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March 30, 2015

41st Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcripts 2015-Mar-30 (PDF)

L062 - Mon 30 Mar 2015 / Lun 30 mar 2015

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Monday 30 March 2015 Lundi 30 mars 2015

Introduction of Visitors

Oral Questions

Taxation

Hydro rates

Executive compensation

Executive compensation

Workplace Safety and Insurance Board

By-election in Sudbury

Hunting and fishing

Public participation

Privatization of public assets

Seniors’ health services

Social Assistance Management System

Executive compensation

Post-secondary education

Government accountability

Automotive industry

Small business

Workplace fatalities

Visitors

Members’ anniversaries

Members’ Statements

Fish and wildlife management

Holy Week

Engineers

Kraft Hockeyville 2015

Automotive industry

Plein Air Ensemble

Government’s record

Waterloo Region Community Legal Services

Holi Gala fundraiser

Introduction of Bills

Labour Relations Amendment Act (Strike and Lock-Out Information), 2015 / Loi de 2015 modifiant la

Loi sur les relations de travail (renseignements sur les grèves et les lockouts)

Trillium Gift of Life Network Amendment Act, 2015 / Loi de 2015 modifiant la

Loi sur le Réseau Trillium pour le don de vie

Petitions

Off-road vehicles

Water fluoridation

Winter road maintenance

Employment standards

Legal aid

Hydro rates

Privatization of public assets

Student safety

Taxation

Hospital services

Credit unions

Taxation

Gasoline prices

Credit unions

Orders of the Day

Making Healthier Choices Act, 2015 / Loi de 2015 pour des choix plus sains

The House met at 1030.

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

Prayers.

Introduction of Visitors

Mrs. Gila Martow: Mr. Speaker, I want to welcome Mark Milunsky from Thornhill, vice-president of the very infamous Beverley Glen Ratepayers Association. Welcome.

Mr. Bas Balkissoon: Mr. Speaker, I’d like to welcome some of my guests in the east gallery: my good friend Mano Kanagamany, and he’s accompanied by a visitor from south India, Mr. P.V. Raghavendran, a photojournalist and well-known cinematographer.

Mr. Randy Pettapiece: I’d like to introduce the grandparents of page captain Cameron Johnson, David and Joyce Johnson. Welcome.

Mr. Lou Rinaldi: Speaker, I’m pleased to welcome some folks from the Public Affairs Association of Canada. Board members who are sitting in the members’ galleries today include President John Capobianco, Events Co-Chair Rick Hall and Membership Chair Harvey Cooper. I encourage all MPPs to attend this evening’s reception, to be held in room 228 from 5:30 to 7:30. Welcome.

Mr. Jim Wilson: Aiden Campbell, our page from Simcoe–Grey, has his family here again today: his mom, LeAnne Campbell; his dad, Trent Campbell; grandfather Bob Campbell; grandmother Betty Campbell; and his brother, Nolan Campbell. Welcome. I’m looking forward to having lunch with them.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Page Jessie Meanwell, from Hamilton Centre, is actually the page captain today. Her family is with us today in the gallery. I want to welcome them on behalf of the Legislative Assembly: mother Frances Cockburn; father Charles Meanwell; grandmother Elizabeth Cockburn; sister Caitlin Meanwell; and cousin Gavin Park.

Mr. Yvan Baker: It’s my honour to welcome the family of page captain Ian Harvey—who’s from my riding of Etobicoke Centre—here today: his mother, Janice Harvey; father Bill Harvey; grandmother Mary Kray; grandfather Stan Kray; his aunt, Laura Latimer; his uncle, Paul Latimer; and family friend, Tracy Bowie. They’re in the members’ gallery this morning, and I ask us all to welcome them.

Ms. Sylvia Jones: Dufferin–Caledon is well represented in the Speaker’s gallery today. Page captain Ranen has invited his mother, Tanja Oomen; his father, Joe Danckert; his brother, Kiefer; his grandmother, Johanna; and his aunt, Ingrid. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Wayne Gates: I’d like welcome Tim McKinnon, who’s the chairperson of the General Motors plant in Niagara.

Mrs. Kathryn McGarry: I’d like to welcome the grandparents of our page Alycia Berg to Queen’s Park this morning: Barbara and Lloyd Berg.

Hon. David Orazietti: I want to recognize Rosemary Shiller and Ed Shiller, who are here in the gallery with us. They’re the proud parents of Jennifer Shiller, who works in our office.

Ms. Jennifer K. French: I’m pleased to welcome Greg Moffatt, chairperson of Oshawa Unifor Local 222, and Ron Svajlenko, president of Local 222, here today.

Mr. Harinder S. Takhar: I would like to recognize Robin Singh. His daughter is a page in this session. He actually worked for ServiceOntario; I’m not sure where he’s based now, but I really want to welcome him.

Mrs. Lisa Gretzky: I would like to welcome Jerry Dias, who’s the president of Unifor. He was here today holding a press conference.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Today in the Speaker’s gallery we have with us the interns from the Manitoba legislative internship program, who are here to meet with our legislative interns. We’re glad you’re here. A welcome for Manitoba.

Also joining us today in the Speaker’s gallery is a former Premier, the sixth Premier of Newfoundland, serving from 1996 to 2000. Mr. Brian Tobin is here with us.

We also have in the Speaker’s gallery today visiting us the British consul general in Toronto, Mr. Kevin McGurgan. Please join us in welcoming our consul general.

Hon. Yasir Naqvi: A point of order, Speaker.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): A point of order from the government House leader.

Hon. Yasir Naqvi: Speaker, when you were introducing the former Premier from Newfoundland and Labrador, you forgot to mention that he now lives in the great riding of Ottawa Centre. I have the great honour of working for him every single day. Welcome to Queen’s Park, Premier Tobin.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I’m sure he’ll want his sidewalks fixed.

Today—not to make excuses, but I’m partially under the weather and my voice might not be heard.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): But that’s not the point. My patience will be thinner.

It’s now time for question period.

Oral Questions

Taxation

Ms. Lisa M. Thompson: Speaker, my question is for the Premier. Premier, your government has recently been holding consultations on Ontario’s climate change strategy, which is really just a cover for your upcoming carbon tax. A price on carbon will increase the cost of everything from gas to groceries. Premier, we already have received over 13,000 signatures on the PC “Stop the Carbon Tax” petition.

Premier, my question for you is this: Will you listen to the people of Ontario and say no to a carbon tax?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Mr. Speaker, I know that the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change is going to want to weigh in on this, but I’m going to take a crack at it to start out with. I think that it is not underestimating the issue to say that climate change is a defining issue of our time. There is probably no issue that is more important for all of us to tackle.

I would go further to suggest that this is not a partisan issue. This is an issue that is going to affect all of us, that is going to affect our children and our grandchildren, and we have done a lot in Ontario. By shutting down the coal-fired plants, we have made an enormous, enormous step forward.

But the fact is that there is more to be done. There is more that we have to do if we’re going to be responsible to generations to come, and we are going to do that.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Lisa M. Thompson: Back to the Premier: Speaker, I heard the Premier say there’s no issue they want to tackle—I think she meant to say “tax,” because really and truly Ontarians already have some of the highest energy costs in North America and a carbon tax will only further drive jobs out of this province.

Premier, it is unacceptable that your Minister of Energy has nonchalantly stated, “Businesses ... come and go.” But, Premier, we definitely don’t want a carbon tax to speed up that process, driving jobs out of this province, especially when other jurisdictions such as BC saw a carbon tax increase the cost to farmers an extra $4,300. And in Australia it raised energy by 9%.

Premier, will you heed the advice of the PC Party of Ontario and commit to not implementing a carbon tax?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I think that the member opposite might look at other jurisdictions, even in this country. She might look at BC; she might look at Quebec; she might look at Alberta, and see that there are other jurisdictions in this country that have moved forward responsibly.

She then might look at other jurisdictions internationally. She might look at Sweden. She might look at where the opportunities have been increased because there has been a regime of carbon pricing.

But apart from all of that, the fact is that we cannot sit idle. We cannot pretend that this is not an issue. I can tell you that there are people in every one of our ridings who are concerned about the fact that they’re seeing changing weather patterns. They know that they don’t have a federal government that is moving—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Order.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): No, no. I’m getting order so she can finish and I can hear.

Please finish.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Speaker, they know that they don’t have a federal government that is putting in place a framework and that it is up to the provincial governments to work together to make sure that we take responsible steps for future generations.

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

Ms. Lisa M. Thompson: Back to the Premier: Ontarians are concerned about the cost of living and the cost of doing business going through the roof. In last year’s election, the only thing you said to the people of Ontario about a carbon tax is that you won’t implement one.

Premier, as the second of our five budget asks, will you stick by what you said to the people of Ontario and commit, in your 2015 budget, that you will not put another burden on taxpayers’ shoulders by levying a carbon tax?

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

Hon. Glen R. Murray: Mr. Speaker, Alberta—I want to say it really slowly—Alberta has a price on carbon introduced by the same party she’s affiliated with. British Columbia, which has seen some of the most dynamic per capita GDP growth in Canada, has a price on carbon. Quebec has a price on carbon. California has a price on carbon. New York has a price on carbon. Massachusetts has a price on carbon. Mexico has a price on carbon. China has a price on carbon. Germany—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Order.

Hon. Glen R. Murray: Could the member explain her party’s position, how she reduces GHG emissions, and how she thinks that Ontario can be the only jurisdiction to reduce them without a price on carbon? Because that’s fantasy.

Hydro rates

Mr. John Yakabuski: My question is to the Premier. We’re just coming off one of the coldest winters on record, and the consequences of your reckless hydro policies are more apparent than ever. Most Ontarians are struggling because the cost of energy is rising much faster than their ability to pay. This is because they’re paying 14 cents a kilowatt hour plus all the extras you slap on, like the global adjustment, debt retirement charge and distribution costs for on-peak electricity. When your government took office, they were paying 4.3 cents a kilowatt hour.

Premier, the current chaos in the energy system is all on you. The only way to fix it is to change direction. Will you turn away from your failed energy policies, which have damaged our economy and caused untold misery to ratepayers, and commit to making Ontario once again an energy-competitive jurisdiction?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Let me just say to the member opposite that the fact is, when we came into office, the electricity system in this province was degraded. It had been neglected. It was in no shape to deliver reliable power to people across this province.

Some 10,000 kilometres of transmission line have been rebuilt and repaired, because that party did not put the money into infrastructure that was needed. So we have done that work. We have made those investments. We are aware that there’s a cost associated with that. I hope that the member opposite is very pleased at the plan that we announced last week—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member for Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke will come to order, as will the member from Glengarry–Prescott–Russell.

Carry on, please.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: —the Ontario Electricity Support Program, that in fact addresses the fact that people on low income are struggling in many cases, and they need a break, and that’s what that program will provide.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. John Yakabuski: Back to the Premier: Premier, you know that the primary reason hydro bills are going up is because of your Green Energy Act and its intermittent, unreliable and expensive energy.

Your announcement last week about the stipend you’ll be giving to low-income energy consumers is nothing more than a shell game. Almost every ratepayer is struggling to pay their bills, because under your watch, hydro bills have gone up and more than tripled since 2003.

People have no faith in your ability to administer this sliding-scale shell game. As the Ombudsman investigation clearly shows, your team can’t even get a simple residential bill right, even though you’ve wasted $2 billion on your smart-meter fiasco.

Premier, how much more bureaucracy will be needed to administer this new convoluted program, and how much more will that cost the energy ratepayers of this province?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: The Ontario Electricity Support Program is designed specifically to help people who have the lowest income in the province and who are struggling. I think that is exactly the kind of support that needs to be put in place.

The fact is, we took a dirty electricity system and we shut down the coal-fired plants. We’ve rebuilt the system. We’ve made the investments that were needed, so we’re dealing with a clean energy regime now in Ontario.

The other thing that we’ve done is we have renegotiated—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Lanark will come to order. You’re inches away; I can hear.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Jim, do something about that.

Carry on.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: We’ve renegotiated agreements like the Samsung agreement that will actually save $3.7 billion. We’ve changed the domestic content rules. We are working with Quebec on an off-peak/on-peak agreement that will allow us to get clean power from Quebec at a time when we need it and send our power to them when they need it. So we’ve taken a system that was not reliable—

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

Mr. John Yakabuski: Premier, you’re always congratulating yourself on how egalitarian you are, but the hydro system you’ve created is anything but fair and equal. As revealed by the sunshine list, salaries for staff in the energy sector are rising sharply. Some 77% of Hydro One employees and 80% of OPG employees made over $100,000 last year. At the same time, ratepayers have seen their salaries flatline, and 300,000 people in the manufacturing sector don’t have a paycheque at all because of your economic mismanagement and Ontario’s anemic growth since your party took power.

Premier, it is your duty to ensure that there is balance in the system between the remuneration of employees and the consumers’ ability to pay. Ratepayers cannot afford to wait any longer. Will you live up to your own rhetoric, scrap the Green Energy Act and restore some semblance of balance to our energy system?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure.

Hon. Brad Duguid: For goodness’ sake, Mr. Speaker, the people he’s talking about are the very people who run our nuclear plants. Do you really think that that’s where we should go in terms of reducing salaries? The people who run our nuclear plants? When we go to bed at night, we want to make sure that we have the best people in the world running our energy system.

Right now, when you look at people like Tom Mitchell, considered the best at doing the kind of work that he does in the world—we owe it to the people of this province to ensure that we have the best-quality people running organizations like OPG, to ensure that those nuclear plants are safe, for all Ontarians to be able to know that we have one of the best records in the world when it comes to nuclear. That is not the place to start when it comes to cutbacks. This government will not in any way sacrifice safety for the sake of anything with regard to cutting back like the member wants—

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

Executive compensation

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My question is for the Premier. Will the Premier be introducing a salary cap on public CEOs? And what will that cap be?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: As the member opposite knows, although she voted against the act, the accountability act will bring in hard caps for senior executives in the broader public sector. I think that the member opposite recognizes that.

In fact, my understanding is that she also understands that there would be some exceptions. In fact, an amendment that the NDP brought forward was this: “A compensation framework may provide that specified designated executive positions may receive compensation in excess of the limit....” So I think the member understands that having hard caps is very important and having a range of salaries at all of those levels is important, and I’m sure that she will work with us on making sure that those are put in place.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Energy bills have tripled, and energy CEOs are turning into millionaires in this province. Students in Ontario pay the highest tuition in the country, and there are university presidents who are just shy of making a million dollars. The Premier is firing nurses, and there are hospital CEOs making over $800,000 a year. Can the Premier justify those salaries to Ontarians who can’t pay their hydro bills, to Ontarians paying student loans for decades after they finish their post-secondary studies or to Ontarians with a loved one who’s stuck waiting for the care that they so desperately need?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Mr. Speaker, I know that the leader of the third party understands that we have to tackle all of those challenges. It’s absolutely imperative that we support people who need services in this province and we do that in the best way possible. I know she also knows that we agree that there need to be caps on CEO salaries. That’s why we have moved on that. That’s why we brought the accountability act into place. Those caps are going to be put in place, but there will be a range.

In terms of the expertise that is needed in particular sectors, we also have to understand that that’s always going to be the case: There will be specific expertise that’s needed in sectors. As the Minister of Economic Development was saying, in terms of running our nuclear plants, in terms of the technical expertise that’s needed, we’re going to have to make sure that we have the right people doing those jobs, and that we pay them adequately but not exorbitantly.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: The Liberals have been promising to cap CEO salaries for over a decade in this province, but they have voted against capping CEO pay three times in this Legislature. When is the Premier going to put our money where her mouth is and tell the public sector CEOs that enough is enough?

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

Hon. Deborah Matthews: Speaker, I have to say I’m a bit mystified, because we actually have passed legislation that will take exactly those steps. The NDP did not support Bill 8. We passed Bill 8, and I’m very pleased that it received royal assent on December 11, 2014.

We are moving forward on executive compensation. We are being thoughtful about it and we are moving forward to collect the information, creating salary bands including hard caps. This work is under way now. We’re well on our way, and I’m just a bit astonished the leader of the third party doesn’t even know that we passed that legislation.

Executive compensation

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My next question is for the Premier. Nurses are being fired across Ontario. Health Quality Ontario says that more than half of Ontarians can’t actually see their doctor when they get sick. But hospital CEOs are making over $800,000 a year.

Putting health care first means making some tough choices and setting some priorities. Why is the Premier choosing hospital CEOs when she should be choosing patients?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Mr. Speaker, we’re not. The fact is that there are thousands more doctors in this province. I think 96% of people have access at this point to a primary care physician, and we’ve made a commitment to that being 100%. There are 24,000 more nurses in this province than when we came into office.

The health care system is undergoing a transformation. There’s no doubt about that. More care is moving into the community. There’s no doubt about that, and that is a transition.

But the fact is, we have put in place legislation that will cap salaries. That legislation has passed; the NDP did not support it, but nonetheless, that legislation is going forward and those caps will be put in place.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Our hydro bills are paying the CEO salaries of public hydro companies. Two executives particularly are making over $1 million each. I think these priorities are backwards. The hydro system should be working for us, not the other way around, and as long as Ontarians own our hydro companies, we can say that enough is enough, even though this Liberal government seems to think that the status quo is fine.

If the Premier sells off Hydro One, Ontarians lose. We might not have any idea how much of our rates are going straight to the executive salaries. If Liberals sell it off, Ontarians can’t say enough is enough to those executives. Privatizing Hydro One might be good for executives but it’s bad for ratepayers. Will the Premier pull the plug on selling Hydro One so CEO salaries will stay transparent in the province of Ontario?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Let’s be clear about what the leader of the third party is actually asking. She’s saying stop the review of the assets that are owned by the people of Ontario. She’s saying don’t reinvest the money that we might be able to realize, the benefit we might be able to realize—don’t reinvest that in infrastructure that’s needed for the 21st century. And she’s saying don’t build transit and transportation infrastructure—roads and bridges that are needed across this province—because she actually doesn’t agree with making any change that would allow us to do that.

I say to the leader of the third party, that is not where we’re going to go. We are going to make those investments. We ran on that plan. It is the right plan for the future of this province. It is the right plan for the economic development of communities across this province, and we’re going to make those investments.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, the Premier is cutting health care, she’s closing schools and she’s selling off public hydro companies, all because she says the cupboard is bare. If the cupboard is bare, why are there millionaires on the sunshine list?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I would ask the leader of the third party how she construes the building of 725 schools since we’ve been in office and repairs to 700 more as closing schools. The fact is, across this province we have invested in infrastructure, in hospitals, in schools—in the renovation and consolidation of schools that allow for programs to be delivered in a way that makes the best sense for kids in communities across Ontario. We’ve worked with local school boards in order to do that, and those decisions have been made.

They’re not easy decisions. I understand that. Every time there’s a change—I’ve been a school trustee. I know how difficult it is to make a change in the configuration of schools in a province. But the fact is, we have to do it in the most thoughtful way possible. We have to work to create hubs where we can, and we have to make sure that kids have access, from kindergarten right through post-secondary, to the best programs in the world.

Workplace Safety and Insurance Board

Mr. Randy Hillier: Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Labour. Minister, in 2009, your WSIB slush fund was first flagged as under-performing and returning little value. These suspicions were raised once again in 2012, concerning the value of this fund, and again last year, a KPMG audit recommended that the program be shut down, as it provides zero value for money.

Minister, last week you told this House that by 2016, these programs will be corrected. We know that the Premier’s chief of staff, Tom Teahen, made almost $350,000 at the WSIB last year. Is he the reason it takes seven years to shut down a slush fund in Liberal Ontario?

Hon. Kevin Daniel Flynn: On this side of the House, we take worker health and safety very, very seriously. We bring a business practice to it that I think is something we can be proud of. This is a program that was brought in in 1990. It’s been here for a long time, and funds several organizations. It funds the OFL. They help training on claims management for those people, those organizations, so that they can help the workers who need to avail themselves of the system—the navigation skills or the assistance to get through that system.

In 2012, shortly after new leadership took over, we conducted an audit, like we should, on programs in government. We found that there were some improvements we could make. We implemented those improvements. We told the employers that this would be a transition year and we’re implementing it in 2016.

We’ve handled this responsibly. The WSIB has handled it responsibly. I think that Ontarians should have confidence in this system.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Randy Hillier: Back to the minister: Since questioning your WSIB slush fund to the Ontario Federation of Labour, I’ve received several letters from union leaders across the province. When I receive form letters from union leaders rather than real stories from injured workers, I have no doubt that this program is nothing more than a slush fund. Not one beneficiary of this program has contacted my office. Many union officials have, but not one single injured worker.

Minister, since I haven’t received a single letter of support for the grant from injured workers, I ask you: Have you received any letters of support from injured workers, and if so, will you share them with me in this House?

Hon. Kevin Daniel Flynn: Speaker, as I mentioned in the previous answer, this is a grants program that is managed by the WSIB. It funds those organizations in this province that assist us in dealing with the issues that surround injured workers who return to work or train for new employment.

When I hear about the Randy Hillier slush fund, that is not what this is. The Randy Hillier slush fund may be something else that I’m unaware of, but after the audit was conducted, we made changes to the system. It was obviously some changes that could be made to improve things for injured workers in the province of Ontario.

Since the Auditor General’s report in 2009, we’ve seen a transformation at the WSIB. It’s a good-news story that we share with the people of the province of Ontario, because we know that injured workers, employers and those employees are now getting the services they should under this plan.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Stop the clock, please. Some of the repartee I’ve been hearing is getting dangerously close to getting extremely personal. The advice I’ve given since the beginning, and will adhere to today, is that you address individuals in this place by either their title or their riding. That tends to help.

The second part to that is that it’s also getting dangerously close to making accusations that would be unparliamentary. Stay away from it.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): And I’m not asking for any comments from anybody right at this moment.

New question.

By-election in Sudbury

M me France Gélinas: Ma question est pour la première ministre. The Premier seems to think that if she buries her head in the sand and refuses to acknowledge that the bribery scandal in Sudbury exists, if she says over and over that what happened out there doesn’t matter in here, if she wishes for it to go away hard enough, she will make it true—but ignoring an issue does not make it go away.

My question is quite simple: When did the Premier call, first, Mr. Gerry Lougheed, then Mrs. Pat Sorbara, in order for them to call Mr. Andrew Olivier to offer him a job?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Mr. Speaker, what I have actually said, just to clarify to the member opposite, is that there is an investigation going on. That investigation is taking place outside of this House, Mr. Speaker. I’ve been very clear in my statements in public. I’ve been very clear in this House over and over again on the decisions that I made. We’re very happy to have the current member for Sudbury with us on this side of the House. I will continue to work with the authorities in the investigation outside of the Legislature.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

M me France Gélinas: Well, Speaker, someone had to tell Mr. Gerry Lougheed to call Andrew Olivier on behalf of the Premier and offer him a job. I know Mr. Lougheed well enough to know that it is not his style to do that kind of call without strict directions.

Mr. Lougheed reported the results of his call to Mr. Olivier, then someone had to tell Mrs. Sorbara that she needed to follow up, which she did. She called Mr. Olivier and said, “You’ve now been directly asked by the leader and the Premier to make a decision to step aside to allow Glenn to have the opportunity, basically have the opportunity uncontested.” The OPP said, these “references to the Premier’s authority threatens the appearance of the government’s integrity.”

Mrs. Sorbara and Mr. Gerry Lougheed’s actions call the integrity of the government into question. My question, Speaker: Why is the Premier letting that happen?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Government House leader.

Hon. Yasir Naqvi: Again, I remind the member opposite, as the Premier just did, that there is an active investigation that is going on outside this Legislature. The Premier, by no means, is avoiding the issue; what she’s doing is respecting the process, a process that is independent from what happens in the Legislature or what the government does. I think, Speaker, we should all respect that process. The member opposite knows very well that the Premier or any member of the government cannot interfere or interject in the process.

In fact even the Chief Electoral Officer said in his report, “I am neither deciding to prosecute a matter nor determining anyone’s guilt or innocence. Those decisions are respectively for prosecutors and judges.”

Speaker, as I said before, none of us here in this Legislature are prosecutors or judges. They are independent roles. We should respect those roles and let those individuals do their job.

Hunting and fishing

Mr. Glenn Thibeault: My question is for the Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry. Minister, constituents in my riding of Sudbury are concerned about changes to Ontario’s moose hunt that your ministry is proposing. An

article in a local newspaper stated, “Ontario hunters are up in arms over a plan to shorten the moose season, which they argue goes far” above and “beyond what’s necessary to sustain viable populations.”

Speaker, moose hunting is a proud part of our heritage and an important part of Ontario’s economy. In fact, recreational fishing and hunting provide more than $4 billion to our economy each year. Many small businesses in our province, several of which are in my riding, rely on hunting and fishing tourism to support their economic viability.

Minister, my constituents are concerned about what impact these changes will have on their lives and their livelihoods. Through you, Mr. Speaker: Could the minister explain to my constituents why his ministry is proposing changes to the moose hunt?

Hon. Bill Mauro: I want to thank the member for the question.

He’s right, Speaker, there are a number of people and groups out there who are alarmed by what’s coming forward, but I would say, in fact, that many of the people who are most affected by the changes we are bringing forward are the people who get it the most, who understand that the sustainability of this population is what’s most important.

In fact, I would say that in my community of Thunder Bay there are people who are telling me absolutely to shut the hunt down. Speaker, it has taken years to get to this situation, and it is going to take us some time to fix it, but I’m not going to kick the can down the road. We need to make some decisions. We need to make sure that we get this absolutely right. What these groups and these people don’t agree on is what steps need to be taken to fix this particular problem. But what these people and these groups agree on is that steps need to be taken.

I’m going to take those steps. New numbers are in; they continue to be not good. There’s more coming forward, but we have to make some decisions. We have to fix a problem that’s taken years to create, and we’re going to get it right.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Glenn Thibeault: I thank the minister for recognizing the important role that the moose hunt plays in our economy and in the north.

In the Sudbury area, tourist outfitters rely on their ability to provide a variety of hunting and fishing opportunities. Outfitters like Lang Lake Resort in nearby Espanola, for example, rely on moose-hunting tourism for their business. These outfitters bring tourists from all parts of the province into the Sudbury area and support our local economy.

With these changes to moose season, businesses and members of my community want to know how these changes will impact them. Everyone agrees that we need to ensure our moose population is sustainable for future generations, but I’m hearing from some of my constituents that there may be other opinions about how to move forward with the moose hunt.

Hunters, tourist outfitters and the public all want to ensure that we are making the right changes to Ontario’s moose hunt. Can the minister talk about how he’s going to protect the economic interests of our moose population—

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

Hon. Bill Mauro: Again, I thank the member for the question. In the phase 1 consultation, most of the work that we did focused on the resident hunter and the tourist outfitter. The member is very correct in saying that. That’s one of the criticisms that the ministry has historically received: We’re only looking at the tag allocation for the resident hunter and for the tourist outfitter.

Phase 2 will change that. I’ve made a very clear commitment to the groups that are interested in this issue that the phase 2 consultations, that will begin very soon, will look at other opportunities to sustain this population that don’t just manage the hunter.

In the phase 1 piece that we did, we worked very hard last year to ensure that tourist outfitters—those people who have made a private sector investment, whose livelihood depends on this to a large degree—weren’t negatively affected. We kicked the numbers back a number of times to the ministry and said it wasn’t good enough.

The flying has been done; we’ve invested in aerial moose inventories. The numbers are not good. There’s more information coming soon. Phase 2 will take a broader look at how we’re going to try to sustain this population.

Public participation

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: Speaker, my question is to the Premier. On April 15, 2014, the Premier filed a lawsuit against the member for Niagara West–Glanbrook and me for questioning her involvement in the cover-up of deleted emails in the gas plants scandal.

The next day, on April 16, 2014, the members for Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke and Simcoe North referred to the suit as a SLAPP, or nuisance suit, during debate on the public participation act. That same day, the anti-SLAPP bill was also sent to die in committee.

At the time, the bill had a retroactivity clause. Former Attorney General John Gerretsen said that “the rule will apply to suits ... before the bill comes into force, thus allowing for dismissal of strategic litigation....”

Did the Premier kill the anti-SLAPP bill the day after she launched the lawsuit because it would affect her attempt to muzzle the opposition?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: No, we didn’t, and I know the Attorney General is going to want to speak to this. I think the member opposite knows that retroactive rule-making is not something that is seen favourably by the courts. It’s not something that we have engaged in.

To the issue of the suit that I brought, I have been very clear all along that I believe that debating substance is important. I think debating the truth is important. But allegations that are completely baseless, that are not based in any accurate assessment of a situation—I don’t think that is right. I have said all along that I would always debate the truth, but untruth, I’m not interested in debating.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: It’s quite a statement. It’s also quite a coincidence that the lawsuit was launched on April 15. She decided to kill that bill off on the 16th. The previous two incarnations of the bill had the retroactivity clause until it didn’t suit the Premier.

On December 1, 2014, the public participation act was reintroduced again, for the third time, without this clause. John Gerretsen says about this omission, “Obviously the bill is weaker,” and “it probably shouldn’t be gone.”

The Premier must know how this looks. It appears that she killed her own law for her own political gain. This is on the heels of her role in the cancelled gas plants and, most recently, the Sudbury bribery scandal. She thinks she’s above the law, and if the law doesn’t suit her, she changes it. Is there any length this Premier of Ontario won’t go, to cling to power?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I would say to the member opposite that we are very committed to the anti-SLAPP legislation; we have been all along. The retroactivity, I think, was a concern.

In terms of the other issue, if the two members would just apologize, the whole thing would go away. That’s all we’re talking about. All I was concerned about was that there was a completely unfounded allegation. The accusations were made on the eve of an election. They were completely untrue; they were a complete fiction. All I’m saying is: Just apologize; retract those, and the whole thing goes away.

Privatization of public assets

Mr. Peter Tabuns: My question to the Premier: Last week, we asked the Premier to provide a guarantee that hydro rates wouldn’t go up as a result of her plan to privatize Hydro One. We didn’t get an answer. In fact, the Minister of Energy said last week that he had no idea how Hydro One would be managed if it was privatized.

If the government has no idea how Hydro One would be managed, how can the government prevent costs from going up?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I don’t have the transcript in front of me, but I think the Minister of Energy was probably saying that you didn’t have any idea how Hydro One would be managed.

What I know is that this line of questioning intensified on the very day that we announced the Ontario Electricity Support Program, which is a program to give some relief to the lowest-income citizens in this province, the lowest-income residents. I would have thought that the NDP would have been concerned and would have been supportive of such a program.

I know they’re not supportive of making a change in our assets. I know they’re not supportive of investing in transportation infrastructure, transit, roads and bridges across the province. I don’t know why they’re not supportive of that, but they’re not supportive. But I would have thought that they would have been supportive of a program that would help the lowest-income residents in this province.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Peter Tabuns: Last week we learned that the CEO of Hydro One last year earned more than three and a half times as much money as the Premier herself. The government has done a poor job at controlling executive salaries, but if Hydro One is privatized, the government will have even less control over executive salaries and less control over hydro costs.

How can the government control executive salaries and hydro costs when it’s giving up oversight and control with this misguided privatization scheme?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: This whole gambit and this whole debate would be much more rational if the NDP actually had a plan for any of this, if they had a plan to build transit, if they had a plan for the electricity system. The National Post on March 5, 2014, talked about the so-called energy plan that the NDP put forward. The National Post said that the NDP’s energy plan “veers straight into crazy talk.”

The fact is that there is no consistency in terms of what the NDP is asking for. They haven’t put forward a coherent plan, neither for an electricity system that would be reliable and affordable, nor for investments in transit that would give us the 21st-century infrastructure we need across the province. Until they have those plans, it’s pretty hard to debate with any kind of credibility.

Seniors’ health services

Mr. Yvan Baker: My question today is for the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. Minister, in my riding of Etobicoke Centre, we have one of the highest percentages of seniors of any riding in Canada. I’ve heard from many of those seniors, and they’ve expressed to me how important it is that they have access to home and community care as they age.

I’ve also spoken to many people in my riding who are not seniors but who are caring for seniors: people who are caring for their elderly parents but also caring for their children and raising a family, often with limited resources. They’ve asked us for help to ensure that they can access the home and community care they need to support their aging parents.

To address this challenge, it’s obviously important that we continue to deliver high-quality home and community care for the people of Ontario. Minister, could you specifically outline what work your ministry is doing to ensure access to high-quality community and home care in communities like Etobicoke Centre?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Thank you to the member from Etobicoke Centre for this very important question. I’m pleased to tell you how our government is improving health care for seniors with complex health conditions across Ontario. I was pleased to be at Toronto Rehab last week to make an announcement that our government is investing more than $40 million in specialized rehabilitative care right across the province to help our seniors recover from illnesses and injuries so that they can continue to live independently at home. This is a program called assess and restore.

Fortunately, most of Ontario’s 1.9 million seniors are healthy and use the health care system only occasionally. But a small number of our seniors living in the community—about 150,000, or 8%, of them—have complex care needs, and this program is geared specifically towards them. We know that sometimes long hospital stays can result in debilitation, muscle loss or weakened bones; for too many seniors that means moving into a long-term care home prematurely. This program aims to allow them to continue living independently.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Yvan Baker: Strong community-based care is not only a preferred method of care for many seniors, as they can remain in their homes and out of hospitals, but it also obviously provides relief to families. It’s also a much cheaper form of care than the hospital-based care that is often the alternative.

My constituents, particularly seniors, in Etobicoke Centre have also been asking me about physiotherapy. This is a service that is critical to many people in my community, and my understanding is that the government is working to improve services in a number of ways. I’ve heard about things such as one-on-one physiotherapy for long-term-care residents with an assessed need, enhanced access to exercise and fall prevention classes for seniors in community settings, and expanded in-home and clinic-based physiotherapy for seniors.

Services like this that are based in the community go a long way in helping families as they juggle that challenge I raised earlier of caring for aged loved ones while also raising a family. Minister, could you please tell the House more about the work that you are doing to strengthen physiotherapy access across Ontario?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Thank you to the member again. As part of my announcement last week, I was also able to say and announce that Ontario is expanding access to physiotherapy into primary health care settings across the province by investing more than $4.2 million to add physiotherapy services across 25 more family health teams, nurse-practitioner-led clinics and community health centres. An estimated 71,000 people, including seniors, will now be able to access physiotherapy at the same place where they receive their primary care health services.

Improving health outcomes for seniors is also part of the government’s plan to build a better Ontario through its Patients First: Action Plan for Health Care by providing patients with faster access to the right care, better home and community care, the information that they need to stay healthy and a health care system that’s sustainable for generations to come. Providing seniors with more supports will allow them to live safely and independently at home and enjoy a better quality of life.

Social Assistance Management System

Mr. Bill Walker: My question is for the Minister of Community and Social Services. Minister, last week you not only defended your broken social assistance computer program, you proclaimed it a success. You told the House, “At the end of the day, we have been extremely successful.” Mr. Speaker, I am sure that the people waiting in line at social assistance offices and the front-line staff working overtime to clear the logjam would disagree. Minister, do you have any concern that your high-priced consultants will share your confidence about SAMS when they produce their preliminary report tomorrow?

Hon. Helena Jaczek: Certainly we have been successful in terms of the fact that we have ensured that we’ve processed four successful pay runs for both ODSP and OW monthly payments, payments to some 570,000 families each month. This is our priority. We have made some 2.5 million payments to our most vulnerable families in total.

Of course, I want to thank all our staff who are working so very hard on the front lines to ensure that this is happening. I know that they have had a number of frustrations, but actually, the production of these cheques has been a wonderful step forward for all those vulnerable families who rely on these payments. We have accommodated them in the way that we have, with all this hard work and the number of improvements that we have made to date on SAMS.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Bill Walker: Again to the minister: The fact is that this minister’s testimony continues to be at critical odds with the facts. It’s clear that if SAMS was working as intended, there would be no need to keep funnelling millions in to the system, nor to hire consultants to mitigate a mess so big that the government’s entire IT department could not fix it.

Minister, the preliminary report is scheduled to come out tomorrow. Will you, in the spirit of government openness and transparency, make the report publicly available upon its release?

Hon. Helena Jaczek: Yes, indeed, I’m looking forward to this report from our third-party technical adviser. PricewaterhouseCoopers, I understand, will be delivering this report this week. I’m looking forward to hearing those results. We will certainly be communicating the themes that we hear in that report. It is an interim report. They have been engaging with stakeholders across the province. I attended a meeting with front-line workers and PricewaterhouseCoopers to ensure that the issues that were important to the people using the system were being fully communicated to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

I look forward not only to this interim report but of course to the final report that I’m sure will have a far more fulsome response to the issues around SAMS.

Executive compensation

Ms. Peggy Sattler: My question is to the Premier. With the release of the sunshine list, Londoners were stunned to learn that the president of Western University made almost $1 million last year—more than double his annual salary. He is the fourth-highest-paid public sector employee in the province because of a deal negotiated with Western’s board of governors for twice his salary in lieu of administrative leave.

With the university cutting staff and increasing class sizes, this double payout is a slap in the face to Western students, faculty, staff, alumni and the community. Premier, will your government step in to prohibit university boards of governors from negotiating similar double payouts to university presidents?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: To the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities.

Hon. Reza Moridi: Thank you to the member for that question. Our government is committed in investing in our young people. That’s why we have been investing heavily in our universities and colleges over the past 11 or 12 years. In the meantime, we know that Ontarians have all the right to make sure that their tax dollars are spent properly. That’s why we have brought in the accountability act, which has been passed last year and received royal assent in December.

In the meantime we have frozen the executive salaries, and we expect firmly that members of the broader public sector executives follow the freeze on salaries and wages which we have introduced.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Peggy Sattler: The president of Western is not the only senior university administrator among the top 10. The president and CEO of University of Toronto Asset Management Corp. is in third place at a time when the university claimed to be unable to pay teaching assistants more than poverty wages, forcing grad students and TAs to strike for fairness and recognition of their rights.

Ontario students are among the fastest-growing group of food bank users and are already paying the highest tuition in the country. They face planned, year-over-year increases in tuition to make up the chronic shortfall in post-secondary education funding.

Premier, how can your government justify hiking tuition fees and increasing reliance on contract faculty while allowing universities to negotiate these kinds of salaries to senior university administrators?

Hon. Reza Moridi: As I said earlier, we have invested heavily in our universities and colleges as well as in our students. We have introduced a 30% discount on tuition fees for our students, which has been a great success. With regard to the specific question, the president of the University of Western Ontario opted not to take administrative leave. That’s why his salary has been increased. That’s our understanding.

In relation to the University of Toronto’s vice-president for asset management, there was an

article in his contract so that he can receive performance bonuses. So these are all the things which already existed in the contracts of those executives. But as I said earlier, we have introduced the accountability act. We are working very hard to make sure that executives in the broader public sector—that their salaries will be frozen and will be under a certain regime.

Post-secondary education

Ms. Ann Hoggarth: Mr. Speaker, my question, through you, is to the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities. Minister, digital technology has become a fundamental part of our daily lives. I know that even our youngest students in JK and SK use digital technology skillfully. Being able to connect with each other online has broken down borders and offered us an amazing wealth of information right at our fingertips, but it’s critical that we always think about how we can leverage this technology to benefit all Ontario students and how we can improve their learning experience and make their education more flexible and affordable.

Minister, can you inform the House about our government’s efforts to build a world-class post-secondary education system that is a leader in innovation and online learning?

Hon. Reza Moridi: I want to thank the member for that question. I am proud to say that Ontario has a strong foundation in online learning and digital learning. At the post-secondary level, we have the highest number of online learning course registrations across Canada.

Earlier this year, our government announced an investment of $42 million over three years to launch Ontario Online. Ontario Online is a new collaborative centre of excellence that will be available in time for the September 2015-16 school year. It will help students save money as well as time by avoiding needless duplication of courses and by helping to speed up the process for those wishing to fast-track their learning. We know that more accessible and user-friendly post-secondary education will help our young people to succeed.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Ann Hoggarth: Thank you, Minister, for that answer. I’m glad to hear that our government is committed to driving quality and innovation in Ontario’s post-secondary system.

But I know that in the past, transferring post-secondary credits from one college or university to another has been a very long and difficult process for students. Many students in my riding of Barrie want the flexibility to easily transfer relevant credits between different colleges and universities in this province.

Through you, Speaker, to the minister: Can you inform the members of the House how our government is improving credit transfer opportunities for Ontario students?

Hon. Reza Moridi: Again, thank you to the member for that question. Mr. Speaker, our government is committed to giving students more flexibility and choice when it comes to post-secondary education. We are doing this by increasing credit transfer opportunities for our students and introducing new tools to help students become more mobile.

Since launching the credit transfer initiatives in 2011, our government has partnered with our colleges and universities to triple the number of transfer credits available for our students. Just recently, Colleges Ontario and the Ontario Council on Articulation and Transfer announced that business diploma students in Ontario colleges can simply transfer their courses from one college to another. We are also proud of supporting a website called ONTransfer.ca, which is a real-time guide for students to discover which credits they can transfer and which pathway is right for them.

Our government will continue to work with our partners in the university and college sector to make sure that our students have mobility across the province.

Government accountability

Ms. Laurie Scott: My question is for the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport. This weekend the Globe and Mail published a story on the ROM’s crystal project. The story highlighted a problem of accountability within the Royal Ontario Museum’s board of governors. The organization, which is a separate entity from the museum, functions much like a hospital foundation and is supposed to manage fundraising and donor recognition.

In this case, however, the board, members of which are appointed by your ministry, was stacked with many of those whose donations were outstanding. This led to yet another secret bailout from this government.

Minister, what will it take for to you step up and bring accountability to the public appointment process under your ministry? Will you admit that your lack of oversight has now forced yet another taxpayer bailout of a government agency?

Hon. Michael Coteau: I want to start by saying how proud I am of the work that the Royal Ontario Museum has been doing here in Ontario. They’re a world-class museum, and they’re recognized globally.

We have over a million people who come to Toronto each year to visit the Royal Ontario Museum. Our tourism sector here in the province of Ontario, which the Royal Ontario Museum is part of—because culture and tourism are what our museums are all about. We have contributed $28 billion in Ontario to help build our economy, and the Royal Ontario Museum is a key part of that economy.

There is a loan that is outstanding with the Royal Ontario Museum. I’m fully convinced that the Royal Ontario Museum is on track to repay that loan, and I’ll be able to give some more details in the supplementary.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Laurie Scott: I’ll be looking forward to those details because we didn’t get any in the first answer.

The problem with oversight is not just with the Royal Ontario Museum board of governors. Before the Christmas break, I asked about the outstanding annual reports for Ontario Place. I finally received a copy of the tabled 2011 annual report three weeks ago—four years late.

The Metro Toronto Convention Centre Corp. annual reports have been left outstanding for years at a time. Last Friday, it was revealed that four waiters are listed on the sunshine list, making over $100,000 a year.

Do you have any idea of what’s going on at these agencies? They’re not watching our public dollars. When are you going to take your job seriously and provide proper oversight?

Hon. Michael Coteau: In regards to the annual reports, every single annual report from my agency has been signed by me. They’re in process, and I’m quite confident they’ll get to this Legislature as soon as possible.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I’ll give you the fact that I was only halfway up, so that’s good. I’ll leave you alone on that one.

Carry on, please.

Hon. Michael Coteau: In regards to the $249-million loan, which we contributed to and the federal government contributed to, 70% of that loan has been repaid by the Royal Ontario Museum—70%. They are on track to pay that loan back.

The Royal Ontario Museum is an incredible institution here in the province of Ontario and I am proud of the work that they have done and their board has done.

Automotive industry

Ms. Jennifer K. French: My question is to the Premier. This morning, Unifor released a report detailing the catastrophic impact that the possible closure of the GM plants in Oshawa would have on our economy, our community and the province as a whole. According to the report, Ontario would experience a loss of over 30,000 jobs and our GDP would decline by more than $5 billion. In the meantime, this government continues to sit on its hands while our community lives with uncertainty and braces for impact.

Will the Premier help to put our community at ease and commit to doing everything in her power to ensure that this scenario does not become our reality?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure.

Hon. Brad Duguid: I want to thank Jim Stanford, Jerry Dias and Unifor for their leadership in bringing forward this report. Yes, indeed we know, and they are confirming, that Oshawa really does mean tens of thousands of jobs, billions upon billions of dollars of economic development and an impact on our GDP. That’s why we’re working tirelessly in partnership with Unifor.

Our number one priority right now is to ensure that the future of the GM plant in Oshawa remains bright. We have every reason to be optimistic, and Jerry Dias would and did say the exact same thing this morning. We’re working in partnership to make sure we do that.

My hope, though, is that that report makes sure that the NDP recognize how important this is and, rather than equivocating when we make these important investments, stand with us when we make these important investments for a change—

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

Ms. Jennifer K. French: General Motors has been building cars in Oshawa for over a century, but in spite of our strong history the future remains uncertain.

Ontario was once a leader in the automotive industry, but under this government our share of production continues to decline. When the government had leverage as a shareholder, they opted not to use it. When they could have been strengthening our auto sector, they have turned their backs.

Will the government make a real commitment to the automotive industry in Ontario and implement a comprehensive automotive strategy?

Hon. Brad Duguid: Unlike the NDP, we don’t equivocate; we take action. This government has invested more in the auto sector than any government in any generation before us. Mr. Speaker, we will continue to make those investments, and I’ll tell you why we’ll make those investments: They’re working.

We’ve seen $4 billion of investment in Ontario’s auto sector since November. That’s a record amount of investment. In fact, that $4 billion represents more than we’ve probably seen in many years. Things are going well in terms of our investments in the auto sector, but we’re going to continue to work tirelessly to continue to land mandates. Oshawa is our number one concern, but even GM just recently invested $560 million in Ingersoll—good news; Honda, $857 million in Alliston; Chrysler, $2 billion in Windsor.

We’re going to keep working with the sector. We’re going to keep building—

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

Small business

Mr. Arthur Potts: My question is to the Minister of Government and Consumer Services. My riding of Beaches–East York is home to numerous forward-thinking small businesses. Constituents like Cal Bruner of CaseWare, a world-leading software company, are proud of the contributions they are making to Ontario’s economy and to a stronger province as a whole.

Minister of Government and Consumer Services, your mandate is to deliver effective procurement practices that ensure the best value for the money and the guarantee of transparent and accountable investments. I personally think that many of the businesses in my riding would form productive mutually beneficial agreements with our government.

Will the minister speak to opportunities that may exist for not only large businesses but small and medium-sized businesses to engage our government?

Hon. David Orazietti: I want to thank the member from Beaches–East York for the question and for raising this important issue. I certainly share my colleague’s confidence in Ontario businesses. Our government continues to provide them opportunities, whether it be building roads, developing software or providing maintenance equipment.

Participation in provincial procurement is open to all qualified vendors, regardless of size or location, through our Vendor of Record Program. In fact, the vast majority of businesses we deal with are small and medium-sized Ontario businesses. Our investment reflects both the quality and competitiveness of Ontario vendors. The 2013-14 stats reveal that 89% of all procurement payments were made to Ontario vendors.

It’s a great program, and I’m happy to follow up in our supplementary.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Arthur Potts: Thank you to the minister for informing us about these numerous opportunities for agreements with the Ontario government. I realize that these agreements serve multiple purposes: delivering efficient and effective services while providing excellent opportunities for local entrepreneurs.

It is equally important that taxpayers are assured that goods and services are procured through a fair, competitive and user-friendly process that benefits all Ontarians. I understand that the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services has worked to simplify bidding processes for interested vendors, making sure that all postings are visible and easy to access. These types of initiatives reduce the time and effort required for vendors to bid on procurement opportunities.

Will the Minister of Government and Community Services explain to the House how simplified bidding processes work effectively with vendors?

Hon. David Orazietti: Again to the member from Beaches–East York: Thank you for the question. Streamlining the application process is very important, and we have carefully ensured that our vendor perspectives are considered in this process. After consulting extensively, we’ve created shorter, simpler procurement documents that are standardized with appropriate conditions and have streamlined the process.

In fact, Ontario is the first government in Canada to move to a fully electronic tendering system. While vendors used to be charged for assessing procurement opportunities, they can now download these documents free of charge. Using electronic tendering has received positive feedback from the vendor community. Our system improves notifications; that helps reduce the number of incomplete bids and eliminates the cost of printing and shipping materials. We’ve added form-based evaluations that allow officials to complete more procurement in less time.

Speaker, I’m certainly pleased with the progress with respect to procurement and our Vendor of Record Program.

Workplace fatalities

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Eglinton–Lawrence on a point of order.

Mr. Mike Colle: I seek unanimous consent to have a moment’s silence for the two construction workers who died on the job last week in Toronto.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Eglinton–Lawrence is seeking unanimous consent to have a moment of silence in honour of the two construction workers killed in Toronto on-site. Do we agree? Agreed.

I would ask all members of the House to please rise for a moment of silence to pay our respects.

The House observed a moment’s silence.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you for that kind gesture.

Visitors

Mrs. Kathryn McGarry: I just wanted to introduce today the grandparents of the page from Cambridge, Alycia Berg: Her grandparents Donna and Howard Famme join us this morning. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mrs. Cristina Martins: I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce to the Legislature Kevin Toda, who is visiting here from McGill University in Montreal. He’s a political science student who has come here today to listen to question period. Welcome.

Members’ anniversaries

Ms. Lisa M. Thompson: I would like to draw attention to the fact that today both Lisa MacLeod and Christine Elliott are celebrating their ninth anniversary of coming to Queen’s Park.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Happy anniversary.

There are no deferred votes. This House stands recessed until 1 p.m. this afternoon.

The House recessed from 1145 to 1300.

Members’ Statements

Fish and wildlife management

Mr. Norm Miller: I rise in the House today to recognize the local support being shown for the Almaguin Fish Improvement Association in Parry Sound–Muskoka. The AFIA is a community stewardship program that has been involved in conserving native pickerel populations in Lake Cecebe and Ahmic Lake for over 30 years. Their hatchery is run by volunteers and does not rely on any government funding. Yet the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry contests the AFIA’s actions and is again attempting to shut down the operation.

My office has received resolutions of support for the AFIA from three municipalities to date. Last week, I tabled in this House a petition containing 263 signatures, and as I speak, support continues to pour in.

These individuals and municipalities are all calling for the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry to take action to support the AFIA and to reinstate the community-operated hatchery. They emphasize that the biological integrity of these lakes is key to the area’s economic stability, through tourism, and that their viability ought to be preserved for future generations. They also highlight the benefits of the education program run by the AFIA for local schools.

I support this local initiative, and I applaud these communities’ efforts. I call on the minister and ministry to issue the required permits to allow the AFIA to continue their stocking program.

Holy Week

Ms. Cheri DiNovo: I rise as a Reverend Doctor with the United Church of Canada to wish Christians around the world and in this chamber a very holy Holy Week and, of course, to pray for those Christians who are under attack around the world, including in the Middle East, and clear up some misconceptions about what Christianity is not. It is not LGBTQ-phobic. In fact, Jesus talked about loving your neighbour, no matter who your neighbour was, and wanting for your neighbour what you want for yourself. Also, the very first Christian convert was somebody seen as sexually unclean to the powers that be of that day.

Christianity is not anti-woman. In fact, women were the last to leave the cross and the very first to proclaim the resurrection, and they even changed Jesus’s mind about theology.

Christianity is also not anti-science, and it is not anti-sexuality. In fact, some of the most erotic poetry is in Song of Solomon, and God gave us the gift of reason for a reason.

To all of those around the world who are celebrating Holy Week, are going to walk with Jesus to the cross beyond and through the Resurrection, I say have a very, very blessed Easter and Good Friday and, of course, Maundy Thursday. Take care.

Engineers

Ms. Sophie Kiwala: I rise to acknowledge our province’s world-class engineers. Recently, I was asked by the Professional Engineers Ontario, the PEO, to take

part in their Take Your MPP to Work Day. I would like to thank Darla Campbell and Hafiz Bashir, the government liaison chairs, for putting the event together.

The good work done by our diligent engineers largely takes place behind the scenes, but one major aspect of their work—safety—affects us all every day. I commend the PEO for their leadership in developing standards that prioritize the safety of Ontarians and, furthermore, I would like to recognize them for encouraging female participation in engineering.

We still have a ways to go, but with their strong support and with three of the last five presidents being women, including Annette Bergeron, from my riding of Kingston and the Islands, the PEO has established positive, inspiring female role models for the engineers of tomorrow.

Going to the front lines is a priority for me, so I was thrilled that my visit took me to Bombardier’s state-of-the-art light-rail transit design, testing and manufacturing facility. Their 450-plus highly skilled employees are building rail transit for cities around the globe, for delivery to South Africa, Brazil, Kuala Lumpur and Vancouver.

At a time when governments are focusing on environmental stewardship and fiscal responsibility, it is very exciting that rail transit optimized to these requirements is being produced right here in Ontario.

Meegwetch. Merci. Thank you.

Kraft Hockeyville 2015

Mr. Rick Nicholls: The two finalists for Kraft Hockeyville were announced during this past Saturday night’s Hockey Night in Canada broadcast, and I’m very proud to say that my hometown of Chatham-Kent will face off against North Saanich, BC, in the final showdown for Kraft Hockeyville 2015. What an honour.

Both finalists will receive $100,000 in arena upgrades, but the winner will host an NHL pre-season game. I can only hope it’s between the Leafs and the Red Wings.

If Chatham-Kent wins, it will be a victory for the entire community, but it will mean just a little more to a special young person in the community, Chad Peterson. Chad has been an inspiration to us all. Chad has been the Chatham Maroons superfan. His love of hockey and life have inspired us all.

For months, he’s been driving around Chatham-Kent in a Volkswagen Beetle with a Kraft Hockeyville logo on the side. This contest means that much to him. Why? Well, Speaker, Chad was born with a fine motor skills disability, but he has refused to give up on his dream. Recently, he was quoted in the newspaper saying, “We’re going to have the best huge party at Memorial arena. Oh, yeah. We’ll be live on Hockey Night in Canada—that will be totally amazing. We’re going to rock Chatham-Kent.”

So let’s get behind Chad and the organizers who made this possible. We’ve come this far. Now let’s bring Hockeyville to Chatham-Kent. So go to www.KHV2015.ca to vote for Chatham-Kent today. The deadline is tonight, so vote now and vote often. If we win, I personally invite everyone to the biggest party on April 4 at Chatham Memorial Arena.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. Far be it from me to interrupt a rant.

Automotive industry

Ms. Jennifer K. French: I’m proud to stand in this House and represent the people of Oshawa. Today, I’d like to say that General Motors has been building cars in Oshawa for over a century, but in spite of our strong history, the future remains uncertain.

This morning, Unifor released an independent study on the significance of General Motors to my community in Oshawa, and the impact the province would feel in the event of a closure. It was not a surprise to hear that the result would be devastating.

According to the report, Ontario would experience a loss of 30,000 jobs and our GDP would decline by more than $5 billion. As the government scrambles to sell our public assets to pay for election promises, another $1 billion would disappear from their revenue stream.

The Liberal government cannot continue to sit on its hands and wait. Ontario’s automotive industry boasts state-of-the-art technology and innovation, and a skilled workforce that is rivalled by none. But it is the government’s job to make sure these advantages are not overlooked. When the industry is considering where they want to build a new plant, we need to put ourselves in the best possible position to secure that investment.

In my riding, I’ve heard from auto workers concerned that their jobs are at risk, pensioners worried about their retirement security and small business owners afraid for the ripple effects in our local economy. I ask that the government take these concerns seriously and adopt a comprehensive automotive strategy to help put my community in Oshawa and others across Ontario at ease.

Plein Air Ensemble

Mrs. Marie-France Lalonde: I would like to talk about a great event that I went to in my riding of Ottawa–Orléans last week. The event was one to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Plein Air Ensemble.

Twenty-five years ago, three artist friends, Pierrette Dulude-Bohay, Charles Spratt and Andrew Lyall, organized the first painting trip to teach students outdoor painting. Nobody would have guessed at that point that this small group would grow continuously. The group’s aim is to capture the beauty of the landscape while fostering friendships among the artists.

Today, the group has about 75 members, with about 15 to 20 taking

part in each trip. Most of the artists come from the Ottawa-Gatineau region. Each year, they plan a spring and a fall trip to different destinations.

During this exhibition in Orléans, 21 of the Plein Air Ensemble members showed works from different trips. The show highlighted the wonderful talent and diversity of this group of artists. I saw many fine artworks in oil, acrylic, watercolours and pastel.

I would like to recognize the event organizers, Kerstin Peters and Hélène Martin, for their outstanding work on the event and the many more to come.

Government’s record

Mr. Ernie Hardeman: I’m pleased to rise to report the results of my recent newsletter survey. I want to thank the hundreds of people who took the time to respond and share their concerns. Mr. Speaker, one of the biggest concerns continues to be the proposal to locate a landfill on fractured bedrock near the Thames River, which would put our drinking water at risk.

One of the other major concerns is wind turbines. People are concerned about the impacts on their health and their community, and the safety at nearby airports. Ninety-three per cent of the people who responded said municipalities should have a say in where wind turbines are located.

When I read the responses, I’m always struck by the impact of this government’s policies, and how difficult they are making it for people to make ends meet. Forty-nine per cent of the respondents said that their hydro bills had increased by 20% to 50% over the last 10 years, and 30% said their hydro bills had increased by more than 50%. People are doing everything they can to keep costs down, but the increases are staggering.

This government is now proposing to charge them for a pension plan. It’s not that they don’t want more retirement income; it’s that they can’t afford this government’s proposal. Seventy-eight per cent of residents said they can’t afford to pay 1.9% of their income into the proposed pension program. These are the numbers that government needs to consider before they push ahead.

Again, I want to thank everyone who took the time to respond so I can continue to raise their concerns here in the Legislature.

Waterloo Region Community Legal Services

Ms. Daiene Vernile: Recently, I had the opportunity to drop in on Waterloo Region Community Legal Services. This is a non-profit agency under Legal Aid Ontario. Executive director Shannon Down told me that her mandate is to provide access to legal services for people and groups facing financial barriers when trying to seek legal counsel.

In my riding of Kitchener Centre, I often meet with constituents who have benefited from the legal clinic with issues such as social assistance and disability appeals, Landlord and Tenant Board cases, and workplace safety and insurance claims.

The clinic is especially important to new Canadians, who may not have a full grasp of our official languages. They’re often vulnerable and lacking in understanding of our legal system. They don’t always know their rights.

After more than 25 years, our community legal clinic continues to provide vital access to the legal process for those who might otherwise be underserved or excluded.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank the dedicated service providers of legal clinics across Ontario who fulfill this very important mission every day.

Holi Gala fundraiser

Ms. Harinder Malhi: On Friday, I had the pleasure of attending the William Osler Health System Foundation’s second annual Holi Gala fundraiser. This spectacular community event took place to celebrate Holi, which is traditionally celebrated by members of the Hindu faith. The festival is known as the festival of colours and the festival of love. As such, the festival has grown to become popular among Indians and Canadians of all faiths and backgrounds.

On this evening, the Grand Empire convention centre was alight with colours, as over 700 guests, including members of all three levels of government, were in attendance to partake in an evening full of fun, food and dance. There were performances by magicians, dance teams and world-renowned singers Nindy Kaur and Manj Musik, as well as acting sensation Vinay Virmani.

Through sponsorships, donations, auctions and raffles, the organizers were able to raise a remarkable $150,000 for redevelopment initiatives at all three Osler locations, as well as equipment needs at the Brampton Civic Hospital, which is in my riding.

As a direct result of the proceeds from this event, members of our community will have greater access to the services they require in their hospitals and health care facilities.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the organizers, volunteers, board members, doctors, nurses and all the staff, as well as William Osler’s president and CEO, Matt Anderson, for all the work they continue to do for our community.

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

It is now time for introduction of bills. The member from Nickel Belt.

M me France Gélinas: Today is the second anniversary of the passing of MPP Peter Kormos. I thought, to think of Mr. Kormos a little bit, I would introduce a bill that he would introduce every time.

Introduction of Bills

Labour Relations Amendment Act (Strike and Lock-Out Information), 2015 / Loi de 2015 modifiant la

Loi sur les relations de travail (renseignements sur les grèves et les lockouts)

Mme Gélinas moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 83,

An Act to amend the Labour Relations Act, 1995 with respect to information relating to strikes and lock-outs / Projet de loi 83, Loi modifiant la Loi de 1995 sur les relations de travail en ce qui concerne les renseignements sur les grèves et les lockouts.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.

First reading agreed to.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member for a short statement, which is where she should have done her

preamble.

M me France Gélinas: Sorry. I messed up a bit there. I’ll try to make amends.

Peter Kormos passed two years ago. The anti-scab legislation is something that he would bring on the docket at every Parliament, so I thought I would continue with the bill to amend the Labour Relations Act to require employers to provide information regarding the use of replacement workers—or scabs, as Peter would call them—in the event of strikes or lockouts, to the minister. The minister is required to publish this information that he receives.

For the USW members on strike at Crown for the last 19 months, this is for you.

Trillium Gift of Life Network Amendment Act, 2015 / Loi de 2015 modifiant la

Loi sur le Réseau Trillium pour le don de vie

Mme Gélinas moved first reading of the following bill:

Bill 84,

An Act to amend the Trillium Gift of Life Network Act / Projet de loi 84, Loi visant à modifier la

Loi sur le Réseau Trillium pour le don de vie.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.

First reading agreed to.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member for a short statement.

M me France Gélinas: Today being the second anniversary of Peter Kormos’s death, I thought I would introduce two bills that were dear to him. This one has to do with assumed consent. There wasn’t a bigger champion in Ontario of organ donation than Peter Kormos. He tried for a long time to get this bill to go through. He would joke that he had tattooed on his stomach, and threatened to show me, which I didn’t want to see, “Take these organs if need be.”

Basically, what the bill does is, it brings assumed consent so that everybody would be assumed to be willing organ donors unless they made it clear that they are not.

This is something that I fully support, and this is something that Peter pushed for a long time.

Petitions

Off-road vehicles

Mr. Bill Walker: “To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas it has been over a decade since regulation 316/03 of the Highway Traffic Act has been updated to recognize new classes of off-road vehicles and a motion to do so passed on November 7, 2013, with unanimous support of the provincial Legislature;

“Whereas owners of two-up ATVs and side-by-side UTVs deserve clarity in knowing which roadways and trails are legal for use of these off-road vehicles; and

“Whereas owners should be able to legally use their vehicles to access woodlots, trails and hunting and fishing destinations;

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

“That private member’s Bill 58, which seeks to update the Highway Traffic Act to include new classes of all-terrain and utility task vehicles, receive swift passage through the Legislature.”

I fully support it and sign my name and send it with page Ian.

Water fluoridation

Mr. Bob Delaney: I have a petition addressed to the Ontario Legislative Assembly entitled “Fluoridate All Ontario Drinking Water,” and it reads as follows:

“Whereas fluoride is a mineral that exists naturally in virtually all water supplies, even the ocean; and

“Whereas scientific studies conducted during the past 70 years have consistently shown that the fluoridation of community water supplies is a safe and effective means of preventing dental decay, and is a public health measure endorsed by more than 90 national and international health organizations; and

“Whereas dental decay is the second-most frequent condition suffered by children, and is one of the leading causes of absences from school; and

“Whereas Health Canada has determined that the optimal concentration of fluoride in municipal drinking water for dental health is 0.7 mg/L, providing optimal dental health benefits, and well below the maximum acceptable concentrations; and

“Whereas the decision to add fluoride to municipal drinking water is a patchwork of individual choices across Ontario, with municipal councils often vulnerable to the influence of misinformation, and studies of questionable or no scientific merit;

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

“That the ministries of the government of Ontario adopt the number one recommendation made by the Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health in a 2012 report on oral health in Ontario, and amend all applicable legislation and regulations to make the fluoridation of municipal drinking water mandatory in all municipal water systems across the province of Ontario.”

I’m pleased to sign and support this petition and to send it down with page Max.

Winter road maintenance

Mr. Norm Miller: I have petitions that support improved winter road maintenance with another 250 signatures. I note that one is Tony Clement, the federal member for Parry Sound–Muskoka, who signed this as well. It reads:

“Whereas the area maintenance contract system has failed Ontario drivers the past two winters;

“Whereas unsafe conditions led to the maintenance contractor being fined in the winter of 2013-14, as well as leading to a special investigation by the provincial Auditor General;

“Whereas the managed outsourcing system for winter roads maintenance, where the private contractor is responsible for maintenance, but MTO patrols the region and directs the contractor on the deployment of vehicles, sand and salt, has a proven track record for removing snow and ensuring that Ontario’s highways are safe for travellers;

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

“That the Ontario Ministry of Transportation take immediate action to improve the maintenance of winter roads based on the positive benefits of the previous delivery model, where MTO plays more of a role in directing the private contractor.”

I support this petition and will give it to Jade.

Employment standards

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

“Whereas there are an estimated 100,000 to 300,000 unpaid internships in Canada each year; and

“Whereas youth unemployment in Ontario is over 15%; and

“Whereas the Ontario Ministry of Labour is not adequately enforcing the laws on unpaid internships;

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

“

(1) Proactively enforce the law on unpaid internships;

“

(2) Engage in an educational campaign to inform students, youth, employers, educational institutions and the general public of the laws surrounding unpaid internships; and

“

(3) Undertake a comprehensive review of the current laws surrounding unpaid internships in Ontario.”

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

Legal aid

Mr. Arthur Potts: I have a petition entitled “Population-Based Legal Services Funding.”

“Whereas Mississauga Community Legal Services provides free legal services to legal aid clients within a community of nearly 800,000 population; and

“Whereas legal services in communities like Toronto and Hamilton serve, per capita, fewer people living in poverty, are better staffed and better funded; and

“Whereas Mississauga and Brampton have made progress in having Ontario provide funding for human services on a fair and equitable, population-based model;

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

“That the Ministry of the Attorney General revise the current distribution of allocated funds in the 2012-13 budget, and adopt a population-based model, factoring in population growth rates to ensure Ontario funds are allocated in an efficient, fair and effective manner.”

I agree with the petition, sign my name and leave it with page Ranen.

Hydro rates

Ms. Sylvia Jones: This petition is to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

“Whereas household electricity bills have skyrocketed by 56% and electricity rates have tripled as a result of the Liberal government’s mismanagement of the energy sector;

“Whereas the billion-dollar gas plants cancellation, wasteful and unaccountable spending at Ontario Power Generation and the unaffordable subsidies in the Green Energy Act will result in electricity bills climbing by another 35% by 2017 and 45% by 2020; and

“Whereas the Liberal government has wasted $2 billion on the flawed smart meter program; and

“Whereas the recent announcement to implement the Ontario Electricity Support Program will see average household hydro bills increase an additional $137 per year starting in 2016; and

“Whereas the soaring cost of electricity is straining family budgets, and hurting the ability of manufacturers and small businesses in the province to compete and create new jobs; and

“Whereas home heating and electricity are a necessity for families in Ontario who cannot afford to continue footing the bill for the government’s mismanagement of the energy sector;

“Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to immediately implement policies ensuring Ontario’s power consumers, including families, farmers and employers, have affordable and reliable electricity.”

All of these petitions were collected this weekend at the home show. I’m pleased to affix my name to it and give it to page Cameron to take to the table.

Privatization of public assets

Miss Monique Taylor: I have this petition named “Ontario Is Not for Sale.”

“Whereas the Liberal government of Ontario is currently reviewing proposals to sell off a significant amount of our shared public assets such as Ontario Power Generation (OPG), Hydro One, and the Liquor Control Board of Ontario (LCBO); and

“Whereas our shared public assets provide more affordable hydro, develop environmentally friendly energy, create thousands of good Ontario jobs, and are accountable to all Ontarians; and

“Whereas our shared public assets put money in the public bank account so we can invest in hospitals, roads and schools; and

“Whereas this Liberal government is more interested in helping out wealthy shareholders and investors than they are in the hard-working Ontarians who are building this province; and

“Whereas Ontario is stronger when there is shared prosperity;

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

“Stop the selling off of our shared public assets. Keep our public assets in public hands.”

I couldn’t agree with this more. I’m going to put my name on it and give it to page Emma to bring to the Clerk.

Student safety

Mrs. Cristina Martins: It’s my pleasure to rise this afternoon to read this petition addressed to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

“Whereas there are no mandatory requirements for teachers and school volunteers to have completed CPR training in Ontario;

“Whereas the primary responsibility for the care and safety of students rests with each school board and its employees;

“Whereas the safety of children in elementary schools in Ontario should be paramount;

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

“To work in conjunction with all Ontario school boards to ensure that adequate CPR training is available to school employees and volunteers.”

I could not agree any more with this petition. I’m going to sign it and give it to page Alycia to bring to the table.

Taxation

Mr. Steve Clark: I have a petition to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

“Whereas the Liberal government has indicated they plan to introduce a new carbon tax in 2015; and

“Whereas Ontario taxpayers have already been burdened with a health tax of $300 to $900 per person that doesn’t necessarily go into health care, a $2-billion smart meter program that failed to conserve energy, and households are paying almost $700 more annually for unaffordable subsidies under the Green Energy Act; and

“Whereas a carbon tax scheme increases the cost of everyday goods including gasoline and home heating; and

“Whereas the government continues to run unaffordable deficits without a plan to reduce spending while collecting $30 billion more annually in tax revenues than 11 years ago; and

“Whereas the aforementioned points lead to the conclusion that the government is seeking justification to raise taxes to pay for their excessive spending, without accomplishing any concrete targets;”

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

“To abandon the idea of introducing yet another unaffordable and ineffective tax on Ontario families and businesses.”

I’m pleased to affix my signature in support. I’ll send it to the table with page Kari.

Hospital services

Mrs. Lisa Gretzky: “To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“We request that the Legislative Assembly of Ontario keep the obstetrics unit open at Leamington District Memorial Hospital.”

I wholeheartedly support this petition, will sign my name to it and give it page Cynthia.

Credit unions

Mrs. Cristina Martins: It gives me pleasure to rise here once again this afternoon and read this petition addressed to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas Credit Unions of Ontario support our 1.3 million members across Ontario through loans to small businesses to start up, grow and create jobs, help families to buy homes and assist their communities with charitable investments and volunteering; and

“Whereas Credit Unions of Ontario want a level playing field so they can provide the same service to our members as other financial institutions and promote economic growth without relying on taxpayers’ resources;

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

“Support the strength and growth of credit unions to support the strength and growth of Ontario’s economy and create jobs in three ways:

“—maintain current credit union provincial tax rates;

“—show confidence in Ontario credit unions by increasing credit union-funded deposit insurance limits to a minimum of $250,000;

“—allow credit unions to diversify by allowing Ontario credit unions to own 100% of subsidiaries.”

I agree with this petition. I’m going to affix my name and send it to the table with page Luc.

Taxation

Mr. Bill Walker: “To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:

“Whereas the government has indicated they plan on introducing a new carbon tax in 2015; and

“Whereas Ontario taxpayers have already been burdened with a health tax of $300 to $900 per person that doesn’t necessarily go into health care, a $2-billion smart meter program that failed to conserve energy, and households are paying almost $700 more annually for unaffordable subsidies under the Green Energy Act; and

“Whereas a carbon tax scheme would increase the cost of everyday goods including gasoline and home heating; and

“Whereas the government continues to run unaffordable deficits without a plan to reduce spending while collecting $30 billion more annually in tax revenues than 11 years ago; and

“Whereas the aforementioned points lead to the conclusion that the government is seeking justification to raise taxes to pay for their excessive spending, without accomplishing any concrete targets;

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

“To abandon the idea of introducing yet another unaffordable and ineffective tax on Ontario families and businesses.”

I fully support this, will affix my name and send it with page Max.

Gasoline prices

M me France Gélinas: I have this petition that was collected by Madame Diane Huard from Val Caron, in my riding. It reads as follows:

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

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

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

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

“We ... petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:

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

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

Credit unions

Ms. Harinder Malhi: This petition is addressed to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.

“Whereas Credit Unions of Ontario support our 1.3 million members across Ontario through loans to small businesses to start up, grow and create jobs, help families to buy homes and assist their communities with charitable investments and volunteering; and

“Whereas Credit Unions of Ontario want a level playing field so they can provide the same service to our members as other financial institutions and promote economic growth without relying on taxpayers’ resources;

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

“Support the strength and growth of credit unions to support the strength and growth of Ontario’s economy and create jobs in three ways:

“—maintain current credit union provincial tax rates;

“—show confidence in Ontario credit unions by increasing credit union-funded deposit insurance limits to a minimum of $250,000;

“—allow credit unions to diversify by allowing Ontario credit unions to own 100% of subsidiaries.”

I’ll sign this petition and give it to page Caleb.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Ted Arnott): That completes our time for petitions this afternoon.

Orders of the Day

Making Healthier Choices Act, 2015 / Loi de 2015 pour des choix plus sains

Resuming the debate adjourned on March 25, 2015, on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 45,

An Act to enhance public health by enacting the Healthy Menu Choices Act, 2015 and the Electronic Cigarettes Act, 2015 and by amending the Smoke-Free Ontario Act / Projet de loi 45, Loi visant à améliorer la santé publique par l’édiction de la Loi de 2015 pour des choix santé dans les menus et de la Loi de 2015 sur les cigarettes électroniques et la modification de la Loi favorisant un Ontario sans fumée.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Ted Arnott): When we last debated Bill 45 at second reading, the member for Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry had the floor. I recognize the member for Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry.

Mr. Jim McDonell: Thank you, Speaker. My last discussion was talking about, of course, the healthy foods part of it and the need for calorie numbering, which I agree with. I had some discussion, really, about a failed policy with this government: how we’re not seeing the results we’re hoping for. I’ve been talking with a number of teachers—I’ve got three in my own family, and certainly with a number of neighbours and friends. Really, it has to be more of a package.

If we’re really going to have an impact—and again, I urge the government to go back to the science—we need the addition of exercise to be part of this whole program. I hear many times about the need for exercise—so many minutes a day—but so far, I believe it’s only a required one course in a four-year program in high school now for physical education, and that includes health. So I think instead of concentrating on some of the glamorous titles and issues, it really gets back to basics. Part of it is how to eat, but the other

part is how to really blend your diet with your exercise. I hope this government will look at that, and maybe we can make some changes.

Next up—while we’re talking on failed policies—is the cigarette policy. We aren’t seeing appreciable improvements with our smoking rates when it comes to our children. Of course, there couldn’t be any more information available as to the negative aspects of smoking. In my riding of Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry, we’re probably the hardest hit in this province when it comes to contraband cigarettes. A study done at a couple of local high schools showed that up to 90% of the cigarette butts—they pick up the butts and they review just where they’re from—are contraband.

So I see that part of the practice is to go out and beat up our local grocery stores and convenience stores. Really, they’re beating up the wrong people. They should be going around beating up the criminals who are out there who are selling—this is important tax revenue that the government is missing. Instead of talking about a new carbon tax, we could look at trying to recoup some of the taxes we’re losing.

There are a couple of things that could certainly help, and one is—in my riding, I think most people think it’s illegal to smoke if you’re under 19, but of course, it’s not. I’m not sure why you would make it illegal to sell to minors but you wouldn’t make it illegal to smoke, as we do with alcohol. If you really want to have an impact, I think that would be a big part of it, instead of the current practice of sending our tobacco police out and seeing if they happen to step off the sidewalk in their approved smoking areas.

There was a case at one of the local high schools where they had a glass front. The smoking officer used to sit inside the staff room, and if they noticed somebody step off the sidewalk—and you can imagine 20 students in an area on a four-foot sidewalk, and the fooling around that goes on—they ran out and they charged them with an offence: for smoking on school property. The whole idea that if it’s bad for you—I think the public expects that it is illegal at that age. Really, if you’re going to have some impact, I think that’s the other part of it.

I just want to recount a conversation I had with one of the local high school principals. He was talking about when they used to allow them to smoke on school property. He said, “I used to be able to go out and monitor who was actually there in the group.” Now he says, “They’re out on private property. I see people out there buying illegal cigarettes. I see them buying drugs. I go out there and I try to use my influence to shoo the bad guys off. But they can just say, ‘No, it’s private property. Buzz off.’”

That’s what we’re seeing. We’re giving this illegal drug trade, the illegal contraband trade, a place to actually go, and they know they’re going to have a market of 10 or 15 kids any time of the day.

I can go by one of the schools out in the country—back on Highway 43, we have a couple of them. The nearest village is five miles away, and yet there are 20 people out on the roadway smoking—access to anybody who wants to stop. That whole philosophy of gathering a group together—it becomes a cool place to be.

We’re seeing the results: It’s just not working. It’s interesting when you talk about the contraband. Some studies show it’s up between 15% and 30%, and it could get worse.

Here’s a letter that was sent to me. It says:

“Dear members of provincial Parliament,

“As part of my pre-budget presentation to the finance committee last week, I presented some new public opinion data (commissioned by the Ontario Convenience Stores Association) on illegal tobacco, including data on the proposed ban on flavoured tobacco products which includes a menthol tobacco ban.

“The survey provides substantial evidence that a flavoured tobacco ban and/or tax increase would drive tobacco users to illegal tobacco sources. Our retailers are concerned that the cost of the flavour ban legislation will be greater than the benefits of this policy....”

“We are also supporting a tougher stance on youth tobacco consumption—one that is supported by a majority of Ontarians. Our retailers feel it is important to share this data with you so that, as decision-makers, you have all of the necessary information in evaluating the potential consequences of this bill.

“Here’s what a survey of 1,500 Ontarians (including 1,000 tobacco users) had to say ...

“Two thirds of respondents felt that contraband tobacco was either a major or minor problem.

“But, a large proportion of tobacco users still admit to purchasing untaxed tobacco products illegally: one quarter of tobacco users admit to purchasing” contraband cigarettes, “and 69% would consider doing so.

“Banning a product, such as menthol, will not decrease its attractiveness: 43% of tobacco users said they would find the banned product somewhere else.

“Seventy per cent of tobacco users said they would consider buying untaxed tobacco if there were another tax increase on legal tobacco products.

“A plurality of Ontarians (including non-smokers) believe that raising taxes on tobacco products will increase the use of contraband tobacco....

“Most Ontarians (89%) mistakenly think that it is illegal for minors to purchase tobacco in Ontario. While it is illegal for a retailer to sell to a minor, it is not illegal for the minor to purchase it.”

I think that’s a problem. We look at minors coming into stores and providing false IDs, and there’s no issue around that, but they march all over the private store owners.

Another study we have: “Study Shows One in Four Minors Leave LCBO Stores with Booze; One in Five from the Beer Store; Convenience Stores Best at Testing for Age.

“May 30, 2011—Toronto—An independent study of LCBO, the Beer Store and convenience stores has shown that the LCBO fares poorly when it comes to checking minors for age. The study, conducted by independent research firm Statopex Field Marketing on behalf of the Ontario Convenience Stores Association, used two groups of secret shoppers, minors aged 15-18 and young adults aged 19-24, to randomly test retailers on how well they check for age....

“When tested with underage secret shoppers (age 15-18), convenience stores scored the highest with an 87.3% pass rate, the Beer Store next with 80.7% and LCBO last with 74.6%—meaning one in four minors successfully purchased age-restricted products from LCBO, and one in five from the Beer Store—compared to one in eight for convenience stores.

“Testing with young adult secret shoppers near the age of majority (age 19-24) revealed that convenience stores once again scored highest with a 73.3% pass rate ... and the LCBO once again came in last with 40.5%.”

That’s some of the science they’re using to try to ban this, but they’re going after the little guy. They’re not going after the government-sponsored stores, where the failure rate is drastically higher—and again, I guess I would support this.

I had a daughter who worked in one of these convenience stores. Of course, she had a little bit of a different slant on it. She wouldn’t sell cigarettes to her friends, even when she knew they were 19, because she didn’t like them smoking. So they would come in and they were of age, but they would have to go elsewhere.

But she used to talk about some of the shoppers who would come in and catch some of the—you know, generally, these are students; it’s likely their first job, some of them, 15 or 16 years old. There’s a car parked illegally outside with somebody in the car sending somebody in in a big panic and putting pressure on people to sell, or coming in with IDs that are doctored up so you really have to look at them carefully. Of course, they swoop in and charge them.

I was on the local health board, and of course I used to get these complaints. They used to bring them up, and I’d be assured that, of course, they have people who look like they’re 15 or who look like they are younger doing these test shoppings. It was interesting. One of the members on the health board was a former principal. He talked to me and he agreed that bylaw enforcement is not a pretty thing. But he said, “I take a little offence when you say that somebody’s looking 15.” And he said to a friend of his on the board, “Robbie, you know the person they’re talking about. Would you have dreamt that she was under 25? To say that she looked like she was 15 is a stretch.”

Those are the types of tricks we’re doing, but we’re not going into our own government stores that are scoring much worse. These people are really trying to do a good job, but the whole system is flawed. If you really want to have an impact, I think you have to start looking at making it illegal for minors to smoke and taking away their ability—you know, the get-out-of-jail-free zone where they can go off school property. You’re just enticing them to a safe place, and of course, you’re giving the people that are breaking the law a chance to go to them.

The other issue is on the menthol cigarettes. I think up to almost 50% of the population smokes menthol cigarettes. I don’t smoke, and I’ve never smoked, but certainly a lot of my family did smoke, and a lot of them have stopped. I think now, to go back and take those off the market—I mean, if it was easy to stop, people would stop. I’ve got letters here talking about that. Of course, as we mentioned before, it only means more people are going to buy illegal cigarettes. It’s not a proven way of trying to stop these people from smoking. I think that going the route they are won’t have the results.

It might be commendable to try these things, but if we know beforehand they aren’t going to work, maybe there’s a better way.

It’s the same with electronic cigarettes. I’ve got letters here from people. I’ve got one that’s addressed to Premier Wynne and Associate Minister of Health Damerla:

“My name is”—I won’t say it. “I am an ex-smoker and you’ve lost my vote. Twenty-one years ago I quit ... cold turkey. I was so miserable for three months my wife refused to quit ... and she held true to her word until about two years ago. She made the decision to try once again to quit smoking as we were walking through a mall in Ottawa and passed a vendor selling electronic cigarettes. She made a comment of how this might work for her so I bought her the first starter kit. I would love to say she quit instantly, however this is not the case.

She bounced back and forth between the cigarettes and her e-cig for the first year” or so. “Six months ago she had weaned herself down from a pack a day” to one or two cigarettes a day. “Now she does not smoke at all. She is breathing better, she has more energy, and is generally happier all round that she kicked her 20-plus-year pack-a-day habit. And Bill 45 will treat this product as a real cigarette?”

I know I just have a few seconds, but it talks about how they agree you shouldn’t be selling it to minors, but it’s a great tool, probably the best tool and maybe the only tool for most people to actually quit smoking. They caution the government on making them as illegal as a cigarette. They are vapour only. They don’t have smoke. I certainly encourage the government to rethink that.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Ted Arnott): Questions and comments?

M me France Gélinas: It was very interesting listening to the member from Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry. I will start by congratulating his daughter who put her job on the line to protect the health of her friends by refusing to sell them cigarettes when they came to her store.

It takes quite a bit of courage to do this, I can imagine—she was a young person herself—if her friends were in that bracket and she actually understood that if she kept young people from picking up smoking, then there was a good chance they wouldn’t become smokers and they wouldn’t have the outcomes that one out of two smokers face, which is that tobacco, used as directed, kills one out of two users. So congratulations to your daughter.

The same thing on his explanation of the bylaw enforcement by the health units: No, those are not glorifying jobs by any stretch of the imagination, but once we have regulation in place, it has to be enforced. Otherwise, it’s all for none. I know that 99% of convenience store owners and people who are allowed to sell tobacco do respect the bylaw, but in part, because we’re all human beings, knowing that there is somebody who is going to come and check up on you and knowing that the penalties are severe if you get caught helps to make sure that we continue to have 99% of the tobacco sellers respecting the bylaws.

Lastly, again, it takes a lot of bravery to stand in this House and say that he will support that not only minors be forbidden from purchasing tobacco, but also possessing and consuming it. I know that other provinces do this; we don’t in Ontario.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Ted Arnott): Questions and comments?

Hon. Jeff Leal: I want to thank the member from Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry for getting his thoughts on the record today with regard to Bill 45.

When it comes to Bill 45, I like to take direction on public health matters from my MOH in the riding of Peterborough, Dr. Rosana Pellizzari, MOH for the Peterborough County-City Health Unit. I meet with her on a very frequent basis. Recently, she brought to me a delegation of high school students from both the public high school system and the Catholic high school system in Peterborough. They certainly impressed upon me, working with the public health unit, that Bill 45 needs to be passed as we bring in other legislative measures to remove the scourge of smoking and the use of tobacco products in the province of Ontario.

I can’t comment on other communities across Ontario, but I can comment on LCBO employees and members of the United Food and Commercial Workers who work at the Beer Store in my riding of Peterborough. It is my experience—and I’ve chatted with these two employee groups on numerous occasions—how vigilant they are in asking people for identification and making sure that underaged individuals do not buy alcohol beverage products, particularly in my community of Peterborough.

These professional employees, whether it’s the LCBO or the Beer Store, know that the problem of drinking and driving and, in fact, diseases that are related to the excessive use of alcohol are a pressing public health concern, so I just want to recognize their very good efforts.

When it comes to labelling, labelling is very important. From a broader perspective, last Friday, I had the opportunity to attend the Foodland Ontario Retailer Awards. The message there is that everybody is looking at labels for healthy food in Ontario.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Ted Arnott): Questions and comments?

Mr. Bill Walker: I’m just going to start by offering a belated happy birthday greeting to my colleague from Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry. Jimmy celebrated a birthday during March break. Of course, we weren’t here, so just in case that got missed, I’d like to do that on behalf of our caucus.

He’s a great guy. He comes to work every day on behalf of the constituents of Stormont–Dundas–South Glengarry with a practical thought process. He does a great job of holding the government to account. He brings lots of ideas that can improve their legislation, and there was no change today with this piece of legislation.

What he talked about today was failed policy—he has three teachers in his family—particularly with regard to physical activity in high schools; it should be mandatory. It doesn’t have to be a sport, necessarily, but something to keep people active and fit, because a good, healthy diet and exercise are the best ways to ensure that people have good health and stay out of our hospitals.

He raised a really good point—again, a failed policy—with regard to where they’re going with smoking. Like him, I’ve never smoked. The difference with me is my two brothers, Norm and Gord, are quite a bit older than me. When I was five years old, they forced me to have a cigarette, then they forced me to have a pipe and then they forced me to have a cigar, and it was not good. The colour of these chairs might give you an idea of what happened. I’m not necessarily promoting it for everyone else out there, but I’ll tell you, it worked like a charm for me. I’ve never smoked a day since and never will.

He raised a really valuable point in regard to—we make it illegal for people to not have cigarettes, but we don’t for youth. So they can’t have them, but they can consume them, and they can actually probably sell them if they so choose. I think there’s a real opportunity, if we really want to get to the heart of this, to do it.

We also need to be addressing the contraband. He talked about menthol cigarettes as well as e-cigarettes. The people that can’t get them through the legal way don’t necessarily stop smoking if we ban them; they just go to the illegal—which, again, we’re losing out on tax revenue. More importantly, that health is still declining, and we’re promoting more and more that bad habit of smoking.

We’ve also been approached by people about smoking cessation. Sometimes these products help people to actually stop smoking. I had one of my vendors in my riding on the weekend approach me on this. We need to look at and make sure we do balanced legislation to serve all of the people.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Ted Arnott): Questions and comments?

Miss Monique Taylor: I’m absolutely privileged, of course, to be able to stand in this House and speak on behalf of the residents of Hamilton Mountain—their thoughts on what they feel that G45 will bring to their lives.

I had my time to speak on this bill, and for quite a bit of my time I talked about healthy food and making sure