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September 27, 2017

41st Parliament, 2nd Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcripts 2017-Sep-27 (PDF)

L098 - Wed 27 Sep 2017 / Mer 27 sep 2017

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Wednesday 27 September 2017 Mercredi 27 septembre 2017

Orders of the Day

Building Better Communities and Conserving Watersheds Act, 2017 / Loi de 2017 visant à bâtir de meilleures collectivités et à protéger les bassins hydrographiques

Construction Lien Amendment Act, 2017 / Loi de 2017 modifiant la

Loi sur le privilège dans l’industrie de la construction

Introduction of Visitors

Wearing of buttons

Member’s birthday

Oral Questions

School facilities

Hydro rates

Health care funding

Health care funding

Air quality

Government advertising

Dementia care

Disaster relief

Road safety

Opioid abuse

Invictus Games

School facilities

Homelessness

Student achievement

Visitors

Notice of dissatisfaction

Deferred Votes

Building Better Communities and Conserving Watersheds Act, 2017 / Loi de 2017 visant à bâtir de meilleures collectivités et à protéger les bassins hydrographiques

Introduction of Visitors

Members’ Statements

Sir Sandford Fleming College

Services for adults with disabilities

Canada-India joint stamp issue

Highway improvement

Taxation

Newcomer Kitchen

Dairy farmers

Armenian Independence Day

Public participation

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills

Introduction of Bills

Simcoe Day Act, 2017 / Loi de 2017 sur le Jour de Simcoe

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

Motions

Private members’ public business

Adjournment debate

Petitions

Hospital funding

Highway improvement

Employment standards

GO Transit

Energy storage

Environmental protection

Bruce Power

Alzheimer’s disease

Employment standards

School bus safety

Water fluoridation

Orders of the Day

Cutting Unnecessary Red Tape Act, 2017 / Loi de 2017 visant à réduire les formalités administratives inutiles

The House met at 0900.

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

Prayers.

Orders of the Day

Building Better Communities and Conserving Watersheds Act, 2017 / Loi de 2017 visant à bâtir de meilleures collectivités et à protéger les bassins hydrographiques

Resuming the debate adjourned on September 26, 2017, on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 139,

An Act to enact the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal Act, 2017 and the Local Planning Appeal Support Centre Act, 2017 and to amend the Planning Act, the Conservation Authorities Act and various other Acts / Projet de loi 139, Loi édictant la Loi de 2017 sur le Tribunal d’appel de l’aménagement local et la Loi de 2017 sur le Centre d’assistance pour les appels en matière d’aménagement local et modifiant la

Loi sur l’aménagement du territoire, la

Loi sur les offices de protection de la nature et diverses autres lois.

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

Mr. Lorne Coe: Like many in the Legislature, I come from a background of serving as a regional councillor, for the better part of 13 years. Eleven of that was as the chair of the planning and development committee.

Bill 139, the Building Better Communities and Conserving Watersheds Act, 2017, if passed, will clearly fundamentally change Ontario’s planning and appeals process. This bill proposes changes to several pieces of legislation, including the Planning Act, the City of Toronto Act, the Ontario Planning and Development Act and the Conservation Authorities Act. Finally, it would also replace the Ontario Municipal Board with a newly titled Local Planning Appeal Tribunal.

Speaker, I intend to speak to the proposed sections of this bill that deal with official plan policies and the Ontario Municipal Board reforms. The proposed changes included are significant, and we should not underestimate the task of transitioning from the Ontario Municipal Board regime to a Local Planning Appeal Tribunal.

One of the central components of Bill 139 is that it seeks to introduce new official plan policies to the Planning Act. These new policies would align with separate new policies in the provincial growth plan and require all municipalities to include in their official plans climate change policies and “may include policies that identify the area surrounding and including an existing or planned higher-order transit station or stop as a protected major transit station area....”

Now, provincial plans generally use purposefully broad language and directions in conjunction with other provincial planning policy statements. However, Speaker, there have been substantial changes made to provincial plans that you’re familiar with, through other recent coordinated provincial reviews.

Given that the test for the success or failure of an appeal under the proposed Local Planning Appeal Tribunal will be judged based on how the case conforms to provincial plans and, by extension, municipal plans, much greater definition in the details and guidelines are necessary to distinguish what constitutes conformity to provincial plans. For example, there is a significant lack of detailed guidelines for the measurement and achievement of density targets around major transit station areas. How are climate change policies going to be implemented by regional, or single-tier, municipalities, juxtaposed to how these policies may impact the lower-tier municipalities?

Because there is a lack of detail in the form of policy or guidelines, it will be challenging for the proposed tribunal to establish and refer to precedents during the resolution of particular issues that are under appeal. I would add, Speaker, that any transition policies, regulations or directives are not currently available to review, so it’s difficult for municipalities to ascertain the full impact of Bill 139’s proposed changes to the land use planning system.

However, what is clear is that if Bill 139 is passed in its current form, significant changes to the planning and development system in Ontario will result. For example, there will likely be a lengthy transition period where some matters currently under resolution by the Ontario Municipal Board regime will continue to be so, while new matters will be considered under the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal regime. But there is also concern about how individual appeals will be treated, specifically under the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal.

Because provincial plans are deliberately broad in language and oftentimes do not provide a sufficient level of detail, it will be further challenging to measure an appeal’s consistency to its requisite provincial plan. Municipalities—of which I have eight in Durham region—which will benefit from significant transit investments, such as Toronto or other municipalities in the Greater Golden Horseshoe, have to grapple with the measures in Bill 139 that relate to height and density of major transit station areas.

This raises a challenging question on transit stops and major transit station areas in municipalities throughout Ontario. For example, will all transit stations meet the definition in the growth plan and the Planning Act of “higher-order transit”?

Speaker, in answering that question, what methodology will be used? It’s not evident when you read the legislation. How will the methodology assess existing versus proposed future development of major transit station areas? Again, it’s not evident in the reading of the legislation, particularly with regard to height and density. I’m especially curious as to how municipalities will issue guidelines for the measurement and achievement of density targets in areas surrounding major transit stations. There simply aren’t any guidelines in the existing legislation.

Now, in the region of Durham, the planning community and councils are concerned about some specific issues that they feel will affect them more greatly. For example, knowing that a council must base their decisions on conforming to a provincial plan, municipal plan or other related policy, how can a council make a decision without the fear or, conversely, the protection of an appeal to the Ontario Municipal Board or Local Planning Appeal Tribunal?

If approvals and amendments made in the future are restricted from appeal once the new plans and policies are in force, how will the municipal consultation process for stakeholder engagement change as a result? The legislation is silent in that regard.

If there’s a backlog of files under the Ontario Municipal Board, what happens if these files no longer conform with the latest iteration of a growth plan? Again, the legislation is silent in that regard. In addition, both the planning community in Durham region and I are concerned that the details of the transition from the Ontario Municipal Board to the proposed Local Planning Appeal Tribunal have yet to be released—they haven’t been released yet. This is a critical issue which requires further consultation, alongside the timeline for transition and how existing appeals currently before the Ontario Municipal Board would be handled.

On a related point, the proposed measure in Bill 139 to create a Local Planning Appeal Support Centre lacks details regarding its implementation, in addition to the functions of the support centre such as its location, the timing for its establishment and the eligibility of support services. In order to ensure that there’s a meaningful participation in the appeal process, it’s absolutely crucial that this support centre receive adequate resourcing.

In closing, Speaker, if approved as it’s currently printed, Bill 139 represents a significant change—a significant change—to the planning and development process that you and many others in this Legislature who have served with distinction on municipal councils are well familiar with, in the way the land use planning industry operates.

The successful passage of this bill will fundamentally alter, for several years and beyond, how all of the stakeholders in the planning, development and conservation sectors interact with each other. As such, all those who will be directly or indirectly affected by Bill 139 would no doubt benefit from some additional time to consider this bill and all of the complexities contained within.

We know from our experience here in this Legislature that when you have a very complex piece of legislation that takes into effect close to 18 different pieces of legislation, the best result is when you extend the consultation period related to this piece of legislation. I, as a member of the Ontario Progressive Conservative caucus, certainly look forward to a continuation of the robust consultation that’s necessary on Bill 139.

Thank you for the opportunity, Speaker, to speak on this legislation today.

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

Mr. Taras Natyshak: I’m pleased to join the debate this morning and I appreciate the comments from our colleague the member from Whitby–Oshawa.

I was part of the debate last night. It was more like a discussion; it was quite refreshing. I think that type of discussion lends itself quite well to creating a better bill.

I heard questions around—of course, the consensus in the room, I think, is that most definitely reforms to the Ontario Municipal Board need to happen. The powers that they hold over municipalities when it comes to interfering with their official plans are something that municipalities don’t want and certainly have fought against.

Proper planning is integral to the creation of liveable communities, and it’s evident by the discussion that we heard on this bill last night and this morning.

I was particularly happy to learn some things. I learned last night that the member from John Yakabuski’s riding—

Mr. Michael Mantha: Renfrew-Nipissing.

Mr. Taras Natyshak: That one—doesn’t have a conservation authority in his riding. That’s interesting; I learned that last night.

I learned that the member from—jeez, I should get my list out—Lanark–Frontenac–Lennox and Addington had some concerns around the powers of conservation authorities to do inspections without a warrant.

Now, I have had some experience with conservation authorities in my riding. They were incredibly helpful. They went onto my property to assess the changes and the work that was required. I don’t think they need a warrant, especially if their jurisdiction and the rules under their jurisdiction aren’t indictable offences. I’m not sure that the law requires someone to have a warrant in that type of scenario.

But there are questions that are out there and they certainly are valid questions. I think the more we debate and discuss, the better the bill will be.

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

Mr. Lorenzo Berardinetti: I listened carefully to the remarks from the member from Whitby–Oshawa. Our government supports this bill and wants to get it on to committee.

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

Mr. Todd Smith: It’s a pleasure to rise this morning to give a few thoughts on Bill 139 and the presentation from my friend from Whitby–Oshawa, Mr. Coe, who did serve a number of years on Whitby council and did an outstanding job representing his constituents on a number of different boards in Whitby, and obviously made a good impression on the folks in Whitby because he’s now our colleague here at Queen’s Park. We’re happy that he is because he brings a lot of experience when it comes to municipal planning and some of the challenges that they face, especially in a growing community like Whitby.

Whitby is a growing community. It’s one of those communities that’s probably only about five kilometres wide, but it’s quite long north-south, and there are a lot of intricacies there, going from the shores of Lake Ontario all the way up into farm country, into the Oak Ridges moraine. So it’s a very diverse riding, and he brings a lot of expertise when it comes to that.

This bill does contain some significant changes, and a lot of people will say that a lot of these changes are long overdue when it comes to land use planning. I know every municipality is different. Not just the geography of the land or the makeup of the land, but the way the community feels about planning is different in every community. I know I can say the same thing in Prince Edward–Hastings. There are communities in my riding that are very, very pro development, and then there are those that aren’t so pro; they want to see things stay the way that they are.

But planning, development, the conservation authorities and the reach of conservation authorities are all addressed in this bill, and I think, as the member from Essex just said, there has been a healthy debate and a very useful and educational debate on this subject so far, and I appreciate the fact that the member from Whitby–Oshawa brought his expertise to the table here today.

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

Mr. Peter Tabuns: Speaker, thank you for this opportunity to comment on the remarks from our colleague from Whitby–Oshawa. I think he touched on a lot of the difficulties that we’re going to see in this bill, a lot of ambiguities. Overall, I think it really is critical that the OMB be reformed; frankly, that it be taken apart and something be put in its place. I was pleased that he noted that in future, official plans are going to have to have policies regarding climate change. As we’ve seen in Windsor, there is no doubt that the impact on our cities—and rural areas—of a regime of much greater rainfall is going to have a huge impact on people’s lives.

But, Speaker—and I’ll get a chance later to enlarge on this—there’s an awful lot in this bill that is just being left up to regulation. I think we, as legislators, are going to have substantial questions about exactly what is going to happen and what is not going to happen, because we aren’t actually going to have the details of what has come forward put before us.

It’s unfortunate that this government took 14 years to act on this problem—14 years. Speaker, I’m not sure if it happens in your riding, but certainly in my riding many a time city planning decisions which are consistent with provincial policy statements have been completely overturned—ignored—by the OMB, so that we get decisions on development that don’t reflect the considered thought you need to build a community, make sure that it’s planned right and operates properly. So I don’t think there’s any question the OMB has to go.

The question all of us have is going to be, is there enough detail in this bill to understand what we’re really going to get in exchange? That’s the question before us.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): The member from Whitby–Oshawa has two minutes to respond.

Mr. Lorne Coe: I’d like to acknowledge the considered and well-put comments from the members from Essex, Scarborough Southwest, Toronto–Danforth and my esteemed colleague from Prince Edward–Hastings, in particular.

What’s clear, Speaker, as I look at this bill—and I read the legislation—is that there needs to be a commitment on the part of the province to work with local planners within the municipalities to discuss the application, as I indicated in my 10 minutes, of provincial interest as amendments to Bill 139 are processed. What’s clear within that context is that the provincial interest must be responsive to local circumstances—the member from Toronto–Danforth made this point—and there needs to be a shared understanding of how they are reflected in local planning documents, official plans and amendments.

The province needs to give a clear indication as we move forward of their priority or if the local council can choose among competing priorities.

I’d also like to recommend that the evaluation of the outcomes of the new tribunal process take place every two years to assess where improvements can be made. This is really a business-like approach to the planning exercise that’s been lacking and I think would bring a feature to the new tribunal that is not in place at the present time.

I think, in

summary, that the changes proposed in the bill, Speaker, bring out a more streamlined process with less administrative burden and clearly shorter timeframes. But, having said that, I’d like to emphasize that there’s still a need for additional consultation as we move forward to ensure that we get this right; after all, we’ve waited 14 years.

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

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: Speaker, I’m very proud to rise today to speak on this bill as the member from London–Fanshawe, living in London, on how important this is to the London Plan. I’m echoing some of what the members have said already about the need to establish the Local Planning Appeal Tribunal and implementing much-needed reforms to the OMB, something the Liberals have been promising, really, since 2003.

London is one of the first cities in the province to come together with an urban plan, and it’s the only plan currently sitting under the developer-friendly OMB awaiting approval. So it’s sitting under the old, existing legislation. The London Plan was a collaboration between the city council, community organizations and thousands of Londoners. The plan is the result of over 100 different meetings in the community, and imagines what the future of London will be in 2035. You can see how far out this plan goes.

The plan focuses on building the city upward and inward to protect vulnerable farmland, decrease our carbon footprint and make our city attractive for future investors. This approach to city planning will cut down on the cost of growth and urban sprawl. It is conducive to strong neighbourhood-building and is friendly to our vibrant seniors’ population. The plan, which was conceived over a two-year period, also aims to preserve our cultural heritage, protect the natural environment and make new use of the urban environment. So, you see, this plan is very comprehensive. It touches many areas of what a city should be like in 2035, those long-term goals.

The fate of the plan, however, of the London Plan—which has been meticulously laid out by thousands of Londoners—may rest in the hands of only a few if it isn’t allowed to transition and to be reviewed under the new rules laid out in this bill. The people involved in authoring the London Plan fear that the essence of the plan will be gutted if it’s left to be reviewed by the OMB. If left under the OMB for review, the original ideas for the plan may never see the light of day.

The government needs to start listening to municipalities and improving the hearing process. Promoting an atmosphere that’s focused on resolution and mediation, instead of fostering a climate of conflict like that of the OMB, is a key part of a healthier hearing process.

There are 42 complaints currently under the OMB and Londoners want to see their plan, which they have worked on so hard, be transitioned to the new system for review. People have been asking for a new system, something other than the archaic OMB, to be put in place, again, for 14 long years. But the transition must be real, a tangible one, and have substance.

The Local Planning Appeal Tribunal must live up to the terms defined in this bill, such as:

—improving the hearing process at the tribunal so that the possibility of settlement, resolution and mediation are the norm instead of the exception. That’s the good thing. That would take the conflict out of this OMB process that we have now;

—establishing a planning appeal support centre that provides affordable legal guidance at different stages of the appeals process: That’s also a good thing because it’s engaging the public, the person who doesn’t know how to get through the system and how to file that complaint and concern. This is a good step; it’s supporting them;

—access to plain-language summaries of available options. We all know that we need to have plain language when it comes to terms around specialized areas. Not everybody is a legal beagle, Speaker;

—reducing, or eliminating, the ability of the tribunal to overturn municipal decisions. That’s very important because we want to give the process meaning. If you go to this process and you’re expecting an outcome and all you know is that they’re just going to side with developers, then that doesn’t help decisions that are being made for the betterment of the community;

—giving municipalities greater control over local planning; and

—sheltering major planning decisions from appeal.

The city of London has created an initiative, called ReThink London, which will lay out the work of the official plan. So you see how in-depth London has put their thought into this plan; they’ve actually had a ReThink London group. Over 10,000 Londoners have participated in ReThink London. Those people come from a diverse range of backgrounds and represent the diversity of the city. So why should the survival of their grassroots plan be subject to the whims of the ancient OMB, a regulatory body that even the government admits must be dismantled?

ReThink London identifies eight key points that would make the London Plan a reality:

—fostering a prosperous city;

—connecting the region;

—building a mixed-use, compact city;

—providing transportation choices;

—building a greener city;

—supporting a culturally rich and diverse city;

—building strong and attractive neighbourhoods; and

—making wise planning decisions, careful management.

This government owes it to the 10,000 Londoners who have built this plan together to give them a chance to see it through.

A central part of the London Plan is to capitalize on the city’s culture. Through the ReThink process, Londoners identified several ways to culturally enrich the city through the London Plan, such as:

—creating more spaces for artists to create and showcase their work. I think that’s a great idea, Speaker, because we have so much talent in Ontario that we forget to showcase and brag about the work that we have in arts and culture;

—creating affordable, mixed-use spaces for both artists and residents. I think it’s a wonderful thing to bring art into our neighbourhoods and for people to experience that;

—investing in a downtown arts centre;

—better promoting London’s music scene; and

—designing more public spaces for better community interaction.

It was really important to Londoners, when they did the ReThink London for the London Plan, to make sure that we incorporate arts and culture into our everyday lives and enrich our knowledge and our history with the art and culture that’s been happening throughout civilization.

The London Plan goes beyond the important arts and cultural aspects of London and focuses on building a greener city. London is situated in an urban forest with a diverse ecosystem and is surrounded by rich, fertile farmlands. Amendments proposed by Bill 139 to the Conservation Authorities Act are potentially beneficial to London if implemented properly.

Speaker, This bill is really important to London and it’s a long time coming. If this government looks at its history—and they had proposed different bills before that were really not meaningful and did not reform the OMB. They proposed Bill 26 in 2004, they proposed Bill 51 in 2007, they proposed Bill 73 in 2015, and none of these bills gave municipal councils significant control or sway in decisions, as they had promised, and the OMB continued to reserve little or no regard for municipalities. They were ineffective.

I think this is the right bill to move this forward. But, again, we have to have debate on it. When it goes to committee, we need to ask the questions; we need to hear from people coming forward, from stakeholders.

Bill 139 presents several opportunities to modernize Ontario’s aging infrastructure, protect our watersheds and ecosystems, and ensure our children and grandchildren are protected against climate change. It also presents the opportunity to abolish and redefine the OMB, instead of just renaming it and allowing it to continue in the same capacity.

Speaker, there are several questions posed by Bill 139. OMB reforms come into effect upon proclamation and not royal assent. Will the proclamation be before the next election? People are waiting for change when it comes to municipalities, and London is one of the first cities to actually have an official plan.

Their forward-thinking deserves that this government pay attention and help them transition from the old, archaic OMB system, which we know is developer-leaning, to this new system, to Bill 139, where there’s going to be a process where a community can feel engaged and supported, where it’s not going to be arbitrary and conflicting, where people can present and understand that there’s going to be mediation at the table. Because when you come together at a table and you hear the other side, things actually get resolved.

It’s when there are lawyers and all kinds of legal beagles getting in the mix that the conflict continues and it perpetuates, and nobody really knows what the other person wants.

I think it’s a good step. There’s still work to be done on it. I’d like to see it go to committee and I want to make sure that municipalities’ voices are respected.

I’d especially like the minister to consider the fact that London is asking something that’s really reasonable: Take it out of the old OMB appeal process, their London plan, and put it in this bill where they’re going to have a chance to have further community consultation at the planning process, so that citizens who live in London—this is going to affect their lives gravely—are going to have a voice at the table, not just an archaic, developer-leaning OMB, where everybody knows what the outcome would be; it’s developer-friendly, and that’s where they go to.

I’m happy that we’re talking about this bill. We’re happy to support the bill. I look forward to having more debate on it this morning.

Hon. Mitzie Hunter: A point of order.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Point of order.

Hon. Mitzie Hunter: I would like to take this opportunity to correct my record. During question period yesterday, I stated that we’ve built 760 new schools across the province and have had extensive renovations and additions to over 860 schools. We’ve actually built 820 new schools and over 800 additions and renovations, so I’d like to correct my record.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): The member is allowed to correct her record.

Questions and comments?

Hon. Reza Moridi: It’s a great pleasure to stand in this House and also support the bill, Bill 139, Building Better Communities and Conserving Watersheds Act.

The bill has my full support, and I urge all my colleagues in this House to support this bill.

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

Mr. Victor Fedeli: After 14 years, it is good that we’re finally getting around to seeing this come to the floor of the Legislature, but I wanted to talk a little bit about the entry provisions for the conservation authority officers. We’re repealing a clause, where “the entry is for the purpose of enforcing a regulation” etc. and “the authority or officer has reasonable grounds to believe that a contravention of the regulation is causing or is likely to cause significant environmental damage and that the entry is required to prevent or reduce the damage.”

Now, the new clause doesn’t require that the officer have grounds to believe there’s a contravention or that such a contravention is causing environmental damage. That is concerning. It raises questions. The bill proposes to say that they may enter “land situated in the authority’s area of jurisdiction for the purposes of determining compliance” and regulations “or with the conditions of a permit.”

We will look to some amendments, perhaps. There may be wording we can propose that will address this.

Again, it’s been 14 years, as the member from Whitby–Oshawa so aptly presented in his 10 minutes and his two-minute

summary. This is a long time coming. Some may even say it’s too little, too late. We’re saying part of it may be too much. We’ll be looking forward to that opportunity to look at the amendments.

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

Mr. Michael Mantha: It’s always a pleasure taking my place on behalf of the good people of Algoma–Manitoulin.

I want to commend the member this morning for really highlighting what her issues are for the London area. The member from London–Fanshawe talked about the positives of this being a really substantive answer to what the public demands have been with regard to reform and to rein in the OMB decision-making.

The bill is a step in the right direction. It’s never too little, too late to actually improve the lives and the opportunities that are there for municipalities and within our cities across this province.

What the member touched on in a lot of her comments this morning is that it actually establishes a true process of meaningful engagement so that your local decision-makers, which are your community members and the municipality, have an opportunity to have a discussion and hold to that decision, and to move forward and not have a third party come in and overrule those positive engagements, that local decision-making, so that everybody seems to be happy moving forward. I think a lot of her comments were based on that.

I want to give her a little bit more credit. Her city, down in London—being thoughtful, thinking forward, preparing for the inevitable and doing the steps that they require shows an eagerness to address some of those issues that have always come up when a decision is put in front of the OMB board.

I loved her comment when she said “the legal beagles,” when they come out, and she’s absolutely right. When you have individuals who speak from their experience, as far as what’s happening in my community, versus municipal leaders who absorb those comments from the leadership perspective, they know how to relate to each other. When we do bring in others, or third parties, it does at times confuse the issues. It’s nice to see a clear process that is going to be done. It is a step forward.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Minister of the Environment and Climate Change.

Hon. Chris Ballard: Thank you, Speaker. I have nothing more to add other than I wholeheartedly support Bill 139.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): The member from London–Fanshawe has two minutes.

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: I didn’t get a chance to elaborate—10 minutes goes by so quickly. I had to really cut down on some of the things I was going to say.

One of the things I wanted to address was the Conservation Authorities Act. It was originally implemented in 1946 in response to extensive flooding and erosion, and its purpose has never been more important and pertinent than it is today. We have flooding in Windsor; across Ontario; in Peterborough, I remember, a few years ago; and also in Quebec this summer. The conservation authority piece in this act is extremely important and maybe should have been separated and debated separately from the planning piece.

Having said that, the Conservatives have really focused on the conservation piece, which is good, but we have to remember that when the Conservatives took power in the 1990s, they gutted the conservation authority, the ministry. They went from $52 million down to $8 million. With this new piece under the conservation authority, and their new powers and the new structure, the restructuring of it, I hope there’s going to be some funding available so that they can actually do the job that they are given under this bill.

I think that’s when we want to make sure, when it goes to second reading, that we do the real nitty-gritty work at committee and make sure that this bill is going to deliver on the promises it has made. Municipalities, constituents, people who live in cities and people who live up in the north are depending on these things, so that when they have their plans set out, they’re going to have a fair chance and a voice at the table when making local decisions in the place that they live.

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

Hon. Indira Naidoo-Harris: I think it’s time to get right to the point. This bill has seen more than nine and a half hours of debate, and we’ve had many of our members of the Legislature speak to the bill.

As a result, Speaker, I move that this question now be put.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): Ms. Naidoo-Harris has moved that the question now be put. I am satisfied that there has been sufficient debate to allow the question to be put in this House, after nine and a half hours.

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

All those in favour of the motion that the question now be put, please say “aye.”

All those opposed to the motion that the question now be put, please say “nay.”

I believe the ayes have it.

This will be voted on after question period.

Vote deferred.

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

Construction Lien Amendment Act, 2017 / Loi de 2017 modifiant la

Loi sur le privilège dans l’industrie de la construction

Resuming the debate adjourned on September 14, 2017, on the motion for second reading of the following bill:

Bill 142,

An Act to amend the Construction Lien Act / Projet de loi 142, Loi modifiant la

Loi sur le privilège dans l’industrie de la construction.

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

Mr. Ross Romano: Before I start by speaking to the specifics within Bill 142, I just wanted to take this opportunity to say a few brief words that, I guess, are long overdue.

I’m very proud of the opportunity to stand and join everyone in this House. I decided to run for this office because I wanted to have an opportunity to do something meaningful to help my community—like everyone in this room. I’m sure you all had the same feeling when you decided to take that shot at running in an election. Obviously, everybody here knows how difficult it is on your personal life, your family life and your professional life to try to do something like this. You all, I’m sure, like I, have these great aspirations of what you hope to achieve on behalf of the constituents within your riding.

Growing up in Sault Ste. Marie as a young person—born and raised there—I always felt that we in northern Ontario, and specifically in the Soo, had a lot of challenges, challenges imposed primarily by our geography, certainly, which is interesting, because when Sault Ste. Marie was first created, it was our geography that was our strongest point. Now, many years later, it certainly has us so far removed from Toronto central and the GTA in general that it makes it very difficult for people in the north to have the same advantages as those in the southern jurisdictions.

But the motives that I had and the motives we all have are always very simple: We want to do the best for our community. While I stand before this House, whether it is in opposition to the government on any specific matter of the day or in agreement, I trust that we all appreciate that, ultimately, we’re all here trying to represent the people of our riding and the people of Ontario.

I want to take a brief opportunity as well to thank those who made this opportunity for me possible. I was blessed and am blessed to have a very strong family network. I have a wife, Heather, who, oddly enough, encouraged me to jump into this role, knowing full well what that would mean for our family life. I have three young children at home who are about to be three, four, and five—currently two, four, and five, all boys—so we are on our way to creating our own hockey team.

It is a challenge, but one that I would not have been in a position to take if I did not have the support of my wife and all of our extended family and my children as well, even given their age. They’re excited all the time. We run to events in Sault Ste. Marie, and they’re quite happy to participate and do things within the community—in fact, quite excited. I’m sure, for all of you out there who have had young children while you’ve been through this process, it’s nice to be able to participate in events in your community and abroad.

When you can include your family in them, it gives you the opportunity to sort of have a two-tiered approach, where you can do your job and also exercise your role in a meaningful way as a parent.

I’m also very blessed: Not only within my own home, but my extended family played a huge and critical

part in me coming into this role. My mother was actively at doors. In fact, I had to shoo her away sometimes. It was quite comical: She’d come in to the office some days sick during our campaign, and I’d say, “Mom, you’ve got to go home. What are you doing here? Just get out of here.” It got to the point that I would ask the people on the campaign not to give her material to go to the doors, because she just wouldn’t stop. She was so passionate and excited to participate.

Both my parents are immigrants from southern Italy. It was incredible for them, I know, and for me, and for our entire family, to be able to participate even in the campaign itself, let alone what has flowed from that. It is a very exciting endeavour. Certainly, for a guy like myself and a family like mine, that came from the sort of background that you sometimes hear about—you know, “I came to this country with nothing but the shirt on my back and a suitcase”—who tried to make a life and tried to provide something for their children, as my parents did—I owe them so much gratitude for bringing me to this point.

And really, my community, because if it wasn’t for them instilling the fire in me that I have, I would not be able to do what I hope is effective representation of my community.

Of course, as we all know, it doesn’t stop there. I had the love and support of so many extended family members who came and knocked on doors with me and helped me throughout the campaign, making phone calls and all those sorts of things. I want to extend so much thanks and love to all of my family and friends who participated in my campaign, and certainly also to those who participated in the campaign executive, if you will, as we like to call it.

My campaign manager, Ian MacKenzie, is a Scottish immigrant who was quite a ball of fire himself and did a great job of helping me out throughout the process. Our former CAO of the city, Joe Fratesi, was great and helpful towards me.

We had within my campaign Bill Freiberger, who took on our financial role in the campaign, and he was incredible. To have someone as meticulous as he throughout the process to make sure that all the i’s were dotted and the t’s were crossed was so beneficial to me and helpful.

John Coccimiglio, a personal friend, also helped us out in our executive. He was such an incredible person, doing everything from accepting my phone calls early in the morning, late at night, grabbing trucks and trailers and going out for signs. We all know, again, how much effort these people put in.

It was funny—I digress for a moment—but at the conclusion of the campaign, I had no idea what would happen the night of the election and the days that followed. As I’m sure you all are aware—most people maybe are not, because I certainly wasn’t—you are inundated for about three or four days after the election with so many text messages, Facebook messages, phone calls and emails that it didn’t matter how quickly you typed on your phone, how quickly you responded to calls, you’d answer 30 and you’d see 60 more on the phone.

And for three or four days you’re just completely consumed and overwhelmed and essentially almost living in a cloud thinking the whole experience is so surreal. In the meantime, while you’re doing that, all of these people are out collecting your signs and working their butts off for you.

I think in my situation, I was so surprised and so caught in the moment that I didn’t immediately run to these people and thank them. I felt bad that I wasn’t out grabbing signs with them. And so to all of you who did that in Sault Ste. Marie for me, thank you so much. You have no idea what it means to me, the support that you provided to me, to my family, to our campaign and, of course, most importantly, to the people of Sault Ste. Marie. It’s incredible what you’ve done. Thank you.

I listed some names and I know I’ve not listed them all; I’m still in the process of speaking to people individually, but thank you so much for everything you all did for me. It was incredible.

Just a few other names: Helene Groulx was in our office every day trying to keep me sane. Thank you so much, Helene. Again, the names go on and on and on. I said I wouldn’t say specific names, because I knew I would miss others, and I’m sure you’ve all been in this role before, but there are just certain people I really wanted to recognize. By no means at all does that dismiss all of the other individuals who provided so much help and support. Don Mitchell, Jamie Caicco—the list goes on, so many people who helped us out.

There is a point of interest that is a touchy subject. When I first got here, the one thing I did not appreciate—I’ve been a lawyer for the last 12 years and I’m used to a certain protocol. It’s funny—I’m still learning. Every time the Speaker in the House gets up, I stand, you’ll notice, a lot of the time, and then I quickly sit down, because I’m used to, when the judge stands, you stand, so I’m trying to get used to this new atmosphere.

But in the courts, I’ve always felt—as a lawyer, as a professional—that you owe, as a person within that profession, a great deal of respect to that profession, one of the most historical professions, certainly, we have. I feel no less passionate about this. In fact, the bar is elevated significantly.

My first day, as I walked into this chamber back on September 11, just a few weeks ago, I walked in and I looked around. I saw the beauty in the carvings and the history of this building, and I thought of the 1,800-plus members that have taken this role before me. I walked in with this incredible sense of passion and love and desire to serve my community, to serve the province of Ontario, and to show not only myself but everyone around me, I hoped, within my community the level of respect I believed the role we are in deserves.

I recognize we are all partisan. We are driven by our partisan agenda. But I think we all inherently feel that we are driven by the people within our communities, and that is our principal objective every day and every minute we step into our working shoes. I recognize that across party lines there are going to be divisive issues, there are going to be moments where we clearly will not be seeing eye to eye, and there is going to be opposition, to put it mildly. I think there is a time for fierce opposition, there is a time for passive opposition, and there is a time for agreement and a joining of hands when something is positive for the province, positive for the people within our community.

Over the last several days, I’ve struggled a great deal with what I’ve seen. I’ve struggled with how I feel we, as a group, are demonstrating our level of respect for the profession and for the roles that we’re in. I don’t question anybody individually. I include even myself within that discussion and that comment, regardless of anything that led to where we find ourselves today.

Yesterday I spoke from the heart, while reading notes or not, about people within my community who have done incredible things to serve my community, people who have put Sault Ste. Marie on the map, people who the community of Sault Ste. Marie loves, who are named in our walk of fame, who our community is proud to call members of Sault Ste. Marie and who, when we go out to the communities at large within the province and the country and the world, we’re proud to tout as members of Sault Ste. Marie.

And to hear the kind of heckling that was happening simply while saying those names really caught me off guard, and I thought we should be better than that. There is a time for the partisan lines to be drawn and there is a time for us all to embrace what each of our individual communities provides to our great province.

Every day when I come into this House, I look at these young persons we have, our pages, sitting—often as confused as I am as to when to stand and sit—and I look up in our gallery and I see classrooms of children, and I think about my three boys, three, four and five. I think about how we talk about bullying and those types of discussions and how we don’t want our children to be subject to that kind of an atmosphere in schools, sports teams etc. We always want to tell them how to deal with these types of issues.

While I sit in this room some days, I look at these young children and I look up at the other classrooms and I think, “How are we doing any better? Are we really demonstrating the type of environment we want them to see, grow up in, learn from? Are we setting the example for them that we ought to?”

It really does strike a nerve with me. I really do struggle with it. I certainly don’t want to set that example for these children or for mine. So with the greatest respect to every single person in this room, I will pledge to you that while I will hold my role dear and I will always fight for the people of my community, I will never diminish or disrespect yours or the people within yours.

Now, I’m going to transition at this point into Bill 142, and I will say, in the same line of thought that I just concluded, last week I stood before this House speaking to the northern boundaries act bill. I said that our very leader, Mr. Brown, has said there’s no monopoly on a good idea. I stood before you all and said that the northern boundaries act, the creation of two new ridings in the north creating enhanced representation in the north for indigenous people, is a good idea.

I want to say here, with respect to Bill 142, I think it’s a good idea. I met with the construction association last week in my office here at Queen’s Park. Of course, looking at one of the principal stakeholders referred to in this bill, they feel it’s a good idea. If I had to criticize, I would say that it’s long overdue, but they are motivated by it and, in my review, I think that it’s a good thing.

There are some areas of concern with respect to perhaps a little bit of lack of teeth, if I can put it that way—enforcement mechanisms—but I believe that looking at it, on the whole, in terms of its pith and substance, I agree with what’s being proposed and I think it does wonders to improve the system for construction workers at all levels, from the smaller operations, the guy who just makes cabinets, kitchen cabinets or something along those lines, or who does restoration of a bathroom, right up to your large-scale construction groups doing major government projects, building hospitals, schools etc.

It remedies something that, back in my professional career, I used to see on a regular basis. Perhaps, as opposed to speaking on a very, very—and I will summarize very quickly—

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): I’m being kind; I have to cut you off.

Mr. Ross Romano: Okay. Well, if—

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

Mr. Ross Romano: I thank you, Mr. Speaker. If I may just have 30 seconds to wrap up?

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): You may not. I’m sorry.

Mr. Ross Romano: I may not. All right. Well, I support the bill. Thank you.

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

Mr. Michael Mantha: I’m happy that I was here to listen to the member from Sault Ste. Marie deliver his maiden speech. He will learn very quickly to observe, for leniency, who is actually the Speaker in the chair.

My friend, I want to congratulate you on your successful campaign because, if you remember, I was one of those individuals knocking on the doors in your area as well. I know you’ve already reached out to me, and I’m going to reach out to you, in regard to how we can work together to better the lives of individuals in our area. I look forward to meeting your staff, as you look forward to meeting mine.

The one thing that I will tell you is: Don’t forget your family. Because after this is all done, your three-, four- and five-year-old—potentially, that’s your forward line; you’ll need two more defencemen, if you’re going to put your wife in net, with you being the coach of that hockey team—you’re going to need a few more on that campaign team. Because guess what? In just a few more months, we’re getting back to that campaign trail.

I’m really happy to have you on board. Your passion, your loves and your desires are pretty much everything that everybody else shares in this House. For myself, I choose to do things differently. I’m going to hold you to your word, and I will remind you of your maiden speech when the time is right so that you continue on that path. I think we’re all here for the right reasons. What makes us different is our priorities. I don’t look at them as divisive issues; I look at them as priorities for Ontarians. I think we could do some good things together. When you’re frustrated, get out of your seat, walk across to either opposition members and work with them in order to accomplish your goals.

I know most of those prominent leaders in your community, even those gold medallists that were there. I too, as you were, was surprised by the reaction that this assembly had towards them. I take my hat off to you for recognizing them again this morning.

The bill that we’re talking about here this morning, Bill 142, the Construction Lien Amendment Act, 2017, is long overdue, and it’s time we move it forward and at least get it to committee to have some discussion.

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

Hon. Jeff Leal: I want to welcome the member for Sault Ste. Marie to the Legislature. I certainly enjoyed his maiden speech today.

Sault Ste. Marie has had some very distinguished MPPs in the past. I note the late Russell Ramsay, who was the MPP for Sault Ste. Marie from 1978 to 1985 and served so ably as the labour minister in the Davis government from 1982 to 1985. Like the current member, go back in Hansard to read some of the speeches of Russell Ramsay to really feel the passion that he had for that community and his ability to build that community.

Sometimes, Mr. Speaker, we forget that we truly do stand on the shoulders of others, those political leaders that have served in the past and that helped build the community. We, today, have that obligation to continue with that baton and to continue to build a community.

Of course, just recently, David Orazietti served here. His family, like the current member, had long-time roots in Sault Ste. Marie. David’s dad was a very distinguished member of the legal community in Sault Ste. Marie. It does seem, through the member’s comments today, that he will continue on in that fine tradition. I know we in Peterborough were so fortunate that, when Roberta Bondar was the chancellor of Trent University, she spent a lot of time in our community and not only shared her experiences from Sault Ste. Marie but her work in the Canadian space program.

It was, as I said, a delight to hear from the member this morning. We wish him well as he continues his role here. I know what it’s like: When I was elected in 2003, my son was five and my daughter was three.

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

Mr. Todd Smith: I appreciate the comments this morning from the member from Sault Ste. Marie—a very thoughtful 20-minute presentation in his maiden speech, acknowledging those who helped get him here, and the commitment that he has received from his family in Sault Ste. Marie to help him get here as well.

I’ve been here now for six years, and I’ve had the opportunity to go out and help certain candidates in by-elections and even in the general elections. I’ll tell you, when I arrived in Sault Ste. Marie in February of this year, the snowbanks were probably twice as high as I am, and I’m fairly tall.

I could sense immediately—I can usually tell, and probably a lot of veteran members of the Legislature can tell, when they go and meet a candidate for the first time, whether or not they’re going to be successful in achieving their goal. I can tell you that the first time I met Ross Romano, I said, “This guy’s a winner; he’s going to win,” because he was committed to it. He was insanely committed to it, as a matter of fact. I think at times it wasn’t his mom who needed to be restrained; it was Ross who actually needed to be restrained and take some time off, away from the campaign trail.

It was an excellent maiden speech. Your first two and a half weeks here obviously have been very impactful. I think you’ve made a difference already in standing up for your community, as you pledged to do.

I know, from being in Sault Ste. Marie, the community passion that exists in that community, being a former broadcaster with the Belleville Bulls and going into Sault Ste. Marie for Greyhounds games. They’re fiercely loyal to their Greyhounds, they’re fiercely loyal to their community, and I can tell that the newest member of the Legislature is fiercely loyal to the community that he grew up in, in Sault Ste. Marie.

I congratulate him for a great speech here this morning.

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

Miss Monique Taylor: It truly is always a pleasure to be in the House when new members make their inaugural speech. I’d like to congratulate the member from Sault Ste. Marie on his speech today and having the opportunity to talk about his community and his campaign. We don’t always get those opportunities to talk about our campaign volunteers. Sometimes we can bring our family into our debate, but today is the day when you get to shine and you get to really have that conversation and talk about who you are.

The moment when you talked about the first time you walked into this House brings me back to the time when I first walked into this House, and I’m sure it does the same for everyone, because you just get this feeling of elation that you can never forget. Remember that feeling every time you walk into this House, regardless of the conversations that are going on.

I also felt times of, “Wow. What is going on here? There are children in this House, and this is how we behave.” Unfortunately, you kind of get used to it. We’ll see how you are in a couple of months.

It really is nice to hear your story and what brought you here. I am sure that you will serve your community well. It won’t be long before you’re back out there knocking on those doors, talking to the community all over again.

The other thing that I liked about your speech was when you talked about your mom and having her in the campaign. My dad is one of those campaign guys. My dad says, “I used to be Mike Taylor. Now I’m Monique Taylor’s father.” That just shows the pride that our family has in us for being here.

Congratulations. Congratulations to your family and the team that worked so hard to bring you here today.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Paul Miller): The member from Sault Ste. Marie has two minutes to reply—two minutes only.

Mr. Ross Romano: Thank you. Most people who have gotten to know me over the last while know that you have to hold me to the clock, usually.

Again, thank you. I really appreciate all of your comments, every one of you, and I look forward to thanking you personally after today’s process concludes.

It is very exciting for me. I think I’ve said just about everything I can say. I know I’ve missed names and that has gotten me really, really worried. I had asked my staff to give me my volunteer list as quickly as they could, and it’s not here, so I know I’m going to miss names. But that’s all right. I will have to make it up to those people when I speak to them individually after this.

I appreciate your comments, to the member from Algoma–Manitoulin, and I look forward to keeping my promise. I expect that if you see me go outside of it, you will let me know, because I am certain that in time it will be—

Interjection.

Mr. Ross Romano: Thank you.

Mr. Todd Smith: I don’t think you’re going to get to it.

Mr. Ross Romano: I don’t think I’m going to get to it, but I’m certain that there will come a time where it will be difficult. It can become something that gets forgotten, and those lines, I’m sure, will become skewed, but I look forward to anybody calling me on that because it is something that I don’t want to lose sight of the importance of.

Thank you to the people within this House. Thank you for the indulgence, Mr. Speaker; now I know to look at the clock.

Thank you so much to my family, my whole team and everybody who made me being here possible, and I hope to do you proud.

Second reading debate deemed adjourned.

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

The House recessed from 1011 to 1030.

Introduction of Visitors

Hon. Michael Coteau: It gives me great pleasure today to welcome the family of page captain Ariana Hadjiyianni: her mother, Helen; father, Jim; brother Andreas; grandparents Toula and Larry Konstantinidis; uncle Nick and cousin Georgina. Thank you for being here today. These are proud parents of our page captain today. Welcome to the Ontario Legislature.

Mr. Sam Oosterhoff: It’s an honour to be able to stand today and recognize the mother, sister and brother of Duncan VanPagee, the page from Niagara West–Glanbrook: Louise VanPagee, Victoria VanPagee and Austin VanPagee. They will be in the public gallery this morning. Welcome.

Mrs. Lisa Gretzky: Today I have the pleasure of introducing Rosemary Fiss, Krista Schneider, Kai Hildebrandt and Marjorie Brown, who are visiting us at Queen’s Park today on behalf of the Alzheimer Society of Windsor and Essex County.

I would also like to introduce some OSSTF executive officers: Martha Hradowy, Karen Littlewood and Paul Caccamo. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Granville Anderson: I would like to welcome Dr. Nav Nijhawan, who is here today with the Eye Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, as well as Brian Joyce, Denyse Newton, and Penny and Alex Vanderzand from the Alzheimer Society of Durham Region. Welcome.

Mr. Jack MacLaren: I’d like to introduce Bob Yaciuk, who is the leader of the Trillium Party, and John Grant, who is the director of political operations for the Trillium Party.

Mr. Michael Mantha: I’d like to introduce Tammy Bellamy from the Alzheimer Society of Sudbury, who is here today for the Action for Dementia Day.

Hon. Tracy MacCharles: Representing the Eye Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, I’m pleased to introduce Dr. Jordan Cheskes, Dr. Kylen McReelis and Mrs. Marcia Kim. They are visiting us today to represent ophthalmologists and visually impaired patients ahead of World Sight Day on October 12. Welcome to Queen’s Park. They have a reception tonight at 5 p.m. in rooms 228 and 230.

Mr. Ross Romano: I would like to take this opportunity to welcome to Queen’s Park two of my constituents from Sault Ste. Marie, Vicky Roy and Carol Gunn. They are here with their colleagues from the Alzheimer Society of Ontario. Welcome, Vicky and Carol.

Ms. Ann Hoggarth: From OSSTF, I would like to welcome Paul Kossta and executive officer Karen Littlewood, who is my constituent, my friend, and from the riding of Barrie.

I would also like to welcome Debbie Islam, president of the Alzheimer Society of Simcoe County, and Ed Harper. Ed is a former MP for Simcoe Centre and the only Reform candidate elected east of Manitoba.

Mr. Robert Bailey: I would like to introduce in the gallery today Christine Wright from the Alzheimer Society of Sarnia-Lambton. She’s at Queen’s Park today as part of the Action for Dementia Day.

Hon. Bill Mauro: I’m not sure if he has made it to the galleries yet, but visiting Queen’s Park today with the Alzheimer Society representing Thunder Bay is executive director Randy Moore. I’d like to welcome him to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Toby Barrett: We’re always pleased to have members of the Egg Farmers of Ontario here, and many of us had an omelette this morning: zone 3 director and my director for Norfolk, Dan Veldman, and zone 4 director Roger Pelissero.

Hon. Helena Jaczek: Please help me welcome two delegates from the Alzheimer Society of York Region, Loren Freid and Peter Smith.

Ms. Lisa M. Thompson: I would like to welcome to the House today, Speaker, a birthday boy: Jeff Yurek.

Miss Monique Taylor: I would like to welcome some guests who are here from the Alzheimer Society. Today we have JoAnne Chalifour, who is the director of operations at the Alzheimer Society of Brant, Haldimand Norfolk, Hamilton Halton; as well as Phyllis Fehr, who is a dementia champion from Hamilton and a member of the Ontario Dementia Advisory Group. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Hon. Marie-France Lalonde: I had the great pleasure this morning of meeting some great individuals from the Alzheimer Society. On behalf of the Ottawa caucus, I would like to welcome to the House Mike Marta, executive director, who actually just started; Chris Dennis, chief executive officer; Matt Boudreau; and, not least, Frank Palmer, who has been a caregiver for his wife for 11 years. Welcome to the Legislative Assembly.

Ms. Sylvia Jones: Please join me in welcoming, from Dufferin–Caledon, Tracy Koskamp-Bergeron, the executive director for the Alzheimer Society of Dufferin. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Ms. Sophie Kiwala: I would like to welcome Vicki Poffley, the executive director of the Alzheimer Society of Kingston—welcome to her for the Action for Dementia Day—as well as Bob Haynes and Laurel Haynes. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Randy Pettapiece: I would like to introduce two friends of mine from north Perth, where I live, Bill and Pat Berfelz; and Emma Jean Weber, who is all the way here from Germany to see our House.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: I would like to recognize members of the Ontario Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance who are here today, an alliance of 21 non-governmental groups that have been working together for 15 years to promote collaboration on chronic disease prevention. Welcome.

Mr. Raymond Sung Joon Cho: I would like to welcome Lauren Rettinger, public policy and stakeholder relations coordinator for the Alzheimer Society.

Mr. Harinder S. Takhar: I would also like to welcome the members of the North American Sikh League. They’re not here yet but they should be here shortly. I want to recognize their annual fundraising efforts under the leadership of their president, Surinder Singh Sandhu. Their fundraising efforts have helped very many humanitarian causes, including hosting eye camps in India for the most vulnerable in the society. They also raised enough funds to donate a medical ambulance to Prabh Aasra, an organization that looks after people who are mentally/physically challenged, orphans and unclaimed missing persons.

I want to welcome them to the Legislature. They should be here shortly.

Mr. Lorne Coe: I’d also like to welcome to the Legislature three newly elected provincial executive officers from the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation: Paul Caccamo, Karen Littlewood and Martha Hradowy.

M me Nathalie Des Rosiers: J’aimerais accueillir à Queen’s Park Pam Waeland, Lisa Salapatek and Laura Greer from the Alzheimer Society, who I had the pleasure of meeting this morning.

Mr. Norm Miller: I’m pleased to introduce some people here visiting from the Alzheimer Society of Muskoka. That includes Karen Quemby, who’s the executive director; Cheryl Amos; and Michael Provan, who’s the chair. I look forward to meeting with them later today.

Hon. Mitzie Hunter: I’d like to extend my warm welcome to three newly elected members of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation, provincial executive members Paul Caccamo—I have a very special welcome also coming from the member from Thunder Bay–Atikokan, so welcome to you, Paul; Martha Hradowy—welcome, Martha; and Karen Littlewood.

And of course, always welcome is Paul Costa. Thanks for being here.

Ms. Laurie Scott: I would like to welcome, from the Alzheimer Society of Peterborough, which also services Haliburton–Kawartha Lakes–Brock, Leslie Parham and Dan Davis.

Mr. Yvan Baker: I just wanted to welcome a couple of members of the Alzheimer Society of Toronto, Laura McGill and Frank Palmer. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: I’d like to recognize the board members and staff from the central Alzheimer Society of Ontario. We have with us the chair, Pam Waeland; vice-chair Keith Gibbons; board members Ted Wheatley and Wendy Horbay; the CEO, Chris Dennis; and Lisa Salapatek, Gagan Gill and Lauren Rettinger—all from the Alzheimer Society of Ontario.

Mr. Todd Smith: I’d like to welcome my friend Maureen Corrigan to the Legislature today. She’s the executive director for the Alzheimer Society of Hastings-Prince Edward.

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: I’m delighted to welcome members from the Alzheimer Society of London and Middlesex: Lorraine Pare, Jill Butler and Bruce Wray. Welcome to the Legislature.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): In the Speaker’s gallery today are guests and friends of mine from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory: a Vietnam veteran, elected councilman Mr. Bob Johnson, and another friend of mine, a treaty expert and special adviser to elected council, Mr. Phil Monture.

Wearing of buttons

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I recognize the Minister of Municipal Affairs on a point of order.

Hon. Bill Mauro: Speaker, I believe you will find that we have unanimous consent that members be permitted to wear buttons to raise awareness of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The minister is seeking unanimous consent to wear the buttons. Do we agree? Agreed.

Member’s birthday

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: I just have a point of order.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): We have a point of order from the member from Nepean–Carleton.

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: Thank you, Speaker. I just wanted to wish, on behalf of every member here, a happy birthday to my colleague Jeff Yurek. He doesn’t look a day older than 51.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I hope this isn’t an indication.

Therefore, it is time for—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Therefore, it is time for question period.

Oral Questions

School facilities

Mr. Patrick Brown: My question is for the Premier.

I want to start off by apologizing, as yesterday I assumed that the Premier had air conditioning in all of her offices. I want to again offer my apologies for the huge inconvenience it must have been for the Premier to move her meeting to another, air-conditioned room.

Unfortunately, when it’s 30 degrees out, and schools are sweltering and children can’t learn, they don’t have the opportunity to just move to another room. There are not rooms at the end of the hall that are blasting AC, like the option the Premier has. Many of these classes don’t have air conditioning or even working windows.

Mr. Speaker, does the Premier really think that moving to another room is an option for these schools without air conditioning and without operational windows?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I know that when a classroom is too hot, it’s a problem for staff and for students. It can be very uncomfortable. It is unseasonably hot right now, and the reality is, we are seeing more warm and hotter days at times of the year that we wouldn’t expect. I understand that. It is exactly why we have made such a huge investment in schools in the province. It’s why $1.4 billion has been allocated to school boards. School boards need to make these decisions, and many of those dollars are being invested in renovations, where air conditioning is part of that.

We will continue to work with school boards. I think it’s perfectly reasonable to expect that boards and individual schools would have a plan for days that are very, very hot, just as they would have a plan for days that are very, very cold.

We will continue to work with school boards and continue to make investments to make sure that classrooms are appropriate for staff and students.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Patrick Brown: Again to the Premier: Yesterday, I mentioned that most of the schools in Toronto don’t have air conditioning. I just want to say that it’s not just a Toronto problem. In my riding of Simcoe North, I heard a story just yesterday. Orillia Secondary School has been impacted fairly significantly. Temperatures inside the school exceeded 27 degrees.

Principal Jim Sammon said, “Twelve classrooms that are experiencing tremendous amount of heat. It’s a little frustrating, but we’re working with it.” A grade-12 student said, “There are students who don’t want to go to class” because of the heat. These people can’t find another room. They don’t have that option, like the Premier does.

A very straightforward question: Will the Premier mandate a maximum temperature for our schools? Yes or no?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Again, I absolutely understand that, with a hot-weather event like we’ve had for the last number of days, there are schools in the province, there are classrooms in the province that get very, very warm. I understand that.

I also know that the investment that we have made—$1.4 billion, which is on top of the $2.7 billion that has been provided over the last two years. School boards need the flexibility to make decisions based on the region that they are in the province. Because the Leader of the Opposition is right: This is not just a challenge for Toronto, this is a challenge in different parts of the province. But there are different challenges in different regions.

We are committed to working with school boards. I have a lot of faith in educators, in directors of education of the 72 school boards, to work with us to accommodate and to adapt to the new reality that we are having unusual weather for the times of year.

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

Mr. Patrick Brown: Back to the Premier: The government is bragging about their $1.4-billion investment. But let’s put that into context. The repair backlog is $15 billion. We are talking about 9%: They’re proud and they’re bragging about attending to 9% of the repairs. We have leaking roofs, broken windows, broken boilers, schools with asbestos, and this government is bragging about attending to 9% of the problems.

For 14 years, they promised us that they’re going to invest in our schools and they have not. It seems that, at wintertime, we hear about conditions where it’s too cold to learn. When it’s warmer temperatures, it’s too hot to learn.

Rather than bragging about the 9%, my question to the Premier is: When are we going to get to all the repairs? When are we going to make sure that children in this province have schools that they can learn in?

Interjections.

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

Premier.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: You know, Mr. Speaker, I had the opportunity just last week to meet with the president of Ukraine with a delegation. They were here to meet with businesses and to take

part in festivities with the Ukrainian community. But a particular interest of the president of Ukraine is the way in which we have integrated special-needs students into our classrooms.

So when the Leader of the Opposition proposes that I am bragging about something in education, here’s what is critical: We have built an education system that is the pride of this province and is looked at by people around the world. We have increased the graduation rate from 68% to 86%. Every young child in this province in the year that they turn four has access to full-day kindergarten. We have built an education system that’s—

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

Interjections.

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

Hon. Michael Coteau: A third of the kids didn’t even graduate.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Minister of Children and Youth Services, come to order.

New question.

Hydro rates

Mr. Patrick Brown: Mr. Speaker, my question is for the Premier. I want to share with you the concerns of the co-owner of First Choice Supermarket in Markham. They’ve been open since 1995. They employ 30 staffers. They have over 100 spotlights in their store. They now have dimmer lights and have switched to 60 watts from 80 watts and 100 watts. They also have a large number of refrigerators and water tanks for seafood. In their last year’s hydro bill, the increase went up another 15%. This means that their bills are over $30,000 a month. They thought they were going to get relief from this government based on the promises this spring, yet their bills continue to skyrocket.

What message do you have for that small business in Markham? When is their relief coming? When can they have hydro bills that they can afford?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Energy.

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: I appreciate the Leader of the Opposition raising the question, because our government has brought forward new supports for many small businesses. We continue to work to additionally find more programs to help small businesses.

When it comes to grocery stores, Mr. Speaker, while I don’t know all of the details of that particular store, there are other grocery stores that have been working with their local utilities to find out which programs they can qualify for through the saveONenergy program. One grocer in my riding is able to save 22% by actually utilizing the saveONenergy program, implementing many of those programs and then seeing those reductions.

We also have seen a modest decrease for all businesses, as well, by taking some of the social programs that we had on the rate base before. We now have that on the tax base because those are social programs and that’s where they should be.

I’ll have more to add in the supplementary, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Patrick Brown: Again to the Premier: A lot of businesses expected, after all the hyperbole in the spring, that there was going to be relief. There were all these TV ads saying there’s going to be relief.

It’s not just the one restaurant in Markham. I have a letter here from another restaurant: Rol Jui Seafood Restaurant in Toronto’s Chinatown. They’re saying, where is their relief? Where is their hydro relief? In four years, their hydro bill has doubled. This is despite the fact that they have actually reduced hours in recent years. They’re reducing their consumption, and their bill is skyrocketing. The Premier promised relief; they did not get it this summer.

My question is this: When can Rol Jui Seafood in Toronto expect the relief that you promised in the spring?

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: Again, I’m very happy to rise and talk about the fair hydro plan. That’s a 25% reduction for 500,000 small businesses and farms right across the province.

This government recognizes that through the fair hydro plan, which is our plan, Mr. Speaker—something that I know the opposition is still trying to search for. On this side of the House, we’ve made sure that the saveONenergy program actually will provide relief to many of these small businesses. I encourage these small businesses to reach out to their local utility to find out which programs they can qualify for. That’s why we continue to talk about these programs and encourage them to apply.

When I go to community to community to community and we talk about these programs, many of the small businesses that I talk to are saying they didn’t know that these programs exist. When I’m doing that, I’m usually in an opposition riding, which just shows the fact that they’re not talking to their constituents about what they can do to reduce their rates. That’s something we’ll continue to do on this side of the House.

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

Mr. Patrick Brown: Again to the Premier: The two restaurants, the two businesses I just mentioned, were in Liberal MPP ridings. The reality is that businesses are struggling with hydro.

Let me say, the co-owner of First Choice Supermarket in Markham isn’t confused. The owner of Rol Jui Seafood Restaurant isn’t confused about their bill; they see it skyrocketing. But two days ago, the President of the Treasury Board said, “People find the (hydro) bills quite confusing.”

What people find confusing is that this government has allowed hydro bills to skyrocket by 300%. What people find confusing is the Liberals can charge you $100 for using no power. What people find confusing is the fact that the government shut off thousands and thousands of Ontarians from power last winter.

Maybe the Premier can answer this: Who really is confused? Is it our hard-working small businesses, or is it the Liberal ministers?

Interjections.

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

Interjections.

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

Minister?

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: There is no confusion when a 25% reduction is coming on everyone’s bill—and 500,000 small businesses and farms right across the province.

But let’s talk about what’s confusing, Mr. Speaker. Is that party in favour of sex education or not? We’ve seen lots of notes about that; we have no idea. Are they confused about what to do with energy or not what to do with energy? We’re at over 200 days now, and we’re waiting for a plan, an iota, something that they could do to actually help people. But do you know what, Mr. Speaker? All they can do is vote against a plan—

Interjections.

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

The member from Stormont, come to order. The member from Niagara West, come to order.

Finish, please.

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: Mr. Speaker, they voted against a plan that even the Ontario Chamber of Commerce has highlighted that they have the importance for small business and the challenges that they face—that regional chambers are getting the support from the Ontario chamber to work with small businesses specifically.

They continue to vote against helping the people of Ontario; we’ll continue to work and benefit the people of Ontario.

Health care funding

Mr. Peter Tabuns: My question to the Premier: This morning we learned from news reports that the government is scrambling in the face of an overcrowding crisis in hospitals and seniors care. Now it’s considering reopening the Finch Avenue site of Humber River regional hospital to warehouse seniors waiting for long-term care. This hospital has been shuttered for years, a victim of Conservative and Liberal cost-cutting.

Will the Premier explain how a facility that wasn’t good enough for patients two years ago will be good enough for vulnerable seniors now?

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

Hon. Eric Hoskins: It is true that the ministry is actively considering a plan to reopen the Finch site of the Humber River Hospital, the former Humber River Hospital, in order to provide what I view as a tremendous opportunity in this city, where we are facing a growing population and we have capacity challenges.

Perhaps the member opposite missed it in the budget where we allocated $24 million specifically for interventions and activities such as this, where individuals who are occupying ALC beds in hospital but can be better served and prefer to be out of hospital. This gives them an environment which is more specific to their needs, conducive to their improvement, and it may be that this is an important transitional step for them to return home.

I can’t understand how the member opposite could possibly be against—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Peter Tabuns: Again to the Premier: The last Conservative government fired 6,000 nurses, closed 28 hospitals and slashed over 7,000 hospital beds. For 14 years, the Liberal government has either underfunded or frozen hospital budgets, creating the crisis in care that we’re facing now. The Premier has refused to even admit that there was a problem in hospitals. Now she’s scrambling.

Warehousing some of the most vulnerable people waiting for long-term care in a hospital that won’t have any specialized service for years won’t fix the real problem. The Premier has known about the desperate state of our hospitals for years. Is this the best she can do?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Mr. Speaker, I hope this is a five-part question—and I’m happy to answer all morning—because I can’t believe that the member opposite is suggesting this is anything but a positive development in our health care system. It’s supported by many hospitals. It’s supported by the community. This is a former hospital that was—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Order.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: This is a former hospital that provides this opportunity because we just recently opened a $4-billion, brand new Humber River Hospital. This gives us an opportunity to actually treat these individuals in hospital, in ALC beds. They can be better cared for in a better transitional environment with high-quality care, in a hospital. It was a hospital up until a year ago, and I can’t for the life of me understand why the member would oppose this.

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

Interjections.

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

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Member from Beaches–East York, come to order.

Final supplementary.

Mr. Peter Tabuns: Again to the Premier: Hospitals are desperately overcrowded. Patients are being left in hallways for days. People are waiting in emergency rooms for 12 hours or more. Wait-lists for long-term care are now years long, and we have a government that’s scrambling to find a solution after years of making the problem worse. Even the Ontario Hospital Association has said that without immediate action from the Premier and her Liberal government, our hospitals will face a dangerous capacity crisis as soon as this winter.

Will the Premier finally admit what people all over Ontario already know: that without drastic, immediate action from her government, our hospitals will no longer be able to deliver the health care that Ontario families need and deserve?

Interjections.

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

Minister.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Would the member finally admit that he should have chosen a different opening question? Because it was the NDP, by the way, that closed 9,000 hospital beds, 24% of all acute care beds and 13% of mental health beds in this province. That’s their record.

We’re doing precisely what the OHA, hospitals, Torontonians, the community and the seniors themselves who would be better cared for—these are non-acute patients who are better cared for in this environment, and this, to be honest, Mr. Speaker, absolutely mystifies me. It was a colossal mistake for them to specifically oppose this development.

Health care funding

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: My question is to the Premier. Families today are worried and asking themselves, what will it come to for their dad, their mom and their grandparents? Will the plan from the Premier be to force their loved ones into a shuttered building just to get them out of the way?

Interjections.

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: Yes, they’re asking. The overcrowding crisis stretches around this province. I’m from London, and just last week, we learned that the CEO of London Health Sciences Centre begged the government for emergency funding to open 24 additional beds. He said that their hospitals were seeing “unprecedented ER levels” and that they need extra funding just to keep up.

Can the Premier tell us what she plans to do in London to begin undoing the mess she and her government have created in health care?

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

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Mr. Speaker, only the NDP would demand more capacity and then complain about us creating capacity, and only the NDP would see utilizing resources, consultation with the community, consultation with the hospitals and creating that capacity they’ve been asking for in helping patients as a problem.

This will create 150—

Interjections.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: This will create, Mr. Speaker, 150 beds for non-acute patients currently residing in hospitals, in an environment which will be even more supportive and appropriate, with appropriate staffing to their specific needs.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: Speaker, hospitals are overcapacity and overcrowded in Windsor, Sudbury, Brant, Kitchener-Waterloo and all over the province. The Premier’s desperate stopgap measures will force vulnerable people, mostly seniors, into mothballed facilities to try to relieve the pressure on Toronto hospitals. That’s what’s happening.

I know she’s scrambling to save Toronto votes, and that’s true, but the Premier has a responsibility to every single Ontarian. Will the Premier finally listen to hospital CEOs, hospital associations and thousands of Ontario families demanding better health care in Ontario, and do something about the overcrowding and the hallway hospital medicine crisis that they’ve created?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Mr. Speaker, I remain shocked at the NDP position with regard to what we’re looking at for the Finch site of the former Humber River Hospital. To describe it as warehousing, to describe it as mothballing, is an insult to the hard-working hospital officiants. Really, since day one of that new hospital opening, we have been looking at this as a positive opportunity to free up capacity in a number of hospitals, not just Humber River. There are a number of hospitals in Toronto and the GTA that are contributing to this plan.

In fact, the idea came from them themselves as an appropriate, high-level, high-quality decision that will provide the best possible care for individuals who do not require acute care in hospitals. They are not acute, and this is a highly preferable environment. I know both members have not even visited the site, have not talked to hospital officials and have not talked to the OHA about this, Mr. Speaker.

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

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: The Ontario Hospital Association has said that one of the main causes for this crisis is that frail, elderly patients are being forced to stay in hospitals because there aren’t enough long-term-care beds. The wait-list right now for long-term care has 30,000 names on it, yet this government stubbornly refuses to even look at the long-term-care system to identify why so many sick seniors are being forced to wait in hospitals for months, and in some cases years. Will the Premier expand the scope of the Wettlaufer inquiry and finally commit to fixing the long-term-care system that you helped throw into crisis?

Interjections.

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

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: Fix the long-term care system. Stop shuffling our patients around.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from London–Fanshawe, come to order, please.

Minister?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Mr. Speaker, I am well aware of the NDP plan. We have seen it before. They closed more than 9,000 hospital beds, 24% of all of the acute care beds in this province and 13% of the mental health acute beds in this province. I know they promised to cut $500 million from the health and education budgets in the last election.

That is not a path we’re prepared to go on, and it’s an absolute insult to the hard-working front-line health care professionals, the CEOs of the many hospitals involved in this proposal, the Toronto Central LHIN, the OHA, the communities and all of the myriad of partners who we’re working together with on this solution, which will be a solution that addresses the very need they are asking us to address.

Air quality

Mr. Ted Arnott: My question is for the Premier. Early Monday night, an email was sent by Air Quality Ontario—which is a branch of the ministry of the environment—to some Hamilton residents, just south of my riding, advising them that hot and humid weather conditions were creating elevated pollution levels. It said that a special air quality statement was in place due to the high levels of air pollution at that time and that people needed to know that, “Exposure to air pollution is particularly a concern for children, the elderly and those who have underlying medical conditions such as lung or heart disease.”

Mr. Speaker, we know that the government has set aside millions of dollars for their self-promoting, self-serving pre-election ads. In contrast, will the Premier inform this House how much money was spent by Air Quality Ontario to inform Hamilton residents of this vitally urgent and potentially life-saving information?

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

Hon. Chris Ballard: Thank you for that important question, which allows me to highlight some of the important work that our government and specifically my ministry have been doing for a number of years, among the least of which is the closing of the electrical-generating coal-burning plants across Ontario. That alone has saved the Ontario health care system an estimated $4 billion.

I can tell you, Speaker, that ongoing monitoring in Hamilton has shown that air quality has improved significantly since the mid-1990s, with a large reduction of pollutants in the air. I’ll tell you as well, Speaker, that Hamilton remains on the cutting edge of air pollution control research and practical applications with regard to collaborative approaches to continuing to improve air quality there.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Ted Arnott: Mr. Speaker, again to the Premier, because that response in no way answered my question. The minister neglected to point that it was our environment minister, the Honourable Elizabeth Witmer, who first announced the closure of the Lakeview Generating Station in Mississauga.

Again, the email from Air Quality Ontario said, “Children, seniors and those with cardiovascular or lung diseases such as asthma are especially at risk.” When the government does very little other than sending out an email blast—

Interjections.

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

Mr. John Yakabuski: Speaker, they’re laughing like it’s some sort of joke.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): You carry on, and you’ll find yourself leaving. When I get things quiet, I don’t need you to add.

Please finish.

Mr. Ted Arnott: When the government does very little other than sending out an email blast to inform residents of this kind of potentially life-threatening situation, yet they budget millions of dollars on pre-election ads, people rightly question their priorities. It appears the government is more concerned about its own re-election than public health.

How many people sit at home looking at government websites? There will be many thousands of seniors in Hamilton who don’t use email and are not on a government email list. Will the Premier explain why the government failed to get this important information out to a broader audience?

Interjections.

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

Minister?

Hon. Chris Ballard: President of the Treasury Board.

Hon. Liz Sandals: I want to talk a little bit about advertising, because I really don’t think that what you’re talking about is advertising. You’re talking about the process for having a formal ad on television or a formal ad on digital media, something that there’s some production value for, which goes through a very extensive approval process which would never allow you to respond to anything of an urgent nature in an urgent manner.

The processes that we are talking about here have nothing to do with government advertising. You’re conflating two topics that are totally unrelated, and the issue that we have here for the Ministry of the Environment is, how in the modern world do you effectively, instantly notify people? One of the ways is with your email distribution lists.

Government advertising

Can the Premier tell us: Do these ads inform Ontarians that under the Liberal hydro plan, a government program, their hydro bills will begin going up shortly after the next election?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Energy.

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: I’m pleased to rise and answer the question, because it’s important to state that Ontario remains the only jurisdiction in Canada to enact legislation that bans government-paid partisan advertising. We passed this historic legislation because we are against government using taxpayer dollars for partisan advertising.

As you know, I had the honour of sitting in the House of Commons for six years, when the Leader of the Opposition stood up and supported his government’s action plan at the time. He would defend that, Mr. Speaker. That’s why, that said, the Ontario government has a responsibility to raise awareness and communicate information about programs and services that affect the people of Ontario. This includes informing Ontarians of changes to their electricity bills, so that they can use this information to plan for the future. All ads direct Ontarians to a dedicated website where they can learn more about these changes and lower their bills even more.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. John Vanthof: Once again to the Premier: Perhaps the government should think about informing Ontarians, so they can plan for their future, about all of the details of the programs. Can the Premier tell us why the ads fail to mention that Ontarians will spend, over nearly two decades, a total of over $21 billion more than they would without the Ontario hydro plan?

Hon. Glenn Thibeault: Again, when it comes to all of the programs that are being offered, the Ontario Electricity Support Program is one of those programs. There are many that you can find on this website. This offers significant support to low-income households across the province. We’ve been doing everything we can to get enrolment even higher on this. We’ve put inserts in people’s bills. We’ve created these advertisements and more.

But the NDP’s support for this program is less clear. When you’re talking about advertisement—and we said it’s a government responsibility to communicate information about programs and services that people need. Let’s go through some of the largest advertising spends of 2015-16. Our sexual violence and harassment campaign, #WhoWillYouHelp, challenged existing attitudes and sparked international discussion. We’ve communicated to Ontarians about vaccines for children. We do many, many things to make sure that we let Ontarians know about the programs and services available to them.

Dementia care

M me Nathalie Des Rosiers: Ma question est pour le ministre de la Santé et des Soins de longue durée. We know that approximately 175,000 people in Ontario live with dementia, and the number is expected to grow with the aging population. My own father lived with dementia for over seven years and I know first-hand how much it affected him, my mother and our entire family.

With the 2017 budget, the government announced an additional investment of $101 million over three years for a dementia strategy. This will improve the coordination of care that is critical to help people with dementia. I think it will also continue to invest in health care providers’ education, in-home support, better trained PSWs and patient navigation for people with dementia. Certainly, it will strengthen Alzheimer Society chapters across Ontario.

Can the minister expand on what this investment will do?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: I appreciate the question. Let me once again welcome and acknowledge the courageous, hard-working, passionate and compassionate individuals who are here today from the Alzheimer Society of Ontario and the associated branches.

Mr. Speaker, our investments in dementia will ensure that everyone living with dementia in Ontario, their families and their care partners have the right supports, the right funding and the right tools in place to make those important and informed decisions about their care, and that they particularly continue to be treated with the dignity and respect that they deserve.

These investments include a $10-million additional investment in Behavioural Supports Ontario. It’s a key component of our $100-million dementia strategy. It goes to specialized services for residents with cognitive impairments who are exhibiting challenging and complex behaviours.

These are the sorts of investments that are necessary, and I’m proud to announce them.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

M me Nathalie Des Rosiers: Thank you to the minister for his answer, for his vision of health care and also for his support for this very important issue.

Dementia touches the lives of so many in Ontario. It affects the person who lives with the disease, but also his or her family. With a growing aging population, the burden is rising on people who provide care for people with a physical or a cognitive condition, injury or chronic illness.

Can the minister please tell this House about some of the other important investments this government is making to support the families and caregivers of those who live with dementia?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: It is absolutely critical we do respond effectively to the needs of both patients but also care partners. That’s why we’re making sure that we’re providing more care for people living with dementia while also looking after their care partners.

We’re increasing access to adult day programs for people with dementia. We’re adding additional hours of care and transportation to help people travel to their local program location. We’re enhancing care partner respite services, both in-home and overnight. We’re investing an additional $20 million this year alone for respite care for care partners of people receiving care at home, bringing the three-year commitment for respite alone to $120 million.

By increasing funding for approximately 1.2 million more hours of respite services, caregivers and care partners can

schedule breaks for rest, family commitments or other priorities.

Disaster relief

Mr. Jack MacLaren: My question is for the Minister of Municipal Affairs. Minister, over 600 homes in Constance Bay suffered flood damage in May when the Ottawa River rose to its highest level in over 100 years. Many people had to move out of their homes. The damage was extreme. The stress levels were extreme. People have applied to the Ontario disaster recovery program for badly needed financial help to repair their homes. They are waiting and they are waiting and they are waiting.

Minister, could you encourage the people administering the Ontario disaster recovery program to please speed up the approval process?

Hon. Bill Mauro: Thank you very much to the member from Carleton–Mississippi Mills for the question. I congratulate him as a member of the Trillium Party. It’s my understanding that this is your first question since you’ve joined the party. You welcomed your leadership to the galleries today.

As the member has mentioned, this is an incredibly difficult situation for people when they experience these very significant flooding events. That’s why we’ve had actually 35 municipalities in Ontario this year in which we have had to activate our Disaster Recovery Assistance for Ontarians program.

I would tell the member to ensure that he is letting his constituents know that they have until Friday, October 27 to apply. The deadline is open until then. If they have not applied yet, ensure, please, that they do and ensure that they’re working as closely as they can with the adjuster. If people are not receiving the assistance they need, if they’re in the geographic boundary and if they are eligible, sometimes it may mean that their applications to the adjuster are not complete. I’d encourage them to work with the adjuster, stay connected with the municipal services office—

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

Mr. Jack MacLaren: To the Minister of Municipal Affairs again: Thank you for your answer, Minister. Four homes in Constance Bay have been condemned as unfit to live in because of severe flooding damage. Jeff and Christine Smith, Kara Shaw and Diane Floyd don’t have homes they can live in. They all need to build a new home. But they don’t have flood insurance or the cash. They have applied for funding from the Ontario disaster recovery program.

These people are desperate and they are stressed out. They have been told that they will probably qualify for funding. Minister, could you put a special rush on processing their application forms?

Hon. Bill Mauro: Let me, in terms of the timing of the program, just say to the member and to the House: I want to congratulate, if I can, our member from Ancaster–Dundas–Flamborough–Westdale, Ted McMeekin, our former minister. When he had carriage of the file, he brought in two very significant changes to the program about two years ago. There used to be the requirement that local communities would have to fund-raise a significant amount of money even before the program could begin. There also was a requirement at that time for some local administration in terms of administering the claims.

The former minister, when he had the helm and carriage of this file, changed this program in a very significant way. It has enabled the assistance from the disaster recovery assistance program to get to the people who need the help—if they’re in the geographically defined boundary and if they’re eligible—to receive the assistance much faster than would have been the case.

I understand that it’s very serious. I understand how distressed people can be. I can only tell you that we have already changed the program to get the money out the door as quickly as we can to those people that are eligible.

Road safety

Mr. Rick Nicholls: My question is to the Premier. Everyone in this Legislature knows that it’s illegal to pass a school bus when it is stopped with lights flashing and stop arm extended. Last February, my bill—short form, the school bus systems act of 2017—passed unanimously at second reading. But unfortunately, your government continues to dismiss this bill as what—insignificant? We tried to move it forward before the session’s end by asking the government to include it as part of the safe schools sct. Sadly, this request was denied.

Premier, it has been 216 days. All this government proposes to do about blow-bys is call for more and more consultation with municipalities. We all know that consultation is code for doing nothing. Government claptrap won’t solve the problem.

Premier, will you see to it that my bill be sent to committee and passed?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of Transportation.

Hon. Steven Del Duca: I thank the member from Chatham–Kent–Essex for his question. He and I have had not only the course of debate here in the Legislature but also conversations here in this building. I do acknowledge, and I have acknowledged to him directly, that I recognize the importance—our government recognizes the importance—of making sure that we are in the strongest position possible to make sure that our most vulnerable road users, including students, including those that are near school buses, are protected at all times.

So when the member talks about the consultation process that we have committed to undertake—in fact, in my conversations with that member, I’ve offered him the opportunity to participate in these consultations.

It’s not simply about delaying—it’s not at all about delaying, in fact, Speaker. It’s about making sure that we get it right. There is what I’ll say is an evidentiary burden that is required in order for the technology to work appropriately, and in order for us to be able to make sure that whatever is drawn from those cameras can be entered into evidence without the need for a stand-alone, independent witness.

We need to make sure that we’re getting it right. That’s why we are going to do the consultation. I’m happy to include that member in the consultation process, and happy to have a conversation about it as well.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Rick Nicholls: Back to the Premier: Last May, we missed a golden opportunity to get my non-partisan Bill 94 passed into law before the summer recess. People are outraged that this didn’t happen. I have letters from municipalities throughout the province supporting this bill, and hundreds of signatures on petitions calling the government to action.

Recently, a blow-by occurred in Tecumseh. It was captured on a home security system. It recorded a mother’s horror as she went out to meet her children and saw a car passing on the shoulder of the road just as her children were about to get off the bus. Luckily, no children were hurt, but it could have ended in tragedy.

Premier, and Minister, the longer your government dismisses Bill 94, the greater the chances are of tragedy. Will you take action today and expedite Bill 94 before it is too late?

Hon. Steven Del Duca: I thank the member for the follow-up question.

I didn’t say this in the opening answer. I will say it very clearly: There is nobody in this House—frankly, I can’t believe there’s anyone in the province—who would in any way, shape or form not want to move forward aggressively, to make sure that we stop the blow-bys from happening, as that member has said and as members of all sides of the House have said.

But a couple of things I do want to point out: There is nothing that currently stops video cameras from being used on school buses. In fact, there are some places in the province that have gone forward, looking at some of the pilot opportunities that exist with respect to the technology.

What we are consulting on, not just with municipalities, not just with the member opposite if he chooses to participate in the consultation, but also with our road safety partners, is making sure that whatever is produced by way of the camera itself can be entered into evidence in a way that does not necessarily require a third party being there to verify the offence in question, as has been pointed out, like red-light cameras.

We’re not quite there yet, Speaker. I hope to be there soon. I can assure that member and all members that as soon as we are there and can satisfy the rest of the elements of what’s required, we’ll be the first ones to make sure that it happens.

Opioid abuse

Ms. Cheri DiNovo: My question is to the Premier.

Ontario is in the midst of an opioid overdose emergency, and it’s only getting worse. Last year, at least 865 people lost their lives to overdoses. In my riding, people are overdosing every single day. Front-line harm reduction workers are doing heroic work to save lives, but they’re still not getting the resources they need on the front lines.

Toronto’s board of health is calling on the Liberal government to officially declare this an emergency. When will the Premier recognize the urgency of this epidemic and declare a public emergency? Because that’s actually what it is.

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

Hon. Eric Hoskins: The member opposite is absolutely correct: This is a public health crisis. We can never forget that 865 individuals—sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters—lost their lives to overdose last year.

The crisis is getting worse, Mr. Speaker. That’s why we have a very substantial, almost-$300-million response to this crisis at every possible level. That includes here in Toronto, where we are providing 100% of the funding for the three safe injection sites. We are providing naloxone free of charge around the province to more than 200 different localities—1,600 pharmacies—where we’re providing test strips to test for fentanyl, including at the safe injection sites and the pop-up sites across the province. We’re making those investments at every touch point of this crisis so that we can be confident we will turn the tide.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Cheri DiNovo: People in Toronto know there’s an emergency. The Toronto Board of Health is asking the Liberal government to call it an emergency. It’s claiming more lives every day. Toronto’s medical officer of health says a declaration of emergency could trigger “a smoother flow of dollars” to the front lines. Front-line harm reduction workers say we need a declaration of emergency so we can start to see an end in sight to this epidemic.

When will the Premier listen to Toronto, declare an emergency and get the resources that front-line workers need right now to save more lives?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Our mechanism to declare a provincial emergency is for events that are expected to be of a time-limited nature. In fact, we are able to do it for a 14-day period, which is then renewable.

I think we all realize this is not a finite crisis. This is a crisis that has been going on for some time; regrettably, it will be going on for some time into the future. That’s why we’re making multi-million dollar investments.

I know that individuals are looking to BC, where they’ve had to declare such an emergency in order to compel hospitals to provide ER data and in order to compel officials, including the police, to coordinate with the government and with the Minister of Health. We have that ability without having to declare such a crisis. I’m actually confident in saying that the declaration of a provincial emergency would not give me any additional tools to do other than what I’m already doing.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Is the minister finished?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Yes.

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

New question.

Invictus Games

Mr. Arthur Potts: My question is to the Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport. I can’t stress enough, Speaker, how excited I am that Ontario is hosting the Invictus Games this month.

Applause.

Mr. Arthur Potts: Thank you, yes.

We are hosting such a talented group of athletes and service people, both from Canada and around the globe, and this has showcased a level of co-operation that inspires and motivates all of us. Just last week, I had the pleasure of participating in the kicking off of the games with the raising of the Invictus flag at Nathan Phillips Square, and tomorrow I will be attending the Invictus/Barrick Gold career fair.

I’ve had the opportunity to meet some of the inspirational athletes, the coaches and their families, and I have been so moved by this experience and by the presence of all these different athletes from 17 nations. I feel lucky to be part of these games and I will continue to watch closely.

Speaker, through you to the minister, can she tell the members of this House what we can expect from these Invictus Games?

Hon. Eleanor McMahon: I want to thank the member from Beaches–East York for his question and for participating in the Invictus Games here in Toronto.

Thanks to all the hard work of our volunteers and everyone involved, we can now say that Ontario has hosted the largest Invictus Games held to date, and they are to a standard that athletes from around the world are noticing.

Just yesterday, I had the honour of presenting medals to competitors at the women’s hand bike competition in beautiful High Park. While there, I spoke to athletes from Italy, France, the United States and Great Britain, and they were highly complimentary of the games, the volunteers, and the welcome they received. Indeed, at that event, I had the pleasure of meeting His Royal Highness Prince Harry. He was kind enough to thank me and our government for our support of the games, and he had nothing but praise for them.

More importantly, Speaker, he talked—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Really? Really?

Mr. John Yakabuski: Gentlemen, the Speaker is standing.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you, member from Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Really? During the Invictus questions?

Finish, Minister, please.

Hon. Eleanor McMahon: Thank you, Speaker.

It speaks to the dignity of the games and the athletes they are helping. We are delighted to support them and honoured to host them here in Ontario.

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

New question.

Mr. Arthur Potts: Supplementary.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Oh, sorry; supplementary. Sorry.

Mr. Arthur Potts: Well, thank you, Speaker, for that supplementary, and thank you to the minister, whom I often affectionately refer as the minister of fun and fitness, for her response.

The reality is, this minister has done incredible work to promote sport, tourism and culture in our province, and we’re absolutely delighted with her work in that regard.

It’s amazing to see how wide-reaching and how impactful our government’s investment in the games has been: $10 million from the people of Ontario. Their contribution to these games will have enormous payoffs to the athletes, the volunteers, the spectators and the overall economic benefit of our province.

The games truly represent the power of sport to challenge, inspire and overcome limitations.

Speaker, through you again to the minister: Can she speak to how we can all now get involved in these games?

Hon. Eleanor McMahon: I’d like to thank the member from Beaches–East York for that question.

While attending the games and visiting the athletes’ village, I’ve had the pleasure and honour of meeting Team Canada members and witnessing first-hand the camaraderie they share, the care and attention they’re receiving from their loved ones, and their physicians and caregivers, and their friends and colleagues, and hearing countless stories of personal courage and determination.

While there, I also met dedicated volunteers, many of whom volunteered at the Pan Am/Para Pan Am Games, just one of the many legacies of those games.

I want to share with the members of this House and all Ontarians that admission to many of the competitions has been and continues to be free and open to the public, including the archery event held today at the Fort York National Historic Site.

Finally, I’d like to thank the coaches. It’s National Coaches Week, and we all know what a valuable role they play. I’d like the members of this House to know and thank all of them for the wonderful role that they play in coaching our athletes.

School facilities

Mr. Lorne Coe: To the Minister of Education: The Liberal government continues to be out of touch with the needs of parents and students in communities across this great province. In east Aurora, for example, the population has grown by 30%, and the community needs a new public high school. Because the minister has ignored the needs of this local community, parents in east Aurora are forced to pay—forced to pay—to bus their children to a school over 30 minutes away.

Minister, how long will families in east Aurora have to wait before you accept their request to approve the construction of a new public high school?

Hon. Mitzie Hunter: I’m very pleased to rise in this House and to talk about the investments that we’re making in Ontario’s publicly funded education system.

As I said yesterday, we have made unprecedented investments in education in Ontario. When you look at our new schools that have been built in this province since 2003, 820 new schools have been built and over 800 extensive additions and renovations have been made.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound, come to order.

Hon. Mitzie Hunter: We have invested in the capital needs of our schools: since 2003, $17.5 billion. That has gone into communities and is providing excellent learning environments for our students.

With these new facilities—just before the first week of school, I visited a school in Brampton: state-of-art, 21st-century learning facilities for our students so that they can get the best education possible.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Lorne Coe: Back to the Minister of Education: East Aurora parents have repeatedly raised this issue with the Minister of Education. This government has not responded and done absolutely nothing about the proposed construction of a public high school. Not only that, but this minister has closed schools in communities elsewhere in Ontario that desperately need them to stay open.

When will the Liberal government finally take action and the listen to the community needs of parents and students in east Aurora?

Hon. Mitzie Hunter: Let me be very clear: We are very committed to our public education system. Since 2003, we’ve increased education funding in this province by 66%.

It would be very good for