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July 18, 2018

42nd Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard (PDF) 18-JUL-2018_L005

L005 - Wed 18 Jul 2018 / Mer 18 jui 2018

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Wednesday 18 July 2018 Mercredi 18 juillet 2018

Notices of reasoned amendments

Orders of the Day

Throne speech debate / Débat sur le discours du trône

Visitor

Introduction of Visitors

Legislative pages

Visitor

Oral Questions

Curriculum

Government spending and accounting practices

Curriculum

Taxation

Hydro rates

Government spending and accounting practices

Anti-racism activities

Government spending

Taxation

School facilities

Government spending and accounting practices

Energy conservation

Taxation

Automotive industry

Taxation

Notice of dissatisfaction

Visitors

Introduction of Visitors

Annual report, French Language Services Commissioner

Members’ Statements

Bicycle safety

Howard Bloom

Supports for seniors

Kemp family charitable donation

Riding of Beaches–East York

Climate change

Riding of Kitchener–Conestoga

Circonscription de Mushkegowuk–Baie James / Riding of Mushkegowuk–James Bay

Women’s softball and fast pitch championships

Events in Parry Sound

Introduction of Bills

Compassionate Care Act, 2018 / Loi de 2018 sur les soins de compassion

Petitions

Health care funding

Curriculum

Royal Canadian Legion halls

Energy policies

Royal Canadian Legion halls

Anti-smoking initiatives for youth

Royal Canadian Legion halls

Orders of the Day

Throne speech debate / Débat sur le discours du trône

Appointment of House officers

Throne speech debate / Débat sur le discours du trône

Adjournment Debate

Anti-racism activities

The House met at 0900.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Let us pray.

Prayers.

Notices of reasoned amendments

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I beg to inform the House that, pursuant to standing order 71(c), the member for Scarborough–Guildwood and the member for Toronto–Danforth have filed with the Clerk reasoned amendments to the motion for second reading of Bill 2,

An Act respecting Hydro One Limited, the termination of the White Pines Wind Project and the labour disputes between York University and Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 3903. The order for second reading of Bill 2 may therefore not be called today.

Orders of the Day

Throne speech debate / Débat sur le discours du trône

Resuming the debate adjourned on July 17, 2018, on the motion for an address in reply to the speech of Her Honour the Lieutenant Governor at the opening of the session.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Further debate? I recognize the member for Barrie–Innisfil.

Ms. Andrea Khanjin: Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and congratulations again on being the Speaker of the House.

I just want to recognize that I will be splitting my time with the member for Mississauga Centre.

I’d like to start today by taking a moment to thank the communities of Innisfil and Barrie for honouring me with the opportunity to serve their needs in this House. I’m here as an extension of the proud history of our communities and of the hope that they have in a better Ontario that serves the needs of all its citizens.

If you will allow me to indulge, Mr. Speaker, I would like to reflect on a few of the key elements that make our little corner of our province special and why we are so excited by the opportunities presented by the speech from the throne that we heard here last Thursday.

Part of an Aboriginal transportation route many years ago, our area has long been a crossroads of the winds of history, playing an important role in the defence of Canada during the War of 1812 and helping thwart the American attempt to invade Upper Canada from northern Michigan. Our communities sat as one of the final destinations for the Underground Railroad, providing equality of opportunity, even then, for those fleeing tyranny. From those proud beginnings, Barrie and Innisfil have opened their arms to provide a welcoming home to those seeking hope and change.

I am humbled to follow in the footsteps of MPPs like Julia Munro, who holds tenure as the longest-serving female MPP in this House. It is an honour now to represent half of her former riding, and I am lucky to count her as one of my mentors and a friend.

Lady Munro, as she is more commonly known by her peers, keeps a framed copy of the Magna Carta behind her office desk, reminding her that the government is a contract with the people it represents. It is that contract that I want to focus on today, Mr. Speaker—on the idea of a government for the people, and how we can now realize the hope and the change that all Ontarians so dearly yearn for. Hope and change, Mr. Speaker—change, and that hope is here again.

We have seen the impact of 15 years of Liberal mismanagement. That impact is seen not only in the polling results for the now third party, but in the shameful impact that they have left on the legacy and dreams of Ontarians—dreams like those of Targol Asgari from my riding. Targol opened Bagel World in December 2015. She sold fresh bagels, breads and pastries as well as full breakfast menus and lunch. She got excellent reviews on TripAdvisor and became not only a local shop but a community hub where people laughed and where they had a sense of community that is the core of our community and where we thrive.

Bagel World was where my friend Melissa Varsava would bring her children, William and Charlotte, to break bread with her mom and her friends, where she could have adult conversations.

Sadly to say, Bagel World is now closed. Targol’s dream was shattered by the onerous economic pressures from the previous Liberal regime. Choked by higher taxes and endless red tape, her efforts were snuffed out by the regime that forgot that the economy is built through the efforts of folks like Targol across this province.

But with change comes hope. My friend Chris Nelson is the owner of the Ol’ West Wing, a restaurant in Barrie. The restaurant seats 100 and has 15 employees. Under the previous government, operating costs were high for Chris, who was always on the razor’s edge. He faced taxes upon taxes, with regulatory burdens that were grinding his business down. He shared with me that if this government had not been formed, he would have gone to his landlord for a quick exit. He sees hope again, Mr. Speaker, and the hope has led him to apply to extend his business to add a patio—an additional 30 guests.

Barrie–Innisfil is full of these kinds of stories of hope that a brighter future can be built for all Ontarians. Small businesses represent 95% of employers in Ontario, and we must always remember that it is in stories like these that we see the future direction of our province.

Mr. Speaker, I am proud to be part of a government that understands that it stands for the people. A government for the people believes that we shouldn’t mortgage the future for the present, that we don’t need to pit people against each other for political expediency. A government for the people equates to the hope that all Ontarians can have equality of opportunity.

I was humbled to see that full display earlier this year, the full display of those who were knocking on doors with me in the rain, the hail, the snow and the sleet, with my friends like Gwen Deluce, Viola and Doug Jure, and Myra Ringhofer.

Myra, a mother of two young children, reminds me every day, and inspires me every day, to focus on creating opportunities for our youngest residents, opportunities like those found in the ideaLAB in the Innisfil libraries, where engineering, chemistry and computer science are the focus of the centre. They are fused with music, art and creativity to develop the fusion of skills necessary to develop our new economy.

When we see a government for the people, we see an understanding that provides opportunity for Myra’s family—not takes it away, but provides opportunity—so that Ontarians can contribute for many years and they can get ahead through their hard work. A government for the people understands that delivering quality health care does not come at the expense of education. A responsible government delivers on its promises to move forward, step by step, towards the ideas of accountability and honesty that have been lacking over the past 15 years.

Mr. Speaker, I want to thank my campaign chair, Mat Varsava, who is with us in the gallery today. His grandparents immigrated legally here from Slovakia in 1935, not too long before Czechoslovakia fell under the Nazis.

My family, too, immigrated to Canada. I was just four years old when my grandparents left the Soviet Union, taking me first to Cuba and then to Barrie where we arrived as refugees. They chose Barrie because a fellow they met in Cuba, Ken McKenna, told them he had travelled all over Canada and he was sure that there is no better place to live than where I live today. Every day since then, for over 25 years, Barrie has been my home, my Canada.

Mr. Speaker, this community has given so much of itself to my family and me. Barrie and Innisfil have a proud history of fostering equality of opportunity for people of all backgrounds. I am humbled and inspired every day to represent them here in this esteemed House, and I thank them for the opportunity to serve and be a member of a government for the people.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Thank you. Please be seated. Now I’m going to turn it over to the member from Mississauga Centre.

M me Natalia Kusendova: Merci, monsieur le Président et merci à tous pour cet accueil chaleureux. Monsieur le Président, félicitations pour votre nomination au siège. Je suis honorée par la foi que mes électeurs m’ont confiée en m’élisant comme première députée de la circonscription nouvellement formée de Mississauga-Centre. Je voudrais également féliciter tous les députés nouvellement élus et réélus de cette Assemblée.

It is truly an honour and a privilege to rise today and address this assembly for the very first time as the member of provincial Parliament for the new riding of Mississauga Centre. Though some may say that my journey to this role may have seemed improbable, on June 7, constituents of Mississauga Centre spoke loud and clear. They elected someone who lives in their riding and who respects and understands its religious, ethnic and cultural diversity; someone who, like so many of them, immigrated to Canada and appreciates the unique challenges that new Canadians face; someone who does not shy away from hard work and accountability for her words and actions.

I want them to know that I do not take this responsibility lightly and that I will work hard each and every single day to deliver on what they sent me here to do. As I door-knocked in my riding, my constituents made it clear to me that their concerns were about the rising costs of hydro, hallway health care, wasteful spending and the carbon tax. The message was clear: Ontarians were ready for change. This is why I am so proud to be a member of a government that is acting quickly to keep our word to the people of Ontario.

As I mentioned earlier, I am proud to represent one of the most multi-ethnic ridings in Ontario. In fact, there are over 100 languages spoken in my riding, of which I am proud to speak five. As someone who grew up and spent my formative years in my riding, I was fortunate to benefit from the diverse mosaic of cultures, religions, languages, and people from all over the world and different walks of life, all of which have shaped the person I am today.

I, myself, am of Polish, Czech and Slovak heritage, and 100% Canadian and proud. Like many of my constituents, my family and I had to work hard to build our lives here, and we understand the value of the taxpayer dollar. Respecting your hard work will always be of the greatest importance to me.

My parents overcame adversity and sacrificed more than I could ever know to bring our family to Canada. When I was born, Europe was in the process of overthrowing a Communist regime that had crushed freedom and limited opportunity for its people. My parents had a difficult and life-changing decision to make. In fact, the hardship of immigration was so difficult that it ultimately ended their marriage. However, Canada remained a beacon of hope for me, my younger brother and my mom.

As a single mother, my mom raised two very energetic children while holding down several jobs and providing a loving and safe household. For me, the definition of hard work is one word: “motherhood.” My mother instilled in me the idea of a lifelong dedication to a cause. My mother’s cause was her family, and as a result, I was afforded the best opportunities possible. She not only helped me surpass all obstacles, but she taught me the values of hard work, personal responsibility and never giving up.

She would always say, “Be careful how you make your bed because you will have to sleep in it.” For her work and dedication and for believing in me, she has my heart and my eternal gratitude. Above all, it is for her and for the many hard-working Ontario mothers and fathers out there that we work.

While my mother influenced my sense of work ethic and dedication, it was my father’s own vocation as a physician that inspired my path to health care. His influence and incredible intellect during my formative years would contribute to my passion for helping others. From an early age, I knew that I would dedicate my life to the service of others.

After completing two bachelor of science degrees, I became a registered nurse. As a nursing student, I spent close to 1,600 unpaid nursing hours working and learning at various hospitals in Toronto. Once I completed my studies, I started working as a staff RN in the emergency room of a local hospital and as a correctional nurse at a female correctional facility. It was at this time that I felt my calling to become politically involved.

Over the last few days, I have been listening intently to my colleagues bring up hallway health care. Although “hallway health care” has become the catchphrase we all recognize, the term that I believe is more appropriate is “hallway nursing.” Nurses like me often are the first point of contact with our health care system for many patients. Nurses are the ones who spend 24/7 at the bedside, in the hallway, struggling to maintain a level of care that is dignified, professional and compassionate. I’ve said this many times during my campaign, and I would like to say it once again today: A hallway is not a place of work, and it definitely is not a place of healing.

Mr. Speaker, I will never forget one of my first shifts in the ER. It was as busy a night as any. The hospital was in code gridlock, and the staff was happy that we hadn’t reached super gridlock yet. I was working in the ambulatory care centre of the ER that night. A young woman came in, about my age, 15 weeks pregnant. She was having cramps and bleeding. After taking her bloodwork and scheduling her for an ultrasound, due to the lack of beds we sent her back out into the waiting room, which is considered routine practice.

Some time later, while still waiting for the ultrasound, her husband came in visibly distraught, asking us to check on his wife. At this point, it was clear that she was having a miscarriage. I began frantically looking into patient rooms, in my mind triaging who was the most stable at that point and could be taken out so that we could move this young woman into a room. At this point, there wasn’t even room in the hallway; that’s what “code gridlock” means.

Time ran out. The young woman had miscarried in front of 30 strangers in a hospital waiting room. She was wheeled in simply too late. Mr. Speaker, I will never forget the look on her face and the way I felt at that moment. No one should ever have to experience such a tragedy. At the most vulnerable moment in any woman’s life, not having that privacy and human dignity is simply devastating. It was at this moment that I truly understood how badly the previous Liberal government had failed all of us—the patients, their families, the front-line staff.

Unfortunately, stories such as these are not unique or exceptional. They happen daily, as many of my colleagues can attest, hand in hand with hallway nursing across Ontario hospitals. The deplorable conditions I witnessed at work were demoralizing and heartbreaking. Our broken, failing Ontario health care system, a legacy of 15 years of Liberal devastation and mismanagement, is finally in the hands of a government that will work for the people.

It doesn’t help that Ontario has the lowest RN-to-population ratio in Canada but among the highest administrators-per-bed ratios. It is estimated that our province has only 669 RNs per 100,000 people, compared to 828 RNs per 100,000 people across the rest of Canada. This equation is off balance.

I’d like to take this opportunity to recognize my colleagues present here today from the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario, CEO Dr. Doris Grinspun and president Angela Cooper Brathwaite, who have been sounding the alarm to the former Liberal government about the escalating health care crisis for years. This alarm had fallen on deaf ears, but no longer. A new day has dawned in Ontario with the election of 76 Progressive Conservative MPPs, with Premier Doug Ford at the helm. Ending hallway medicine, or hallway nursing, I should say, was one of our party’s top campaign commitments.

The throne speech reaffirmed our commitment to the people of Ontario, who have given our government a clear mandate to deliver real change for the people. The infusion of 15,000 new long-term-care beds over the next five years and an historic $3.8-billion investment in mental health and addictions, including supportive housing, is just the beginning. These two very clear and deliverable commitments will help to ease the burden on our acute care institutions and will allow our patients to be treated in the proper settings with appropriate supports at an appropriate cost. This, in turn, will result in decreased wait times, bringing closer the end of hallway nursing.

I know that my colleagues across the aisle seem to be surprised that this government is actually doing exactly what we said we would do. For example, our government’s announcement on the creation of an independent financial commission of inquiry into Ontario’s past spending and accounting practices is yet another promise made and promise kept. This decisive action will restore the public’s trust and provide an honest and accurate picture of where our province stands financially. The people of Ontario deserve to know where their hard-earned taxpayer dollars are being spent.

Mr. Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to thank my campaign team for their unwavering support and their countless hours of volunteer work that have made this moment possible. I am forever grateful to them—

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Thank you very much. You may be seated. You ran out of time. Sorry about that.

All right. Now we’re into questions and comments. I recognize the member from Sudbury.

Mr. Jamie West: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First, my congratulations to the members from Barrie–Innisfil and Mississauga Centre. Congratulations to all the MPPs, as well—a very important time.

Also, because yesterday we had our swearing-in ceremony and photos, I really want to thank the staff, who were incredibly supportive of my family as we did a quick little tour, especially when we came here. Security was very accommodating and made us feel at home and was excellent. It was great, as the son of a working family, to see that sort of treatment.

I want to speak briefly about the member from Mississauga Centre’s comments on hallway medicine. I share those concerns about hallway medicine, and I do agree that there are concerns with nursing. In fact, it isn’t an issue with the front-line staff; the concern with hallway medicine is underfunding. The funding was frozen. It doesn’t matter where you point the blame. At the end of the day, it has to do with funding hospitals effectively. You have to pay for the services we need, so I hope that we’re joined in funding hospitals appropriately.

My own city this morning—I don’t have the

article with me; I apologize, Mr. Speaker—is talking about 50 layoffs in my hospital. One year ago I was elected as the candidate in the riding of Sudbury, and we had a press conference because of the amount of overcrowding and the over 100% capacity in our hospital. A year later, I’m not sure I can get the media to show up at a press conference for this, because overcrowding in Sudbury has become so normal that it’s not news anymore. That’s unfortunate, and that’s a remark on the government—the government that we all sit on—and something we absolutely have to address.

I’d also like to speak about the throne speech. I received a message this morning that I hastily had to scribble out here. I don’t have permission to use her name because I haven’t asked for it yet. It says:

“I’m writing you as a social worker here in Sudbury, but mainly as a concerned parent as a transgender child.

“My child has faced harassment and bullying at school that was so extreme that he became suicidal and we had to home-school him.

“The recent announcement that the Ontario government is reverting to the 20-year-old sex ed curriculum is incredibly troubling to me.

“School was already an unsafe space for my child and I worry that it will become even less safe for him and other LGBTQ+ kids”—

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Thank you very much. I’m sorry, you ran out of time. It goes fast.

We’re back into questions and comments. I’m going recognize the member from Barrie–Springwater–Oro-Medonte.

Mr. Doug Downey: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It sounds like a game show. I love it.

I want to first congratulate my colleague from Barrie–Innisfil, who is not only my almost-seatmate here in the House, but we adjoin ridings in Barrie. So I know first-hand the incredible work that she’s doing already. Also, congratulations to the member from Mississauga Centre. Both spoke of the opportunity in Ontario and the reasons people come to this great part of the world. And I think Ken was right: Barrie is the best place in the world.

It’s troubling, though, because over the last 15 years, the previous government has squandered those opportunities. We hear about the closing of Bagel World because of high taxes and regulatory burden and all of these terrible things.

But I also want to note this hallway nursing—I couldn’t agree more. Our Premier, Doug Ford, talked about talking to front-line workers. What I don’t think the public knows is that we’re not just talking to front-line workers; we’ve brought them into the House. They’re here with real answers. The diversity within our caucus is unbelievable, and the diversity across the floor. It’s not enough that we have a nurse who was on the front lines just a matter of months ago, but the Minister of Energy, Mr. Rickford, is also a nurse, and I suspect there are probably other similar experiences across the way.

I look forward to not just addressing all of the areas that have been squandered for the last 15 years with the Liberals, but doing it in a practical and reasonable way so that we can march forward and fix this province.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further questions and comments? I recognize the member from Toronto–St. Paul’s.

Ms. Jill Andrew: That’s me. Thank you very much, Speaker. I would like to say congratulations to the members for Barrie–Innisfil and Mississauga Centre.

I direct my comment to the member from Barrie–Innisfil. As we speak of “our people,” “the people” of Ontario, I just need us to remember that asylum seekers are our people. Black, Indigenous and racialized people who are discriminated against, carded, racially profiled, and killed by our police forces—or certain members of our police forces—are people as well.

We must also remember that our queer, our trans, our non-binary students are people as well. Standing here as an educator, as a proud student equity program adviser who used to work with the Toronto District School Board, I have spoken to thousands of students who are queer and trans. They are people, and they deserve to be included in our Ontario. In order to include them, we’ve got to include them with curriculum, we’ve got to include them with human rights education, and we’ve got to include them with consent. And that is when we speak of “our people.” We’re all here.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further questions and comments?

Mr. Sam Oosterhoff: As always, it’s an honour to be able to stand in this House on behalf of the fine constituents of Niagara West and respond to some of the fine contributions that were made this morning.

I wish to congratulate both the member for Barrie–Innisfil and the member for Mississauga Centre for their excellent inaugural addresses, given with such passion, with such care for their constituents, and with such vision for what Ontario can be: an Ontario that truly works for the people.

I have to say, it’s incredible to see such strong young women stand in this House and speak about what they plan on doing for their constituents, what they plan on doing for this province. It’s amazing to see these types of strong young women in the Ontario PC caucus, and I’m very proud to be a caucus member of theirs.

I want to thank especially the member for Barrie–Innisfil for mentioning the history of her great constituency, the rich culture that has been lived there, and the rich community that there is as well.

I want to really touch base with the member from Mississauga Centre, because she brought to the fore the importance of listening to front-line workers. This is something that each and every one of us in this House has talked about at different times, but the Premier of this province, Mr. Doug Ford, is doing more than just talking about it, and the Minister of Health is doing more than just talking about it. I know that with the work of members such as the member from Mississauga Centre, we will be governing as a party, as a government that is truly listening to front-line workers, putting their best interests forward so that we can improve our health care system.

With the help of people such as the member from Mississauga Centre, who has served on the front lines and has front-line experience, we will be able to improve our education system, drive those efficiencies and make sure we’re providing the best possible level of care that all our constituents deserve.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Thank you very much. Now back to the member from Mississauga Centre for final comment.

Ms. Natalia Kusendova: Thank you to all my colleagues for your congratulations. It is truly an honour to be here today.

I would like to conclude by thanking once again my team of volunteers and my campaign staff. I will never forget the parents who came in with their toddlers to meet me and spend the day handing out flyers; or Dave, our most senior volunteer, who at age 80 loved nothing more than to assemble hundreds of signs.

To the students, the first-time voters, friends and colleagues who came from as far as Windsor and Vancouver: I cannot find the words to express the level of gratitude that I feel.

I would also like to acknowledge those who didn’t vote for me. I will work twice as hard to rebuild your trust in government. You are also my neighbours, and I am here for you. My door is and always will be open, and I look forward to working with you to bring positive change to Mississauga Centre.

I would like to end with a quote from Saint John Paul II, who has been an inspiration throughout my life: “The future starts today, not tomorrow.” We have a unique opportunity today and every day to make life better for the people of Ontario. We won’t let you down.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further debate?

Ms. Suze Morrison: Aanii. Boozhoo. It is a great honour to rise and address this Legislature for the very first time.

Mr. Speaker, I’d like to begin by acknowledging the Indigenous land that we are gathered on today. This area has a long history that predates colonial contact and is the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee, the Anishinaabe, the Huron-Wendat, the Métis and, most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit River.

This land is also subject to the Dish With One Spoon wampum. The Dish represents what is now southern Ontario, from the Great Lakes to Quebec and from Lake Simcoe down into the United States. We all eat out of the same dish with only one spoon, and we all share a responsibility for ensuring that the dish is never empty. This includes taking care of the land and all of the creatures that we share it with. Importantly, there are no knives at this table, representing that we must always keep the peace.

I stand here today as a woman of mixed settler and Indigenous heritage, raised entirely in an urban setting. My family’s history is scarred by multiple generations of foster care. The reality is, I may never be able to fill in the blank spaces on my family tree or point to a place on a map and say with confidence, “I come from there.” I have struggled most of my life with how I identify, with what my responsibilities to my community are and how I carry the teachings that I’ve been given with humility and with grace.

I’d like to recognize the urban Indigenous communities across Ontario, and particularly the friendship centres that work every day to provide access to culture-based services to urban Indigenous people who live in towns, cities and rural areas across Ontario. It has been the urban community who has picked me up, given me teachings, given me a name and given me place in community.

I would like to remind all of my colleagues that we have a responsibility to do our work in a way that advances reconciliation and that works to address centuries of colonization and genocide.

I would also like to express my sincere disappointment that at no point during the throne speech was a land acknowledgement made, nor a single reference made to Indigenous people in this province.

If we are to do the work of this Legislature together in a good way, our work must be grounded in the government’s responsibility to work respectfully with Indigenous nations and people in a way that upholds the treaties that we are all party to.

I’d like to congratulate you, Mr. Speaker, on your election as a Speaker of the House. I look forward to working with you in this Legislature as we all work to discuss the important issues facing the people of Ontario.

I’d also like to extend congratulations to all of my colleagues on their election to this chamber, especially those members who, like myself, make up the class of 2018, the largest group of newly elected MPPs in this Legislature’s history.

I’d also like to recognize my leader, the leader of Her Majesty’s official opposition, Andrea Horwath. I am so excited to serve with her in this place.

I look forward to serving my community alongside my fellow New Democrats, the largest opposition caucus in a generation.

Mr. Speaker, I’m humbled and I am honoured to be here. I’m joined in the gallery by some of my family and supporters. I’d like to thank my mom, Sue—hi, Mom—and my husband, Trevor, for their unwavering support and for helping me to believe that my voice mattered and that my voice could find a place in this room.

I’d also like to thank my campaign team, my volunteers and my supporters. I wouldn’t be here without you. I’m joined by a few of them in the gallery: Ben Donato-Woodger, Jeff Slater, Tyler Johnson, Lester Brown, Colin Phillips, Fred Hahn, and a contingent from CUPE Ontario. There are a few people who couldn’t be here today, and I would be remiss if I didn’t thank them, including Angela Zhu, my campaign manager, for her fierce leadership, as well as Emma Beattie, who spent 16 hours a day with me throughout the campaign and, surprisingly, still likes me.

It’s an extraordinary privilege to serve the people of Toronto Centre, and with 53% of the popular vote of my constituency, it is certainly a resounding mandate that they have given me.

On a lighter note, as an avid motorsport enthusiast and two-time women’s autocross champion in southwestern Ontario, I can confidently say that winning off the track feels just about as good as winning on the track.

But in all seriousness, we made history in Toronto Centre, and I proudly stand here as the first New Democrat to represent this riding.

I’d also like to acknowledge my predecessor, Glen Murray, for his service to our community. I hope that he remains grounded in the work of decolonization as he addresses the challenges facing Alberta’s energy sector.

My journey to this chamber has not been an easy one. I was born in a small town north of Parry Sound, where my earliest memories were of the little yellow school bus that we called home after we lost our house to a fire. My mom made the difficult decision to uproot our family to the heart of downtown Toronto, where she hoped to make a better life for us. She decided to go back to university as a mature student, as a single mother and with nothing behind her but a 10th grade education.

I spent my formative years growing up in U of T’s student family housing buildings, just a few blocks from here, up on Charles Street. Toronto Centre became my backyard, my teacher and a rich and diverse world for me to explore, growing up. But when I was 16, my mom’s health began to deteriorate and our lives became a case study on what poverty looks like when amplified by disability.

I started missing school to take my mom to doctors’ appointments, working part-time jobs to support my family, and trying to keep my grades up because I knew that my one-way ticket out of poverty was through an education. But like many Ontarians, that education was not cheap. Saddled with rising tuition fees and massive student debt, I struggled to make it to the other side of my degree and into the workforce. But I persisted against every single barrier put in my place, because I knew that I couldn’t let my family down.

A friend of mine, a poet, Najwa Zebian, once wrote, “These mountains that you are carrying, you were only supposed to climb.” And while I have worked most of my life not to carry the mountains of my upbringing with me, I have picked up small stones along the way. I carry my lived experience with me in small pieces that ground me and remind me why I have dedicated my career to improving the lives of people in my community.

Throughout my career, I have worked to amplify the voices of marginalized and oppressed communities through health equity work and in the Indigenous non-profit sector, where I have had the incredible opportunity to work with communities and organizations across Ontario towards reconciliation. I’ve worked to help increase the representation of women in politics. I’ve worked to address racism in our public systems. And I’ve worked to address community safety in the wake of gun violence.

As a resident of Regent Park, I have seen first-hand the effects that gun violence has on our community. This time last year, my husband and I were struggling with the trauma of having witnessed a shooting in our neighbourhood. We were first on scene and performed CPR on Lemard Champagnie, a young man who had been gunned down in a drive-by shooting. He was pronounced dead later that evening in hospital. His death was not the first shooting last summer and it certainly was not the last.

Although Lemard was a stranger to me, his death affected me immensely. It was one of the leading reasons I decided to put my name on a ballot for the very first time in my life. But I watched as my community and I continued to suffer a lengthy summer of violence. I watched as government officials and community leaders proceeded down a path of victim-blaming community members. And I watched as the public rhetoric centred on the tried-and-very-untrue narrative that the solution to gun violence sits solely on the shoulders of our policing and justice systems.

Through you, Mr. Speaker, to my colleagues: We know that the root cause of violence lies upstream in poverty. Violence claws its way out of our underfunded education systems and our schools that are in disrepair, out of crumbling infrastructure and decades-long housing wait-lists, and out of limited access to health supports, to social services, to community programming and to health care.

Police officers alone cannot do the work of social workers, mental health professionals or educators. They cannot address the need for new public housing, for affordable rent and neighbourhoods that are linked through community networks and investments. Policing alone cannot solve gun violence.

Mr. Speaker, while my professional experience, growing up in my riding and my reasons for seeking elected office touch on some of the unique histories and priority issues we are facing in Toronto Centre, I would be remiss if I didn’t also share with my colleagues a more fulsome picture of my home riding, a place which many of you call home when you’re away from your communities doing the work of this Legislature. Toronto Centre is home to many diverse neighbourhoods with their own rich history, culture and local flavours, including St.

James Town, Cabbagetown, the Garden District, the Church-Wellesley neighbourhood, Regent Park, Moss Park, Corktown, the Yonge corridor, and parts of the Distillery District and St. Lawrence neighbourhoods, which I share with my colleague Chris Glover, the member for Spadina–Fort York.

Toronto Centre is home to 103,000 people, and my constituents speak over 122 languages. We’re home to the largest Pride festival in Canada. We have the largest concentration of co-operative housing in the country, one of the largest continuous areas of Victorian houses in all of North America, in Cabbagetown, and Canada’s first and largest social housing development project in my home in Regent Park. We’re also home to the most densely populated neighbourhood in Canada, in St. James Town.

Housing is a critical issue in Toronto Centre. In Toronto, the average price for a one-bedroom apartment has eclipsed even Vancouver at $2,020 a month. There are more people on a wait-list for subsidized housing than actually housed in units, and most of the co-ops in my riding are so overwhelmed that they have closed their wait-lists entirely.

When I was nine years old, my mom went on the wait-list for Toronto Community Housing, and I will tell you that she didn’t get placed into a unit until after I had graduated university and moved in with my husband 15 years later. Even then, it was only because she was triaged to the top of the list after having spent six weeks in a shelter.

More and more, I hear how families are choosing to leave their homes to relocate to other parts of the province because the cost of housing here is simply unrealistic. One constituent I met over the campaign told me he would only leave his apartment feet first in a pine box, because he would never be able to afford to live anywhere else. The government’s speech from the throne fails to reference this critical issue facing my riding, and as the MPP for Toronto Centre, I will work to ensure that this government takes this growing concern—not just in my riding, but across the GTA—seriously.

Toronto Centre is also home to the Church-Wellesley Village, which has served as a sanctuary, meeting place and culture hub for the LGBTQ2S community for decades. The Village brings together a community of artists, activists and leaders who have fought and continue to fight for rights to safety, to equitable access to public services and for self-expression. The 519 Community Centre in the Village provides services to new Canadians and refugees, to displaced young people and to individuals looking for community.

Last week, I joined some of my colleagues, including our leader, Andrea Horwath, at the 519 to speak out against this government’s plans to revert back to a 20-year-old health and physical education curriculum. Young people, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, two-spirited, queer, questioning, intersex, pansexual, non-binary and asexual students, deserve to be affirmed and see themselves in our curriculum.

The queer community in the Church-Wellesley Village has also been a central part of the discussion on policing and addressing the issues of community violence. Queer folks, especially trans women of colour, are disproportionately at risk of gender-based and sexual violence. Mental health concerns, including rates of suicide, are high for this community, and access to mental health care, protection and community supports prove difficult and full of barriers.

We have a responsibility to all people in Ontario, especially the marginalized communities, to build up health services to include mental health and to remove stigma and barriers to access and care.

As the MPP for Toronto Centre, I vow to work alongside my LGBTQ2S colleagues in the Legislature to advocate for this community.

Mr. Speaker, I humbly offer these comments as a small insight into the issues facing my riding of Toronto Centre, for my colleagues. I want you all to know that I will fight fiercely on these issues and many more during my tenure in this Legislature.

I stand here before all of you today as a survivor of intergenerational poverty, of precarious housing, gender-based violence, gun violence and colonization, and as a member of my community who will use my lived experience, my fire and my heart to fight for my community.

Thank you. Meegwetch.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): It’s now time for questions and comments.

Mr. Dave Smith: My opposition colleague from Toronto Centre spoke passionately about her heritage, even though she said she wasn’t able to fill in the blanks on her family tree. I’m sorry for that.

With her husband and her mother here in the gallery, it’s easy to see that she will have the supports that she needs from her family to focus on making sure that she’s able to work with everyone in this building.

She raised herself up from a life of poverty and is now here representing her riding. We may disagree on how we accomplish things, but it’s obvious to me that my opposition colleague from Toronto Centre will be someone I will be able to work with.

She spoke about the dish never being empty. Our plan is to make sure that that dish is never empty for anyone in this great province of ours.

She spoke passionately about the costs of housing, and the struggles that people in her riding are having with access to housing. Mr. Speaker, this is exactly why we need to reduce hydro costs and why we need to scrap cap-and-trade, a cash-grab scheme that only makes everything more expensive for the people in Ontario.

I look forward to getting to know her better, and I hope—I truly hope—that she’s willing to work alongside and with me to help all of us make life better for everybody in Ontario.

I thank you very much for standing up and putting yourself out like that.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further questions and comments?

Miss Monique Taylor: It’s definitely confusing, having the government sitting right beside you when the questions and comments come. I’m waiting for the other side to happen.

I would like to congratulate the member for Toronto Centre on a wonderful maiden speech and for truly putting your life out in public today—and the importance of what that means to others in our communities who do live in poverty, who do live with disabilities, who were not spoken of within the throne speech from the government. I hope that the government was listening to your speech today, because there was so much meaning behind it.

When we don’t ensure that people have adequate housing and ensure that people have supports and services that we do need, this is when the police come into action. This is when we have mental health issues that aren’t dealt with for families. You overcame those issues.

I would like to congratulate your mom, who is here with us today, and your husband. How proud they must be to have heard you speak today in the Legislature.

We have a lot of work to do in this province. We have to make sure that we have adequate housing, that we have adequate supports, and that when a person is disabled, it doesn’t automatically give them a life sentence of poverty. This is the work that we have before us. These are the things that we didn’t hear in the throne speech. These are the complaints that you are hearing from the official opposition.

We need to ensure that all people are accepted in this province, that all people are thought of. I know the member from Toronto Centre is going to have a loud, strong voice to ensure that those voices are heard in this Legislature. Congratulations on your speech.

Thank you, Speaker, for allowing me some time to speak today.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further questions and comments?

Mr. Stephen Lecce: Bonjour, monsieur le Président. Good morning.

I just want to, first off, welcome and congratulate the member from Toronto Centre on her election, and I want to build upon the comments made by the member from Peterborough–Kawartha.

Obviously, to the member from Toronto Centre, your life experience and the adversity you have faced no doubt will shape your contribution to public service, and we’re all looking forward to working with you, understanding from the experiences that you’ve had how we can improve public policy for all Ontarians.

Mr. Speaker, the member spoke principally about lifting people up from poverty and helping to give First Nations opportunity. I’m very proud to be part of a political party that has a minister in this cabinet who has worked with First Nation communities for over a decade in the service of improving health and delivery of health in remote communities in northern Ontario. Of course, I’m speaking about the Minister of Energy, who serves dutifully in this House.

This is a government that understands our obligation, our duty to consult, to work with First Nations to give them the economic prosperity they deserve after 15 years of being ignored by the former government, and the principal way we’re going to do that is through the dignity of employment. We believe the Ring of Fire, an opportunity for development, is going to be huge in creating jobs and prosperity in northern Ontario, and we’re giving these communities a part of the revenue sharing that our Premier has committed to in our campaign.

The member is also from Toronto Centre, and I want to just, if I may add some levity in this place, offer condolences that she has to hold the seat with the federal finance minister, Bill Morneau. I regret that you have that experience. You deserve better. After all, he’s shafting the people of Ontario by tens of millions of dollars in money they owe the people of this province. But nonetheless, change is hopefully coming in 2019. I’m sure that’s something you and I can agree with or hope for.

Mr. Speaker, through you: The member obviously cares deeply about Ontario. We hope to work together to create jobs and opportunity for all of us.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further questions and comments? We’re going to have the member from Mushkegowuk–James Bay.

Mr. Guy Bourgouin: Mr. Speaker, you got it right today. Thank you.

Je voudrais remercier ma collègue de Toronto-Centre—très beau. C’était très touchant. Je suis convaincu que ta famille est très fière.

I’m convinced that your family is very proud and it was very touching, very much, your concern.

Like you, I represent—my riding is 30% First Nations. Like you, I was very disappointed when I heard in the throne speech that there was no mention, not even recognizing the First Nations.

When I heard the MPP from King–Vaughan say the minister has worked with First Nations, to me it doesn’t fly very well. At least your government should have recognized the lands we are on; it should have made at least some mention in the throne speech. It wasn’t there. I can tell you, in my constituency, it doesn’t fly. I’ve been receiving texts, numerous texts, phone calls saying, “They left us out again,” so I couldn’t sit here and not say anything.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you again for letting me speak.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): We will now return to the member from Toronto Centre for a final comment.

Ms. Suze Morrison: Thank you.

I’m sorry if I get choked up. I made the mistake of looking up into the gallery at my mom, who is crying, and the waterworks will be flowing.

I just want to thank again all of my campaign team, my family, my friends, my supporters, my entire caucus. It is an absolute honour and an absolute privilege to be here today.

I would like to respond to a few of the comments that were made. I do share many of the concerns that you guys have raised in terms of housing and issues for Indigenous people. My concern, to the government, as you so eloquently said, is if housing is actually a priority for your government. I have to question why it wasn’t in the throne speech.

To the member across from King–Vaughan: I want to clarify your comments around Indigenous people. There are more than just First Nations in Ontario. When we misuse the language that is used to represent Indigenous people—you leave behind Métis and Inuit people when you exclusively talk about First Nations.

I’d also like to remind the government members that in the act of collapsing the ministry responsible for Indigenous affairs into a ministry that is responsible for mining and northern development, you exclude Indigenous communities in the south and, relationally, you change the relationship to be one that is exclusively based on resources that can be extracted from the land, which we know is foundationally one of the most problematic pieces with the historic relationship between government and Indigenous people. Indigenous communities are more than just what you can take out of the land. Merging that ministry into the ministry responsible for mining is simply inappropriate.

Again, thank you so much. It’s an honour to be here.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further debate? I recognize the newly appointed Minister of Transportation.

Hon. John Yakabuski: It’s a pleasure to rise in this House for the first time on this side of the House. I understand what the member from Hamilton Mountain was alluding to: in a different set of circumstances, having the contingent of the governing party to her left, which is highly unusual. For me, it’s different to be speaking from the right of the Speaker.

I did want to talk about the throne speech. I’ve heard so much from the opposition about what wasn’t in the throne speech. I mean, it wasn’t a novel; it was a throne speech here in the House that we all are so proud to be representatives of.

So I’m going to focus on—

Mr. Gilles Bisson: Just like Reader’s Digest.

Hon. John Yakabuski: My friend from Timmins would think it was a Reader’s Digest condensed book. Yes, I understand. We used to get those when we were kids. We’re dating ourselves; I understand that.

But I want to concentrate a little bit on the things that we did touch on in the throne speech and in the campaign, a campaign that elected 76 Progressive Conservative members to this chamber. I understand the members of the opposition elected 40, but their agenda was not one that was chosen by the people of Ontario. I’m loath to even use the word “agenda,” because it always sounds like a bit of a sinister thing, an “agenda.” But what we have is a mandate from the people to fix what is wrong in Ontario. After 15 years of waste, scandal and mismanagement, they wanted Ontario run in a different way.

Our leader, now our Premier, the Premier for all the people of Ontario, campaigned on a plan to fix what ails Ontario, and our throne speech reflects that. A throne speech is a brief document that touches on the priorities. It does not mean that there are not other priorities; it touches on the ones that we’ve highlighted.

I want to speak about a couple of those.

Hydro One: Premier Ford campaigned saying that the CEO of Hydro One would be gone and the board would be replaced. The opposition and the former party in power lamented and said, “Well, it will cost $10.7 million in severance.” But to his word, Premier Ford can stand up and say, without a shred of being called wrong, that the CEO of Hydro One left without a single penny of severance—not a single penny of severance. There was $400,000 in pension benefits which he was entitled to under the contract that he had—

Mr. Gilles Bisson: It was $9 million.

Hon. John Yakabuski: My friend from Timmins wants to talk more about it. He may have a chance to speak to the throne speech. I hope he does.

Mr. Gilles Bisson: I did.

Hon. John Yakabuski: Or maybe he did. Well, there you go.

They want to talk about the stock options. Almost every executive in this country will have the opportunity to be paid in stock options. If the CEO doesn’t sell them, he’s not going to get a nickel; if he sells them, he’ll get the value of them on the day that he sells them. But that was a contract that was worked out with the previous Liberal government. Our commitment to see him leave without a single penny of severance was absolutely followed, and we’re so proud of the work that our Premier and his team did in protecting the people of Ontario once again. As he said, we’ll protect the people because Doug Ford and the PC Party are for the people.

Interjection.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Order, please. The member from Timmins will come to order.

Hon. John Yakabuski: Let’s talk about the Green Energy Act. Not all of the NDP, but I can tell you that most of the NDP who have been elected in this chamber, I suspect, would have supported the Green Energy Act and would have even supported the expansion of the Green Energy Act.

I can say that the leader of the NDP—and she has been feisty, because she also recognizes she’s got a huge challenge on her hands within her own caucus. Within her own caucus, she’s got a huge challenge on her hands. Some of the members of the new official opposition, they are so far to the left, it is actually—thank God it’s a proven fact now that the world is not flat, because some of them have drifted so far to the left that in Christopher Columbus’s day, they may have fallen off the edge.

We’re governing for all the people—not a socialist liberal agenda, but a government that serves the needs of all the people. We have talked about the need to improve housing. We have talked about the need to fight poverty. We have talked about all of those issues that must be dealt with, but we are going to deal with those and all issues within a responsible fiscal framework.

So the Green Energy Act, which has cost billions of dollars to the people, the taxpayers and the ratepayers of this province, is history. We cancelled all of those expensive energy contracts that we could cancel, saving the people of Ontario almost $800 million—$800 million. We can build a lot of affordable housing with $800 million. We won’t solve all of the problems, but we can build a lot of it.

But back to fiscal responsibility: Our Premier, our Minister of Finance and our President of the Treasury Board again followed through on another one of our promises—to initiate a commission of inquiry to deal with Ontario’s financial condition. Yesterday, they made a huge announcement, appointing the former Premier of British Columbia, the Honourable Gordon Campbell, to head up that commission, as well as Al Rosen and Michael Horgan, two of the most respected people in their field. Al Rosen is one of the most highly respected forensic accountants that this country has ever had.

In keeping with our promise, not only did we appoint them to this commission, but we got them at a bargain basement price, because our Premier, Doug Ford, has seen to it that fiscal responsibility will be the watchword on every decision we make—$50,000 for each of those commissioners, with the credentials that they bring to the table, is an absolute steal. I don’t know how the folks in the Ministry of Finance, the Treasury Board and the Premier’s office did it, but congratulations to you, and I thank you on behalf of all the people.

When we think of the scope of the issue that they have to deal with and the challenges before them, we could not have gotten a better bargain. Promise made, promise kept.

Shortly after school resumes in the fall—and we’ll talk about York University if we have a chance, another promise made and promise kept—by the time school shortly resumes in the fall, we will have a full report from this commission and we will have a better understanding of where we have to go and what we have to work with. That is a promise we made to the people that they desperately wanted. They want to understand how we’re going to manage a problem that is well in excess of $340 billion in debt—$340 billion in debt. How are we going to provide the services of the future if we can’t manage the finances of the province today?

Was it Robert Frost who said, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”? It might have been him; I’m not sure. But it does begin with a single step, and that step was taken yesterday by keeping our promise to appoint this commission of inquiry to delve into the challenges and the mess that was left after 15 years of Liberal rule.

Where are we going to find ourselves in September? That yet remains to be seen, but what I can tell you is that we will take that information from that commission and use that to forge a path to balance in this province, because until we balance the books in this province, we cannot turn it around and we cannot take this province and make it the tremendous engine of Canada’s economy that it once was.

We can’t have this debt hanging over our shoulders, accumulating and growing. We have to start reducing that debt, and you do that by balancing the budget and continuing to balance the budget and pay down that debt. That can be done, because our government for the people, under Doug Ford, is doing that line-by-line audit and we are going to find efficiencies in the operation of a $158-billion budget.

In 2003, when the Liberals came into power, the spending in Ontario was $68 billion. After 15 years, it rose to $158 billion—a $90-billion increase in annual spending in that period of time. It’s unsustainable and unacceptable. They found every place they could to spend money to buy votes in the upcoming elections. They did it in 2007; they did it in 2011; they did it in 2014—

Mr. Gilles Bisson: But, John, it didn’t work so well.

Hon. John Yakabuski: —and it didn’t work in 2018, yet they still tried it one more time. “Once more to the well” could have been their campaign slogan. But anyway, the people of Ontario came back to the Liberals and said, “I’m sorry, Ms. Wynne, but the well is dry.”

Where is that going to leave us? It will leave us with huge challenges. But as government, you have to be willing to take on those challenges. The easiest thing to do is to spend somebody else’s money. That’s what the previous government was doing for 15 years: spending other people’s money. The toughest thing to do is to look inside and find where we can find those efficiencies, find how we can make government run better and actually have to say, in some cases, “The answer is no.” Because you’ll take the political heat on it, but at the end of the day, you will save the next generation.

Our responsibility is to the people, for the people, for the people from yesterday, for the people from today and for the people of tomorrow. We will not forget that. That is our commitment. You can count on it.

Interjections.

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Please be seated.

The member knows that he will have extended time. When debate resumes, he will have that opportunity, at which time, then, there will also be an opportunity for questions and comments.

Debate deemed adjourned.

Visitor

The Acting Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Before I recess, Phil Gillies, former MPP in the 32nd and 33rd Parliaments representing Brantford, is with us today. Phil? There he is. Welcome.

On that fine note, it is now 10:15 and this House stands recessed until 10:30.

The House recessed from 1015 to 1030.

Introduction of Visitors

Ms. Christine Hogarth: I’d like to introduce my mother, Marlene Hogarth, who is here, and my friend and staff special assistant, Janet Browes, who is visiting the Legislature. I’m so lucky to have her on my team.

Mr. Norman Miller: I’d like to welcome Louis Kan, who is here to observe proceedings today. He is a CPA and very interested in things going on here at Queen’s Park.

Ms. Andrea Khanjin: I wanted to invite everyone to welcome Matt Varsava. He was my campaign chair. I’m really grateful for him to be here today.

Mr. Robert Bailey: I’d like to welcome friends in the west members’ gallery, friends of mine from Sarnia–Lambton, Etobicoke and Thunder Bay: Marilyn Armstrong, Corinne Armstrong, Lauren Armstrong, Susan Armstrong and Monique Manz.

Mr. Gilles Bisson: A couple of good friends of the House are here to watch yet again: Fred Hahn and Wynne Hartviksen. We welcome you to the Legislature once again.

Hon. Michael A. Tibollo: I would like to introduce Bruce Chapman, the president of the Police Association of Ontario, who is here with us today. Welcome.

Ms. Natalia Kusendova: I’m joined here today by several friends and supporters who were here to witness my maiden speech this morning. It’s my pleasure to welcome Grant Gorchynski from Kingsbridge Matters, a local advocacy group in my riding; Doris Grinspun, president and CEO of RNAO, as well as Carol Timmings, immediate past-president; Nathan Kelly; Adrianna Tetley, CEO of Alliance for Healthier Communities; Sarah Hops; Lucia Costantini, associate director of RNAO; Maria Negri; Josephine Mo; and Halimo Dualeh, as well as my good friend Sarah Bokhari.

Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Doug Downey: I would like to note that Janet MacDougall, the owner of Yes I Can! Nursery, that serves autistic children, is here. Welcome.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Bruce Chapman, the president of the Police Association of Ontario, is joining us today. I wanted to welcome him on behalf of everyone in the Legislature.

L’hon. Caroline Mulroney: C’est pour moi un plaisir de me lever dans l’Assemblée aujourd’hui pour souhaiter la bienvenue à Rita Mainville, à Pierre Mainville et aussi à Heather Potter, qui se joignent ici à nous aujourd’hui.

Mr. and Mrs. Kimber and Heather Potter are the parents and sister of Andrew Kimber, the executive director of issues management and legislative affairs in the Premier’s office. I know that Mr. and Mrs. Kimber and his sister are very proud of the work that Andrew does here every day for the people of Ontario.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I wish to extend a warm welcome to a former member of the Legislature who is with us in the chamber. He served in the 32nd and 33rd Parliaments representing Brantford. Phil Gillies is with us. Welcome.

Legislative pages

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I would ask the pages to assemble for their introduction.

I should point out that this particular group of pages has joined us on very short notice. They’ve given up some of their summer holidays to be here. All of them, I think without exception, have served as pages in recent days, so they didn’t need a lot of training and they don’t have any math lessons over the summer. They’re excited about that.

We’re delighted to have them here and to have their families visiting as well, in many cases.

Representing the riding of Scarborough–Agincourt, Adam Omarali—welcome; representing Mississauga–Lakeshore, Aidan Fletcher; from Sarnia–Lambton, Annabelle Rayson; from Scarborough Southwest, Bavan Pushpalingam; Kitchener South–Hespeler, Colin Robinson; York Centre, Eliana Rosenberg; from Markham–Stouffville, Emmanuel Samouel; from York South–Weston, Eric Albishausen; from Humber River–Black Creek, Justin Abraham; from Etobicoke Centre, Hannah Arsenault; from Mississauga–Streetsville, Medha Gupta; from Eglinton–Lawrence, Michael Daiello; from Don Valley North, Rachel MacKinnon; and from Windsor–Tecumseh, Tamsyn King.

Welcome.

Applause.

Visitor

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Before we begin question period, I’d like to again acknowledge the presence of another former member in the House, who represented Burlington South in the 33rd, 34th, 35th and 36th Parliaments and the riding of Burlington in the 37th and 38th Parliaments. Cam Jackson is with us. Welcome.

It is now time for oral questions.

Oral Questions

Curriculum

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My question is for the Acting Premier.

Scrapping the updated sexual health curriculum puts students at risk, and I think—I hope—most members of the cabinet would agree.

We have heard for two days where Ford Nation stands on the issue. With the first ministers’ meeting in New Brunswick and the Deputy Premier answering questions today, I want to ask the Deputy Premier where she and the other women in cabinet stand. Is it with the young people who need the information about consent, bullying, gender and sexuality, or is it with the radical extremist social conservatives that the Premier seems to be beholden to?

Hon. Christine Elliott: Thank you to the leader of the official opposition for her question. What we stand for is a curriculum that is going to be full and thorough and represent the wishes of the parents—listening to parents, listening to students, representing what they need.

We want to make sure that parents are consulted. We were very clear about that during the election campaign. We heard from many parents, as you probably did as well, about their concerns about the age-appropriateness of some of the things that they were learning. We want to make sure that we have a full, complete and appropriate sex education curriculum for all the students in this province.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Take your seats, please.

Supplementary?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Look, we all get it. The Premier cut a deal with radical extremists like Tanya Granic Allen and Charles McVety, and he chose to do what social conservatives told him to do instead of standing up for students.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The government side will come to order. I have to be able to hear the Leader of the Opposition.

Leader of the Opposition, I apologize for the interruption.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: He chose to do what social conservatives told him to do, instead of standing up for students, and I’m pretty sure that there are members of that cabinet who are having a tough time looking in the mirror these days because they know that the outdated 1998 curriculum puts students at risk.

With the Deputy Premier answering questions today, let’s just get real. Is she seriously comfortable with taking consent, gender identity and LGBTQ families out of our classrooms in September?

Hon. Christine Elliott: First of all, let me be clear. What we are going to work with right now is the 2014 sex education curriculum. We are going to be dealing with all of the issues that the leader of the official opposition has mentioned, but what we are going to do, and who the Premier has listened to, and all of the members of our caucus have listened to, is parents. During the last so-called consultation, there were about 4,000 parents who got a link to a survey but only 1,638 responses were received, which is 0.001% of the elementary school population’s parents.

We are going to listen to parents and we are going to develop a curriculum based on what we hear from them that will be modern and effective and dealing with all of the issues that the leader of the official opposition is speaking about. She might not like to hear that, but that is what we’re going to do.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Please take your seats.

Final supplementary?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Dragging Ontario backwards by putting the 1998 curriculum back in our schools will only put Ontario’s children at risk. I am floored by the response of the Deputy Premier. It denies kids the information that they need to stay safe from cyberbullying and to make sure that every queer young person is safe.

In the past, the Deputy Premier, the Attorney General and the Minister of Children have all said that they support keeping kids safe. Now they actually have a chance to prove it. What will it take for the Deputy Premier to defend what she says she believes in and tell the Premier he’s wrong to drag students back to 1998? Not 2014, but 1998.

Hon. Christine Elliott: Once again, for the information of the leader of the official opposition, we are using the curriculum from 2014. Consultations are already under way for the process that we will use going forward starting in the fall: listening to parents, listening to all of the issues that they want to talk about, making sure that we get it right this time. We heard very clearly from parents that we did not have it right with the curriculum that was developed by the previous Liberal government. We are going to take the time and we are going to get it right.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Take your seats. Please take your seats.

Next question.

Government spending and accounting practices

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

I have to say it’s worrisome, though, because while they take their time to get it right, kids will be bullied. They’ll be cyberbullied. Kids will be at risk and LGBTQ youth will not get the support, respect and dignity that they deserve, like every other child deserves. It’s very, very worrisome.

But my question is on a different topic. It’s about the fact that Ontario employs hundreds of non-partisan auditors and we have an entire office of the Auditor General that reports to MPPs. But instead of asking the Auditor General to look at government spending and accounting practices, the Premier is giving the job to his own hand-picked insiders.

Why is this government sidestepping the Auditor General and putting another politician on the payroll?

Hon. Christine Elliott: Well, first of all, let me assure the leader of the official opposition that we do support the work of the Auditor General. We do listen to what she has said, unlike the previous government that tried to denigrate her and make her appear incompetent. We think she is thoroughly competent. She knows what she’s doing, but she does not have the responsibility to do the line-by-line analysis that we promised the people of Ontario that we would cause to happen.

The commission of inquiry that we have brought forward is helmed by very, very accomplished people. We were able to get them to come and do this work for a very reasonable cost. We have no concern about the work that they’re going to do. They are recognized professionals who anyone in Ontario would agree are well provided to do this analysis.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Well, $50,000 for a month of work is a pretty darn sweet deal that most Ontarians will never, ever be able to get, Speaker.

That’s exactly what Gordon Campbell is going to get, but his only qualification for the job is that he ran as a Liberal and then cut like a Conservative. As Premier of BC, he cut social services. He fired public workers. He sold off and privatized assets like ferries and BC Rail’s entire operation. In fact, that privatization led to “Railgate” after police uncovered a backroom deal that cost British Columbians hundreds of millions of dollars.

Why is this government ignoring the Auditor General and hiring a politician famous for cutting and privatizing public services?

Hon. Christine Elliott: Once again, we support the work that is being done by the Auditor General. We believe that she is doing a fantastic job, but she needs some help because of the mess that was left behind by the previous Liberal government. We cannot rely on the numbers that they have given us. We need to know where the bottom is. We’re not there yet, sadly. We need to know where the bottom is so that we can start building and going forward.

The three people who are going to be leading the inquiry are very accomplished individuals. Former British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell is very accomplished at dealing with issues like this. Dr. Al Rosen is recognized as a qualified expert, as is Michael Horgan. They have volunteered. They’ve come forward to do this work. It is in a very short time frame, because we need to get moving and fixing the books of this province. We are very proud of them coming on board with us.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Members, please take your seats. Please take your seats.

Final supplementary.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: This inquiry and this audit are not about looking at the books. They’re not serious accounting exercises. This is all about finding excuses for the Premier to cut and privatize in health care, in education and across our public services. Why else would the Conservatives trust the disgraced former Premier of British Columbia more than they trust Ontario’s own Auditor General?

Hon. Christine Elliott: We shouldn’t be disparaging the people who are doing this work. They are experts.

I would also like to mention something. Here is a tweet from Ontario’s Auditor General from this morning: “The Office of the Auditor General appreciates the government’s intent, as part of the financial commission of inquiry, to address the accounting practices we have previously expressed concerns about. Our office will work co-operatively with the commission.” So there you have it.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Take your seats.

I wish to inform the House that we are about 10 minutes into question period and there have been repeated standing ovations. I would remind those members who are engaging in that that I’m sure there are people on the list who would like to ask a question today, and they’re not going to get their chance to ask the question today if indeed this persists.

Curriculum

Ms. Peggy Sattler: My question is to the Minister of Education.

Speaker, this week Ontarians have seen chaos and confusion coming from this government about sex education. First, they announced the repeal of the modernized curriculum, dragging Ontario backwards to 1998 and putting the health and safety of young people at risk. They pretend that there is a 2014 curriculum when there are only 1998 or 2015.

They claim there will be ample space to address critical social issues, and that teachers will have flexibility to raise these topics.

Speaker, school boards, teachers and parents need to know exactly what students will be learning in September. It shouldn’t rely on individual teachers.

Can the minister explain how gender identity, LGBTQ families, consent and cyberbullying will be taught in our schools when the 1998 curriculum is silent on these issues?

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: We need to be very clear here: Teachers will be going back to curriculum they are familiar with because they are going to be using the curriculum that was utilized in 2014. At that time, in tandem, we’re going to be embarking on the most comprehensive consultation this province has ever seen, because we’re keeping our election promise to respect parents.

We have heard from tens of thousands of parents who are uncomfortable. But do you know what really matters, Speaker? That we embark on a comprehensive consultation process whereby every person in this province has an opportunity to have their voice heard, because we know the previous Liberal government got it wrong. Through our consultation process we’re going to get it right.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The members please take their seats. Please take your seats.

Supplementary?

Ms. Peggy Sattler: Again to the minister: It may be news to this government, but this province has already had one of the most comprehensive education consultations in our history. It took place over a period of almost 10 years and resulted in the modernized 2015 health and physical education curriculum. The Minister of Education knows that; three years ago she publicly stated: “The Minister of Education has done a lot of consulting around this.... We do need an upgrade to the curriculum.”

Why is this minister catering to a small group of radical social conservatives like Charles McVety, who wants to hold town halls in every riding in Ontario, instead of doing her job and keeping the modernized, updated curriculum in place?

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: My job is to listen to the constituents who are represented in the ridings in every corner of this province. We have heard from tens of thousands of parents that their voices weren’t heard and they are not being represented in what they’re saying is okay to move forward with.

So we’re going to keep our election promise. We are going to move forward with the most comprehensive consultation process this Ministry of Education has ever facilitated and, in the spirit of democracy, enable every person who wants to share their perspective to have an opportunity to have their voice heard. I look forward to kicking that off later this fall.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The members will please take their seats. Please take your seats.

Next question.

Taxation

Mr. Doug Downey: My question is for the Minister of the Environment.

Over the past several months, I’ve had the chance to talk to thousands of families and individuals across Barrie–Springwater–Oro-Medonte. I heard from families that work hard. They play by the rules, and they’re trying to get by. At the end of the day, they still struggle to make ends meet.

The tax-and-spend policies of the last 15 years have made life unaffordable. Damaging policies like the Liberals’ cap-and-trade, the carbon tax, only compounded the problem. It made it worse. It increased the cost of gas, it increased the cost of groceries, it increased the cost of everything that we do, day to day. I campaigned on a promise to my constituents to end cap-and-trade.

I would like to ask the minister if he would update the House and the public on the status of this commitment.

Hon. Rod Phillips: I’d like to thank the honourable member from Barrie–Springwater–Oro-Medonte. I know that he stands up for his constituents and represents them well.

Our government was elected on a promise to revoke the cap-and-trade program, which for too long had targeted low-income families, targeted businesses and made life unaffordable for people in Ontario. That’s why we announced the end of the cap-and-trade program and have taken steps for its orderly wind-down.

Effective July 3, the province has revoked the cap-and-trade regulation and is prohibiting the trading of emission allowances. All programs currently funded through the cap-and-trade program will be concluded, and the immediate, orderly wind-down of the green Ontario fund is included in that.

Mr. Speaker, under the leadership of Premier Ford, we have delivered more promises in the first 10 days than the previous Liberal government did in the last 10 years.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Members, please take your seats. Please take your seats.

Supplementary?

Mr. Doug Downey: Back to the minister, Mr. Speaker: I thank the minister for his commitment to and his comments on this very important promise, both to me and to the constituents. I heard it time and again at the doors: Families simply cannot afford this tax.

To make things worse, Mr. Speaker, during the campaign, the Leader of the Opposition not only endorsed the Liberal plan but committed to adjusting the Liberal plan—and obviously, I don’t mean down. This would have meant higher taxes for every family in Ontario, higher costs of living, higher child care, higher food, higher gas—everything.

Can the minister assure the hard-working families in my riding that the days of this unaffordable cap-and-trade carbon tax are finally over?

Hon. Rod Phillips: Mr. Speaker, through you to the member: For too long the Liberals’ ineffective cap-and-trade program did target low-income families and middle-income families. The member is quite right. I listened intently to the Leader of the Opposition’s response to the speech from the throne. When she doubled down on advocating that continued cap-and-trade program, I was bewildered.

When she talks about radical extremists, we could talk about the NDP MPP from Ottawa Centre, who repeatedly called for increasing carbon taxes to 35 cents a litre. This is not what the people want. This is not what we were elected to do. On this side of the House, we understand that in this time of economic uncertainty, we need to avoid a carbon tax, and we will not allow it.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you. Members will please take your seats.

Next question.

Hydro rates

Mr. Peter Tabuns: My question is to the Acting Premier.

Last May, the Liberal government announced a scheme to use borrowed cash to artificially and temporarily lower hydro bills before the election. After the election, ratepayers would need to pay back $40 billion in debt and interest.

The government House leader, who was then the Conservative energy critic, obtained a leaked cabinet document that showed how this hydro borrowing scheme would drive up hydro bills by 70% over the next 10 years. He described the Liberals’ scheme as “deceitful, dishonest and shady.”

So why is the Premier keeping this deceitful, dishonest and shady Liberal scheme that will add $40 billion onto hydro bills—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I’m asking the member to withdraw his unparliamentary comment.

Mr. Peter Tabuns: I withdraw.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Response? Deputy Premier.

Hon. Christine Elliott: To the Minister of Energy.

Hon. Greg Rickford: Let’s talk about another set of numbers that are factual, true and about to reduce the ratepayers’ costs for energy across this province. We set out a campaign promise to reduce those by 12%, Mr. Speaker. It involved a number of important steps, which have occurred over the past couple of weeks. That target is 12%. It’s achieved by renewing leadership at Hydro One. It’s achieved by cancelling contracts that were going to ultimately cost taxpayers way more money than it was worth. The number that we’re dealing with, Mr. Speaker, is $790 million in savings.

That’s what Ontarians listened to on June 7. That’s why there are 76 of us in this House. Promise made, promise kept.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Members, please take your seats.

Supplementary.

Mr. Peter Tabuns: Apparently the minister is not aware of the party’s policies. Then I will go back to this question. It seems the Premier has decided to keep all the worst Liberal hydro plans. He won’t return Hydro One to full public ownership, and he’s going to keep the Liberal hydro borrowing scheme that his own minister called “deceitful, dishonest and shady.”

Will he also use the same accounting tricks that the Liberals used to hide the truth about the $40-billion hydro borrowing scheme?

Hon. Greg Rickford: Mr. Speaker, through you to my colleagues: Can I be forgiven for not paying attention to Liberal policies on energy?

Applause.

Hon. Greg Rickford: Okay, thank you.

Mr. Speaker, we continue to be focused like a laser on reducing hydro rates for Ontario taxpayers and for Ontario ratepayers. I’m a bit worried when the NDP start talking about an exercise of going into the private sector; those two tend not to jive.

We’ve come up with a plan to renew Hydro One leadership, to lower costs by cancelling programs that were going to be representing a significant cost to ratepayers and taxpayers. This is the promise we made on June 7, and this is the promise that we’re going to keep.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Sit down. Sit down.

Next question.

Government spending and accounting practices

Ms. Andrea Khanjin: Mr. Speaker, my question is for the President of the Treasury Board.

In my riding of Barrie–Innisfil, I heard people’s message loud and clear. They’re concerned about the lack of trust in the previous government. Every new report by the provincial Auditor General or its Financial Accountability Officer gave them more cause for concern about the future of this great province.

Mr. Speaker, would the President of the Treasury Board please provide an update for this House on the steps the government is taking to restore trust in the provincial finances?

Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy: Thank you for the question, and thank you to the member from Barrie–Innisfil for raising this issue of great importance to the people not only of the riding of Barrie–Innisfil, but across the province.

This government is committed to ensuring accountability for how taxpayers’ money is spent. Unfortunately, this government is operating from a starting position where we are left with books that do not tell the real story on our province’s finances. That is why we are taking action now. It’s time to stop digging and find out how big the hole is.

Mr. Speaker, we want the public to have a full, honest and accurate picture of Ontario’s finances. The people of Ontario deserve to know where their hard-earned money is going, how it’s being wasted and how we are going to fix it.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question?

Ms. Andrea Khanjin: I thank the President of the Treasury Board for his response and his swift action to restore public confidence.

In his remarks to the press yesterday, the President of the Treasury Board described his recent meeting with members of the public service who are eager to share their ideas for finding efficiencies and savings. I know that the people in my riding and, I imagine, people province-wide are interested in having their voices heard after feeling like the previous government failed to listen.

Would the President of the Treasury Board please tell this House how the government is ensuring that this audit is open, transparent and accountable to the people of Ontario?

Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy: As we announced yesterday with the Premier and the Minister of Finance on the Independent Financial Commission of Inquiry and the line-by-line—promise made, promise kept.

The member from Barrie–Innisfil mentioned my meeting with the team at the internal audit division. I did a tour last week. I’m meeting all the people on the front lines in our Ontario public service. In fact, they mentioned that no minister had come by in 26 years to say hello. These are the people who will come up with the ideas for the efficiencies and savings that we intend to do.

To support this work, we’re going to do an open tender for a transparent public request for bids. We issued that yesterday. That will take 15 days. It will be open, transparent and thorough.

This line-by-line will be for the people of Ontario and include the people—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Please sit down.

Next question. The member for Brampton North.

Anti-racism activities

Mr. Kevin Yarde: Mr. Speaker, first of all I’d like to congratulate you on your election.

My question is for the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services.

The charter applies 365 days a year, not just when this government would like it to. But the unfortunate reality is that not every Ontarian’s charter rights are equally respected. This government’s SIU rollback sends the disturbing signal that this government is not interested in reforming an extremely dated system that does nothing to address this province’s current reality.

Mr. Speaker, I personally have been carded. New Democrats have long been advocating for the end of carding, as a first step in addressing systemic racism.

My question is, will you be making changes to allow even more carding to take place on Ontario streets or will you work to stamp out carding?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Take your seats. Please take your seats.

Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services.

Hon. Michael A. Tibollo: Mr. Speaker and honourable member: First of all, I want to reassure everyone that the focus of this government is to ensure that safety is paramount in all communities. Personally, I went out to Jane and Finch, put on a bulletproof vest and spent 7 o’clock to 1 o’clock in the morning visiting sites that had previously had bullet-ridden people killed in the middle of the night.

The police need tools to work with. They’re doing an incredible job ensuring that our streets are safe. I’m not a police officer but what I can tell you is they need skills, they need tools to work with. Our work will be to ensure, working with the communities, that we build trust and that we have those tools provided to them to be able to do their jobs properly.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary?

Mr. Kevin Yarde: I didn’t expect the question to get answered, and obviously it wasn’t answered.

Casually combining the responsibilities of the Anti-Racism Directorate with the Deputy Minister of Correctional Services—now, that is problematic. Not only does this lumping of responsibilities demonstrate part-time attention to systemic racism, but this shift also assumes that racism only occurs in policing. This is simply not the case. Racism also occurs in the workplace, in schools, in consumer establishments and based on a person’s postal code, as well as in accessing housing and social services and, of course, the list goes on and on. Racism also occurs in these areas, and this is why the Ontario NDP has been calling for the creation of an Ontario anti-racism secretariat since 2015.

So my question, once again, is, how will this government commit to giving full-time attention to eliminating racism in government policies, decisions and services?

Hon. Michael A. Tibollo: Thank you for the question. Once again, public safety is of paramount concern to this government. Anti-racism and the issues surrounding anti-racism are something that will be looked at seriously within our ministry. We will look to determine what we can do, both from the standpoint of assisting the police with the work they do and other organizations as well. This requires consultation, it requires us to be involved with stakeholders, and it’s every intention of this government to be open, transparent and to listen to the people, which is something that has not been done for a long time in the province.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you. No. Sit down. Sit down.

Next question.

Government spending

Ms. Mitzie Hunter: Speaker, it’s my pleasure to rise in the House today. It’s the first time in the 42nd Parliament. I want to give a special thank you to the residents and the constituents of Scarborough–Guildwood for the confidence that they have placed in me in re-electing me for a third term.

Speaker, congratulations to you on your appointment as well.

My question is to the Deputy Premier, and also congratulations on your election and for your willingness to serve.

Yesterday the Premier appointed his commission of inquiry. Can you tell this House the cost?

Hon. Christine Elliott: To the Treasury Board.

Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy: Mr. Speaker, thank you for the question, through you, to the member.

Through the election, we criss-crossed this province. The Premier criss-crossed the province. We knocked on a lot of doors and we heard the same thing. We want to restore trust. People want us to restore trust in government.

To do that, we said we would have an independent inquiry to look at the accounting and look at it line by line, to do a value-for-money audit. To do this, we’ve hired an independent commission of inquiry, independent commissioners who are experts in their field. This is a drop in the bucket against the amount of spending and the waste and mismanagement we’ve seen over the last 15 years. This will be some of the best money we’ve ever invested in the province of Ontario.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary.

Ms. Mitzie Hunter: Again to the Deputy Premier: On Monday, your government announced the cancellation of White Pines, with no idea of the cost to Ontarians. It signalled to the world that Ontario is no longer a safe place to invest in new business or spur innovation and job growth.

Mr. Speaker, we do know some numbers. The Premier has cancelled cap-and-trade with a cost of over $2.4 billion, paid out the Hydro One CEO for $9 million, and over $350,000 a year to his personal friend and now health adviser—and now this commission with another cost. We are less than a week into the Ford government and already the fiscal mismanagement is clear. You say—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Government members will come to order. Government members, come to order.

The member for Scarborough–Guildwood.

Ms. Mitzie Hunter: You say this is a line-by-line analysis of government in only a few weeks. Will the Deputy Premier admit that this commission is a smokescreen and an extension of your campaign, meant to hide the fact that the Conservatives have no plan, and to distract from the deeper cuts that are coming to things that matter the most to Ontarians, like Ontario’s health care, education and environment, and putting Ontario jobs at risk?

Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy: Mr. Speaker, thank you for the question. Through you, to the member: I think the member opposite has a lot of trouble with promises made, promises kept, in such a short period of time.

We criss-crossed this province. We heard from the people, and the people said they’re working harder and getting less. We provided a platform of providing relief through lower hydro costs, lower gas taxes and lower taxes, so this led us to look for savings, and that was one of the first areas of savings where we looked to help the people of Ontario. We stand behind the people of Ontario, making $790 million of savings through these contracts for energy that we did not need in this province. We’ll stand behind that.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Sit down.

Next question. The member for Willowdale.

Taxation

Mr. Stan Cho: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. As it’s my first time rising in the House, I’d like to congratulate you on your election and thank the wonderful people of Willowdale for giving me this great honour of representing them.

My question is for the Minister of the Environment.

The Liberals claim that having a cap-and-trade-style carbon tax would force people to make better choices. Well, most people in Ontario don’t have the choice to jump on a bus with their two kids, hockey bags in tow, to get to the rink for 7 a.m. practice. Most people don’t have the choice to bike home after shopping for groceries to feed their family of four. Most people don’t have the choice to spend an additional $35,000 on an efficient Prius. Ontarians can agree on the importance of reducing emissions, but the arrogance of those who imply that these kinds of decisions should bear a sin tax is astonishing.

Will the minister ensure that the people of Ontario will no longer be punished with unfair taxes as a result of making these very reasonable choices?

Hon. Rod Phillips: Mr. Speaker, through you to the member: First of all, I congratulate the member from Willowdale on his election and also on his recent engagement.

I agree, and this government agrees, that climate change presents real challenges and that we need a program that will protect our environment. But, as the member alluded to, we need a program that’s balanced and we need a program that understands the needs of working families, the needs of parents to take their kids to hockey and to go shopping. We will never be a government that dictates how people will behave and that punishes them if they disagree with this government.

This is why we’re moving forward to revoke the cap-and-trade legislation, which has punished working families, which has punished businesses. Our government will move quickly to fulfill that promise, to fulfill our promise to working Ontarians, so that they can enjoy the lives they want.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary?

Mr. Stan Cho: Back to the minister: I would like to thank the minister for his strong convictions to press ahead on this file. I know how much he appreciates the value of a promise, and I know how much the people of Ontario are counting on him to deliver on his promise.

Climate change is our generation’s reality and we understand the importance of taking steps to ensure that we protect our environment. But there has to be a better way to achieve the results the people of Ontario demand.

I know the people of Ontario are looking to our government for relief. The reality is that families are not making choices at all; they’re being forced. What is the government going to do to make sure that they get the relief?

Hon. Rod Phillips: Again, I’d like to thank the member, through you, Mr. Speaker. As I’ve said, we are committed to taking action, and we will be taking action in this sitting to begin the process of the orderly wind-down of the cap-and-trade program. We don’t agree with the members opposite that we should double down on cap-and-trade, that we should put more pressure on Ontario families. We don’t agree with the Liberals, the former government, that a carbon tax program is the approach, but we do understand the importance of addressing climate change.

But as we move forward here, we will also be taking our argument to Ottawa. We will also be doing everything in our power to ensure that the carbon tax cap-and-trade program here is not repeated by the federal government. The disastrous Liberal policies in Ontario can’t be imposed by a Liberal government in Ottawa, and we will do everything in our power to avoid that.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Please sit down.

Next question.

School facilities

Ms. Bhutila Karpoche: My question is to the Minister of Education.

On Monday, Fix Our Schools wrote a letter to the minister, putting the total estimate for school repairs in her riding at a staggering $113.8 million. They reminded her of the personal commitment she made to fix our schools during the campaign. They stated this clearly: “School conditions matter. They impact student learning, attendance, and health.”

Yesterday, this government admitted that the colossal $100 million they cut from school repair funding was just collateral damage in their crusade against cap-and-trade. They admitted that the well-being of students was an afterthought.

Will the minister’s message to the students in her riding and across Ontario continue to be that they are just not a priority?

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: You know, I find it rather ironic, because the reality is this: Under 15 years of Liberal rule which the NDP party—the opposition party—propped up the entire way, we’ve seen schools crumble across this province. I am very pleased to share with you, Speaker—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I’ll ask the official opposition to please come to order. I have to be able to hear the response.

Minister of Education.

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: Thank you, Speaker. I’m very pleased to share with you that in working with ministry officials, we’re addressing the renovation needs of our schools. You’re going to see this government always putting students first.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary?

Ms. Bhutila Karpoche: Back to the Minister of Education: Runnymede Collegiate Institute, a great high school in my riding of Parkdale–High Park, currently needs 15 urgent repairs among 64 others. These repairs include hot water boilers, roof coverings and a 90-year-old structural frame—urgent, meaning now. The students and families of Runnymede Collegiate cannot afford to hold out while this government makes cuts first and promises later.

How much longer will the students and families in Parkdale–High Park be left waiting?

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: We need to be perfectly clear here: The $100 million in the Green Ontario Fund—the gas reduction—

Interjection: The greenhouse gas fund.

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: The greenhouse gas reduction slush fund that the Liberals created was never, ever going to be addressing those problems that the member opposite just described.

With that said, I look forward to inviting the member opposite to come forward and meet with me and share her concerns about her local school so that I can raise them with ministry officials and I can get a status update on those particular repairs.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Next question. The member for Brantford–Brant.

Government spending and accounting practices

Mr. Will Bouma: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Congratulations on your election.

My question is to the Minister of Finance, who I would also like to congratulate on his election. I know he will be serving the constituents of Nipissing well.

For the last 15 years, the people of Ontario, especially in my riding of Brantford–Brant, watched Queen’s Park in frustration. The previous Liberal government, time and time again, mismanaged taxpayers’ dollars while insiders got rich off the public purse.

What’s worse, on top of the waste and scandal, is that we were not provided with an accurate picture of the province’s finances. It took independent officers like the Auditor General and the Financial Accountability Officer to expose just what was going on. But Premier Doug Ford promised to take immediate action to restore trust in Ontario’s finances, and he has.

Minister, could you please tell the House about the commission of inquiry the government for the people launched yesterday into the state of the province’s finances?

Hon. Victor Fedeli: Thank you for the question, to the member from Brantford–Brant, and congratulations on your election to this Legislature.

To you, Speaker: Considering this is my first time to rise in this sitting of Parliament, I want to congratulate you on a great position, and great success in this job.

We will be giving the commission of financial inquiry an expansive mandate. They are going to chase down any and all budgetary spending and accounting practices that might compromise the public’s faith in our public finances. This work will be completely independent from my office, from the Premier’s office and from any government office.

We are asking the commission to hit the ground running and issue a report in time for it to be included in the Ontario public accounts, and to be considered as part of the fall economic statement as well. That’s why the terms of reference include a clear deadline of August 30 for their report, which will be made public. The people will see the exact same report that we will see.

The commission of inquiry will look into what went wrong, while the line-by-line audit overseen by the Treasury Board and Minister Bethlenfalvy will look at how we fix it.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you. Supplementary question?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Sit down. Sit down.

Supplementary?

Mr. Will Bouma: A follow-up to the Minister of Finance: Thank you, Minister, for explaining how the commission of inquiry will work and will complement the line-by-line audit as well. Getting to the bottom of the true state of Ontario’s finances is of paramount importance as we start on the path back to fiscal balance in Ontario. This arm’s-length commission is truly the first step in doing just that.

I was pleased to hear the minister reassure Ontario taxpayers that the exact same report that he sees will be the one that the public sees. That’s true transparency and accountability, and that is something that was sadly non-existent in the previous government.

It’s important that we have the best people selected to do that job. Can the minister speak to the expert members of the commission of inquiry and why their specific experience is critical in ensuring that Ontario taxpayers can have faith in this process and the eventual findings?

Hon. Victor Fedeli: I am confident that this commission of inquiry has the right leadership, the right mandate and the right resources to get the job done. Their job will be to restore trust.

We have strong leadership at the helm with the former Premier of British Columbia, Gordon Campbell, acting as chair. Mr. Campbell will be joined by two co-commissioners, Michael Horgan and Dr. Al Rosen, each of whom is amongst the most qualified experts in Canada to perform exactly this type of work.

Let me express my personal confidence to this House that the road back to financial health for Ontario starts right here, right now, with this inquiry.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Sit down.

The member from Kingston and the Islands.

Energy conservation

Mr. Ian Arthur: My question is for the Minister of the Environment.

I have met with many small businesses and families who have been affected by the cancellation of the GreenON program on June 19, like Michael Braby, who owns a small business, Aaben Windows and Doors; and his customers, who were supposed to receive the rebates.

The problem with how the government is withdrawing from this is that there are so many contracts, it would take until January to finish them all.

Now, I know this government is completely comfortable with arbitrarily cancelling contracts, but there is no need to force those values on the small businesses and families of Ontario. Instead of cancelling them with an October 31 deadline, will the minister work to extend it until January 31 at least, until all those contracts can be done that were entered into in good faith?

Hon. Rod Phillips: Mr. Speaker, through you, I thank the member for his question.

This is a government that has been quite responsive to the various parties that were involved in this program. We have set the dates based on consultation with those parties and we will stick with those dates.

But let me tell you, Mr. Speaker, to the member, that the important thing to remember is that all of this, all of the subsidy, was being paid for by taxpayers; all of the subsidy was coming out of the pockets of Ontarians. The only responsible thing to do when we made the decision on behalf of Ontarians to cut the cap-and-trade carbon tax program was to end that program. We’ve worked to do that on an orderly basis and we will continue to do so.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary.

Mr. Ian Arthur: Again to the Minister of the Environment: Mike has lined up jobs for November, December and January that represent $177,000 in green Ontario rebates. Those families signed up in good faith before the sudden cancellation of the green Ontario program. Now those jobs are at risk. Mike is just one of the many contractors across Ontario who are still being affected by this cancellation.

The Premier promised to put money back in the pockets of Ontarians. So why is he taking thousands and thousands of dollars out of the pockets of Ontario families and out of the pockets of small businesses in Ontario?

Hon. Rod Phillips: Mr. Speaker, through you, thank you to the member for his follow-up question.

What the NDP doesn’t appreciate is that the money for Mike is coming from 10,000 other Mikes, from 10,000 other Marthas, from Ontarians across the province who are tired of paying a tax to prop up a subsidy program and to prop up a carbon tax cap-and-trade program that is not working. So, with respect, we will stick with our October 31 deadline.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Sit down. Sit down.

Next question. The member for Mississauga–Streetsville.

Taxation

Mrs. Nina Tangri: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. First of all, I’d like to congratulate you on your election as Speaker of the House. Your vast experience, I think, will serve us very, very well.

My question is to the Minister of the Environment.

The election in Ontario made one thing crystal clear: Ontario voters have had enough. Voters in our province are stretched thin. They have paid their share. They are done. That is why they voted for us. They voted for us because we promised to scrap the Liberals’ cap-and-trade scheme. They voted for us because we promised to fight the federal government’s carbon tax.

Have you raised the issue of the carbon tax with the federal Minister of Environment?

Hon. Rod Phillips: Mr. Speaker, through you to the member for Mississauga–Streetsville, congratulations on your election and your time in this House. I know you’ll serve your constituents well.

This morning, I did meet with the federal Minister of Environment. Although we discussed a range of issues, some of which we found common ground on, unfortunately when it came to the idea of the Trudeau carbon tax, we found no common ground. We both acknowledged the importance and the critical nature of dealing with climate change, but we did not agree on the solution, and Ontario will not accept a carbon tax solution.

We have been given a very strong mandate from the voters of Ontario to repeal the cap-and-trade carbon tax program of the previous Liberal government. To proceed with that program, and frankly for the federal program to proceed, is disrespectful to the taxpayers of Ontario.

Families have done their part. They’ve been stretched enough. Our commitment to the people of Ontario is to do whatever we can do to bring this argument forward. That’s why Premier—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you.

Supplementary?

Mrs. Nina Tangri: Back to the Minister of the Environment: I am disappointed to hear about the response from the federal government—a decision that reeks of contempt for our electorate, who just a month ago gave a strong mandate to our government, who promised an end to cap-and-trade and carbon taxes.

Ontario’s economy has been hampered long enough. In recent years, under the former Liberal government, we saw trends that indicated some discretionary spending has been significantly compromised due to the added costs. Damaging policies like the carbon tax will only compound the problem, increasing the price of goods and making life more unaffordable. As we know, a carbon tax increases the price of everything. Ontario is being told one thing: It’s all pain, no gain.

How will our government stand up for the people against our federal counterparts and their regressive carbon tax?

Hon. Rod Phillips: Mr. Speaker, through you to the member: Again, an excellent question.

As I mentioned, Premier Ford today will be speaking with other Premiers. We’ve already seen a parade of provinces—Saskatchewan, Ontario, PEI—and that parade is only going to grow and grow. This is going to be quite a message that is going to be sent to the federal government.

I shared with the minister the fact that Ontarians had shown clearly, through the election of this government, through the election of these 76 members, that they rejected a carbon tax. I reminded Minister McKenna that just months ago, the Liberal Party of Ontario was reduced to seven seats in this Legislature based on their failed carbon tax policy.

Ontario has always been an industrious province. It’s a province where we want people to succeed. It’s a province where we care about the environment. We believe we can do those two things at once.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Sit down. Sit down.

The member for Windsor West.

Automotive industry

Mrs. Lisa Gretzky: My question is to the Acting Premier.

Auto and manufacturing jobs are integral to Windsor’s economy. Our entire community and many others like it depend on the health and growth of the sector, yet there was not one mention of the automotive sector in the PC plan. We don’t know what this government has planned for the industry, if anything at all.

What we do know is that the previous Conservative leaders have repeatedly shown that they would be happy to see the auto sector die, threatening to end all government investment. During the election, the Conservatives said they would cut the Jobs and Prosperity Fund, which provides millions of dollars of necessary investment in our auto sector.

Speaker, are the Conservatives still content to let the auto sector die? Or will they commit today to creating and implementing a comprehensive strategy to protect the industry, our local economy and the jobs that families depend on?

Hon. Christine Elliott: To the Minister of Finance.

Hon. Victor Fedeli: Certainly, we are committed to making life easier and making life more affordable.

Today Minister Wilson is in Washington, DC, where he’ll be vigorously advocating for the Canadian and American jobs that depend on our historic trading relationship with the United States. In fact, the US Department of Commerce will be holding a public hearing on the

section 232 national security investigation of imports of automobiles and automotive parts. Minister Wilson was invited to attend, and he is there today speaking on behalf of the people of Ontario.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary?

Mrs. Lisa Gretzky: Back to the Acting Premier: President Trump recently threatened new tariffs that would decimate the auto sector in Ontario. On Monday, the Minister of Economic Development said he is going to the United States this week to talk to officials about NAFTA. He claims he will defend our jobs. But we know that in the last three weeks, this government has operated almost exclusively by making backroom deals that favour their friends and lobbyists at the expense of workers and families. They’ve also just fired Ontario’s trade representative to Washington.

Mr. Speaker, with no commitment to an auto strategy, no plan for investment and no trade representative— something that the other side was just saying they’re proud of doing away with—how can Ontarians possibly trust that this government will stand up for our auto sector?

Hon. Victor Fedeli: Speaker, let me assure the people of Ontario that our number one priority is making Ontario open for business. That means creating and protecting jobs, supporting businesses and increasing trade so that the Ontario economy can grow and thrive. We stand shoulder to shoulder with the federal government on this issue. Jobs across our economy, workers and their families, entire communities are counting on us to defend Ontario’s interests and Canada’s interests.

From our side, it’s going to be a full-court press. Premier Ford is going to be meeting with governors. Minister Wilson is there today. We’re going to continue talking about the economic benefits of trade with Ontario. We’re also going to make Ontario open for business again.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Sit down. Sit down.

Next question. The member for Burlington.

Taxation

Ms. Jane McKenna: Mr. Speaker, first let me say that it fills my heart to see you sitting in that seat.

My question is to the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks. Today you met the federal minister. This is the same federal minister who wants to impose a regressive carbon tax on the people of Ontario. The federal government knows Ontario can’t afford that tax, but the Trudeau Liberals seem to be pushing ahead.

Can the minister tell us what he told the federal counterpart?

Hon. Rod Phillips: Again, congratulations to the member on her election.

I made it clear to Minister McKenna—I made it clear to the federal minister—that Ontario would not stand for a regressive Trudeau carbon tax. I made it clear that Ontario families are not prepared—and have made it clear through this election recently—to carry the burden of an inefficient, ineffective climate change strategy. That’s what I made clear.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary?

Ms. Jane McKenna: Back to the minister: Thank you for standing up for Ontarians. Thank you for telling the Trudeau Liberals that Ontario will never accept a carbon tax. We all know that this is a regressive tax. We know this makes life harder for Ontarians. Families have done their part. They are stretched thin. They have had enough.

Mr. Speaker, can the minister outline the steps we will take to stop the Trudeau carbon tax and what he told the federal minister?

Hon. Todd Smith: Finally, a McKenna that’s sensible.

Hon. Rod Phillips: As the House leader said, a McKenna that makes sense.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Sit down. Sit down.

Hon. Rod Phillips: Mr. Speaker, we were very clear, very clear. And listen, the minister has her point of view. But it’s not their way or the highway. The people of Ontario have spoken. This government has a clear plan and that plan is to get rid of the cap-and-trade program and that is what we will do.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): That completes the time we have for oral questions today.

Notice of dissatisfaction

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Pursuant to standing order 38(a), the member for Brampton North has given notice of his dissatisfaction with the answer to his question given by the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services concerning respect for charter rights. This matter will be debated today at 6 p.m.

This House is now in recess until 3 p.m. this afternoon—

Ms. Suze Morrison: Point of order.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Oh, sorry.

Visitors

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Point of order.

Ms. Suze Morrison: Thank you. I would like to take a moment to introduce to the House my mom, Sue Ruttan, who is up in the gallery today. Thank you for coming today.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Once again a point of order: the member for King–Vaughan.

Mr. Stephen Lecce: Just very briefly to acknowledge in the House Janet MacDougall, who is here and who is a great advocate for families with autism in the city of Toronto. Thank you so much, Janet, for joining us today.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Another point of order: the member for Davenport.

Ms. Marit Stiles: I just would like to take a moment, Mr. Speaker, to acknowledge the presence of my father, Geoffrey Stiles, an energy conservation expert, in this House today.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Point of order: the member for Timmins.

Mr. Gilles Bisson: I want to get into the spirit of the place and welcome Chris Watson, who is actually an advocate of workers with the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I think I’d like to take the opportunity to welcome everyone who hasn’t yet been introduced in the House today and remind the members, of course, that we have introduction of guests, according to the standing orders, at the start of the morning and at 3 o’clock as well. Thank you.

There being no deferred votes, this House stands in recess until 3 p.m. this afternoon.

The House recessed from 1141 to 1500.

Introduction of Visitors

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: Hi, everyo