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May 6, 2015

41st Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcripts 2015-May-06 (PDF)

L080 - Wed 6 May 2015 / Mer 6 mai 2015

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Wednesday 6 May 2015 Mercredi 6 mai 2015

ORDERS OF THE DAY

2015 Ontario budget

Introduction of Visitors

Wearing of ribbons

Oral Questions

Winter highway maintenance

Teachers’ labour disputes

Privatization of public assets

Privatization of public assets

Privatization of public assets

Teachers’ labour disputes

Music industry

Lyme disease

Ontario film industry

Trade development

Affordable housing

Lyme disease

Family Service Ontario

Priority hiring of veterans in Ontario public service

Visitor

Privatization of public assets

Members’ Statements

Use of digital technologies

Cultural funding

Teresa Vasilopoulos

Doctor shortage

Sustainable Waterloo Region

Earth Day

Ontario economy

Aurora Food Pantry

Father Cyril William Sullivan

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills

Visitor

Introduction of Bills

Veterans Employment Act, 2015 / Loi de 2015 sur l’emploi des anciens combattants

Motions

Order of business

Consideration of Bill 80

Petitions

Taxation

Lyme disease

Student safety

Hospice funding

Lyme disease

Student safety

Off-road vehicles

Off-road vehicles

Water fluoridation

All-terrain vehicles

Lyme disease

Shale Beach

Hospital funding

Energy policies

Orders of the Day

Infrastructure for Jobs and Prosperity Act, 2015 / Loi de 2015 sur l’infrastructure au service de l’emploi et de la prospérité

The House met at 0900.

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

Prayers.

ORDERS OF THE DAY

2015 Ontario budget

Resuming the debate adjourned on May 5, 2015, on the motion that this House approves in general the budgetary policy of the government.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Niagara Falls had the floor when we last dealt with this issue, so I will now recognize the member from Niagara Falls.

Mr. Wayne Gates: I think I’ll start by saying, what a wonderful election result in Alberta last night. I’d like to congratulate them. Equally important was the number of women who were elected. So, congratulations; I’m certainly pleased about that. I think we’re finding out that orange is the new black—just throwing it out there for everybody to discuss this morning.

There are a ton of other examples where these P3 projects have cost the province far more than they have given us. Look at the local CCAC in the Niagara region. Instead of providing top-line health care themselves, they’re contracting in-home care to a private company called CarePartners. CarePartners’ CEO, Linda Knight, is okay to sit back and collect hundreds of thousands of dollars of taxpayers’ money while she refuses to pay nurses for their working hours or give them sick days. So, of course, the nurses, who are concerned about the level of care that their patients can receive under those conditions—which is really important on that issue—have unfortunately gone on strike.

This government has a mandate to provide top-of-the-line medical care to its taxpaying citizens. Instead of trying to intervene and help, they’re unfortunately sitting on the sidelines while another privatization plan fails. Those nurses want to see their patients. I spoke with the patients, who are determined to get their nurses back. Yet still nothing is being done. I don’t think this would qualify as good public service.

I want to say that I have talked to the health minister about this issue. I have raised it with him. That’s the way we should be doing it in here. I raised it: “Here’s what happens. Here’s what has happened in my home community.” I’ve talked to the member from St. Catharines as well. But I think it’s important to communicate that. It’s one thing to stand up here and throw darts; it’s another where you stand and say, “Listen, I’ve talked to you guys. This is what happened.”

Interjections.

Mr. Wayne Gates: It would be interesting if the Liberal Party would at least listen to me this early in the morning. I think it’s important.

These are nurses. These are people who are qualified. These are people who care about their community. They’re people who care deeply about their patients. Yet what we’re doing here is putting them on strike.

What they decided to do with this company, very clearly, is that they decided to join a union; they’re trying to get their first collective agreement. I’ve been involved in the trade union movement for a long time. The decision for joining a union is usually because the employer is not treating their people with respect. It’s been 18 months.

What happens, as everybody knows—we’ve been talking about this with the budget—is that you get this pot of money; you have so much money to go around. So, money goes to the LHINs, the LHINs take their money and give it to the CCAC, and they have that pot—the pie is getting divided up all the way along. What happen is that the CCAC gets their money, the CCAC then contracts it out to Linda Knight and here’s what happens: That pie is smaller. She’s taking her money off the top—she’s making her profit—but unfortunately none of that is going to the nurses.

These nurses, if you can imagine, Mr. Speaker—I know you’re interested in this—are working as pieceworkers, getting paid so much for each house they go to; quite frankly, qualified nurses taking care of my parents, your parents, your grandparents. And at some point in time—I look around, and there are a lot of people in here with white hair—they’re going to be taking care of us. We shouldn’t be treating nurses like this. We certainly shouldn’t be treating patients like this.

So if the other side can do anything—if my good friend Mr. Bradley can do something and say to the health minister, “Take a look at this. What’s going on in St. Catharines is wrong. It’s wrong how the nurses are being treated. It’s wrong how the patients are being treated. It’s wrong how the St. Catharines community is being treated.” And CarePartners goes right across the province of Ontario. We have to fix this situation. We have to treat our nurses better, and we certainly have to treat health care better.

We were promised a new hospital in Niagara. It’s now looking like it will be about 10 years away. I’ve met with the NHS; I’ve met with the health providers. You can see, at the site where the planning grant was announced over a year ago—almost a year and three months—that the sign is starting to fade. It doesn’t look good at all.

This hospital needs to be built to service the people in my riding, and it can be a lot cheaper than the one that was done in St. Catharines. We can have a debate on whether that’s where it should go, but there is no reason that we should be waiting. We have local workers who can get this project done now.

The point I’m getting at here is that it’s a responsible approach that can help balance the budget by not wasting tax dollars. It seems too simple that it shouldn’t need to be said, but these P3 projects prove that it does need to be said. These are happening. Where, exactly, are our savings coming from in this budget?

Let me tell you a few things that this so-called progressive budget has done in the province. While this government was using costly P3 projects, this budget was also being drafted to find other ways to bring in revenue. It began by using what they are calling asset optimization, which is essentially selling off the future of the province for the debts of tomorrow.

One of the ways this so-called progressive budget brought in extra cash—I spoke a little bit about this yesterday—was by selling the province’s share in General Motors. Think about that. The federal government did the same thing—the federal government to balance their budget; the provincial government because they needed the money.

As many of you know, the province and the federal government negotiated a manufacturing footprint in 2009. As the car companies were being shocked by failures in the industry, the government came to the plate to make sure they didn’t collapse. It wasn’t a direct giveaway. Stipulations were in place to ensure that thousands of jobs were saved, that jobs were saved right here in Ontario that benefited the people, and collective bargaining was protected.

It also gave the government—this is important; I think both parties should listen to this—a seat at the table, a big seat at that table. I know this because I was there in 2009 when the negotiations were happening. I can remember who supported those auto jobs here in Ontario and who wanted to see those companies fold and leave this country. I can tell you, it gave this province a big say over the future of the automotive industry here in Ontario.

With the footprint agreement coming to an end in 2016, auto manufacturers are looking to see what we can do to remain competitive and keep the jobs here. Well, that makes sense. When you have shares in a company and you have a seat at the table—and that’s important, particularly at the bargaining table. With a seat at the GM table, we could, and we should, be a strong voice for the thousands of auto jobs in the province and the tens of thousands of spinoff jobs that rely on the auto industry in the province of Ontario.

Someone looking into this budget must be looking for the government to play a strong role in protecting the auto jobs here in Ontario—well, unfortunately, they won’t find anything like that in the budget, and I think it’s a mistake—instead of this government selling off their shares of GM in a one-time deal that removes a large part of their influence in the industry. We made some money off the deal, but the long-term effects are devastating.

Look at Oshawa, where they announced just last week that they’re going to lose 1,000 auto jobs. A thousand jobs doesn’t sound like much, until you talk to everybody who understands how the auto industry works. In particular, in Oshawa, we have all the spinoff jobs. You can argue whether it’s 7,000 spinoff jobs; you can argue whether it’s 10,000. But you’re not talking 1,000 jobs now; you’re talking somewhere between 7,000 and 10,000 jobs.

I know my good friend over there, the economic development minister, is keenly listening to this conversation, because it’s important for his job as well.

Does anyone believe—and I’m asking my colleagues this—it was coincidental that these job losses follow the sell-off of the GM shares from the federal and provincial government? Was the one-time payout worth losing what those 1,000 workers—and with the 7,000 to 10,000 spinoff jobs. So we’re looking at between 7,000 and 11,000 jobs that you’re going to lose in taxes. Is it worth it for a one-time hit when you could have a say at the table? One thousand people with decent jobs and fair wages now have to worry about their work.

This was an incredibly short-sighted opinion, and one this government should not be proud of. Perhaps it helps to manage the deficit for one year, this year, but what does it do for the future of the province? Because we’re talking about a sector that is extremely important to the province of Ontario, and there are other sectors in the province of Ontario that are equally important, whether it be tourism—it doesn’t matter what it is; there are other sectors. But this auto is what we’ve really been based on in manufacturing.

I know my good friend the Speaker is listening to this, because he comes from steel. They’ve been going through the same type of stuff that’s been going on in the province.

I believe many people will remember this budget as one that sold off the public hydro assets, if something isn’t done right now to reverse that decision. Just look at the sale of the GM shares, the sell-off of our hydro assets in Ontario—a short-term solution that hurts us in the long term, that selling 60% of Hydro One will amount to 3%. Now think about that: 3% of this government’s planned infrastructure projects—3%. We’ll be losing a payout of hundreds of millions of dollars every year because of this.

It may have helped to remove part of the deficit this year, but in years to come, the province and its residents will not have that continuing revenue stream to spend on their communities. Simply put, it’s a sale of the future of this province.

Where did that hydro money go? I know everybody’s listening. Where did it go? I think we all should be proud of that. Where did it go? We’ve owned it for my entire life. People who are older than me have owned it longer. Where did it go? It went for health care, our publicly funded health care, which is admired around the world, by the way, and gives us a competitive advantage right here in the province of Ontario.

One of the reasons why we had a successful auto industry and steel industry was because of our health care costs, because it was publicly funded and publicly delivered. We’re making a mistake on moving into the privatization of it, and that’s a big concern. But at the end of the day, it was publicly funded, publicly delivered, and it came from the revenues from Hydro One.

What else did it fund, Hydro One? Our education sector, one of the best in the world. We’re going through some tough times right now with strikes, but at the end—

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

Mr. Wayne Gates: I’m done already?

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): You’re done.

Mr. Wayne Gates: Oh, sorry.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Questions and comments?

Hon. Jeff Leal: I was here this morning to listen to the remarks from my friend from Niagara Falls.

I want to just talk about General Motors for a moment, because in my community in Peterborough we have a large number of people who have been employed over the years at General Motors in Oshawa. I have a large group of retirees. I met with the retired management group and the retired folks from Unifor. One of the things they told me—it’s interesting enough: The competition between Canada and the United States has really pitted the United Auto Workers in the States against Unifor workers and General Motors here in Canada. I’ll spend a moment to talk about this because both sides have told me about this.

After the bailout in the United States and Canada, the UAW decided to renegotiate a whole series of collective agreements for their folks at work in Michigan and other states where General Motors operates. The UAW put into place a set of collective agreements and a framework which is radically different than what Unifor has here in Canada. The minister who has been working with General Motors said that General Motors in Oshawa have said that in terms of a new product coming there—we all hope it happens—in effect, it’s going to be predicated on the next round of negotiations with Unifor. That’s what they’ve said publicly. We want to make sure that they happen in a positive way.

There’s no question that the North American Free Trade Agreement has changed the whole footprint of the auto sector here in Ontario. We’re all concerned about it. We all want to work together. We want to bring those good ideas to the table to make sure that we retain the auto sector right here in the province of Ontario, and I want to make sure that we work together on this important file.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Questions and comments?

Mr. Jim McDonell: It was nice to hear the member talk about some of the issues of the bill.

It’s interesting. When I hear the minister across talk about the issues with Unifor—and I suppose Unifor is a big part of what’s happening here at GM in Oshawa—but so often, they’re always looking elsewhere and blaming somebody else. They have to; I guess that’s part of the role. The economic plan for this province has been altered, negatively, so badly. We look at the payroll taxes. The car companies are telling—everyone who leaves is saying, “Get your energy under control.” It’s hard when you still hear this government talking about us being actually very favourable on the cost of energy.

To me, you have to stand up and tell the people what’s actually happening. We see a province that’s no longer competitive. Instead of looking at ourselves and looking at our payroll taxes or energy costs and the property taxes that are really a result of this government’s policies—I would hope, listening to the member here talk about the labour negotiations, that they would actually take that as part of their strategy: to talk about what it would take to make our companies competitive. They have as big a stake in it as anybody.

Interjections.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): It’s bad enough I’ve got the other side with four conversations with two opposition members over there. And I’ve got opposition members talking loud right in front of the guy who’s speaking in their caucus. You’ve got four or five conversations going on—loud conversations. I don’t know why you can’t sit beside each other and whisper. I can hear your voices right here. So if you could just keep it down, I’d appreciate it. Thanks.

Continue.

Mr. Jim McDonell: Thanks, Speaker. As I say, the point being, it’s everybody’s issue here. We have to work collectively to put a system in place that promotes business to stay in this country and hire good jobs.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Questions and comments?

Mr. Peter Tabuns: The member from Niagara Falls spoke well and effectively about the impact on health care and the cuts in this budget.

But I want to address further the substantial cuts to tax credits and supports for the film, video and digital effects industry. Apparently what’s in the budget now is expected to result in a 10% reduction in film, television and video production. That’s a lot of jobs. That’s thousands of jobs. It’s bad enough, but the cuts apply to productions that are already in midstream. So the people who signed contracts and who are part of international productions suddenly find that they have a big hole in their budget. That presents profound problems for this industry, going forward.

I talked to an actor yesterday at a reception about the bill to protect child performers, an actor who told me that the cuts have meant that the series she is working on is going to be shortened so they can fill in the hole. This means a loss of jobs.

But more than that, I’ve talked to people in the film and video industry who say that the refusal to grandfather existing productions says to the world that you can’t depend on Ontario, that they’re not credible, that we don’t have a stable environment to invest in.

As bad as the immediate effects will be from the reduction of finances, the bigger problem is that we could be seen as an industry where it’s not safe to put your film money. For 10 years, we suffered from the impact of SARS. We don’t want another lost decade. The government has to address this grandfathering issue to protect our industry.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Questions and comments?

Hon. Charles Sousa: It’s a pleasure to be here. I appreciate the comments and the debate that has been ongoing in regard to our 2015 budget.

I appreciate the comments made by the member from Niagara Falls. Again, he reinforces something that I think we all have to be mindful of, and that’s providing incentives and support for our industry so that we can create those jobs, jobs that are created by industry.

Part of that is embedded in this plan, in terms of investing in skills and talents, and also investing heavily in infrastructure, to the tune of $130 billion over the next 10 years. Part of that is our Jobs and Prosperity Fund, which enables us to attract and provide incentives.

Another one is maintaining a very dynamic and competitive business climate. We have one of the lowest corporate income taxes and small business taxes anywhere in the world, for that matter, on average. Certainly, we’re ahead in North America.

But I find it passing strange that the NDP suddenly are talking about providing loopholes and incentives for business, like the film industry—which, by the way, Ontario continues to be one of the most generous in the world. So you either want us to provide stimulus for those investments and for those businesses or you do not. On the one hand you’re saying, “Cut away with loopholes. Stop providing any supports for businesses.” But when it comes to supporting the auto industry, suddenly, “Yes, that was a good thing to do,” or when we’re supporting the film industry, “Yes, that’s a good thing today.”

But you can’t have it both ways. Either you are onside, and you recognize the importance of maintaining a very competitive and dynamic business climate to attract investment or you don’t. Oftentimes, the questions are about not supporting business, not supporting those that actually do create those jobs. That is the essence of what is in this budget—and we will continue to do so. The results have proven themselves.

I know that the other side of the House seems to suggest that Ontario and Ontarians themselves aren’t doing their job. In fact, they’re doing a tremendous job. We are exceeding targets all around the world, recognizing that Ontario leads now, most of Canada, with GDP growth. That’s not by accident. That’s because of the hard work and the investments that we’re making, and we’ll continue to do so.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): The member from Niagara Falls has two minutes.

Mr. Wayne Gates: That’s an interesting statement coming from the finance minister. I want to tell you, sir, very clearly—as clear as I can—you shouldn’t sell the shares in General Motors. We need an auto strategy in this country. We need one protecting steel. We need one protecting our shipbuilding. It’s not just one sector. I have not talked about just one sector. I don’t know where you’re getting that from.

Our hydro costs are out of line.

But I want to address the comment made by one of the ministers around “The UAW contract is radically different.” It absolutely is not true. If you take a look at the costs between the UAW and the Canadian Auto Workers when it comes to productivity, when it comes to quality, when it comes to a highly skilled workforce, when it talks now, when we have an 82-cent dollar—which probably should be about 78 cents—when you talk about those things and our health care advantages, it’s actually as cheap or cheaper to build that auto part right here in Canada. So you’re mistaken on that part, that’s for sure.

The other thing we have to do is you need a seat at the table. That’s why I talked about the shares. You had a lot of shares; a lot of money. You had a lot of say. You had a lot in the game. When you gave that away to balance or to get some money for something else, it made no sense.

I know that you guys have worked with the auto sector. I know you’ve talked to Unifor. Unifor has been in your office; I think they were in your office this week. They came and they were begging you not to sell the shares. It made absolutely no sense.

I’ve been at the bargaining table a lot over my career, and I know how important it is to have a say at the table. You also need a dance partner when you’re at the table, but at the end of the day, the government would have had a lot more influence in what’s going on in Oshawa today. We’re losing 1,000 jobs.

I’d like the finance minister to look at me, because I want to tell him that we had the opportunity to get 1,000 jobs in Windsor; we came to the table late. I’m not blaming anybody here; I’m saying we have to be smarter.

We have to make sure that our kids and our grandkids are going to have a future in the province of Ontario. We have to get in the game. We have to get an auto strategy, we need a steel strategy and we need a shipbuilding strategy. Let’s put Canadians and Ontarians back to work.

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

Hon. Michael Gravelle: Thank you so much, Mr. Speaker. I will be sharing my time, with your indulgence, with the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and the MPP for Barrie.

I’m really pleased to have an opportunity to make some remarks related to, obviously, what I believe is an incredibly strong budget for all people of Ontario, but it’s nice to be able to bring a northern Ontario perspective to it, particularly with a number of my colleagues from northern Ontario here, because this truly is a budget that is very much about creating jobs and about increasing economic growth. And I think there’s almost no better example of where we can show that than in how much the budget recognizes the needs and the economic opportunities in northern Ontario, and that’s reflected in a number of important ways.

It’s hard not to start with the very, very important commitment we made related to the Northern Industrial Electricity Rate Program, a program that has been incredibly significant in terms of reducing energy costs for major resource development companies—mining, forestry, the seal sector—by up to 25%. To have a commitment to make that a permanent, ongoing fund of up to $120 million a year is absolutely huge.

We know that industry obviously responded very strongly to it because industry, more than anything else, in terms of making decisions related to investment, certainly seeks certainty. This, I know, from my discussions with them since we were able to make that announcement and since it was formalized in the budget. So thanks so much to the Minister of Finance; it has meant a great deal in terms of future opportunities in northern Ontario. That’s absolutely huge.

Really good news related to our Moving Ontario Forward $31.5-billion budget figure, $15 billion of which will be going to build up our infrastructure outside the greater Toronto and Hamilton area—certainly we hear about the incredible needs in the greater Toronto and Hamilton area. And we also know that the buildup of public transit is going to be of benefit, may I say, to the Bombardier plant in Thunder Bay, already a plant that has a manufacturing facility that employs about 1,400 people, and it may be continuing to grow that employment as public transit needs go on.

In terms of the infrastructure needs in northern Ontario—I speak as the member for Thunder Bay–Superior North. My colleague from Sault Ste. Marie is sitting beside me; my colleague from Algoma–Manitoulin is across the floor, let alone Nipissing and certainly my colleague from Thunder Bay–Atikokan. When we’re speaking to our municipal leaders in particular and talking to business and industry about creating jobs, it really is about infrastructure needs. It’s about roads and bridges, and it’s about highways.

I’m very excited about the fact that, for one thing, our northern highways budget—

Interjection.

Hon. Michael Gravelle: I’m sorry; the member from Timiskaming–Cochrane. I don’t know how I could miss you, sir—a good friend, indeed.

I think we all agree that the increase in the northern highways program—$580 million, up from $527 million last year—is really, really important. Over the last 10 years, over $5 billion has been spent on the northern highways program. To see that increase is incredibly important. To see priorities put on four-laning projects, certainly in terms of Highway 69, Parry Sound to Sudbury, Thunder Bay to Nipigon, is incredibly important to me as well. We also view as a priority the four-laning between Kenora and the Manitoba border, and we’re hoping to continue to move forward on that. These are important.

I know also that we ultimately want to see four-laning all across northern Ontario, something that we would love to see some more from the federal government on.

There are so many other things, and I can see already that I’m running out of time.

May I say, particularly with the Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure here in the House with me as well, that the Jobs and Prosperity Fund is an incredibly important fund. It has been raised from $2.5 billion, I believe, to $2.7 billion. Now it actually includes the forestry sector. That’s huge, in all Ontario contexts. Obviously, many of the forest products companies are truly moving into an innovative new phase of production, and that’s the key, I believe, to them being able to access the Jobs and Prosperity Fund. That is huge.

Speaking of the forestry sector, congratulations and thank you to the Minister of Finance. Thank you to the Premier. Thank you to the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry. The forest access roads program funding has gone up to $60 million from $38 million. Again, I think any of our northern members will tell you how important that is to the forestry sector in northern Ontario. This is something that means a great deal to all of us.

I will continue on for a few more minutes, if I may, because this also is an overall reflection of something that I’ve been proud to be able to say from the moment Kathleen Wynne became Premier on, I believe, February 11, 2013.

Interjection: Good memory.

Hon. Michael Gravelle: I remember the day well.

Premier Wynne made it very clear to all of us in our caucus, all of us in government, that indeed northern Ontario was going to be a real priority in a Kathleen Wynne government. That has been reflected, obviously, in this particular budget, but it has been something that has been very, very important.

I know that the Premier—I think it’s okay to say this—will be heading up to the Federation of Northern Ontario Municipalities annual general meeting to speak with them, as will many of our colleagues. We understand how important it is to be able to meet with them and be able to tell our story, and actually have an opportunity to listen to the concerns that are there. I suspect that some of my colleagues will be there as well.

Premier Wynne has made it clear to all of us how northern Ontario really may indeed be the economic future. In that regard, it’s hard not to reference the Ring of Fire. In the mining sector in general, we’re darned excited about the fact that we’ve got new mines opening up every year in northern Ontario.

We’ve got two of them opening up this year: Goldcorp’s Cochenour expansion—their mine is opening up and being commissioned this year, very soon—and Rubicon, the Phoenix Gold project up in Red Lake, as well. There are other projects that are coming close. We’re pretty excited about the Premier Gold/Centerra partnership in the Geraldton-Greenstone area.

The commitment and recommitment, may I say, of $1 billion for infrastructure for the Ring of Fire is absolutely crucial. Again, it’s something we would love very much to see matched by the federal government. That’s a huge part of the long-term vision our government has for economic development.

Before I sit down—and I suspect they’re going to be asking me to give my time up soon to my colleagues—I think it’s also important to point out that getting the Connecting Link Program back up and running has been crucial for municipal leaders in northern Ontario, as a reaction to the downloading that was done many years ago. There are a number—this is important—in Sault Ste. Marie. In fact, we were able to make the announcement. My colleague the Minister of Government and Consumer Services—the MPP for Sault Ste. Marie—and I were there with the Minister of Transportation to announce a $15-million program.

I’m getting the sign to get off the stage. Thank you very much for the opportunity to speak. This is truly a good budget for northern Ontario and for all of Ontario.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): The Minister of Aboriginal Affairs.

Hon. David Zimmer: Speaker, as important as it is to listen to what members of this chamber have to say about the budget, be they Liberal, Conservative or NDP, I think it’s also important to hear what the general public is saying about our budget away from this place, so let me just run through a few comments from the citizens of Ontario.

The mayor of Sault Ste. Marie: “Our roads need work, our aqueducts need work. We’re all aware that our water infrastructure needs some work. The budget was good news in that sense.”

The Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce: “From a Thunder Bay perspective, of course, wherever there is transit investment, there is an opportunity for Bombardier to increase their timelines and their productions, which is a good thing for creating jobs here.”

I rather like this one from the president of Unifor, Dominic Pasqualino: “I think it’s excellent news. It’s going to solve Toronto’s congestion problems and, if Bombardier gets some of the new contracts, it’s going to be a real boost for Thunder Bay’s economy.”

The Hamilton Chamber of Commerce caught my interest: “The Hamilton Chamber of Commerce applauds the Ontario government for formalizing its commitment to a fully funded rapid transit project in Hamilton in the 2015 budget tabled today.”

Let us hear what the mayor of Barrie says: “The government is doing better than forecast on containing costs, so the deficit is smaller than forecast, which is good.”

The Kitchener-Waterloo chamber of commerce: “There are no increases in (business) taxes. That’s always a good thing.”

The Canadian Environmental Law Association: “The Canadian Environmental Law Association welcomed confirmation of the recently announced Ontario Electricity Support Program in today’s provincial budget. This program will provide much needed relief to low-income families ... where too much of their family income is eaten up by energy costs.”

Let’s have another look here at one from Sault College, an important post-secondary education centre: “There’s money in there for aboriginal learners, and 21% of my students at Sault College are aboriginal. That’s something I would applaud the government for doing. They also put in $13 million over two years for pre-apprenticeship programs, and Sault College is heavily involved in” this program for First Nations.

What does industry say? Here’s a quote from Robert Hardt, president and CEO of Siemens Canada: “By bringing faculty, students and partner industries together under one roof, the Mechatronics Simulation and Demonstration Centre will capture the enormous synergies of applied learning, research and demonstrations.... A defining feature of this initiative is showcasing Ontario’s most promising examples ... in an exhibition-style space that both informs and inspires innovation....”

What does the director of the Child Development Institute say? “I am delighted to learn about the $20-million expansion” of the Ontario youth action plan for at-risk youth.

We’ve heard a lot from the practical nurses’ association and the important work that they do in our health care system. The association “supports a number of the health care initiatives put forward by the provincial government, including its continued funding for mental health and addiction services and additional support to improve the quality of palliative care....”

What does the executive director of Drinks Ontario say? “We are pleased to see that there are changes ahead for the sale of beverage alcohol in Ontario, and that the government is interested in more meaningful discussion on how best to go about making that a reality.”

For the members sitting opposite, what about Rob Keffer, the mayor of Bradford West Gwillimbury? “I shared previously the good news about provincial funding for refurbishing Back St. and Line 9, as well as the doubling of GO train service. Today’s budget had more good news: an additional $80 million for affordable housing, which I hope we can tap into to deliver on our critical need for seniors’ housing. The federal government also announced measures related to affordable housing....” I hope that this, together with the province, gets things rolling.

I have another quote from Unifor for members of the third party. Katha Fortier: “Some of the measures in this budget will help secure a stronger future for Ontarians ... 60% of Ontario workers do not have a workplace pension plan. Given the failure of the Harper Conservatives to reform the CPP, the importance of the ORPP”—the Ontario pension plan—“cannot be understated....

“Today’s budget included much-needed funding for transportation.”

I could go on and on, but let me pick out one that I find particularly informative. Jamie Lim, the president and CEO of the Ontario Forest Industries Association: “We thank Premier Wynne and Minister Mauro for fulfilling their 2014 commitment ‎to ... provide $60 million in funding for critical resource access road infrastructure in northern and rural Ontario. This is great news because these resource access roads are the foundation of economic development in these regions.”

Speaker, I could go on and on with endorsements about the strength and the quality and the high regard with which this budget has been received, but I think I’ve captured the point.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): The member from Barrie.

Ms. Ann Hoggarth: I’m pleased to stand in support of this budget. I know that the people in my riding are thrilled with the announcements, particularly the building of infrastructure. The municipalities are looking forward to this infusion of funds. They have been waiting for this for some time. Both urban and rural communities will benefit from this budget.

My riding of Barrie is extremely thrilled that they will have more frequent and consistent service for those constituents who must leave our area to go to their jobs. The additions to the GO train

schedule will be a wonderful asset to those many, many people who travel back and forth from Barrie to Toronto or points south for their jobs.

It will also be a wonderful way to bring people to Barrie. Barrie has a lot to offer, and this will make it a great place for young families to come and spend a Saturday afternoon or a Sunday afternoon. I can honestly tell you that my family and people I know are looking forward to being able to take the GO train down to Toronto, not have to worry about parking your car on the weekends, and going to a show or to a baseball game or to a Raptors game, and perhaps having a slight libation before you get back on the train to go back to Barrie. Those are things that are very exciting for our riding.

Rural municipalities are also looking forward to this budget. They are eagerly waiting to apply for funds for badly needed roads and bridges. It’s very important to rural communities.

Ontario is making the largest investment in infrastructure in the province’s history: more than $130 billion over 10 years, including dedicated funds for Moving Ontario Forward. Every dollar that we receive from broadening the ownership in Hydro One will be placed in the Trillium Trust, to be dedicated for roads, transit and bridges under the Moving Ontario Forward plan.

As outlined in the 2014 budget that was passed last July—my first budget, and a wonderful experience, I might add—Moving Ontario Forward is investing in public transit, transportation and other priority infrastructure across Ontario.

A wonderful side effect of all this infusion of money into transit and infrastructure is the creation of jobs. Good jobs mean people will be putting money into the economy. When you put money into the economy, the economy grows and Ontario prospers. When we’re investing, we’re building, and when we’re building, we’re growing.

The government is committing to balancing the budget by 2017-18, and we’re on track to do that. The budget deficit for this year, 2015-16, is forecasted to be $8.5 billion, the lowest deficit forecast since the onset of the global recession. A balanced budget will sustain the programs and services Ontarians rely on over the long term.

What I like about this budget, and why I ran for this party, is because there is a balanced approach. We’re not cutting a whole bunch of jobs. We are infusing money into the province, into the economy, as well as trying to reduce the budget. We’ve consistently delivered on our commitment to follow the path to balance and to do so in a way that is fiscally responsible and fair. Where there is opportunity and security for every Ontarian, the province will be the best place to live from childhood to retirement.

I do know that I have lived in Barrie all my life—

Interjection.

Ms. Ann Hoggarth: Pardon me?

Mr. John Yakabuski: What about in retirement, not so good?

Ms. Ann Hoggarth: Anyway—

Interjection.

Ms. Ann Hoggarth: We have now also started the retirement plan—thank you, Mr. Yakabuchi, for—

Mr. John Yakabuski: Yakabuski.

Ms. Ann Hoggarth: Oh. Did I get that wrong?

We—

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Sit down, please. I’m glad you two are having a great conversation between each other, but remember me? You’ve got to go through me. Thanks so much.

Continue.

Ms. Ann Hoggarth: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I will go through you.

Last week, I was visiting Roberta Place, which is a long-term-care facility, and they were thrilled that the government has committed money to raise the wages of their personal support workers. This is very important with the seniors because they like continuity. These workers are like family to them and they’re pleased that we’re looking after them. Thank you, Speaker.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Questions and comments?

Mr. Jack MacLaren: This budget is a roaring success if we want to increase the deficit. This budget is a roaring success if we want to increase the debt. I’ll explain what I mean by all of that.

We have increased costs coming in. We have a payroll tax—they call it the Ontario pension plan—which is going to be 1.9% off the employee’s paycheque and 1.9 % out of the employer’s payroll, for 3.8%. That’s a tax.

We’re going to have a new carbon tax, which will raise the cost of energy to the average consumer or anybody who is buying energy, which is everybody.

We don’t have enough money to look after CCACs and to provide care for our seniors, who need help badly. This budget does not provide that. In fact, we’re getting cuts. There are hospitals in my riding that are laying people off because this government does not have the money to give to them because they squandered it away on things like gas plant scandals etc. That list is very lengthy.

Not to mention our hydro bills, which are going through the roof with the green energy plan—and of course they keep building more wind turbines. We’re going to have something like 1,900 of them along the north shore of Lake Superior—which is wonderful. Just imagine what the cost of that power line will be to get the power back to where the people are, in Toronto and southern Ontario. But we’re going to do it, and there are going to be subsidies, and they’ll go to offshore companies. I don’t know where Samsung is from, but somebody tells me they’re in Korea. That’s a good way to get rid of money.

You might ask the question, “Why did we not go to our friends in Quebec, who have all kinds of green energy in James Bay, and the money would have stayed in Ontario and it would have been a third of the cost to Ontarians, without subsidies?” But no, we didn’t do that.

That’s why we have deficits increasing and debt increasing. This budget continues on the mission to impoverish Ontarians.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller: Questions and comments?

Mr. Michael Mantha: I’m so happy I was here this morning to hear some of my colleagues from across the way, particularly the Minister of Northern Development and Mines. Yes, my friend, investment in northern Ontario is important. Maintenance of our roads is also important. Making sure that individuals who take our roads in northern Ontario are not putting their lives in danger—which you have absolutely known for the last five years, which you have chosen to turn a blind eye to and not do anything about. That is not what Ontarians want in northern Ontario.

The Ring of Fire, my friend, absolutely is an important development that we need in Ontario. What we do need is for Ontario—these are resources in our backyard. If we have the billion dollars, it’s time to start moving with that billion dollars. If you don’t know what to do with it, I suggest that you go talk to Noront, KWG and the First Nations who are there who have an idea to share with you. If it’s too complex, sit down with them and have a chat so you can get the understanding about how we need to develop the Ring of Fire. Stop blaming Big Brother.

Start spending money to get to those First Nations so that they can build their capacity and benefit from the social programs we can bring to those communities by having the roads and rail and electrifying those communities.

With regard to my friend from aboriginal affairs, I absolutely hear you, my friend. What northern and Ontario people are saying—you’re absolutely right. They do want good health care. They do want good education. They do want good infrastructure. They do want good investment. What they don’t want is teachers on strike, educational individuals who are struggling to teach their kids. What they don’t want is health care sector providers who are not in the hospitals, providing the care we need. What they don’t want are scandals with regard to Ornge, eHealth and privatization—and what they don’t want is to sell Hydro One.

That’s what northern Ontario is telling us. That’s what northerners are saying. That’s what Ontario is saying. Listen to what they’re saying.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): The member from Scarborough–Rouge River.

Mr. Bas Balkissoon: I am delighted to join in on this little discussion. I just want to thank my two colleagues, the Minister of Northern Development and Mines and the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs, for their speeches and comments on the budget.

To be honest with you, Mr. Speaker, I think it’s a great budget for the province of Ontario. You have to continue to invest in the province if you want to stabilize our economy and if you want to grow the economy.

I sit here on this side, and my friend from the official opposition criticizes the government for its debt. I think he failed to realize that the majority of the debt that we incurred was to build that infrastructure that the previous government had not invested in, especially in the energy field. This government is the one that built 19 new natural gas plants because we had an electricity system that was falling apart. To do that, you have to incur debt.

Interjection.

Mr. Bas Balkissoon: My good friend from Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke is commenting, too.

On the other hand, my friend from the NDP is complaining that we’re not doing enough. It’s kind of difficult to understand this whole Legislature. On this side they’re saying don’t spend money, and on the other side they’re saying spend money. I think we found a natural balance.

This government is doing what the public wants. We’re responding to Ontarians. We’re building infrastructure. We’re investing in the talent of our people. We’re investing in skilled trades—and I think we’ll make a huge difference to this province in the years to come.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Questions and comments?

Mr. John Yakabuski: I’m going to have a chance to speak myself in a couple of minutes, but I did want to comment on the rosy picture that gets painted on the other side of the House about the condition that Ontario is in. It is just not in step with reality. We’ll hear a little bit about reality when I have my opportunity to speak in a few minutes.

That is the kind of fantasy they’ve tried to thrust upon the people of Ontario: that somehow, they actually have an idea and control of the fiscal policy in the province of Ontario. Speaker, they are absolutely out of control over there. They’re dreaming themselves, and they’ve deluded themselves for the past 12 years.

We’ve got an almost $300-billion debt now in this province—$299 billion. They have no idea whatsoever how they’re going to deal with that. You put that into perspective. They love to chide the federal government. They’ve been making jokes about Joe Oliver’s off-the-cuff remark about Stephen Harper’s granddaughter, who doesn’t exist yet. But they’ve been chiding Joe Oliver. Then Kathleen Wynne talks about, “Oh, I won’t leave these decisions to our grandchildren.”

What is she leaving to her grandchildren, my grandchildren and any other grandchildren or children who are yet to be born? What is she leaving? A legacy of disaster and debt. It’s $300 billion today. What will it be by the time these people are thrown out of office in 2018? We can only imagine. We can only imagine where it will be then because—the finance minister talks about a “path to balance.” Quite frankly, he is dreaming. Their point is to get it down to $8.5 billion this year. That’s the easiest $2.5 billion they’re going to knock off of that because they’re selling our assets to do it.

Once those assets are gone, and they have no other revenue sources to draw from, how are they going to get to the rest of it? Good question.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): The finance minister has two minutes.

Hon. Charles Sousa: Who’s going? Go ahead.

Hon. Michael Gravelle: I’m grateful to all of those who have responded: the members from Carleton–Mississippi Mills, Algoma–Manitoulin, Scarborough–Rouge River and Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke. This is a really important discussion, and I’m grateful for all the comments that were made.

I’m perhaps particularly most sensitive to those made by my colleague from Algoma–Manitoulin because I know that the member for Algoma–Manitoulin, as well as our northern colleagues, understands just how important it is that we do have the right vision for northern Ontario in particular, and how it speaks to the vision for the entire province. I think that really is what our budget expresses: a real vision for the future of the province. There’s no question that we’ve made some bold and some very, very tough decisions, but I believe that ultimately we’ve made the decisions that strike the right balance, and that is the debate that’s taking place.

All I can say, and I’m wishing I had much more time, is when one looks at the future for a part of the province which makes up 87% of the land mass, and only 6% of the population, but where the real economic future of the province may indeed be—I am proud to be part of a government that is showing such strong support for that economic growth in the province.

Whether it’s the Northern Industrial Electricity Rate Program, whether it’s the northern highways program or whether it’s the increase in the forestry access roads funding, all of them are reflections of things that I don’t think any of my colleagues on whatever side of the House would be disagreeing are needed to move our economy forward. I certainly stand here proudly.

In terms of the Ring of Fire, we’re working very closely—as I think the member from Algoma–Manitoulin in particular knows—with all the companies and, right now, perhaps with Noront Resources the most. I invite you to speak to them about the work that we’re doing with them. Yes, it is complex, but we want to make sure we get it right. Nothing has changed in that regard, and I can’t imagine that you would feel any differently about it.

Regardless, Mr. Speaker, I’m very proud of this budget. I’m proud of being part of the Kathleen Wynne government and grateful to have had a chance to speak today.

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

Mr. John Yakabuski: I promised, Mr. Speaker, I’d have a chance to speak to the budget motion shortly as I was commenting on the Liberals’ Kool-Aid-driven dissertation a little bit earlier.

Let’s just talk about that debt. I will pick up where he left off. The debt in this province, basically with this budget, will be $300 billion. In order to pay off debt you have to eliminate the deficit first. According to the finance minister’s own path to balance, we’re not going to do that before 2017-18. I, myself, on this side of the House—and my colleagues share this view—say that there’s no way they’re going to get there because they don’t have the willingness, the intestinal fortitude to do what is necessary to be done.

Even the little bit they’re doing—they’re already meeting with tremendous resistance from their former friends, those people who, during the last campaign in 2014, went around saying, “Everything is going to be fine; just support us. Don’t let that Hudak guy win because he’s going to be your enemy. Keep the alliance with the Liberal Party going, and everything’s going to be fine.” As we see on a daily basis when we look across the province and we see the numerous and mounting and growing number of students who are not in school, that alliance is crumbling.

The CUPE people who are protesting with contract negotiations that are not going anywhere there—that alliance is crumbling. Yet the government says they’re holding the line on all those settlements. Let’s talk about the tentative settlement with the Power Workers’ Union that they claim was a net zero, yet they’re giving 2.75% of the base salary of each one of those workers—a 2.75% value of shares in Hydro One, a company that they’re claiming that they’re selling 60% of.

If you’ve got a house and you’re going to sell the house, but before the buyer gets there, “We took out the windows. We sold the windows,” the value of that house drops. “Oh, did we tell you we took out all the hardwood flooring? You’re down to the plywood subfloor throughout the living room.” Oops; down goes the value of the house some more.

So the Minister of Energy and the Minister of Finance and Treasury Board president are saying it’s a net-zero contract with the Power Workers’ Union, but they’re giving 2.75% in shares in Hydro One. They’re telling the people, “We’re going to net this amount of money out of the 60% sale of Hydro One,” but in the meantime they’re parsing it off piece by piece so that the asset will be worth far less to any buyer. It’s only common sense. But they try to spin this stuff. I think they do it intentionally. They either deliberately insult the intelligence of the people of Ontario or they’re playing a shady game.

If I have to withdraw that, you just tell me, sir, but it sounds to me like they’re playing a shady game and fudging the numbers when they’re doing that kind of stuff.

That’s just one issue, and that’s how it’s hard to get a handle on what is the truth when the Liberals start talking about budget, debt, deficit. It’s hard to get a handle on what is the truth because there’s such a myriad of conflicting pieces of information that come from that side of the House, and I am convinced that it is not by accident. Everything they do over there is by design. It is carefully calculated in the corner office over there on the second floor. Everything is carefully calculated. There is nothing that happens by chance; there is nothing that happens by accident.

Everything is clinically determined as to how we might be able to fool the people on this one, confuse the people on that one, hornswoggle them on another couple of things, and the next thing you know, the people are walking around in some kind of a daze, wondering just what the fiscal condition of the province of Ontario is.

You know why they do some of this stuff, Speaker? They try to deflect it—and I know that you’re sitting in the most non-partisan seat in this House at the time being, so I understand the dilemma that it puts you in sometimes. But you know as well as I do that one of the reasons they kind of throw out this conflicting information from time to time is to deflect the people away from the multitude of scandals that they’re hoping they forget or stop talking about.

This government is setting all kinds of records. While it’s record deficits that they set in office—no government has ever had a deficit as high as this government, no government has ever added as much to the debt as this government and no government in the history of Ontario has been the subject of more police investigations. So they are record-breaking. They could probably have a

section in the Guinness Book of World Records all by themselves. It could just be called Liberal Legacy of—I have to be careful what I say here—Liberal Legacy of Lies.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): You know what to do, don’t you?

Mr. John Yakabuski: Yes, I withdraw that. Shame on me, because I couldn’t think of anything else that fit the alliterative way that I wanted to get that point across.

So here we are with this $8.5-billion deficit in this budget, yet the government is failing in delivering on its promises of the election. They’re failing Ontarians. They’ve had to resort to a fire sale of one of our biggest assets, in Hydro One.

My predecessor Sean Conway, back when he was the energy critic in 2002, was chiding the then Progressive Conservative government on their musings about how they might capitalize on the value of Hydro One and privatize it. It never came about. But Sean Conway said—and I’ll paraphrase because I can’t quote him, because I don’t have it in front of me—something to the effect of, “You can’t sell Hydro One. It is the central nervous system of Ontario.” You know how the juice, the electricity, the power runs through all those wires all across this province, whether it’s transmission or distribution or whatever?

He called that the central nervous system of Ontario. How could you sell it? He said that it’s wrong. Dalton McGuinty said, “You can’t do it, and you haven’t campaigned on it.”

But what have we got here with the Liberals? They have a vague reference to “maximizing assets” and whatever, that was in that 2014 budget. It is as clear as mud. Then they take that, and all of a sudden, they say, “That was the mandate from the people to sell Hydro One.” Wow.

I’ll tell you, if I was that unclear to my children when they were teenagers, or if my parents were as unclear to me when I was a teenager and getting the car, well, I’ll tell you, some things really would have been wrong. No, they left me with some clear directions, as we left our kids with some clear directions, when they were going out with the car, when they were teenagers.

But according to this Liberal government, they can take any vague reference and call that an absolute mandate to do whatever they sought.

You see, that is part of that design program I’m talking about, where nothing is by accident. Nothing in the corner office happens by chance. They probably hired somebody like Ed Clark and paid $7 million under the table somewhere to come up with the wording.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): You’ll withdraw the one comment.

Mr. John Yakabuski: I withdraw.

What I was doing, Speaker, was referring to the fact that they paid $7 million to come up with this Ed Clark report. I’ll talk about the Beer Store if I get a chance, too.

But it’s amazing. I think what happens is sometimes, when I’m speaking in this House, the clock accelerates. That could be something that is determined by people in the corner office too. All of a sudden, I’m just getting to the juicy parts, and the clock is running out.

Somewhere in that corner office, they came up with a scheme that said, “Okay, let’s pay somebody—these wordsmith guys—the guy who can come up with these fancy phrases that will really say nothing but we’ll be able to interpret and claim that it gives us the right to do anything.” That’s how the Liberal government works over there.

What do we want to talk about next? It’s just a cornucopia of things that we could talk about. Oh, let’s talk about the winter maintenance program. That is the next real scandal. The next real scandal is the winter maintenance program.

You know, Speaker, I am reluctant to go down this path, but I’m almost forced to, because during the last election, the Premier got up on more than one occasion and, during the campaign, raised the spectre of Walkerton and put that squarely on the shoulders of Tim Hudak, who was a member of the Harris government at the time.

If we examine the O’Connor report and all of the recommendations that were in it, we’re clear that—and this is standard procedure for any kind of report. They’re going to make sure that the government—because the government is the largest entity involved—takes a lot of the responsibility in trying to ensure that something like this doesn’t repeat itself.

We all are aware of what was in the O’Connor report. But what the Liberals don’t want to talk about, that was also clear in there, was the fact of the failure of public servants—two people in particular, the Koebel brothers—who deliberately falsified information when they knew there was E. coli in the water system of Walkerton, and denied that information and failed to report it. That was the single biggest component that led to seven deaths in Walkerton.

But Kathleen Wynne, while she was campaigning, blamed—

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Point of order: the member from Northumberland–Quinte West.

Mr. Lou Rinaldi: Speaker, I would just ask that the member get back to Bill 91.

Mr. John Yakabuski: I believe it is a budget motion—

Mr. Lou Rinaldi: Budget motion—I apologize—

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): The speakers having a little altercation there without me being involved: That will end.

Secondly, when I feel that he’s gone too far, I’ll let him know. Thank you, to the member from Northumberland.

Mr. Lou Rinaldi: Very good, Speaker.

Mr. John Yakabuski: The fact of the matter is, Speaker—and I thank you for your indulgence—during a budget motion, the tradition in this House is that we can speak about whatever we feel is pertinent that is wrong with the government. I could speak for 27 days non-stop. Just hook me up to a catheter and I’ll get going, because there’s no limit of stuff that we could talk about in this government.

Anyway, during that campaign, the spectre of that was raised on a repeated basis. That was the failure of the Koebel brothers—the illegal acts. They were convicted of their illegal acts.

But now let’s talk about the winter maintenance program of this government. This was not the failure of an individual. This was not an illegal act. This was a deliberate policy decision. In 2009, long after the privatization of highway maintenance contracts, this government made a conscious decision to reduce the amount of winter maintenance on our highways, a conscious decision to lower the number of pieces of equipment in key areas. Why? To save $30 million or $35 million.

Let’s put this into perspective. This is the same government that wasted $1.1 billion on the gas plant scandal, $2 billion on the eHealth scandal—

Interjection: Smart meters.

Mr. John Yakabuski: —smart meters that they said would cost $1 billion and it came in at $1.9 billion.

Mr. Victor Fedeli: The MaRS bailout.

Mr. John Yakabuski: The MaRS bailout. I can’t list them all because I’ll be out of time, and that’s just the list. The list would use up all the time.

They made a conscious decision to reduce highway maintenance in this province, a $30-million saving. Seven people in Walkerton—as a result of an illegal act that could have been prevented if people were doing their job. How many people? There are up to 200, I believe, legal actions against the government as a result of accidents on your highways, as a result of your decision to reduce maintenance on our highways.

The prime responsibility of the government is to ensure that our highways are safe. It is not the responsibility of the contractor. The contractor is responsible for the contract that they have signed. It is the government’s ultimate responsibility to ensure that our highways are safe.

So a decision was made in 2009 to reduce the winter maintenance on our highways. First of all, for years they denied that it was being reduced. They said that’s not the case. But do you know what happened? It might have been my colleague. Was it you that brought the motion?

Mr. Steve Clark: Yes, it was.

Mr. John Yakabuski: My colleague from Leeds–Grenville brought the motion because he lives along the 401 there, one of the worst stretches, where they reduced from 59 or 55 pieces of equipment to 36. I don’t know the exact numbers, but it was a significant drop in the number of pieces of equipment, and there were a number of accidents as a result of that. So he brought that to the Auditor General. The Auditor General did an investigation. The report was clear: The government has failed. The government has failed the people of Ontario. The government made a $30-million decision to put lives at risk.

Now, as a result, you have 200 court cases on your table. How much is it going to cost to fight those court cases? How much is it going to cost to fight those court cases here in the province of Ontario? How much more will you put the families through? How much more will you put the families through who are on the other side of that court case? How much more will you put those families through? I know you people want to bury this. You want to bury this issue as fast as you can, but this is your issue. You can’t blame this on any other government. This government is famous for wanting to go back to George Drew and Leslie Frost, but their favourite target is, of course, Mike Harris.

Interjection.

Mr. John Yakabuski: This government. I’m not speaking about you specifically, Minister. I’m talking about your government in general. In general, when things are going wrong, they blame somebody else.

But this is entirely—entirely—the Liberals’ problem, and they will have to face it, they will have to deal with it and they will have to accept the consequences. But I don’t think this one is going away any time soon.

So let’s talk about hydro for a moment, because, believe it or not, I’ve got less than three minutes. Hydro went up 15% on May 1. On May 13, which is just two weeks from today—

Interjections.

Mr. John Yakabuski: No, next week. A week from today, we’re going to have protesters here at Queen’s Park. They are not coming for any other reason but that they are so frustrated with the hydro policies, the energy policies, of your government which are driving them personally, and businesses in their localities into bankruptcy.

People don’t come here because they’re not happy with the weather; they’re coming here because they’re so frustrated that you people decided your Green Energy Act in 2009—George Smitherman’s great revelation; again, probably conjured up in the corner office—was going to change the world here in Ontario. It was going to cost people about 1% a year—1% a year. Well, all we’ve seen is hydro prices more than triple what they were in 2003.

You guys will go on about how you’ve rebuilt the system, and this and that. You’ve built all kinds of wind turbines that we don’t need. You’re taking that power, and you’re giving it away. You’re actually paying Quebec, which has a surplus of hydraulic capacity, to take that during the nighttime when we’re not using it because you can’t shut down those turbines; they just keep going.

It’s just the worst possible solution to an energy problem you could ever conceive of. You couldn’t come up with a worse plan if the decision was, “Find out what is the worst thing we can do for energy in this province and then adapt it.” You wouldn’t have come up with something as bad as the one you actually came up with.

It is a disaster. It is hurting our economy. It will continue to hurt our economy for decades because of the contracts that you have signed. That’s why those people are coming down here next week: because they can’t take it any longer. The name of their protest is “Enough Is Enough.”

When it comes down to this government and your failures and your lack of compassion for the people and the damage that you’ve laid upon them, I guess the question for myself, my colleagues and, I think, every reasonable person in the province of Ontario is, “When is enough just too much?”

Debate deemed adjourned.

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

The House recessed from 1017 to 1030.

Introduction of Visitors

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Just before we commence with introductions of visitors, I understand that we’ve got quite a few. If you keep them short and brief, without explanations or anything else, I would like to get through all of the introductions. Please be cognizant of that request.

Mr. Ernie Hardeman: I’d like to welcome the eye physicians and surgeons who are here today for their lobby day. In the gallery shortly will be Dr. Tim Hillson, Dr. Kylen McReelis and Amanda Meek. I hope the members will take time to attend their reception this evening and learn more about their work. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Michael Mantha: Today we have many friends here affected by Lyme disease. I want to introduce Linda and David Kelso, Jeanne Pacey, Dr. Bev Bateman, Debra Fraleigh, Kim Kerr, Jessica Bell, the Ontario Lyme Alliance, CanLyme, the G. Magnotta Foundation for Vector-Borne Diseases, along with the Sun County Lyme disease support group, Hamilton Lyme Disease Support Group, Toronto Lyme disease support group and the York North Lyme Support Group.

I challenge everybody to come outside at the end of question period for the Take a Bite Out of Lyme Disease campaign.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Please join me in welcoming Nicole Cooper and Scott Bryan, who are constituents of mine and the proud parents of page captain Colin Bryan. Welcome.

Mr. Toby Barrett: I wish to introduce Stephanie Anne Carty, a former constituent, and her co-worker on secondment from India, Sachin Vadgama.

Also, Susan Wells is here from Haldimand-Norfolk Reach for family services day.

Thirdly, it goes without saying that so many people are here with respect to awareness of Lyme disease. In particular, I wish to introduce constituent Will Yelland and his family up in the top corner.

Ms. Catherine Fife: I hope everyone will join me in welcoming Aaron Shull from the Centre for International Governance Innovation in Waterloo, as well as Sue Gillespie, the CEO of Carizon Family and Community Services in Kitchener. Like many others, Sue is here today for family service day at the Legislature. Welcome.

Hon. Michael Gravelle: It is family service day. There’s a luncheon today in room 228-230. I hope everybody can attend.

We have some guests from Thunder Bay: from the Thunder Bay Counselling Centre, up in the public gallery, Nancy Chamberlain, the executive director; and my dear friend, board member Lori Golab. Welcome to both of you.

From the Catholic Family Development Centre is Carol Cline, executive director, and Ms. Bert Kreps, who is the board chair.

Welcome to them all.

Please come to the luncheon.

Mr. Rick Nicholls: It’s a proud day for the riding of Chatham–Kent–Essex. I’d like to introduce in the gallery Cheryl and Nathaniel Abbate, and Patrick McNorton, here on behalf of the Sun County Lyme awareness group, and also, from Family Service Kent, executive director Brad Davis and board chair Leo Heuvelmans. Welcome.

Ms. Peggy Sattler: I’m delighted to welcome, from Family Service Thames Valley, Louise Pitre, who is executive director, and Shelley Yeo, who is a board member. Thank you for coming.

Hon. Helena Jaczek: I would also like to recognize a number of individuals from Family Service Ontario’s 2015 board of directors: president Alan McQuarrie from North Bay; vice-president Robert Campbell from Peterborough; secretary Lori Golab from Thunder Bay; and Connie McLeod from Thunder Bay.

Also, we have Elisha Laker, executive director, Family Services York Region.

Mr. Monte McNaughton: It gives me great honour to introduce Wayne Tompkins from Lambton–Kent–Middlesex. Wayne is the grandfather of page Colton Tompkins.

M me France Gélinas: Twice this week I’ve had people from Sudbury, and this time it’s Lynne Lamontagne. She’s the executive director of Sudbury Counselling Centre—le Centre de counselling de Sudbury. Bienvenue, Lynne.

Hon. Jeff Leal: The members in the west public gallery today: I have Casey Ready, executive director of the Community Counselling and Resource Centre for Peterborough, and other folks from Peterborough who are here for family service day.

Mr. Jim Wilson: I’d like to welcome to the Legislature today Mark Creedon, interim executive director of Catholic Family Services Simcoe County, and Michelle Bergin, client services manager for the same organization. Welcome.

Ms. Jennifer K. French: I am pleased to welcome the following staff who work for Family Services of Durham, serving the people of Durham in nine locations, especially Oshawa: acting director Dennis Holmes and family counsellors Terri Van Exan, Herb Wiseman, Jody McKenna and Marusia Laschuk.

Mr. Joe Dickson: As a follow-up to Family Services of Durham, which my good colleague from Oshawa has just introduced, there is also the pleasure to introduce the executive director of Catholic Family Services of Durham, Elizabeth Pierce, and her board vice-chair, Stan MacLellan, to the Legislature today.

Also, Mr. Speaker, if I may, on Lyme disease, there is a victim attempting to get here this morning from my area, Wendy Lee Gonzales, and if she doesn’t make it, her husband, Alex, will.

Mr. Todd Smith: I’d like to welcome Eleanor Cox of Bancroft, drawing attention to Lyme disease today.

Also, my good friend in the west members’ gallery—I know you’ll do a more formal introduction—Phil Gillies is here today. It’s good to see Phil.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Algoma–Manitoulin.

Mr. Michael Mantha: On a point of order—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Scarborough–Agincourt.

Ms. Soo Wong: I’m pleased to introduce five other members of the Family Service Ontario 2015 board of directors: Shelley McCarthy from Brantford, Lynne Dupuis from Sudbury, Sharon Mayne Devine from Brampton, Lynne Lamontagne from Sudbury, and Brad Davis from Chatham. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Bill Walker: I’d like to welcome Margo and Michael Timmins, members of the Cowboy Junkies. They will be inducted into the Canadian hall of fame, and are residents of the great riding of Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound.

Hon. Brad Duguid: I need to introduce Lianne Spencer and her inspiring daughter Page, who are up in the galleries here today for Lyme disease awareness day.

Mr. Jim McDonell: I’d like to introduce Ray Houde, director of Counselling and Support Services of SD&G. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Hon. Charles Sousa: I’d like to introduce some interns today. Erich Schmidt, Aashish Oberoi, and Mark Poopalapillai are here today.

A young constituent from my hometown, Natasha Crombie, is here as well.

Mr. Victor Fedeli: I’d like to introduce Alan McQuarrie, executive director of the Community Counselling Centre of Nipissing, and Tammi McKenzie, a volunteer board member at the community counselling centre.

Mr. Arthur Potts: It’s a great pleasure to welcome page captain Afiyah Islam, here with her mother, Ahama Munmun; her sister Samia Islam; and her brother Mahazib Ashraf Shownik, from Crescent Town in Beaches–East York.

Ms. Laurie Scott: I’d like to welcome Amy Terrill, who’s a resident of Haliburton–Kawartha Lakes–Brock and is also here with Music Canada as a vice-president. Welcome, Amy.

Ms. Sophie Kiwala: It gives me unbridled joy to also welcome Michael and Margo Timmins of the Canadian band Cowboy Junkies; Steve Kane, the president of Warner Music Canada, who will also be inducted into the Canadian hall of fame for music; and all the other members here for Music Canada and the CARAS association.

Ms. Sylvia Jones: I would like to welcome Kim Kerr from the riding of Dufferin–Caledon. She’s a great volunteer and advocate for Lyme disease, and you’ve got to see her green car.

Hon. Tracy MacCharles: I’m not sure if he’s here yet, but somewhere in Queen’s Park today we have Scott Maxwell, the executive director of Wounded Warriors Canada, a tireless advocate for veterans. And he’s my former executive assistant. He was so helpful when I was first elected. Welcome, Scott.

Ms. Daiene Vernile: It gives me great pleasure to introduce a new, hard-working intern here at the Legislature: Claire Matlock, who is also my daughter.

I would also like to mention Sue Gillespie, who works just across the street from my constituency office in Kitchener. Welcome.

Hon. David Zimmer: I’d like to welcome Natasha Crombie and Theo Poenaru to the Legislature today. They are interns and will be interning at the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs.

Hon. Yasir Naqvi: I’m very excited to welcome a constituent of mine, Erin Benjamin, who is the executive director of Music Canada Live, but most importantly, she is Oliver’s mom. Erin, welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Percy Hatfield: Just in case there’s anybody else here today who wasn’t introduced, welcome to Queen’s Park.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): If you check Hansard, I used to do that too.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): It’s the moustache caucus, come on.

With us in the members’ gallery, from the riding of Brantford, from the 32nd and the 33rd Parliaments: Mr. Phil Gillies. Welcome.

Wearing of ribbons

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I told the member to hold it, so now I will ask him to make his point of order.

Mr. Michael Mantha: I believe we have unanimous consent that all members be permitted to wear ribbons in recognition of Lyme Disease Awareness Month.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Algoma–Manitoulin is seeking unanimous consent to wear the ribbons. I believe that all members have access to those ribbons. Do we agree? Agreed.

As a reminder, we tend not to wear them until we get the unanimous consent, because it’s seen as a prop until such time. So, as a reminder, please.

We have a point of order from the member from Leeds–Grenville.

Mr. Steve Clark: Point of privilege: It’s come to my attention—and this is my earliest opportunity to bring it to your attention and to the attention of the House—that on April 14, 2015, more than a week prior to the Liberal budget being presented in this House, the government signed tentative contracts with the Ontario Power Generation workers, allowing them access to shares from the sale of—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): You need to have written notice of that, because that’s not a point of order.

Mr. Steve Clark: No; but what I’m asking is—you made a decision yesterday that we submit to you, by 3 p.m. yesterday, information. I’m asking you to amend your decision so I can provide you this information about this tentative contract.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I’m going to rule on the point of order, and the reality is, I’m not going to accept that.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I would hope no one is challenging the Chair.

It is now time for question period.

Oral Questions

Winter highway maintenance

Mr. Michael Harris: My question is to the Premier. Premier, it’s been one week since the auditor pulled back the curtain on your negligent inaction with substandard winter road maintenance contracts, putting lives at risk to save a few bucks. For one week, you and your rookie minister have refused apologies, claiming that this time, you’re really going to fix it—just wait a year.

Premier, we’ve heard your claims before, and they’ve been empty words. Arrogant claims of North American road safety completely ignore the grief of families who’ve lost loved ones—those close to Barrie residents Alyssa McKeown, 17; her cousin Jessica Chamberland, 18; and Sudbury residents Torry McIntyre-Courville, 18; and Cole Howard, 19, all killed along Highway 69 in January 2012, despite taking all precautions.

Premier, please, no more empty words. Take responsibility, apologize and provide immediate action to prevent tragic winter deaths mounting under your watch.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Mr. Speaker, before I answer the question, I want to acknowledge the election of two new Premiers this week. I want to congratulate Wade MacLauchlan of PEI on his election on Monday. I also want to take a moment to congratulate Rachel Notley for her election victory in Alberta last night. And I want to acknowledge Jim Prentice and thank him for his service. I enjoyed working with him for the time that he was Premier.

I look forward to working with both Premiers. As you know, Mr. Speaker, I believe that when Premiers work together, we can benefit the whole country. Congratulations to both new Premiers.

To the member opposite, I know that the Minister of Transportation is going to want to comment. We thank the Auditor General for her report. We thank her for the recommendations. As the member opposite knows, we had already begun an internal review. There had already been changes made. There had been more equipment bought. There had been more staff hired. I know that the Minister of Transportation will want to fill in the details in the—

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

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): As always, I’m starting early.

Supplementary?

Mr. Victor Fedeli: Premier, the Auditor General is clear: Your government knowingly put the lives of motorists at increased risk. Over the 2011 Christmas break, crashes on northern highways left nine children dead. The Auditor General told us that you blatantly ignored warnings of staff and engineers.

For five years, you knew the contracts were faulty. You didn’t act, and people died. Eight-year-old Kaitlyn McPherson, Andrew Beland, Cole Howard, Torry McIntyre-Courville, Jessica Chamberland, Alyssa McKeown, Hillary Afelski, Zabrina Rekowski, Keegan Melville—all of these kids were killed over a one-week period.

Premier, can you muster even an ounce of integrity and apologize to their families?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Transportation.

Hon. Steven Del Duca: I want to thank both members from the opposition caucus for their questions today. As the Premier has already said this morning and as I said last week and yesterday as well, we do thank the auditor for her report. There were eight recommendations contained in that report. The Ministry of Transportation accepts all of those recommendations.

I also accept the responsibility of making sure that, as we go forward, we continue to provide the resources and continue to make sure that our area maintenance contractors have a very clear understanding of their contractual obligations. We will keep building on the progress that was contained in and that flowed from the internal review that the ministry launched in 2013, which was before the public accounts committee asked the auditor to go and conduct a review.

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

Mr. Randy Hillier: To the Premier. Premier, Melanie Watson was a 34-year-old mother of two young children and a loving wife. She tragically lost her life in January 2014 when her car lost control as a result of uncleared snowdrifts on Highway 7 outside of Carleton Place.

Your Minister of Transportation has stated in this Legislature that, despite cutbacks to road maintenance, you hired more inspectors—instead of more plows, salt, and sand. Premier, this

section of Highway 7 had countless complaints against it to the MTO about drifting snow and uncleared banks. Yet not one of your inspectors did anything about that. Your government saved a few bucks and put the lives of Ontario drivers at risk with tragic consequences.

Premier, will you take responsibility and apologize to the family of Melanie Watson?

Hon. Steven Del Duca: I’ll thank this member as well for his question and his interest in this very important file. I know that it might be difficult for the opposition to listen to the complete answer that we provide, but in addition to the 20 inspectors that were brought forward and were brought on by the ministry as a result of our internal review in 2013—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Leeds–Grenville.

Hon. Steven Del Duca: In addition to those 20 inspectors, as I’ve said repeatedly, following our internal review, we have added 105 new pieces of equipment, 55 pieces of equipment, largely for truck climbing and passing lanes in northern Ontario; and 50 pieces of equipment to help deal with ramps and shoulders in southern Ontario, including—

Mr. Steve Clark: Five years. You’ve turned a blind eye for five years.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Leeds–Grenville—I don’t think he heard me because he was talking to somebody. The member from Leeds–Grenville, second time.

Hon. Steven Del Duca: I just want to stress so it is clearly understood that those 105 additional pieces of equipment were brought on and were put into use as a result of the Ministry of Transportation’s internal review following the winter of 2013-14, not as a result—

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

New question.

Teachers’ labour disputes

Mr. Garfield Dunlop: My question is for the Minister of Education. Minister, you’ve said that you were perplexed, mystified and had no idea why these boards were striking. Then you blamed the strikes on local issues time and time again. That’s a story that no one is buying anymore. Now, you say kids aren’t in the classroom because teachers have a “general desire to strike.” The other side of the table is dumbfounded by your remarks.

Minister, it’s your job to know why these boards are striking and it’s your job to get these students the education that they deserve. Because of your inaction, will you resign before you cost these students the rest of their school year?

Hon. Liz Sandals: The answer to that is no.

I’m almost uncertain as to where to go with that question because there are so many muddled facts in it. I think what I’ll just do is review what’s going on. We have three boards where the secondary teachers are in a local strike position. I will continue to say that there really has been no clear articulation as to why those local unions have gone on a local strike.

What we know is that all three of the boards remain ready and willing to negotiate with their local unions. We know that the Peel board in particular was there until after midnight on Sunday trying to reach a local agreement. I actually want to commend the board—

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

Hon. Liz Sandals: —for the effort that they made.

What I can tell—

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

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Stop the clock. A reminder to this minister and everyone: When I stand, you sit, and when I say, “Thank you,” that’s your signal that your time is up, so stop.

Supplementary?

Mr. Garfield Dunlop: Again to the Minister of Education: When you introduced Bill 122, you promised “a clear and consistent labour framework that works for all parties.” Your two-tiered train wreck of a system isn’t working for anyone and you aren’t working for these students. Nearly 72,000 students aren’t in the classroom today. Over 800,000 more will be impacted by Monday, and it seems like you just simply shrug this off.

Minister, what are you saying to the students and their parents who are worried about the end of the school year?

Hon. Liz Sandals: What I will say to the students is that we know that the only way to resolve this is to get to the table and negotiate. We remain absolutely committed to negotiating a collective agreement because that’s the way we can make sure that every student, regardless of whether they’re an elementary or secondary student, is back in the classroom.

We remain committed to negotiating with the secondary teachers and with the elementary teachers, and I want that to be absolutely clear: That’s the way to labour peace. It’s the way that the Tories, when they were in control, never, ever figured out—how to negotiate. It’s also absolutely contrary—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Order.

Interjection.

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

One wrap-up sentence.

Hon. Liz Sandals: I just want to repeat: We are willing to negotiate. That’s how we solve the problem.

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

Mr. Garfield Dunlop: Next thing you know, she’ll be naming Leslie Frost for the turmoil they’re in today.

Minister, this is a quote from you: “This is going to make it a whole lot easier for everybody because we know the rules.” That was after the vote on Bill 122.

Here’s a quote from your Premier: “It is my responsibility to light whatever fires I need to light under our folks to get that deal and get it in a way that fits within our parameters.”

Minister, clearly the two-tiered train wreck of a bargaining system is not working. I think the Premier should be lighting the fire under you, and if you’re afraid of the heat, you should resign immediately.

You being mystified is not helping our parents and teachers. Are you intending on ignoring these strikes and the negative impacts right through to the end of the school year, Minister?

Interjections.

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

Minister.

Hon. Liz Sandals: I actually have a question for the member opposite. I’d like to know who it is he thinks shouldn’t be at the central table. Is it the government that shouldn’t be there? Because we supply the money. Is it the school board that shouldn’t be there? They’re the employers. Is it the teacher unions that shouldn’t be there? That was the way you wanted it. You just wanted to take over and not have the teacher unions there. Just who is it that you wouldn’t have at the central table? Tell me that.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Be seated, please. Start the clock. I will also remind all members of third-person discussion through the Chair. By going through the Speaker, we resist the temptation to elevate the temperature. I remind you all. New question.

Privatization of public assets

Ms. Andrea Horwath: I’d like to begin by congratulating Premier-elect Rachel Notley on her victory in Alberta for the NDP yesterday, as the Premier did, as well as the Premier of PEI, Wade MacLauchlan.

My question is for the Premier. Selling off Hydro will have major impacts for families and businesses throughout northern Ontario. My question is—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Stop the clock. All members have a right to put a question that I can hear and an answer that I can hear. Please.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Selling off Hydro will have major impacts for families and businesses throughout northern Ontario. My question is: How many committee hearings will the Premier hold in northern Ontario on her privatization budget and her Hydro One sell-off?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Mr. Speaker, the leader of the third party knows that there are six days of hearings, which is exponentially more than previous parties have had on budget hearings. She also knows that the changes that we are making as a result of the recommendations that Ed Clark and his panel brought forward are being made because we know that we need to invest in infrastructure.

The leader of the third party apparently doesn’t believe that investing in the roads and the bridges that are needed in the north should be a priority. She doesn’t believe that expanding Highway 11/17 is important. She doesn’t believe that building bridges in northern Ontario is important. We know that it is. We know that if the economy is going to thrive, we must make those investments. That’s why we’re making the changes in assets that we are. We think that it would be a good thing if she supported us in those investments.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Never will the New Democrats support the sell-off of our public assets that are owned by the people of this province. Selling off Hydro One will have major impacts for families and businesses throughout southwestern Ontario.

My question to the Premier is: Will she have committee hearings in southwestern Ontario on her privatization budget and the sell-off of Hydro One?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Let’s just look at where the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs hearings were held in advance of the budget: Windsor, London, Toronto, Mississauga, Cambridge, Ottawa, Fort Frances, Sudbury, Cornwall, Fort Erie. So in fact there has been a conversation with people across this province in the leadup to the budget. There will be six days of hearings; hearings that anyone from around the province can delegate to or can feed into. So in fact there has been a very clear and robust conversation with the people of Ontario, and we will continue to have that conversation, going forward.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Unfortunately, in the Premier’s litany list of places that they visited, not once did anybody hear that they were planning to sell off Hydro One, in those pre-budget hearings. Selling off Hydro One will have major impacts on the businesses and people throughout eastern Ontario.

My question to the Premier is: How many committee hearings will the Premier hold in eastern Ontario on her privatization budget and the sell-off of Hydro One?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: What the leader of the third party never talks about is the impact if we do not make the investments that we are proposing, if we do not invest in the roads and the bridges and the transit that are so desperately needed.

The leader of the third party also doesn’t talk about the fact that we ran on this.

Interjection.

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

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: The text of our budget says this: “The government will look at maximizing and unlocking value from assets it currently holds, including real estate holdings as well as crown corporations such as Ontario Power Generation, Hydro One and the Liquor Control Board of Ontario.”

We ran on that. It was in our budget. It was in our platform. We’ve been very clear that we needed to use the assets that are owned by the people of Ontario—

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

New question.

Privatization of public assets

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My next question is also for the Premier.

The Premier knows very well that she did not run on selling Hydro One. She just admitted it yet again, Speaker.

Yesterday, she said, “We ran on reviewing our assets.” My question is, does the Premier think that reviewing assets and selling Hydro One are exactly the same thing?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: What I think are the same thing is what we said, which was we were going to look at the assets that are owned by the people of Ontario, and we were going to work to maximize those assets to make sure that we could have the money to invest in new assets. That’s exactly what Ed Clark and his panel have done. That’s what we ran on, so we’re doing exactly what we said we were going to do.

But the leader of the third party has no plan to make the investments that we have said we’re committed to. She has no plan for investing in transit. She puts forward no options for investing in the roads and the bridges that are needed in this province.

We have the responsibility, as government, to grow this economy. Part of that must be the investment in infrastructure.

Interjections.

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

Supplementary.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: The cost of hydro has major impacts on the family budget. It has major impacts on job creation. The sell-off will impact both of those things. It will impact economic growth. It will impact productivity. It is a huge, big deal.

The Premier was not upfront with the people in May 2014, and she doesn’t want to hear from the people in May 2015. Why is the Premier trying to shut out the people who will be paying the price for her wrong decision for generations to come?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: The leader of the third party knows full well that the regulatory protections that are in place today will be in place once we move in terms of the broadening of the ownership for Hydro One. She knows that full well.

She knows that the Ontario Energy Board sets prices today. She knows they will set prices—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Hamilton East–Stoney Creek—second time.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: She knows that those regulatory protections are in place. She also knows that retaining 40% ownership by the government is the protection that must stay in place for the people of the province.

I think she also knows that investment in infrastructure is critical, but she has no plan to do that, and she has no alternatives to bring forward. We have the responsibility to make those investments.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: I’d think that the Premier of the province would have a responsibility to be upfront with Ontarians about her plan to sell off Hydro One, but she will still not use that word. She will not use the word “sell.” She didn’t run on selling Hydro One, and everybody knows it.

I have some suggestions for the Premier. If the Premier doesn’t want to consult with Ontarians, perhaps she could broaden public input, or perhaps she could unlock Ontarians’ ideas, or maybe maximize public participation, or review what Ontarians have to say. Speaker, you don’t have to call them “public hearings.” She doesn’t have to call them “public hearings.”

Will the Premier actually listen to Ontarians, in whatever way she wants to call it, but just stop the sell-off of Hydro One before it is too late?

Interjections.

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

Premier.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Energy.

Hon. Bob Chiarelli: First of all, the 2014 budget said specifically that we would study repurposing assets, including our energy agencies. It was clear, and it was strategic.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Member from Essex.

Hon. Bob Chiarelli: About selling off, selling off, selling off: The legislation states, “The minister on behalf of Her Majesty in right of Ontario shall not sell, dispose of or otherwise divest any common shares of Hydro One Inc. if the sale, disposal or divestment would result in the minister on behalf of Her Majesty in right of Ontario owning a number of common shares that is less than 40 %....”

We also have provisions in governance that require two thirds’ permission to make significant decisions moving forward. So we still have control, and most importantly, we are investing in assets, which they will not.

Privatization of public assets

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: My question as well is to the Premier. The government and the third party can wax philosophical about whether or not we’re going to sell public assets—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): That’s why I’m standing.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Essex, second time.

Carry on.

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: The government reached a deal with the Power Workers’ Union on April 14. That was two days before the release of the Clark report and nine days before the provincial budget, which by the way, did not include any increase in infrastructure funding. Secondly, you only decided that you were going to pay down the debt after the leader of the official opposition pointed out that it was the law.

That means these shares were bargained away before the public knew anything about the sale of Hydro One. Isn’t it true that the government is not concerned with funding infrastructure from this deal, nor is it prepared to pay down the debt? It’s actually to sell off shares to fund pension plans. The question is, who’s next?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Finance.

Hon. Charles Sousa: We made it clear in the budget of 2014, in the economic statement of 2014 as well. We made it clear in our platform when we ran for re-election, and we made it clear in this budget as to what we are doing. Yes, we are dealing with all stakeholders that are involved. We are consulting with many Ontarians.

We have done so for the past almost two years in regard to what we are going to do to invest in infrastructure, invest in transit, invest in the things that are going to make us competitive long term and reinvest those holdings that we have to make even more money for the people of Ontario, including those who work in the very industries that we’re talking about. We want everybody to be at their best.

Negotiations are under way. Ratification has not occurred. But I can tell you this, Mr. Speaker: It is a net-zero deal. All of us are going to benefit from what we are doing going forward.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: I’d like to go back to the Premier on this, Speaker, because I think it’s important that the Premier take responsibility for what her government is doing and how it’s communicating to the public in this province.

They never intended to sell Hydro One to fund infrastructure or to pay down the debt. In fact, we now know, with the secret deal that occurred on April 14, that the real profits that were going toward the Hydro One sale were intended to go to pay off a pension plan to buy labour peace. The question then becomes: Who’s next? Nurses? Is it teachers? Who’s going to benefit from the sale of Hydro One? Certainly not the taxpayers.

That’s why I think it’s important that, as the member from Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke has pointed out, the parliamentary budget officer and the Auditor General must review this deal to find out what exactly is in the fine print, because we simply do not trust what this Liberal government is doing. Will you commit to that review? Yes—

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

Interjections.

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

Minister.

Hon. Charles Sousa: The same Financial Accountability Officer the members opposite voted against? They voted against the very issues that they ran on themselves.

We have put forward a Trillium Trust that makes it very specific: Dollar for dollar that’s generated from the maximization of our assets will be reinvested in infrastructure. It was very clear in a separate lock-up for the benefit of understanding what we are proposing to do, and that is, a component of it does go towards debt. So we are being very clear.

The member is talking about things that have yet to come to fruition because negotiations are still under way, and when they are done, it will be very transparent and very open, and we have been up until this point. We’ll continue to do so not only for the benefit of the workers and not only for the benefit of those in the broader public who ultimately will own a broader ownership of Hydro One, but the people of Ontario as well, because all of it will be reinvested for the benefit of them and their future.

Teachers’ labour disputes

Mrs. Lisa Gretzky: My question is to the Premier. Yesterday the Minister of Education said that class caps are negotiated locally and not talked about at the central table, but for weeks she has not been sure why local boards in Durham, Rainbow and Peel are on strike.

Premier, maybe your government is so mystified because at one time the Liberals believed, to quote Mr. McGuinty, that “smaller class sizes allow students to get more of the attention they need to learn to read, write and do math at a high level.” The teachers have been very clear that this dispute is all about keeping class sizes manageable for the benefit of students. Liberal flip-flopping on this issue is quite perplexing.

Will the Premier finally admit that more than a decade of this government’s chronic underfunding of education and flip-flopping on class caps are forcing students and families to pay the price?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: To the Minister of Education.

Hon. Liz Sandals: I would just simply like to repeat what I said before, which is that we are absolutely committed to negotiations. I think it’s unfortunate that I’m now hearing about issues that might be at the central table one place, the local table another place, and the elementary and secondary negotiations actually are getting quite confused in the comments that I’m hearing from the opposition.

When we’re talking about early literacy and early numeracy, we’re talking about making sure that we pay a lot of attention to that at the primary and junior years. We’ve introduced the full-day kindergarten program to make sure that we have our children well prepared. I can assure the member that none of the work that we have done with FDK is—

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

Supplementary?

Mrs. Lisa Gretzky: I think Bill 115 shows this government’s commitment to negotiating fairly.

Again to the Premier: The Premier and the Minister of Education seem to call local issues “central” and central issues “local” when it’s convenient, but at the end of the day it’s her government that sets the priorities for education.

The Premier’s priorities for education are clear: cutting $250 million from education this year, cutting $6 million from special education and closing 88 good neighbourhood schools.

In response to labour action forced by these overwhelming cuts, the Premier and her government have taken to the blame game, saying teachers wanted to go on strike. Will this government stop blaming everyone but themselves and finally take responsibility for creating chaos in our schools?

Hon. Liz Sandals: I just want to be absolutely clear. Education funding last year: $22.5 billion. Education funding this year: $22.5 billion. Special education funding has not been cut. So the accusations are just simply inaccurate.

What is interesting is that while we committed $22.5 billion last year and continue to do that, the NDP platform was actually to take our numbers and cut $600 million extra. That was the very flimsy platform they were running on. It’s actually the NDP that promised to cut education funding, not the Liberals. Ours is the same.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member asked the question.

New question.

Music industry

Mr. Arthur Potts: My question is to the Minister of Finance. This week is Canadian Music Week, a great time to celebrate our Canadian and Ontario musicians—such as the members of the Cowboy Junkies who are here today—to celebrate their contributions to the vibrant and diverse cultural landscapes in the province of Ontario.

This year, homegrown talent such as Kiesza, Lights, past Juno award winner Dan Hill, who is a constituent, or upcoming stars like a band in the Beach called The Beaches may well be among the many performers who take the stage this week.

Canadian Music Week is a great example of how music performs as a key economic driver in Ontario as well as an important part of Ontario’s cultural landscape. In addition to great music, Canadian Music Week has an estimated economic impact of approximately $15 million. It supports some 230 full-time and countless part-time jobs and is bringing tourism to Ontario.

Canadian Music Week estimates that over 40% of attendees come from the GTA—

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

Minister of Finance.

Hon. Charles Sousa: I appreciate the member from Beaches–East York for this very important—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The two-way dialogue that’s going on right in front of the chair is not helpful.

Minister of Finance.

Hon. Charles Sousa: Once again, I would like to thank the member from Beaches–East York for a very important question.

Applause.

Hon. Charles Sousa: And you should be clapping, because Ontario is home to Canada’s largest and one of the world’s most diversified music sectors. Ontario’s music industry represents over 80% of Canada’s total music industry revenue and generates over $429 million in revenue for the province every year.

Our government is committed to strengthening this critical industry. We took a strategic step forward to develop the live music industry in Ontario by launching the Live Music Strategy in 2012 and the Ontario Music Fund in 2013—which over $19 million in funding has now been provided to support the live music industry through the music fund and Celebrate Ontario.

Now, more than 90 unique music festivals across the province have occurred. The Ontario Festival of Small Halls in the east to the Kingsville Folk Music Festival in the southwest to the Budweiser music festival in the north are creating and generating tremendous support and highlighting the talent in our province.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Arthur Potts: Thank you, Speaker. With all the brouhaha on the other side, I didn’t hear you ask to put the question, and I appreciate that the minister was able to get the gist of it. I thank the minister for his answer.

This year, in my riding of Beaches–East York, six organizations were supported by the Ontario Music Fund, including Sing!, Canada’s premier festival featuring a cappella music. Sing! will draw performing artists, participants, students and general audiences from across Ontario, Quebec and the United States to my riding to take

part in this extremely unique event.

This summer, I look forward to attending so many of the festivals taking place in and around the GTA and supporting our music talent in Ontario, which is made possible by the support of the Ontario Music Fund, including the Beaches Jazz Festival.

Will the minister please share with the members of this House how our government has recently strengthened the Ontario Music Fund in the 2015 budget?

Hon. Charles Sousa: The Ontario Music Fund, originally announced in the 2013 budget—which was, by the way, opposed by the members opposite—is creating a business environment where Ontario’s artists can thrive while helping the industry become even more competitive, nationally and internationally. As a result of the fund, Ontario’s sales, exports and live music offerings are increasing.

To continue this growth through the 2015 budget—if approved—our government can announce that our plan will provide the Ontario Music Fund a permanent annual $15-million investment. Together with our partners, our goal is to drive economic growth, create jobs and ensure Ontario’s talent thrives here at home.

Here’s a quote from CIMA president Stuart Johnston: “The Ontario government’s commitment to make the Ontario Music Fund permanent ... will give our industry the confidence to invest in Canadian artists for years to come.”

We are truly proud of Ontario’s outstanding talent. Thank you all for your great work.

Lyme disease

Mr. Toby Barrett: A question to the Premier: Spring is here, and with the advent of spring, Lyme is again upon us. As you know, in the gallery are victims like Will Yelland, a young man from my riding who’s in the prime of his life and is having it stripped away by this horrific disease. He travels to the United States for treatment, paying tens of thousands of dollars out of his own pocket. Others have been bankrupted or have lost farms.

The treatment of Lyme disease is fraught with conflicting and unresolved medical, scientific and political dimensions. Premier, what will you tell people, like Will Yelland up in the gallery, and so many others that are here today and across the province of Ontario?

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

Hon. Eric Hoskins: I appreciate the question. The member opposite knows I was born and grew up in his riding as well, and I fully understand the risks of Lyme disease in the Long Point area and the prevalence across this province. It’s a very serious problem. As a public health expert, as well as from a medical perspective, I’m more than familiar with the dangers associated with Lyme disease.

I believe, and this government believes, that we need a strong, evidence-based strategy for Lyme disease. It’s very important to me. That’s why, not that long ago, I and the government developed a provincial Lyme disease action plan. This action plan will ensure—very importantly—strengthened engagement and collaboration with stakeholders and advocates. It will promote close alignment with Lyme initiatives at the federal, provincial and local levels. This action plan—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Answer.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: I’ll talk about it more in the supplementary, but it is very action-oriented. That will be clear in several moments.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

We have government for a reason: for province-wide surveillance and education. We need guidelines for prevention, identification and management of this disease. All members of this Legislature have agreed, voting for a private member’s bill and voting for a motion.

Again, Premier, you have a majority; you have the power. What can your administration tell these people today?

Interjections.

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

Minister.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: What I can say today is that we are acting on the recommendations that we’ve been provided in terms of this action plan. I asked, a number of months ago, Public Health Ontario to establish a Lyme disease stakeholder group to review the existing educational outreach opportunities in the province.

This action plan is very specific. It includes a review and update of existing public awareness materials and guidance documents, including a review of testing, diagnosis and treatment protocols based on the latest evidence in science, prevention, and tick surveillance protocols—basically the entire spectrum of what we need to do to develop a renewed strategy in this province, a comprehensive one which will effectively deal with this serious problem.

I should add as well that the member opposite responsible for the environment and climate change reminded me that, with climate change, this is—

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

New question.

Ontario film industry

Mr. Paul Miller: My question is to the Premier. The film and TV industry in our province is growing and is a world leader. It now generates $1.8 billion a year, creating 31,000 full-time jobs—31,000 jobs, Speaker. But in the budget, the government cut the tax credit that the industry banks on. Reliable and stable tax credits are what the global film industry looks for in a jurisdiction, but that’s not even half of it, Speaker. The cuts will be immediate. If you’re shooting on a production now, thinking you’re getting the deal this government had promised, well, too bad: You’re not getting that money. What’s worse is, the producers weren’t consulted. There was no warning.

Speaker, why didn’t the government consult this major industry?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Finance.

Hon. Charles Sousa: We’re very proud on this side of the House to support the film industry in Ontario, and we recognize how important it is to our economy as well. That is why Ontario will continue to be the most generous in all of Canada to support the industry. We do work closely with them, recognizing how effective it is not only in providing more jobs and in creating more economic activity; it also enables the province to showcase itself around the world to the extent that we are a good and dynamic place to do business.

But it’s passing strange for the NDP to ask a question about providing support for business when all the time they’re asking us to cut supports, to cut loopholes, not to provide for that. All of a sudden, they are onside.

Mr. Speaker, Ontario will continue to provide tax credits to the film industry, and we will continue to work with them all the way through.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Kitchener–Waterloo, second time.

Supplementary.

Mr. Paul Miller: I guess they don’t think we’re against business in Alberta.

Minister, Hollywood has noticed this. Big-time production companies employing thousands are now actively talking and contacting Toronto about taking their billion-dollar businesses elsewhere. They’re calling this government’s cut a bait and switch because they weren’t consulted.

When the film industry leaves, they call it “burning a jurisdiction.” Evidence suggests that it takes 10 years for a jurisdiction to bounce back. Speaker, it sounds like this was a one-size-fits-all Treasury Board decision, done without consideration or consultation.

So my question is, will the Premier at least grandfather the changes to the film industry’s tax cuts so that productions already here are not threatened and will continue?

Hon. Charles Sousa: Mr. Speaker, we remain committed to growing our cultural industries and the film industry. A key to that success, by the way, is sustainable tax credits focused on keeping Ontario the best place to invest and do business. We’ll be the most competitive.

Through the 2015 budget, we’re continuing to support our creative industries through the Ontario Music Fund, which now receives a permanent annual $15-million investment; the more than $439 million in the 2015-16 budget for our cultural media tax credits; as well as $6 million in 2015-16, and $10 million a year, starting in 2016-17, in a renewed interactive digital media fund. Amending the Ontario film and television tax credits will save our domestic producers $7 million annually as well.

We will foster economic growth, we will continue to be the lead support of film industry in Canada and we’ll work closely with our industry partners throughout.

Trade development

Ms. Indira Naidoo-Harris: My question is for the Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and International Trade. This government has made it a priority to increase trade and investment to grow the economy. My riding of Halton has a diverse and thriving economy that would benefit significantly from opening markets around the world for small and medium-sized companies.

Mexico is one of our NAFTA partners and is Ontario’s fifth-largest source of exports and third-largest importer. Many businesses and academics see Mexico not only as an existing trade partner, but also as a growing market for Ontario’s expertise in energy, life sciences and infrastructure, to name a few.

Minister, how is this government working to strengthen Ontario’s relationship with Mexico in order to increase investment and economic opportunity throughout the province?

Hon. Michael Chan: I want to thank the member from Halton for asking a question about trade.

Just last week, I was in Mexico on a trade mission. I have some good news to bring forward. In 2008, Ontario opened an international marketing centre in Mexico City. This centre has just been recognized by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce in Mexico with an outstanding business award for its efforts to improve trade and investment between Ontario and Mexico. I want to congratulate our SEO, Chantal Ramsay, for her outstanding work in Mexico City.

While in Mexico City and Guadalajara, the city that hosted the last Pan Am Games, I was able to promote Ontario as the number one destination for foreign direct investment in North America—a proud legacy of this government and our Premier.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Indira Naidoo-Harris: Thank you for the update, Minister. I’m pleased to hear that your trade mission to Mexico was so successful.