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March 29, 2017

41st Parliament, 2nd Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcripts 2017-Mar-29 (PDF)

L060 - Wed 29 Mar 2017 / Mer 29 mar 2017

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Wednesday 29 March 2017 Mercredi 29 mars 2017

Orders of the Day

Supply Act, 2017 / Loi de crédits de 2017

Consideration of bills

Introduction of Visitors

Oral Questions

Government advertising

Health care funding

Hydro rates

Hydro rates

Health care funding

Violence in schools

Student assistance

Greenhouse industry

Health care funding

Early childhood education

Agri-food industry

Public transit

Senior citizens

Health care funding

Deferred Votes

Supply Act, 2017 / Loi de crédits de 2017

Supply Act, 2017 / Loi de crédits de 2017

Introduction of Visitors

Members’ Statements

Canadian Hearing Society

Len Dupuis

Centre des enfants inuits d’Ottawa / Ottawa Inuit Children’s Centre

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Privatization of public assets

Sikh heritage

Multi-Employer Benefit Plan Council of Canada

Climate change

Matthew Wakem

Visitors

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills

Introduction of Bills

Family Law Amendment Act (Support for Adult Children), 2017 / Loi de 2017 modifiant la

Loi sur le droit de la famille (soutien alimentaire des enfants adultes)

Anti-Racism Act, 2017 / Loi de 2017 contre le racisme

Motions

Consideration of bills

Petitions

Primary health care

School closures

GO Transit

Access to justice

Child care

Dental care

Health care funding

Hospital funding

Home inspection industry

Primary health care

Highway improvement

Dental care

Orders of the Day

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

The House met at 0900.

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

Prayers.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Orders of the day.

Hon. Brad Duguid: Mr. Speaker, I believe before I call the order I’m supposed to do this first because it says “after prayers.”

I believe you will find we have unanimous consent to put forward a motion without notice regarding bills on the topic of health in the Legislature.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): We have a point of order. The minister is seeking unanimous consent to put forward a motion without notice. Do we agree? I heard a no.

Orders of the Day

Supply Act, 2017 / Loi de crédits de 2017

Resuming the debate adjourned on March 28, 2017, on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 111,

An Act to authorize the expenditure of certain amounts for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2017 / Projet de loi 111, Loi autorisant l’utilisation de certaines sommes pour l’exercice se terminant le 31 mars 2017.

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

Mr. Victor Fedeli: Thank you very much, Speaker, and good morning. I’m here to stand for 20 minutes to talk about the supply bill. It’s going to be a bit tough because my entire commentary is on the fact that I don’t think the government can be trusted with our money. That’s the premise of the next 20 minutes that I’m going to be delivering.

Part of it is going to be about some of the wording that the government has been using over the last short while: If you don’t agree with the government, no matter what it is that they’re saying, somehow you’re always wrong and they’re always right. I want to talk about some very specific examples of why what they say—whether it’s here in the Legislature or in the media—and what the facts are, are most generally quite opposite, and I’m going to cite some examples.

Now, look, you talk about, “Don’t throw stones when you live in a glass house.” I make mistakes. I may transpose numbers. When you’re talking off the top of your head or standing on your feet without notes, I make mistakes frequently. There’s no question that that has happened. What I’m talking about is by design. When you’ve got, for instance, the former Minister of Natural Resources, when we were talking about the budget and supply and numbers last year alone—I’m going to read from Hansard.

The former Minister of Natural Resources said that he wants the leader of the official opposition, our leader Patrick Brown, to correct his record. He stood here and he said that this member—referring to our leader—“stood on his feet ... to tell people ... that recreational hunting and fishing licences are increasing; in fact, he’s wrong.” This is what the minister is saying. “Recreational hunting and fishing licences are not increasing.” I’m reading from Hansard, Speaker. He says: “Unequivocally, that is not the case.

I’m not sure why he said that, but perhaps he can go back and just find some capacity to check on the research there, because it’s just not the case.” He goes on to say, “It’s wrong,” and he carries on to say, “It’s wrong.”

I stood up shortly after that, Speaker—I actually read the budget, unlike the minister, obviously—and I referred to pages 190 and 191 of the minister’s

section of the budget. I said: “I will read ... from the budget, where it says, ‘Starting in 2017-18, fees will be adjusted annually to keep up with inflation....’ Examples of the fees include ‘fees charged for driver and vehicle licensing, camping in Ontario parks, fishing and hunting licences, court applications, liquor licences and event permits.’ The list of” new taxes that this government has brought goes on and on and on.

But this is the minister of this entire department and he used the word “unequivocally”: “Unequivocally, that is not the case ... It’s wrong.” If he said that “hunting and fishing licences are increasing ... he’s wrong.” But in their own budget—it carries on.

Speaker, I would have hoped that somehow, somewhere, the minister himself may have had some inclination that his own department fees were going up. You would think that if you’re going to make an accusation like that, here in the Legislature, you could be even marginally accurate. It might have been a help. It would be a shock for this government to be marginally accurate even once. That’s why I’m saying, when I speak on the supply bill: How can we trust this government with our money?

When you’ve got the minister—obviously they didn’t read the budget. There’s nobody here that actually read the budget. For him to stand up and say, “Our fees in our department are not going up,” yet in the very budget he’s debating, the fees are going up, then something is terribly, terribly wrong, which is why we have such a hard time here, on this side of the House, trusting anything this government says. Anything at all to do—as we’re discussing today’s supply, we’re talking about our money. We’re talking about the hard-earned tax dollars that people are asked to part with, to see what this government is doing.

So when you continue down this path of just talking about, why should we trust what they have to say—just yesterday, the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change said that nobody raised hydro rates faster than the Tories. Okay, at the time this government took office, hydro rates were 4.3 cents a kilowatt hour. Today, 13 years later, rates are 18 cents. We’re talking about—if rates were one cent and quadrupled somehow to four cents, which would be horrific, that would be one thing. They’ve taken rates from four cents and made them 18 cents.

It’s mathematically impossible for that statement—that he stood in this Legislature at 4:50 yesterday—I wrote it down; I sent it to our party and said, “At 4:50, the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change said that nobody raised rates faster than the Tories, and that is mathematically wrong.” Never mind that it’s morally wrong to have suggested that, but it’s mathematically impossible.

In fact, not only are rates 18 cents, but where I live, in the town of Corbeil, it’s an area where we have medium density. My rates at peak are more than 22 cents a kilowatt hour. Down the street from me, my friend Phil Konig lives on Treadlightly lane. It’s a little cul-de-sac that comes off the street I live on. There are only 12 houses on that street, so it doesn’t qualify. He’s in low-density. He pays 26-point-something cents a kilowatt hour at his peak rate. So we’ve gone from four cents to over 26 cents. That’s a pretty big increase. Yet when the government took over, it was 4.3 cents, and that’s what the minister said yesterday.

How can you trust the numbers that this government gives you when they stand in this Legislature day after day after day and give us numbers that have absolutely nothing to do with reality?

Look at the day before; this would have been March 27. At 1:53 p.m., I sent a note, and I said, “Oh, my gosh. The Minister of Agriculture stood and said”—he’s also the minister of small business. He’s the new minister; I’ll give him that. He stood—I’ve cut it out of Hansard. Honourable Jeff Leal: “Mr. Speaker, I’m proud to say that the small business tax rate in Ontario is among the lowest in North America.”

Interjection.

Mr. Victor Fedeli: Well, I hear it is, from this member over here. So let me just—

Interjections.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Continue.

Mr. Victor Fedeli: Let me just think about this. You can wonder why, Speaker, we don’t trust the government’s numbers when you hear—

Mr. Todd Smith: They believe the lines.

Mr. Victor Fedeli: They believe their own talking points.

The small business corporate tax rate in Ontario is around 4.5%, the second-highest in Canada, tied with PEI. Quebec holds the highest rate at 8%. All of the rest are lower, and that’s just in Canada. There are six US states with zero.

So I don’t know how you can say that where we are in Ontario—North Carolina is 3%; North Dakota is 4.31%. I don’t know how we can take anything that these ministers are telling us. That is not something that you need—you can say our rates are—

Interjection.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): The Minister of Children and Youth Services, first warning.

Mr. Victor Fedeli: Speaker, how can you take anything? I mean, they always have to stretch the reality, and that’s just not fair. I know that it bothers them to hear the truth and the facts. I understand that, because the truth hurts. I hear that; I understand that. But when you tell people one thing when the complete opposite is true—as I’ve said, there are six states that have zero. How can we be the lowest? I mean, zero is pretty low.

Then we go a little further. We’ve got the Minister of Economic Development and Growth. I know the name has changed, and I haven’t kept up on all the names. One day, he commented about how we’re leading the country in job creation.

In fact, I know the Minister of Agriculture would like this: I’m going to refer to the Focus on Finance issue, because I talk about fake news. That’s a word that the minister used in a press scrum that I was at across the street at the MaRS building. He was talking about what the Auditor General called a “high-risk” bailout. He was talking back then about the MaRS bailout that the government did in secret.

Interjections.

Mr. Victor Fedeli: In secret—it was done in secret, Speaker.

Mr. Arthur Potts: It’s a great success story.

Mr. Victor Fedeli: You can hear what they’re heckling. They’re saying it’s a great success story. At the end of the day, of course, it’s a wonderful thing. This has nothing do with the people of MaRS. This has absolutely nothing do with the great work that the men and women are doing in research at the MaRS institute. It’s the secret real estate deal that the Liberals tried to hide under the rug; that’s what this is all about. They got caught by a whistle-blower in June 2014 who slipped the brown envelope under the door that showed what they’re trying do. The auditor called it a “high-risk” bailout.

They finally came clean. It was learned that they were bailing out a US real estate firm for $308 million. They were putting taxpayer money at risk.

At the end of the day, they finally did what they should have done at the beginning: They came clean. They got investors to invest in the building, and that’s acceptable. That’s what they should have done. But they were keeping the fact of what they really did in secret, and they got caught.

The fact that it turned out good at the end—the minister said, “You see? Back then, it was fake news.” Well, it wasn’t fake news. It was actually true and they got caught, so the minister should have stopped there. But, instead, he decided to dole out fake news of his own. In his speech, in the media scrum and in other letters to the editor that he wrote, he talked about Ontario’s economic growth, he talked about our foreign direct investment and he talked about employment growth. He said that our economy is growing faster than the US. Well, that’s not accurate, Speaker.

Last year’s numbers show Arkansas, Washington, Oregon—all had annualized growth that was better than Ontario, while Colorado matched Ontario. So how can you say that it’s growing faster when it’s not? They’re wrong. They’ve given incorrect information to the Legislature.

He also said that Ontario is the top foreign direct investment destination. Well, Speaker, again, at one time, in the great days of Ontario, we might have been—and we were, in fact. But, sadly, that’s not true anymore. We dropped from $7 billion to $4 billion. We fell from first place to fourth place. Speaker, we have fallen behind California, New York and Texas, so they’re either delusional and not understanding the reality that they’ve created, whether it’s our extreme business climate, our highest energy rates in North America—all of those other issues. It’s either that, or they know that what they’re saying is not accurate but they just hope to keep painting a picture.

Speaker, again, the fact is, we’re here to discuss the supply bill. We’re talking about what they’re doing with our money. How can they be trusted to handle even a dime of our money when we can’t get any straight answers from them whatsoever? Everything I’ve spoken to here and said has been either from the Auditor General, the Financial Accountability Officer or, sadly, the OPP. Those are the three sources we have to get information in the province in Ontario. It’s never from the government—never, ever, ever from the government. Certainly, from the ministers that I’ve listed so far, we can understand that everything they’ve said, it’s the opposite of it that is true.

The minister carried on. He said our employment is “the best in Canada” and “we’re leading the country in job creation.”

Interjection.

Mr. Victor Fedeli: Again, Speaker, you hear them over there: “Yes!”—well, no is the answer, actually. When you look at the employment numbers at the time he said that, Ontario was 6.4%, and so was Saskatchewan, but Quebec was 6.2%, Manitoba was 6.1% and BC was 5.6%. These were the stats at the time he said that. Now, Speaker, how can you say one thing when the statistics—in this case, these came from Stats Canada, the same source they used—say something completely different than what the government is saying?

I don’t know how we’re supposed to even think one thing—if they said something was red, you would have to look to see if it was green. It just has come to that in the province of Ontario where, unless it comes from the Auditor General, who we trust implicitly, from the Financial Accountability Officer, who is doing a marvellous job in the commentary that we get where we are drilling down into the numbers, or from the OPP, where we have got five OPP investigations—not one, not two, but five, Speaker. We’ve got trials coming up: September 7, the alleged bribery trial in Sudbury will start; September 11, here in Toronto, the gas plants scandal trial begins.

This is the Ontario that this government thinks is just business as usual. You don’t like the numbers? Stand up and say something different. Who’s going to challenge you? That’s the reality that this government works in and, sadly, the reality is not real. We cannot take anything that this government says to the bank. That’s just absolutely the way it is. You can look at all of the numbers that they’ve given us in the past and now have to actually question each and every number that they come up with. That’s, I think, what’s so critical here in the province of Ontario.

So when you’ve got a supply bill and you want to start talking about the monies that have been spent—well, I look at the eHealth scandal. I remember; I was mayor of the city of North Bay at the time and I was shocked that $1 billion was wasted by this government. If you look—well, I guess it’s only $1 billion, because where we’re at in the number today, I’m not sure people understand where we are. The Auditor General told us it’s now $8 billion that has been spent there—$8 billion, with no end in sight and no conclusion. We’re still funnelling money with no direction, no conclusion and no end in sight. That’s how this government is handling our money.

When you look at their new talking points—I’m sitting here with our energy critic. We’ve chatted about this, as I am a former energy critic, and we look at the new talking points from the government: “We inherited a system,” blah, blah, blah. That’s all it is; it’s talking points. It has nothing to do with reality.

The Auditor General told us that more than 60% of the reason for your hydro bills is because of the generation this government put on. That’s making energy. It’s not the system they inherited and all the other talking points and blather that we get from the government side. Those are talking points they bought and paid for. They hired a polling firm, hired a consulting firm: “What do we do to get out of this mess?” The polling firm said, “Look, people don’t like this, but they do like the fact that this is done. If you say that you did this and that’s where their money was, then they’ll be happy.”

That’s all that they did. It has nothing to do with the fact that when they told us they were spending $1 billion on smart meters, they really spent $2 billion. Oops. It takes, again, an Auditor General to tell you, “They didn’t spend $1 billion; they spent $2 billion.” This is the government.

This is what we’re here to debate, the supply bill. Are you kidding? Does anybody want to support any of the numbers that this government has given us? We’re going to have a budget very soon, one of these days—as soon as it has been rewritten because they didn’t get what they wanted from the federal government. Their best friends on the federal government didn’t end up supplying them with the goodies they wanted, so they’re rewriting the budget, and they are going to come up with this artificial balance.

But we already know—the Financial Accountability Officer has already told us—we will have a structural deficit. That means we’re really in deficit. They’re going to take some assets like the OPG headquarters, the LCBO building and the sale of Hydro One—that’s all one-time money; that doesn’t repeat itself—and they’re going to put that in revenue, and all of a sudden we’re going to have a great year. But they’ve burned the furniture to heat the house. We have no more furniture to sell.

After the next election, we start to get into very serious financial concerns, according to the Financial Accountability Officer, one of the only three sources we can ever possibly trust for any numbers from this government.

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

Hon. Tracy MacCharles: I’m happy to rise and talk about the concurrence in estimates and the Supply Act. I just want to start by saying that the title may sound extremely vague and unclear in terms of what this really means. Just to put some plain language to it, what it really means is that this act is required and needs to go forward in order to pay the bills of government, if you will.

We have a very large public service. I think we’re the largest—if not, the second-largest—employer in Ontario, made up of many fine public servants who deliver programs and services for Ontario across many ministries, whether that’s transportation, health care, education, or my own ministry, the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services, which is very much focused on consumer protection and making sure that Ontarians have good access to government programs.

They see and feel that most often in our ServiceOntario branches throughout Ontario. It has more and more become a one-stop shopping place to go to get your health card, your driver’s licence; we do land registry work. It’s really the face of government, ServiceOntario.

We also have Ontario Shared Services. They keep the lights on behind the scenes when it comes to payroll, human resources, many technology programs and services, and that’s a very important part of keeping government running. This act essentially ensures that all the services across government are supported and that the bills are paid so that we can deliver the best programs and information services to Ontarians in an accountable, transparent and fair manner.

Of course, the act ensures that the initiatives of this government will go forward, whether that’s investing in a dynamic business climate or our commitment to an open, accountable and transparent government, and moving forward with what we call program review and transformation, which is focused on a smarter, more efficient government, a fiscally sound approach to managing the province’s finances to help grow the economy and create jobs and ensure the sustainability of programs and services.

These kinds of agreements, these kinds of programs and services I’m talking about, all have to be managed in the context of a budget and this bill will ensure that all our initiatives, whether it’s the ones I’ve mentioned or others related to transportation or our fair hydro plan, are adequately funded.

I think it’s just an opportunity, too, for me to say thank you to the public servants of Ontario, who do great service day in and day out. They’re the utmost of professionals.

This is an important bill and one that, as I said, isn’t really well understood, but it’s critical. It’s absolutely critical to make sure we have the agreement of this Legislature to ensure that the programs and services that this government is committed to are funded.

Speaker, with that, I’m going to end my comments. I know my colleague from Beaches–East York will be speaking at some point as well. I want to thank you for the opportunity to speak to this bill this morning.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Further debate? Second call for further debate. The member from Beaches–East York.

Mr. Arthur Potts: It gives me great pleasure also to rise today to talk about debates on the concurrence in estimates and the Supply Act, 2017.

At the outset, I’d just like to take a moment. I’m delighted to be in the House speaking today, particularly because I’m joined by page captain Charlotte Morgan’s parents and grandmothers. We have Huw Morgan, father, and Michelle Lee, mother, in the audience today, in the east gallery, and Melinda Morgan, grandmother, and Janice Lee, grandmother. Charlotte, of course, is page captain. She’s exemplified the virtues of being a page here at Queen’s Park and we’re delighted to have her.

I want to address what I think is the most extraordinary accomplishment that you see coming out of our concurrence in estimates in this session. It’s taking us to a place that we promised we would be at four years ago. When I ran in 2014, one of our principle promises to the people of Ontario was that we would bring in a balanced budget in the 2017-18 year. We’re on track to do that, and we’re on track to do that because we have been exemplary fiscal managers of the province of Ontario’s taxes.

We have gone through a whole series of program renewal and transformation, which has allowed us to bring in a balanced budget. We were standing, if memory serves me, at close to $12 billion in debt in 2014 when I ran, and running a debt-to-GDP ratio in excess of 40%. As a small business person who knows how to read a balance sheet and knows how to create wealth by offering products and services in a competitive and cost-advantageous way, I thought that wasn’t appropriate. I was delighted to see that the platform we brought forward in 2014 said that we would get to balance, and we’re on track to do that.

I’m extremely proud of where we will be. We’ll see what comes out in the next budget, but I think we’re on track to do exactly what we said we would: promise made, promise kept.

One of the ways that we’ve been able to go about balancing the budget is through what I think is one of the most dynamic programs that gets very little play in this House, because it’s happening behind the scenes. It’s happening behind the scenes with what I think is one of the greatest assets—

Interjection.

Mr. Arthur Potts: One of the great assets—I don’t want to put this particular member above all others, because we have so many great members on this side of House. But I’m thinking particularly of my friend the member for Etobicoke Centre, Yvan Baker by name. The member for Etobicoke Centre joined me in 2014 as part of the new, fresh crew of the Liberal Party of Ontario. Yvan Baker acts and serves as the PA to the—

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Member—

Mr. Arthur Potts: Sorry, my apologies.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): —you know not to mention the name. Thank you. Continue.

Mr. Arthur Potts: My apologies, Speaker, of course. I’m so very proud of him, I sometimes forget.

The member for Etobicoke Centre acts as the PA to the Minister of Finance. What I want to highlight is that I think he’s one of the extraordinary, great values we have on our side of the House because he comes out of the Boston Consulting Group, one of the most prestigious consulting agencies in Canada; it works around the world, in Ontario. He comes to us and he has taken on this role as the PA to the Minister of Finance, and he is doing work in a program that we call renewal, review and transformation.

It has been his responsibility these last two and a half, almost three years to go, on a line-by-line basis, through every single budget, all the estimates, the budgets of every single ministry, and look for opportunities for efficiencies, to eliminate duplications, to review program spending—are we still getting value in these various programs?—and he’s been extraordinarily adept at doing just that.

Now, I say he’s a great advantage. As people know, the base salary of an MPP is in the order of $120,000 a year, and he, as a PA, gets a little bump up to that, to just a little under $140,000. We have what would be a senior consultant from Boston Consulting Group working tireless hours. If we were to hire that consultancy to do this kind of work, it would be in the hundreds—

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): I’d like to remind the member that we’re talking about supply. We’re not talking about the grandeur of all other members of the party. Can we stick to the subject?

Mr. Arthur Potts: I’d be happy to. I was going to get to you next.

What I, in fact, will do is focus on the fact that he was able to find efficiencies, for instance, in programs that we deliver to youth in Ontario. Programs to youth, various programs, were something in the order of a dozen ministries or more, and he was able to identify these programs and bring them all together and make them more efficiently delivered through three agencies, so we avoided duplications and delivered the programs with efficiencies.

That’s an example of the kind of program we’re so proud of. We were able to hold the line on expenditures in the province of Ontario while continuing to invest record amounts of money into infrastructure—$160 billion projected over 12 years into infrastructure—and deliver all the base operational services that we had promised to do without slashing jobs, as the members of the official opposition had proposed; to get to a balanced budget, they were going to chop 100,000 jobs in the first year. We haven’t done that, Speaker.

We, with a fine-tooth comb, have gone through all the budgets of all the ministries, found efficiencies and continued to deliver the services, while investing in the economy. That has been the trajectory that we have towards a balanced budget. We’ve been able to find new revenues through GDP growth, which is increasing government revenues, at the same time as we’re holding fairly flat our expenditures. The difference between that investment growth in GDP and holding the line is what allowed us to go from a $12-billion deficit in 2014 down to what is projected—we’re hoping to see in our next budget—that we’re on track to be balanced.

Another area that the member from Etobicoke Centre has been working on—he’s the PA to the minister of digital services. It’s another area of incredible opportunity for our government, modernizing the province of Ontario in the digital era, modernizing by bringing in a whole bunch of incredible new technologies to assist people to access government services online through websites.

I want to just point out one, which is of such incredible use to students in the province of Ontario. It’s our new OSAP calculator. This is an extraordinary Web-based service which allows people—if they go to www.ontario.ca/osap—to use a calculator where, seamlessly, you can put in: “I am a student in high school. My parents make X amount of money. I intend to go to university.” When you push a button, it will calculate how much money you can receive in order to get into university.

For those making less than $85,000 in family income, tuition would be free, with an additional component for living expenses over and above that, as a grant. For instance, if a single mother with three kids wanted to go back to school and was making in the order of $40,000, the calculator will show that she will get something in the order of $24,000 a year to assist her in going back and upgrading her services in order to be a better provider for her family.

I’m very excited about those kinds of online services.

We are also using an incredible new technology from a group called Syngrafii. Syngrafii is a new digital technology which we are using at the upper echelons of government which allows us to get absolute, verified signatures on documents, be they around the world, between cities, so that we can validate people’s signatures and get government moving quicker.

I’m absolutely delighted that we are investing in these new opportunities, these new innovations. On that, I’m going to sit and allow another member to take a few moments.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Further debate? Minister of International Trade.

Hon. Michael Chan: Thank you, Speaker, for the opportunity. Ontario’s economy is really in very good standing, and we are growing very strongly. That’s good news for Ontario. That’s very, very good news for Ontarians.

Speaker, allow me to tell you that for the last eight years in a row—eight years in a row—Ontario is projected to beat the deficit. Of course, eight years ago, we had the target, and every year, and consecutively, we were able to beat that deficit target.

This year, we’re projecting a $1.9-billion deficit in 2016-17, and that is a $2.4-billion improvement, compared to the original 2016 budget.

Our unemployment rate is down to a very, very nice number, 6.2%, which is the lowest in 10 years’ time. Also, Ontario just experienced seven straight months of job growth, a number that Ontario has not matched in 14 years.

On top of that, since 2008-09, the global recession, which was a tremendous downturn globally in terms of the economy, Ontario has created 700,000 net new jobs since that time, and 95% of those jobs are full-time jobs. They are not part-time or temporary; they’re actually full-time jobs.

Speaker, as I said before, Ontario’s economy is thriving in many sectors. It can be agriculture or ICT. Those are very, very good for Ontario in terms of job creation and the economy.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Further debate? Second call for further debate. Last call for further debate.

Seeing none, pursuant to standing order 64, I am now required to put the question.

Mrs. Sandals has moved second reading of Bill 111,

An Act to authorize the expenditure of certain amounts for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2017.

Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? I heard a no.

All those in favour, please say “aye.”

All those opposed, please say “nay.”

I believe the ayes have it.

This will be deferred for the vote until after question period.

Second reading vote deferred.

Consideration of bills

Hon. Jeff Leal: Mr. Speaker, I know the good folks of Peterborough are tuning in to channel 95, Cogeco, this morning and are going to see—

Interjection.

Hon. Jeff Leal: I believe you will find we have unanimous consent to put forward a motion without notice regarding bills on the topic of health in the Legislature.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Mr. Leal.

Hon. Jeff Leal: I move that, notwithstanding standing order 71(d)—

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Excuse me. Clerk, please. There seems to be a problem here.

Hon. Jeff Leal: I hope I didn’t cause it.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Minister Leal has put forward a motion without notice regarding bills on the topic of health in the Legislature and is seeking unanimous consent. Agreed? Agreed.

Minister Leal.

Hon. Jeff Leal: Mr. Speaker, I apologize to you if there was any confusion.

I move that, notwithstanding standing order 71(d), the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs may consider Bill 84,

An Act to amend various Acts with respect to medical assistance in dying, while the House is debating Bill 110,

An Act to amend the Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007, on Thursday, March 27, 2017.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Mr. Leal has moved that, notwithstanding standing order 71(d), the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs may consider—

Mr. Arthur Potts: Dispense.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): All those in favour? Carried.

Motion agreed to.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Orders of the day.

Hon. Jeff Leal: I move no further business at this time.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Mr. Leal has moved that the House—you guys have really made a mess of this this morning.

Interjection: You’re in charge.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): I know. I’m in charge.

Mr. Leal has moved no further business. This House stands recessed until 10:30 this morning.

The House recessed from 0943 to 1030.

Introduction of Visitors

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

Mr. Steve Clark: Thanks, Speaker. I want to introduce to you and, through you, to members of the Legislative Assembly the member of Parliament for Leeds–Grenville–Thousand Islands and Rideau Lakes and the chief opposition whip, MP Gord Brown.

Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Ms. Ann Hoggarth: We have several guests from the my riding of Barrie today: Karen Littlewood, a friend and a neighbour, and Jessica Burnie are here today with the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation; Theresa Gray-Gunn and her husband, Mike Gunn, are here on behalf of the PKD Foundation of Canada; and Tracey Beaudry is here today with her children Michelle and Matthew, on behalf of the Asthma Society.

Welcome, everyone, to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Jeff Yurek: I just want to take this opportunity to welcome all the hard-working doctors who are here today to inform us of the conditions of the health care system.

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: I’d like to welcome the OSSTF educational workers to the Legislature today and, specifically, ones from my riding: Lisa MacMaster, Veronica Faulkner, Steve Janik and Richard Cracknell. Welcome to the Legislature.

Hon. Jeff Leal: It’s a great pleasure for me to recognize hard-working teachers from Peterborough, part of OSSTF. They’re up in the gallery over there: Tracey Germa; Dave Warda; Gary Fenn Jr., whose father, Gary Fenn Sr., was one of Peterborough’s outstanding curlers; and Jen Deck. We welcome them to Queen’s Park today.

Mr. Robert Bailey: I’d like to welcome to the Legislature today Dr. Sean Peterson from the riding of Sarnia–Lambton, here for consultations this morning.

Ms. Peggy Sattler: I’d also like to welcome, from OSSTF, Lisa MacMaster, Veronica Faulkner, Steve Janik and Richard Cracknell. Three of the four of them are constituents of mine in London West.

Ms. Sophie Kiwala: I’d like to welcome Andrea Loken and Simon Baron from the OSSTF, as well as Jesse Grewal, Celine Allen, Diana Soochan, Sylvia Hidvegi and Phil Berger from the OMA. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Randy Pettapiece: I’d like to introduce Jeff Byers and Janice Scott, here with OSSTF. They’re from my riding of Perth–Wellington.

M me France Gélinas: I, too, would like to welcome all of the physicians who have come down for OMA day at Queen’s Park. I know that you’re welcomed by all of my colleagues. We will be meeting this afternoon—and invite everybody to take

part in the lunch.

Mrs. Cristina Martins: It’s a special day in the House today. I’ve got my son David. David is here today with his teacher, Mr. Fraga, and their grade 5 class. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Ms. Laurie Scott: Also part of the grade 5 class to welcome today is Glea Liversidge.

Glea, welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Percy Hatfield: I’d like to welcome four doctors up from my area today: Dr. Albert Schumacher, Nada Radulovic, Aslok Shah and Ramita Verma.

Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Granville Anderson: I’d like to welcome teachers from my riding of Durham who are from the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, OSSTF, as well as representatives from the Ontario Medical Association. Welcome.

Mrs. Gila Martow: I want to welcome Sara Krengel, who’s here today from Thornhill as part of the PKD—polycystic kidney disease—Foundation lobby day.

I also want to welcome Professor Yossi Shain from Tel Aviv University. He’s a professor of political science there and also a professor of comparative government and diaspora politics at Georgetown University, and the founding director of the Program for Jewish Civilization.

Welcome, everybody, to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Ted McMeekin: I would like all members of the assembly to join me in welcoming two of my constituents, good friends from Dundas: Keith Green and Ian McCloud. Welcome to the Legislature.

Mr. Robert Bailey: I’d like to welcome today Mr. Stephen Lynch and David Parkes from the OSSTF and from my riding of Sarnia–Lambton, who are here today with their colleagues.

Hon. Kevin Daniel Flynn: I’d like to welcome four excellent educators from the region of Halton with OSSTF: Cindy Gage, Art Hilson, Tom Golightly and Colin Post. Please welcome them to Queen’s Park.

Mr. John Yakabuski: I’d like to welcome to Queen’s Park today, from the OSSTF and from my riding of Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke, Jeff Barber and Linda Schultz, who I’ll be meeting with later today.

Hon. Tracy MacCharles: I’d like to welcome a friend and neighbour, also here from OSSTF today: Lisa Black-Meddings. And a big welcome to all of the reps from Durham region and Scarborough East.

Mr. Victor Fedeli: I’d like to welcome, from the OSSTF and from the riding of Nipissing, Jared Hunt. Also here, from a little south of us, is Glen Hodgson.

Mr. Percy Hatfield: From the riding of Windsor–Tecumseh with the OSSTF today, we have Irene Taylor and Tracie Edward. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Hon. Mitzie Hunter: The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation members and executive are in the House today. We’d like to welcome them: president Paul Elliott, vice-president Harvey Bischof, vice-president Cindy Dubué, treasurer Earl Burt, executive officer Sue Doughty-Smith, executive officer Jo Dean and executive officer Rob Gascho. I would like to just warmly welcome them to Queen’s Park.

Also, Speaker, I remain standing because page Angelika Guanlao’s parents are attending Queen’s Park, as Angelika is the page captain today. Please welcome Julieta and Fernando Guanlao.

Hon. Charles Sousa: I wish to welcome Denise Bennett from Mississauga here today. She’s a proud member of the PKD Foundation of Canada, leading the fight against polycystic kidney disease through research, education, awareness and support programs. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Hon. Deborah Matthews: From the OSSTF, I want to say welcome to Richard Cracknell and Lisa MacMaster from London. Welcome.

Hon. Liz Sandals: Welcome to everybody from the OSSTF, especially my friends from Upper Grand District School Board, district 18.

I also want to welcome to the gallery—I think they may be arriving now—the mother of my legislative assistant.

Welcome to teacher Concetta Prins, and welcome to her grade 5 class and the grade 4/5 class visiting today from Cardinal Newman Catholic School in Brampton.

Hon. Kathryn McGarry: I’d like to welcome the OSSTF members that I met with already this morning from Waterloo region: Vicki Buder, Carrie Osbourne and Nanci Henderson. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Miss Monique Taylor: It gives me great pleasure to welcome some Hamilton folks from OSSTF. We have Samantha Wilson, Lisa Hiscox, Anthony Filice and Anthony Marco, who is also the president of our Hamilton and District Labour Council. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Hon. Indira Naidoo-Harris: I’d like to welcome Tom Golightly, Colin Post, Cindy Gage, and Art Hilson of the Halton OSSTF. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Ms. Sophie Kiwala: The individuals I mentioned from the OMA are actually from the Queen’s medical school, so welcome.

Mr. Lou Rinaldi: I’d like to welcome a number of folks from my riding here today: Mary Fagan, Lois Thompson, Rosalie Spargo, John Sheedy, Keith Smith, Nancy Smith and—he just got here and is catching his breath—Forrest Rowden. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Hon. Eleanor McMahon: I’m proud to welcome to Queen’s Park today, from the riding of Burlington, Art Hilson from the OSSTF, joining us at Queen’s Park as part of their lobby day. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mrs. Cristina Martins: I want to join in and welcome all of the members from OSSTF here today and, in particular, a teacher from my riding of Davenport, Michelle Teixeira. Welcome.

M me Nathalie Des Rosiers: Je veux accueillir ici à Queen’s Park M. Rancourt de OSSTF. Bienvenue.

Mr. Arthur Potts: I’d like to welcome the family of page captain Charlotte Morgan: her mother, Michelle Lee, her father, Huw Morgan, her grandmother, Janice Lee, and her paternal grandmother, Melinda Morgan. Thanks for coming to Queen’s Park.

Hon. David Zimmer: I would like to welcome the grade 5 class from St. Agnes school in Willowdale, and their principal, Mr. Fraga.

Mr. Yvan Baker: I’d ask all members of the Legislature to help me in welcoming some very special guests who are here today. As all the members know, there’s currently a war happening in eastern Ukraine, where Russia has invaded Ukraine. We have a number of heroes from that war with us here today.

I’d first like to introduce Vadym Svyrydenko and his wife, Viktoria Diakiv. Vadym is a quadruple-amputee veteran who lost both arms and legs in the war, recovered and went on to participate in the US Marine Corps Marathon. He was appointed by the President of Ukraine as head of the Office of Rehabilitation Services for Injured Ukrainian Veterans, and is currently training for the 2017 Invictus Games.

I’d also ask everyone to join me in welcoming Senior Lieutenant Oksana Mazur. She’s a female officer who served in Crimea and was later deployed on the eastern front. She served as an army psychologist. She is trained as a sniper. She is a Guinness World Records nominee as the only mother of five in active service.

I’d also like to welcome Dr. Olena Burlaka. She’s from the Institute of Women’s Reproductive Medicine at the Ukrainian National Academy of Medical Sciences. She is chair of the women’s military health initiative in Ukraine. Welcome.

I’d ask you to join me in welcoming the following three people: Lisa Shymko, the national president of the League of Ukrainian Canadian Women, and chair of the Guardian Angels Ukraine project, assisting rehabilitation centres for injured Ukrainian military personnel; Yuri Shymko, a former MPP for High Park–Swansea, a former member of Parliament, and president of the International Council in Support of Ukraine; and Anton Sestritsyn, who is the executive director of the International Council in Support of Ukraine.

Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. John Yakabuski: I will not repeat everything, but on behalf of the PC caucus, I have been asked to also welcome Vadym Svyrydenko, Viktoria Diakiv, Oksana Mazur, Olena Burlaka, Lisa Shymko, Yuri Shymko and Anton Sestritsyn. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

I have one further introduction. In the gallery today, unbeknownst to me until they arrived here, are the father of my son-in-law Thomas Colucci, or Tommaso Colucci, namely Vincenzo Colucci, and his daughter, Alessia. They’re here with the school today.

Ms. Peggy Sattler: I’d like to welcome Danial Saadat, who is here today. He’s an intern in the NDP caucus research office. Welcome.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Point of order, the member from Elgin–Middlesex–London.

Mr. Jeff Yurek: Thank you, Speaker. I’d like to seek unanimous consent for all members to wear pins in recognition of polycystic kidney disease.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Elgin–Middlesex–London is seeking permission and unanimous consent to wear the pins. Do we agree? Agreed.

As is the tradition of the Speaker, I would introduce Yuri Shymko, from High Park–Swansea, from the 33rd Parliament. Welcome.

To move things right along, we can make up any lost time without any heckling.

Interjections.

Hon. Yasir Naqvi: The Speaker’s getting heckled now.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Now I’m being heckled for asking for no heckling.

Anyway, we welcome all visitors to the House.

I do want to make a note about that. We have discussed this with the officers. We tried to make a system work so that when you introduce your guests, we want to have an opportunity to introduce most, if not all, of our guests. You must be brief. You must not do editorializing. If you just do the introductions, I still make the commitment—all Speakers make the commitment—that introductions will be done as quickly as possible. We should not be taking too much time from question period. I thank you for your co-operation and understanding on that point.

It is therefore now time for question period.

Oral Questions

Government advertising

Mr. Patrick Brown: My question is for the Premier. The Premier has forced the Auditor General to essentially become a rubber stamp to allow clearly partisan government advertising to be approved. This is not acceptable.

Will the Premier do the right thing and restore the Auditor General’s oversight of government advertising?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I would just say to the member opposite that Ontario was the first and remains the only jurisdiction in the entire country that has legislation to prevent partisan advertising. That is the reality.

While partisan advertising is now banned, it is still permissible and it will continue to be permissible—and important—for the government to inform the people of Ontario about initiatives that impact their lives.

Let me give some examples of the kinds of things that people need to know about: getting the flu shot; updates to the sex ed curriculum; consumer protection; sexual violence and harassment awareness; and organ donations. Letting families know about our fair hydro plan is important, too. There are aspects of the plan—the increases to the Ontario energy support program—that are application-based. It’s important that they go to the website and that they understand what’s available to them.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Patrick Brown: Again to the Premier: The Premier says this government hasn’t taken away the AG’s oversight. Who do we believe: this Liberal government, under multiple OPP investigations, or the Auditor General, who has clearly said that the powers have been stripped, that there are partisan ads running on the air right now as we speak?

What fantasy world are they living in? They’re running ads right now. They’re abusing taxpayer dollars right now. They know it’s wrong, but this is a government that’s had a history of abusing taxpayer dollars.

Rather than pretend you have not stripped the Auditor General of that right to have oversight, will the Premier do the right thing and stop running these partisan Liberal ads at the expense of taxpayer dollars?

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

Hon. Liz Sandals: Government advertising plays an important role in informing Ontarians. I think we all know that sexual violence has a devastating impact on the lives of victims and their families, and it’s far too prevalent in our society. If you look at the Who Will You Help campaign, launched in March 2015, it challenged existing attitudes, and what were the results?

Interjections.

Mr. Steve Clark: Oops.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): You caught yourself on an “oops.” I’m glad you did because the member from Leeds–Grenville will come to order. There are a couple of others that are on the edge.

President?

Hon. Liz Sandals: The Who Will You Help campaign was viewed by over seven million. It generated more than 85 million views worldwide. The important thing is, there were results. Within six months, 55% strongly agreed that they had an obligation to intervene when witnessing sexual harassment—

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

Mr. Patrick Brown: Again to the Premier: These are diversion tactics. They’re mentioning ads that the Auditor General did not have problems with. What we’re seeing right here is that the Auditor General has pointed out that the government took away oversight and has now taken advantage of that by running ads that are clearly partisan, that should be paid for by the Liberal Party but, instead, they’re charging to taxpayers.

I don’t want diversion tactics. I don’t want talking points. They’ve stripped the powers from the Auditor General to abuse taxpayer dollars for self-interest vanity ads. I’m asking the government to do the right thing.

Mr. Speaker, to the Premier: Rather than talking points, yes or no: Will you restore the powers of oversight that you took away from the Auditor General?

Interjections.

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

President.

Hon. Liz Sandals: Government House leader.

Hon. Yasir Naqvi: Perhaps the Leader of the Opposition can explain why they did not do the right thing in 2004 when they voted against the bill that introduced the most stringent limitations on partisan advertising in our province. Why did the member from Simcoe–Grey, the member from Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke, the member from York–Simcoe, the member from Parry Sound–Muskoka, the member from Haldimand–Norfolk, the member from Oxford, the member from—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Leeds–Grenville, second time. The Minister of Labour and the member from Dufferin–Caledon, come to order.

Finish, please.

Hon. Yasir Naqvi: All these members that I just named still serve in this Legislature. Why did they not—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): If you want to do that, I will too. The member from Dufferin–Caledon, second time. As soon as I sit down, don’t start up.

Hon. Yasir Naqvi: Why did these PC members not do the right thing in 2004 and vote for a bill that put an end to Mike Harris-style partisan advertising? We all remember that advertisement from Mike Harris where he flicked the lights off on Ontario, and closed hospitals and closed schools—

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

New question?

Health care funding

Mr. Patrick Brown: My question is for the Premier. We have many great, phenomenal physicians here today with the Ontario Medical Association. I’m sure members across the aisle have been hearing from these physicians in communities across Ontario. I know I heard about the Canadian Institute for Health Information’s annual report. The report revealed that patients are waiting longer for cataract surgery. Last year, only 70% of patients had their surgery within medically accepted time frames. This was down from 86% in 2012. The facts speak for themselves. Patient care is being diminished. Cataract wait times are getting worse, not better.

How much longer is this government going to fail patients?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I know that the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care is going to want to speak to this as well. I just want to welcome the OMA and the members to Queen’s Park today. Obviously, doctors are an essential part of the health care system. They’re essential to the delivery of a strong and sustainable health care system.

We’re working to deliver on our mandate in health care: to improve access, reduce wait times and improve the overall patient experience, and we want to do that in partnership with all of our health care providers. We want to do that in partnership with doctors. We are going to work to continue to improve that partnership. I look forward to having an opportunity to meet with some of the membership today, and I know that members across the House will be having those meetings. Thank you very much to the OMA for being here.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Patrick Brown: Again to the Premier: It’s a bit rich hearing this from the government here today in the House when they vilify and disparage our physicians across the province. It’s not right. Physicians are passionately devoted and dedicated in their work life to caring for patients. The reality is, we have 29,000 doctors who go to work and put patients first. This government is not putting patients first.

I didn’t get an answer about cataracts; maybe I will in the second response. But what I want to know is, what is this government going to do about the chronic underfunding of health care? Everywhere I go in Ontario, I hear about hospitals that are struggling to make ends meet. I hear about physicians—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): You are really not helping yourself.

Mr. Patrick Brown: Whether it’s hospitals that are underfunded, whether it’s nursing cuts or whether it’s physicians who have seen the biggest diminishment of morale because of this government’s cuts, it’s not right.

What I’m asking of the government is, can I get an answer on cataract times? Can I get an answer on the underfunding? Is there even one physician in this province who actually supports this government? Their record on health care is embarrassing.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I am going to take this opportunity to do a shout-out to my dad. He’s 91 years old. He started practising medicine in Richmond Hill in 1952. He practised with three other doctors. He was on call every other weekend when York Central Hospital was built, which wasn’t until I was in my teens. Until then, he had his rounds at what is now Southlake but was York County. We’d go up with him while he did his rounds, and we’d wait out on the lawn. Many Thanksgiving dinners and many Christmas dinners were interrupted by kids being born that he would go and deliver because, of course, he was practising during the baby boom.

I know exactly how hard doctors work. I know exactly how committed they are to the system. I will do everything in my power to make sure that we work in partnership with the doctors in this province.

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

Mr. Patrick Brown: Again to the Premier: Unfortunately, those words are hollow when you have a Minister of Health who disparages and vilifies physicians across the province. Those words ring hollow when you introduce health legislation routinely in the House and don’t consult—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Beaches–East York.

Please finish.

Mr. Patrick Brown: This government introduces health legislation and doesn’t include doctors. They’re not at the table; they have no voice. It’s not right. For three years they’ve been working without a contract. It’s not a big secret that we have a pretty ugly relationship right now between the province’s physicians and the government. We have 29,000 hard-working doctors, and they deserve some respect. They deserve a voice.

What I’m asking the Premier to actually answer—if you’re not going to answer my question on cataracts, can the Premier at least tell us when physicians will actually be at the table again?

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

Hon. Eric Hoskins: I too want to welcome Ontario’s doctors, including medical students, who are here today for many meetings. I encourage all of my colleagues on all sides of the House to take those meetings and listen to what the doctors have to say.

The Premier, a number of weeks ago, indicated that we were committed to binding interest arbitration and that we were committed to making that the first item to be discussed when we sit down with our doctors. I’m pleased to say that last night those negotiations did begin, with the first order of business to negotiate a process and an agreement for binding interest arbitration with Ontario’s doctors so we can move forward to other aspects of, hopefully, an agreement with our physicians in the weeks and months ahead.

Hydro rates

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My question is for the Premier. The cost of electricity has gone up over 300% under the Liberal government, including 50% just since this Premier took office. Families, businesses, municipalities and public institutions like schools and hospitals are suffering under the crushing weight of their hydro bills.

Yesterday, it was revealed that the new CEO of Hydro One took home $4.5 million in 2016. Does the Premier think there’s anything at all wrong with this picture?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I’m very concerned and have been for some time—starting in 2013, we were working to take costs out of the electricity system in order to reduce people’s electricity bills. We recognize that more needs to be done. That’s why our fair hydro plan is going to take 25% off people’s bills come summer, and, for people who live in remote and rural communities, they’re going to see a 40% to 50% reduction. We’re going to hold those increases for at least four years.

We understand that the improvements that have been made to the system had a cost associated with them. That’s why the fair hydro plan is in place. That’s why people will see reductions come summer.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, $4.5 million for the new CEO of the privatized Hydro One—which is 10 times more than the average of other hydro CEOs in Canada. If the Premier plans to poll Ontarians to see what they think of this $4.5-million CEO salary, she should save her money, because I can tell her straight up that people are outraged and insulted by this salary.

When will this Premier stop the privatization of Hydro One and put an end to this outrageous situation?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Energy.

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: I’m pleased to rise and talk about this subject, Mr. Speaker, because I do know that the salaries are high, and much higher than those of the vast majority of Ontarians. I know many Ontarians are struggling to pay their electricity bill, and that’s why we brought forward the 25% reduction for small businesses, farms and families.

But when it comes to Hydro One, they’ve transitioned into a very good company, a publicly traded company and not a government agency. Let’s look at what they have done over the last little bit. They’ve made $60 million in productivity savings. They’ve improved their health and safety performance to the best on record. They’ve advanced multiple initiatives for customers aimed at reducing their electricity rates, and they took the initiative, as well, of reconnecting all of their disconnected customers back in December.

I know the majority of the executive compensation is contingent on meeting—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): You are finished, but I was standing to get attention. Thank you.

Final supplementary.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: It’s unfortunate that all of the benefits are going to the top executives and shareholders of the corporation instead of the people of Ontario.

At the same time the Premier is defending this $4.5-million CEO salary, her Minister of Energy seems completely comfortable with the idea that mandatory time-of-use pricing is no big deal. Talk about being out of touch.

Some $4.5 million for a CEO, while this Premier is punishing parents for cooking their dinner at dinnertime and seniors for staying home during the day: Does the Premier think this is the right thing for the people of Ontario?

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: Of course, we’re pleased to act and help those families, with a plan that’s actually going to reduce their bills by 25%, not a plan that is pie-in-the-sky; not a plan that’s going to wait decades and decades before they’ll even think about talking about helping low-income individuals.

We have acted. We have acted, because we’ve listened to the people of Ontario, and brought forward a plan that will reduce their bills by 25%. That’s significant. When it comes to time of use, again it shows that they have no idea about the system. We are making significant savings: a 5% savings on conservation which then takes more costs out of the system because we don’t have to build more generation.

It just shows that they’re pie-in-the-sky when it comes to electricity.

Hydro rates

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My next question is for the Premier, but talk about pie-in-the-sky—they didn’t come anywhere near reaching the targets they set in terms of taking energy off of peak use and conservation. Let’s not pretend what the facts are around here.

Look, the Premier told Ontarians repeatedly that the government would be able to maintain control over Hydro One, even when the sell-off was complete. If that’s the case, and the Premier does have control over Hydro One, why hasn’t she done anything about the outrageous salary that the CEO is currently collecting?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Energy.

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: We are a shareholder in Hydro One, and that is something that is very clear.

When it comes to the importance of recognizing that, yes, these salaries are high—and yes, we recognize that they are much higher than those of the vast majority of Ontarians. We also know that many Ontarians are struggling to pay their electricity bills.

That’s why we brought forward our plan. The fair hydro plan is the single largest electricity bill reduction in our province’s history. We’re making sure that low-income individuals will actually have their bills reduced by 25%, plus the Ontario Electricity Support Program, which will help them even more.

Low-income individuals were not even mentioned in the NDP idea. We’re making sure we’re helping every family in this province.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Somehow, people are supposed to be happy that the Liberals have increased their bills by 275%, Speaker. I don’t think they’re happy about that.

If the Premier is unable to rein in the CEO’s salary, even when she says that the government maintains control at Hydro One, can she explain to Ontarians why she has spent years trying to sell the clearly false idea that even when the Hydro One sell-off is complete, the government will maintain control of it?

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: Once again, we’ve often talked about the sale of Hydro One and the benefits that we’re going to be having in investments and in infrastructure. The one thing that the third party doesn’t talk about is our government acting to eliminate coal. We now do not have coal as part of our electricity system.

This morning, we heard from kids. We heard from children who live in our province who now can actually go outside and play, because we no longer have smog days. Because of the investments that we’ve made as a government, we’re benefiting families right across the province. We recognize that costs more; $50 billion is what we invested to make sure that people can go outside and breathe.

While they wouldn’t do that, we did. Now we’re making that as affordable as possible for people right across the province.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: The Premier is defending a ludicrous $4.5-million CEO salary. She refuses to stop her wrong-headed sell-off of Hydro One, even though it’s now very, very clear that the government will have no control whatsoever of this new corporation. She and her minister clearly do not understand the struggles that families are facing with time-of-use pricing.

When will this Premier show Ontarians that she is actually serious about more than buying support for the next election in the face of sinking poll numbers, do what’s right for the people of Ontario, not her political party, and stop the disastrous sell-off of Hydro One?

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: It’s under the leadership of this Premier that we are investing in infrastructure right across the province. It’s under the leadership of this Premier that we are reducing bills by 25% on average.

Interjections.

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

As we continue to talk about the investments we made, we spent $50 billion investing in a system that was left in tatters by both opposition parties by freezing rates, cancelling ideas, not moving forward at all. They kept kicking the electricity system to the curb. We didn’t do that; we invested. We built a clean system, a reliable system and, now, an affordable system.

Health care funding

Mr. Jeff Yurek: My question is to the Premier. The Liberal government has waged an ongoing battle with Ontario’s doctors. Many times, they’ve created the illusion that doctors’ billings equal their take-home pay. Instead of working with doctors, time and again the minister and this Premier have unilaterally cut patient services and attempted to blame the doctors for this government’s own mismanagement.

With the OMA present here today, will the Premier stand up and apologize for her government’s treatment of doctors in this province?

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

Hon. Eric Hoskins: I’m encouraged—greatly encouraged—that a number of weeks ago, the OMA named a new negotiating team for themselves. Shortly thereafter, the government named its new negotiating team. The Premier and I expressed our commitment that the first order of business, as part of negotiations in that first episode of sitting down at the table together, that episode that took place last night for the first time—the first order of business would be to agree on a process for binding interest arbitration.

We’re confident with this renewed spirit of collaboration, with the commitment that the Premier and I have made, with, quite frankly, the talented and committed individuals at the table. I think both Ontarians and the membership of the OMA can be satisfied that we have the right people at the table, I believe, to truly work together on this challenging but attainable task.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Jeff Yurek: Back to the Premier: Where was this talk three years ago, before they started the vilification of doctors? Why weren’t they doing this three years ago?

Recently, it was revealed that the government created their negotiating strategy through polling and not what was in the best interests of patients. Everything they did through the media was calculated to sway the public’s opinion against doctors. Instead of working with the OMA to find a solution to benefit patient care, this government spent money on polling and devised schemes to vilify the profession.

According to the Financial Accountability Officer, this government will need to cut an additional $2.8 billion from the health care system. Is this Premier going to base her decisions on current polling numbers, or work with the front-line health care professionals and make the best decisions based on patient care?

Interjections.

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

Minister?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Mr. Speaker, that question had so many parts to it. I think it’s easiest—I’m going to go back to the initial question from the Leader of the Opposition, where he referenced wait times in this province. He referenced the CIHI report. I know he cherry-picked from it. There is more work to be done.

But hip replacements: 85% of Ontarians have their hip replacements completed within the medical benchmark, 6% higher than the national average. Knee replacements are 12% higher than the national average, and 99% of radiation therapy is within the medical benchmark.

The lowest wait times for MRIs and CT scans; the shortest wait types from GP to specialist and from specialist to treatment: On average, Ontarians are receiving care more than four weeks earlier than the national average. We have some, if not all, of the shortest wait times in this country. Wait times for general surgery have gone down by 13%, and for medical oncology, down by 39%.

We have done this because of our doctors, because of our nurses, because of all those health care practitioners who work so hard—

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

Interjections.

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

New question.

Violence in schools

Ms. Peggy Sattler: My question is to the Premier. Today, OSSTF released findings from its study on violence in the workplace—findings that echo earlier and equally shocking results from ETFO. Some 41% of OSSTF members reported an increase in violent incidents in their schools over the last five years. None said that violence is decreasing. Yet in this context of rising violence, four out of five OSSTF members were either unaware of or unable to access violence reporting forms, and more than half said that they are often pressured not to report a violent incident.

Speaker, after five years, the situation is worsening, not improving. What will it take for this government to show education workers that it is serious about protecting education worker health and safety?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Education.

Hon. Mitzie Hunter: I want to thank the member opposite, who is the critic for education, for this very important question. Under no circumstances is violence acceptable in our schools. We want our schools to be safe and healthy places for students, for teachers and for education workers. That’s something that we want to make very, very clear.

I’ve met with the membership of OSSTF, and I’ve been very, very clear with them that I recognize that we have to take this very seriously. The concerns around reporting that the member opposite asked about: I am concerned about that. We want to ensure we create a culture in our schools that promotes safety. That’s what we’re working towards and working together with OSSTF on.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Peggy Sattler: The numbers from OSSTF and ETFO are alarming and provide an urgent call to action that is needed across ministries, including education, labour, health, and children and youth services. OSSTF reports that in at least one classroom per board per day, a student is removed due to a violent outburst. The mental health needs of both students and education workers are being ignored, putting young people and education workers at risk. Yet 25 school boards are receiving $8 million less funding in special education grants, and school staff with specialized mental health training, like psychologists and social workers, are being cut.

Speaker, how does the Premier plan to make schools safer when she won’t even provide the basic supports that students need to succeed?

Hon. Mitzie Hunter: Mr. Speaker, we are working with all of our partners in education. We have a provincial health and safety working group that is strengthening the culture of training and access to information to staff on violence prevention. For example, we have designated one half of a PA day—

Ms. Andrea Horwath: They need more supports, not less. Why are you cutting?

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

Hon. Mitzie Hunter: —for our elementary teachers this past year for health and safety training. We’ve also added new mandatory content on supporting students with special needs in the enhanced four-semester teacher education program.

Mr. Speaker, here’s what we’re investing in special education: We’ve increased our investments by 70% to $2.7 billion. We have increased the number of education assistants by 6,300. We know that there is more that we need to do on this issue, and that’s why we’re working together across all aspects of the sector, including with the Minister of Labour, to focus on this issue.

Student assistance

Mrs. Cristina Martins: My question is for the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development. Our government realizes that students should be able to access—

Interjections.

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

Mrs. Cristina Martins: Our government realizes that students should be able to access higher education based on their ability to learn, not their ability to pay. We know that making post-secondary education more affordable is part of our plan to grow the economy, create jobs and build an inclusive future for Ontario.

We have heard about exciting changes to OSAP this past year to make OSAP more generous for all students across the province, and I’ve had the opportunity to share this news with many of the students in Davenport. Could the minister give this House an update on how the OSAP changes are progressing?

Hon. Deborah Matthews: Thank you to the member for Davenport for this very important question. Just this morning, the Premier, the Minister of Education and I were at Bishop Marrocco/Thomas Merton Catholic Secondary School to launch the new OSAP application. Starting this September, over 210,000 students in this province will have free tuition. Their grants will be greater than the cost of their tuition. Speaker, that means one in three post-secondary students in Ontario will have free tuition, and many middle-income students will have more generous student assistance than they have ever had before. The changes we have made are truly transformational.

Here’s our new deal with students: You work hard. You get the marks. You get accepted to post-secondary, and we’re going to make sure that money does not prevent you from achieving your goals.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mrs. Cristina Martins: Thank you to the Minister of Advanced Education and Skills Development for her answer on the great news for all students across Ontario. Speaker, I’ve heard the Premier say many times that Ontario’s advantage is our people. I know that this means ensuring that our people have the best possible opportunities to access education.

However, I know for many aspiring students, including those from my riding of Davenport, and especially folks who are returning to school as adults, the cost of going back to school can be daunting, not to mention confusing. With all these grant improvements to OSAP, what are we doing to make sure people know how much help they can get?

Hon. Deborah Matthews: I confess that I have been showing the OSAP calculator on ontario.ca/osap to anybody who will let me show them that. Speaker, what it demonstrates is that there is tremendous support available for students. It means changes for everyone, but especially for mature students. They are eligible for more grants than ever before.

Let me give you an example. If you go to ontario.ca/osap and use the calculator, it will show that if you are a single parent, you’ve got three kids, you earn $60,000 a year and you’re going to college, you are eligible for grants totalling $16,000—way more than tuition—and an additional $8,700 in loans if you want them. So tuition is free. There is also support for your family.

For these changes to have the impact we need them to, everybody needs to be sharing the news, including the members opposite.

Greenhouse industry

Mr. Rick Nicholls: My question is to the Minister of Energy. People across southwestern Ontario were shocked when the parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Energy commented on greenhouses moving from Ontario to Ohio, saying, “Part of what caused them to move were the high levels of humidity.” Greenhouse growers were actually astounded by his comment, because our area has always been high in humidity.

“Humidity, that’s not a deal breaker—the cost of energy is a deal breaker,” said Jim DiMenna, president and CEO of Red Sun Farms.

Speaker, to the minister: Why is this Liberal government spewing hot air about the real cause of greenhouse relocations and lost investment?

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: Minister of Agriculture.

Hon. Jeff Leal: I want to thank the honourable member from Chatham–Kent–Essex for his question this morning. Last Thursday, I had the great opportunity to be in the wonderful riding of Durham with my colleague Mr. Anderson to announce a $19-million support package for greenhouse energy in the province of Ontario. I am very pleased to share this information with my fine colleague from Chatham–Kent–Essex.

“Ontario’s greenhouse sector is a major contributor to the provincial economy. We appreciate the government of Ontario’s support and recognition of the need to invest in our future as well as work with our members on challenges facing Ontario’s greenhouse sector. This funding will support the continued growth of our sector and its capacity to create jobs, drive exports and provide a reliable supply of locally grown greenhouse products”—Jan VanderHout, chair of the Ontario Greenhouse Alliance.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Rick Nicholls: Back to the minister, I’m not sure which one: “Support package” is probably code for life support.

DiNiro Farms in Leamington used less natural gas this past February than they did over the same period in 2016. The result: The bill more than doubled. Of course, there is no line item on natural gas bills showing the new cap-and-trade costs. It kind of makes me wonder if the government lobbied the OEB to bury the cost in the delivery charges. Thankfully, Union Gas created an online tool which determined DiNiro Farms paid over $15,000 in cap-and-trade costs, bringing their total monthly bill to just over $30,000.

To the minister: How can DiNiro Farms and other greenhouses cope after this government more than doubled their natural gas bills?

Hon. Jeff Leal: I want to thank the honourable member for his supplementary, because I have some more quotes. Here’s one from George Gilvesy, who is a friend of the member from Chatham–Kent–Essex:

“We are extremely pleased with the announcement made by Minister Leal today. We are very optimistic with the prospects of continuing our work with the government of Ontario to determine how we ensure a vibrant and sustainable future for our province’s greenhouse sector.” It’s better than that.

“Today’s announcement confirms the government of Ontario’s understanding of the greenhouse sector’s contribution to the economic success of the province through our investment, innovation, job creation, productivity and world competitiveness. This funding, announced by” Minister “Leal, our Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, will help keep our quality ‘grown in Ontario’ products as first choice for North American consumers.”

Health care funding

M me France Gélinas: My question is for the Premier. Health care in Ontario is at a tipping point. Families and seniors need the Premier to cut wait times and to stop overcrowding in our hospitals. But instead of listening, this Premier has let us all down by doing tremendous damage to the relationship with the good doctors of Ontario. Many of them are with us today.

This morning we learned that the Premier actually spent money on—and get that, Speaker—not one, not two, but 10 polls to try to win her war with the doctors.

Why does this Premier think it is right to spend public money on polling and on PR when every dollar should be going to good health care for the people of Ontario?

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

Hon. Eric Hoskins: I appreciate the question. To be honest, I think the party opposite wants it kind of both ways. They constantly are asking us and reminding us to speak to Ontarians, to consult with them on the direction that our government is going and the policies that we should implement—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Order.

Minister?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: When the Ministry of Health consults with Ontarians across the province—in-person, online, through letters, through polls; we do it in a variety of ways on a myriad of issues—to help inform us, the government, on the best ways we can put patients first in the province, they complain.

This method of reaching out to Ontarians is important, and I’ll be happy to talk more in the supplementary.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

M me France Gélinas: Back to the Premier: People want shorter wait times. They want faster appointments with their doctors.

Instead of solving the overcrowding in our hospitals, the Premier froze funding for four straight years. Instead of working with the good doctors to improve care, the Premier made unilateral cuts to physician funding. Instead of cutting wait times, this Premier’s watching the ER waits grow longer than they’ve been in a decade. Instead of putting every dollar into better front-line care, this Premier is spending money on polling, on PR, to help the Liberal Party.

Why does the Premier think her job is to put the Liberal Party first and the needs of patients at the back of the line?

Interjections.

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

Minister?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: We continue to make substantial progress on wait times, and I have to counter the myths that the opposition member is perpetrating. A recent Fraser Institute report concluded that Ontario has the shortest wait times in the country, with median wait times more than four weeks lower than the national average. With ERs, our wait times for the sickest patients have been cut by 29%, while volumes have, in fact, increased by 40%. ER waits for the least sick have been cut by 15%.

The Wait Time Alliance report card on wait times—straight As for Ontario, by the way—notes that Ontario continues to receive straight As for wait times in five key service areas: hip replacement, knee replacement, cataracts, cancer radiation and coronary artery bypass graft.

Ontario, by the way, was the first to measure wait times in many important areas. We were certainly the first when it comes to either the PC Party or the NDP, which didn’t bother to measure wait times at all.

Early childhood education

Ms. Ann Hoggarth: My question is to the minister responsible for early years and child care. In my riding of Barrie, we are lucky to have a great early childhood educator program at Georgian College. But I have heard from many students that they are finding it hard to be motivated to pursue their passion of becoming an ECE. They’re concerned about the low wages in the field and worried that they may not be able to pay for their student loans or even for their own family’s child care needs.

Average salaries for ECE graduates have increased over the past five years to $31,000. However, they are still lower than the average salary of college graduates, which is $35,000, making recruitment and retention of ECEs difficult for child care operators. As a student and graduate, this can be discouraging.

Can the minister responsible for early years and child care tell me and my constituents what is being done to ensure students pursue their educational passions?

Hon. Indira Naidoo-Harris: Thank you to the hard-working member from Barrie for this very important question.

We recently held public consultations across the province on child care, and heard from many early childhood educators about the challenges that they face when it comes to low wages. That’s why we’re investing in these professionals.

Our government is supporting a wage enhancement for eligible providers working in licensed child care, and we’re ensuring there’s ongoing annual funding. For 2017, the ministry is allocating more than $188 million to support the wage enhancement and the Home Child Care Enhancement Grant. That means eligible staff and home child care providers can receive a wage enhancement of up to $2 an hour, plus 17.5% in benefits, and eligible home child care providers working with an agency could receive a grant of up to $20 a day.

Mr. Speaker, these investments are part of our plan. They’re the right thing—

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

Ms. Ann Hoggarth: Thank you to the minister for that answer. A wage enhancement is a step in the right direction. I’m glad to hear that our government is helping those who are ready to enter the workforce and who are passionate about their careers. It’s important that we recognize the value of those who are shaping and caring for our youngest learners. It’s equally important to make sure we retain the hard-working professionals who are already doing this crucial job. They are the front lines of our child’s path through education.

Can the minister tell me more about what she is doing to help encourage early childhood educators to stay in this field?

Hon. Indira Naidoo-Harris: I’m pleased to answer the member’s question. Our government has committed to creating new licensed spaces for 100,000 more children over the next five years. Just think about that. This is not only an investment in our children’s future; it’s an investment in our economy and in Ontario families, because with the addition of 100,000 new spaces we will see an estimated 20,000 new ECE positions created in Ontario. That’s 20,000 new jobs, Speaker.

Through the wage enhancement and this new job creation, we can help close the wage gap between registered early childhood educators working in kindergarten and child care professionals working in licensed child care settings. We will also stabilize licensed child care operators by helping them keep their ECEs and other child care program staff, and we will support more employment and income security.

Speaker, this is about laying a foundation that will put our children on a path to success.

Agri-food industry

Ms. Lisa M. Thompson: My question is for the Premier. On March 7, the Minister of Agriculture spoke about Canadian Agriculture Literacy Month and the importance of educating young people about opportunities in the agri-food sector, but there was a glaring omission.

In 2015, I brought forward a motion on growing agri-food jobs which passed with support from all parties, Speaker. It recommended that the government add a component to the grade 9 and 10 careers and guidance curriculum on agri-food career opportunities. Sadly, Speaker, the minister failed to mention what progress has been made on implementing it when he gave his speech.

We all remember when the Premier issued the agri-food job challenge. But due to inaction, the Canadian Agricultural Human Resource Council is now warning that there will be a significant labour shortage by 2025.

In light of Canadian Agricultural Literacy Month, will the Premier commit to seeing this important component of the curriculum implemented in time for the next school year?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

Hon. Jeff Leal: I appreciate the question from the honourable member this morning. I know her long-time commitment in improving agricultural literacy in secondary schools right across the province of Ontario.

With regard to the Agri-Food Challenge, the Premier gave us a challenge to create 120,000 new jobs in this sector by 2020. I can report to you, Mr. Speaker, and all members of the House today, that we’re well on our way to meeting that goal. We’ve created 42,000 jobs to date. If you extrapolate from that, we will meet that target by 2020.

More importantly, every day, as I’m travelling across the province of Ontario, when I’m in community colleges to see their graduates, when I’m at the University of Guelph to see their graduates, everybody’s looking forward to careers in agriculture in the province of Ontario.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Lisa M. Thompson: Speaker, no one believes or trusts that minister.

Back to the Premier: When I met with the President of the Treasury Board—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Order.

Ms. Lisa M. Thompson: When I met with the President of the Treasury Board, she assured me my motion would be considered. Just last week, the Minister of Education proved that she can quickly jump to task when she announced the financial literacy pilot project. Speaker, why are the Premier, the Minister of Agriculture, the President of the Treasury Board, the Minister of Education and the entire Liberal cabinet choosing to ignore the needs of Ontario’s agri-food sector? There are two and a half days left in agriculture literacy month. Will the Premier, the former Minister of Agriculture, commit to adding agriculture to the guidance and career curriculum?

Hon. Jeff Leal: The history of the members on that side is really quite fascinating. When this government proposed—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Huron–Bruce asked the question. I’m sure she wants to listen to the answer, because I do.

Hon. Jeff Leal: When this government proposed a number of years ago creating a $100-million risk management program to support those farmers in the province of Ontario who were not covered by supply management, they voted against it. That is a fact.

Every time we bring new innovations to this House to continue to grow a sector in this province that generates $36 billion to Ontario’s GDP, they—

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

Public transit

Ms. Cheri DiNovo: My question is to the Premier. Skyrocketing hydro costs have made it more expensive to take the TTC. Last year, the TTC’s hydro bill was up 13% from the previous year, even though it used about the same amount of electricity.

Since the current Premier assumed office four years ago, the TTC’s hydro rates have gone up by over 40%. The Premier said she wants to fix this “mistake,” but the TTC will not see the 25% in hydro bill reductions that she’s promising in ads—ads, by the way, paid for with public dollars.

Why did the Premier exclude the TTC from her hydro plan?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Energy.

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: I want to thank the honourable member for the question. When it relates to Ontario’s Fair Hydro Plan, the first thing I think it’s important for me to say about the TTC is that every rider on the TTC will be getting that 25% reduction. On top of that, every single individual in Ontario’s 444 municipalities will benefit from Ontario’s Fair Hydro Plan.

When it comes to the city of Toronto, which the TTC is part of, they’re going to see a 2% to 4% reduction in their electricity bills. That’s a modest reduction, I know, but there are also many other things that we do for municipalities.

We have many other programs that actually also help municipalities manage their energy costs. For example, the Ontario Municipal Energy Plan Program provides funding to municipalities to help them plan for more efficient energy usage. We also helped with $92 million from the Green Investment Fund to help with other—

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

Ms. Cheri DiNovo: Again, back to the Premier: I repeat, the TTC’s hydro rates have increased by more than 40% since the Premier assumed office four years ago. The Premier’s hydro plan will make bankers rich, but it won’t do anything to rein in the underlying costs of privatized hydro, which is making everything more expensive. The Premier’s plan won’t lower the TTC’s hydro bills by 25% or even 17%.

Why is the Premier spending public dollars to promote a hydro scheme that makes bankers rich while allowing the TTC’s hydro rates to keep rising out of control, driving up fares and making life more expensive for transit riders?

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: Minister of Transportation.

Hon. Steven Del Duca: I thank the member opposite for her questions today. I can understand from the tail end of the second question that at the root of what she’s asking about, it relates to making sure that transit in Toronto and transit right around the province of Ontario is not only there, but it’s accessible and affordable.

That member knows—I’ve had the opportunity to say this repeatedly in this House and elsewhere—there is no government in Ontario history that has done more to support public transit in the city of Toronto and in the other 98 communities across Ontario that have transit than this government under the leadership of our Premier.

That member knows that just a number of weeks ago, we announced that we’d be doubling the provincial gas tax program over the next four years, providing the city of Toronto alone with an estimated additional $170 million, to a province-wide total of an additional $335 million annually to all of the communities that have transit systems.

We’ll keep building. We’ll keep getting it right.

Senior citizens

Ms. Sophie Kiwala: My question is to the Minister of Seniors Affairs. Minister, I want to again congratulate you on becoming minister of Ontario’s first-ever Ministry of Seniors Affairs. This is an important step that affirms our commitment and leadership towards care for seniors. I know that you have been very busy in your new portfolio and that you have travelled all across the province, including visiting Christine McMillan and the Oasis group in my riding of Kingston and the Islands.

Yesterday, as part of Bill 87, the Seniors Active Living Centres Act was introduced in the House. If passed, this act will be stronger, more flexible legislation than the current Elderly Persons Centres Act. This is great news for the over 260 existing centres that provide services to over 100,000 seniors. These are important and timely changes, and I’m hoping that the minister can share more—

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

Hon. Dipika Damerla: I want to thank the member from Kingston and the Islands for the important question.

Speaker, our proposed Seniors Active Living Centres Act was developed in recognition of the changing nature of our demographics in Ontario. Over the next 25 years, the seniors’ population in Ontario is projected to double to four million people. It’s important that people are able to age in our province in a way that allows them to be active, healthy, safe and socially engaged. Elderly persons centres play an important role in this. This act aims to modernize the framework for elderly persons centres so they reflect the realities of today’s seniors better. One very symbolic change, Mr.

Speaker, is that, by popular demand, we are renaming the elderly persons centres to seniors active living centres.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Sophie Kiwala: I want to thank the Minister of Seniors Affairs for her answer. This sounds like great legislation that I’m sure all members in this House will get behind.

I have no doubt that the Seniors Association Kingston Region in my riding will be pleased with the changes. With 675 dedicated volunteers, there’s a spectacular number of dedicated community partners caring for our community’s seniors in Kingston and the Islands, and I’d like to extend my warmest thanks for their continued effort and passion.

Minister, I have to ask: How did you determine what changes you would make to the current legislation? The EPCs serve people of different backgrounds, of different levels of health, skills and education, of differing interests, and speaking different languages. They also have a large range of program flexibility. Seeing how this program affects seniors across the province from Wawa to Windsor, large cities and rural communities, how did you strike a—

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

Hon. Dipika Damerla: Again I want to thank the member from Kingston and the Islands for her great question. Her question was: How did we determine what changes to make to the Seniors Active Living Centres Act? The answer is very simple: We went to the seniors of Ontario. Through surveys, consultations and stakeholder input, we were able to hear from almost 80% of the elderly persons centres—soon to be renamed seniors active living centres—and got a full picture on how to move forward with improving the program and the enabling legislation.

Some of the proposed changes include empowering local communities, opening the program to potential future partnerships and reducing the administrative burden.

Health care funding

Mr. Michael Harris: My question is to the Minister of Health.

Speaker, today Queen’s Park has again been visited by disease sufferers who continue to wait for provincial approval of a life-altering treatment that has already been given the go-ahead by Health Canada. Sufferers of polycystic kidney disease, PKD, deal with the painful effects of tumours that can swell impacted kidneys up to the size of a football. Last year, Health Canada approved the first-ever PKD treatment, and yet Ontario has refused to cover this treatment under the public drug plan.

Members of the PKD Foundation are meeting with the minister’s office today, and some are here, of course, in the gallery. Will the minister tell these patients why he’s not covering the treatment that they so desperately deserve?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: I appreciate the question. I welcome those who are here today to speak about polycystic kidney disease, which is indeed, unfortunately, an all-too-prevalent but also very challenging condition for anyone to have.

The member opposite should know by now that there is a process in place where the Health Canada approval for a drug, generally, for a specific indication is the first and only one step in a multi-step process. At that time, once it’s approved by Health Canada, there is a requirement that it be examined for evidence of its effectiveness, its efficacy. Historically, that used to be done separately by each province and territory. Now we’ve created a process—in fact, it was done nationally one time—and that’s the process that we’re applying here to review the evidence after Health Canada’s approval, to establish its efficacy.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Michael Harris: We understand that this treatment is not for every patient. However, PKD sufferers are here today with doctors who have outlined exactly those who would benefit and yet continue to wait for this important treatment.

We’ve seen this story before. Rare disease sufferers continue to wait for action from the minister’s so-called working group that he used to shoot down our call for a rare disease select committee. While our committee would have completed its work by now, we still await word of the actual work from the minister’s working group, even though we hear that the report is in fact sitting on your desk.

Rare disease patients are tired of waiting, and PKD patients need answers. Speaker, will the minister commit today to approving treatment for those PKD patients who will benefit from this important treatment, and table the report his working group has completed?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: I assume it’s Jinarc that the member opposite is referring to. He’s nodding his head.

It was reviewed by that national process, the Common Drug Review. In fact, the Common Drug Review recommended that Jinarc not be listed for the treatment of polycystic kidney disease because it was not shown to definitively improve relevant outcomes in patients with that disease.

Additionally, the Common Drug Review noted a number of safety concerns associated with the drug, including liver injury, low sodium, increases in uric acid and gout, polyuria, thirst and skin cancers.

It’s important, first of all, that we take the politics out of this and we leave it to the clinical experts, the front-line doctors, the scientists and the academics to review the evidence. They have invited the manufacturer to come forward if they have additional evidence. But in the spirit of collaboration and transparency, I have identified specifically why that negative recommendation has been made to date.

Deferred Votes

Supply Act, 2017 / Loi de crédits de 2017

Deferred vote on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 111,

An Act to authorize the expenditure of certain amounts for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2017 / Projet de loi 111, Loi autorisant l’utilisation de certaines sommes pour l’exercice se terminant le 31 mars 2017.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Call in the members. This will be a five-minute bell.

The division bells rang from 1148 to 1153

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): All members please take their seats. On March 28, 2017, Ms. Sandals moved second reading of Bill 111. All those in favour, please rise one at a time and be recognized by the Clerk.

Ayes

Albanese, Laura

Anderson, Granville

Baker, Yvan

Ballard, Chris

Berardinetti, Lorenzo

Chan, Michael

Chiarelli, Bob

Colle, Mike

Crack, Grant

Damerla, Dipika

Del Duca, Steven

Delaney, Bob

Des Rosiers, Nathalie

Dhillon, Vic

Dickson, Joe

Dong, Han

Duguid, Brad

Flynn, Kevin Daniel

Fraser, John

Hoggarth, Ann

Hoskins, Eric

Hunter, Mitzie

Jaczek, Helena

Kiwala, Sophie

Kwinter, Monte

Leal, Jeff

MacCharles, Tracy

Malhi, Harinder

Mangat, Amrit

Martins, Cristina

Matthews, Deborah

Mauro, Bill

McGarry, Kathryn

McMahon, Eleanor

McMeekin, Ted

Milczyn, Peter Z.

Moridi, Reza

Murray, Glen R.

Naidoo-Harris, Indira

Naqvi, Yasir

Potts, Arthur

Qaadri, Shafiq

Rinaldi, Lou

Sandals, Liz

Sousa, Charles

Takhar, Harinder S.

Thibeault, Glenn

Vernile, Daiene

Wong, Soo

Wynne, Kathleen O.

Zimmer, David

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

Nays

Armstrong, Teresa J.

Arnott, Ted

Bailey, Robert

Barrett, Toby

Bisson, Gilles

Cho, Raymond Sung Joon

Clark, Steve

Coe, Lorne

DiNovo, Cheri

Fedeli, Victor

Fife, Catherine

French, Jennifer K.

Gates, Wayne

Gélinas, France

Gretzky, Lisa

Hardeman, Ernie

Harris, Michael

Hatfield, Percy

Hillier, Randy

Horwath, Andrea

Jones, Sylvia

MacLeod, Lisa

Martow, Gila

McDonell, Jim

McNaughton, Monte

Miller, Paul

Munro, Julia

Natyshak, Taras

Nicholls, Rick

Oosterhoff, Sam

Pettapiece, Randy

Sattler, Peggy

Singh, Jagmeet

Smith, Todd

Tabuns, Peter

Taylor, Monique

Thompson, Lisa M.

Vanthof, John

Walker, Bill

Wilson, Jim

Yakabuski, John

Yurek, Jeff

The Clerk of the Assembly (Mr. Todd Decker): The ayes are 51; the nays are 42.

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

Second reading agreed to.

Supply Act, 2017 / Loi de crédits de 2017

Mrs. Sandals moved third reading of the following bill:

Bill 111,

An Act to authorize the expenditure of certain amounts for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2017 / Projet de loi 111, Loi autorisant l’utilisation de certaines sommes pour l’exercice se terminant le 31 mars 2017.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? I heard a no.

All those in favour, please say “aye.”

Opposed, say “nay.”

In my opinion, the ayes have it.

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

Interjections: Same vote.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Same vote? Same vote.

The Clerk of the Assembly (Mr. Todd Decker): The ayes are 51; the nays are 42.

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

Be it resolved that the bill do now pass and be entitled as in the motion.

Third reading agreed to.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): There are no further deferred votes. This House stands recessed until 3 p.m. this afternoon.

The House recessed from 1158 to 1500.

Introduction of Visitors

Mrs. Cristina Martins: I know that this group from my riding of Davenport are making their way here to the galleries today. I want to welcome Rodrigo Briones, who is the coordinator of Senior Community Connections at Family Service Toronto. He is here today with a number of seniors from the Hispanic community.

Remarks in Spanish.

Mr. Shafiq Qaadri: Remarks in Arabic.

It’s my pleasure to introduce a large delegation of individuals from the country of Saudi Arabia: Mr. Emad Althukair, chairman of the Canada Saudi Business Council; Mr. Shazaad Mohammed, director of government affairs; and, as well, accompanied by Mr. Mohammed Alkhalil, Mr. Mejdal Al-Qahtani, Mr. Mashari Al Rashed, Usama Abdulwahab, Khalid Aljarallah, Mutaz Aldughaythir, Hussein Bagalb, Saad Abdulrahman, AbdulMonim AlDossari, Khaled Aldawood, Dr. Farad Altimini, Sultan Nasser Almawaly and, of course, accompanied by the honourable Georgina Bencsik. Welcome.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Welcome to our visitors from so far away. Enjoy, and have a safe trip back home.

Members’ Statements

Canadian Hearing Society

Mr. Victor Fedeli: I rise today to bring attention to a situation affecting people from all over Ontario, including my home riding of Nipissing. Members of Local 2073 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees are just one of the 24 Canadian Hearing Society offices that have been on strike since March 6.

Across Ontario, nearly 36,000 people use the important services provided by the Canadian Hearing Society. I visited the members and had the opportunity to speak to someone who has been directly impacted by the strike. I first met him when I was in the mayor’s office. On this particular visit to the line, he explained to me, through his sign-language interpreter, the potential uncertainty he is faced with each day that the strike continues.

Imagine if this gentleman—who, I might add, is completely deaf—is rushed to the hospital and unable to communicate with his doctor in an emergency. The absence of the interpreter and his inability to communicate in this case could prove potentially fatal. It’s a situation that can be easily avoided and should be avoided.

I’m urging the government to reach out and provide any assistance they can to bring an end to this strike.

Len Dupuis

Mr. Percy Hatfield: I want to send out best wishes today to a friend of mine who has been in a serious car accident. Everyone in Tecumseh and every legionnaire in Windsor and Essex county knows Len Dupuis Sr. He has led the colour party parade from Legion Branch 261 in Tecumseh for more than 30 years.

Len is 91. Earlier this month, he was on his way to visit his wife in a nursing home and was in a bad car accident. He went through a stop sign and collided with another vehicle. Fortunately, the young lady driving the other car wasn’t seriously injured. Len ended up with a broken neck, broken ribs, clavicle, sternum and some internal bleeding. He was in guarded condition at the ICU for a while, but he has surprised his doctors. He’s up and walking around, although with a cervical collar. Len thinks he’s well enough to go home, but he’s still facing six to eight weeks of rehab before he can be released.

Len was in the army for a short while until they found out just how young he was. But he got even with the army: He joined the air force, and he served between 1942 and 1946.

We all know him for his big handlebar moustache. Let me correct that, Speaker. Because of that cervical collar, someone in the hospital shaved off that moustache.

We’re all hoping we’ll see Len on parade again leading the Tecumseh Highlanders colour party. Best wishes for that, and best wishes for the young lady who was treated and released after that accident as well.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): We’ll still make him a member of the moustache caucus—just to make sure that you’re aware of that. That’s a hairy situation.

Centre des enfants inuits d’Ottawa / Ottawa Inuit Children’s Centre

M me Nathalie Des Rosiers: Il me fait plaisir de me lever pour saluer aujourd’hui le travail exceptionnel du Centre des enfants inuits d’Ottawa, qui est établi évidemment dans ma circonscription d’Ottawa–Vanier. Une centaine d’enfants et de jeunes s’y rendent chaque jour. Le centre offre des services de garde, mais il dessert aussi les besoins des adultes qui veulent retourner à l’école.

People do not always know that Ottawa is home to the largest Inuit community outside of Nunavut. A large group of them live in Ottawa–Vanier, and we are blessed with having their contribution to our community.

The Ottawa Inuit Children’s Centre offers a variety of services that are really helpful to the community: child care, after-school programs, homework support and also, most importantly, cultural education initiatives—among others, the study of Inuktitut.

The child care program is very popular, and we now know that they need additional space to really serve the population better.

The centre supports family with a holistic approach tailored to them and allows them to fully participate in our society.

Congratulations—félicitations—to the Inuit children’s centre in Ottawa–Vanier.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Mr. Jeff Yurek: I’m pleased to rise today to discuss ALS awareness and the Adaptive Canuck ALS Foundation.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis disease, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a rare affliction that gradually paralyzes people when the brain is no longer able to communicate with the muscles in the body. Over time, these muscles break down, leaving patients unable to walk, talk, eat, swallow or breathe on their own.

Sadly, there are no effective treatments for ALS and no cure. Approximately 80% of people with ALS die within two to five years of being diagnosed.

ALS patients can find hope in the Adaptive Canuck ALS Foundation. The foundation’s mission is to fundraise in an effort to advance stem cell research that will hopefully unlock a cure for ALS.

Adaptive Canuck was founded by Jeff Perreault, who also suffers from ALS, and is run by ALS patients. One hundred per cent of the funds they raise go directly to research—no overhead.

Adaptive Canuck ALS has a plan to accelerate the approval of stem cell clinical trials in ALS patients, and they hope to begin early this year.

This group is championing the federal legislation, the Right to Try Act. This act, if enacted, would allow ALS patients or any other patients with a terminal illness the right to try unapproved, potentially life-saving treatments in an attempt to improve their condition or extend their time left with loved ones.

Speaker, I’d like to tell you about a constituent of mine, Kim Lewis. Kim was diagnosed with ALS a few years ago and is a director of the foundation. She is currently working hard in Elgin raising awareness and funds for research to improve the quality life for ALS patients.

Just last week, I attended the Aylmer Strikes Out ALS fundraiser in central Elgin organized by Kim and her husband, Spencer. I was incredibly moved by the stories shared that night.

I want to thank Kim, Jeff Perreault and the Adaptive Canuck ALS Foundation for their continued hard work in increasing awareness around ALS and working towards a cure.

Privatization of public assets

Mr. Jagmeet Singh: Mr. Speaker, recent reports indicate this government was aware a year ago that the vast majority of Ontarians were opposed to the sale of the public electricity system here in Ontario. The problem is that this privatization discussion isn’t limited to the province.

More and more, we’re hearing discussions around privatization at all levels of government, whether they’re discussions with respect to the sale of Toronto Hydro, here in this municipality; or federally, we’re now hearing discussions around the privatization of airports and the infrastructure bank, which is essentially a veiled attempt at ensuring that all future infrastructure builds are privatized in the future.

When it comes to our health care and our education system, when it comes to public transit, we need to ensure that everyone has access to these services and that they have access to quality services. That’s why it’s so important, so fundamentally important, that we ensure that all of our public services and infrastructure remain public.

Sikh heritage

Mr. Vic Dhillon: It’s a great honour to rise in the House today to speak about the very auspicious occasion of Vaisakhi and Sikh Heritage Month.

April is a month of great significance to the Sikh community. During this month, Sikhs all across the world celebrate Vaisakhi, which marks the creation of Khalsa and the Sikh faith. In Ontario, April is also Sikh Heritage Month. We will be celebrating Sikh Heritage Month here at Queen’s Park. The Sikh community will be celebrating Sikh Heritage Month all across Ontario in many different ways.

Speaker, 2017 is also the year of the 350th anniversary of the 10th Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji. He was a spiritual master, warrior, poet and philosopher. He introduced the five articles of faith that Sikhs wear and adhere to at all times.

The principle of equality in Sikhism, regardless of one’s caste or gender or colour, was institutionalized by Guru Gobind Singh Ji. His message to the world is very relevant today.

Canada is home to over 500,000 Sikhs, half of whom live in Ontario. Sikhs across Ontario have made important contributions to Ontario’s social, economic, political and cultural fabric. I invite all members of this House to learn more about the Sikh faith and to join the Sikh community in celebrating Vaisakhi and Sikh Heritage Month.

Multi-Employer Benefit Plan Council of Canada

Mr. Monte McNaughton: I’m pleased to welcome the Multi-Employer Benefit Plan Council of Canada to Queen’s Park today. They are a non-profit organization that represents the interests of multi-employer plans and they’re here today to raise awareness about what that means.

For workers employed in industries typified by small companies or a mobile workforce, such as construction, hospitality or transportation, to name a few, it can be difficult to maintain consistent benefits or to plan effectively for retirement. By bringing together large numbers of small employers, multi-employer plans support workers and their families with a private sector solution.

As our economy and the nature of employment continue to evolve, and as we consider legislative changes related to labour and employment, it’s important that we’re aware of the diverse circumstances of workers as well as the private sector initiatives that are emerging or that already exist in our province.

I’m pleased the Multi-Employer Benefit Plan Council is here to raise awareness about the unique interests of the workers they cover and to give us some insight into multi-employer plans. The table of stakeholders can be crowded when it comes to labour issues, but it’s important that a strong diversity of voices is heard.

They will be holding a reception in the dining room tonight, and I encourage all members to attend and to learn more about their important work.

Climate change

Mr. Ted McMeekin: Today, Ontario is leading by example to deliver the next generation of clean technology solutions to help the world fight and adapt to climate change. As our good mayor, Fred Eisenberger, of the city of Hamilton shared with us earlier this week as we toured our local LEED-build Harry Howell Arena, “Communities are implementing a number of programs for both homeowners and organizations to address climate change adaptation. In fact, our region continues to meet targets for reducing energy usage.”

Speaker, we all have a role to play in the fight against climate change. Leadership shown by the city of Hamilton, as well as their partner organizations, both private and public, is helping to lead that fight.

Municipalities such as Hamilton and Burlington are important partners in the fight against climate change. Our government’s Climate Change Action Plan provides funding, in addition to the already announced $92 million through the Green Investment Fund, to improve energy efficiency in social housing apartments and energy retrofits.

The climate change action plan and cap-and-trade program are the backbone of Ontario’s strategy to cut greenhouse gas pollution to 15% below 1990 levels.

We’re at it. We’re going to stick with it. It’s a very important task—one we cannot fail at.

Matthew Wakem

Mr. Randy Pettapiece: Matthew Wakem grew up in St. Marys and is deeply involved with the St. John Ambulance and Leo and Lions clubs. In fact, at 23 years old, Matthew has volunteered over 15,000 hours with these organizations. Earlier this month, he was awarded the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers by Governor General David Johnston. It was well deserved.

But Matthew is not doing it for an award or recognition; he’s doing it for the right reasons. His comments to the Stratford Beacon Herald reveal his humble attitude: “It’s nice to get recognized but definitely not necessary.... You’re going out there for a purpose, not just to collect hours.”

I think we can all learn something about the spirit of service and helping our neighbour from this remarkable young man. It speaks well of him and it speaks well of the spirit of service that is alive and well in Perth–Wellington.

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

Visitors

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Point of order: the member from Davenport.

Mrs. Cristina Martins: I see now that the group that I introduced earlier has made it here into the gallery, so I wanted to, once again, welcome Rodrigo Briones, the coordinator of Senior Community Connections, Family Service Toronto, and the group of Hispanic seniors who are visiting here today. Bienvenidos. Gracias.

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills

Mr. Ted McMeekin: I beg leave to present a report from the Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills and move its adoption.

The Clerk-at-the-Table (Ms. Tonia Grannum): Your committee begs to report the following bills, without amendment:

Bill Pr59,

An Act to revive 564539 Ontario Limited.

Bill Pr60,

An Act to revive 1476283 Ontario Limited.

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

Report adopted.

Introduction of Bills

Family Law Amendment Act (Support for Adult Children), 2017 / Loi de 2017 modifiant la

Loi sur le droit de la famille (soutien alimentaire des enfants adultes)

Ms. Sattler moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 113,

An Act to amend the Family Law Act in respect of support for adult children / Projet de loi 113, Loi modifiant la

Loi sur le droit de la famille en ce qui concerne le soutien alimentaire des enfants a