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April 9, 2013

40th Parliament, 2nd Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcripts 2013-Apr-09 (PDF)

L021 - Tue 9 Apr 2013 / Mar 9 avr 2013

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Tuesday 9 April 2013 Mardi 9 avril 2013

ORDERS OF THE DAY

LOCAL FOOD ACT, 2013 /

LOI DE 2013 SUR

LES ALIMENTS LOCAUX

INTRODUCTION OF VISITORS

LEGISLATIVE PAGES

ORAL QUESTIONS

POWER PLANTS

TEACHERS’ COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

TAXATION

MANUFACTURING JOBS

ONTARIO PUBLIC SERVICE

CASINOS

FOR THE DISABLED

TEACHERS’ COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

TIRE RECYCLING

COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTRES

POWER PLANTS

CANCER TREATMENT

ABORIGINAL CHILDREN AND YOUTH

JOB CREATION

MEMBER’S COMMENTS

MEMBER’S COMMENTS

USE OF QUESTION PERIOD

CORRECTION OF RECORD

MEMBERS’ STATEMENTS

ABORIGINAL LAND CLAIMS

PAY EQUITY

JAMES “FERGY” BROWN

MARGARET THATCHER

BOB OLDFIELD

GARY SHEPHERD

TRAFFIC SAFETY

CYSTIC FIBROSIS

DON MACKINNON

INTRODUCTION OF BILLS

BEECHWOOD CEMETERY

COMPANY ACT, 2013

CHILDREN’S LAW REFORM

AMENDMENT ACT (RELATIONSHIP

WITH GRANDPARENTS), 2013 /

LOI DE 2013 MODIFIANT

LA LOI PORTANT RÉFORME

DU DROIT DE L’ENFANCE (RELATION

AVEC LES GRANDS-PARENTS)

MOTIONS

ADJOURNMENT DEBATE

PETITIONS

WATER QUALITY

GREENWATER PARK

ELECTORAL BOUNDARIES

DOG OWNERSHIP

LONG-TERM CARE

ELECTORAL BOUNDARIES

HOSPITAL PARKING FEES

SERVICES FOR THE DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED

WIND TURBINES

TIRE DISPOSAL

ONTARIO COLLEGE OF TRADES

AIR-RAIL LINK

ORDERS OF THE DAY

AMBULANCE AMENDMENT ACT

(AIR AMBULANCES), 2013 /

LOI DE 2013 MODIFIANT

LA

LOI SUR LES AMBULANCES

(SERVICES D’AMBULANCE AÉRIENS)

The House met at 0900.

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

Prayers.

ORDERS OF THE DAY

LOCAL FOOD ACT, 2013 /

LOI DE 2013 SUR

LES ALIMENTS LOCAUX

Ms. Wynne moved second reading of the following bill:

Bill 36,

An Act to enact the Local Food Act, 2013 / Projet de loi 36, Loi édictant la Loi de 2013 sur les aliments locaux.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Ms. Wynne has moved second reading of the act. Ms. Wynne?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Mr. Speaker, I just want to say that I’ll be sharing my time with the member from Glengarry–Prescott–Russell.

I’m very pleased to be able to rise today to speak to second reading of the Local Food Act. I think that local food is something we can all agree sustains people in communities, rural and urban, across the province.

I just want to ask us all to reflect a little bit on our experiences of local food. If I think about a time before it was conscious to me that I was eating local food or not, I can remember being really very excited in the summer when August would come, because that was the time when we could get corn. We could get Ontario-grown corn. We would go to pick up—or my dad would pick up on the way home from his office—local corn at Mr. Topper’s farm in Richmond Hill. That was his name, and he was just north of Elgin Mills. We only ate corn in August. We didn’t eat corn any other time of the year.

I don’t even know if it was available in stores, but certainly my father had a complete prejudice about Ontario corn: That was the best-tasting corn, and that’s the only corn we should eat.

When my own kids came along, we would wait for the spring to go to the berry picking farms and pick strawberries. I can remember my middle child when she was about two and a half. I can see her in the berry patch with strawberries all over her face. I’m not sure how many went in the basket. Those experiences, I think, need to inform the way we think about the abundance of local Ontario food.

Just a final piece: There was a story on the CBC this morning—Metro Morning, in the Toronto area—about a young man who is setting up a website, foodstory.ca. He wants to connect people who wouldn’t normally go to farmers’ markets to farmers’ markets. So he’s setting up a website to allow people in the urban centre of downtown Toronto to connect with farmers who are bringing their food into farmers’ markets but aren’t able to connect with some of the younger generation who don’t have the habit of going to farmers’ markets.

I think that’s what the Local Food Act is about. It’s about finding ways of raising people’s consciousness about accessing that great Ontario food.

Je suis heureuse de prendre la parole aujourd’hui pour la deuxième lecture du projet de

loi sur les aliments locaux. Les aliments locaux assurent la subsistance des gens et des collectivités rurales et urbaines dans toute la province.

Wherever I go, I see that more and more people are joining the local food movement, and it’s doing great things for Ontario: It’s supporting our farmers, it’s strengthening our communities and it’s building our economy. From my perspective, that’s what the agri-food sector is about. It’s about making sure that we understand how important the agri-food industry is to Ontario. We want to give that movement some added momentum. We want to celebrate and support all of the good things that grow in Ontario. That’s why last fall my colleague Minister McMeekin proposed a Local Food Act.

We said that we were going to do that, and he proposed it. I want to thank him for his commitment to our agri-food sector and all the effort and good work that he put into that act.

Hon. Jeff Leal: A great minister.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: That’s right, he’s an excellent minister.

Last month, I was pleased to carry that commitment forward with the introduction of our new Local Food Act. If passed, the act would increase local food awareness, access and sales by enabling the government to set local food goals and targets, in consultation with stakeholders. That’s an important aspect of this. We really believe that working with the sector—working with people who produce food, working with people who process food—we can find a way to set those targets in a realistic way.

One of the concerns I heard at the time that the Local Food Act was introduced in the first place—I was the Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, and I heard from municipalities that there was some concern that if we were too prescriptive as a provincial government, we would put in place an undue burden on local communities, on municipalities and on producers. We don’t want to do that. This has to be about a partnership; it has to be about working together.

What this would do is it would enable, as I say, the government to work with the public sector organizations towards those goals and to share information on their progress and results. Because we know that if we can shine a light on progress, then we can enhance that progress. It would also celebrate local food by proclaiming a local food week that would begin the Monday before Thanksgiving, and it would require the government to produce a local food report on the activities it has undertaken to support local food.

I think that’s a significant aspect of the legislation, Madam Speaker, because requiring that the minister actually gather that information and report it is another way of sharing information and making it clear that we’re taking this seriously.

In order for it to work, the local food bill has to have a strategy that works beyond the sector. That’s why we’ve been talking to stakeholders and families about how we can encourage the people of Ontario to ask for and buy local food. This is where I really believe the public is ahead of us on this. I think the public is already going into stores and is already wanting to know where the local food is, wanting to know, “Why can’t I find Ontario lettuce? Why can’t I find Ontario potatoes? How do I do that?” I think we can encourage that and we can support people in that.

Last summer, in fact, we hosted regional round tables across Ontario, in Ottawa, Ancaster, Toronto, Thunder Bay, Sudbury and London. L’été dernier, nous avons organisé des tables rondes régionales un peu partout en Ontario : à Ottawa, Ancaster, Toronto, Thunder Bay, Sudbury et London. We talked with a variety of stakeholders across multiple sectors during those meetings, from the farming and food processing sectors to the retail and the broader public sectors. We took the conversation right down into our communities, talking with families at farmers’ markets and agricultural fair grounds too.

We began these conversations by asking a number of questions: “How do we best increase demand for and access to local food across the province?” So we’ve got perceptions on how we could do that; and, “What role can government, industry and communities play?” Comment pouvons-nous le mieux accroître la demande et l’accès aux produits locaux à l’échelle de la province, et quel est le rôle que le gouvernement, l’industrie et les collectivités doivent jouer?

The feedback that we received was invaluable as we drafted the Local Food Act and created our broader local food strategy. So we didn’t just introduce the bill and not continue to talk to people. We continued to have that conversation to improve the bill and the strategy outside of the legislation.

With input from the agri-food sector, we made sure that the act allows the minister to set goals and targets that we can realistically work towards, because we want our farmers, food processors and public sector institutions to experience benefits, not burdens, from this act. That was my point from earlier: We don’t want this to be onerous, and we don’t want this to be a prescription from Queen’s Park on food processors, on farmers, on municipalities; we want this to be something that supports what local producers are already trying to do.

Hon. Jeff Leal: Grassroots

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Exactly.

Ensuring that success is about working together: It’s about collaboration across the value chain; it’s about coming up with ways that will increase the demand and supply of Ontario food from the farm gate to the dinner plate. As I said, the Local Food Act is just one part of that broader local food strategy.

Beyond the legislation, we’re also proposing more education about the benefits of local food. If I go back to that first story I was telling about my family and eating corn and tomatoes in August—end of July and August—I want to make sure that young people understand the difference in flavour between a strawberry grown in Ontario and a strawberry that’s imported from far away, and understand that if you can get corn—I have a bit of a passion about corn that’s picked on the same day.

We can’t always get it picked on the same day, but if you can, it tastes totally different than corn that has been sitting around for a while. I know there are local markets in Peterborough where you can get corn picked on the same day.

Hon. Jeff Leal: Every Saturday.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: There you go.

Hon. Reza Moridi: The best corn comes from Richmond Hill.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: You see? Everywhere: The best corn comes from Richmond Hill, the best corn comes from Peterborough, from Brampton. Really, the best corn comes from Ontario.

Hon. Jeff Leal: I tried to grow my own last year, but the racoons got to it.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Apparently some of my colleagues have tried to grow their own. Maybe they shouldn’t give up their day jobs; they can leave that to the farmers in their community.

We’re proposing more education about the benefits of local food, more support for communities and regions to work on local food initiatives, and a commitment to consult with stakeholders on the best ways to promote local food. Madam Speaker, I know that in Simcoe county there’s a Simcoe food strategy now, and I know you’re aware of that. That’s the kind of local initiative that brings people together and helps everyone understand what they can do to advance the local food cause. Those kinds of strategies are the good ideas we want to share across the province.

But we’ll lead by example too. We’ll lead through an Ontario government policy requiring ministries to consider local food procurements under $25,000. Again, we think that’s very doable. When there’s going to be a procurement, we want that to be a local food procurement. We’ll continue to promote the good things that grow in Ontario through our Foodland Ontario food program. I want to emphasize that this is not a notion that would take the place of the existing program, but would enhance it.

Another part of our local food strategy is a really exciting new industry-led risk management fund that supports Ontario corn-fed beef. I had the privilege of visiting the Conlin family farm a few weeks ago to announce this initiative, and I was lucky enough to see how a top-notch cattle feedlot operates. There were three generations of Conlins on the farm, thousands of cattle and a cheeky goat named Manny. It’s operations like this that really provide the backbone of rural Ontario.

That’s why we are investing $10 million towards this new type of risk management fund, so that we can help stabilize pricing and stimulate growth for people like the Conlins so they can market more of their local food onto our plates and so that their farm operation can be sustainable and the next generation can take over that farm operation. That is something that is a real concern to farmers in the province—that they’re able to have an operation that their children can take over.

C’est pourquoi nous investissons 10 millions de dollars dans ce nouveau type de fonds de gestion des risques : nous voulons stabiliser les prix et stimuler la croissance pour des gens comme les Conlin afin qu’ils puissent mettre encore plus d’aliments locaux dans nos assiettes.

The fund will be run by farmers, for farmers, and will help them manage their own risks and take control of their businesses. It’s really a new way of looking at business risk management, and I want to commend the vision shown by Ontario Corn Fed Beef in pursuing this initiative and working with my predecessor to put this in place. They did the hard work, they came together and they came up with this idea.

It’s a great opportunity, I think, to grow and strengthen the entire beef industry, which supports more than 11,000 jobs and contributes approximately $4 billion to the provincial economy.

Initiatives like these are so important to our government because we know that when we can help people buy locally grown food, we’re supporting our farmers; we’re boosting food production and processing, which help job growth and economic growth; and we’re strengthening our environment.

One of the things that I’ve been saying in my role as Minister of Agriculture and Food as I travel the province and I meet with food processing and producer organizations is that I’m not sure that the general public understands the impact of the agri-food sector on Ontario’s economy. I’m not sure that people understand generally that the agri-food sector is the second-largest manufacturing sector in the province—a $34-billion contribution to the GDP, more than 700,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: It’s number one.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I’m hearing from my Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Employment that it’s number one. It goes back and forth between number one and number two, but today it’s number one; today it’s the largest manufacturing sector.

I think that’s a badly understood reality about Ontario’s economy, Madam Speaker, and part of this discussion around the Local Food Act is making that better understood, helping people to understand that as we grow Ontario’s economy, as we put the conditions in place to create jobs, part of that is putting the conditions in place for the agri-food sector to grow and flourish. By doing this, we are strengthening the economy and we’re strengthening the environment.

Our proposed legislation highlights the strong contribution that Ontario’s agri-food sector makes to our province, to our way of life and, as I’ve said, to our economy.

Ontario’s farmers grow and raise more than 200 commodities. We’re home to about 3,000 food and beverage manufacturing establishments—more than any other province—and our agri-food sector, as I said, accounts for $34 billion of the provincial GDP and supports 700,000 jobs.

I chose to take on the role of Minister of Agriculture and Food because I wanted to raise the profile of this important industry. I’m very fortunate to be in a position to shine a light on the wonderful work that this industry does, the contributions that they make to a strong Ontario, and the foundations for their success.

I’m also aware that every member of this Legislature has people who are working in farming, working in food processing; working in the agri-food sector in one way or another. I really do see this as one of these issues about which there really isn’t a partisan disagreement. I know that the members of the opposition will speak today about the specifics of the legislation, but I also know that at the fundamental root of their concerns are exactly the same concerns that we share: that we support the agri-food sector in Ontario.

Ontario is home to a lucrative marketplace, with more than 80% of primary grocery shoppers intending to buy fresh, local Ontario food. That’s the piece that I was saying that people are ahead of us on. They want to buy Ontario food. There’s more retail interest than ever, with many restaurants and grocery stores highlighting local food on menus and in the aisles.

Le marché du détail est plus intéressé que jamais aux produits locaux, et de nombreux restaurants et épiceries mettent en vedette les aliments locaux sur leurs menus et sur les tablettes.

There’s an additional element to success that trumps most others: Ontario’s innovative farmers, who are willing to grow the food that people want, from bok choy to purple carrots. For example, look at From Farm to Table Canada, a leading-edge Cambridge food processor that provides consumers with farm-fresh products right from Ontario farms. As a strong proponent of buying local and healthy eating, Becky Smollett, the company’s founder, worked with local Ontario corn growers to produce a popcorn snack that meets the nutrition standards under the Ontario School Food and Beverage Policy.

Having received approval to use the Foodland Ontario logo on their packaging in 2010, the company initially sold their product through schools and cafeterias. But as the demand increased, they expanded into the retail market. So they went beyond that initial narrow market.

Then there’s Willowgrove Hill Farms from Mitchell, Ontario. Owners Paul and Rosie Hill are innovative pork producers who offer consumers Ontario pork products enhanced with omega 3 fatty acids. These nutrients are essential for the maintenance of general human health, normal growth and development. The pork is also enhanced with organic selenium, an antioxidant.

Seeing the success of omega-3 in eggs and milk products and recognizing the health benefits, Paul and Rosie began the process of introducing omega-3 fatty acids into their feed back in 2007. In 2008, they started using the Foodland Ontario logo to identify to consumers their locally grown pork products. And in 2011, the Hill family farm was recognized as the Premier’s Award recipients for Agri-Food Innovation Excellence. They took a great idea and they grew it. I’m happy to say that Willowgrove Hill has seen demand for their enriched pork product jump in the last couple of years.

Starting out in smaller markets, they’ve recently launched their products in Ontario FreshCo stores across the province.

Longo Brothers Fruit Markets is another local food champion. They won a newly introduced Vision Award at the 2012 Foodland retailer awards ceremony a few weeks ago. The award was introduced to recognize outstanding corporate support for promoting Ontario foods under the Foodland Ontario brand.

Longo’s is definitely a huge supporter of local food. They source a great variety of Ontario meats and have chosen to promote their selection at store level through co-branding with Foodland Ontario. When a customer ventures into the meat department at Longo’s, there’s no doubt that Ontario products dominate.

These are the kinds of initiatives that we want to promote, that we want to support, and I know that retailers and consumers want this to happen.

I also want to acknowledge Loblaw, Canada’s largest food retailer and the host of our announcement for the introduction of this legislation. They’re another very strong supporter of Ontario foods through initiatives like their Grown Close to Home program, which sources products from Ontario farmers. They also participate in Foodland Ontario’s retail services program to boost awareness of Ontario products on their shelves. More than 200 of their stores also prominently feature Ontario corn-fed beef, and they’re committed to sourcing even more local products.

Nous voulons mettre encore plus de bons produits de chez nous sur votre table, que cette table soit dans votre demeure, les écoles, les garderies, les hôpitaux ou les édifices gouvernementaux. C’est pourquoi nous avons fait des investissements afin d’accroître la quantité d’aliments locaux frais, sains et délicieux offerts par les organismes du secteur public élargi.

We want to bring more of the good things that grow in Ontario to your table, whether that table is in our kitchens, at home, in our schools, daycares, hospitals or government buildings. That’s why we’ve made investments to help increase the amount of fresh, healthy and delicious local foods in our broader public sector organizations.

We’ve done this in a variety of ways. We’ve done it by supporting programming through the Greenbelt Fund to connect buyers, including our public institutions, with local food producers. In fact, the Greenbelt Fund’s ontariofresh.ca website serves as an electronic marketplace for more than 1,200 buyers and sellers of Ontario foods.

Sysco Ontario is a great example of how our support for the Greenbelt Fund is getting more local food into our institutions. The reality is that it’s not always going to be possible for someone to find a farmers’ market, or find that local farmer, without some of the modern technologies. We acknowledge that, and so we’re using those. With support through the fund, Sysco has worked with producers and operators to feature and promote Ontario cheeses on their menus and successfully increased Ontario cheese sales by just over $5 million. Their sales staff now look to fill customer orders with Ontario cheese first.

So it’s a change in culture, a change in focus. Institutions that previously overlooked local cheese have now made the shift. I know that the member for Glengarry–Prescott–Russell is going to be talking about local cheese in his remarks.

Hon. Madeleine Meilleur: St-Albert.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: St-Albert, oui.

They now have the marketing tools to continue to promote local cheese to their consumer base. Sysco is also using the Foodland Ontario logo to help promote Ontario foods to their clients. According to the company, they’re proud to work with the farming community to help them provide Ontario restaurants with safe and sustainable produce.

Hon. Jeff Leal: Headquartered in Peterborough.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: There you go: in Peterborough.

My point, Madam Speaker, is that industry and retailers want this to happen. They want to work with government, and they want to work with producers.

Our total investment toward this broader sector programming has resulted in $26 million in additional Ontario food in daycares, schools, universities and colleges, or a 5-to-1 return on investment for every public dollar spent. It’s a good investment.

We remain committed to bringing more local food into Ontario’s municipalities, long-term-care homes, hospitals and schools. That’s why we’re providing an additional $5 million to the Greenbelt Fund to continue their good work in making it easier for public institutions to buy local.

As I travel around the province, meeting with different groups in the agri-food industry, I always emphasize how interconnected we are as rural and urban Ontario. I think the debate that sometimes creeps into this discussion is whether rural Ontario has the interests of urban Ontario and urban Ontario has the interests of rural Ontario at heart. I believe that we are interconnected, that we have to think of ourselves as one Ontario and that we need to find ways to make that connection real. One of those ways is through the local food initiative. Farmers feed us all; we know that. We all have a stake in their success. To pretend that somehow we’re separate is not helpful.

En voyageant dans la province et en rencontrant différents groupes de l’industrie agroalimentaire, je remarque souvent à quel point l’Ontario rural et l’Ontario urbain sont reliés.

From ethnically diverse foods to foods that address special dietary needs like nut-free and gluten-free, the province’s agri-food industry is responding to consumer demand right across the spectrum. But we recognize there’s always more that we can do, and today’s consumers are more engaged in learning about food. They’re reading labels. They’re asking about where their food comes from. They want to know what they’re feeding their children, how it was grown or produced. They also care who is behind the production of their food. They want to support their local farmers.

What we’re going to do with this act is to help them to do that—and with our broader local food strategy. We want to help the agri-food industry continue to meet consumer demands.

I’d like to just close by reminding everyone that when we choose foods that are grown and made here at home, it’s good for our families, it’s good for our communities, and it’s good for Ontario farmers. It strengthens us as an entity, as a province. This proposed legislation will help people find, buy and eat food and beverages that are grown, harvested and made in Ontario wherever they are. I encourage Ontario consumers to choose Ontario foods first whenever they can, and I salute the hard-working farmers and food processors and all of the businesses connected to our agri-food industry for the great work that they continue to do each and every day.

J’encourage les consommateurs ontariens à choisir des aliments de l’Ontario en premier chaque fois que c’est possible. Je rends hommage à tous les agriculteurs et transformateurs alimentaires qui travaillent si fort, ainsi que toutes les entreprises associées à notre industrie agroalimentaire, pour tous leurs efforts quotidiens.

Because when we work together, we can find ways to grow this great industry.

I’ll just close by saying I had the opportunity to be at the Elmira Maple Syrup Festival this past weekend. It’s going to be a great maple syrup season, I believe, because the cold nights and the sunnier days—although today may not be a good example—the cooler nights and warmer days are going to produce a great harvest. So if you can, get to a maple sugar bush and buy Ontario maple syrup. It’s another one of those great seasonal food products that make Ontario agriculture the best in the world.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Julia Munro): The member from Glengarry–Prescott–Russell.

Mr. Grant Crack: It’s certainly a pleasure for me to rise in the House and follow the Premier and Minister of Agriculture on what I consider to be a very important component of what we do as a government to support our local businesses. I’m pleased to rise and also to support the good things that grow right here in Ontario.

If passed, this bill would be part of a larger food strategy. As the Premier has said, the public is already ahead of us on this one.

Je suis heureux de prendre la parole aujourd’hui pour démontrer mon appui des bons produits cultivés en Ontario. Si le projet de loi est adopté, il deviendra un des éléments d’une stratégie globale sur les aliments locaux, et comme l’a mentionné la première ministre, le grand public a déjà de l’avance dans ce domaine.

I’ll be talking about what this bill will do, and then I’ll take the opportunity to talk about some of the wonderful local food initiatives that are already on the go on the ground in my riding and in surrounding areas. I’ll also talk about how the agri-food industry has an innovative and creative approach to growth.

As the Minister of Agriculture has said, the agri-food industry contributed $34 billion to the Ontario economy. That’s significant. Ontario’s local food isn’t just produce bought at farmers markets; it’s also food processed right here in Ontario as well. The agri-food industry supports more than 700,000 jobs across the province, and we have a food processing sector that, with almost 3,000 manufacturing businesses, contributes almost $10 billion to our GDP and employs more than 94,000 people.

L’industrie agroalimentaire a contribué 34 milliards de dollars à notre économie. Les aliments locaux de l’Ontario ne comprennent pas seulement les fruits et légumes achetés dans les marchés de producteurs. Il s’agit aussi des aliments qui sont transformés dans notre province. L’industrie agroalimentaire appuie plus de 700 000 emplois dans la province. En Ontario, nous avons un secteur de la transformation des aliments qui, avec près de 3 000 entreprises de fabrication, contribue presque 10 milliards de dollars à notre produit intérieur brut et fournit de l’emploi à plus de 94 000 personnes.

This bill is designed to work with local communities, not to add to cumbersome regulation and red tape. We know that every community and region in Ontario is unique, and this bill will capitalize on and promote the wonderful initiatives that are already in place.

The local food bill will allow for the establishment of goals and targets for local food through consultation. We listened when stakeholders told us that they didn’t want targets imposed on them.

As a government, we will work with public sector organizations towards these goals and share the information on successes and best practices. We’ll also celebrate local food with a local food week. We’ll have the minister prepare a local food report on government activities that support local food, every three years.

As has been said, this bill is just one part of our comprehensive strategy. Beyond this legislation, we will lead by example, through an Ontario public-service-wide policy requiring ministries to consider local food for procurements under $25,000. We’ll do what we can to educate about the benefits of local food. We’ll support communities and regions working on local food. We’re going to consult with stakeholders on a provincial designation system. We’re going to continue to promote the things that grow in Ontario through our Foodland Ontario program.

I can tell you, last month I was very honoured to represent the Minister of Agriculture at the 2012 Foodland Ontario Retailer Awards in downtown Toronto. It was a great experience for me to basically reconnect with an industry that I’m quite familiar with. In my past, I served seven years as a regional manager of sales and operations for a company called Boulangerie Lanthier—Lanthier Bakery—based out of Alexandria, with production also out of Baie-d’Urfé in Quebec. Lanthier Bakery produces breads, hot dog and hamburger buns, and probably the best raisin bread made in Ontario.

On many occasions, I’d be in the stores, working with purchasing agents to try to maximize our shelf space, creating planograms, trying to get as many SKUs into the stores as we possibly could.

One of our greatest accomplishments has been being the major distributor and supplier for Dollarama. Just last month, I was up at the Dollarama on Bloor Street. I look in and there’s Lanthier Bakery bread, right here in Toronto.

We’re expanding across the province—Betty Bread. It was certainly a privilege and an honour for me to work for such a great company, a family-owned business that has depots in Montreal, Ottawa, Alexandria, Brockville and Oshawa. I just wanted to make sure that—as we move forward with this type of initiative, that I’m quite familiar with what needs to be done in order to assist our retailers, our producers and our processors across the province.

As part of the local food bill, we’re also going to help to fund local food projects across this province. The more appreciation and demand we have for local food and locally produced food, the more we can strengthen Ontario’s agriculture and food industry.

Without local food, we wouldn’t have as many food processing success stories to tell. These companies help contribute to Ontario’s economy.

I’ll give you a few examples. Ottawa’s HoneyBar is the largest processor of honey east of Toronto. You could say that their HoneyBar trail mix is literally out of this world. That’s because Canada’s space agency has included it in the snacks enjoyed by astronaut Chris Hadfield and two other astronauts on board.

Hon. Jeff Leal: That’s good news.

Mr. Grant Crack: It certainly is.

Voortman Cookies, headquartered in Burlington, has been baking and exporting premium baked goods since 1951. They have produced over 60 unique varieties of cookies, including an extensive line of sugar-free and low-sugar products. Voortman employs about 400 production workers and distributes their cookies throughout North America and overseas.

Chapman’s Ice Cream—I’m sure everyone has heard of Chapman’s Ice Cream. After a fire destroyed their facilities, Chapman’s committed to rebuilding stronger than ever in their rural community. Their Project Phoenix included a huge $100-million investment for building a state-of-the-art production facility with a test kitchen, research facilities, new product development and a separate, nut-free line for its ice cream production facilities. Today, Chapman’s has successfully risen from the ashes and is now Canada’s largest independent ice cream manufacturer. It’s still Markdale’s largest employer, employing almost 600 dedicated people.

Dr. Oetker chose London for its first North American frozen pizza factory. Its 200,000-square-foot facility will produce 50 million frozen pizzas a year for the North American market, providing up to 300 new jobs in the London region. The company will also buy about 11,000 metric tonnes of Ontario food ingredients worth $20 million in the first year.

We know that food production and processing create jobs and economic growth, Madam Speaker. It is also a field where being creative and innovative is necessary to compete in the global market, and something that government works towards supporting.

Research and innovation is an important catalyst for agriculture and food, and something I want to take time to highlight. From current research into milk with cancer-fighting mineral supplements to healthier starches for everyday diets, agri-food scientists are coming up with new ways to provide healthier food for the people of Ontario.

La recherche et l’innovation sont des agents catalyseurs importants de l’agriculture et de l’agroalimentaire. C’est un point que je veux faire ressortir. Qu’il s’agisse des recherches actuelles sur le lait enrichi de suppléments minéraux pour lutter contre le cancer ou d’amidons plus sains pour l’alimentation quotidienne, les scientifiques agroalimentaires proposent de nouvelles façons d’offrir des aliments plus sains aux gens de l’Ontario.

This is an amazing area where the opportunities for the agri-food industry to get involved are endless. Currently, researchers are trying to improve the nutrition uptake for residents of health care and long-term-care facilities through inclusion of local food into residence diets. Science is helping the agri-food sector advance in other ways, like the intelligent vegetable-harvesting robots that researchers at the university have developed. This could emerge as a revolutionary technology for the Canadian greenhouse industry, giving growers a competitive edge.

On all fronts, people are working together to enhance and strengthen Ontario’s agricultural and food industry and move forward into the next century. Working together is key.

La science aide le secteur agroalimentaire à aller de l’avant d’autres façons, comme avec les robots récolteurs intelligents de légumes qui ont été développés par des chercheurs universitaires. Ceci pourrait se révéler une technologie révolutionnaire pour l’industrie canadienne des serres et donner aux producteurs un avantage concurrentiel. Sur tous les fronts, les gens collaborent pour améliorer et renforcer l’industrie agroalimentaire ontarienne et nous propulser dans le prochain siècle. La collaboration est essentielle.

We need to remember and value what is at the heart of it all: our land and the people who grow our food. Because without them, we don’t have any other great innovations, science developments and businesses that grow from it. There are so many more new ideas, new technologies and approaches that are helping to move our agricultural and food sectors forward.

Each year, we take the time to proudly recognize these achievements in research and innovation through the Premier’s Award for Agri-food Innovation. Last year alone, we congratulated 50 award recipients at events held throughout the province.

The top-ranked Premier’s Award went to Philip Short, a tender-fruit grower from Niagara region. He wanted to add value to the products currently sold in the marketplace and he wanted to develop innovative packaging solutions to meet the needs of retailers, consumers and growers. So Phillip landed on a simple idea: build a better basket that keeps fruit fresher longer, with less damage from transport.

This basket helps the standards of product quality; it transports product easily; it’s more attractive to consumers, who can see what they’re buying; and it’s good for food safety. Because the fruit is sealed—it has a lid—no hands touch it as it moves from the packaging shed to the consumer’s home. It even stores well in the fridge since the lid keeps the food fresh.

It’s easy to see why today this innovator supplies most of Niagara’s tender-fruit growers. In fact, almost half of the peaches grown in Ontario in 2010 and beyond were packed in these containers. They were all used by Loblaws vendors nationally, including in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec and the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia.

Hon. Jeff Leal: Right across Canada.

Mr. Grant Crack: Right across Canada. The fruit of one man’s idea and labour has enjoyed tremendous success.

The Minister’s Award went to Burning Kiln Winery. This group’s story began in 2006 when they planted high-quality French vinifera varietals on 23 acres of land that were previously tobacco.

The winery has converted displaced tobacco kilns into high-tech award-winning wine-making machines. The result is great-tasting Ontario wine that shows innovation thriving in Norfolk.

I can tell you that everywhere I go, I encourage my family and friends to buy Ontario wines. I can’t understand why anyone would go into the local LCBO and buy a wine that’s not an Ontario. I think everybody has to—

Interjection.

Mr. Grant Crack: Buy Ontario wine. The Premier and the Minister of Agriculture is just indicating that she was at Burning Kiln Winery and says it’s one of the greatest wines.

We also recognize three Leaders in Innovation Award recipients:

—Mariposa Dairy in Kawartha Lakes county worked with community partners to come up with a mega-press machine that separate curds and whey so quickly and efficiently that it has reduced the separation time cycle from four days to just 24 hours;

—Nicholyn Farms in Simcoe county, which offers daily nutritious local food lunches to their community. The Van Casteren family prepares 600 lunches weekly, and they have expanded their own vegetable crop by five acres in addition to drawing the production of fellow farmers in the area;

—Victory Organic in the Niagara region came up with the “bob wash,” an affordable small-scale system for ensuring that salad greens and root vegetables are washed and packaged safely right on the farm.

There are a dozen more innovation stories that are recognized with regional awards each year. Many of them demonstrate the passion that our farmers, our food processors and our communities have for local food. We look forward to recognizing more innovations later this year under this awards program.

I truly believe that the people of Ontario want to eat local food not only because of the quality and freshness, but because they want to support this innovative sector. Supporting local food and local producers is something we feel passionate about and something that many regions are already working towards.

Premier Wynne speaks about how rural and urban Ontario are interconnected. Local food is a great example of how this province works. I am so proud to come from eastern Ontario, from the great riding of Glengarry–Prescott–Russell. On November 22, I was able to attend the second annual Bilingual Eastern Ontario Local Food Conference that was held in Kemptville, where we shared a lot of great ideas and collaborated on how we can move forward with regard to our local food bill. The input that was received and the ideas that are being presented out there are just great and encouraging and help us as a government to know, as we move forward with the local food bill, that we’re on the right track.

The theme chosen for the conference was “Collaborating for Success.” There were over 175 producers and processors who attended the conference, with an additional number participating via Agriwebinar. The conference works towards facilitating stronger relationships among eastern Ontario stakeholders to provide technical information in key areas where development is needed to encourage economic growth; and further expanding local foods in eastern Ontario. A wide variety of local food topics were covered, including value-chain development, regulatory requirements, consumer-driven co-operative models, and many more.

To name a few, Savour Ottawa is an initiative spearheaded by Ottawa Tourism, Just Food and the city of Ottawa. This group boasts over 125 members, including approximately 80 farmers and 30 food service providers, retailers, microprocessors and supporters. Savour Ottawa works to develop and promote Ottawa and the area as a premier year-round culinary destination, with robust offerings of local foods and experiences for both locals and visitors to the area.

In my own riding of Glengarry–Prescott–Russell, we have an amazing little town or village called St-Albert. Fromagerie St-Albert enjoys worldwide renown for exceptional quality cheeses which have been made for more than a century. Five generations of farmers and craftsmen have worked to maintain St-Albert’s long tradition of quality. St-Albert’s is owned by 50 producers. St-Albert Cheese manufacturing employs more than 100 people, who are guided by a common concern for quality and freshness to ensure success.

The wider community stands behind and supports the Fromagerie St-Albert. We almost lost this gem in a fire, but the community pulled together, and everyone in this Legislature can agree that the cheese curds that St-Albert’s produces—and my predecessor, Mr. Jean-Marc Lalonde, former MPP, in a tradition followed by myself in bringing St-Albert’s cheese to Glengarry–Prescott–Russell Day—goes unnoticed by all the MPPs, as I’ve been told that St-Albert’s cheese is the best cheese in the province of Ontario.

Each year, we have le Festival de la Curd in St-Albert, and I attend this each year with my family. This year, I would like to invite all MPPs to come to Glengarry–Prescott–Russell for this festival—it’s a special year—because we need to show our support for Fromagerie St-Albert, after a terrible fire this year that destroyed much of the plant. I’d particularly like to invite the member from Leeds–Grenville. He’s not far, and he can come down and see me there. This year we’re celebrating our 20th anniversary, and it will be bigger than ever, so come to Glengarry–Prescott–Russell and enjoy some of the best cheese in the world.

Each year, I also attend le Festival de la Bine de Plantagenet. This is a family festival by la Binerie de Plantagenet that is celebrated in the fall and recognizes a local dietary staple: the bean. Folks from across my riding of Glengarry–Prescott–Russell bring samples of their family bean recipes, and there’s even a contest voted upon by the tasters. Last year, there were over 1,250 participants—very, very exciting.

People in my riding love to support our local food producers and processors, and this legislation that we’ve just tabled for second reading hopes to illustrate that without local food, we wouldn’t have as many food-processing success stories to tell. And these companies help contribute to Ontario’s economy.

I would be remiss not to talk about the craft brewers’ reception last night, where I was able to enjoy one of my favourite craft beers, made by Beau’s Brewery. Tim and Steve Beauchesne from Vankleek Hill have created one of the greatest-tasting specialty beers in Ontario. It’s great to see them getting their listings and being stocked in the local LCBOs. I would encourage anyone to go and try out this fantastic beer. I know that, from across the province of Ontario, there were other craft brewers there that are very good, high quality as well, but it’s important for me to make sure that I put my plug in for my residents right out of Vankleek Hill.

Interjection.

Mr. Grant Crack: It certainly is.

There are many other initiatives—la Foire Gourmande out of Lefaivre. This is quite an initiative that was started a couple of years back, where there’s a partnership between Quebec and Ontario. We have residents taking the ferry from Quebec, coming over to the Ontario side in Lefaivre and enjoying the local foods, beers and wines that are created in our region. In return, people take the ferry over to Quebec and they also do the same thing.

This is a success story that has been going on for a number of years. I have attended that on two occasions in the last two years, and I look forward to being able to attend that.

Hon. Madeleine Meilleur: And the winery—are you going to talk about the winery in Prescott-Russell?

Mr. Grant Crack: Madame Meilleur, the Honourable Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, is a great fan of Domaine Perrault. Domaine Perrault is a winery just outside of Navan, again in my great riding. I encourage anyone who comes into our area to look them up. They’re always willing hosts, willing to invite you to show how they make their wine—a very good price. I would imagine—

Hon. Madeleine Meilleur: I raise my glass to them.

Mr. Grant Crack: The minister is raising her glass to Domaine Perrault as well. It’s owned by Denis Perrault and his wife, out of Navan.

In closing, I’ve given a number of occasions of how proud I am of those who produce products in Ontario in my riding. Je suis très fier de tous les producteurs et processeurs dans ma région de Glengarry–Prescott–Russell. It reflects the feedback that we’ve heard through five separate consultations on what they’re doing out there. We need to build on their success stories that I’ve just described earlier.

Pour terminer, ce projet de loi reflète les commentaires recueillis lors de cinq différentes consultations et vise à multiplier les succès déjà obtenus dans ce domaine. Notre projet de

loi sur les aliments locaux et la stratégie globale connexe aideront encore plus de gens à trouver, acheter et manger des aliments et boissons cultivés, récoltés et transformés en Ontario, quel que soit leur lieu de résidence. Our local food bill and broader strategy will help more people find, buy and eat Ontario-grown, -harvested and -made food and beverages right here in Ontario, wherever they live.

J’encourage les membres de ma circonscription et tous les résidents de la province à choisir d’abord les aliments de l’Ontario lorsque cela est possible. I encourage people in my riding and from across this great province to choose Ontario first whenever they can.

Continuons à appuyer ensemble les aliments locaux. Lorsque nous collaborons, nous renforçons l’Ontario. Let’s continue to support local food together, because when we work together we make Ontario stronger.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Julia Munro): Questions and comments?

Mr. Bill Walker: It’s my pleasure to address the Minister of Agriculture and the member from Glengarry–Prescott–Russell. Thanks for the shout-out to Chapman’s Ice Cream in the great town of Markdale from the great riding of Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound, the heart of agriculture.

Of course we support anything from an agricultural perspective that’s going to ensure that our agricultural industry is going to be viable down the road. Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound was built from an agricultural perspective. That’s how our whole community evolved, and it’s still a key, key industry in the heart of Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound.

We definitely agree with the Premier/ag minister’s comments that we need to be mutually inclusive for both rural and urban. She made some comments about corn-fed beef, the Risk Management Program, the $25,000 preference, but you know what? There’s nothing in the bill that actually addresses the three of these. It’s again just a whole lot of lip service. It sounds good in a media interview, it’s a sound bite that sounds really good, and we’re supportive, but where’s the detail? We need to understand that.

Speaker, I really have to ask the Premier—to ask the ag minister—if she’s so supportive of all of this stuff, how could she have allowed her Minister of the Environment to put these absolutely exorbitant and punitive fees on tractor tires and all of the off-road machinery? How can she stand on one side and say, “I’m very supportive and it’s wonderful,” yet she puts these fees in that will drive jobs and tax revenue out of our great province? It’s ludicrous.

In the House last week when I asked her this question, she said that she was going to address it, but those fees are in place right now. What’s she truly doing before those jobs and those economic impacts are gone out of this province again? We just can’t continue to go down this road.

We need to have an agriculture minister who’s standing up and saying, “No, we can’t do these things because it is punitive. It is going to drive jobs and tax revenues out of our great rural areas.” We want you to step up and take action.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Julia Munro): Further comments?

Ms. Catherine Fife: It’s a pleasure to stand up and talk about the importance of local food on the general economy at large and on the rural economy. In my riding in particular, Kitchener–Waterloo, we are surrounded by some of the richest, most prosperous soil and farming conditions in the province of Ontario, and yet there are some real barriers that farmers are facing in their field—not literally, and figuratively as well. I think that’s one aspect of this act that I think that if we get it to committee, we can actually build some mechanisms and some tools in to truly support farmers.

There is also a missed opportunity here in the act to truly connect the education system with moving forward with local food. We have a lot of partnerships that are microscopic in the grand scheme of things, between schools and school boards and the farming industry, and I think that we can do a lot to connect those two elements in society so that we build future people in this province who are looking to the local food in their communities as a real option—actually, as the only option.

I know that genetically modified foods are a real issue in the province of Ontario, and I think that this is something that can be strengthened in support of our local and rural economy.

Certainly, I’m looking forward to Herrle’s, which is the local farm in my riding, to open up. It’s actually the big signal for spring, that spring is here. We make an extra effort to go there to support that family and that farm because farmers feed cities.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Julia Munro): Thank you. The Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services.

Hon. Madeleine Meilleur: It gives me great pleasure to speak on this Local Food Act that was introduced by the Minister of Agriculture.

In my riding, I don’t have any farmers who are established because I represent downtown Ottawa, but I have a wonderful farmers’ market. Of course, it’s a place where people in Ottawa gather every day of the week, but especially on Saturday and Sunday, because we want to buy fresh food and we want to know where these fruits and vegetables and meats come from. So I wanted to pay tribute to the farmers in my area, who work very hard to provide us with this very tasty and good food, and we know where it’s from.

But I want to take the opportunity to talk about St-Albert cheese factory, because on February 3, they had the misfortune of a big fire which razed their factory. I want to pay tribute to them because, instead of saying, “Poor us. What’s happening? Are we going to get money from the government to rebuild?”, the next day, Regent Ouimet got up in front of the microphone at a press conference and said, “We are going to rebuild. We’re going to rebuild because this factory hired more than 100 people.” They are so well known, not just in the area but on the Quebec side and on the Ontario side, for the best curds.

I take the opportunity to invite all of you at the Festival de la Curd next August to help them, to give them a boost, because they are rebuilding. In no time, they have found a partner to help them to produce in the meantime.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Julia Munro): Thank you. Further comment?

Mr. Steve Clark: Good morning. I’m pleased to provide a couple of minutes’ worth of comments and questions on the Local Food Act.

The feedback that I’ve received so far is that—obviously, we’re all champions of local food in our area. I have a number of farms in Leeds and Grenville, and I think we’ve got a great network. When the Premier speaks about the local food movement, I’m very pleased that I have such an active movement in Leeds–Grenville.

One thing that they have expressed concern about—and I will read from the

definitions of the bill. It says:

“‘Local food’ means,

“(

a) food produced or harvested in Ontario, and

“(

b) subject to any limitations in the regulations, food and beverages made in Ontario if they include ingredients produced or harvested in Ontario.”

The concern that some of my local food movement members have expressed to me is that they want to allow for regional promotion and not just be a provincial designation. I think that was one of the concerns, that when we talk local food in eastern Ontario—and I know we have some of my colleagues from eastern Ontario that spoke earlier—we talk about it from a regional level. I know that in my riding, my local health unit has been very active in working on a local food charter.

I was just at our OFA meeting in Leeds county and we had a wonderful presentation by one of the champions of local food in Leeds–Grenville, Wendy Banks. I just want to do a quick shout-out to Wendy Banks and Rick Trudeau of Wendy’s Mobile Market and Wendy’s Country Market in Lyndhurst. They have developed not just a door-to-door delivery service but also a partnership with some 70 regional food producers and regional farmers. Wendy is a sixth-generation farmer, and they do a great job.

I look forward to the debate. I look forward to getting some more meat on the bones when it comes to this legislation, because it is bit of a photo op bill; it doesn’t have much substance. But I look forward to the debate.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Julia Munro): Thank you. The member for Glengarry–Prescott–Russell has two minutes to respond.

Mr. Grant Crack: I’d like to thank the honourable member for Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound, who spoke briefly about the Local Food Act but then, of course, had to bring in another subject, which was the Ontario Tire Stewardship. I’m very pleased that you support the Local Food Act and that your party will be supporting the Local Food Act.

The member from Kitchener–Waterloo: You made a great comment and I thank you for your input. Yes, farmers feed cities, but we also have to acknowledge the fact that, as the Premier had indicated, farmers need cities and cities need farmers. That’s why this bill has been introduced, to try to bridge some of the gaps and encourage collaboration between the two important aspects of our economy.

The Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services: Merci beaucoup. She talked about St. Albert’s cheese, Fromagerie St-Albert, dans ma circonscription. It’s a very important employer, and we hope to see them being rebuilt and back to full production within the next year.

Thank you for your comments as well, the member from Leeds–Grenville. I know he’s supportive, Madam Speaker, of this particular bill.

I’d just like to summarize and say I know there has been concern about the Local Food Act and some of the contents and the direction that we’re taking, but rest assured that we have, as a government, listened.

section 4, under the scope of the proposed bill, one of the concerns that was raised was that there’s not any indication that local initiatives could be entertained, but under that

section 4, under “Scope,” geographical areas are taken into consideration. That means that local communities can come up with local initiatives and local solutions for their local food.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Julia Munro): Further debate?

Interjections.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Julia Munro): The member for London–Fanshawe.

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: I’d like to make a point of order. I’d like to introduce my guest today. She’s here visiting from Perth–Wellington. Her name is Romayne Smith Fullerton. I’d like to wish her a warm welcome here in the House today.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Julia Munro): That’s not a point of order, but we welcome her to the House.

The member for Oxford has moved adjournment of the debate. Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.

Second reading debate adjourned.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Julia Munro): Further business, government House leader?

Hon. John Milloy: No further business, Madam Speaker.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Julia Munro): Thank you. This House stands recessed until 10:30.

The House recessed from 1005 to 1030.

INTRODUCTION OF VISITORS

Mr. Randy Pettapiece: I’d like to introduce, from my riding of Perth–Wellington, Ben Dobben, who is the father of page Jarrod Dobben. Welcome to the Legislature.

Mr. Rod Jackson: I’d like to introduce page Addison’s father, August Arone, and his sister Chiara Arone, to the chamber today to see their brother and son be page captain today.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Welcome.

Mr. Bill Mauro: I’m very pleased this morning to be able to introduce, in the east gallery here—sitting here with us today is Christie Hartley. Christie is the mother of page Kamryn Hartley, from my riding of Thunder Bay–Atikokan. I’d like to welcome her to Queen’s Park.

Ms. Cheri DiNovo: Joining us shortly will be members of the Equal Pay Coalition; also, an invitation for all MPPs to join them right after question period in rooms 228 and 230.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): We welcome our guests.

Mr. Joe Dickson: I’d like to welcome to the Legislature today Ajax page Rabail Waseem’s mother, Rubeen Chauhen; her father, Waseem Sheikh; and younger brothers Hasnaat Waseem and Aayan Waseem. They’re sitting in the gallery to my right. I’m sure that our page is honoured to have her mother and father here.

Hon. Michael Chan: The individual may not be here yet, but I still want to welcome him. His name is Zhehang Deng, a fourth-year political science student visiting from China.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Further introductions? I shall offer one of my own. In the Speaker’s gallery today is my other brother, the oldest brother, my brother Pat, and his wife, Ida. Welcome to Queen’s Park. Being the patriarch of the family, he’s going to give me a report card today.

LEGISLATIVE PAGES

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I would now like all of us to observe as the pages assemble to be introduced. Our new pages are here today. Here they come. Right here.

I would ask all the members to join me in welcoming this group of legislative pages serving in the second session of the 40th Parliament: Jason Ahrens from York–Simcoe; Callum Arnold from Algoma–Manitoulin; Addison Arone from Barrie; Amina Bangura from Scarborough Centre; Sophia Carney from Ottawa–Vanier; Jarrod Dobben from Perth–Wellington; wait for it—Rosalin Dubois from Brant; Madelyn Elliott from Kitchener–Waterloo; Stacey Fernandes from Pickering–Scarborough East; Jack Greenberg from Halton; Kamryn Hartley from Thunder Bay–Atikokan; Annie Lloyd from Simcoe North; Morgan Palmer from Elgin–Middlesex–London; Nicholas Raponi De Roia from Ottawa South; Louis Riel-Brockie from Mississauga South; Glory Samouel from Oak Ridges–Markham; Madeline Smart-Reed from Etobicoke Centre; Theodore Vaidhyan from Mississauga–Erindale; Rabail Waseem from Ajax–Pickering; and Bonnie Wu from Richmond Hill.

These are our pages. Welcome.

ORAL QUESTIONS

POWER PLANTS

Mr. Victor Fedeli: My question this morning is for the Premier. Premier, yesterday we learned that the cost of your gas plant cancellation is now showing up on the hydro bills of hard-working Ontarians. Today we have proof of millions more. We have a letter from the government’s OPA authorizing the hiring of a $600-an-hour lawyer. This is “with respect to witness preparation” for the power plant scandal testimony of their staff.

Premier, whatever happened to just going into a hearing, putting your hand on the Bible, taking an oath and then standing up and telling the truth?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: To the government House leader.

Hon. John Milloy: I apologize for my voice.

It’s interesting that the member talks about accuracy in front of the committee. I think all of us are waiting for an apology to the committee and this House for a document that he tabled in the committee, PC document number 5, which he, over and over again, said was redacted. We actually printed off the document from the USB key that was provided to him. It was not redacted. The area that he made such outrageous claims about was, in fact, simply shaded. Perhaps the PC Party needs a new photocopy machine and perhaps the honourable member needs to apologize to this House for making those claims.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Victor Fedeli: Thank you, Speaker—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I will be moving right into identifying ridings, and I will be very terse today—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): —including the person who just gave me a compliment.

Supplementary?

Mr. Victor Fedeli: I can tell you that in my role as Honorary Colonel with the Algonquin Regiment we have a sentence: When you’re taking flack, you must be over the target, so thank you.

Here’s another document, this time from the sole-sourced procurement of outside legal counsel to assist the government with the Mississauga plant cancellation. The cost was $500,000. I would wonder if this is part of the total cost we keep hearing from the government or if this too will be added on the hydro bills of Ontarians.

Premier, I ask you: How much money is your government spending on outside lawyers for your gas plants cancellation scandal?

Hon. John Milloy: The honourable member is not going to get away with it by simply dismissing it. This is PC document number 5, which was tabled with the committee. It comes from a USB key that was provided to every party in this House. There is a sentence—I’ll give you one example: “Are you moving the gas plant back to Mississauga? Or elsewhere in the GTA?”

The honourable member claims that it was redacted. He claimed it in the committee. We printed it out off the USB key that was given to the PCs and it says, in shading, “No. There are no plans to locate the plant in Mississauga or elsewhere in the GTA. We are currently…” and I could go on. It is shading. I cannot help that the Progressive Conservative Party does not have money for a new photocopy machine, but that member owes this House and the committee an apology for making those claims.

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

Mr. Victor Fedeli: When we did go through the hundreds—

Interjections.

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

Final supplementary.

Mr. Victor Fedeli: As we go through the hundreds of pages of redacted documents, I did find one that wasn’t redacted. This is the same firm that was retained in Mississauga. It was also retained for the Oakville cancellation. This document says that the same rates will apply—the same billing rates. That means yet another—a second $500,000.

Today we disclosed a $600-an-hour contract and two $500,000 contracts. Congratulations, another $1 million-plus day for the Liberals, all that to be added to the hydro bills of hard-working Ontarians, seniors, families, and businesses.

Premier, you don’t need the entire government to lawyer up. You just need to fess up. Will you do that here today and tell us the full cost—

Hon. John Milloy: Mr. Speaker, it doesn’t work this way. You can’t just ignore the fact that the honourable member went to the committee—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Leeds–Grenville will come to order. Second and only time. Thank you.

Answer?

Hon. John Milloy: You can’t simply come to committee and produce a document which was provided by the government which simply had some highlighting, photocopy it and claim it’s redacted. It was not that long ago the honourable member stood up and said there were no Vapour-lock documents; I produced a pile of them. He goes before the committee and says this document was redacted and it was not.

It is time that member apologized to this Legislature and to the committee for what he is claiming.

TEACHERS’ COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: My question is to the Premier. Your secret deal with the teachers’ unions has come with a $63-million price tag on retirement gratuities. Yesterday, you admitted, “The money has been moved around,” so you could pay for the perks. That’s $63 million that could have gone into four schools, technology or textbooks for our students but was instead diverted to unions. This comes at a cost to students in Ontario who have had to suffer through the loss of extracurricular activities and some had to lose school days and even report-card-writing.

So, by “moving the money around,” you just rewarded the same unions who jeopardized the future of these same students. The question is quite simple: Why did this Premier sell out our students in this province to the unions at a cost of $63 million?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Both I and the Minister of Education were clear yesterday that the money that was in the contracts when I came into this office is exactly the same money that is in the contracts today. The savings that was found, $1.8 billion, is the same money that was saved at the end of this contract.

What we did was we worked with the federations on implementation. There was money that was applied to different areas within the contract, but the money is the same. There is no additional money in these contracts. The reality is that we want to work with the education sector. We want to make sure that our students have access to extracurricular activities, and we want a respectful relationship with the teachers, the support staff and the school boards. That’s our priority.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Renfrew, come to order. Thank you.

Supplementary?

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: Wow. It’s just wow that she says that doesn’t have any money attached to it. Then, I also say that the eHealth system is working just perfectly in this province if she believes this.

Back to the Premier: Yesterday you also came close to admitting that you did in fact reopen the collective agreements that just eight months ago you supported. You said, “We have reopened our respective dialogue,” but in your rush for an OSSTF do-over you didn’t have a “respective dialogue” with our school boards. In fact, you had no dialogue with them at all. With regulation 274, you usurped and stripped them of their power. Now you’re signing on the dotted line for them.

If this agreement is so good for parents and for students and the school boards in this province, why was it not signed by the school boards in Ontario, who are going to have to pay for and implement your new deal?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I understand the politics of division that the member opposite is playing, Mr. Speaker. I understand that she believes it’s in her best interests to continue to drive wedges. That’s not what I believe. I really believe that’s it’s very important that we have that respectful dialogue with the education sector, that we work with our teachers and our support staff, and that kids have access to excellent education, including extracurriculars.

School boards were at the table, Mr. Speaker. School boards were part of this process. I’ve been very clear that the process going forward, the collective bargaining process going forward, must have all of the partners at the table. I agree with the member opposite that school boards need to be a part of that dialogue. One of the problems over the last year was that they were not enough a part of the dialogue, and they need to be, going forward.

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

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: They were not part of the dialogue at all; you just have to ask them. But let me tell you one thing: If you want to talk about the best interests of the education system, it has been Tim Hudak and the Ontario PC caucus who have stood up for students, parents and teachers who want to teach during the last eight months. We did not cave—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I’m going to take a moment to remind members of a couple of things. The first one is, when somebody is putting the question, hearing somebody from the same side yelling out is not helpful to the debate, and people answering and having other people on the same side yelling out is not helpful.

The second thing is, I continue to hear members using each other’s names, which is not the condition here. It helps to lower the debate instead of raise it. I’m going to remind that you either remark about their title or their riding. Let’s leave it at that. It helps with the debate.

Finish, please.

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: I simply have this question for the Premier. Her previous leader and the former education minister said there was no new money; we needed Bill 115. Now you’re trying to tell us we have lots of money and we can buy off the unions. I want to know: Who’s telling the truth—Dalton McGuinty and Laurel Broten, or you and Liz Sandals? I can tell you one thing: The only people who have suffered for the last eight months are kids in elementary schools and secondary schools in this province. We’ll continue to stand on their behalf. You won’t do it; we will.

Interjections.

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

Premier.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: There’s no new money in the contracts, Mr. Speaker. It’s exactly the same money.

For better or worse, I am standing here because of the actions of that party in education. I’m standing here because I have fought for publicly funded education throughout my whole career. I really believe that government should work with education. There were 26 million student days lost under the previous government, Mr. Speaker, because of strikes, because of the hostile environment between the Legislature and—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I’m getting my workout today, and I’m more than earning my money today, actually. What I’m asking for is the civility that everyone else seems to want me to bring, and I can’t do it without you. Thank you.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Speaker, what moved me to run provincially was because I believe so deeply in publicly funded education and I was so upset about what was happening under the previous government.

We have worked tirelessly for the last nine and a half years and we’re going to continue to work to improve our education system, and we’re going to do it in partnership with the teachers, with the support staff and school boards in our system.

Interjections.

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

New question.

TAXATION

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My question is to the Premier. Yesterday in her speech—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Sorry. The member from Nepean–Carleton has had enough, and it stops.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Premier—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member is warned.

Please.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Three times lucky, Speaker.

My question is to the Premier. Yesterday in her speech to the board of trade, the Premier spoke about the tight fiscal constraints that are currently facing our province. Would she agree that $1.3 billion annually is a lot of money for Ontario?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Absolutely, $1.3 billion is a lot of money. I’m not sure where the leader of the third party is going with this, but I will say, in my remarks to the Toronto board of trade, what I was talking about is the absolute need to make sure that we have investment in infrastructure, particularly in transit in the GTHA, but beyond the GTHA, in roads and in bridges, because that transportation infrastructure is a fundamental priority and condition for economic growth in the province. That’s what I was talking about at the Toronto Region Board of Trade.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Over the last decade, the government has invested a lot in no-strings-attached corporate giveaways. Today’s combined corporate income tax rate is nearly 50% lower than the average between 1960 and 1990. The HST has dramatically reduced the taxes businesses pay, as has the elimination of capital taxes.

If times are tight, why is the government again planning to help Ontario’s largest corporations with yet another writeoff of $1.3 billion in sales taxes every year?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I think the Minister of Finance has been very clear that some of the suggestions that the leader of the third party has put forward in terms of closing loopholes and making sure compliance is in place—that we need to look at those.

But that does not negate the need to have a serious discussion about finding revenue streams and building transit in the GTHA. We cannot continue to deal with the loss of productivity that is engendered by the congestion and the near-gridlock that we’re confronting in the GTHA.

I really would have thought that the third party would have been interested in working with us on this. It does not make sense to me, Mr. Speaker, that the people who travel to work, who want to get home, who are commuting and want a better way to travel—that the third party wouldn’t be interested in finding a way to make that happen. That’s what needs to take place.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Stop the clock. The member from Eglinton–Lawrence will come to order.

Final supplementary?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: I seem to recall something about a $4-billion withdrawal from Transit City, Speaker, but maybe that’s just confusion.

This is what is confusing a lot of people, though—it’s confusing a lot of people. They’re being told that the cupboards are bare. They’re going to have to accept layoffs at hospitals, they’re going to have to accept chaos in classrooms and they should also get ready to have their household budgets get hit yet again with another sales tax. While their government is asking them to pay more and more and more, they’re telling the biggest corporations in the province that they’re going to get yet another tax break.

Does the Premier think it makes sense to ask a working mom to pay more while telling corporations like the Royal Bank of Canada that they actually get a break?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Mr. Speaker, I think what doesn’t make sense is to ask the working mum to commute for three hours from Scarborough to downtown to her job or to drop off her child at daycare and not have a decent way of getting to her workplace and getting home. That’s what doesn’t make sense.

I want that mum to be able to have a convenient way of getting to work, a convenient way of getting her child to daycare and a convenient way of getting home so she can spend some time with that child at home. That’s what I want. That’s what this is about.

The $4 billion that the leader of the opposition was talking about, that’s not money that was taken out. That money is being spent right now on the Eglinton crosstown line. We’re building that line.

Again, I implore the member for Toronto–Danforth, the member for Beaches–East York, the member for Parkdale–High Park, the member for Trinity–Spadina and the member for Davenport to join with us. Your constituents want this transit to be built.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I’ve made a final decision: I’ll be switching to decaf.

Please, give us the opportunity to get through this professionally.

New question. The leader of the third party.

MANUFACTURING JOBS

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Thanks, Speaker. I would dare say, though, that that working mom’s life has become a lot more difficult in the last 10 years while the government in power has been in place.

My next question is to the Premier. The government argues that corporate giveaways are somehow creating jobs. The Premier seems to think that the crisis in manufacturing is a myth, but another 350 jobs were lost last week in Fergus. For people who are losing their household income, the Liberals’ job plan is the real fairy tale here in Ontario.

Can the Premier point to the jobs that are actually being created by corporate giveaways?

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

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Employment.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and I appreciate the question as well.

We had the opportunity to speak about Fergus yesterday and the upcoming closure of A.O. Smith. The government has been very proactive on that in terms of—I know that both the Premier and the Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities have spoken with the leadership and the local member in that riding. We’ve opened up an action centre to respond to the crisis that that community is experiencing, to make sure that those individuals and the families that they represent are able to have full opportunity going forward.

It’s never good news when a closure of this type happens. I’ve mentioned as well that this is a company with a long, long history in Fergus. It will be difficult for the community, but we’re there with them to make sure that we can help them transition as best as we can in this difficult time.

In terms of manufacturing specifically, I’m happy to address that in the supplementary.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: I think it’s only my second supplementary, Speaker. I think it’s only my second supplementary. It’s not my final.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Second, sorry.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Thanks, Speaker.

The reality is, the people of Ontario want jobs, not action centres. The government has invested billions of dollars in corporate giveaways, and they seem to be plowing ahead with plans for over a billion more. These new tax breaks will go to some of the biggest financial institutions in the country. The government’s giveaways will not help workers in Fergus, but they will help the Royal Bank of Canada, who will be getting a massive tax break while they outsource Canadian jobs. Is this the sort of job creation that our Premier in this province is actually proud of?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: With regard to the part of the question that deals specifically with the Royal Bank and the temporary foreign workers, I know that the leader of the third party understands very clearly—as the PCs do—that it’s the PCs’ federal cousins in Ottawa and it’s the federal government that’s responsible for our Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

I was certainly pleased to see that Diane Finley, the minister responsible for that program, has—not only has the government committed, federally, to review that program, as they mentioned in their budget, but they’re also looking specifically at this question of the RBC issue, of the replacement of RBC employees with temporary foreign workers through outsourcing.

I was looking forward to the opportunity, of course, to speak to the issue of manufacturing. The truth is that we have been creating manufacturing jobs in this province. We’ve created 32,000 jobs since the recessionary low. Also, manufacturing is doing much, much better. The sales in manufacturing were up by 6.5% in 2012 compared to the same period in 2011.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Final supplementary. And I apologize to the leader of the third party.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, people want to see a plan that works with companies that are actually ready to put people back to work. They want a plan that ties government support to job creation, especially for young people, who are struggling to get started. Instead, they see tax breaks getting handed to Ontario’s biggest banks, who aren’t hiring people; they’re outsourcing jobs.

Is the Premier ready to stop this giveaway and instead invest in a smart strategy that actually helps people looking for jobs in Ontario and not people looking to send those jobs away?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Well, we are investing in new jobs. The truth is that nearly 400,000 jobs have been created since the bottom of the recession in June 2009. Many of those, as I mentioned, are in the manufacturing sector. Despite what the opposition might like Ontarians to believe, the manufacturing sector is alive and well in Ontario, and we’re committed as a government to continue to support it going forward.

In fact, when you compare it with other jurisdictions, whether it’s in Canada or around the world, we’re doing better. We’ve brought back all of the jobs that were lost during the recession, and 50% more. We’re doing better than the United Kingdom. We’re doing better than the United States.

Through the jobs round tables that the Premier has been holding across the province—I think she has had 11 of them so far since becoming Premier—we’re hearing from Ontarians, many of them manufacturers and other employers, small and medium- and large-sized businesses, to learn how this province can continue to support these important businesses.

ONTARIO PUBLIC SERVICE

Mr. Peter Shurman: My question is for the Premier. Premier, the Ontario PC Party has been clear where we stand when it comes to Ontario’s finances: You must control spending if you want to bring down your ballooning deficit and control debt. Controlling your finances means you stop spending money that you don’t have.

Your spineless move to pacify the teachers’ unions on the backs of everyday Ontarians is deplorable. Your job is to treat everyone fairly—organized labour and ordinary taxpayers in Ontario—but you’ve buckled under the teachers’ union barrage and thrown every other Ontarian under the bus. The seven-month-long siege is evidence of a widening fairness gap in the Ontario workplace. Thousands of public sector workers enjoy higher salaries, guaranteed pensions and special perks that other Ontarians just don’t get.

Premier, based on your current education budget, what are the long-term ramifications? Will you stand in your place and pledge that next year the restored perks you’ve just swallowed won’t be at the expense of ordinary taxpayers?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I think I’ve been clear on what we believe is an imperative: to work with the education sector and make sure that the students in our schools have access to extracurricular activities and that we have a respectful dialogue with the people who work in our schools. We really believe that that is the way to improve the education system. I also know that the party opposite does not hold the same belief in publicly funded education that we do, which is evidenced by their previous actions.

Mr. Speaker, I wanted to talk about our economic progress. We are on track—in fact, we’re ahead of schedule—to eliminate the deficit by 2017-18. We’ve restricted overall spending increases. We’re supporting small business. We’re building a 21st-century workforce. We’re ensuring that small and medium businesses have access to capital. We just contributed $50 million to the $300-million Venture Capital Fund. All of those are things we’re doing to grow the economy and to constrain our spending.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Peter Shurman: Premier, you don’t have to answer me, but you do need to address the millions of Ontarians who can never expect the same perks as those you’ve given your union cronies. This is a critical time for our province. Your next moves inform nearly 4,000 public sector contracts still up for negotiation. Setting this precedent and collapsing under the guerrilla warfare of organized labour sends a clear message to everyone in this province: The Liberal government is a puppet of the labour unions.

Premier, again, will you state that there will be zero impact as a result of this agreement when the books are opened next year, or will we be in another one of your now-infamous McGuinty-Wynne “oopses”? Premier, tell us now and tell us all: How many education workers, teachers and/or new positions will have to go to pay for these additional perks?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Once again I will just repeat what I have said, which is that the money that was in the contracts when I came into this office is the same money that’s there now, Mr. Speaker. The $1.8 billion that we have saved as a result of the contracts that were dealt with by the previous minister and by the previous Premier are the same savings that we are able to realize today.

What has changed, and I talked about it during the leadership, is that I really believe that it’s very important that we have a respectful dialogue with the people who teach the children and grandchildren of everyone in this province. I think the only way that we can continue to improve our education system—and remember, our educated workforce is an important condition of economic growth. That’s one of the things I never hear the party opposite talk about: how important it is that we have the best education system in the world in order to be able to grow our economy. That’s our priority on this side of the House.

CASINOS

Mr. Michael Prue: My question is for the Premier. Speaker, yesterday Mayor Ford said that Toronto has a deal with the province for $150 million on casino revenue-sharing. The same day, the Premier said that the province does not have a deal at all. They both can’t be right. Will the Premier come clean today with Ontarians on the $150-million sweetheart deal for Toronto?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I do appreciate the member asking this question again, but I am going to give him the same answer, Mr. Speaker, and that is that there is no agreement on $150 million with the city of Toronto. You will have to talk to Mayor Ford about that number. That is not a number I’m familiar with. It’s not a number that has anything to do with our conversation with any of the municipalities about casinos.

We’ve been very clear: The formula across the province is going to be the same formula. There will be no special deals for any jurisdiction, and every jurisdiction is going to have to decide, based on that fair formula, whether they want a casino or not. Municipalities are going to decide that, in conversation, in consultation, with their constituents. That’s how it’s going to work.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Michael Prue: If the Premier can’t answer on the $150 million, perhaps she can answer whether or not the government has a plan for OLG privatization, and does she want to share that plan with the people of Ontario?

We keep hearing of Toronto getting a special deal to be a host site for a casino in downtown Toronto. My question is a very simple one. If there is a sweetheart deal and it’s not for $150 million, how much is the Premier prepared to spend?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: The member opposite has been a mayor of East York. He is a former mayor of East York. He knows perfectly well that the Premier of the province—he knows this very well, because I have sat with him. I know that he knows that the Premier of the province cannot control what mayors of jurisdictions and mayors of municipalities say.

I have no control over what Mayor Ford or any other mayor in the province chooses to say, so he will really have to speak to the mayor about the numbers that the mayor has put in his letter. I cannot control that, Mr. Speaker.

What I can tell you is there is no special deal for any municipality in the province. Municipalities will be dealing with a fair formula across the province, and they will decide, in consultation with their constituents, whether they want a casino or not, based on that formula.

FOR THE DISABLED

Mr. Kim Craitor: My question is to the Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Employment. Recently, Minister, media has taken focus on the apparent skill gap that is evident in the Ontario and the Canadian economies. While too many people are underemployed and unemployed, some businesses are reporting they can’t find workers to fill jobs that they have. Recently, at the jobs round table, it was noted that some companies are having difficulty finding employees with the right skills they require.

I, like many Ontarians, believe we need to do more to ensure that we’re producing workers with the skills we need at home. The

article also points to the fact that in order to address the labour and skill shortages, Canada should be doing more to address participation rates among key demographics in our own country, including people with disabilities.

Can the minister explain what Ontario is doing to increase the labour force participation among Ontarians with disabilities?

We know that currently, about one in every seven Ontarians has a disability. Quite frankly, as the population ages, that number is going to increase to nearly 20%, or one in five. That’s why we introduced the AODA in 2005, to ensure that Ontario becomes fully accessible by 2025.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Kim Craitor: Thank you, Minister. In my riding of Niagara Falls, and in Niagara-on-the-Lake and Fort Erie, the disability community, led by people such as Sandy Bird, is pleased the government is moving in the right direction by making Ontario fully accessible.

Ensuring everyone can participate in the community and the workforce is important, as many people with disabilities make great employees and actually are often more productive than their able-bodied counterparts. Studies have shown that people with disabilities are actually less likely to miss work and tend to demonstrate real loyalty and commitment. Yet businesses tend to be reluctant to hire people with disabilities, fearing the high cost of implementation will have a negative impact on their bottom line.

Minister, can you please explain why the changes are necessary and how Ontario plans to benefit by becoming even more accessible?

This is about creating an inclusive society, an inclusive workforce and inclusive employment opportunities for all. That’s why Ontario is moving forward with implementing the AODA so that not only Ontarians with disabilities will have better access to employment but, as the member points out, employers will benefit from their skills and their talents.

We know of many employers who have created inclusive workplaces, and cost is not the issue. It’s actually good for business. Our government is committed to continuing to provide support to help even more businesses and more employers attract and maintain employees of all abilities.

The economics are clear. The Martin Prosperity Institute estimates that by implementing the AODA, it could bring an additional $1.6 billion into the province in tourism alone, and revenue in the retail sector amounting to almost 10 billion new dollars.

TEACHERS’ COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

Mr. Randy Hillier: My question is to the Premier. Premier, last time you and I had a conversation in this House, you were kind enough to give me an A for creativity. In return, I think you deserve an A in your mastery of backroom deals.

Last week, we found out your can-do attitude will cost Ontario students at least $63 million in classroom funding. You’ve deprived those students to ensure that Working Families’s two largest donors, OSSTF and ETFO, have 63 million more reasons to spend another $3 million in election advertising.

Premier, can you tell us exactly what the $63 million was earmarked for that has now been redirected to the unions’ pockets?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Well, as I’ve said before, Mr. Speaker, there is no new money being redirected into these contracts. It’s money within the contracts that was found that has been able to be applied to some of the implementation of the different parts of the agreement.

I would have thought that the member opposite would have been able to talk to some of his constituents and would have realized that, actually, parents and kids are very pleased that their teachers and support staff are delivering extracurriculars, that there’s a different tone in the schools, that the feeling among teachers is changing and they understand that this government, as we have for the last nine and a half years, really wants to work with them to improve the education system. I would have thought he might have had a chance to talk to some constituents about that.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Randy Hillier: Back to the Premier: Clearly arithmetic wasn’t your strong suit.

I can tell you what the $63 million should have been earmarked for—and further to your response, I did speak with a young teacher here in Toronto just the other day who teaches at an inner-city school. I was shocked when he told me that for his mandatory civics class of 30 students, there were only 10 textbooks. I was astonished when he also told me that there was not a single computer nor a single Internet connection in any of the classrooms.

These inner-city students are suffering the consequences of your extracurricular political activities. Premier, how do you expect these students to get an A when your failed leadership only provides them with an F in resources?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I think the member opposite knows that for the last nine and a half years, we have put hundreds of millions of dollars into resources for teachers, that there is more money for classroom supplies.

I’m not suggesting that there isn’t more to do. I’m not suggesting that there can’t continue to be improvements. There absolutely do need to. But the reality is, Mr. Speaker, that—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): This is the second time, which means it’s the last time before the warning, for the member from Renfrew.

The member from Lanark, you asked the question. I want you to listen to the answer.

Mr. Mike Colle: Yes, listen. Be a good student.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): And the member from Eglinton–Lawrence does not help me one bit by doing what he’s doing.

Premier?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker.

The bottom line is that we really believe that it is in the best interests of the children of this province that their teachers are able to work with the government, that they have a respectful dialogue with the government, because if that doesn’t happen, then we see what happened under the previous government where the communication broke down, where there were 26 million days lost because of labour action because there was no respectful discussion.

Our priority is to improve our school system.

TIRE RECYCLING

Mr. John Vanthof: My question is to the Minister of Agriculture.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: And Food.

Mr. John Vanthof: —and Food. The minister says she is making it her business to get to understand what goes on in rural Ontario and in the agriculture community. Based on comments from farmers at the Earlton Farm Show last weekend, farmers like Jason Robert, increasing eco fees on agricultural tires from $15 to $35 and more without consultation is not a good way to start that conversation, especially when fees in Quebec are $3.

Not only are we risking costs on eco fees but we’re also risking tire businesses all along the border. In fact, it shows a continued lack of understanding and respect for the struggles of Ontario’s food producers and businesses along the border.

Will the minister call a halt now to these unfair eco fee charges?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I’m going to ask the Minister of the Environment to speak to the supplementary, but I want the member opposite to know—because he and I have had conversations. As my critic, I want him to know that I was aware that the agriculture community was having concerns about the recent increases to the tire recycling costs. I spoke with the Minister of the Environment, and I know the Ontario Tire Stewardship and the Ontario Federation of Agriculture have been in conversation. I know that the minister will want to speak to that.

But I was acutely aware that there needed to be a mitigation in this situation, that it was not acceptable in the agriculture community and that the recycling costs were higher than in other jurisdictions, which is exactly why the Minister of the Environment has been working with OTS and the OFA.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. John Vanthof: Once again to the Minister of Agriculture and Food, it’s strange that producers weren’t aware at all. There was no consultation at all with producers before it happened.

Speaker, the Ontario government says it supports extended producer responsibility. That means that tire companies shouldn’t be allowed to pass the cost of recycling tires to farmers. It wasn’t $35; it’s $350 for a tire or more. Even the Minister of the Environment says he’s deeply disappointed that the use of eco fees by some producers continues. We know there’s a problem. Premier, Minister, will you commit to fixing it?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of the Environment.

Hon. James J. Bradley: I can tell the member that as soon as the Premier asked me to meet with the OTS chairman and CEO, I was absolutely delighted to do so. I’m happy to say to the member—there’s another note coming in—that, first of all, the Ontario Tire Stewardship assured me that, even though they’re arm’s length, they’re private sector, they’re independent, they did consult.

When I met with them, I said there are some major challenges for the farming community. The Premier has indicated that. They sat down with me and said, “We’re prepared to go back to the agricultural community to consult once again,” and my understanding is that those talks have been very productive and that a lot of people are very optimistic that this matter can be resolved to the satisfaction of all concerned.

So I think we’ll have a good-news answer to this eventually. Time will tell, but I want to assure the member that action—

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

COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTRES

Mr. Phil McNeely: This question is to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. Minister, community health care is important for my constituents and for all Ontarians. Making local decisions about local health care is critical to planning effectively and ensuring the best outcomes. While the other parties were in power, cuts were made and hospitals were closed. These are not the kinds of changes that put families’ minds at ease. When I talk to Ontarians, especially my constituents, they want to be assured that if they need health services they will be locally available.

Through you, Speaker, to the minister: Could the minister please inform the House about some of the ways the new Ontario government is working to strengthen community health care?

Hon. Deborah Matthews: Thank you to the member from Ottawa–Orléans, the very hard-working member from Ottawa–Orléans, for this important question.

I can assure you that our government is committed to community health centres. That’s why I was very pleased to announce, just last week, community capital funding projects that will benefit 17 community projects, including community health centres and aboriginal health access centres. This fulfills another element of our action plan and our efforts to provide Ontarians with the right care at the right time in the right place. It also reinforces our commitment to health equity.

CHCs help strengthen Ontario communities by serving people who face barriers to access in health care, including geography, child care, housing and poverty. CHCs bring together teams of physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, counsellors, community workers and dietitians to provide a comprehensive range of services.

We have almost doubled the number of community health centres, and I am very excited that we will continue to improve access.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Phil McNeely: Thank you, Minister, for your response. I’m glad to hear that the new Ontario government takes community health care seriously. These investments will certainly help make it easier for families to access the right care at the right time in the right place.

Our rural communities face unique challenges when it comes to providing care. I want to be assured that this government has taken these into consideration. Speaker, through you to the minister: What is being done to strengthen health care in rural communities across the province?

Hon. Deborah Matthews: To the Minister of Rural Affairs.

Hon. Jeff Leal: I want to thank the member for his supplementary.

In fact, just yesterday I had the opportunity to be out and about. I was in Tweed, Ontario, and I was in Lindsay, Ontario, to announce funding for the creation of a new community health centre in the city of Kawartha Lakes. I was joined by the member from Haliburton–Kawartha Lakes–Brock.

I was in Tweed; I was joined by the member for Prince Edward–Hastings.

I was particularly pleased, when I was in Lindsay, to announce the funding for the centre. In fact, the member from Haliburton–Kawartha Lakes–Brock, in her former role as a nurse, took my blood pressure and did an excellent job.

Interjection: Are you okay?

Hon. Jeff Leal: Mr. Speaker, I just want to assure you that there was a great pulse there. We’ll move on from there.

In fact, the member had this to say about our government—very kind words: “Thank you for forging ahead with great plans. You have a whole community certainly behind these efforts. Thank you for coming to the riding and making such a great announcement.”

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

You’ll notice I didn’t do anything about that because you brought that one on by yourself.

Anyway, the member from Cambridge.

POWER PLANTS

Mr. Rob Leone: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the energy minister. New revelations this morning point to the fact that it is not only elected officials and their political staff telling us as little as possible, but government agencies are as well. Just weeks before the OPA released its third batch of documents, we have learned that it hired expensive lawyers to help make the Ontario Power Authority understand what it could say and what it couldn’t say.

Mr. Speaker, all we want on this side of the House is the truth. The problem is that the Liberals have consistently been pointing the finger at the OPA, knowing full well that it is the Ontario Liberal Party driving the bus on these cancelled power plants. Ontarians now learn they are out another $500,000 for more Liberal mistakes.

Will the minister own up to being responsible for this $500,000 price tag? And while he’s at it, will he own up to the $800-million power plant scandal?

Hon. Bob Chiarelli: Speaker, first of all, it’s the responsibility of the different agencies to hire their own counsel; it’s not the responsibility of the government.

What I do want to say is, we keep hearing question after question coming up as a result of evidence that’s going before the committee. The committee’s work is not done yet. The Provincial Auditor is getting ready to report in the foreseeable future, Mr. Speaker. But what we don’t hear are any positive policies with respect to energy from the opposition. They did issue a white paper. In their white paper, they wanted to privatize OPG. They want to privatize Hydro One. This is what the Toronto Sun says: “Hudak should keep in mind the last Tory government in Ontario that tried to do that with electricity generation, promising it would lead to lower hydro rates.

“Instead, it led to the exact opposite—rates skyrocketed amid rampant Tory patronage….”

Mr. Speaker, I want to hear what their policy is. I want them to be accountable for their policy. What they’re promising to do now in energy they’ve tried before. It was a complete disaster and rates went up by 30%.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Rob Leone: Well, Mr. Speaker, the energy minister is actually incorrect. The question that I just asked wasn’t about committee testimony; it was about a leaked document the OPA produced to us, so let’s be honest about that.

We have listened intently to the Ontario Power Authority’s press conference on February 21 of this year, and what a train wreck that was. Jim Hinds and Colin Andersen evaded questions for the better part of an hour and felt that $500,000 of taxpayer money gave them the right to label questions they didn’t like as inappropriate. Can you believe that, Mr. Speaker? They thought that media questions posed to them were inappropriate.

We are here on this side of the House in pursuit of accountability and transparency while you are spending more and more money on lawyers that get us further and further away from the truth.

Minister, why is this government insistent on telling us so little every step of the way when your Premier made such a production of your new-found pursuit of openness and transparency?

Hon. Bob Chiarelli: Mr. Speaker, we are very proud of the Premier’s position on the gas plants and on the committees on this side of the House. The Premier led the initiative to expand the mandate. The Premier has offered to go and be at committee. The Premier has offered to open up every ministry to be available to provide documentation. That’s something that they have not taken advantage of.

What I will say, Mr. Speaker, is that we have been open, we have been transparent, and we have directed the Auditor General to come forward. The Auditor General will be independent. He will be neutral. He has access to all the documents. He has access to witnesses under oath. Let’s await his report, because I would rather listen to what the Auditor General has to say about the truthfulness of what went on, the veracity of what went on, rather than these people, who are trying to count the number of angels on the head of a pin, and they’re misdirecting all the facts, misrepresenting all the facts when they come into this House.

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

Hon. Bob Chiarelli: I withdraw.

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

CANCER TREATMENT

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My question is to the Premier. Two hundred and ninety cancer patients have been losing sleep in Windsor since finding out that their chemotherapy drugs were watered down, and so have their families and friends. Facing cancer is hard enough. Facing uncertainty like this makes it worse.

When will this government allow Ontario’s Ombudsman, a truly independent third party—in fact, I think the Minister of Energy was just talking about the independence and transparency of our legislative officers. The Ombudsman is one of those officers. So why won’t the Premier, or will the Premier, have the Ombudsman investigate what went wrong so that we can assure that it never happens again?

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

Hon. Deborah Matthews: Thank you for this question. It gives me an opportunity to update the House on our moving forward on understanding exactly what happened. This is a completely unacceptable situation. It is imperative that we understand what happened and how we can make sure it never happens again.

Speaker, yesterday the working group met. It includes representatives from London Health Sciences Centre, Windsor Regional Hospital, Lakeridge Health, Peterborough Regional Health Centre, the Ontario Hospital Association, Cancer Care Ontario, the Ontario College of Pharmacists, Health Canada and our ministry. In addition, we will be adding representation from New Brunswick because they too are affected by this.

Speaker, I can assure you that everyone in the health care sector is determined to understand what happened, and we will be appointing an independent third party person to review the entire cancer supply—

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Well, not only did this mistake put lives in jeopardy, including that of a seven-year-old Windsor boy, but it shook public confidence in our health care system. Windsorites deserve peace of mind, and they need answers. Only a completely transparent and completely independent investigation will satisfy them.

Why won’t this government allow Ontario’s Ombudsman—Ontario’s neutral, unbiased, independent Ombudsman, who already has all of the resources in his office to do this work—to get to the bottom of what happened?

Hon. Deborah Matthews: We have the same goal. I think we are on completely common ground when we want to understand what happened, and we must restore the confidence of Ontario’s patients.

Ontario has one of the finest, if not the finest, cancer care systems in the world. We are internationally recognized as having excellent cancer care, the best survival outcomes, but we must continue to be ever-vigilant. I think it’s very important that the person who leads this review must have expertise specific to this problem. This is an issue that requires that expertise, and that’s why we will be shortly moving forward, announcing that third-party reviewer.

ABORIGINAL CHILDREN AND YOUTH

Mr. Kevin Daniel Flynn: I’ve got a question this morning for the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs. Sports fans and all hockey fans in my riding were pleased to hear recently that Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, through its MLSE Foundation, has partnered with a great organization called Right to Play through their Promoting Life-skills in Aboriginal Youth initiative called the PLAY initiative. I know that our government, the Ontario government, is one of the founding partners of the PLAY initiative and has contributed to the expansion of this great program in Ontario.

Now, we’ve all heard about the success of this initiative and how it’s had a very positive effect on First Nations youth in Ontario, who are learning important life skills through both sport and recreation.

So would the minister please inform this House as to how the current government is continuing to support the program?

Hon. David Zimmer: Thank you for that question. The Right to Play is a foundation that was founded by John Koss, who, interestingly, was an Olympic gold medal power skater. He recognized the need to teach aboriginal children discipline, ambition and all of those skills that would enable them to really become better participants in life later on.

He set up the foundation. The Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs has contributed $3 million to it, and we went out and found a private partner, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment. Larry Tanenbaum, who is the CEO of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, stepped forward and has contributed that amount of money.

What it does is it helps aboriginal students learn those—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. You have a certain amount of time to answer your question.

Supplementary?

Mr. Kevin Daniel Flynn: Thank you. It’s great to hear about the difference this program is making in First Nations communities all across Ontario.

My constituents will also be pleased to hear that PLAY is helping aboriginal youth improve their health, their self-esteem and their leadership skills through participation in sports and play activities. It sounds like such a great program, I’m sure many of us would like to see this expanded, and what we’d like to see is kids in all 133 First Nations communities in Ontario have the same access to this program.

Mr. Speaker, through you to the minister, what is our government going to do to build on this success, and how is it going to expand this program to make it available to more communities across the province of Ontario?

Hon. David Zimmer: I was in Manitoulin Island on Friday and we set up one of the Right to Play projects. What we’re doing now is we’ve got 42 First Nations communities in which Right to Play is participating and we’ve got three urban aboriginal organizations in which Right to Play is participating. We’ve created 44 jobs for aboriginal leaders in those communities to develop coaching skills and the like. We’re putting about 1,000 aboriginal children a week through these programs.

I can tell you, I was up there with Larry Tanenbaum; Wendel Clark, the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey player; Bruce Kidd; Sammi Jo Small, the female Olympic hockey player; and John Koss. The four of us sat down. We opened up a facility on Manitoulin Island, and you would not believe the looks that you saw on those aboriginal children’s faces. They were happy. They had a taste for ambition.

Interjections.

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

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I do want to remind the members that on both questions and answers, when I stand, you sit. There is a certain amount of time that you are allotted to put the question; there’s a certain amount of time allotted to put the answer. Some of you have got that down to a really fine art, to the second. Others seem to want to continue to do the things that—when I sat in the opposition benches and the back benches of the government, I learned how to play that game, so I know how it’s played.

As far as the decorum, my concern is again the fact that you are personalizing these kinds of discussions that are taking place, and it races to the bottom, and I’m not going to participate in that.

I’m challenging you at all times to race to the top. The way you treat each other is a good way in which we can show decorum in this place. It’s my job and my responsibility as the Speaker to do that, but I can’t do it alone.

All right; new question.

JOB CREATION

Mr. Monte McNaughton: My question this morning is for the Premier. Premier, six days ago you stated that Ontario’s manufacturing job losses were a myth. Four days ago we learned that Ontario lost 15,000 private sector jobs during the month of March alone. Some 5,700 of these jobs were good, well-paying manufacturing jobs being chased from Ontario by the McGuinty-Wynne Liberal legacy of high energy rates and unnecessary, job-killing red tape.

Premier, other than conversations, what have you done with your time steering Dalton McGuinty’s sinking Liberal ship?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: To the Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Employment.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: As always, I appreciate a question from my esteemed colleague across the way, my critic. I don’t know why, though, he insists on continuing to beat down Ontario employers, including our manufacturers. He knows as well as I do that job creation is variable. We did lose some jobs last month, of course. The month before we actually gained 35,000 jobs. I know he knows as well as I do that of the almost 400,000 jobs that had been created in this province, many of them manufacturing jobs—out of those 400,000 jobs created since June 2009 more than 90% of those jobs are full-time positions.

They are meaningful, important jobs. I know that, as I do, he wants to continue to support these industries and appreciate—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): There’s a rather elevated discussion taking place by two members. I’d like them to take it outside; continue it somewhere else.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: The fact—I know he knows this—that Ontario is outpacing almost every other jurisdiction, not only in North America but around the world. We got back all those jobs that were lost. Like me, why isn’t he proud of Ontario’s businesses, our manufacturing sector—and boost them and talk them up and help us find the supports that they need to succeed?

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Monte McNaughton: Here is a fact: This Premier—like her predecessor—and this government have made Ontario a have-not province where 600,000 men and women are unemployed today. The only myth is that the Wynne Liberals have any sort of a plan to grow our economy.

With Peterborough, London, St. Catharines, Brantford and Kitchener-Waterloo all experiencing some of the highest unemployment rates in the country, it is time for urgent action. Premier, stop the digging and stop the nonsense. Some 600,000 unemployed men and women across Ontario don’t want to hear the same old McGuinty answers that we have heard 100 times before. I’m proud that Tim Hudak and the PC Party have put forward a dozen policy papers while you’ve done nothing.

Will your budget include any real measures to help grow our economy and actually create jobs in the province of Ontario?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: I know he has his figure; I have my figure of nearly 400,000 jobs created. That’s the path that we’re on as the government. It’s important that we support that.

When it comes to manufacturing, I don’t need to say it again but I have to say that—even in his own riding with Lambton Conveyor, that great manufacturing facility. In fact, it was the first project approved by the new Southwestern Ontario Development Fund, in your riding—I’m sure you were there supporting it—creating 110 new jobs in the manufacturing sector. I can’t understand why the member opposite voted against the Southwestern Ontario Development Fund, as did his party.

MEMBER’S COMMENTS

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member for Nipissing on a point of order.

Mr. Victor Fedeli: I stand on an point of order under

section 23(h), allegations against member. The House leader has made an allegation against another member: me. Speaker, I stand here and say to you that I did not present the same document at committee that he presented here today. I tabled a document from Carolyn Calwell that when viewed on the computer is comp