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October 26, 2017

41st Parliament, 2nd Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcripts 2017-Oct-26 (PDF)

L111 - Thu 26 Oct 2017 / Jeu 26 oct 2017

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Thursday 26 October 2017 Jeudi 26 octobre 2017

Orders of the Day

Strengthening Quality and Accountability for Patients Act, 2017 / Loi de 2017 renforçant la qualité et la responsabilité pour les patients

Introduction of Visitors

Oral Questions

Autism treatment

Energy policies

Long-term care

Hydro rates

Correctional services

Autism treatment

Hydro rates

Government accountability

Correctional services

Indigenous children’s services / Services destinés aux enfants autochtones

Muslim community

Horse racing industry

GO Transit

Visitors

Deferred Votes

Strengthening Quality and Accountability for Patients Act, 2017 / Loi de 2017 renforçant la qualité et la responsabilité pour les patients

Introduction of Visitors

Members’ Statements

United Way Durham Region

Long-term care

Afroglobal Television Excellence Awards

Autism treatment

Labour dispute

Human trafficking

Organ donation

Alliance for the Prevention of Preterm Birth and Stillbirth

Park Hyatt Toronto

Correction of record

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on Justice Policy

Motions

Committee sittings

Wearing of T-shirt

Statements by the Ministry and Responses

Stem cell research

Petitions

Mental health and addiction services

Elevator maintenance

School bus safety

Privatization of public assets

Nanjing Massacre

Hydro rates

Eating disorders

Employment standards

Long-term care

Privatization of public assets

Highway improvement

Eating disorders

Private Members’ Public Business

Child Abuse Prevention Month Act, 2017 / Loi de 2017 sur le Mois de la prévention des mauvais traitements infligés aux enfants

Human Rights Code Amendment Act, 2017 / Loi de 2017 modifiant le Code des droits de la personne

Nanjing Massacre / Massacre de Nanjing

Child Abuse Prevention Month Act, 2017 / Loi de 2017 sur le Mois de la prévention des mauvais traitements infligés aux enfants

Human Rights Code Amendment Act, 2017 / Loi de 2017 modifiant le Code des droits de la personne

Nanjing Massacre

The House met at 0900.

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

Prayers.

Orders of the Day

Strengthening Quality and Accountability for Patients Act, 2017 / Loi de 2017 renforçant la qualité et la responsabilité pour les patients

Resuming the debate adjourned on October 24, 2017, on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 160,

An Act to amend, repeal and enact various Acts in the interest of strengthening quality and accountability for patients / Projet de loi 160, Loi visant à modifier, à abroger et à édicter diverses lois dans le souci de renforcer la qualité et la responsabilité pour les patients.

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

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: It gives me great hope when two members stand up at the same time in this House and are so enthusiastic to speak to a bill, Bill 160, about health care. I have to tell you that this bill is a health care omnibus bill. There’s so much to this bill. I hope that I can get through what I want to talk about and give a message around the schedules that are in this bill. Ten minutes in real time: You think, “Wow, what am I going to say?” But when you start debating, it goes by really quickly.

There are many schedules to this bill, and they’re so important to the health care system. I wish this government could have separated some of those schedules so that we would have a real opportunity to give the time and attention that it would take to each of these schedules to emphasize the importance of health care in this province and make sure we debate it in a way that we can contribute real recommendations, amendments or suggestions, because that’s what this government is always looking for.

One of their reasons we debate—they say, “Well, this opposition party or this third party opposition, they are not offering any solutions.” I can tell you, Speaker, that isn’t really the case. We have offered, many, many times, solutions to long-term care.

I will give you an example of long-term care, as I mentioned, as well as solutions to health care. Our health care critic, the member from Nickel Belt, has always been a willing participant to offer this government real solutions to health care. One of them, I have to tell you, is the time-to-care bill that she presented, to allow four hours of basic care to residents in long-term care.

Let me talk about some of the schedules. One of the items that I want to talk about right now is the first

schedule item,

schedule 1 of this bill. What it does is it allows EMS paramedics who drive ambulances to do a triage, so to speak, of health care on the ground when they are called out to a 911 call, so they can assess the situation. It allows paramedics to provide honesty in care for low-acuity patients—for example, on-scene treatment and release or treatment and referral of patients to non-hospital settings.

That is probably a good thing. We know that in—I think it’s around the Pembroke, Petawawa area, if I recall, ambulance or paramedic workers have been doing home care for seniors. They have been going out and actually checking in on vulnerable seniors, touching base with them, because that’s preventing them from actually going to the hospital in a crisis situation. And where does that bring me to, Speaker? It talks about the capacity of hospitals.

So here we are, now asking paramedics to do non-acuity assessments when they are called out, so that can help the capacity of hospitals and ER rooms. That is a good thing.

The other thing that I want to talk about is the capacity of hospitals. The government, the Minister of Health, has recently announced that Humber River Hospital is going to open after two years of being shuttered, because they are going to take ALC beds out of the existing hospital, the new hospital that’s open, and they are going to transfer them over to the Humber River Hospital. If I recall, it’s about 150 beds, because they want to free up capacity in the new hospital.

Speaker, I don’t agree that that is a solution, a long-term sustainable solution to the hospital capacity issue. We need to understand what’s happening. This government a few years ago talked about transformational health care. I remember going to meetings at hospitals and talking to CEOs, and they were saying, “The government wants us to deliver the services to health care in hospitals where medically-oriented services—we aren’t here for people to, you know, recover for a week. Once they have their major surgery done, then they need to go home and they need to recover there, where they can have home care.”

In theory, that was a good idea, but what happened was that the resources to the home care weren’t—the pathway wasn’t there. It wasn’t clear. So you would have somebody who had major surgery and they would be there a couple of days and they would be released out of the hospital. But what occurred? There was a gap. I have heard this many times, and members have mentioned it. They didn’t have home care come in enough time. It was delayed. They ended up with infections or complications, and they ended up back in the emergency room. So that didn’t help the situation. That transformational health care, if we didn’t have that piece in place, wasn’t solving the problem.

What also was happening was, under mental health—I have often talked about this. There’s a wonderful

article that the London Free Press wrote. It’s a very sad situation about a young woman who was a whistle-blower in London under the mental health department, the psychiatric department. This was going on for years. It wasn’t anything new. But once this young woman came forward and said, “You know what? I was a mental health patient and I was forced to wait in a hallway to get help”— she was sent home without being referred because there was no capacity for the beds. The sad part of this, the sad unfortunate part that could be prevented—this could have been prevented.

This young woman, 20 years old, was in the mental health care system from the time she was a younger person. She had visited the ER in London to get help for her mental health issue over eight days, and in the end, because the system wasn’t there to help her, she died by suicide. This is unacceptable.

One of the schedules in here that I’m talking about, the paramedic piece, is that if there are patients who are accessing mental health services and they are low-acutity patients, there should be an opportunity to divert them to a community centre. That was a problem under this act, that EMS services were not allowed to take low-acuity mental health patients who needed help into—in London, specifically; we’re using that example—a crisis centre, a mental health crisis centre, because it wasn’t under the hospital act. This is now being addressed, I understand, and that’s good.

There are recommendations, though—again, this government needs to understand that if that is a good idea, which I think we all agree it probably has merit—but it needs to listen to the people that work in that field.

How are they going to do that? We have suggestions from stakeholders. For example, they are saying that when that happens, the patients must go to a public, not-for-profit facility. We don’t want to encourage privatization in our health care system, because it comes out of your pocket, Speaker, and that means it’s a two-tier health care system: those that can afford it and those that can’t. That’s one recommendation.

The other recommendation: It should only be for patients with low acuity. We have to ensure that’s the case. We don’t want to take people who are high acuity into the wrong places to get help. That doesn’t help the patient and it doesn’t help the health care system costs in general. It also says that they want to make sure that paramedics and dispatchers must be protected from any additional liability that might arise from the government’s proposed changes to allow diversion away from emergency rooms in hospitals. Again, they are looking for guidance on those things.

Enacting legislation that is going to help the community, is going to help patients and is going to help alleviate some of that hospital capacity is a good thing. But then we have to look at the layers of how that’s going to affect the front-line workers and the patients.

I hope that when the government is looking at this at committee, they are going to pay attention—number one—to the presenters who have a stake in this legislation in all areas, be it a patient, a hospital, or first responders. They are going to listen, I hope, very closely to our health care critic because there are many times, Speaker, that we have offered solutions and amendments to this government and they haven’t taken them. Then they stand up here and they say, “Well, the third party doesn’t have any solutions.”

I’ll give them a couple, Speaker, that I have here. One of them is that we need to put a moratorium on firing—or laying off, I should say—nurses and front-line staff and care workers and professionals and providers until there’s a comprehensive health care system in place; a plan in place. That’s something—

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Soo Wong): Thank you. Questions and comments?

Hon. Peter Z. Milczyn: It’s a pleasure to rise this morning to respond to the comments from the member for London–Fanshawe on the Strengthening Quality and Accountability for Patients Act. Madam Speaker, I think the member actually addressed some of the key parts of the legislation very well in her remarks.

The aspect of the bill which will give more authority to paramedics to deal with their patients in a variety of ways other than simply transporting them to a hospital: We know that in some cases we’ve had tremendous backups of paramedics and ambulances at certain emergency rooms, where the coverage for the rest of the community would be diminished because these ambulances were stuck waiting in an emergency room to transfer the patient to the care of the doctors at that facility.

I know that the government over the years has made a number of changes to alleviate that dilemma, to get ambulances and paramedics back out on the road more quickly. That dealt with one aspect of the issue, which was the backlog at emergency rooms.

This takes it to the next step, Madam Speaker, and the member raised this. It now gives paramedics the options to treat people in the home or to direct their care to other health facilities that are perhaps more appropriate than an emergency room. Ultimately, what this does is it ensures the patient gets the right care in the right place and at the right time, which will lead to better outcomes.

Of course, Madam Speaker, this bill speaks to much more than just that aspect. As someone who has had parents in long-term care and who now has in-laws in retirement homes, the aspects for more oversight for long-term-care facilities and retirement homes are very positive as well.

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Soo Wong): Questions and comments?

Mr. Lorne Coe: Our hope as a caucus is that the government will seek feedback from stakeholders to refine the bill. We have speakers who will be a little bit more specific going forward this morning—and to ensure it strikes an appropriate balance of the liberties of residents alongside the protection of vulnerable persons in our long-term-care homes.

We also want to see a long-term-care system that upholds safety and quality, and one that’s hailed as a success for all the residents in long-term care. Speaker, you will know that the residents coming into our long-term-care-home system here in Ontario now are not necessarily seniors. It’s younger residents as well, and presenting with a greater level of acuity and challenge in their medical needs. But as builders of our communities, in particular the seniors of our communities, residents in Ontario’s long-term-care homes deserve no less in terms of the type of care that is required.

In summing up, I want to make sure that as we move forward with this bill, we ensure adequate time to educate the long-term-care sector about the proposed new obligations—legal obligations, as opposed to simply applying the charges and penalties laid out here in the provisions. The worst that could happen, if that diligence and care is not taken, is that the changes will be rushed through and front-line staff will have some difficulty in applying these new approaches and, even more, it will diminish the opportunity of staff to apply the level of care that we all want to see going forward.

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Soo Wong): Questions and comments?

Ms. Peggy Sattler: I want to commend my colleague the member from London–Fanshawe on her remarks with regard to Bill 160, the Strengthening Quality and Accountability for Patients Act. She spoke about the situation in London. She and I, of course, come from the same community. We are daily witnesses to the chaos, the crisis in our mental health system in our community.

She talked about the pilot project that my community was involved in putting together almost two years ago. This is a pilot project that would enable the local EMS, the paramedics, to take non-acute mental health patients directly to our local CMHA crisis centre instead of to the hospital. At the crisis centre, they can be seen in about 20 minutes, versus eight hours or more at the hospital before they are admitted. When this project was put together in my community, it was estimated that it could save the system $2.5 million a year that could be reinvested into health care services.

Instead of approving our pilot project two years ago, the government has introduced amendments to the Ambulance Act, amendments which are very broad and which open up all kinds of questions and concerns. They have bundled those amendments to the Ambulance Act within a very complex piece of legislation that includes 10 schedules, numerous changes to many pieces of legislation, many of which are highly, highly contentious. They open the door to privatization. They don’t do anything to address the crisis in our long-term-care system. They don’t do anything to ensure that seniors have the care that they need in long-term-care homes or retirement homes. It’s unacceptable.

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Soo Wong): Questions and comments?

Hon. Reza Moridi: It’s a great pleasure to rise in this House and speak to Bill 160. One aspect of Bill 160 is transparency. By introducing this bill, we bring transparency to the transfer of benefits from industry to medical professionals and those who provide medical care to our population.

If this bill is passed, the government basically will be committed to require industry people to come up with information on where they transfer various types of benefits; for example, paid meals, travel, research grants, or fees for services such as consultations or sponsored speaking engagements. These are some of the things which are happening in our society, but as a public, we have no information on what is happening in the system. This bill, if passed, will bring more transparency to that aspect of our health care system.

Countries around the world such as Belgium, France, the United States, Denmark, Slovakia, and Portugal have already done this through legislation. If passed, Madam Speaker, Ontario is going to be the first jurisdiction in our country of Canada to bring this legislation forward and introduce this notion to our health care system.

Transparency is very significant and very important for the public trust. By bringing transparency to the health care system, surely the public’s trust in our public health system will be increased.

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Soo Wong): I return to the member from London–Fanshawe to wrap up.

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: As I mentioned earlier, there is a lot to this bill. There are many schedules and moving parts. I focused on hospital capacity. This is one of the ways that we look forward to those changes. The complexity of that, as I mentioned, needs to be taken into account so that it’s done right and we don’t create further health care crises in our community.

When I talk about capacity in long-term care—I’m the third party critic for long-term care—there is a problem with capacity in long-term care. There are over 30,000 people waiting to get into long-term-care beds. I have to say, and I addressed this earlier, the government isn’t dealing with that capacity problem.

I’ll give you an example, as I mentioned earlier: They are taking people out of a hospital and opening up a hospital that has been closed—Humber River Hospital—and putting alternative-care beds into that hospital and saying, “That’s the capacity solution we’re going to have.” People in alternative-care beds need to access long-term-care facilities, and that’s where they’re going to get the care that they need. So that is a problem.

In

schedule 5 of Bill 160, they touch on long-term care. They are changing ways of how to address infractions and abuse with regard to long-term care. They’re levying fines for licensees who operate these businesses. They are talking about confinement and restraints of residents in long-term care in

schedule 5, and also a different

schedule in the retirement homes. I have concerns about how this legislation is written when it comes to confinement and restraints. I think that when you live in a long-term-care home or in a retirement home you need to be very clear when it comes to those kinds of liberties—

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Soo Wong): Thank you. Further debate?

Hon. Chris Ballard: It gives me great pleasure to be able to speak to this bill, the Strengthening Quality and Accountability for Patients Act. I want to just follow up on a few comments that my colleagues made in their remarks earlier. I wanted to talk about the need for open pharma, as this bill calls it.

It goes without saying that the people of Ontario deserve health care they can rely on. They deserve health care that they can trust. We know that transparency allows the public to have access to information in order to be engaged and make informed choices, not only about their health care but also about the health of their families. Ensuring that there is transparency with Ontario’s publicly funded health system really increases public trust.

Everyone deserves access to that information, as I mentioned earlier, so that’s why our government committed to strengthening transparency in the health care system here in Ontario. This legislation, if passed, is going to make information around payments from the medical industry to health care professionals and organizations available to the public. It would require, for example, that the medical industry annually report payments submitted to health care professionals and organizations. It would include things like paid meals, travel, research grants and fees for services such as consultations or sponsored speaking engagements.

If passed, this new legislation is going to allow for the payment information to be publicly posted on a database so that all of us will have access to it. This is going to give Ontarians, we believe, the insight into the extent of private sector funding of the health care system.

We don’t yet know the extent of industry transfers to health care, but, if passed, these changes would certainly allow for all of us to have a better understanding of the value of these transfers.

As my colleague mentioned, a number of countries have gone down this route. We have France, the United States, Belgium, Denmark, Portugal and Slovakia—they have all addressed this issue through legislation, and we are doing the same. We’re aligning ourselves with this growing movement, as are leaders nationwide. But we will be the first jurisdiction in Canada to address this issue.

And we’re not stopping there. This bill, if passed, will not only increase transparency; it’s going to strengthen health system accountability and enhance the quality of care for patients.

There are a number of things I wanted to talk about on this bill, Speaker. If passed, it’s also going to guarantee that all long-term-care-home operators are providing safe and quality care for residents, through a stronger inspection program with more robust enforcement tools, including financial penalties and new provincial offences.

As my colleague noted earlier, it would give ambulances the ability—and I want to speak about that for a minute in a second, because it’s something near and dear to my heart. It would give ambulances the ability to transport patients to more appropriate care settings, such as mental health facilities, to best address their individual needs. This would help reduce overcrowding in emergency departments, and provide the best care for patients in the most appropriate settings, when they call 911 for assistance.

It would also protect Ontarians in their everyday life by regulating recreational water facilities, like splash pads and wading pools, and personal care services settings like barbershops and nail salons.

The proposed changes under this act will roll out important initiatives that are going to help Ontario’s health care system to continue serving all Ontarians today and into the future.

Speaker, just for a couple of minutes, I wanted to talk about proposed changes to the Ambulance Act.

Getting reliable emergency services quickly isn’t just important, of course; it’s a matter of life or death. That’s why it is important that our emergency health services are operating effectively and efficiently.

There are approximately 8,700 paramedics and more than 1,700 ambulances and support vehicles across Ontario. Last year, they transported more than one million patients, and that number continues to grow. But the experts have told me—when I’m talking to the EMS and the paramedics in my area, they tell me that many of the 911 calls are not necessarily life-threatening. I’m certainly not suggesting that people who have concerns stop calling 911. Please, call 911. Everyone will tell you that. But they are not all life-threatening.

Some individuals are having a mental health crisis that needs some specialized supports other than a trip to emergency. There are others; I know I have heard of seniors who don’t necessarily need transportation to hospital but need some reassurance that everything is okay.

Up until now, if either of those groups were to phone 911, they would be transported to an emergency room. That would have necessitated a significant wait, and it would have tied up a lot of resources that could perhaps be better applied to taking care of people who really do have an immediate, life-threatening issue.

We believe there is a more flexible way of managing our 911 system, and that’s putting patients first, or utilizing our existing resources in the best way. Our proposed changes are going to allow EMS workers to treat and release low-acuity patients who do not need additional medical care, or treat and refer patients to a health setting more appropriate than emergency rooms. We believe these changes would help reduce off-load delays at our hospitals, meaning that ambulances and staff are spending more time available to respond to those calls where every second counts.

These changes will also ensure that our emergency departments and hospitals are not filled with individuals who could be receiving more timely care in a more appropriate setting.

Speaker, I will say, too, that there has been, thankfully, some good support for Bill 160, the Strengthening Quality and Accountability for Patients Act. We have the MPP for Welland who has said that certainly the NDP supports the improvements for transparency in health care and for better quality of health care for patients and seniors in this province.

The MPP for Whitby–Oshawa was quoted as saying that at the same time, the stakeholders, as we move to a committee structure, will have an opportunity to continue to provide their voices on ways in which we can strengthen the legislation going forward.

Speaker, I think we have heard from both the opposition party and the third party that there is support for elements of this bill and a desire to see other sections raised in committee for further consultation. I think that’s a good thing. In committee, we know, members of all parties will hear from stakeholders that have an interest in the bill. Members of the public will be able to provide their important input on this bill.

We allowed debate to continue when we reached six and a half hours of debate on this bill so that more members from all parties would have the opportunity to present their views on the bill, myself included. This bill has seen more than nine hours of debate and we have had many of our members in the Legislature speak to the bill. So at this time, I believe it’s time that the bill is put to a vote for second reading and hopefully be referred to committee where the important work takes place. As a result, Speaker, I would move that this question be now put.

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Soo Wong): Mr. Ballard has moved that the question now be put. Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? I heard a no.

All those in favour, say “aye.”

All those opposed, say “nay.”

I believe the ayes have it.

This motion will be deferred for a vote after question period.

Vote deferred.

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Soo Wong): Orders of the day.

Hon. Chris Ballard: Speaker, no further business.

The Deputy Speaker (Ms. Soo Wong): I will recess the House until 10:30.

The House recessed from 0932 to 1030.

Introduction of Visitors

Ms. Ann Hoggarth: Today, I would like to welcome three representatives from the Canadian Cancer Survivor Network: president and CEO Jackie Manthorne, with board members Mona Forrest and Ella Forbes-Chilibeck. The CCSN will be hosting a reception at lunchtime today in room 228, and I invite all members to attend.

Mr. Randy Pettapiece: I’d like to introduce the family of page captain Erin Elliott: her mother, Melanie Hahn; her father, Jeff Elliott; and her brother, Ethan Elliott, who was a page back in the spring of 2014. Welcome.

Mr. Taras Natyshak: I’d like to welcome members representing the corrections and community safety professionals in our province. They are Randy Simpraga, Chris Jackel, Scott McIntyre, Ken Steinbrenner, Chris Abbott, Pete Harding, Tom Moffat, Yvonne Latchford, Rob Nimer, Glenna Caldwell, Autumn Butsch, Greg Arnold and Chad Oldfield. They’re here today to take

part in question period.

Hon. Reza Moridi: Please join me in welcoming one of the giants of medical science in our province, Dr. James Till, sitting in the members’ gallery. Dr. Till and his late colleague Dr. Ernest McCulloch discovered stem cells and brought medical sciences to another plateau. This afternoon, I’ll be making a ministerial statement on their achievements, and I hope all colleagues will join us. On behalf of all of us, we welcome Dr. James Till to the Ontario Parliament.

Mr. Rick Nicholls: I would like to welcome all of the correctional officers from around the province, as well as probation and parole, namely, Ryan Graham, president of OPSEU Local 234 from the Maplehurst correction centre; Carmen Ackerman, a nurse at Maplehurst; Matt Smith; Peter Figliola; Jill Johns, probation and parole from Chatham; Richard Dionne, president of Local 369 from CNCC, Central North; and Gord Kiernan, Barrie probation and parole, Local 338. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Ms. Catherine Fife: It’s my pleasure to welcome Anjum Sultana, who is a junior fellow at the Wellesley Institute, to Queen’s Park today. Welcome.

Hon. Michael Chan: I would like to welcome guests Kashif Khan, Ghazala Khan, Fatima Khan and Muhammad Khan from the great riding of Markham–Unionville.

Mr. Jeff Yurek: I’d like to introduce former page Maggie Yurek and her mother, Jenn.

Hon. Bob Chiarelli: I rise today on behalf of my colleague the member for Ottawa South to introduce some board members from the Perley and Rideau Veterans’ Health Centre. Joining us today in the east gallery are Akos Hoffer, Mike Jeffrey, Kris Birchard and Jamie Lowery. Welcome, gentlemen.

Hon. Bill Mauro: I’m pleased to welcome, in the members’ east gallery, from the city of Thunder Bay, city manager Norm Gale.

Ms. Sylvia Jones: Please join me in welcoming, visiting Queen’s Park today, Briana, Rowan and Darius Hamlet. Welcome.

Mr. Bob Delaney: On behalf of the member for Mississauga East–Cooksville and page captain Alexander Arruda, I’d like the members to welcome Alexander’s parents, Christine and Michael Arruda, and his brother, Nicholas Arruda. They will be in the members’ gallery this morning.

Mr. Arthur Potts: My page from Beaches–East York, Colin Angell, has his grandparents here, Sigrid and Ralph Angell. They’re here to show how proud they are of their grandson.

Hon. Eleanor McMahon: I’m delighted to welcome to Queen’s Park today a tremendous resident of Burlington who’s a real activist in the autism community and doing great things for her son, Mason. Thank you, Rachelle Parker, for everything you do and thank you for being here.

Hon. Yasir Naqvi: I want to introduce a very good friend of mine, somebody who worked along with me and the Minister of Finance here at Queen’s Park and now is a proud resident of Ottawa Centre. Please welcome Geoff Turner to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Yvan Baker: I wanted to introduce a few folks on behalf of MPP Fraser. I would like to introduce members of the Ontario Kinesiology Association to the Legislature. We have with us a number of folks: Sabrina Francescut, who is OKA president, from Thunder Bay–Atikokan; Renee David and Janice Ray from Markham Stouffville; Krista Crozier from Guelph Wellington; Daniel Santa Mina from Etobicoke–Lakeshore; Devon Blackburn from Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry; Steven Fischer from Waterloo; and Eliza Reid from Oxford. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Jeff Yurek: Speaker, I just wanted to correct my record. I mentioned Maggie Yurek and her mother, Jenn. I should have said, “her beautiful mother, Jenn.”

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I advised him to say that.

Hon. Kevin Daniel Flynn: Today we’re joined by three people from the great riding of Oakville: Steph Ridley, Amanda Martin and Rachelle Parker. Please welcome them to Queen’s Park.

Mrs. Cristina Martins: It gives me great pleasure to welcome someone who’s visiting us here today from Portugal. Dr. Vasco Almeida is visiting from Montepio bank in Portugal. With him is Elisa Silva from the Montepio representative office here in Toronto. Bem-vindos to Queen’s Park.

Hon. Marie-France Lalonde: It’s certainly a pleasure—c’est un grand plaisir—to welcome in our Legislature our wonderful correctional staff, who are here with us today.

On behalf of our government and as the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, we say welcome and we thank you all for the great work that you do every single day in our institutions and in our communities.

Hon. Michael Coteau: I’d like to introduce one of our pages’ grandparents—our page Colin Angell. Ralph and Sigrid Angell are joining us here today. Thank you very much.

Mr. Michael Harris: I would like to welcome Amy and Craig Fee; their son, Kenner; and their service dog, Ivy, I believe is with them. As well, Donna Baldwin and Jack Baldwin and their service dog, Jensen, are here. I believe Linda Fauteux is here from MP Harold Albrecht’s office. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Miss Monique Taylor: I know they’ll be joining us shortly as they’ve been redirected upstairs. From the Ontario Autism Coalition we have Bruce McIntosh, Laura Kirby-McIntosh, Declan McIntosh and his service dog, Basil. We have Lucas Zapreff with his mom, Tara Zapreff. We have Irwin Elman, who joined us in the House today. We have David Lepofsky, who joined us in the House today, and Sherry Caldwell, who is with us from the Ontario Disability Coalition. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

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

The member from Lambton–Kent–Middlesex on a point of order.

Mr. Monte McNaughton: I’m seeking unanimous consent to put forward a motion without notice to provide for the immediate passage of Bill 79,

An Act to proclaim the Nanjing Massacre Commemorative Day.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member is seeking unanimous consent to put forward a motion without notice. Do we agree? I heard a no.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): If this is an indicator, I will indicate to you: I can jump right into warnings without notice.

It is therefore now time for question period.

Oral Questions

Autism treatment

Mr. Patrick Brown: My question is for the Premier. It took hundreds and thousands of families with children with autism to convince this government that autism doesn’t end at five. Unfortunately, right now, the government seems to have forgotten that autism doesn’t end at school either. The sad reality is that families, who don’t have the time and are stretched thin, have to come to Queen’s Park to protest.

My question is, after 14 years—after 14 long years—why can’t this government finally support these families with children with autism?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: First of all, let me say, to the Ontario Autism Coalition, welcome. Many of the people who are here today are people I’ve worked with for many years, from the time I was Minister of Education and before, actually, when I was a school trustee. I know that there are many issues that we have worked together on over the years.

As you know, Mr. Speaker, we have put $500 million into autism services to create 16,000 new spaces and to reduce wait times, because we knew that there were young kids languishing on a wait-list, not getting service when they needed it and not getting the appropriate service, therefore.

We’ve done that, but we know that there’s more work to be done in the classroom. This issue of how to deliver services in the classroom and make sure that we have the right services in the right place—that’s why we’ve put a pilot project in place. This is a discussion that has been going on for some time.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary.

Mr. Patrick Brown: Again to the Premier: The Premier may say they’re working with the Ontario Autism Coalition, but they’ve just given you a failing grade. They’ve said the support isn’t adequate.

Today, the Ontario Autism Coalition released the results of an important survey. They asked parents of school-aged children with autism about their experiences and about the support they’re getting from this government: 40% said that their child’s potential placements were not thoroughly explained to them; 57% indicated they did not feel they had a choice when it came to their child’s placement; 72% felt their child does not receive the support at the level they need at school. That’s astonishing. That’s three out of four children saying they don’t get the support they need from this government.

So it’s nice to say you’re listening and it’s nice to say you’re working with the Ontario Autism Coalition, but this survey says it’s not good enough.

When can we get more than listening? When can we get more than saying that you’re going to work with them? When can we get results and real support for these families and these children?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Children and Youth Services.

Hon. Michael Coteau: I’d like to take this opportunity to thank parents, to thank the Ontario Autism Coalition and everyone who’s here at the Legislature today, who have worked with us as a government to better position young people for success here in the province of Ontario.

We’ve been working tirelessly to put a new system in place. We committed to putting in place the implementation of a new plan in the fall of this year and full implementation of the plan in the spring. We have a track record here in the Legislature when it comes to supporting young people, unlike the member opposite, the Leader of the Opposition. When you look at his track record when it comes to supporting young people, I would say he gets a failure. He has not—he’s had the opportunity to support families, to support children, and I’ll talk a bit about his record in my supplemental.

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

Mr. Patrick Brown: Again to the Premier: This isn’t the opposition’s survey results and this isn’t a partisan pitch; this is the Ontario Autism Coalition. Rather than attack others, I would like the Premier herself to answer the substance of these concerns.

Not only are they saying that three quarters of students don’t get the help in school they need, but another fact in the report read that 75% of parents indicated that in the last year they had advocated for their child to receive support from an EA. Of those requests, 54% have been refused. The support is not there.

I know that the convenient answer at Queen’s Park is to attack others, but the reality, Mr. Speaker, is that they’ve been in government for 14 years. For 14 years they’ve had the opportunity to support children with autism. So directly to the Premier: This report is disappointing. What will the Premier promise us today that she is going to do to support these children and support these families?

Interjections.

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

Minister?

Hon. Michael Coteau: Mr. Speaker, here in Ontario we have the best resources that are being placed to support families of children with autism. The member opposite knows that we dedicated an additional half a billion dollars to support young people here in the province. We have committed to regulating the sector to make sure that young people are getting the best services possible. We are the government that has moved towards direct funding.

Mr. Speaker, today there was an announcement made, a $5-million investment, to further support ABA training within schools.

When the member opposite had an opportunity to vote for a national strategy for autism as a federal member, he voted against it. When he had an opportunity to stand up and support families with Bill 89, which supports young people by raising the age of protection, they were nowhere to be seen. What are you doing to support young people here in the province of Ontario? I’d like to know your record.

Interjections.

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

Energy policies

Mr. Patrick Brown: My question is for the Premier. Since I can’t get an answer on the government’s cuts to autism services, let’s try something different.

We just received copies of the long-term energy plan. Mr. Speaker, I can’t find what page includes the

section on giving mega contracts to Liberal donors. We know that the Auditor General said we overpaid by $9.2 billion on renewable energy. Of these mega contracts the companies got, they donated $1.3 million to the Ontario Liberal Party. The

section on giving mega contracts to Liberal friends and insiders—was that

section double-deleted? Could the Premier please enlighten us?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Energy.

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: I’m very pleased to talk about the long-term energy plan, which is talking about a plan that we’ve brought forward that’s reducing rates for the people in this province by 25%. This is the second plan that we have launched in the last six months, Mr. Speaker. I know that we’re still waiting for one from the opposition.

When we’re talking about the benefits of this plan, it’s actually bringing fairness and choice and innovation—innovation that’s going to actually see ratepayers, both large and small, see their bills reduced. It will see more jobs created in an innovative sector that has already created over 40,000 jobs. This plan is bringing forward prosperity for our province, making sure that we can continue to keep our GHGs low and working with the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change to meet our climate change action plan goals. This plan is something that Ontarians should be proud of.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary? The member from Prince Edward–Hastings.

Mr. Todd Smith: This long-term energy plan confirms what we’ve said all along: After the next election, the Liberal electricity borrowing scheme gets wiped out. But this $40-billion borrowing scheme is going to cost ratepayers an extra $4 billion long-term because it was never, ever intended to be an electricity plan, Mr. Speaker. This is a re-election plan for Kathleen Wynne and the Liberals in Ontario. The unfair hydro plan is yet another bad deal—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I’m going to remind the member that titles or ridings are to be used in this House.

Carry on.

Mr. Todd Smith: Speaker, the unfair hydro plan is another bad deal for Ontario that’s going to drive up electricity costs even further. How much more does this minister think Ontario ratepayers can afford on their electricity bills?

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: When we look at the electricity price outlook, Mr. Speaker—we brought down rates by 25%. That is actually clear, right as day, that rates are down 25%. Then they come down a little bit more in 2018, and they’re held to the cost of inflation for the three years after that.

Then, as we said just moments ago, when we were talking about the long-term energy plan and talking about it to the media and to the people of Ontario, we’re going to continue to take costs out of the system. We have examples of doing that. Besides the 25% from the fair hydro plan, we actually didn’t build new nuclear, cutting out billions in costs. We didn’t actually bring forward the LRP II, reducing billions of costs. We renegotiated the Samsung agreement.

That’s what you do, Mr. Speaker: You find out ways to reduce costs when you have plans. On that side of the House, they don’t have a plan, and they don’t have a clue either.

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

Mr. Todd Smith: Speaker, it took this government almost a year to come up with this long-term energy plan. It was supposed to come out in December; here we are, in late October, and we get a plan that really doesn’t remove any costs from the system. This is a $40-billion borrowing scheme.

The Liberals even managed to break a basic law of economics today. Demand is going to stay the same; supply is going to stay the same; prices, however, will shoot to new record highs after the next election. And that’s even after they cooked the books to make households smaller—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member will withdraw.

Mr. Todd Smith: Withdraw.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): You may finish.

Mr. Todd Smith: Only in Liberal Ontario is this even possible. Mr. Speaker—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): We’re into warnings.

Finish.

Mr. Todd Smith: Everybody can see through this $40-billion borrowing scam. They have to stop fudging the numbers. When are they going to get serious about taking costs out of the system?

Interjections.

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

The member will withdraw.

Mr. Todd Smith: I withdraw.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): And if it happens again, I’ll warn him.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): And if you’d like to talk to me and have a debate about it, I’ll get you named.

Minister.

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: Very clearly, the opposition has no idea on what to do with this file. All they can do, Mr. Speaker, is stand up and complain. This is a plan that is bringing fairness and choice. It is bringing—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Niagara West–Glanbrook is warned.

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: This is a plan that is bringing forward choice, that’s bringing forward fairness. It’s a real plan, a realistic plan, that the people of Ontario can actually look at and help them understand where the electricity system, where the energy system is going.

On the other side, they haven’t brought a thing forward, not one thing that would actually do anything to lower rates, but only increase rates. We’ve brought forward the 25% reduction through the fair hydro plan. We’ve taken costs out of the system. We’ll continue to roll up our sleeves and do more for the people of Ontario through this plan.

Long-term care

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: My question is to the Premier. Yesterday, the Long Term Care Association confirmed what the Minister of Health has been denying for three days: that long-term-care homes in Toronto are looking to relocate out of the city. Whether or not these homes have filed the paperwork with the ministry, they have expressed their desire to relocate and they’ve done it publicly.

Will the Minister of Health now confirm if he will or will not let any of these homes shut down or relocate out of Toronto?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I know the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care is going to want to comment, but let’s just be clear: This is a societal concern, that we all work with the people who provide care for elderly people, particularly frail elderly who may need to be in a long-term-care home or who may still want to stay at home and need those services in their place of residence. It is exactly what we are doing as a government. We are working with all of the providers, working with seniors’ advocacy groups to make sure that we put in place the supports that people need.

It is absolutely part of that discussion that beds are being upgraded across the province. There is money that’s going into long-term care to make sure that those beds are upgraded. And we want to make sure that there are not just those beds upgraded, but there are new beds in communities around the province. So until there is a formal proposal, we’re talking about hypotheticals.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary.

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: Denying what is happening publicly is not working with the people of the city of Toronto. The association’s report notes that even the city of Toronto staff acknowledge the possibility of homes closing or leaving. City staff said, “There is a significant risk in future years of long-term-care homes closing or moving out of the city....”

With a wait-list for care topping 32,000 people already, and now the possibility of losing 1,800 spaces in Toronto, what is this Liberal government’s plan to make sure that every senior who needs care has a spot in a long-term-care home?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: The challenge laid out by the member opposite is exactly the challenge we are working on. We understand that there are risks. We understand that there are risks in the aging population. Many, many of us are working with our parents to make sure they have the care they need.

We understand that solving the challenge that the member opposite has laid out is the responsibility, I would suggest, of all of us. It is certainly the responsibility of our government. We are working with the Long Term Care Association, we are working with providers, to make sure that the scenario that the member opposite hypothetically has put forward does not happen.

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

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: This Liberal government is the epitome of the queen of denial. The redevelopment issues with these homes in Toronto are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to problems in the long-term-care system.

Seniors are facing months-long wait-lists just to get a bed, and when they finally do, they often have to face issues with safety and security, understaffing and conditions that do not allow them the care and support they deserve. When they finally get a place, they don’t even have the peace of mind of staying in the city when they get their long-term-care bed.

For far too long, this government has been ignoring this growing crisis. What is the Premier’s plan to take care of our seniors, our grandparents and parents? Because, so far, she hasn’t had one.

Interjections.

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

Premier?

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

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Once again, the NDP is sowing the seeds of anxiety and fear. I feel awful for those residents of the 20 long-term-care homes. I need to reassure them; I feel compelled to, because of this narrative they’re trying to create—that not a single home in Toronto has applied to us to move their beds or their homes outside of Toronto. In fact, I met with the mayor of the city of Toronto yesterday, and we both remarked on how the number of beds for long-term care in Toronto this year has actually increased.

We’re working with our partners. I appreciate the fact that the Ontario Long Term Care Association has released their pre-budget submission—yesterday, I believe—and I’ve gone through it. There are some very good ideas within that.

We’re working closely with all of our partners, unlike the NDP, who simply want to sow fear and anxiety among Ontarians.

Hydro rates

Mr. Peter Tabuns: My question is to the Premier. This morning, the Premier released her long-term energy plan, but the people of Ontario don’t need a fancy report to know what the Premier and her Liberal government are planning for their hydro bills. We already know: They’re going to skyrocket. The plan confirms it in black and white. Ten years from now, people will be paying 42% more every single month, just to keep the lights on. The Premier’s $40-billion borrowing scheme has seen to that. Even when households use less power, her long-term energy plan says they’ll pay still more.

Can the Premier tell us why she’s sticking to her $40-billion borrowing scheme when her own long-term energy plan tells us that Ontarians will pay more because of it?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Energy.

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: I’m very pleased to talk about the long-term energy plan, the 25% reduction that people are getting now. We’re going to continue to see costs coming out of the system to lower that for our families and our businesses even more.

I know the third party continues to make their numbers up and elevate what they’re seeing as borrowing plans. They know those numbers are actually a lot lower than that. It shows it directly in the long-term energy plan.

Let’s talk about some of the things that this long-term energy plan is doing. We’re making sure that we’re bringing forward lower costs for all businesses and all families—and for all farms in this province, for that matter. That’s being done through the fair hydro plan.

We’ve already pulled costs out of the system. Not having to build new nukes, not having to bring forward the second round of large renewable procurement, and renegotiating the Samsung contract are just three examples we can use of how we’ve taken costs out of the system.

I’m looking forward to talking about market renewal in the supplementary.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Peter Tabuns: Again to the Premier: Hydro rates have gone up 300% under the Liberals. They’ve gone up 50% under this Premier’s watch alone. And now we know that in the next 10 years, people’s bills will go from an already high average of 127 bucks a month to an outrageous $181 per month.

The Premier’s first two energy plans had no mention of her plan to sell off Hydro One—a disastrous decision. And this long-term plan is nothing more than a political document that sugar-coats more bad news for Ontario ratepayers. The Premier didn’t tell us she would privatize Hydro One. People said no to privatization and she did it anyway. She let us down. What makes the Premier think that the people of Ontario give her any credibility on this file?

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: The only thing that this Premier has done is brought rates down by 25%, unlike what that party would propose to do, which is to nationalize Hydro One, spend tens of billions of dollars doing so, and not save a single penny on anyone’s bills.

You want to talk about Hydro One? Let’s talk about the money that we’ve been able to take and build infrastructure with, thanks to the broadening of the ownership of Hydro One: $13.5 billion in the GTHA. GO regional rail express—that’s increasing transit. I always thought the NDP supported more transit; I guess they don’t. Some $5.3 billion in the Eglinton Crosstown LRT; tripling the Ontario Community Infrastructure Fund to $300 million; $1.4 billion in the Hurontario LRT in Mississauga and Brampton; $1 billion in Ottawa’s LRT; and, of course, the broadening and expansion of Highway 69, making sure that northern Ontario—

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

Mr. Peter Tabuns: Again to the Premier: Hydro bills have skyrocketed under this Premier, and nothing in her long-term energy plan is going to change that. The people of Ontario don’t need to hear any more about stretch goals from the Liberal government. Right now, families are being forced to choose between paying their hydro bills and paying for their groceries. All the Premier seems to care about is spending an extra $4 billion on an accounting trick to hide the impact of her $40-billion borrowing scheme. I guess we all have our priorities, Speaker.

Why is the Premier’s priority her re-election and not the people of this province?

Interjections.

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

Minister?

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: The fair hydro plan took into consideration every single person in this province and brought forward relief for them, unlike their so-called pie-in-the-sky plan that didn’t even include talking about reductions for First Nations or talking about low-income individuals.

Let’s look at page 23 of the long-term energy plan, where it talks about distribution rate protection. The RRRP program lowers the distribution rates paid by rural and remote customers, who face higher distribution costs compared to other areas. That’s a 40% to 50% reduction for people who live in the rural and northern parts of our province; again, something that they didn’t even address, Mr. Speaker.

When it comes to a party that is actually bringing something for the people of Ontario, it’s this government, not the two opposition parties. One doesn’t have a plan and one makes it up as it goes along. We’re actually bringing forward real relief for all Ontarians.

Correctional services

Mr. Patrick Brown: My question is for the Premier. I’ve spoken with corrections officers, nurses and other front-line corrections staff across the province, and this is what I have heard: Jails are overcrowded, cellblock violence is a constant problem, inmates are held in maximum security without access to rehabilitation programs, and assaults on corrections officers and staff have more than doubled in seven years. I actually met one correctional officer in Thunder Bay who got held hostage.

I know the government is saying everything is fine now, but we have correctional officers here today to say it’s not fine; it’s not adequate.

Mr. Speaker, my question to the Premier is: When are they going to get serious about the crisis in corrections?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I know the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services will want to speak to the supplementary.

But I want to just take an opportunity to say that, quite to the contrary of what the Leader of the Opposition has said, we don’t think everything is fine. We believe that the work that is done by the people who are in the gallery today is very hard work and very important work, and I would say that for decades, it has not received the attention that it needed to. That is a non-partisan comment; I think governments of all stripes have not paid attention to corrections in the way that we should.

I think there’s a lot of work to be done. We have Howard Sapers, who is already giving us advice on some of the directions that we should take. But I just want the people in this gallery to know that we understand there is a lot to be done, that there are investments that need to be made, and there is attention to the working conditions of the people in our corrections institutions which need to be taken into account.

Interjections.

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

Supplementary?

Mr. Patrick Brown: Again to the Premier: If the Premier recognizes that there is a crisis, then fix it. If the Premier recognizes there is a problem, we need action. They’ve been in office for 14 years, and they’re having this awakening now that there’s a crisis? It needs investment.

There’s a sense of urgency here, and it’s not just the crisis in corrections. Ontario’s probation and parole system frankly is a joke. Often the only contact between a criminal and a probation officer happens when the offender visits the probation office. We saw that shocking Global TV exposé. So there’s a broader crisis in corrections.

What I want to know from the Premier is: Does she think it’s acceptable when we’re talking about dangerous, violent criminals and sex offenders who are on the loose without supervision? How do they justify this neglect? It was a year ago when we had that Global TV exposé, and we still don’t see action.

My question, very specifically to the Premier, is this: When are they going to get serious about the inadequate resources in the parole system?

Interjections.

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

Premier?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services.

Hon. Marie-France Lalonde: Where do you begin? I’ll begin with saying thank you to the men and women who work every day in our institutions and in our community, for the great work you do.

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

Hon. Marie-France Lalonde: But let’s take a look at what the party opposite did in Ontario’s corrections system when they were—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Chatham–Kent–Essex is warned. The Minister of Transportation is warned.

Finish, please.

Hon. Marie-France Lalonde: Mr. Speaker, they looked at privatization of our corrections system. I have to say, visiting eight institutions over the past 10 months, this is what I hear in our institutions. It was a failed privatization experiment in one of our jails. It was negotiated in bad faith with the public sector, which resulted in strikes in our jails, just in case he doesn’t know, and riots all over.

They left a system in need of infrastructure investment—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Your timing is not very good, member from Oxford.

The member from Dufferin–Caledon is warned.

Wrap up, please.

Hon. Marie-France Lalonde: Mr. Speaker, we would think that the Leader of the Opposition would learn from the countless mistakes his party made in Ontario’s corrections system. But think again: As an eager Harper Conservative—

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

New question.

Autism treatment

Miss Monique Taylor: My question is for the Premier. Parents of children with autism and developmental disabilities are here once again to fight for the services that their children desperately need.

When the government announced their new autism program, they knew it would put added pressure onto our school system, a system already struggling to cope with decades of chronic underfunding and cuts, begun by the Conservatives and continued by 14 years of Liberal governments, particularly to special education.

But nothing has been done to prepare for that, and children with autism, yet again, are paying the price. Will the government commit to a comprehensive autism strategy that ensures children with autism get the services they need in an inclusive classroom setting?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Education.

Hon. Mitzie Hunter: It’s such an honour to rise in this House today. I just want to welcome all of the family members, the students who are here today and the educators who are here today on behalf of the 20,000 students with autism in our school system. I know how hard the Ontario Autism Coalition has been working. I have been working with them, along with the Minister of Children and Youth Services.

We’re very committed as a government to providing for the appropriate supports in our schools for students who have autism. It’s something that we know is needed, and we’ve been doing that work. In fact, I just recently announced that we are beginning our pilot program that will see applied behaviour therapists being able to come right into schools to ease the transition and to create a more seamless and integrated day for students who have autism.

Of course, there is more work that we need to do, and that is exactly what we’re doing to provide better supports for students who need them in our schools.

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

The chronic underfunding of special education that was started by the Conservatives has continued under the Liberals. Instead of increasing special education funding to actually meet the needs of students, this Liberal government has cut special education budgets even more, leading to an ongoing shortage of EAs, developmental service workers and other specialized staff in schools. It’s not just ABA training for EAs that is needed; it’s more trained EAs.

Interjections.

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

Minister?

Hon. Mitzie Hunter: The third party is asking for us to improve education in areas in Ontario that we are doing right now. We have, in fact, trained 30,000 principals, teachers and education workers in applied behaviour therapy. What we’ve just announced is in addition to that specific customized—

Interjections.

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

Hon. Mitzie Hunter: —specific customized training for education assistants who work with students with autism.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Answer.

Hon. Mitzie Hunter: Our government has provided a 76% increase to students who need special education services in our schools and—

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

New question.

Hydro rates

Ms. Daiene Vernile: My question is to the Minister of Energy. Constituents in my riding of Kitchener Centre often ask me about electricity prices. Many of them have come to me in recent months and have mentioned that their hydro bills have come down. The fair hydro plan lowered bills by an average of 25% for residential consumers and up to 500,000 small businesses and farms. I’ve also heard how they’re benefiting from expanded programs, such as the Ontario Electricity Support Program, and there is the Rural and Remote Rate Protection Program.

While the fair hydro plan keeps increases to inflation for four years, the minister has also said that the specifics of the long-term costs to our system would be addressed in the 2017 long-term energy plan.

I’d like to ask the minister, now that the long-term energy plan has been released: Could he please explain how he’s taking additional costs out of the system to keep prices low?

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: I want to thank the member from Kitchener Centre for the question and, of course, for all the hard work she does day in and day out in Kitchener on behalf of her constituents.

Mr. Speaker, our long-term energy plan, Delivering Fairness and Choice, outlines additional work we will be undertaking to make our electricity system more cost-effective and efficient. That’s continuing to prioritize affordability for all Ontario ratepayers.

Our government has a history of effectively streamlining operations and taking costs out of the system. We deferred the cost of new nuclear. We renegotiated the Samsung agreement. We actually reduced the targets for renewable generation. These are tangible examples of how we’ve taken billions of dollars off of the electricity bills for ratepayers in this province.

In 2010, the long-term energy plan projected that in 2020, the average residential bill would be more than 200 bucks. Today’s plan now projects that in 2020, it will be below $130. That’s a $70 savings for people in Ontario.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Daiene Vernile: Thank you to the minister for that answer. He’s right to point out that we’ve already done a lot in reducing costs. He mentioned renegotiating Samsung agreements. That saved people—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Prince Edward–Hastings is warned.

Carry on.

Ms. Daiene Vernile: As I was saying, Speaker, renegotiating the Samsung agreement saved people in Ontario $3.7 billion; reducing feed-in tariff prices saved $1.9 billion; suspending large renewable procurement saved $3.8 billion; and deferring the construction costs of new nuclear reactors at Darlington will save families $15 billion. Additionally, the Ontario Energy Board has a very strong record of not giving utility companies all that they ask for. When you add this all up, there are real savings.

Unlike the members opposite, our government is also focused on a realistic plan for the future. Could the minister please tell us more about how he is going to be reducing electricity costs in the future?

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: Thanks again for the question. Our government acknowledged that we did the right thing by ensuring we had a clean and green energy supply. How we went about implementing those policies led to sub-optimal outcomes. Therefore, we took an in-depth look at ensuring that we’re procuring electricity generation in the right way.

The IESO is already hard at work on renewing our market mechanisms to create a more efficient and transparent system for procuring electricity generation. Market renewal is a major pillar of our 2017 long-term energy plan, Mr. Speaker, and it sets out to fix the foundation of our electricity system and take a technology-neutral approach to new procurements through an incremental capacity auction. That means that any time we need to secure new supply resources, we will choose the most cost-effective option.

Independent analysis suggests that about $5 billion in system savings would result from implementing market renewal in Ontario. It’s through this mechanism we will continue to drive costs down in the future for Ontario ratepayers, both large and small.

Government accountability

Mr. Victor Fedeli: My question is for the Premier.

The gas plant trial of two former Liberal aides heard testimony yesterday that was described as “a bombshell.” IT expert Rolf Gitt testified that the province’s Chief Information Officer, David Nicholl, didn’t seek access just to some computers in the Premier’s office during her transition; he wanted broad and extraordinary access to all the computers in the Premier’s office.

Gitt’s testimony contradicts the version given by Nicholl earlier at trial and in a sworn appearance at the justice policy hearings. Mr. Nicholl to this day remains the province’s Chief Information Officer.

To the Premier: Should Ontarians be worried that our data is still at risk?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Attorney General.

Hon. Yasir Naqvi: I just want to remind the member that we have to be very careful. This matter is, as we know, before the court, and we have to respect that process.

Our government takes our record-keeping obligations very seriously. We are committed to being open, accountable and transparent. We promised to open up government completely, and we’ve done so in an unprecedented degree.

In her report, the Information and Privacy Commissioner credited the government for improving record-keeping across government. We sent a directive to all political staff. We have developed mandatory training programs. We appointed chiefs of staff accountable for record-keeping. We have improved archiving requirements and we have passed the accountability act, which prohibits the wilful deletion of records and creates a penalty for doing so.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Victor Fedeli: Back to the Premier: Mr. Nicholl asked for sweeping elevated rights that allowed the wiping of data off all computers in the Premier’s office. He left an “erroneous impression” with the secretary of cabinet which led him to be granted that access.

Speaker, there are still people here today working in Liberal offices who admitted deleting files. This was designed to deliberately thwart the public’s right to information.

Continuing with this pattern today, the energy minister still hasn’t turned over all his emails due to the Auditor General. Now we see that the credibility of the Chief Information Officer is in doubt. Speaker, to the Premier: Why should anyone believe a word you say with your history of dodge, deny and delete?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Be seated, please. I also remind all members: Please address your comments to the Chair.

Attorney General.

Hon. Yasir Naqvi: Speaker, I just want to say to the member that he should be very careful in how he is trying to apply a set of proceedings that is taking place in a court of law, as we speak, to the Premier of the day today. The case relates to the former Premier of the province of Ontario. It does not deal with the current Premier. The member needs to be very careful when he uses the term “Premier” and poses his commentary in this House.

Speaker, let me be very clear: this Premier, the current Premier of Ontario, has taken unprecedented steps in making sure that the government is transparent and accountable, and the Information and Privacy Commissioner has credited the government for improving record-keeping. As I mentioned earlier in my question, we have taken specific steps to ensure that there is accurate record-keeping in the government.

Correctional services

Mr. Taras Natyshak: My question is to the Premier. Today, we’re joined by some of the 5,000 dedicated correctional and probation and parole professionals who are here today in the gallery. I want to thank them for the work that they do, keeping our communities safe.

Speaker, they’re here to keep the Liberal government to its word. Last year, the Liberal government spent $50 million to prevent a strike in our province’s jails that never happened. You essentially created a crisis on top of an ongoing crisis. Speaker, $50 million later and this Liberal government made a promise to recognize that front-line correctional staff are essential and valued members of our public service. Yet, despite these promises to hire new staff, the daily staffing complement has not increased at all.

What will the Premier tell correctional services professionals here today—and the thousands that they represent—about what they should expect, about how they’re valued and essential to solving the crisis in corrections?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services.

Hon. Marie-France Lalonde: I thank the member for the question, because again it gives me an opportunity to thank our wonderful correctional staff, who are here and across Ontario, for all their hard work and dedication.

We had a very productive meeting this morning, and I look forward to continuing these important discussions. As I’ve said, Mr. Speaker, I visited eight jails, eight of our institutions in the past 10 months as minister, and I’ve seen first-hand the high calibre of the individuals who actually work in our correctional facilities. I also had the great privilege of attending the latest graduation of our correctional officers in Hamilton: 211 new recruits coming to our workforce every day in our institutions. And, oh man, are they eager to start working and taking care and caring for our inmates.

Our government is committed to the transformation of our corrections system, and we will continue to work with front-line staff and our correction partners to ensure lasting change.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Taras Natyshak: Speaker, what these professionals need and deserve is not more platitudes from the government; they need action today.

Understaffing; overcrowding; broken and badly planned facilities procured from private sector deals; mothballed nursing stations, and, in the case of the South West Detention Centre, only 17 nurses of a complement of 21 that they need to operate that facility; $50 million to avoid a strike; one report and nearly daily headlines about jail deaths and violence—and this government is no closer to addressing the problem.

Speaker, I have heard that those who are closest to the problem are the closest to the solution. Is this Premier as committed today to listen to the front-line staff in our corrections and community safety system—the people who deal with it every day—as she was to throwing $50 million to the wind, hoping that the problem would go away?

Interjections.

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

Minister?

Hon. Marie-France Lalonde: Definitely, we are listening to our front-line staff. Mr. Speaker, are there issues within our system? Yes. I think our government is not shying away, and certainly as the minister, I’m not shying away from that. But this is exactly why we are implementing the greatest change to corrections in generations.

Mr. Howard Sapers has fully recognized our firm commitment to correctional reform. We’ll continue to work closely with our front-line staff and other partners as this government brings forward real change, whether it is through enhanced mental health training to all staff, or 24-hour, seven-days-a-week nursing, or exploring options to shift the oversight and provision of health care services to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, or through new correctional legislation this fall, to further cement our correctional reform.

We are committed to working with our front-line staff. I committed to this, and we will continue.

Indigenous children’s services / Services destinés aux enfants autochtones

Mr. Shafiq Qaadri: Bonjour, aanii, boozhoo. My question is for the Minister of Children and Youth Services.

Speaker, as you will know, Ontario’s child welfare system strives to make childhood for those in care fair, equitable, just and compassionate. Nevertheless, we do see an overrepresentation, a disproportionately higher number, of indigenous children in care. That includes Métis, First Nations and Inuit.

I believe that all the members of this House value the government’s negotiations and signing of a treaty in Kenora with the grand council. My question is this: Will the minister share details of this agreement with the Grand Council Treaty 3?

Hon. Michael Coteau: I want to thank the member from Etobicoke North for the question. Over the summer, I was in Kenora and I had the opportunity to sit down with Grand Council Treaty 3. We signed an agreement that would strengthen the relationship between Ontario and Grand Council Treaty 3.

This was an historic agreement. It was the first time that any government in this country has begun the negotiations to acknowledge the rightful jurisdiction of child and family well-being services to a community.

This agreement reaffirms our commitment to work together to improve outcomes and opportunities for Anishnawbe children and youth in Treaty 3 territory. We’re doing this through the co-implementation of the Ontario Indigenous Children and Youth Strategy, a key part of Ontario’s response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action.

Together with our indigenous partners, we focus on improving the outcomes and opportunities of children, youth and families here in Ontario.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Shafiq Qaadri: Thank you, Minister. I think all of us appreciate that, working under the leadership of Premier Wynne, you’re working on different initiatives in the child welfare sector as part of our province’s commitment to reconciliation and moving to a fairer, more equitable, more just and more compassionate system.

I believe that the collaborative work being done on the Ontario Indigenous Children and Youth Strategy is extremely important, and I ask the minister: Est-ce que vous pouvez élaborer sur le travail et les mesures que notre gouvernement a déjà pris? Merci. Meegwetch.

Hon. Michael Coteau: Again, thank you to the member for the question. As an initial investment in the strategy, we’re addressing the link between violence against indigenous women and the overrepresentation of indigenous children and youth in the child welfare and youth justice system. Through the Family Well-Being Program, we’re providing $80 million over three years to address the issue. At a minimum, 220 family well-being workers are being hired to deliver culturally grounded and community-based programming.

Indigenous communities have identified how family well-being workers can best deliver this programming. As well, they have identified how workers need to deliver more safe places where women, children and youth can receive and access culturally appropriate services and support. Through programs like this, we can ensure that indigenous communities across Ontario are leading programs that best suit their needs, Mr. Speaker.

M me France Gélinas: Ma question est pour le ministre de la Santé et des Soins de longue durée. Le programme de la sécurité culturelle autochtone pour les professionnels de la santé est excellent. Je crois que cette formation va grandement aider à bâtir un système de soins culturellement plus sécuritaire pour les communautés et les membres des communautés autochtones de l’Ontario.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: I agree with the member opposite that this is a critically important initiative that this government has undertaken. In fact, we are demonstrating leadership across the country to provide that safe and culturally competent training for our front-line health care workers and our administrators across this province. In fact, over 8,000 health care workers and administrators have already completed this training.

Of course, it’s a program that we developed in close co-operation with our partners, First Nations communities themselves and First Nations leadership, and we continue to advance, develop and roll out this program.

I’m happy to speak with the member opposite in terms of how we can ensure that it’s available to the full complement of health care workers across this province.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Mr. Speaker, the member opposite and I are absolutely aligned that this is a program that needs to be available to all health care workers across this province, including in French for those for whom that is their first language or who prefer to receive instruction in French. I know that this is a program that we funded and announced earlier this year. Despite the fact that we’ve already trained 8,000 front-line health care workers and administrators, it is still a program which we are continuing to expand as we roll it out across the province. But we have the same intent and commitment as the member from the third party.

Muslim community

M me Nathalie Des Rosiers: Ma question est pour la ministre des Affaires civiques et de l’Immigration. The Muslim Canadian community has added much richness to Ontario’s cultural fabric. Indeed, the member for Ottawa South and myself had the opportunity to visit with the Afar community last weekend, and we saw first-hand how rich their culture was. We know as well that the Muslim community has contributed enormously in medicine, in literature, in math, in science and in law as well.

This October is the first Islamic Heritage Month in Ontario. Last year, all three parties agreed to pass legislation proclaiming October as Islamic Heritage Month.

Can the minister explain how the legislation provides Ontarians the opportunity to celebrate the important contribution of Canadians practising the Muslim faith?

Hon. Laura Albanese: I would like to thank the member from Ottawa–Vanier for her question. Diversity has always played an important

part in Ontario’s culture and heritage. Our province is home to more than 600,000 Muslims—some recent immigrants, others with deep roots in Ontario.

In my riding of York South–Weston, I have the distinct honour to represent and serve a vibrant Muslim community alongside Ahmed Hussen, Canada’s first-ever minister of Somali descent.

Mr. Speaker, in celebrating Islamic Heritage Month, the province of Ontario recognizes the significant contributions Muslims have made and continue to make to Ontario’s cultural and social fabric and prosperity. Earlier this week, that contribution was celebrated as the Premier hosted an Islamic Heritage Month reception with community leaders in Mississauga.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary.

M me Nathalie Des Rosiers: Je remercie la ministre pour sa réponse.

I think it’s important that the government be committed to educating Ontarians about the history, heritage and culture of Canadians of the Muslim faith. But we know there continues to be systemic racism in the system. And we know, because we see it every day, that although we have made progress on diversity and inclusion, there’s still a lot of work to do.

Indeed, this afternoon, I will be speaking to increasing our human rights framework to support new marginalized groups. Last year, I had the privilege of putting forward a motion condemning all forms of Islamophobia.

Mr. Speaker, I’d really like the minister to tell us what the government is doing to address systemic racism, including Islamophobia, across the province.

Hon. Laura Albanese: Once again, I would like to thank the member from Ottawa–Vanier for her question and her advocacy.

Islamic Heritage Month is not only an opportunity to educate future generations about Ontario’s rich history but is also an opportunity to tackle Islamophobia.

Recognizing that systemic racism continues to create barriers that lead to unfair outcomes for racialized and indigenous people in Ontario, our Premier appointed the Honourable Michael Coteau as minister responsible for anti-racism. The directorate aims to increase public awareness of racism in order to create a more inclusive province and applies an anti-racism lens in developing, implementing and evaluating government policies, programs and services.

Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to a society where everyone can live free of the fear of racism, hate speech and violence.

Horse racing industry

Ms. Laurie Scott: My question is to the Minister of Finance.

It’s now clear that this government is continuing its all-out attack on horse racing in this province.

First, the government suddenly cancelled the Slots at Racetracks Program that helped to support the industry for years—a decision that led to the loss of thousands of rural jobs and the deaths of thousands of horses.

Now, for the second year in a row, Kawartha Downs in my riding was denied an application for additional racing dates. This is a rural racetrack trying to make things work, despite this government’s attack on the industry, but they still get shot down.

How does the minister expect tracks like Kawartha Downs to succeed when they have both hands tied behind their backs?

Hon. Charles Sousa: I appreciate the question.

We are very concerned about the horse racing industry and its sustainability over the long term, which is why we’ve made a commitment to provide for $100 million more to support horse racing deliberately and specifically.

The member opposite makes reference to the Ontario Racing Commission’s decisions. We are going to be meeting with them. My colleague the minister responsible for small business will also be in touch with respect to how to provide and persuade and support the industry further.

The horse racing industry in our province is one of the most vibrant in North America. We are continuing to support that industry, support employment and support the horsemen.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary.

Ms. Laurie Scott: Back to the minister: Well, it was one of the most vibrant in North America; it isn’t now.

Last month, the government’s special adviser on horse racing resigned, calling on the government to: “Continue to fight for the smaller regional tracks as they are the development ground of horses, drivers and owners. They are important to their communities and are a vital part of the ongoing success of the industry.” Unfortunately, this government is busy doing the exact opposite. They say one thing on this file and do another.

The rural affairs minister pretends to be concerned about the crisis situation affecting Kawartha Downs while, at the same time, allowing the government and its agencies to quietly kill this racetrack. It is this government that caused the current crisis, and it is their responsibility to fix the mistakes they have made.

Will the minister finally present a real plan to support this industry—

Hon. Jeff Leal: You’re absolutely wrong.

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

The Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is warned.

Finish, please.

Ms. Laurie Scott: Will the minister finally present a real plan to support this industry? Or is he happy just to watch horse racing die on his watch?

Hon. Charles Sousa: Mr. Speaker, let me be very, very clear. The Minister of Rural Affairs and the minister responsible for small business has been advocating and fighting for the horse racing industry for some time now. We’re very proud of this man for all that he has done and proud of this Premier, who stood and fought for the industry, recognizing that it was lacking transparency. The funding wasn’t going to where it needed to be. It was going to big shots in the United States—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I’m not done. The Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is named.

Mr. Leal was escorted from the chamber.

Interjections.

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

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): There are several members here who could be named as well. This is very disappointing.

You may finish.

Hon. Charles Sousa: Mr. Speaker, we are providing supports for the horse racing industry, managed by the horse racing industry, and it’s them that matter to us. The members opposite are making claims that would have continued to allow for a lack of transparency and a lack of controls.

The horse racing industry is providing the controls; we’re providing the support on an ongoing basis.

GO Transit

Ms. Catherine Fife: My question is to the Premier. Earlier this month, FlyGTA Airlines announced that, starting November 6, it will be offering flights from Toronto’s Billy Bishop airport to Kitchener–Waterloo. The 18-minute flight will cost $130, one-way. For everyday commuters, spending $260 per day for timely transportation is unreasonable. Effective transportation between Toronto and Waterloo region should not just be for the wealthy.

Residents of Kitchener–Waterloo have been waiting on this government to provide them with all-day, two-way GO for years. First it was promised in five years. That was the infamous “bullet train” promise. Now we have been told to wait until 2024.

This government’s lack of serious movement on transit to the region means that we have two options: We spend hours on the 401 in traffic, or we catch an infrequent, slow, inconsistent GO train. In fact, on his way to Toronto, our own mayor of Kitchener spent two and a half hours on the 401.

When will this government fully commit and honour your promise to deliver two-way, all-day GO—

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

Premier?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Transportation.

Hon. Steven Del Duca: I thank the member for her question. There seems to be a lot of confusion in the NDP caucus about this. I don’t know why. Over the last number of years, our Premier, our members from Waterloo region, like the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry and the member from Kitchener Centre, have pushed very hard and shown decisive leadership to make sure that we do deliver by 2024 on our commitment for GO regional express rail.

Just a few days ago, the Premier was in Waterloo to talk about a very exciting project: high-speed rail. When the leader of the NDP was in southwestern Ontario, it was completely unclear whether or not she supported moving forward with high-speed rail.

We’re going to deliver GO regional express rail, we’re going to deliver high-speed rail, and we’re going to ignore the NDP, like the people of this province have consistently for more than a decade.

Visitors

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Point of order, the government House leader.

Hon. Yasir Naqvi: I was remiss in introducing some friends who are in the gallery, so I just ask your indulgence. I want to welcome Akos Hoffer, who is the chief executive officer of the Perley and Rideau Veterans’ Health Centre in Ottawa, and two members of our board, Kris Birchard and Michael Jeffrey. They’re visiting Queen’s Park and we welcome them.

Hon. Indira Naidoo-Harris: I also would like to introduce someone who is here today. I have a constituent of mine here with the correctional officers. Here today is Chad Oldfield from Maplehurst Correctional Complex. I’d like to welcome him and other officers from Milton here to Queen’s Park.

Deferred Votes

Strengthening Quality and Accountability for Patients Act, 2017 / Loi de 2017 renforçant la qualité et la responsabilité pour les patients

Deferred vote on the motion that the question now be put for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 160,

An Act to amend, repeal and enact various Acts in the interest of strengthening quality and accountability for patients / Projet de loi 160, Loi visant à modifier, à abroger et à édicter diverses lois dans le souci de renforcer la qualité et la responsabilité pour les patients.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): We have a deferred vote on the motion of closure for the motion for second reading of Bill 160,

An Act to amend, repeal and enact various Acts in the interest of strengthening quality and accountability for patients.

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

The division bells rang from 1144 to 1149.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): On October 4, 2017, Mr. Chan moved second reading of Bill 160,

An Act to amend, repeal and enact various Acts in the interest of strengthening quality and accountability for patients. Mr. Ballard has moved that the question be now put.

All those in favour of Mr. Ballard’s motion, please rise one at a time and be recognized by the Clerk.

Ayes

Albanese, Laura

Anderson, Granville

Baker, Yvan

Ballard, Chris

Berardinetti, Lorenzo

Bradley, James J.

Chan, Michael

Chiarelli, Bob

Colle, Mike

Coteau, Michael

Crack, Grant

Damerla, Dipika

Del Duca, Steven

Delaney, Bob

Des Rosiers, Nathalie

Dhillon, Vic

Dickson, Joe

Dong, Han

Flynn, Kevin Daniel

Hoggarth, Ann

Hoskins, Eric

Hunter, Mitzie

Jaczek, Helena

Kiwala, Sophie

Lalonde, Marie-France

MacCharles, Tracy

Malhi, Harinder

Mangat, Amrit

Martins, Cristina

Matthews, Deborah

Mauro, Bill

McGarry, Kathryn

McMahon, Eleanor

McMeekin, Ted

Milczyn, Peter Z.

Moridi, Reza

Naidoo-Harris, Indira

Naqvi, Yasir

Potts, Arthur

Qaadri, Shafiq

Rinaldi, Lou

Sandals, Liz

Sousa, Charles

Takhar, Harinder S.

Thibeault, Glenn

Vernile, Daiene

Wong, Soo

Wynne, Kathleen O.

Zimmer, David

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): All those opposed, please rise one at a time and be recognized by the Clerk.

Nays

Armstrong, Teresa J.

Arnott, Ted

Barrett, Toby

Brown, Patrick

Cho, Raymond Sung Joon

Coe, Lorne

Fedeli, Victor

Fife, Catherine

Forster, Cindy

French, Jennifer K.

Gates, Wayne

Gélinas, France

Gretzky, Lisa

Hardeman, Ernie

Jones, Sylvia

MacLeod, Lisa

Mantha, Michael

Martow, Gila

McNaughton, Monte

Munro, Julia

Natyshak, Taras

Nicholls, Rick

Oosterhoff, Sam

Pettapiece, Randy

Romano, Ross

Sattler, Peggy

Scott, Laurie

Smith, Todd

Tabuns, Peter

Taylor, Monique

Vanthof, John

Yakabuski, John

Yurek, Jeff

The Clerk of the Assembly (Mr. Todd Decker): The ayes are 49; the nays are 33.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I declare the motion carried.

Mr. Chan has moved second reading of Bill 160,

An Act to amend, repeal and enact various Acts in the interest of strengthening quality and accountability for patients. Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? I heard a no.

All those in favour of the motion, please say “aye.”

All those opposed, please 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 1153 to 1154.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): All those in favour, please rise one at a time and be recognized by the Clerk.

Ayes

Albanese, Laura

Anderson, Granville

Arnott, Ted

Baker, Yvan

Ballard, Chris

Barrett, Toby

Berardinetti, Lorenzo

Bradley, James J.

Brown, Patrick

Chan, Michael

Chiarelli, Bob

Cho, Raymond Sung Joon

Coe, Lorne

Colle, Mike

Coteau, Michael

Crack, Grant

Damerla, Dipika

Del Duca, Steven

Delaney, Bob

Des Rosiers, Nathalie

Dhillon, Vic

Dickson, Joe

Dong, Han

Fedeli, Victor

Flynn, Kevin Daniel

Hardeman, Ernie

Hoggarth, Ann

Hoskins, Eric

Hunter, Mitzie

Jaczek, Helena

Jones, Sylvia

Kiwala, Sophie

Lalonde, Marie-France

MacCharles, Tracy

MacLeod, Lisa

Malhi, Harinder

Mangat, Amrit

Martins, Cristina

Martow, Gila

Matthews, Deborah

Mauro, Bill

McGarry, Kathryn

McMahon, Eleanor

McMeekin, Ted

McNaughton, Monte

Milczyn, Peter Z.

Moridi, Reza

Munro, Julia

Naidoo-Harris, Indira

Naqvi, Yasir

Nicholls, Rick

Oosterhoff, Sam

Pettapiece, Randy

Potts, Arthur

Qaadri, Shafiq

Rinaldi, Lou

Romano, Ross

Sandals, Liz

Scott, Laurie

Smith, Todd

Sousa, Charles

Takhar, Harinder S.

Thibeault, Glenn

Vernile, Daiene

Wong, Soo

Wynne, Kathleen O.

Yakabuski, John

Yurek, Jeff

Zimmer, David

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): All those opposed, please rise one at a time and be recognized by the Clerk.

Nays

Armstrong, Teresa J.

Fife, Catherine

Forster, Cindy

French, Jennifer K.

Gates, Wayne

Gélinas, France

Gretzky, Lisa

Mantha, Michael

Natyshak, Taras

Sattler, Peggy

Tabuns, Peter

Taylor, Monique

Vanthof, John

The Clerk of the Assembly (Mr. Todd Decker): The ayes are 69; the nays are 13.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I declare the motion carried.

Second reading agreed to.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Shall the bill be ordered for third reading?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: I’d ask that the bill be referred to the Standing Committee on General Government.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): So ordered.

There being no further deferred votes, this House stands recessed until 1 p.m. this afternoon.

The House recessed from 1156 to 1300.

Introduction of Visitors

Mr. Ernie Hardeman: I would like to welcome Ms. Gwyn’s grade 5 class who will be visiting Queen’s Park tomorrow. As the Speaker will be aware, we will not be here tomorrow, and I particularly wanted to introduce this class because there’s a special guest: my granddaughter Freya Hardeman. I hope they all have a great time at Queen’s Park in spite of the fact that Grandpa’s not here.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): But Grandpa always has her in his heart.

Members’ Statements

United Way Durham Region

Mr. Lorne Coe: The United Way Durham Region has been changing its fundraising practices to respond to local deindustrialization. In the past, the United Way was able to collect substantial donations from manufacturers and other suppliers when it held fundraising events and large-scale fundraising campaigns. Unfortunately, the manufacturing sector has declined over time in Durham region, and fewer employees work in the industry. As a result, the United Way has had to adapt and look for alternative means to fundraise in the region.

Organizers are encouraging employees who make donations through their employer to make their donations where they live. This makes sense, as roughly 52% of workers in the region of Durham commute across the greater Toronto area each day.

Under this direction, the United Way Durham Region has set a goal to raise $2.9 million in 2017, an increase from the $2.68 million they raised last year during their annual campaign. These funds help the 30 agencies and roughly 175 programs offered locally.

I know that the residents from Durham will want to support the area in which they live. Donating to the United Way Durham Region will give them the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of many others in this community.

Long-term care

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: It is always a privilege to rise in the Legislature, as the MPP for London–Fanshawe, on behalf of my constituents. I bring the voices of families and caregivers to the Legislature, to share their experiences in long-term care with all members of the House.

Janice Duffy contacted me about her father, Douglas. Her father has been a resident in long-term care for three years. He has experienced several instances of mental and physical abuse, neglect and inconsistent care. Janice, like many other families, is stressed—because they are worrying about their loved ones’ care.

When Janice visits her father, he shows her advertisements for apartments to rent. When she asks him why he clips these ads, his answer is heartbreaking: He asks why he has to live in a long-term-care home when he doesn’t receive the basic care he needs.

When did things start breaking down in long-term care? We only have to look back to the Conservative Harris government and their private, for-profit health care agenda which resulted in thousands of layoffs of front-line health care workers.

Things are only getting worse under the Liberal Wynne government. Families and front-line workers are telling us that there is one PSW to 30 residents, and front-line workers are run off their feet. There is just not enough time for staff to deliver basic care.

Why does this government stubbornly refuse to acknowledge the systemic issues in our long-term-care system, including safety of residents and staff, funding levels, quality of care, and staffing levels?

When will this government stop ignoring the motion that was passed in the Legislature to expand the public inquiry, and commit to examining the systemic problems in long-term care beyond the Wettlaufer investigation?

Afroglobal Television Excellence Awards

Mrs. Amrit Mangat: This past weekend, I was delighted to attend the Afroglobal Excellence Awards, hosted by Afroglobal Television. The awards are an initiative of Afroglobal Television and the esteemed Planet Africa organization, which includes a television show now broadcasted in Canada, Europe and Africa. Their vision is to motivate people of African origin, despite where they were born or raised, and to celebrate their leadership and excellence.

Recipients of the 2017 Excellence Awards are: the Honourable Tony Ince, Paulette Senior, Charles Marful, Andrea A. Davis, Dr. Liza Egbogah, Dr. Stan Chu Ilo, Léonie Tchatat, Councillor Michael Thompson, Dr. Mansfield Edwards, Ettie Rutherford, Dr. Churchill Abiodun, Namugenyi Kiwanuka, Jackie Appiah, Franklin Omoruna, Dwayne Dixon and Emmanuel Kabongo. I would like to congratulate all the recipients of the Afroglobal Excellence Awards. Kudos to all of them.

Autism treatment

Mrs. Gila Martow: I’m rising today while there’s an autism rally going on outside. I want to highlight a little bit why the Ontario Autism Coalition is here once again advocating on behalf of families with children with autism.

They did a very comprehensive survey, so they wanted to highlight some of the issues. I’m just going to read a couple of things from the survey:

—72% of parents who were surveyed felt that their child with autism does not receive support at the level that they need at school;

—97% said that their child had an individual education program in place last year but they were not given meaningful input into that program;

—only 45% said that there was a safety plan in place for their child; and

—only 29% said that they were able to give meaningful input.

I want to mention that one of the highlights of the rally is the discussion that autism doesn’t end at school; that there’s too much violence in the classrooms in our schools; that we need ABA to be available as part of the school program with inner schools; and that service dogs have to be accommodated. Kenner spoke very passionately about his dog. There was an

article last week about a boy who was denied his iPad until the mother went to the media.

I think that we can do better. We can all work together to create a better comprehensive plan for autism and special-needs children in our schools.

Labour dispute

Mr. Wayne Gates: Today I rise to talk about what is going on with college faculty on campuses across Ontario. I have seen the impact the strike at Niagara College has had on workers and families in my riding. I have spoken to Niagara College president Dan Patterson about this issue and encouraged all parties to get back to the bargaining table to work towards a fair contract for college staff.

The ratio of part-time, contract staff to full-time staff at the college is roughly 8 to 2. That’s 80% part-time staff, which is unacceptable. These part-time instructors are paid less than their co-workers, and go from one short contract to the next. This strike is not just about the college. The striking faculty are standing up for young people in Ontario, to make sure that when they graduate they can count on having a full-time, stable job.

Students are paying ever-increasing tuition fees and are concerned about the future of their semester and getting full-time employment. In this situation, a fair response from Ontario colleges could positively affect students’ futures.

Mr. Speaker, funding cuts from both Liberal and Conservative governments have forced colleges to use drastic cutting measures. Unfortunately, they have targeted instructors. It’s not fair to instructors and it’s not fair to students, who depend on a good education for a good life, including full-time, stable employment.

We need both parties to get back to the bargaining table and to work to ensure instructors have a fair deal for the benefits of faculty, students and colleges.

Human trafficking

Mrs. Cristina Martins: Human trafficking is a deplorable crime as well as a human rights violation that robs the safety, livelihood and dignity of those who are exploited and abused. Because survivors are controlled mentally, physically, and emotionally by traffickers, it is difficult for them to leave and find help. Those who do find a way out often need support in a range of areas, such as trauma counselling, addictions recovery, job training and more.

Our government has already had great success with our strategy to end human trafficking, but there is always more work to be done. That is why yesterday I was proud to announce that the FCJ Refugee Centre’s migrant worker centre in my riding of Davenport will be receiving over $369,000 in funding to identify, intervene in and prevent labour, trafficking and exploitation situations among migrant workers in Davenport and across the province.

FCJ is an amazing organization that does truly remarkable work to help refugees and newcomers. This additional funding is going to go a long way to fight human trafficking in Davenport and in Ontario.

I want to thank Francisco and Loly Rico, the directors at the centre, as well as Varka Kalaydzhieva, who is the anti-human-trafficking project coordinator, for the work that they do.

Human trafficking is an atrocious reality for too many people, and the agencies across Ontario working tirelessly to put an end to this crisis are nothing short of heroes. Thank you for the work that you do.

Organ donation

Mr. Ross Romano: Last week, the president and CEO of the Trillium Gift of Life Network, Ronnie Gavsie, made a very important announcement. According to Trillium’s records over the last quarter, Sault Area Hospital was one of 19 hospitals across Ontario to achieve a 100% conversion rate of potential donors that eventually go on to donate—one of 19, Mr. Speaker, out of a total of 150 hospitals in this province. To say that I am proud of my community and the dedicated workers at Sault Area Hospital would be an understatement.

But the good news does not stop there. Not only does Sault Area Hospital boast one of the highest rates for notifying Trillium of potential donors, but over 30,000 members of our community of Sault Ste. Marie—that’s just over 70,000 in population—have registered to be an organ donor. That’s just over 45% of our entire population, and that number is expected to climb over time.

In closing, I want to thank Ms. Gavsie and her team at the Trillium Gift of Life Network and the dedicated and hard-working staff at Sault Area Hospital, but most importantly, I want to thank my community of Sault Ste. Marie. Without you, none of this would have ever been possible. I am proud to represent each and every one of you as your MPP.

Just as a final point, I want to note, as well, that while our community sits at 45%, we’re only 10% below being number one in the entire province, so I want to say thank you for that.

Alliance for the Prevention of Preterm Birth and Stillbirth

Mr. Mike Colle: I want to talk about an incredible new alliance that’s being created out of Sunnybrook hospital, one of North America’s premier hospitals, especially when it comes to children’s health and maternal health.

This new alliance is called the Alliance for the Prevention of Preterm Birth and Stillbirth. The alliance is a collaboration of families, hospitals, maternal-child networks and maternal-newborn care providers that aims to create a profoundly important shift in thinking, and to resolve some of the challenges that women are having with preterm births and stillbirths.

With recent scientific discoveries, it is very evident that premature births are preventable, and in some cases it requires simple screening or even the taking of a baby aspirin.

The alliance is led by the incredible, world-renowned obstetrician and chair of the maternal-fetal medicine research program at Sunnybrook, Dr. Jon Barrett, ably assisted by midwife Wendy Katherine.

This alliance will partner with Sunnybrook’s Canadian Premature Babies Foundation and also with PAIL, the Pregnancy and Infant Loss Network. This will be a major breakthrough in helping to curb the rate of prenatal deaths and stillbirths.

Park Hyatt Toronto

Mr. Michael Harris: I want to thank the many employees of Toronto’s Park Hyatt hotel, whose hospitality and hard work have always made me and so many others through the years feel at home away from home.

I’ll start with a thank you for all 385 members of their dedicated staff, who work tirelessly—some for well over 30 years, like Joe, the rooftop bartender, now retired. He was there for 57 years.

At the corner of Bloor and Avenue Road, Park Plaza Hotel is one of the most esteemed hotels in the city. Breaking ground in 1928, the Park Plaza began housing guests in 1936 for as little as $3 a night—it’s gone up slightly since then, Speaker.

The hotel became a magnet for Canadian writers, including Margaret Atwood and Mordecai Richler, and it also served as a breeding ground for political strategy as the unofficial headquarters for Premier Bill Davis’s Big Blue Machine meetings.

In 1999, the Hyatt chain purchased the structure and have announced closure this November ahead of an extensive renovation and grand reopening for the fall of 2019.

I want to take this opportunity especially to thank all staff for their dedicated service: from the valets, the bellmen, like Charles, all of the lovely Annona staff, the Clefs d’Or concierges Orson and Steven, Max and Sarah, to the front-of-house desk staff, Michael, Casey, Amy, Julie, Mark and Tony, and of course general manager Bonnie and her team, including Alicia and Khrystine. Thank you for all your work and dedication. I very much appreciate it and will see you soon.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I thank all members for their statements.

Correction of record

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I have a point of order from the member from Kitchener Centre.

Ms. Daiene Vernile: Speaker, I’d like to correct my record from a member’s statement from yesterday. I mentioned in a member’s statement that the federal government had allocated $12 million in humanitarian aid to the Rohingya refugees. That is in addition to money already there, put in this year. It’s a total of $25 million for 2017.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. Every member is entitled to correct their own record.

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on Justice Policy

M. Shafiq Qaadri: Je demande la permission de déposer un rapport du Comité permanent de la justice, et je propose son adoption.

I beg leave to present a report from the Standing Committee on Justice Policy and move its adoption.

The Clerk-at-the-Table (Ms. Valerie Quioc Lim): Your committee begs to report the following bill, as amended:

Bill 154,

An Act to cut unnecessary red tape by enacting one new Act and making various amendments and repeals / Projet de loi 154, Loi visant à réduire les formalités administratives inutiles, à édicter diverses lois et à modifier et abroger d’autres lois.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Shall the report be received and adopted? Agreed? Carried.

Report adopted.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The bill is therefore ordered for third reading.

Motions

Committee sittings

Hon. Reza Moridi: Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to put forward a motion without notice regarding the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The minister seeks unanimous consent to put forward a motion without notice. Do we agree? Agreed.

Minister?

Hon. Reza Moridi: I move that the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs be authorized to meet on Monday, October 30, 2017, from 1:30 p.m. until 6 p.m., and on Tuesday, October 31, 2017, from 9 a.m. until 10:15 a.m., for the purpose of public hearings on Bill 148,

An Act to amend the Employment Standards Act, 2000 and the Labour Relations Act, 1995 and to make related amendments to other Acts.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The minister moves that the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic—

Interjection: Dispense.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Dispense? Do we agree? Agreed. Dispensed.

Do we agree? Carried.

Motion agreed to.

Wearing of T-shirt

Mr. Lou Rinaldi: Point of order, Speaker: I would ask for unanimous consent that I wear a T-shirt presented to me by the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies while I speak on my bill this afternoon, Bill 170,

An Act to proclaim Child Abuse Prevention Month.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Northumberland–Quinte West is seeking unanimous consent to wear the T-shirt during his bill debate. Do we agree? Agreed.

Statements by the Ministry and Responses

Stem cell research

Hon. Reza Moridi: Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize the discovery of stem cells, an outstanding scientific breakthrough for our province of Ontario and the whole world.

One thing we can all be proud of is that we live in a province that celebrates and supports scientific curiosity. We understand how important it is to bring researchers together and give them resources, tools and the freedom to explore.

In 1961, this scientific freedom led to the discovery of stem cells here in Toronto by Dr. James Till and Dr. Ernest McCulloch. This went beyond demonstrating the existence of stem cells. In identifying the main characteristics of stem cells, Dr. Till and Dr. McCulloch defined an entirely new field of research.

Mr. Speaker, I am honoured to say that Dr. Till is in the House today.

Applause.

Hon. Reza Moridi: And on behalf of Ontario, I would like to say how proud we are of his outstanding achievement.

I’m also proud to say that Ontario has followed in the path of Dr. Till and Dr. McCulloch. We are still world leaders in the stem cell field. Ontario’s brilliant researchers are expanding the world’s knowledge of pluripotent stem cells, which are adult cells that can be reprogrammed to have the power of embryonic stem cells. And they have identified stem cells related to different kinds of cancer.

Dr. Alan Bernstein, who was a former PhD student of Dr. Till and is currently president of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, has said, “There are few areas of health research that are as exciting and that hold as much potential for human health and treating disease as stem cells.” So, Mr. Speaker, I think you will be as pleased as I am that Ontario is a global leader in regenerative medicine.

Mr. Speaker, we are leading the way in moving stem cell research into the clinic. Just a couple of examples: A phase 2 clinical trial in Ottawa showed that a stem cell transplant from bone marrow can treat aggressive multiple sclerosis, improving control of this relapsing disease. And another Ottawa doctor is working on a stem cell therapy for treating chronic lung disease in premature babies.

Ontario is committed to building on Dr. Till and Dr. McCulloch’s legacy.

Since 2013, my ministry has invested or committed $42 million through its funding programs to support stem cell and regenerative medicine research, an investment that also includes creation of research infrastructure and training of highly qualified personnel.

This funding includes a commitment of $25.5 million to the Ontario Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Their goal is to revolutionize the treatment of degenerative diseases and make Ontario a global leader in the development and commercialization of stem-cell-based products and therapies.

And to support new discoveries in all fields, Ontario has invested $1.7 billion in research and development through our competitive research programs plus additional funding to our research institutes.

On behalf of the people of Ontario, I want to thank Dr. Till and his partner, the late Dr. McCulloch. Thanks to their curiosity, drive and commitment, Ontario is a leader in a field that will transform lives around the world, while building our innovative life sciences sector here in this province and in our wonderful country of Canada.

Thank you very much. Merci beaucoup. Meegwetch.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): It’s time for responses.

Mr. Michael Harris: It is truly an honour to be able to say a few words, on behalf of the PC caucus, in recognition of the pioneering work of two incredible Canadians who literally changed the course of medical history, opening the door to vital treatment that had previously been unattainable: Dr. James Till, of course—welcome to Queen’s Park today—and the late Dr. Ernest McCulloch.

Speaker, as we’ve heard, the massive potential of stem cell therapies and treatments began with a single, simple mouse—well, mice, really. With a series of experiments injecting bone marrow cells into mice and the subsequent groundbreaking discovery of transplantable stem cells, Drs. Till and McCulloch began to blaze trails no one had previously thought possible as they, in 1961, established for the first time a quantitative method to study individual stem cells in adult bone marrow.

As Michael Rudnicki of the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute put it, “Scientists don’t really believe in miracles, but every now and then there is a discovery made that is so transformative it may as well be a miracle.”

Thanks to Drs. Till and McCulloch, right now in labs across our country, Canadian doctors are testing stem cells to heal hearts, repair severed spinal cords and fix arthritic knees—repairs and fixes that are going on throughout the world. Thanks to Drs. Till and McCulloch, stem cells have cured thousands of patients with leukemia, multiple myeloma and other blood-based cancers via bone marrow transplants. And thanks to Drs. Till and McCulloch, there is belief that within the next few years, diabetics will be freed from daily insulin injections by stem cell transplants. Finding a cure for Parkinson’s is, of course, well within reach.

Speaker, far from stopping at their pioneering discovery, Drs. Till and McCulloch helped build the development of this new field, continuing to expand their research activities and serving as mentors to other young scientists. Their work has meant that, today, we benefit from the work of successive generations of scientists, deepening our understanding of how stem cells work and can be applied to different diseases and medical conditions.

As the word of their discoveries and the application of them grew, so too did the possibilities for future treatments and cures that we have yet to discover, but are well on the path towards, following the trail blazed by Till and McCulloch.

And so, today, when we think of their revolutionary innovation and dedicated research work, we think of all those who are today leading better, healthier lives due to the impact of stem cell research and applications, and we think of all those who will be helped in the future as those who have followed in Till and McCulloch’s footsteps continue to fur