the second is, they do nothing.

For those of you who joined me in mid-sentence, I'm not talking about the opposition; I'm talking about the Red Hat Society. While I say that they do nothing, they consist of individuals who have contributed heavily to their community over the years and have decided to join together and do an activity that is fun—just straight fun. You know, we need more of that in this world. These are women who have been role models and continue to be role models in my community. They help to enrich and make the great society we have. I'm absolutely delighted to have them with us today.

Interestingly, when I say that their principle is that they do nothing, their first questions to me today were about the organ donation program and how much they support it and how much it is of interest to them. So even on the side, they continue to do good things.

Thank you for coming today. I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself. It's a pleasure to have you with us.

PUBLIC HEALTH

Mr. Jeff Leal (Peterborough): I want to talk about the great progress that the McGuinty government is making in the area of public health care and our commitment to the delivery of effective services to the people of Ontario.

The leader of the official opposition has repeatedly made it clear that his first priority is to take $2.5 billion out of the health care budget. What does this mean? It means that all the progress this government has made to bring wait times down and to improve the quality of health care services would be reversed.

Interjections.

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

Member for Peterborough.

Mr. Leal: Do Ontarians want that? The answer is no.

The second thing the member opposite discussed was wanting to privatize our health care system. Do Ontarians want that? The answer is no.

The McGuinty government has been dedicated to repairing the health care system that we inherited from the previous government, which was subject to years of neglect and damage. With the recent budget, funding for our public health care system is up by $8.5 billion, or 29%, since we took office.

While we're continuing to invest for the future of all Ontarians' health care needs, the members opposite would prefer to make health care a privilege and not an inherent right.

DEPUTY CLERK

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): I beg to inform the House that, effective yesterday, Mr. Todd Decker will assume responsibilities as Deputy Clerk and executive director of legislative services.

VISITORS

Mr. Paul Ferreira (York South—Weston): On a point of order, Mr. Speaker: I just want to acknowledge the presence in the House this afternoon of members of the Humber River Health Coalition, who are here to witness the presentation of their petition later this afternoon. I want to thank the following—Rennie Terbogt, Garry Green, Rosanna Vidale, Lorraine Schulz, Franca Guadanolo, Giuseppe Astrella and Walter Poremski—for their tremendous sense of community activism.

INTRODUCTION OF BILLS

ELECTION STATUTE LAW

AMENDMENT ACT, 2007 /

LOI DE 2007 MODIFIANT DES LOIS

EN CE QUI CONCERNE LES ÉLECTIONS

Mrs. Bountrogianni moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 218,

An Act to amend the Election Act and the Election Finances Act and make related amendments to other Acts / Projet de loi 218, Loi modifiant la Loi électorale et la

Loi sur le financement des élections et apportant des modifications connexes à d'autres lois.

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

The minister may wish to make a brief statement.

Hon. Marie Bountrogianni (Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, minister responsible for democratic renewal): I will, during ministers' statements.

PUBLIC SECTOR SALARY DISCLOSURE

AMENDMENT ACT, 2007 /

LOI DE 2007 MODIFIANT LA LOI

SUR LA DIVULGATION

DES TRAITEMENTS

DANS LE SECTEUR PUBLIC

Mr. Sterling moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 219,

An Act to amend the Public Sector Salary Disclosure Act, 1996 / Projet de loi 219, Loi modifiant la Loi de 1996 sur la divulgation des traitements dans le secteur public.

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

The member may wish to make a brief statement.

Mr. Norman W. Sterling (Lanark—Carleton): This act is an extension of the sunshine list that was introduced by the Harris government in 1995 and embodied in the statute of 1996. This list publishes the the names of people in the public service, in Ontario Power Generation, in Hydro One and in many other institutions of government earning over $100,000 a year.

Unfortunately, this provision doesn't extend to municipal hydro or public utility corporations. My bill would extend it to those particular corporations. My feeling—and, I think, the feeling of all people, particularly the citizens of Ottawa—is that they should know how much the people who are working for their taxpayers' dollars are earning if, in fact, they earn over $100,000.

I urge all members of this Legislature to support my bill and the wishes of Ottawa Mayor Larry O'Brien, who has called for this change.

MOTIONS

HOUSE SITTINGS

Hon. James J. Bradley (Minister of Tourism, minister responsible for seniors, Government House Leader): I move that, notwithstanding any other order of the House, pursuant to standing order 9(c)(i), the House shall meet from 6:45 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 25, 2007, for the purpose of considering government business.

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

All those in favour will say "aye."

All those opposed will say "nay."

In my opinion, the ayes have it.

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

The division bells rang from 1352 to 1357.

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

Ayes

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

Nays

The Clerk of the Assembly (Ms. Deborah Deller): The ayes are 43; the nays are 24.

The Speaker: I declare the motion carried.

VISITORS

Mr. Kim Craitor (Niagara Falls): On a point of order, Mr. Speaker: I'd like to welcome a number of students in master studies from the School of Restoration Arts at Willowbank in Queenston, Niagara-on-the-Lake, who are touring the Legislative Assembly to learn about Queen's Park restorative practices on our fine historic buildings. I also want to indicate that they're joined by the acting president, Carol Beckman Nixon, and its school director, Shelley Huson. I'd like all members to welcome the students and the class from Queenston.

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): We have with us, in the Speaker's gallery, members of the Consular Spouses Association of Toronto and their president, Putti Mehta of India. Welcome.

STATEMENTS BY THE MINISTRY AND RESPONSES

PEDIATRIC FORENSIC

PATHOLOGY INQUIRY /

ENQUÊTE SUR LE SYSTÈME

DE MÉDECINE LÉGALE PÉDIATRIQUE

Hon. Michael Bryant (Attorney General): I rise in the House today to announce details of a public inquiry under the Public Inquiries Act into the oversight of Ontario's pediatric forensic pathology system in the wake of the chief coroner's review involving Dr. Charles Smith.

I'm pleased to inform the House that the Ontario government has appointed the Honourable Stephen Goudge of the Court of Appeal for Ontario as commissioner of the public inquiry. The commissioner's job is to get to the bottom of what happened and to make recommendations to prevent it from ever happening again.

Justice Goudge will spend the next year reviewing and assessing the systemic policies, procedures, practices, accountability and oversight mechanisms, quality control measures and institutional arrangements related to the practice of pediatric forensic pathology and its future use in investigations and criminal proceedings. Under the Public Inquiries Act, this commission of inquiry will have the power to issue a summons for testimony and for documents. Justice Goudge will deliver a report with recommendations within a year from today, the goal of which is to enhance public confidence in pediatric forensic pathology.

We need to improve the system and prevent this from recurring. These pediatric pathology reports may be only one element of the justice system, but one significant mistake in one report is unacceptable.

La confiance du public a été ébranlée. Nous devons savoir exactement ce qui s'est passé. Nous devons empêcher que cela ne se reproduise à l'avenir.

There can be nothing more tragic than the death of a child. Many families have already been through so much more than many of us could imagine. So, too, are miscarriages of justice tragedies for our justice system and for the individuals affected.

If there has been any miscarriage of justice amongst the 13 convictions in which the chief coroner's review has identified problems with Dr. Smith's findings, as chief law officer of the crown I will and crown attorneys will do everything in our power to set it right. More on the work that we are doing in the Ministry of the Attorney General in a moment.

I believe Justice Goudge is the right person to lead this inquiry. He is a respected jurist who was appointed to the Ontario Court of Appeal in 1996. Prior to that, he had a long and distinguished career as one of Canada's premier litigators, based in Toronto. He appeared before the courts at all levels in Ontario, before the Supreme Court of Canada and before many administrative tribunals. He was appointed a Queen's Counsel in 1982. He was active in the Ontario Bar Association and the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

Ian Scott, our late, great Attorney General, was a partner of the Honourable Stephen Goudge's, and he referred to Justice Goudge in his autobiography as having a razor-like mind, an ability to get to the truth and to manage issues in an office effectively, and I know he will do that in this public inquiry.

Justice Goudge will be supported by an expert panel of scientists and medical professionals. This panel will be chaired by Senator Larry Campbell. Mr. Campbell is a former chief coroner of British Columbia, a former mayor of Vancouver. He spent 12 years in the RCMP and helped establish Vancouver's first district coroner's office. He has the experience and the expertise to offer Justice Goudge assistance, knowledge and information to help fulfill his mandate.

As the inquiry is set up and begins its work, my ministry's criminal law division is already taking swift action to respond to the coroner's review. Crown attorneys have been assigned to individual cases—the 13 convictions that I referred to. They have shared and they will continue to quickly share information as we receive it from the chief coroner's office, and provide it to defence.

We are ready, willing and able to respond to any next steps by defence. Under the Criminal Code, it is only the defence that can take the next legal step in this important process. Depending on the circumstance and the status of the case, defence can pursue applications for bail, and that has been done. We have co-operated in one bail application already and one to come before the courts.

Defence can pursue avenues of appeal, and that has already happened and there are appeals before the courts. Or, if the appeals have been exhausted, the defence can apply to the federal justice minister under

section 696 of the code for a review of the conviction, and in one case that has happened already. These processes are under way in some cases and they must continue. In all cases, the crowns will be fully co-operating with the defence. We will do all we can to expedite these matters.

Already, less than a week after the chief coroner released his report, we have consented to bail in one case, will be consenting to bail in a second matter that's before the courts, have indicated consent in an appeal application in a third case, as set out in a letter by the chief prosecutor, and, within a week of the chief coroner's report, have called a full public inquiry, named the commissioner and established the terms of reference. We are moving ahead as quickly and deliberately as possible.

Within the Ministry of the Attorney General, work is already under way to ensure that crown policies and practices are responsive to the coroner's review and that crowns are provided with as much guidance as possible in assessing expert evidence. That work is done by the ministry's criminal convictions review committee. It's a committee of crown attorneys that has recently welcomed the Honourable Patrick LeSage, former Chief Justice of the Superior Court of Ontario.

His Honour and the committee will be providing advice to crowns on trends emerging from these cases, from the chief coroner's reports and other cases. The ministry's criminal law division is also working closely with the chief coroner's office to prioritize for review Dr. Smith's cases from 1981 to 1991.

On compensation: As with the Walkerton inquiry, as with the Arar inquiry and as with the Moran inquiry, issues of compensation will be addressed separately from the public inquiry. That's what happened with those inquiries and that's what will happen in this instance as well.

Ontario's justice system is the envy of much of the world. It's the cornerstone of a safe, just and civil society. We must be certain that it is beyond reproach. That is why we are calling a full public inquiry; that is why we are calling for that report to be delivered within a year's time. It is the best way to restore and enhance public confidence in pediatric forensic pathology in this province and in our justice system.

I thank Justice Goudge and former chief coroner Campbell for taking on this important task, pledge co-operation on behalf of the Ontario government and call on all members to support Justice Goudge in his inquiry.

ELECTORAL REFORM /

RÉFORME ÉLECTORALE

Hon. Marie Bountrogianni (Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, minister responsible for democratic renewal): I'm sure that everyone in this House, myself included, treasures our democratic freedoms and the right to vote. But sometimes people fail to exercise their right to vote because our election laws have not kept pace with the realities of people's lives.

The McGuinty government's democratic renewal initiatives are designed to ensure that our electoral processes keep pace with the needs of Ontarians. The legislation I am introducing today would do just that. It would encourage more people to vote and it would make it easier for Ontarians to get to the polls.

The amendments to the Election Act would modernize elections by making it easier than ever for Ontarians to vote. This legislation, if passed, would extend polling hours by one hour at the end of polling day. Polls would now close at 9 p.m. Due to the time difference, polls in northwestern Ontario would close at 8 p.m., but the polls would close at the same moment in time. The number of advance polling days would increase from six to 13 at returning offices and to 10 days at other locations.

This legislation would also require Elections Ontario to undertake new targeted registration to update the permanent register of electors, thereby improving the voters' list. The chief electoral officer would now also be allowed to pilot new voting technologies in future by-elections.

If this legislation is passed, party names would appear on ballots in the next election. Candidates' names on ballots would be followed by their political affiliation where the candidate has been endorsed by the party. Independent candidates' names would be identified as independents if requested by the candidate.

Cette loi inciterait davantage de personnes à aller voter. Elle conférerait au directeur général des élections le pouvoir de communiquer avec la population et de lui faire mieux connaître le processus électoral.

Le directeur général des élections aurait l'obligation de fournir aux conseils scolaires des trousses de renseignements pour les jeunes qui votent pour la première fois. Ces trousses permettraient aux élèves et à leurs parents de mieux comprendre notre système électoral.

This proposed legislation would also protect election integrity by requiring all voters to provide proof of identity and, in some cases, proof of residence. This would enhance the integrity of the electoral process. The chief electoral officer has the authority to determine the acceptable types of identification.

La période d'interdiction de publicité initiale a été établie pour s'assurer qu'un gouvernement ne jouisse pas d'un avantage indu pour préparer une élection par rapport aux autres partis. En raison de la décision de prévoir les élections à date fixe, ce motif n'est plus de rigueur et nous proposons l'élimination de la période d'interdiction qui s'appliquait à toutes les élections normalement prévues. Toutefois, cette période continuerait de s'appliquer aux élections partielles ou non prévues.

This legislation would do more than just modernize Ontario's election processes. As this Legislature knows, the Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform has been working diligently since last September to assess the current electoral system and other systems in order to recommend whether Ontario should keep its current system or adopt a new one. Never before in Ontario's history has a government delegated so much power to the people of this province to make a decision about an issue of fundamental importance.

We did so because we believe that ordinary people working together can accomplish extraordinary things. One Ontarian from every riding in the province was given the time and the resources to learn about, talk about and think about the issue of how we in this chamber should be elected. We await their final report on May 15 for the details of their proposed model.

But as we are all aware, the citizens' assembly voted on April 15 in favour of recommending a different electoral system to the people of Ontario. We are therefore also introducing an amendment to the Election Act that would require the chief electoral officer to conduct a neutral public education campaign to provide electors across Ontario with the following information: the date of the referendum, the content of the choices in the referendum, the referendum process, and the question electors will be asked to vote on.

It is crucial that this information be neutral and non-partisan to allow Ontarians to make up their own minds on this important issue. That's why we're proposing to direct the chief electoral officer, an independent officer of the Legislative Assembly, to undertake this campaign. The chief electoral officer would provide to the voters of Ontario clear, impartial information about the current electoral system and the recommended alternative electoral system.

This neutral and independent public education campaign would give Ontarians the tools they need to make an informed decision when going to the polls this fall. During the election and referendum debate, we want to ensure that all election advertising activities are transparent. That is why this legislation proposes transparency and reporting rules for third party advertising.

This legislation would enhance participation, integrity and security in a non-disruptive way. We believe that citizens should be able to exercise their democratic right to vote. We believe that it shouldn't be a chore to get on the voters' list. We believe that busy people should be able to more easily vote in advance polls or at the end of a hard working day. We believe that people should have to show identification in order to improve the integrity of the electoral process.

We believe that Ontarians should be provided with a neutral, non-partisan public education campaign to prepare them to participate in the electoral reform referendum.

Les citoyens sont les maîtres des élections; pas le gouvernement. En tant que gouvernement, il nous incombe de veiller à ce que le processus électoral se conforme aux réalités du monde actuel et de permettre à la population de l'Ontario de participer pleinement et de manière informée au débat sur la réforme électorale.

That's what this legislation would do. It would also set the groundwork for more changes once we know the outcome of the electoral reform referendum.

As minister responsible for democratic renewal, I am proud to stand in support of this bill. It is our responsibility as a government to ensure that people can exercise their right to vote. I urge all members of this House to join me in supporting this bill.

CLIMATE CHANGE /

CHANGEMENT DE CLIMAT

Hon. Laurel C. Broten (Minister of the Environment): This is Earth Week in Ontario. It's time to celebrate the wonderful gift that we have been given. It's also time to take action.

All over the world, people are recognizing an important truth: We share a moral responsibility to care for this planet. People everywhere are coming forward with simple, effective ideas to reduce our environmental footprint to help fight climate change. But, as all the members here know, an idea is just an idea until it becomes an action. We need to back up good thinking with good actions.

One person who is proving that actions speak louder than words is Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin group of companies. Sir Richard Branson is a global leader on many levels. Today, though, first and foremost, he is a champion of climate change awareness.

This morning, I had the honour of joining him, along with Dr. Rick Smith, executive director of Environmental Defence, and other founding partners of an unprecedented national coalition to launch Flick Off, a campaign like no other. Flick Off is a global warming activism campaign, a cross-country initiative designed to educate and engage Canadians about climate change and motivate them to take action. What is so encouraging is to see progressive business leaders like Sir Richard and other members of our coalition step up, speak out and take action.

I'm proud that our government is part of this national coalition that empowers Ontarians to take action. We aim to empower Ontarians across this great province to conserve energy, to tell their friends and families to conserve energy, to exchange old habits for new ones—to flick off.

In launching this campaign today, I also challenge my provincial counterparts across Canada to join us. The need to act is now. The planet cannot wait.

Je profite du lancement de cette campagne aujourd'hui pour lancer un défi à mes homologues provinciaux : joignez-vous à nous. C'est aujourd'hui qu'il faut agir. La planète n'attendra pas.

This government is serious about our environmental stewardship. We recognize that fighting climate change is going to take a comprehensive approach that involves many different actions on a variety of fronts. I have heard those voices that have gone from denying the very existence of climate change to fear-mongering with dire predictions about the cost of cutting our greenhouse gas emissions. But our government has seen the costs of inaction, and we see the reason for hope. We hear the voices of Ontarians who want to see progress. Ontarians can and will do their part to fight climate change.

We've seen it in the past. This is where grassroots actions grew into powerful and effective environmental initiatives. We're the home of the highly successful blue box program, which has become an international symbol of recycling; we removed lead from gasoline and banned DDT; we phased out CFCs, which were destroying the ozone layer; and we cut emissions to save our lakes and forests from acid rain.

Climate change will take the same kind of dedication and innovation. This battle is about what we do and what we don't do; what we buy and what we don't buy; how we choose to live and where we choose to live. It's about choice, not sacrifice.

We only stand to benefit from our immediate actions. Every government on earth is recognizing that it needs to take serious action to address the threat of global warming. In Ontario, we are not waiting. Together we have the knowledge, the ability and the will to do our part to halt the effects of climate change. There are a lot of things each and every one of us can do to help make a difference, and that's what's really going to matter.

Our government is working hard on many fronts in the efforts to reduce climate change and greenhouse gases. Our recent Bill 198, the proposed Safeguarding and Sustaining Ontario's Water Act, is now in second reading before this House. It recognizes we need to take strong, decisive action to protect our Great Lakes basin, today and for years to come.

I just recently joined my cabinet colleague Minister Duncan in announcing our government's plan to ban inefficient light bulbs by 2012, a step forward that is the equivalent of taking 250,000 cars off the road.

Our $2-million budget will see 1.8 million trees planted in the greenbelt in partnership with Trees Ontario.

Climate change is the most critical issue of our time. It's going to affect everyone, no matter where you live, rich or poor. At the same time, climate change is bringing environmental awareness to the forefront. We're seeing great ideas. We're seeing inspiring commitments from the grassroots—people like Sir Richard Branson, who is offering a stunning $25 million to advance the fight against climate change. It is this kind of activism, this dedication, the spirit of creativity today, tomorrow and for generations to come—

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

Responses?

PEDIATRIC FORENSIC

PATHOLOGY INQUIRY

Mrs. Christine Elliott (Whitby—Ajax): I'm happy to rise on behalf of the Progressive Conservative caucus in response to the Attorney General's announcement of some details of the public inquiry into the oversight of Ontario's pediatric forensic pathology system, an announcement that I would suggest is well overdue.

The fact of the matter is that in June 2005, aspersions were cast publicly on the credibility of Dr. Charles Smith over at least four autopsies he had conducted, covered in approximately five news stories, including one on the front page of the Toronto Star.

Among the allegations against Dr. Smith was the concern that he had mishandled evidence, in one case by keeping pertinent evidence in a desk drawer that was never submitted and was later seized by police, and in another by losing tissue samples that were sealed in an envelope and later discovered on his desk only as a result of a thorough search of his office.

In April 2005, the Ontario Court of Appeal, when ruling on a stay of charges against a Toronto couple accused of murdering their three-month old baby, said, "It is inescapable that the trial of this matter was delayed for the better part of two years because of the failings of the chief crown witness, Dr. Charles Smith."

I find these allegations and the delay in responding extremely troubling, and apparently I'm not the only one. It was reported in today's Kingston Whig-Standard that at least one of the Attorney General's colleagues brought this matter to his attention some time ago. When asked why the Attorney General has waited until now to act, the Minister of Municipal Affairs answered, "Why not earlier? I don't know."

Perhaps I can help Mr. Gerretsen answer this question, as I would suggest it is no coincidence that the Attorney General has come forward and announced this inquiry only after details were made public of a woman's plea for an appeal on her charge of murdering her child whose case was handled by Dr. Smith.

This is just another example of a McGuinty minister taking action only after having been caught asleep at the switch.

ELECTORAL REFORM

Mr. Norman W. Sterling (Lanark—Carleton): I want to respond to the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs and democratic renewal with regard to the bill on election reform laws.

This particular bill has some attractive expansions of what voters can do and will do and how voters will come to the polls in an educated manner. However, there are some troubling sections with regard to this bill, and of course, we will be looking at those in greater detail as we go forward, but one of them is this—and I want to congratulate Mr. Patten, the member for Ottawa Centre, with regard to putting party affiliation on the ballot; it's a fight that he has undertaken for a long period of time.

Notwithstanding that, that, coupled with Bill l62, which is buried as

schedule 11 of the budget bill, does leave one to think that great mischief could occur in the next provincial election, and it will be very easy to undertake that mischief given that two people could basically form a party now. With the ability to put a name on the ballot, confusion can result. Sometimes that confusion may be intended.

With regard to what happens in the future, as well, there is latitude given to the Chief Election Officer without the approval of the political parties, which he now has to get under our present legislation before he ventures out into new experiments with regard to the voting process. I believe that political parties here in the Legislature should be part of the consultation and should in fact have the power to direct the election commissioner as to what experiments he may or may not undertake.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Ms. Laurie Scott (Haliburton—Victoria—Brock): I rise today in response to the Minister of the Environment's statement and to congratulate private industry for taking up the climate change challenge and putting their money where their mouth is. I want to also congratulate the Minister of the Environment for finding someone else's successful parade to try and jump in front of, and pretend to take the lead.

Four years have passed since Dalton McGuinty was elected—no climate change plans; no targets; no vision. The people of Ontario are still waiting. This McGuinty government has shown no leadership. They have a sorry record on the environment: four years of broken promises and what the Environment Commissioner calls Neglecting Our Obligations. After so many broken promises, what we know is that Dalton McGuinty's only action on the environment is to make a play on words and have many photo ops. It's just more rhetoric from a leaderless Liberal Party.

Mr. Peter Tabuns (Toronto—Danforth): As my colleague just had to say this morning, there was a press conference introducing a new campaign called Flick Off: a novel campaign, an interesting campaign about climate change awareness.

But yesterday the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario reported that in Ontario environmental laws are not properly enforced, and that when you actually look at environmental requirements in this province, 90% to 100% of firms that are supposed to be in compliance with environmental regulations are not.

Ms. Andrea Horwath (Hamilton East): That's 90% to 100%?

Mr. Tabuns: That's 90% to 100%. That, I have to say, speaks volumes to the reality of the environmental commitment on the part of the McGuinty government.

Today—this morning; I was there—the minister spoke of her support for Kyoto, although she has opposed the NDP's climate change act, which would bring Ontario into the Kyoto framework, and has proposed nothing, and all that we have heard is talking about 2020. That's what I call "someone who has a sense of urgency about the issue."

Yesterday, the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario reported that 40% of all facilities in the province are operating without the necessary environmental approvals. My goodness. I have to say that there is a burning sense of need on the part of the minister to really make sure environmental laws are enforced—urgent, urgent.

So the minister today talks about climate change. Yesterday, the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario made it very clear that actually ensuring that the laws we have on the books are enforced is not on her books, not on her radar, not on her horizon. This government will pass laws that it will not enforce. This government will speak grandly.

Last fall, the Environmental Commissioner's report, Neglecting Our Obligations—good title—said, "Funding essential ministries"—like the environment—"at such low levels that they are bound to fail is a fundamental neglect of our obligations to the natural environment, to the people of Ontario and to the generations yet to be born."

Tomorrow—the day after tomorrow—when this government finally opens the package to show us what they are going to say they will promise to do about the environment sometime, keep in mind that they aren't even enforcing the laws they have on the books today.

ELECTORAL REFORM

Mr. Michael Prue (Beaches—East York): In response to the minister of democratic renewal: The lofty promises of three and a half years ago have all come to naught. If you look at the Liberal promises three and a half years ago, on pages 11 and 12 of your great work Government That Works for You, you promised to set up citizens' juries. You promised that, in your own words: "Limits on raising and spending money should not be limited to the brief few weeks of an election campaign. In modern politics, much of the 'campaign' spending occurs before the election is even called." And what have you done on this? Absolutely nothing.

Then you go on, and you went on in those lofty goals of three and a half years ago to talk about the Liberal promise: "Exercising your right to vote should be as easy as possible. The permanent voters' list, used for the first time in the last provincial election, created serious problems that led to poor turnouts in low-income and high-rental-density areas, as well as among young Ontarians. We will counter these effects with supplementary, targeted voter enumeration to ensure that these groups are not overlooked." And what have you done? Absolutely nothing.

In fact, you have made it nearly impossible for people who live in tenanted buildings to vote. We know exactly what happened in York South—Weston. We know that in those buildings that had 100 or more people in the building, where there was a registered place to vote somewhere in the building, the turnout was 39%. We know that when there was not a place within the building for them to vote, the turnout was 16%. What you are doing by amending

section 13 is making it literally impossible for tenants to vote. You are making it so impossible—they will find it very difficult. We know why you're doing that. We know you're doing that because the tenants are damn angry with you because of your lack of tenant legislation policy. You have allowed them to live in horrible places, and when they want to come out to vote for you, you will make it impossible for them to do it. You should be ashamed of that.

You have come out with some other stuff, too. It's really hard to believe that you think this is a democratic reform when you are going to deny people, when you are going to make it more difficult for them to vote rather than easier. You should be ashamed of what is in this bill. You should have done the right thing; you should have lived up to your promises of three and a half years ago.

VISITORS

Hon. Mike Colle (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration): On a point of order, Mr. Speaker: I would like to acknowledge 10 exceptional guests we have in our gallery today. These are incredible people who are Holocaust survivors and who were honoured today by the Premier, Minister Kwinter, MPPs Frank Klees and Ted Chudleigh, and the leader of the opposition at a ceremony by the Canadian Society for Yad Vashem to honour the victims of the Holocaust so we will never forget.

They are with us. These 10 unsung heroes are Jack Buchman, Sidia Cowen, Sala Goldhar, Joseph Gottdenker, Faigie Libman, Harold Rotman, Sam Simchovitch, Sigmund Soudack, Goldi Steiner and Henry Leonard Waks. On behalf of all members of the House and the people of Ontario, I'd like to pause to acknowledge these extraordinary survivors, extraordinary Ontarians.

Applause.

ARCHIE CAMPBELL

Hon. James J. Bradley (Minister of Tourism, minister responsible for seniors, Government House Leader): I believe we have unanimous consent for all parties to speak for up to five minutes to recognize the passing of former justice Archie Campbell.

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): Is it agreed? Agreed.

Hon. Michael Bryant (Attorney General): I rise today to mark the life and career of Justice Archie Campbell.

Tout au long de son éminente carrière, le juge Campbell a servi le public de l'Ontario de bien des façons.

Over the course of his distinguished career, Judge Campbell served the public of Ontario in many ways, but describing him simply as a lawyer, teacher and judge does not begin to describe the breadth of Justice Campbell's contribution to this province.

His first exposure to the law came during high school when he worked summers under the tutelage of one Roy McMurtry at Benson, McMurtry, Chief Justice McMurtry's former firm. The Chief Justice took the young student under his wing, and the two remained friends for more than 50 years.

Following law school, he returned to

article at Benson, McMurtry and Percival under Arthur Martin, one of our greatest criminal lawyers—maybe our greatest—and later a member of the Ontario Court of Appeal.

With mentors like McMurtry and Martin, Justice Campbell was destined for greatness, and greatness did he achieve.

After passing the bar, Justice Campbell immediately joined the Ministry of the Attorney General, specializing in criminal appeals and prosecutions. His great legal mind quickly propelled him through the ranks as he rose to become Deputy Attorney General under our two greatest Attorneys General, McMurtry and Scott.

Along the way, he took a year off to work as director of the Parkdale Community Legal Services clinic and to teach at Osgoode Hall Law School. He showed that public service was where you found it, and Justice Campbell found it in many places.

As deputy to Attorneys General McMurtry and Scott, Justice Campbell was inspiring and innovative and always brought an infectious spirit of fun to the workplace. He was a consensus builder who, no matter how complex an issue, was always able to see the big picture.

News of his passing left many at the McMurtry-Scott Building and many of the thousands of people who work in the Ministry of the Attorney General across this province, past and present, sad but reflective on his immense contribution to our province and its legal system. He's fondly remembered for his devotion, sharp intellect and compassion in service to citizens of Ontario.

Justice Campbell was appointed to the then Supreme Court of Ontario, High Court division, in 1986. At the time, Premier David Peterson—he didn't appoint him; the federal government appointed him—said that Justice Campbell's appointment "will be universally heralded as a brilliant one." He was right.

Then-Attorney General Ian Scott called him "a truly great public servant, of whom this province, whoever was entrusted with the government of the day, may be proud."

As his career moved to the bench, Justice Campbell, of course, proved both Peterson and Scott quite right. In a short time, he was admired as a highly respected jurist who embodied the best characteristics of the bench: a deep knowledge and respect of the law and the wisdom to apply it fairly.

Counsel appearing before him appreciated not only his sense of fairness and justice but also his kindness and his sense of humour. That was my personal experience as well.

Quite rightly, Chief Justice McMurtry remembered Archie Campbell last week as "one of the giants of the legal world" and "one of the most able judges in the country."

His legal expertise and wisdom was called upon in 1995 when he was asked to head a review of the police investigation into the murders of Ontario teenagers Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy. His recommendations resulted in numerous changes to major case management techniques and policies in police headquarters across the country. Those changes remain today.

In 2003, Justice Campbell was called on to investigate the response to the SARS outbreak. Once again, his two reports pulled no punches and delivered well-thought-out proposals. Overall, his thorough work and thoughtful recommendations have made this province a better and safer place, but a more compassionate one as well.

He became a champion for Ontario's front-line nursing staff by reminding the public of their heroic efforts to save lives during the SARS crisis. And, of course, he was right.

Benjamin Disraeli once remarked that "justice is truth in action." Archie Campbell was the embodiment of this sentiment. By his life and deeds, Archie Campbell was justice in action, he was truth in action, and all of us are richer by his actions on our behalf.

On behalf of the Premier and the government of Ontario, I offer my most sincere condolences to friends and family of Justice Campbell, and the thanks of a grateful province.

Mr. Norman W. Sterling (Lanark—Carleton): I'd like to associate our party with the comments of the Attorney General in regard to the unbelievable career of Justice Campbell, a man whom I got to know as "Archie" back in 1978, when I first served as the parliamentary assistant to then-Attorney General Roy McMurtry.

I talked with Chief Justice McMurtry this morning and we went over some of his remembrances of Archie, and I talked to Judge Thomson as well about some of his memories with regard to Mr. Campbell.

The first time I ever saw Archie Campbell was in a committee; we were then in a minority Parliament in 1978. We were in the thrust between 1975 and 1985, 10 years of tremendous law reform in this province. Something like 59 different pieces of legislation were passed over that period of time, and at the head of it was Archie Campbell. He was a tremendous person, a tremendous scholar and had tremendous wisdom, but he had this common touch. He had a common touch. I'll never forget when Archie walked into this particular committee room—I was told that he was coming over. I had never met him; I had just been appointed parliamentary assistant.

Right in the middle of the hearings on the new Family Law Reform Act, the first Family Law Reform Act that this province had ever passed, in walks this fellow with Kodiak boots half open, a pair of red suspenders and sort of an open-collar shirt and a sport coat on. That was Archie Campbell. Archie Campbell didn't look the part, but of all the Deputy Attorneys General, he was probably the most genuine this province has ever seen, because he cared so much about the justice system. He was a fierce advocate of the independence of the justice system, and he carried that through to his days on the bench.

He was unbelievably bright. One of the greatest parts about Archie Campbell was that, whether you sat on the government side or the opposition side of the floor, he respected members of this Legislature to an unbelievable extent.

He would listen, and then he would make his position. He was always ready, quite frankly, to listen to good argument one way or the other. But I'll tell you this too: If he held a particular view, particularly with regard to the independence of the justice system, the independence of the judiciary of our province, it was very hard to knock him off that kind of belief.

Notwithstanding his great work with regard to the police activity around the Bernardo conviction and trial, he remained and was always considered a friend by the police. He was able to bring forward great, great recommendations with regard to how they could improve their performance into the future. The police have taken his recommendations and embraced them, and we have better police services in our province because of Justice Archie Campbell.

Of course, he did wonderful work on the SARS report too, with regard to a very, very difficult situation that our province found itself in.

Archie Campbell was also just a great guy to go out to lunch or dinner with. To be around Archie Campbell was to know that you were going to go out and have a good time. Archie was humorous and he loved life. He had a great appetite for life. He loved fishing. He loved to talk about going up north and going camping. He was very much a historian, particularly with regard to the US Civil War, and loved to talk about issues like that. He loved poetry and could quote many of our famous poets off the top of his head and do it with great charm, entertaining everybody around him.

In the last eight months, Archie had some very significant health problems, and Chief Justice McMurtry said to me that he couldn't believe the strength and determination of Mr. Campbell. I guess it was best summed up by Judge Thompson, whom I was talking to today. He said, "Archie Campbell worked hard and played hard." When he said he "worked hard," this gentleman would put in, for our justice system over his life—it wouldn't be anything for him to think about 14- or 16-hour days in terms of doing what had to be done, whatever endeavour he was involved in.

Archie Campbell, after eight months of sickness—and some of it was very, very difficult sickness. Notwithstanding that, only three or four weeks ago, he was in a courtroom. He went into the courtroom with his wheelchair and with an oxygen bottle and apparatus so that he could function, because he had a very serious chronic lung disease that was attacking him, as well as cancer. He was so happy to be back in court three or four weeks ago, in spite of the circumstances, because he just loved the justice system and he loved working with the law and he loved working with all of the people involved in the justice system.

We have lost a lawyer of all lawyers, and we have lost a judge of all judges.

Our condolences go out to his wife, Julie Poole, his son, James, his daughter, Sarah, who's also a lawyer, his stepchildren, his grandchildren and all.

We've lost a truly great Ontarian, and I have lost a great friend.

Mr. Howard Hampton (Kenora—Rainy River): We acknowledge today that Ontario has lost a great citizen, a leading jurist, an inspiring teacher, a thoughtful scholar, an able administrator, a leader in the public service and truly a great citizen.

At the same time, however, we have to celebrate a life that was full, that was happy, and that was lived in the spirit of service to the community.

Archie Campbell did many things. He pursued a career in government as a public prosecutor and as an appeal counsel. He was an able administrator, and became the deputy minister of two government ministries.

He was a very successful and leading jurist. He inspired anyone who sat with him on the bench, and he was an innovator on the bench. People respected his work so much that he was named to not one public inquiry but two public inquiries: the handling of the Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka case, which he handled with incredible expertise; and, most recently, he led the inquiry into the government's handling of the SARS outbreak.

Archie Campbell was a tireless and dedicated individual, committing to his work in the SARS inquiry and finishing his work in the SARS inquiry even as his own health worsened, completing the report in January, three months before his untimely death. That dedication was vintage Archie Campbell. He never left work unfinished, and he was always willing to commit time and energy to do the work to make Ontario a better place.

The first time I met Archie Campbell was under some rather intimidating circumstances. It was right after the Askov decision, which threatened to literally remove tens of thousands of criminal charges from our criminal courts in Ontario. We had to very quickly find a way to get the judges—federally appointed judges, provincially appointed judges—to consider some very quick changes in how we conducted our courts. Archie Campbell was the regional senior judge for the Toronto region, so I had to meet with him.

I remember walking into the meeting and saying to myself, "This is going to be a very tough meeting." I no more than got in the door when he looked at me and said, "You're from Fort Frances." I was very puzzled that he would know what small town I came from. He said, "When I was a university student, I worked three summers as a Canada Customs officer in Fort Frances." He then proceeded to ask me if I had ever visited the Shamrock Bar in International Falls, Minnesota. It's a rather disreputable place. I admitted that I had.

He said, "I have visited it many times." He then asked me if I knew of the Busy Bee, an even more disreputable bar in International Falls, Minnesota. I quietly said that I had. He said, "I have been there many times."

He then proceeded to regale me with stories of being a customs officer and having American tourists pull up at the border when it was 90 degrees Fahrenheit in the middle of July and ask him, as the customs officer, "Where's the snow?" He also told me of one particular case where a car full of tourists pulled up and he said to them, "Do you have any handguns in the car? You know that handguns are illegal in Canada." There was a bit of silence, and then one of the fellows said, "Yes, there's a handgun in the glove compartment." He said, "Well, you have to hand it over. Are there any other handguns in the car?" Someone else said, "Yes, there's one in the trunk." "You'll have to hand that over."

Archie had an amazing sense of humour. He was someone who never lost the common touch, who could talk with anyone about almost any subject and make people feel perfectly comfortable in that conversation. To put it bluntly, he was someone who could walk with philosopher kings but never, ever lost the common touch.

We have lost truly a great Ontarian, and we all need to acknowledge that. But we also need to recognize that, like so many great Ontarians, what Archie Campbell accomplished is going to live on for some time. We extend our condolences to his family and friends, but we say to his family and friends, this is truly a life well-lived.

The Speaker: On behalf of the Legislature, I will see that the Hansard of the Attorney General, the member for Lanark—Carleton and the leader of the third party is transmitted to the family.

ORAL QUESTIONS

MINISTRY OF CITIZENSHIP

AND IMMIGRATION GRANTS

Mr. John Tory (Leader of the Opposition): My question is for the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, and it concerns the political slush fund. What we're looking for from you are some answers about the process you followed with this money that you blew out the door at the end of the fiscal year. You said on April 18 that you had written criteria that were followed. When asked about it, you said you actually had those. You said, "I've got those." You promised to make those criteria public, as did your press spokesperson, but since then we've seen nothing. You've refused to bring that documentation forward.

I wonder if you'd agree to make a copy of that document available to us, the written criteria that you used in determining which of the groups got money and which did not, in allocating this year-end slush fund money. Will you make it available?

Hon. Mike Colle (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration): The mandate of my ministry and the principles that we're based on is to invest in our diverse communities, our newcomer communities, to ensure that volunteerism is enhanced, to ensure that communities are built not only with roads and bridges but with community centres and community participation. We invest in that kind of enhancement and growth.

Mr. Tory: We can read about the mandate of the ministry on the website, although what we're after here is what is not on the website, contrary to the impression created by the Premier in his comments in the last couple of days. All we're trying to get is something that you said existed. You said it yourself on April 18. Your press spokesperson said it would be made available, and we're asking for the written criteria that were applied.

We're not asking about the mandate of your ministry; we're asking for the written criteria that were applied to these distributions of hundreds of thousands of dollars of the taxpayers' money. It's a very reasonable thing to think exists. You said it did, and now we're asking for a copy. We simply want to see it.

If you won't produce it here, will you at least agree that the Liberal members of the public accounts committee, when it meets tomorrow, will vote in favour of asking the auditor to collect this material from you so that we can have an open look at this? Will you do that?

Hon. Mr. Colle: When my ministry makes investments, the investments are guided to meet the needs that have not been met for decades by previous governments. Those are needs in ensuring there's inclusivity. They're a celebration and investment in our heritage, whether it be the Underground Railroad, whether it be victims of the Irish famine who made Ontario their home, or whether it be newcomer communities. Those are the principles our investments are based on.

Mr. Tory: I think the minister is deliberately missing the point, which is that there were—you said the other day in the House that there were hundreds of groups that had approached you looking for money. You picked 31 and gave them the different amounts of money we've discussed here. We're simply looking for the basis upon which you made the choice of the few that got the money out of the hundreds that approached you.

When we asked about the auditor the other day, you said to us, "The office of the auditor has within his or her mandate that independent authority to do what they want." That's what you said here on Monday. I got a letter back from the auditor today in which he says, "Our act specifies that I may only undertake special assignments requested by the assembly, the standing committee on public accounts, or a minister of the crown."

Tomorrow morning, there will be a motion put to the public accounts committee asking that they look into this. Will you put your money where your mouth is, if you're not trying to hide anything, and simply indicate that the Liberal members will support, or that you yourself will request that the auditor look into this so we'll all know—

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): The question has been asked. Minister?

Hon. Mr. Colle: I think what is missing here is the fact that for years, thousands and thousands of newcomers especially have never been listened to. They continually ask me for more investments in language—

Interjection.

The Speaker: I won't warn the member for Nepean—Carleton again.

Minister?

Hon. Mr. Colle: They continually point out to me the need to make more investments in newcomer programs for second-language training. They continue to say that the plight of foreign-trained professionals needs to be invested in. They continue to say that too many newcomers who come to Ontario live below the poverty line. These are the constant reminders that I get as I go across cities like London, Hamilton, Toronto or Sudbury. It's the same thing.

The Speaker: New question?

Mr. Tory: My question is for the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration again. We'll try to go at this a different way.

The minister is refusing—because I asked him three times to put out the written criteria that he says exists. Today he's quoted in the Toronto Star as saying that the track records of organizations are what he relies on to make sure he's spending the money wisely, and yet we've seen that one of the groups has been registered early on as an animal welfare organization and another one is embroiled in a court case regarding its financial management. He said that he helps groups, big and small, some of which are just starting out.

If you won't produce the criteria, will you tell us specifically—maybe you could go through the list and tell us what you did to check on the backgrounds of these groups that you gave the money to, the 31 you picked out of the hundreds that came to see you needing money for these purposes that you describe. What did you do to check their backgrounds? Will you tell us what you did?

Hon. Mr. Colle: As I said earlier—

Interjection.

The Speaker: I will not warn the member for Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke again.

Minister?

Hon. Mr. Colle: When you go throughout communities across Ontario, there are incredible numbers of hard-working volunteer organizations, settlement organizations, that are trying to ensure that newcomers are integrated with proper language skills and language training skills. We constantly get notification that we need to do more. Whether it's the little community group AWIC—do you know what their credentials are? I've seen their centre up in the Peanut area of Don Mills, where they're in a small basement room about the size of these two chairs and another side room with five volunteer staff. Those are the criteria I base it on, and their hard work.

Mr. Tory: With the greatest of respect, many of us have been to many of these places. But if you're expecting us to accept the fact that that is an adequate way to safeguard the allocation of taxpayers' money, I think you're sadly mistaken as to the standard that is expected of you by the taxpayers.

I think they have reason to expect that you would have asked for some kind of application form; that you would have done some kind of background check; that you might have had somebody at arm's length from yourself, as an elected politician, participate in the assessment of these groups; and that you might have had some kind of audit as to what they did with the money once they received it. You've chosen to do absolutely none of that, and it falls well short of what the taxpayers expect.

My question is, will you confirm that the reason you didn't ask for a value-for-money audit after the fact to make sure you got good value for this money that you allocated is because you couldn't then have treated it as March madness year-end spending and you wouldn't have been able to allocate it to last year? Is that why you didn't ask for an audit of on what was done with this money?

Hon. Mr. Colle: If our government invests $500,000 in an organization like SISO, which is an immigrant aid organization in Hamilton that has an impeccable track record and has been trying to partner with the private sector—in fact, the Bank of Nova Scotia is partnering with them, and the city of Hamilton is going to partner with them to build a new settlement house and refugee centre just down the road. Here's what he calls fly-by-night organizations. These are organizations that my ministry has been working with.

Organizations like SISO, organizations like CultureLink, organizations like the Catholic Immigration Centre in Ottawa have been working on the ground with newcomers for 20 years. They have a track record of achievement that is exemplary.

Mr. Tory: I assume that what you want us to accept, then, is that, of the hundreds of groups you see, your personal assessment of what these people do—the fact that there is no application form, no criteria, no judging panel, nobody who looks at it independently, no value-for-money audit—is adequate.

Justice Gomery said this about Adscam: "Good intentions are not an excuse for maladministration of this magnitude." He was right, and that is exactly what you're doing here: expecting us to accept the fact that you can do all of this all by yourself as one politician. That's why we need the Auditor General to look into this.

I'm asking you one more time. Tomorrow, that committee will have a motion before it asking the Auditor General to look into this. If you believe so strongly that what you've done here is absolutely right and meets the standard, if you have nothing to hide, then will you agree that the Liberal members will support that investigation to allow the auditor to get on with it, or will you ask him to do it yourself?

Hon. Mr. Colle: Again, the expenditure of taxpayer dollars is a very, very serious matter. These organizations that we've invested in, like the London Cross Cultural Learner Centre, their exemplary track record; the Newcomer Women's Services in Toronto; the North York Community House—all of these organizations—Skills for Change, an organization that has been working with newcomers, developing new programs year after year after year.

We are proud to invest in those organizations, or organizations like the Greek Hellenic centre, which has been getting money from the past federal government and provincial governments of either stripe. They are building the first-ever Greek Hellenic centre right in the heart of Toronto with a partnership of their fundraising, the province of Ontario and the federal government that is going to help to integrate a lot of people.

The Speaker: New question. The leader of the third party.

Mr. Howard Hampton (Kenora—Rainy River): My question is for the Minister of Citizenship. New Canadians face many challenges when they come to Ontario: learning a new language, finding a home, finding a job and overcoming financial hardship. We recognize that we have a responsibility to help them, and you have a responsibility as minister to ensure that the funds that are prescribed to help new Canadians are distributed properly and fairly, and used for the purposes for which they were intended. Over the last week, it's become clear that you have failed to do that.

So the question is this: Will you bring in the Auditor General to examine what went wrong and how money that should have gone to new Canadian organizations went to a baseball museum? That's all we're asking. Will you bring in the Auditor General to examine what went wrong?

Hon. Mr. Colle: The leader of the third party still has not apologized to Angela Connors, who is the president of one of these excellent organizations that provide these services. She says that she's a card-carrying NDPer. The leader of the third party claimed that she belonged to a fly-by-night organization. He should stand up and apologize.

Mr. Hampton: Minister, what are you trying to hide? New Canadians—

Interjections.

The Speaker: Order. Stop the clock. We really need to behave at a level of maturity in here that is reflective of the institution.

The leader of the third party.

Mr. Hampton: New Canadians have an interest in this too. They want to know that if funds are designated to help their community organizations, those funds go to their community organizations and are used appropriately.

But instead, this is what we've seen: $200,000 handed to an organization that registers itself as an animal protection charity, which is closely linked to the local Liberal riding association; half a million dollars to a baseball museum that has nothing to do with new Canadians but is in a riding where the Liberal incumbent is facing a tough challenge; and a Liberal MP who says that if volunteers from a community organization work for a candidate from another party, they shouldn't get government funding.

Minister, why wouldn't you bring in the Provincial Auditor to look at how the money got distributed to these kinds of organizations when it should have gone to—

The Speaker: The question has been asked. Minister?

Hon. Mr. Colle: The leader of the third party has been around here long enough, I hope, to understand that the mandate of my ministry also deals with enhancing citizenship and volunteer participation. Right now, as we speak, there are over 9,000 citizens being recognized by our government with volunteer service awards. We also invest in heritage recognition, whereby it could be, again, the Underground Railroad, where we're recognizing and investing in the bicentenary of the slave trade and slavery. These are the kinds of things my ministry does.

We're proud of what we do for new Canadians, because we've done more for new Canadians in those investments than any other government in this province.

Mr. Hampton: And if you're proud, Minister, of how some of these grants were distributed, what are you afraid of? Why wouldn't you bring in the Auditor General to look at what is happening?

Joining us today is Mustaq Ahmed, who's with Bangladeshi-Canadian Community Services. His organization receives funding from the city of Toronto and from the United Way, but his organization did not receive any funding from your year-end distribution of funds. That's because they didn't know that the funding existed, just like hundreds of other good, reputable organizations didn't know this year-end funding existed, because you didn't tell them. Instead, you flowed a grant to a Liberal-connected group, with no track record and no history in the community, and you can't even produce a scrap of paper to justify it.

My question again: Why won't you bring in the Auditor General to look at how this program was administered and how organizations that were connected—

The Speaker: The question has been asked. Minister?

Hon. Mr. Colle: Again, my ministry has been working with newcomer settlement programs and their agencies. Last year, for the first time, we gave the opportunity to all of these agencies to apply for the sectoral improvement grants, capital grants, to fix up their facilities. Almost all the agencies received this upgrade—a one-time upgrade that they got. They had never received this in 15 years—all the agencies required.

There are many new agencies, there are many up-and-coming agencies and there are some that are on the margins. We are always trying to reach out to bring in more agencies and to provide more services. There are definitely more opportunities, and we continue to look for more agencies to be part of delivering these services, but it is not a static thing. It continues to grow and change.

The Speaker: New question. The leader of the third party.

Mr. Hampton: My question is to the Minister of Citizenship. Minister, hard-working new Canadian families need services to help them establish themselves in Ontario. We all recognize that.

You handed the Bengali Cultural Society $250,000 because Liberal MP Maria Minna asked you to, but we could find no criteria, no application form, and many people in the community say they don't even know about this organization. They don't even know how it got established.

That's all we're asking, Minister. These organizations that don't seem to have a clear connection to the community, that don't seem to have a history but seem to be connected to Liberal politicians: How did they get grants of a quarter of a million dollars, $200,000, when so many reputable organizations got next to nothing?

Hon. Mr. Colle: The leader of the third party still has not apologized to one of these organizations that has been providing these services non-stop in Peel for the last 25 years. He still hasn't done that.

The other thing is that there are continuing emerging needs happening right across this province. For instance, Peel region, York region, the city of Hamilton—there are definite needs that are arising. We are trying to build more capacity by making investments in some of those emerging areas. Just as cities are not stagnant, neither are neighbourhoods, so at certain times we have to increase capacity to deliver a better service.

One of the areas that has been identified by the United Way of Greater Toronto—they said there are 13 at-risk neighbourhoods we need to invest more in because too many of our immigrants, too many of our working families don't get help. So we're building more capacity and reaching out in various neighbourhoods also.

Mr. Hampton: Minister, when government funding is prescribed to help hard-working new Canadians, that's what it should be spent on.

Joining Mr. Ahmed today are representatives from organizations representing Ontario Vietnamese, Tibetan and Somalian communities. They all need funding to help them build community services, but they didn't get any funding from your year-end distribution because they didn't know that funding existed, because you didn't tell them that funding existed. These are the people who are hurt most.

Explain to these people who are here today, people you deprived of a fair opportunity to access these year-end grants, why they were denied funding while a baseball museum received a half a million dollars. Explain that to them, and explain why you won't have the Provincial Auditor look at this program and how the money was—

The Speaker: Minister.

Hon. Mr. Colle: Again, the leader of the third party fails to recognize, as he has been told many times, that the ministry's mandate is also to encourage integration. That's why we partnered with the Canadian Museum of Hindu Civilization to build a wall of peace. That's also part of my mandate, because we want to ensure that all religious organizations, groups or religious beliefs feel a part of Ontario, and that all Ontarians can feel a part of visiting there.

Whether we invest in the Irish famine park down at the end of the street or whether we invest in the new centre honouring Miss Lou, the great Jamaican poet laureate, that's all part of the mandate of inclusion, of recognizing that people come from all over the world, that we want to make them feel integrated, welcome and that they are contributing to Ontario.

Mr. Hampton: Minister, I fail to see what a baseball museum in a Liberal incumbent riding has to do with any of those things you've just—

Interjections.

The Speaker: Order. I would again remind members that we need to show some respect for the institution in which we are presently working.

Leader of the third party.

Mr. Hampton: As I said, I fail to see what a baseball museum in a Liberal incumbent riding has to do with any of the things you've just mentioned. Minister, it's your job to ensure that this government funding is fairly and properly distributed, that there's no playing of favourites, that everyone has a fair opportunity to apply, that every organization acts according to the rules. But here there was no application process, no criteria and no explanation as to how some of these organizations got a grant. All kinds of reputable organizations got nothing.

Meanwhile, you have the Iranian-Canadian Community Centre, with no history, no expertise, except they're well connected to the Liberal Party.

Will you examine this? Will you have the Auditor General examine this so groups can find—

The Speaker: The question has been asked. Minister?

The Speaker: New question.

Mr. John Yakabuski (Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke): My question is for the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration regarding your Liberal Party slush fund.

I want to go back to a question I asked you yesterday which you refused to answer. You're quoted in the Toronto Star on April 20, 2007, as saying that this money "has to go through [the] other ministers"—the Minister of Finance, who is the Liberal Party campaign chair, and the Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal—"and ultimately, I guess, by cabinet." Those are your words, Minister.

Now, will you please tell us what direction you received from the Liberal Party campaign chair on who you should give this money to?

Hon. Mr. Colle: Again, over the last few years, because of the fact that we've been out in the communities, we've heard loud and clear that what we should do in Ontario is stand up and fight for fair investment in newcomer programs in this province. That's who we listen to. We listen to all the newcomers who are living below the poverty line who said, "Why should a newcomer who goes to Montreal get $3,800 of federal funding, and if a newcomer comes to Ontario they only get $800?" That's who we listen to.

We fought hard, and now those investment dollars are being made directly to the groups and the programs in Ontario. They never were before. Those investments are because we stood up and fought for fairness for our newcomers in Ontario. You never did that.

Mr. Yakabuski: Minister, you have to answer this question if you have any interest in transparency and accountability. Remember your Premier's throne speech. This process stinks like Adscam. Minister, you said that this had to go through the Liberal Party campaign chair before it was approved. We just want to know how it worked, especially when it appears that one of those people connected to one of these groups has made donations to the Vaughan—King—Aurora riding association.

So we want to know—clear it up for us, Minister—how, precisely, did it work? Did the Minister of Finance or his staff contact you and decide which groups were going to get the money? We'd like an answer. The people of Ontario would like one.

Hon. Mr. Colle: The member from Pembroke as usual is making things up. What we are saying and what we've done is that we've ensured that all of these organizations, like Frontier College, have said very clearly that they want to partner with the government of Ontario in ensuring that our First Nations youth all across Ontario get these literacy camps. I know that the member opposite doesn't want to talk about that, but that's also part of our mandate: to ensure that our first founding people, the First Nations people of this country, also participate with the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration. We have done that, and we're proud of that investment in our First Nations people.

The Speaker: New question?

Mr. Michael Prue (Beaches—East York): My question is to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. A page has just delivered to you a document—

Interjections.

The Speaker: You seem to have a short memory. We need to respect the place. We need to remember to act as mature, mature members in this place.

Member for Beaches—East York.

Mr. Prue: Minister, a page has just delivered to you a document for your review about an organization that you spoke of yesterday and again today in this Legislature and for which you have given a grant of nearly $24,000. Will you please read the highlighted notes from that to this Legislature to explain to the Legislature exactly what your grant is all about?

Hon. Mr. Colle: Again, I still haven't heard the member from that party and his leader, who claimed that there was a Liberal connection in this agency in Peel region, when the president of the Peel neighbourhood community services agency is a card-carrying NDPer. How could they say that, when that organization has been getting funding from the NDP government, the Tory government and our government for the last 25 years?

Mr. Prue: Let me help the minister, who is singularly incapable of reading bad news. According to the Canadian Internet Registration Authority, the owner of the Inter-Cultural Neighbourhood Social Services website is the Mississauga West provincial Liberal riding association. The administrative contact who pays the bill for this website is Ms. Heather McKee, treasurer of the Mississauga West provincial Liberal association, and the technical contact for the website is a Mr. Bob Delaney, who I think is known to all the people in this Legislature. Minister, you have to admit that this stinks to high heaven. I am asking you: Isn't it time that you apologize or resign and call in the auditor?

Interjection.

The Speaker: Member for Erie-Lincoln.

Minister.

Hon. Mr. Colle: In many of these community-based organizations providing newcomer services, there are people of all walks of life who volunteer or work there. Some of them belong to different parties, but they've been working in that field, delivering language training, the Job Connect program, some in-schools programs. They've been doing that, like this organization has, for over 20, 25, 30 years.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

Mrs. Carol Mitchell (Huron—Bruce): My question is for the Minister of the Environment. Minister, in the beautiful riding of Huron—Bruce, many of my constituents have been asking about environmental issues. My riding touches the shores of Lake Huron, and with a very large agricultural sector, environmental issues are always of top importance.

However, it is worth noting that within this House are members of former governments and former environment ministers who, when given the chance to show leadership on environmental issues, chose reckless cuts over making investments and protecting the environment for future generations.

Minister, I see first-hand that the McGuinty government is showing leadership on environmental issues and taking action. Can you help weed through the rhetoric and the hyperbole surrounding environmental issues and share with this House the measures the government has taken to improve our environment?

Hon. Laurel C. Broten (Minister of the Environment): I thank the member for Huron—Bruce for the question. After years of mismanagement and drastic and reckless cuts, our government, the McGuinty government, has increased the budget of the Ministry of the Environment by 22%. We are turning the corner and rebuilding a ministry that has been destroyed by not one but two former governments, who now sit on the opposite side of the House and proclaim to care about the environment.

But actions speak louder than words, and the actions that we have taken are hiring water inspectors, implementing the recommendations of the Walkerton report, funding source protection planning, passing the Clean Water Act, implementing a deposit-return system for the LCBO and creating tougher air emissions standards.

When given the chance to act and invest, we have spoken loud and clear. That is in strong contrast to our friends on the other side of the House, who are all about rhetoric.

Mrs. Mitchell: Thank you, Minister, for enlightening this House on some of the measures that the government has taken to make Ontario a cleaner and greener place.

Further to what your ministry has done, I want to know more about the entire government's environmental record. Each government—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): I need to be able to hear the questions being put and the responses being given, and I'm having an incredibly difficult time, as I imagine many members in here are. I'm interested in hearing the question by the member for Huron—Bruce.

Mrs. Mitchell: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

Each government leaves a record and a legacy. The previous NDP and Tory governments left behind a record of cuts to the Ministry of the Environment. Further, in this very assembly, members opposite opposed the Clean Water Act, opposed greenbelt legislation, opposed higher energy efficiency standards and opposed funding for public transit. The people of Ontario know that neither the NDP nor the Tories have credibility on environmental issues.

Minister, can you please let this House know of the government-wide investments that have been made into environmental issues?

Hon. Ms. Broten: Our government has taken an activist agenda. We are working across a variety of ministries to make sure that we rebuild and repair the destruction left by two former governments. Together, across a variety of ministries, we have protected 1.8 million acres in the greenbelt, we have invested billions in public transit, we have made Ontario a leader in green energy and we have reduced our emissions from our energy plants. We have a stronger building code, renewed investment in research and innovation and brownfield revitalization, and we look forward to doing much more.

MINISTRY OF CITIZENSHIP

AND IMMIGRATION GRANTS

Mr. John Tory (Leader of the Opposition): My question is for the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, and again it's back to the question: Isn't it time for the Auditor General to have an objective look at all this?

Let's go through the record here. We have the first grant given to an organization whose contact was made by a former Liberal cabinet minister—no documentation, no paperwork. In fact, you asked them for paperwork after you gave them the money. Then we have the second one, which has seven out of seven of its directors contributing directly to the Liberal Party. The office of this organization is the law office of the Liberal president, and on the board is the Liberal provincial candidate, and it has connections to the Liberal Party campaign chair.

Now we have a non-profit organization that received money from your ministry that has its website registered and owned by the Liberal riding association, with the technical contact being an employee of one of the Liberal members of the assembly.

Don't you think it's time—if you don't want this to get worse, if you don't want public confidence to be further eroded, if you want to get to the bottom of this and come clean and try to salvage some of your own reputation—that you agreed that you will have the public accounts committee—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): Minister of Citizenship and Immigration.

Hon. Mike Colle (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration): I've made it very clear here that one of our biggest and proudest investments was in the United Jewish Appeal, which is raising almost $300 million to create an incredible contribution to the GTA in everything from health care to seniors' care to the Holocaust Memorial Centre. All this is being done. Those are the kinds of partners, big and small, that are also part of our ministry.

Here is the member who was kind of reckless the other day when he immediately looked at a name and said, "Oh, that gentleman there has got to be Mr. Atma Singh." As Mr. Singh said, if it had been John Smith, he would have known that there might be more than one John Smith. But it's something different: he didn't take the time.

Interjections.

The Speaker: Order. Member for Simcoe—Grey, I won't warn you again.

Mr. Tory: That sort of implication is beneath the office you hold as a minister of the crown. I'll tell you something else: I had the common decency to come into this House and apologize to the two people—apologize to them in person and apologize to the House.

Interjections.

The Speaker: We've got to the point that the next one who interjects, regardless of what side of the House they're on, will be leaving this place.

The Leader of the Opposition.

Mr. Tory: There is taxpayers' money involved here. It has been allocated to various and sundry groups without application, without criteria, without a review process, without anybody looking at it, without any audit of what's done with the money after the fact. We're asking you: Will you agree to have the Liberal members work with us tomorrow to request that the auditor come in and examine this so the public will be able to have their confidence restored and know that this money was properly looked after? It's a simple request.

You should do it as a matter of honour and as a matter of preserving integrity in what we do here in this place, which is to look after the taxpayers' money. Will you agree to do—

The Speaker: The question has been asked. Minister?

Hon. Mr. Colle: The Leader of the Opposition was so quick to condemn two individuals before he checked his facts, he was so quick to question some of these new founding organizations in the gurdwaras—to see the good work they do.

I would just say to the Leader of the Opposition that we're proud as a government to invest in long-established organizations that have been doing great work in heritage preservation, providing language training for newcomers, providing Meals on Wheels. Those are the kinds of organizations we have partnered with. Their track records are long and strong. We are also trying to ensure that new, emerging organizations also become part of the fabric of making Ontario a better place.

The Speaker: New question?

Mr. Michael Prue (Beaches—East York): My question again is to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. Minister, you've now had five or so minutes to have a good look at this document. You've had a chance to read it. What it says is that the domain icnss.ca is registered to the Mississauga West Provincial Liberal Association. A description is given: "The Mississauga West Provincial Liberal Association is an Ontario riding association serving members of the Ontario Liberal Party in the Mississauga West constituency."

Can you tell me, Minister, how it is that that Liberal riding association thinks it's okay to pay for the bills and to register the domain for this group of which you speak so highly?

Hon. Mr. Colle: I still wish the member had the guts to apologize to Ms. Connors for the fact that he said that this was a fly-by-night group. He's basically continuing that today.

As I said, if you go to Kingston, Cornwall or London, there are organizations that have volunteer participation. What we look at is the work they do. You know what they do? When a person comes crying into their office, they're the ones that give them relief, and they may not have anywhere else to go. When they don't have a place to live, when they're frustrated after three years of having no job—these organizations across this province, big and small, have been ignored for the last 20 years.

We're the first government that all of a sudden tries to invest in and improve their service delivery, and the member opposite stands up and says that this group here and that group there doesn't meet his standards. Well, I have a lot of faith in these community-based organizations. They do great things.

Mr. Prue: The only standards not being met in this House are the standards set by this minister—this minister who has not done due diligence; this minister who has not checked the domain; this minister who has not looked into the groups in any way at all and who has not recognized the associations. This is a minister who has failed all of us.

Can you tell me, Minister, if it's all right for this group to have the domain registered by the Liberal Party? Is it all right to have the fees paid by the Liberal Party? Is it all right to have the technical contact and the changes to the domain and the website done by the Liberal Party and still qualify for funds under your regime?

Hon. Mr. Colle: This organization, Inter-Cultural Neighbourhood Social Services, like the Jamaican Canadian Association—all these organizations have been working with governments of all stripes. They worked with the NDP when they were in power. They got money from the NDP. They got money from the Conservatives—very little—they got some investments from the Conservatives. My ministry has continued to work with those partners.

This is one of about 82 partners we work with, and we look at their track record of delivering those language services, those 24-hour hotlines for women who need translation services. We work with the Barbra Schlifer centre. Do we go look at the Barbra Schlifer domain to see who's running the domain? We believe the Barbra Schlifer centre offers an incredible 24/7 language service. The Minister of Economic Development and Trade and the women's directorate have invested in the Barbra Schlifer centre because they do great work. That's who we—

The Speaker: Thank you. New question?

ONTARIO ARTISTS

Ms. Deborah Matthews (London North Centre): My question is for the Minister of Culture. Minister, as you will most certainly recall, this government's 2003 election platform contained a stand-alone arts and culture policy. In it we made several important commitments to artists, one being the establishment of a new award for outstanding individuals and organizations in the arts field—the Premier's Award for Excellence in the Arts.

Minister, can you please update us on this commitment and share with us more information about this award, an award that demonstrates in a highly tangible way how highly we value and celebrate our Ontario artists?

Hon. Caroline Di Cocco (Minister of Culture): I have to thank the member for London North Centre for her strong commitment to arts and culture. We have, for the very first time in this province's history, awarded the Premier's Award for Excellence in the Arts announced earlier this year. Peggy Baker, an accomplished dancer and appointee to both the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario, was awarded a $35,000 prize associated with this award. I would like to recognize Ms. Baker, who is with us in the Legislature, and thank her for her contribution to this province's arts and cultural fabric.

As an annual prize, the Premier's award will continue to recognize each year talented individuals and organizations in our province and the impressive contributions that they make to our society and to Ontario's rich arts and cultural sector.

Ms. Matthews: The fact that we're recognizing our established artists is a testament to this government's recognition of the important role that arts and culture play in our lives every day. Minister, acknowledging, appreciating and celebrating our accomplished artists is indeed very important, but what are we doing to support new and emerging artists to allow them to create an environment in which they can flourish?

Hon. Ms. Di Cocco: While recognizing that accomplished talent is very important, we must also nurture new artists' potential. That is why the annual Premier's award includes a $15,000 prize for an emerging artist chosen by the award's recipient. This year, Ms. Baker chose to honour Yvonne Ung, a very talented artist and teacher at York University. Ms. Ung is also with us today. I welcome her to this House, and I want to congratulate her again.

Supporting our artists is incredibly important, which is why we also introduced the Status of Ontario's Artists Act. In partnership with other ministries, we have created training programs for artists, are providing them with affordable housing, and are working to strengthen protection for child performers.

MINISTRY OF CITIZENSHIP

AND IMMIGRATION GRANTS

Mr. John Tory (Leader of the Opposition): To the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration: We have, by your own admission, hundreds of groups that contacted you over the course of the past year. You have selected, with some help, by your own admission, from the Minister of Finance—who also doubles as the campaign chair for the Liberal Party—31 groups that got this money. One of them has seven out of seven Liberals on its board of directors as contributors to the Liberal Party. Another group that we hear about today has a website owned by the Liberal provincial riding association.

The whole process was done without any notice to the public. It was done without application forms. It was done without a selection committee.

You haven't even tried to answer any of the questions here in the House today, but the simplest one of all is this: We don't even need the public accounts committee to initiate bringing the Auditor General in to look at this and, by the way, clear your name, clear the air and restore public confidence; you, yourself, as minister could ask the Auditor General to come in and look at this program. Will you do that, or do you have something to hide? Why wouldn't you ask the auditor to come in to confirm all the things you've said today—

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): The question has been asked.

Hon. Mike Colle (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration): Again, the member opposite is so easy to name members of the Liberal association that may belong to some organizations, but he fails to recognize that I'm sure there are many Conservatives on many organizations. The difference between this member and reality is that many of our organizations have Conservatives on them, NDP and Liberal. Again, our largest investment is made up of nine people who have donated to the Conservative Party of Ontario.

As I said emphatically, I have no qualms about this government investing in that incredible contribution that the UJA is making to this province because we base it on what they've raised themselves through volunteerism. They've raised over $250 million. They're going to partner with the federal government and hopefully with us. So we look at what they're doing, not what party they belong to.

Mr. Tory: It's obvious you're so busy not looking at what party people belong to, you can tell me exactly how many members of every board belong to which party. It's just so ridiculous that you come in here and make that argument.

Let's look at the one that I'm talking about. The one in question started off as an animal help organization. We know already that there was correspondence going back and forth between the Liberal campaign chair and finance minister and this organization. We know that one of the key people, a director, was a contributor directly to the Liberal finance minister and campaign chair's campaign. We know all seven directors—not nine out of 40 but seven out of seven—contributed to the Liberal Party. We know that the address of the organization is the office of the Liberal riding president and we know the Liberal candidate is on the board.

Do you have any idea how this looks and how this undermines public confidence in this place and what we're supposed to be doing with the taxpayers' money? Get up and say you'll ask the auditor to come in. Have some guts.

Hon. Mr. Colle: One interesting example is North York Community House, another one of these incredible organizations that does incredible work in North York. It used to be part of St. Stephen's Community House and moved to expand its services. The founder of that organization was none other than my good friend Councillor Howard Moscoe. He founded that organization based on—remember the anonymous $1-million grant that somebody gave? He brought together that organization, and it has done incredible work in North York for the last 25 years.

Since the Conservatives gave resources to North York Community House, since the NDP gave resources, were we as a government going to say, "We can't contribute to North York Community House because Howard Moscoe founded North York Community House"? We base our resources and partnership on the track record. When the new emerging communities do a good job, we try to partner with them.

The Speaker: New question.

Ms. Cheri DiNovo (Parkdale—High Park): My question is to the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration. Minister, we are joined today by representatives of the Vietnamese Women's Association of Toronto and the Canadian Tibetan Association of Ontario, two community organizations among many in Parkdale—High Park. These community groups work incredibly hard for their constituents. They are groups of long standing. None of them were advised of application forms; none of them were advised that there was funding available; none of them were advised of this end-of-year fund. They would have applied.

Minister, don't answer us and don't answer the Speaker—answer them. Please, tell them why they didn't receive funding from your year-end fund while organizations with Liberal supporters did make the list.

Hon. Mr. Colle: We recognize that many communities in Ontario, inner-city communities like the Parkdale area, need investments. That's why we're proud to have invested in CultureLink in Parkdale—High Park—an amazing organization—Kababayan Community Centre in Parkdale—High Park and Parkdale Intercultural Association.

The thing that we've done which the NDP never did and failed to do is that when we found out that newcomers in Ontario were being shortchanged, we went to battle for newcomers. The NDP were silent. As a result of us going to fight for newcomers' equity, $920 million is now going to be available over the next five years for newcomers. The good thing I want to say to the groups that came today is that because of that there is more opportunity for more investment. There has never been that opportunity. Now all these programs are being expanded, like ISAP, Settlement Workers in Schools, the host programs. They've never had expansion. Because we fought for them, now there is hope for expansion—

The Speaker: Supplementary.

Ms. DiNovo: Minister, you did not answer the question. I asked you to answer to these organizations. They would like to know where the application forms were, when the money was made available, how they should have gone to apply for the $20 million that was handed out. They are organizations that do amazing work in Parkdale—High Park. They're among many, including CultureLink, that would like to know about the $20 million as well. I talked to them yesterday and the day before. We would like to know where they could have gotten the application forms, how the money was handed out and why they weren't considered.

Could you please answer the question? Not to the Speaker, not to us—to them. Why were they not considered worthy of your end-of-the-year largesse? Please answer.

Hon. Mr. Colle: The good thing is, there are now finally resources available to existing groups that there never were before. There are now grants available from the federal government to expand services that there have never been before. So whether it's the 82 groups that have been living on a shoestring for the last 20 years or new groups that want to come and present proposals for NSP programs, for ISAP programs, the federal government—they are now available because we fought for the money to come to Ontario. The NDP were missing in action. They didn't fight for that equity. Now the resources are here.

Now all groups that exist and new ones can have a greater share of these resources for newcomers.

EMPLOYMENT STANDARDS

Mr. David Orazietti (Sault Ste. Marie): My question is for the Minister of Labour. I know the minister is sitting right in front of me, but it's very important for all of us to hear the good news about the employment standards services improvements. This past Monday, on your behalf, I was pleased to announce in Sault Ste. Marie, at the provincial claims centre in Roberta Bondar Place that we'll be hiring 15 new employment standards staff, thanks to an additional $1-million investment. To date, over 300 additional public sector positions have come to Sault Ste. Marie under the McGuinty government.

Thanks for your support, Minister. As we know, this investment will allow your ministry to continue to make great strides in improving enforcement of employment standards in Ontario.

After years of neglect, it is this government that is making long-awaited changes to better protect workers in our province, and particularly the most vulnerable. Minister, can you please tell us more about how this investment will help enforce employment standards?

Hon. Steve Peters (Minister of Labour): I want to thank the member from Sault Ste. Marie, and as well for his advocacy on this issue, because he recognizes that one of the most important things that we have to do within the Ministry of Labour is to be proactive and move forward with targeted inspections. That's why in 2003 we had 151 targeted inspections. But we recognized that we needed to do more—in 2004 and 2005, over 2,300 targeted inspections in the province of Ontario.

But I think what's important is that we believe in enforcing the law. Under the NDP and the Tories, over a six-year period—from 1990 to 2003—97 prosecutions. Since 2004, we've initiated over 1,000 prosecutions.

Mr. Orazietti: Thank you, Minister, for your support and for sharing these impressive results. I know the constituents in every riding across the province will be pleased to learn these facts, just as mine were on Monday, and just as they were pleased to learn that 15 more civil service jobs will be coming to Sault Ste. Marie to help improve the efficiency in the employment standards claims process.

Our government understands the importance of civil servants, unlike the NDP, who ripped up the contracts of thousands of civil service workers, and unlike the Conservatives, who closed hospitals and schools and fired thousands of nurses in the process. We understand that public workers not only stimulate the local economy but provide valuable public services to residents across the province of Ontario.

When a constituent approaches my office for assistance on a labour-related matter, the matter is often related to employment standards. It's great to know that we're making investments to protect some of the most vulnerable workers in the province of Ontario. I know that the $1 million of funding allocated to my riding of Sault Ste. Marie will help do just that.

Minister, can you please tell us how much more money was allocated to the employment standards budget in 2007 and what else you'll be doing with the new funding?

Hon. Mr. Peters: I again want to thank the member from Sault. Ste. Marie, because he certainly recognized something that two previous governments did not recognize in this province: that we take pride in the civil service in Ontario. I take pride that Ministry of Labour staff are there protecting vulnerable workers. They are there protecting and enforcing the Occupational Health and Safety Act. After two previous governments of inaction, we've made a commitment. We have confidence and faith, and we've restored and invested in the public service in this province.

We have 144 employees that are responsible for the enforcement of employment standards in this province. They deal with over 20,000 claims a year. We make sure that vulnerable workers are looked after. As well, we recognize that because of the success of our programs, we need to make sure that we continue to invest in our public service. That's why we've allocated additional funds to hire additional workers in our public service, so we can do a better job of protecting vulnerable workers. We need to make sure that employees understand their rights and that employers understand their responsibilities. We do that in partnership with the public service.

PETITIONS

REGULATION OF ZOOS

Mr. Ted Chudleigh (Halton): I have a petition to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

"Whereas Ontario has the weakest zoo laws in the country; and

"Whereas existing zoo regulations are vague, unenforceable and only apply to native wildlife; and

"Whereas there are no mandatory standards to ensure adequate care and housing for zoo animals or the health and safety of animals, zoo staff, the visiting public or neighbouring communities; and

"Whereas several people have been injured by captive wildlife, and zoo escapes are frequent in Ontario; and

"Whereas these same regulatory gaps were affirmed recently by the Environmental Commissioner of Ontario in his annual report;

"We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to support MPP David Zimmer's bill, the Regulation of Zoos Act."

HUMBER RIVER REGIONAL HOSPITAL

Mr. Paul Ferreira (York South—Weston): It gives me great pleasure to present this petition of more than 5,000 signatures collected by dozens of members of the Humber River Health Coalition. I introduced some of them earlier today. I do want to add the presence of Sharon, Joseph and Anthony Makkas. The petition reads as follows:

"Whereas, on December 19, 2005, Humber River Regional Hospital received approval from the government of Ontario to build a modern regional acute care hospital; and

"Whereas the management of HRRH has made its intentions known not to build the new hospital on the Finch site; and

"Whereas the management of HRRH has not held adequate public consultations regarding site selection with the affected communities that it serves; and

"Whereas the Finch site offers the best existing infrastructure and strategic advantages, including existing private medical professional buildings and labs, private long-term-care facilities, excellent transportation, police, fire and hotel services, for the new HRRH hospital, and this site offers the most benefits for the least cost;

"Whereas our community donated over $25 million for the expansion of the Finch site;

"Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to require the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and the management of the Humber River Regional Hospital to hold open and transparent public consultations on site selection for the new Humber River Regional Hospital with residents of the affected communities before a final decision is made."

I am proud to affix my signature in support of this petition and hand it to page Mirabai.

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): Pursuant to the standing orders, it is now 4 o'clock. Orders of the day.

ORDERS OF THE DAY

USE OF ELECTRONIC

DEVICES IN HOUSE

Hon. Dwight Duncan (Minister of Energy): On a point of order, Mr. Speaker: Earlier today, my BlackBerry went off in the House. The table gave me a very strange look about the rules involved with BlackBerries. I would seek clarification with respect to proper decorum because I know that none of us on either side of the House want to offend the House. I look forward to your report back on that particular issue.

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): Thank you very much. As you would know, if a BlackBerry or any other device goes off in the Legislature, that is not appropriate and it would be taken away by the Sergeant at Arms.

EDUCATION AMENDMENT ACT

(PROGRESSIVE DISCIPLINE

AND SCHOOL SAFETY), 2007 /

LOI DE 2007 MODIFIANT

LA

LOI SUR L'ÉDUCATION

(DISCIPLINE PROGRESSIVE

ET SÉCURITÉ DANS LES ÉCOLES)

Ms. Wynne moved second reading of the following bill:

Bill 212,

An Act to amend the Education Act in respect of behaviour, discipline and safety / Projet de loi 212, Loi modifiant la

Loi sur l'éducation en ce qui concerne le comportement, la discipline et la sécurité.

The Speaker (Hon. Michael A. Brown): Ms. Wynne has moved second reading of Bill 212. Minister?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne (Minister of Education): I rise in the House today for second reading of legislation that would improve student safety in our schools. I'm going to be sharing my time with the member for Guelph—Wellington, my parliamentary assistant, Mrs. Sandals.

I'm very pleased to have the opportunity to speak to this legislation. This is a piece of legislation that we have been looking forward to bringing to the House. Our government firmly believes that all students and staff have the right to feel safe and to be safe at school and on school grounds.

Ce milieu d'apprentissage ne peut résulter que d'une approche équitable et