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February 26, 2013

40th Parliament, 2nd Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcripts 2013-Feb-26 (PDF)

L005 - Tue 26 Feb 2013 / Mar 26 fév 2013

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Tuesday 26 February 2013 Mardi 26 février 2013

ORDERS OF THE DAY

THRONE SPEECH DEBATE

INTRODUCTION OF VISITORS

ORAL QUESTIONS

ONTARIO FARMERS

TEACHERS’ COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

YOUTH EMPLOYMENT

POWER PLANTS

TEACHERS

HOSPITAL FUNDING

RESEARCH AND INNOVATION

POWER PLANTS

CASINOS

WINTER HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE

POWER PLANTS

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

YOUTH EMPLOYMENT

POWER PLANTS

WINTER HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE

VISITOR

INTRODUCTION OF VISITORS

MEMBERS’ STATEMENTS

ROB DUCEY

GOVERNMENT SERVICES

CLAUDETTE BOYER

WIND TURBINES

BELL LET’S TALK DAY

PENSION PLANS

WINTER HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE

SCARBOROUGH WALK OF FAME

DRIVE CLEAN

PRIVATE MEMBERS’ PUBLIC BUSINESS

INTRODUCTION OF BILLS

AMBULANCE AMENDMENT ACT

(AIR AMBULANCES), 2013 /

LOI DE 2013 MODIFIANT

LA

LOI SUR LES AMBULANCES

(SERVICES D’AMBULANCE AÉRIENS)

JAYESH’S LAW (WORKER SAFETY

AT SERVICE STATIONS), 2013 /

LOI JAYESH DE 2013

SUR LA SÉCURITÉ DES TRAVAILLEURS

DANS LES STATIONS-SERVICE

ROYAL CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC ACT, 2013

STATEMENTS BY THE MINISTRY

AND RESPONSES

AIR AMBULANCE SERVICE

PETITIONS

AIR QUALITY

AIR-RAIL LINK

SPRINGWATER PROVINCIAL PARK

OFFICE OF THE OMBUDSMAN

FAMILY SAFETY

GASOLINE PRICES

DOG OWNERSHIP

HEALTH INSURANCE

WIND TURBINES

LANDFILL

WIND TURBINES

GASOLINE TAX

SOCIAL ASSISTANCE

OPPOSITION DAY

TEACHERS /

ENSEIGNANTS ET ENSEIGNANTES

The House met at 0900.

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

Prayers.

ORDERS OF THE DAY

THRONE SPEECH DEBATE

Resuming the debate adjourned on February 25, 2013, on the motion for an address in reply to the speech of His Honour the Lieutenant Governor at the opening of the session.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Further debate? Mr. Tabuns had the floor. Mr. Tabuns is not here, so therefore we entertain further debate.

The member from Oak Ridges–Markham.

Ms. Helena Jaczek: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It certainly is a pleasure to rise in this House and make a few remarks in relation to the speech from the throne entitled The Way Forward.

As everyone knows, last week the government opened the second session of the 40th Parliament with a new leader, Premier Kathleen Wynne. It was a historic moment when Kathleen Wynne became the first female Premier of Ontario, and I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate her.

Now, as we all know as representatives in our individual ridings, our most important duty as an elected representative is to represent the feelings, the aspirations, the hopes of our constituents. And over the last few months, I’ve certainly had the opportunity to have many, many conversations with the constituents in my riding of Oak Ridges–Markham. So I’m going to focus on the areas of the throne speech that particularly address their concerns.

As we’ve outlined in The Way Forward, we have a number of priority areas; first of all, a strong economy. Through fiscal responsibility, economic growth and increased employment, we will be strong economic stewards. We will take a balanced approach—I think that’s a word that we have used on this side of the House over the last several years, certainly since I’ve been here—in our approach. And so we will take a balanced approach to the budget and seek innovative ways to create new jobs and address youth employment.

Our government will work to coordinate services, through renewed partnerships, to ensure all individuals can participate in this economy, while reducing government spending and eliminating the deficit by 2017-18. I can assure the members of this House that this sense of fiscal responsibility is one that’s very much valued by the constituents in my riding of Oak Ridges–Markham.

Secondly, The Way Forward also includes a commitment to a fair society with a new sense of community, where individuals can prosper by being afforded important social supports such as expanded home care and mental health services—I’m focusing on those as a particular interest of mine. Investment in infrastructure and transit networks will provide important and necessary community links where municipalities and families play an important role in shaping their communities.

Perhaps most importantly of all, The Way Forward also includes references to an effective and accountable Legislature. With renewed co-operation, collaboration and respect, legislative partners can work together in this minority government to ensure the success and prosperity of Ontario. Though our views and backgrounds may differ, we have a common goal: a more prosperous Ontario.

This collaborative approach is one that I’ve heard over and over in my riding. There is no appetite for an election in the near future. The message from my constituents is, “Make this government work.” I know on this side of the House we have every intention of trying to do our

part in that regard.

As the member of provincial Parliament for the great riding of Oak Ridges–Markham, I’m optimistic that our government will deliver on what is important to my constituents. Our government’s successes to date and our Way Forward touch on the key issues that are important for Oak Ridges–Markham constituents. Improved transportation infrastructure is top of mind for all in my area of York region and in the 905. Investment in home care and aging at home is a key consideration as we face our aging society and the need to deliver appropriate care. Also, the whole area of mental health issues—ensuring that everyone can play their

part in the economy, that everyone finds their place. So I’m optimistic that, with our legislative partners, we can work together to achieve these goals, and I know that the people of my riding and the people of Ontario expect it of us.

In relation to improving transportation infrastructure, I think we should all acknowledge that a strong transportation infrastructure is the foundation of a strong economy; the movement of people and goods is fundamental to that goal. It has been one of our government’s key commitments, and continues to be in this new session. Our transportation strategy has been about moving the economy and connecting communities with improvements to the way transit is planned and funded.

As York region continues to experience rapid growth, many of my constituents in Oak Ridges–Markham have contacted me regarding the region’s transportation needs. They ask for better highways, interchanges, roads, bridges, as well as a modern, efficient and integrated public transit system that will help improve their travel time—whether it be between home and work, home and school—to reduce traffic congestion on our roads, the source of such frustration for so many of us causing gridlock, and, of course, to reduce our impact on the environment.

The air in Oak Ridges–Markham is certainly very clean and pleasant as one leaves the city and moves over the Oak Ridges moraine, and maintaining our environment is especially important in my riding.

We have seen many improvements over the years to our transportation infrastructure. Our government, since 2003, has committed more than $30 billion to Ontario’s infrastructure, and we have demonstrated our commitment to getting people out of cars and onto public transit by investing more than $16.1 billion in public transit, including more than $7.7 billion in GO Transit. Our government has delivered two cents per litre of provincial gas tax revenues to municipalities as a source of long-term sustainable funding for transit. York region has received more than $83 million in gas tax funding since 2003.

York region has also been provided with $620.4 million in provincial transit funding. The commitment to the vivaNext bus rapid transit is some $1.4 billion over 10 years, and anyone who has driven along what we still call Highway 7, or Yonge Street, in York region, or Davis Drive, will know that this is creating employment opportunities for many, many individuals as the construction goes forward.

Many of my constituents depend on GO train transit to commute to their jobs. I’m fortunate enough to have five GO train stations in my riding: Markham, Mount Joy, Stouffville, Lincolnville and King City. And we have the commitment from this government—in fact, when the Premier was Minister of Transportation, she came to Gormley in my riding in Richmond Hill to announce the extension of the Richmond Hill GO train line up to Gormley, and certainly I will be pushing for that extension to go all the way up to the Aurora side road. This will tremendously benefit residents in my riding.

We also have additional bus service between York region and Toronto, increased GO service on the Bradford, Barrie, Stouffville and Richmond Hill corridors, and one of the most popular improvements has been the addition of some 3,553 parking spaces at the five GO train stations in my riding. Trains are now 12 cars long. That is posing some problems in terms of extension of platforms, but we are committed to this continuous improvement in our transit services.

A summer project, which was weekend service on the Barrie GO line, was exceptionally popular with residents in King township in my riding, also at the north end of Richmond Hill. They availed themselves of that service and found it very convenient.

So our government truly has a vision to transform GO Transit from a commuter service to a regional transit service with the introduction of two-way all-day service on all seven rail lines. This, of course, was outlined in our policy the Big Move, and it is incorporated in the GO 2020 strategic service vision.

Our government recognizes that transit infrastructure is important to our future prosperity, and renews this commitment. This proved popular with York regional chair Bill Fisch. In fact, he has recently been quoted as saying, “The provincial throne speech demonstrates the Liberal government’s continued commitment to reducing traffic gridlock by accelerating transit and road infrastructure across the greater Toronto and Hamilton area.... This bodes well for York region and the future extension of the Yonge subway north to Richmond Hill.” It’s clear that our communities and all levels of government—municipal, regional, provincial and federal—need to be part of this conversation.

Now turning to a topic very close to my heart—and as parliamentary assistant to the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care I certainly intend to vigorously pursue these areas, and I was very pleased to hear that the New Democratic Party also has found in particular home care, aging at home, to be an important priority for them as well. I hope we’ll be able to work together effectively in this particular area. We have been investing in patient-centred care and evidence-based health policy that is strong and innovative. We all know that we’re living longer and the number of seniors living in Ontario is increasing.

Many of the constituents in my riding of Oak Ridges have, in fact, three generations living under one roof. So couples are often responsible for taking care of their children and their aging parents, and they are seeking services that will help their aging parents live healthy and independent lives. Ontario’s Action Plan for Health Care will support Ontario’s seniors who want to live independently at home by providing more home care supports. We are shifting resources into home care services so that seniors can stay at home longer.

We have, in fact, committed to increase investments in home care and community services by an average of 4% annually, or some $526 million by 2014-15.

Through the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, Ontario is also further improving quality, accountability and access to programs and services that benefit seniors, including these efforts to keep older adults active, healthy and engaged in their communities, by providing funding to elderly persons centres across Ontario. Perhaps that’s not the most attractive name; perhaps it needs a branding of some sort, but the intention is clear: to have a hub designated as an elderly persons centre where people can come together, enjoy social contact and access services as they need them.

We’re committed to reducing the number of alternate-level-of-care patients in hospitals, thereby helping decrease emergency room wait times.

We want to continue to strengthen mental health and addiction community supports, lower the price of most generic drugs and, of course, improve access to primary care through initiatives such as family health teams and nurse-practitioner-led clinics.

An example of a family health team in my riding is the Markham Family Health Team, and I’m very impressed by their numbers and their stats. They’ve now hired some 19 physicians and 14 additional health care professionals. They’re caring now for some 26,000 people, and of those, some 6,600 were previously unattached patients—in other words, people who had not had access to a primary care physician previously. So this is serving the residents in Markham extremely well.

Ontario’s Action Plan for Seniors is one of the ways Ontario is addressing the challenges and opportunities posed by its aging population, and it is a guide on how to help seniors in Ontario to be independent, active and maintain good health. The plan is focused on active aging, improved safety and security, and better access to high-quality health care in the community.

As part of the plan, we will be putting in place a number of new initiatives. One of these is called Health Links. Health Links is a program that will identify high-need seniors with complex conditions and then develop a personalized care plan to ensure that they and their care coordinators are properly connected to their primary care providers. I was extremely pleased to see that the Ontario Medical Review—which is the official publication of the Ontario Medical Association—in its February edition had as its feature

article a couple of pages dedicated to Health Links, in order that family physicians can better understand what the program is all about.

The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and the OMA have formed a joint committee to explore engagement of the OMA in the process and, on behalf of physicians, ways of advancing a meaningful collaboration. The joint committee provides a mechanism and forum for critical dialogue and meaningful feedback to the ministry. I think this is very important. As we know, we need to renew these conversations with our partners in the health care sector.

The Ontario Action Plan for Seniors builds upon a solid foundation of what has already been done. Of course, we will recall from the last session that we were able to pass the Healthy Homes Renovation Tax Credit with up to $1,500 annually, and home improvements like ramps and lifts made on or after October 1, 2011, are eligible for personal income tax returns, starting with the 2012 return. Hopefully, through the lengthy process of passing that simple bill, seniors were urged to maintain their receipts and keep them so they can avail themselves of this tax credit.

Of course, we did pass the Retirement Homes Act in 2010 to ensure that retirement homes were regulated for the first time in this province, to ensure that residents are protected from abuse and neglect and that there was appropriate staff training on abuse, things like fire prevention and safety—and whistle-blowing protections.

We’ve made some substantial progress, and I know our government is committed to continuing this kind of progress in particular for seniors.

Turning to mental health, again mentioned in the throne speech as a key priority, as a member of the Select Committee on Mental Health and Addictions, I think all of those of us who were involved in that thankfully nonpartisan committee had the opportunity to see the challenges that are with us when it comes to mental health issues. It’s imperative that we continue to expand access to mental health services and support, and reduce the stigma for people coping with mental illness. Efforts must be on preventing, identifying and treating mental health and addictions, given that mental health affects the lives of some one in five Ontarians.

Our comprehensive mental health and addictions strategy is committed to building a mental health system that delivers high-quality, timely services and supports to children, youth and families when they need them and as close to home as possible. It is a joint initiative, this strategy, of the Ministries of Children and Youth Services, Health and Long-Term Care, Education, and Training, Colleges and Universities.

The fundamental goal is, of course, to provide timely, high-quality, integrated, personally directed health care as well as other human services that are so important for those with mental health issues, such as housing, income support, employment and diversion from the justice system.

The first three years of our strategy have focused on children and youth, and an estimated 20,000 more children are already benefitting from the supports and services provided by 600 newly hired mental health workers in schools, communities and courts, who are providing quicker and easier access to the right mental health services and supports. In areas serviced by the Central LHIN, which covers my riding in York region and Simcoe county, some 72 mental health workers are helping children, young people and their families get quicker and easier access to the right mental health services and supports.

Investments for York region in children’s mental health have included funding for 15 agencies and some $46 million in fiscal funding for 2012-13.

The region of York has also received considerable funds—some $41.4 million for non-residential subsidies and $3.4 million for residential subsidies—to assist those in terms of finding a roof over their heads.

Our government will continue to expand mental health services, and we want especially to move more comprehensively into the adult population. The goal, clearly, is so that every Ontarian can achieve their full potential.

In conclusion, I look forward to the comments from the parties opposite in relation to our throne speech. I know that the residents in Oak Ridges–Markham are totally committed to having a minority government that works. They want us to work together. We have the opportunity with this new session to do that. We have the opportunity to work on the priorities that our residents express to us, and I feel confident that with goodwill on all sides, we will be able to achieve this goal.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Julia Munro): Comments and questions? The member for Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke.

Mr. John Yakabuski: Thank you, Madam Speaker. It’s nice to see you back in the chair.

This throne speech—it was said yesterday a couple of times how these things are very vague documents. This was vaguer than most. But the other thing that I really found very disappointing in this throne speech was the condescending way in which it spoke to the members of this Legislature.

When you look around this Legislature, many of the members here have been elected and re-elected, some re-elected more than once. To listen to the matronly advice that we’re receiving in this throne speech about how we should conduct ourselves as MPPs—what business is that in a throne speech? That’s again more of the kind of empty rhetoric that we’ve seen from this government when it comes to really tackling the problems of Ontario. Telling members how to behave—I don’t need any of your advice on how to deal with my people in Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke. I understand them, I know them; they know me. Most of you people have never been near the place. So when your Premier starts to tell us—

Hon. James J. Bradley: I’ve been there.

Mr. John Yakabuski: Yes, Jim Bradley’s been there, Bob Chiarelli’s been there. I worked well with Bob Chiarelli when he was minister—

Interjections.

Mr. John Yakabuski: Oh, a whirlwind tour through the riding—they know nothing about the people who I represent, and I am absolutely insulted that a Premier who takes her seat in here for the first time is going to start telling me how to conduct myself in my riding of Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke.

I have absolute faith in my colleagues on this side of the House, I have faith in the members who are elected as NDP and I have faith in the members who are elected as Liberals that they understand their ridings best and they will do what is best for the people who they’re elected to represent. We don’t need some kind of matronly advisory committee telling us how to behave ourselves in our ridings from the throne speech from this new Premier.

Shame on her. Let’s get to the business of buckling down and making Ontario a better place.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Julia Munro): The member for Bramalea–Gore–Malton.

Mr. Jagmeet Singh: The member for Oak Ridges–Markham made a number of good points, and I want to echo some of the sentiments of working together. I appreciate that.

I was particularly concerned by the member from Pembroke-Nipissing’s remarks using the word “matronly.” I don’t know what he was trying to suggest by that. I think that’s somewhat troubling. I don’t think there’s any problem with whether the advice comes from a woman or from a man. I think you should attack the advice, not the source of it—somewhat troubling.

But one of my concerns with the member from Oak Ridges–Markham’s remarks was that, while I agree wholeheartedly we need to invest in transit, one of the issues is that if we look at the past nine years, the track record of this government hasn’t been very reassuring when it comes to investments into transit. I think there could be a lot more done in this file, and there needs to be a lot more done.

There are many areas of the province which are lacking absolutely in infrastructure, particularly in affordable and efficient transit. I was just speaking with my colleague from Welland; Niagara to the peninsula is sorely lacking. The suburbs are sorely lacking in the GTA. That issue needs to be addressed. The fact that over these past nine years there hasn’t been a lot of movement is disturbing.

With home care and with alternative methods of delivery of health care, like community health centres—this is an opportunity for us to get ahead of spending. This is a way to be proactive. By investing in home care, by investing in other alternatives to health care delivery like community health centres, we can actually end up saving the province a lot of money by providing care up front so that people can stay in their homes, so people can access ready health care instead of relying on hospitals, which are already overburdened. This is a more efficient delivery of health care. Instead of seeing seniors being put into chronic care or long-term care, they can stay in their homes.

I think this is a way to be more proactive and I think this is the direction we need to head in.

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

Hon. John Milloy: It’s a pleasure to stand and congratulate my colleague from Oak Ridges–Markham on, I think, a very thoughtful speech that I listened to intently. The latter part of the speech focused on an issue of health care, which is, of course, very near and dear to her heart, not only because she’s an excellent representative of her community, where health care—like in so many communities—is a top priority, but she herself, as I think members know, is a very well respected physician and an expert in the field, particularly in the area of public health.

I think what was important in her speech, as she pointed out, was the vision in the speech from the throne of a true health care system, one where we see the connection between community-based care and its ability to keep people out of the more expensive acute care; to keep people in the community active longer, particularly in terms of seniors. She spoke with great eloquence about the outlined vision in the speech from the throne concerning home care and its important role in maintaining seniors’ quality of life and, as I say, their ability to continue to function in the community.

The other part of her speech that I wanted to remark upon was the first part about this whole issue of co-operation within the Legislature. I was reading this morning’s Waterloo Region Record, and there’s a letter to the editor I’d like to share here in closing. It says, “Ontario Progressive Conservative leader Tim Hudak is quoted as saying his party wants an election.” Well, this gentleman, Carl Kaufman of Waterloo, writes, “Why can’t the three major provincial leaders sit down at Tim Hortons and choose what is good for taxpayers and the economy instead of what is good for them?”

I think, Madam Speaker, that is a sentiment that I hear all the time. It’s time to make this Legislature work. When you think of the themes that are outlined in the speech from the throne in terms of health care, in terms of the economy, in terms of a whole variety of issues, there are no great partisan differences here. Why can’t we sit down and—

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

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: I do appreciate the opportunity to address the speech from the throne, and I’ll have an opportunity to speak at greater length in a few moments.

I would, however, like to say this: I think this government missed the mark with their throne speech. To listen to the government House leader talk about “Why can’t we all just get along?”—well, let me respond directly to him. Over the past year and a half, this side of the House, along with the New Democrats, has tried in vain to change the standing orders, to have an inquiry on a gas plant, and the single biggest obstacle to that progress was that House leader, who chose to be very difficult to negotiate with, and we know that. They set the tone after the last election.

Now, it would be different, I guess, if a new Premier came in with a whole new agenda and a new set of ideas. But unfortunately, given the fact that we have a former Liberal cabinet minister, a Liberal MPP who served with Dalton McGuinty, we have the same old ideas—nothing new to offer to the residents of Nepean–Carleton, to the province of Ontario’s residents. We don’t have very much to offer by way of anything different with this throne speech that this Liberal Party has put forward. That is, of course, from our perspective, why we shouldn’t support it: It’s more of the same.

We believe that Ontario needs bold new ideas. We need to get our province back on track. We need to reinvigorate our economy. That can’t be done with the tired old gang across the way. They may have changed who the Premier is at a party convention, but that does not give them any more credibility to continue to govern. I must say, Speaker, the only way we’re going to see change is by changing the team from this side of the House over to there.

Thank you very much, Speaker.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Julia Munro): The member for Oak Ridges–Markham has two minutes to respond.

Ms. Helena Jaczek: Thank you very much, Madam Speaker. I’d like to thank all the members for their comments.

In particular to the member for Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke, we trust that you know your riding inside out. I think what we would like to hear from the member, in fact, are some constructive comments.

Our throne speech is broad. It points to certain priorities. There is every opportunity for the two opposition parties to present very constructive comments in relation to the aspirations of the residents of their ridings. So I would earnestly hope that the member for Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke will in fact share some of those constructive ideas with us.

To the member from Bramalea–Gore–Malton, yes, we share ridings with some similar characteristics, and the priorities of transit and home care that are important to him of course are extremely important to us.

The government House leader has reiterated the position that so many of our constituents are telling us—that we do not need an election in the short term, in the near term; that they wish us to make this minority government work—and I think many of us are taking that very much to heart. I would certainly and earnestly hope that all members of this House will continue to do the best as they know how for their residents.

The member from Nepean–Carleton: I look forward to your comments. I didn’t hear too many in relation to the priorities as I outlined them, but clearly we always welcome your comments as well.

In

summary, Madam Speaker, this, I believe, is the way forward for Ontario. I believe it’s the way forward for my constituents, and I intend to do everything in my power to ensure that their needs are met. Thank you, Madam Speaker.

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

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: It is a tremendous honour, as always, to provide comment on either a throne speech or a budget, because it’s a unique opportunity by which you can bring the views and the values of your constituents to the floor of this assembly and feel unencumbered by just talking about specific legislation, but speak more about the hopes and dreams and aspirations of your constituents.

I’m also pleased to be splitting my time with my colleague from Dufferin–Caledon. She and I arrived at this place not exactly at the same time, but we have become great friends. I know that she will defend her constituents’ views, as I will today.

Speaker, when I first arrived at Queen’s Park in 2006—it was a March by-election—I had the opportunity to speak to the Ontario budget. It gave me, in my maiden speech, an ability to really get to know better the people that I represent, to talk to them, to consult with them. Of course I did that on the campaign trail, but once you’re an MPP you have that opportunity. I learned a lot about my constituents, and I’ve always kept that with me over the past seven years: what drives them, and what makes me tick on the floor of this assembly.

I must say, when I read in the throne speech one simple line, it encapsulated to me how disconnected this government is from the people whom I represent; that line was “A New Sense of Community.”

We don’t need lessons in Nepean–Carleton from a Liberal government on what a sense of community is. My community started with agrarian roots. People like Aubrey Moodie set the stage, and he became Nepean’s first founder. They settled the land that I represent as one of self-reliance, where people didn’t expect government to do what they could do themselves, and they wanted government to stay out of their way.

I represent, in Barrhaven and Riverside South and Findlay Creek, a lot of strong families, a growing population. There are requirements in our community that we need to keep up with the expanding population, but at the same time, we just need to be out of the way of moms and dads. One of the things that’s very important to my residents is safe streets, and that’s why I’ve been pleased to work with the Ottawa police and the Royal Ottawa Hospital, most recently, on dealing with the fentanyl abuse happening in my community, particularly in Manotick.

I worked with the member from Ottawa Centre, who is now the Minister of Labour, on making Ottawa a suicide-safer community. And last year, I actually brought to the floor a change that I expect to see in the legislation on a coroner’s inquest, because my friends Sheri and Pat Leighton lost their son Eric at school in a shop class.

I want to see some sensible coroners amendments to that act so that we can make sure that if this ever happens again, if a child dies on school property, another family will not have to come all the way from Barrhaven to Queen’s Park to demand an inquest, that that will be an automatic action.

So those are some of the things that I’ve worked on in the last year. That’s just a small part of some of the things that I’ve worked on in the last year, but I think it says to this assembly that my community doesn’t need a new sense of community; we already are a strong community. We know how our land was settled. We know who established a great, strong community, and we are thriving as a result of that.

These folks that I represent want to deal with and tackle the issues that affect them every day. They don’t need a Premier telling them that what they’ve been doing all along is wrong and they’re going to make a new sense of community, when that Premier doesn’t know our end of the province.

I look, for example, at a big issue that is important to my constituents in the rural part of Ottawa. The Minister of Agriculture is really important, and for this Premier to just assume she can tack it on—at the end of being Premier Wynne, she’ll also be Minister of Agriculture—then she forgot to put in “Food,” and now she’s the Minister of Agriculture and Food after a secret swearing-in service. Speaker, that, to me, sends an awful lot of disrespect to the people that I represent. It shows a lot of disconnect between the Liberal government at Queen’s Park and the people that I represent in Nepean–Carleton, the people of Osgoode, Vernon, North Gower and Kars and Burritts Rapids.

It’s very difficult for me to go to my community and express any level of comfort with this Liberal government, because the people that I represent are not happy with this Liberal government; they’re upset with this Liberal government. And then, to add insult, this Liberal government prorogued the assembly to shut my voice down, their representative voice that they expected at Queen’s Park. They shut that down for five months. They didn’t want our ability to ask questions of the government. This Liberal government didn’t want to have any questions asked, predominantly because they were embroiled in a major scandal.

Mr. John Yakabuski: Several.

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: Several scandals, as my colleague said.

And so the people that I represent, who value self-reliance, safer streets and strong families, the people I represent, whose community was built on agrarian roots and who are now experiencing explosive growth, expected that I would be here in this assembly to discuss the important issues of the day, and to them that’s the economy, the high prices of hydro, the scandals, but that side of the House prevented me from being able to do that for them.

I highlighted some of the issues that have been important to me that I’ve been able to work on: Ottawa’s Suicide Safer Community, calling for a coroner’s inquest and sensible changes to that act; and, of course, dealing with the drug abuse problems with some of our teens, some of whom have lost their lives. Those are really important issues to my community.

But this throne speech doesn’t reflect what’s important to my community. I therefore cannot support it, Speaker—I cannot support their throne speech. I do not have confidence in this government to do what is needed for my constituents, and the people of Nepean–Carleton fundamentally expected me, when they elected me, just like all of my colleagues expect when they were elected to this chamber, to be able to stand up in it, not have our voices shut down by a prorogued Parliament.

That is where this big disconnect widens and that gap between the government of Ontario—this Liberal government—and my constituents widens. They deserve a government that responds to their needs, not rewrites what the sense of a community is, that not only would defend agriculture, but understand that the food department needs to be part of it.

My constituents also expect that their government would be honest and truthful, but a pattern of behaviour has developed even in the mere week that this Premier has been leading this province. Her base instincts are to keep things secret.

Now, I’m going to give you a couple of examples before I cede the floor to my colleague from Dufferin–Caledon. Here’s the first one: On the gas plant documents, she didn’t want to come out and let us know that more existed. In fact, she stood in the chamber and said that we had everything we needed to know. Then the next day—whoopsie—her Minister of Energy found about 6,000 more documents. She wanted to keep it secret.

Number two: When Minister Wynne naively decided she wanted to be Minister of Agriculture, and split agriculture, rural affairs and food, she forgot to add “food” at the swearing-in.

Hon. James J. Bradley: She did not forget that.

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: She forgot that. Not only did she forget that; she had to have a secret swearing-in service that she wasn’t going to tell anybody about.

I’m also the education critic, and I won’t delve too deeply into that because I’ll have an opportunity to do that this afternoon, but recently, when she was meeting with labour leaders—she has been secretly negotiating behind closed doors. We don’t know what the deal is.

Those are three examples in seven days of a Premier who has now established herself as a secret-keeper, a person who is not prepared to be honest and open and truthful with the people of the province, and I have a real problem with that—

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Julia Munro): I ask the member to withdraw.

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: Thank you, Speaker.

I must say that is probably the most disappointing, that that would happen. So, Speaker—

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Julia Munro): Excuse me. I asked you to withdraw.

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: Sure, I withdraw. I thought I did.

I then appeal to this side of the assembly to start to think about the rest of this province, to start to think about good governance, because, heavens, we know for the past nine years we have not had that.

Thank you very much. It’s a real pleasure to be able to speak today.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Julia Munro): The member for Dufferin–Caledon.

Ms. Sylvia Jones: Thank you, Speaker. It’s an honour to rise this morning on behalf of the residents of Dufferin–Caledon to respond to the speech from the throne.

In the lead-up to the House’s return last week, I found myself getting asked the same question over and over back in Dufferin–Caledon. Time and time again, I would be asked the same thing, something to the effect of, “So what will the government do now that it’s not prorogued and things are up and running again at Queen’s Park?” Each time, I would remind people that in actuality, the government has been up and running each and every single day since prorogation.

I would remind them that the only thing former Premier McGuinty actually shut down on October 15 was the ability of the opposition to hold the government to account. In essence, the Legislature’s prorogation did not prevent the government from functioning. Quite the contrary, it simply spared it from functioning with oversight. If there’s one, single thing that has been proven time and time again, it’s that lack of oversight and the party opposite do not mix.

We’ve seen this most recently with the downright scandalous cancellation of two power plants at a cost of what is expected to be $1 billion, and all to save Liberal seats in the 2011 election. Speaker, it is the opposition that had to finally pull the Liberal government kicking and screaming into the light of accountability on these cancelled power plants.

When I’m out in the community in Dufferin–Caledon—like at the family skates I hosted in Bolton and Grand Valley—I consistently hear from local residents that they just cannot trust the Liberal government to get to the bottom of this scandal. You see, Dufferin–Caledon residents look at the facts, like how, with an election looming, the Liberal government pulled the plug on the Oakville power plant.

Then, in a desperate and shameful attempt at a majority government, the Liberal campaign team, co-chaired by Premier Wynne, made the call to cancel the Mississauga plant to salvage yet more Liberal seats, and only six days before the 2011 vote. Following the election, the Liberal government then added insult to injury and stonewalled the opposition, and Ontarians, for months on end about the final costs of their cynical electoral scheme.

Finally, in the face of all these scandals, and after being outright ordered to release all documents pertaining to the plants, the Liberal government then paraded its cabinet ministers out to this very chamber, one after another, to cry foul, vilify the opposition and adamantly swear that all the documents had been turned over. Yet, as we now know, this was not true, as there have now been two more documents dumps since that time.

You see, Speaker, Dufferin–Caledon residents look upon this continual fiasco in disgust because no respectable government would put its own electoral fortunes ahead of its sacred duty to safeguard the people’s tax dollars.

Among the many vague promises put forward in the throne speech was the notion that local populations will be more involved in projects in their communities. The speech from the throne argued that Ontario can benefit from things like industrial wind farms, “but only if we have willing hosts”—a direct quote from the speech from the throne.

Speaker, I have read countless petitions and letters, I’ve been to many meetings and I can tell you that none of the municipalities in Dufferin–Caledon that currently have industrial wind turbines feel that they were anything but forced upon them. Too often, community consultation is whatever wind power corporations and a handful of government bureaucrats say it is.

In Dufferin–Caledon, there’s the proposed phase 3 of the Grand Valley wind farms project, where the municipality has asked the company to stay outside of Grand Valley’s projected growth area. But the company didn’t listen, and it’s proposing tower locations within the growth area. Additionally, the company is proposing to build a transformer station directly across from a residential area.

We talk about Places to Grow and yet we have two government policies that are completely at odds against each other, and I can tell you which one is going to win: It’s the industrial wind turbines. Grand Valley Mayor John Oosterhof thinks that it’s unacceptable; Grand Valley town council thinks that it’s unacceptable. Would the Premier consider Grand Valley a “willing host,” I wonder?

Then there’s the case of the Dufferin Wind Power project, a massive proposal that proposes to run a 230-volt transmission line through Mulmur, Melancthon, Shelburne and Amaranth. Once again, an overwhelming majority of residents, and their duly elected representatives, are in unified opposition to this project. Are they “willing hosts”?

If the Premier truly believes in the “willing host” approach, she can first implement an immediate moratorium on wind turbines and, second, instruct her caucus to support Bill 2, which would return planning rights to municipalities, brought forward by my colleague from Simcoe–Grey. This would immediately prohibit these projects from being forced on the very unwilling host municipalities that are bearing the brunt of the Liberal government’s misguided energy experiments.

But alas, there are no such concrete directions in this throne speech, only vague promises and even fewer details. The trouble is, with little or no details on how any of the many new promises will be kept, the speech provided no real “way” at all. As for “forward,” well, Speaker, I can tell you that this speech may be proposing to move Ontario forward; it’s just in the totally wrong direction.

For almost 10 years now, the Liberal government has taken Ontario deeper and deeper into debt with its reckless overspending. No program was too expensive, no taxpayer too taxed, and all the while Ontario families were promised everything under the sun. Often, these promises were broken. Often, these programs failed. Yet the Liberal government still claims that if it could only spend a few more billion dollars, if it could only add another dozen programs to the hundreds of thousands we already have, then somehow our economy will turn around and our troubles will ease away.

In the throne speech, Premier Wynne and her government used the term “fair society.” But what is this society that they call fair? I wonder if the mother whose two-year-old child, through no fault of her own, currently owes over $15,000 as their portion of Ontario’s debt would call that a fair society. Would the senior on a fixed income, who, thanks to the skyrocketing energy rates and the HST on home heating, now has the choice of heat, hydro, and food—pick two. Is that a fair society?

You see, whenever a government places a higher priority on its priorities as opposed to the people’s, it’s doomed to failure and deserves it. Over the past 10 years, the Liberal government’s policies have let Ontario down time and time again, so instead of taking our province forward in the wrong direction, we are already heading there.

What Dufferin–Caledon families needed to hear last week was a throne speech that proposed bold changes in a totally new direction. This is why it is so disappointing to see Premier Wynne squander this rare opportunity for bold change and instead choose to entrench the McGuinty legacy that brought us to the worst jobs-and-debt crisis in our lifetime. It is under this legacy that we have seen Ontario’s energy rates soar from among the lowest in North America to the highest.

Recently, I visited a local steel manufacturer in Caledon with my colleague from Nipissing. We were there to discuss the effect of these crippling energy costs and what they have done to Ontario’s manufacturing. He relayed to us a number of investments he had made in his company’s infrastructure in an attempt to remain competitive while still affording the ever-increasing energy rates. After a lengthy discussion, my constituent sat back in his chair and concluded, “So in the end, I have no real control over my hydro bills because I have no real control over the changes the government has arbitrarily placed on my hydro bill.” That, Speaker, in one sentence, says it all.

The policies of this government signal to entrepreneurs and job creators that if you put in that extra effort, if you make that extra investment, there’s no guarantee in your return because the government increasingly reaps the reward of your efforts and investment.

Not so long ago, I got a call from a mayor in Dufferin county. He was calling to tell me a long-time manufacturing company in his town was going to announce they were closing shop. As part of the company’s North American restructuring, they decided the facility in my riding had operating costs that were just too high—no longer competitive. Ninety men and women went home that day without a job. Ninety families started the next day with one less income to support themselves.

I believe that there was a real opportunity last week, with the speech from the throne, to change that direction. We didn’t see it. As a result, I must not support this speech from the throne.

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

Ms. Catherine Fife: I think that when you look at the throne speech and you measure that and you weigh that against our responsibility in this Legislature—it is to listen and to learn from it, but also, people in this province want results and they want to see us working towards the common goals that we should all share, which are a strong education system, a strong health care system, an economy which actually meets the needs of people.

In particular, the home care mentioned has our attention. We have put out a five-day home care guarantee because that’s what people have told us—families across the province have said, “We cannot cope with our aging seniors without the proper infrastructure.”

I was knocking on doors last Friday just to get some feedback on our plan, and you would be amazed at the conditions that some seniors are living in in this province. We should be ashamed, actually. The supports are not there. These seniors need help with laundry. They need help with groceries. Nutrition is an issue. They certainly need help with cleaning. You have only to knock on one of those doors and have a conversation to know that their needs are very real.

The very people that will be helping seniors in our proposed plan are personal support workers. The government has created a personal-support-worker registry without any criteria around the quality of those people. This is an issue that I’d like to raise with the government. It’s an issue around quality; it’s an issue around substance. Certainly, as time marches on, we are going to need those human resources, those personal care workers, to follow through on a plan. It is people that make the difference. Personal support workers are a key component of that. We have to make sure that those resources are there to ensure that this plan works.

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

Hon. Bob Chiarelli: I want to comment on some of the comments that the two opposition speakers made with respect to the electricity sector. The Leader of the Opposition and the Tories announced in a white paper that the party would sell off Ontario Power Generation—OPG—and Hydro One. It’s interesting to see that the Ontario PCs are going back to their failed approach to energy. Their failed attempt to privatize the electricity system in the late 1990s led to a sudden price shock; in only a few months, the price increased by 30%. The last time they tried to privatize, Leader of the Opposition Mr.

Hudak’s top advisers were at the trough. Well-connected Tory insiders received nearly $6 million in untendered contracts from Hydro One. Tom Long, Hudak’s co-campaign manager, made off with $1.3 million in Hydro One contracts. The firm of the Leader of the Opposition’s other co-campaign manager received $250,000, which Mr. Hudak later called a—

Mr. John Yakabuski: Point of order.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Julia Munro): Point of order. Yes?

Mr. John Yakabuski: It is against the rules of the House to refer to another member by name and not their riding or their role. I would ask the Minister of Energy to refrain from that and for you to hold him out of order, Speaker.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Julia Munro): Thank you. Continue, but I would ask the member to respect that, the riding name instead of a personal name.

Hon. Bob Chiarelli: They referred to the management of the electricity system, and so am I; they’ve issued a white paper, and so am I, Madam Speaker.

There was a well-known quote which was made in 2003 by the member from Aurora: “Well, there’s one reason that we accumulated that debt”—which caused an increase in prices—“in this province under the hydro ledger, and that is that people in this province for years have not been paying the true cost”—

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Julia Munro): Thank you. The time has expired.

Hon. Bob Chiarelli: Madam Speaker, we had an interruption. It used about 20 seconds of my time.

Interjections.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Julia Munro): No. Further comments?

Mr. Victor Fedeli: Thank you very much, Speaker. I, too, would like to comment on the speech from the throne and the comments that we received. Certainly, I would have to begin by reminding everybody in this Legislature that, under our former Premier and our current Premier, we have seen that energy rates have doubled in the province of Ontario in the last nine years. Let’s make no mistake about that.

Specifically to the speech from the throne: I have agreed with the comments made by the member from Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke—where are you, John?—as well as our member from Nepean–Carleton. I was disturbed: In the 17 pages of the throne speech, I can read you the entire commitment to northern Ontario; it’s one half of one sentence. Let me read you the one half of one sentence: “It will address the special transportation needs of Ontario’s north and endeavour to improve vital access to the Ring of Fire,” and then it goes on to the United States, access to the United States.

Northern Ontario, under the Liberal government, has been under siege. First of all, their “special transportation needs of Ontario’s north” involve cancelling the Northlander and putting the Ontario Northland rail up for sale—something that our party says will never leave public hands. Ontario’s north is under siege. We saw nine parks close in northern Ontario. In northwestern Ontario, we saw tourism centres close.

Speaker, this government does not understand anything north of Vaughan, and certainly this throne speech is insulting to northern Ontario with that one half of one sentence.

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

Ms. Cindy Forster: Thank you to the members from Nepean–Carleton and Dufferin–Caledon for their comments.

I want to address my comments around the hydro rates issue that was bought up by the member from Dufferin–Caledon. I met yesterday, for most of the afternoon, with mayors in a number of municipalities from across this province, and hydro rates seem to be one of their huge concerns in their particular ridings. They told me that they can’t attract any new business to their municipalities or into their riding areas because of the hydro rates. Their existing businesses are struggling. They’re just kind of hanging on by a thread.

I know that in my own riding, we have a small steel mill that grew out of the closure of Slater Steel—a specialty steel company that has to operate during the night shift because the hydro rates during the day and evening shifts are too high for them to actually make any kind of a profit. If they happen to hit that peak hour, they actually have to close down their melts.

Not only businesses are struggling. We heard during the period of prorogation, as we visited communities across this province, about the struggle that individual families are having trying to keep heat in their homes. It’s been a particularly cold winter, and so they’re struggling as well. We need to make sure that people are being looked after with respect to their heating bills and with respect to being able to have a life that’s a little more affordable for them.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Julia Munro): The member for Dufferin–Caledon has two minutes to respond.

Ms. Sylvia Jones: Thank you, Speaker.

The reason I raised some of these examples from Dufferin–Caledon is that, unfortunately, they are echoed across Ontario. Some 600,000 people are unemployed, and job creators are buried under mountains of regulations, red tape and taxes. We must reduce these obstacles to economic growth by cutting the reckless overspending of this government and starting to spend within our means.

It’s clear that Dufferin–Caledon families cannot rely on this government to get Ontario out of the fiscal mess we are in, and that is unacceptable. It is unacceptable because every cent that we have to pay to service our massive, unsustainable debt is a cent that doesn’t get invested in the services Dufferin–Caledon families care about—services like world-class education and health care.

I will be voting against this throne speech because I believe, Tim Hudak believes and Dufferin–Caledon residents and Ontario believe that we deserve better, we can do better and we need to do better.

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

Mr. Rosario Marchese: It’s a pleasure to have this opportunity to speak on the throne speech. As I said yesterday in the couple of minutes that I had, the throne speech has a bit of everything for everyone: a little bit for the Tories, although they’re not happy because they’re not getting enough; a little bit for the NDP, and I’ll speak to the issues that the government might be co-operating with us on, but we’ll see; and a bit for the Liberals. It’s a budget for everyone. And when it’s a throne speech for everyone, my sense is that it’s a throne speech for no one. That’s the impression I get when throne speeches are not focused.

Contextually, it is a throne speech that is designed to be one that is fair for everyone, and the language that the Premier uses is that they want a fair society—which is impressive and it’s good. That expression usually is a social democratic one, and it’s nice to hear the Premier speaking in those terms. We’re hoping she in fact, in the budget, moves in that direction rather than just speaking in that direction. But we’ll see.

Historically, when you look at so many factors that speak to a fair society, I’ve got to tell you, the Liberals don’t have an impressive record.

Now, to be fair, on the issue of a fair society and the Liberal record, much of it was started by the impressive regime that was led by Monsieur Harris—

Mr. Jagmeet Singh: Who?

Mr. Rosario Marchese: Monsieur Harris. You probably forgot his name, I’m sure. You’re quite right. It’s a good idea to forget him, for many reasons. But the decline in Ontario started under his Conservative leadership and has continued impressively by the Liberals in the last 10 years. God bless.

Let me outline a couple of things to show you how you are in a pickle as you speak about a fair society, because Ontario faces the largest increase in income inequality in Canada. The widest income disparities, of the top 20%, of the bottom 20%, are in Ontario and British Columbia. These are the top two provinces in terms of income disparity in the country—nothing to be proud of. When you’ve got these tremendous gaps of people who earn a hell of a lot at the high end and people at the bottom earning little, that they’re struggling to survive in this fair society, you’ve got a little problem.

And it’s something that the Liberals have to face up to as part of the heritage that the Conservatives have laid the framework and the foundation for. So for people reflecting on coming back to a Conservative regime, I would look at them very carefully.

The poverty rate fell in five provinces in the last 20 or 25 years, but it has increased in the other five, and Ontario is at the high end of poverty rates. In fact, the poverty rate in 2009 was 13.1%, which speaks to about 1.6 million people being affected and facing poverty. That’s a whole lot of people in Ontario. When you talk about child poverty, that rate is 14.6%. One in seven are poor in Ontario. So the context is a fair society—that’s the direction the Premier wants to move in—and this is what we’re dealing with.

Liberals have aggravated an existing condition that had been begun by the Conservative regime before them. They have the worst record on affordable housing. There are 152,000 people waiting to get into affordable housing, assisted housing. And by the way, if you recall—because a lot of the younger Tories weren’t here, except perhaps some who might have been pages at the time—Mike Harris did not build one assisted public housing, and that regime has continued under a Liberal regime over the last 10 years. So we have the worst record in affordable housing in Canada.

Interjections.

Mr. Rosario Marchese: Speaker, don’t you mind the little comments that come by here. I don’t mind that. It doesn’t bother me one single bit. You just let them shout out. I think it’s good, and healthy in a democracy, in fact.

We have the poorest funding on public services in Canada, the poorest as it relates to health care, education, issues of justice, disability benefits. And by the way, user fees are increasing daily because we’re shifting responsibilities away from corporate and income tax to user fees. Who do you think user fees affect mostly? Well, many in the northern communities that so many of the Tories are speaking to today—user fees began under that Conservative regime and continue in a healthy way under the Liberals. God bless. The hospitals are funded less than anywhere else in Canada and they have the fewest hospital beds per person of any province.

Ms. Cindy Forster: And they want to cut them more.

Mr. Rosario Marchese: Well, they want to do some trade-offs. We’ll cut this, we’ll give here by offsetting it with cuts somewhere else. That’s what the Liberals will do, no doubt. They’ve begun doing it.

By the way, as it relates to a fair society, we have the highest tuition fees in the country—proudly number 10.

Hon. Michael Coteau: Even with the 30%?

Mr. Rosario Marchese: Yes. The young Liberal skipper there who just became a minister—

Mr. John Yakabuski: Rosie, you know what? I think if we just tax the corporations out of existence, we’d solve all of their problems.

Mr. Rosario Marchese: John, the Speaker is just going to shut you up in a second. You’ve got to be careful.

The highest—

Interjections.

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Julia Munro): Order. I would ask that the member make his remarks directed to the Chair and I would ask those to reduce the heckling so he’s able to do so.

Mr. Rosario Marchese: Thank you very much, Speaker, for taking my side. That was clearly an unbiased approach. Very good.

So we’ve got the highest tuition fees in the country, and the Liberals are proud to be number 10. Good for you.

The whole point of establishing and moving to a political direction of fairness—this is a good idea, because when I—

Mr. John Yakabuski: Talk about the deficit. You like deficits.

Mr. Rosario Marchese: John, sorry. If you keep going, the Speaker is really going to go after me. I can’t have that.

I wanted to put that out for you so that you have a sense of the challenges that you, as Liberals, face.

I’ve got to tell you, we New Democrats are trying to make it better. We worked at it in the last budget. We tried to co-operate as best as we could. We asked you, “Please include a 2% surtax on those who are earning over $500,000”—and I’ve got to tell you, the negotiations were tough. We understood that the former Premier didn’t want to do it and we understood that there were a lot of people, including the former finance minister, who, I hear, didn’t want to do it.

But I know there were a lot of Liberals who really liked our idea of a 2% surtax on those who are making over $500,000 because it was fair; it was fair. They finally caved in and said, “All right. We’ll blame it on the New Democrats so that we will not be seen as attacking the wealthy in Ontario.” But ultimately, they did.

Ms. Sylvia Jones: How much have you collected with that?

Mr. Rosario Marchese: How much? Well—

Interjection.

Mr. Rosario Marchese: Hold on, hold on. You’re asking me a question. You can’t keep talking when you’re asking a question.

Our studies indicated that we would be collecting $500 million; the government said $400 million. That’s a whole lot of money.

Now, if you close the tax loopholes, you’d probably get all of it, right? But you’ve got a whole lot of wealthy people, especially good Tories, who love not paying taxes, who love avoiding taxes. If they can avoid paying taxes, God bless, they’re number one. They’re right there.

Ms. Sylvia Jones: I’m happy to pay my taxes. I just want them to be spent properly.

Mr. Rosario Marchese: Absolutely. That’s why I outlined the whole list of problems that we’ve got to get to a just society. And you’re right: We’ve got to spend it properly; we can’t just give it away. And we’ve been giving it away to corporations for the last 20 years. We can’t just give it away.

Interjection.

Mr. Rosario Marchese: Wait, don’t we have—

The Acting Speaker (Mrs. Julia Munro): We have come very close to the time to recess.

Debate deemed adjourned.

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

The House recessed from 1014 to 1030.

INTRODUCTION OF VISITORS

Mr. Monte McNaughton: I’m really excited to introduce a good friend of mine and also a councillor from Dawn-Euphemia, Maureen McCutcheon. Thanks for coming to the Legislature.

Ms. Soo Wong: I’d like to welcome Lucy Zhao, who is the mother of page Angela Wang, a student at Terry Fox Public School and a resident of the riding of Scarborough–Agincourt.

Ms. Sylvia Jones: I think I’m going to beat the Attorney General to the punch, but I would like to introduce from Alberta the Minister of Justice and Solicitor General, the Honourable Jonathan Denis. Welcome.

Ms. Cheri DiNovo: I’m pleased to introduce yet again Susan Gapka, a trans activist, to the House. Welcome, Susan.

Hon. John Gerretsen: I too would like to welcome Alberta’s justice minister, the Honourable Jonathan Denis, in the Legislature today. We had a very, very productive and good meeting this morning, Speaker.

He’s also joined by two very important people that he relies on on a day-to-day basis: his chief of staff, Mathew Steppan; and his press secretary, Josh Stewart. Welcome to Queen’s Park to all of you.

Mr. Robert Bailey: I’d like to welcome to the Legislature today Mark Bain, our candidate from Kingston and the Islands in the next provincial election.

Mr. John Vanthof: I’d like to introduce two councillors from the municipality of French River here to visit us today: Mike Bigras and Mike Bouffard.

Mr. Jack MacLaren: I’d like to introduce Mrs. Connie Sellors. She is a former president of the Hamilton and District Pharmacists’ Association, and she is the mother of my executive assistant, Chris Sellors.

Hon. Reza Moridi: It’s my pleasure to introduce my good friend and the former MP Sarkis Assadourian.

Mr. Randy Pettapiece: I’d like to introduce the mother and father of page William Strathdee: Gloria and Al Strathdee; Andrea and Rachel Strathdee, his sisters; and Yasmin Velloso, who is an exchange student from Brazil. Welcome to the Legislature.

Mr. Jim McDonell: I’d like to welcome a number of people from my riding. We have Mayor Dennis Fife from North Stormont; Lianne Acres, a councillor in North Stormont; Joanne Haley, who is a planner in South Glengarry; Gerry Boyce, the deputy mayor of North Dundas, and his wife, Lorna; Eric Duncan, mayor of North Dundas and deputy warden for SD&G, who will be the youngest warden next year in the history of SD&G. Welcome to the Legislature.

Ms. Catherine Fife: Today I would like to recognize, with great sadness, the passing of Herb Epp, a former MPP from Kitchener–Waterloo. I had the chance to speak with Herb after the election in Kitchener–Waterloo, and he generously offered assistance and advice, and I thanked him for his dedication to public service. It was clear from our conversation how much he loved our community and how proud he was of Waterloo.

Herb Epp passed away at the age of 78 last night. A former MPP, three-term mayor of Waterloo, an alderman for Waterloo, Herb Epp was a dedicated public servant to the community of Kitchener–Waterloo and to the province of Ontario.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I thank the member and recognize that as a point of order. I have asked the Clerk to contact the House leaders to continue the discussion and the dialogue on how to bring honour to those members who have passed away, to agree on a process, and that will shortly be taking place, in order that they do receive their just recognition in this House. I thank the members for that.

Hon. Linda Jeffrey: I’d like to introduce Sarkis Assadourian, former federal member for Brampton Centre.

Mr. Peter Tabuns: Speaker, it’s my pleasure to welcome students from Holy Name school in my riding. It’s their first time in the Legislature. Be nice to them today.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I’m always nice to the guests; I’m just hoping that everyone else will be.

ORAL QUESTIONS

ONTARIO FARMERS

Mr. Ernie Hardeman: Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the part-time Minister of Agriculture and Food.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I’d like to be on record for asking for it.: Would the member please withdraw?

Mr. Ernie Hardeman: I withdraw.

I assume that now you’ve been briefed on the issues, although that wasn’t evident in the answering of questions at ROMA this week.

The CSA will no longer be certifying grain dryers for farmers. Are you aware that without this certification, at the busiest time of the year, they will not be able to harvest and dry their crops?

For months, your predecessor dragged his heels on this issue. Since I assume you were briefed on this matter, what is your government going to do about it?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I want to just say off the top that I am very committed to taking on the role of Minister of Agriculture and Food.

I am clear, I have been clear, that it is a focus of this government and it’s a priority of this government to make sure that the people in rural Ontario and the people who are involved in the agri-food industry understand how important it is that the agri-food business be thriving, that we put in place the supports that are necessary—a $34-billion manufacturing industry. That is an economic driver of the province, and I’m going to be working with the agri-food community, with the agricultural community, to make sure that they have the supports that they need.

I am going to answer the question in the supplementary. I will be very clear about that, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary.

Mr. Ernie Hardeman: Well, Premier, it’s obvious from that answer on the first one that you haven’t been briefed, or at least you don’t understand it.

Premier, in our survey, some agribusinesses reported that they require 20 licences, certificates and permits just to operate their business. This crushing burden on agribusiness is drowning them in red tape. The PC Party believes that to create jobs, many could be combined or eliminated. I’m sure that you were briefed on this matter, Premier. Can you give me some examples of those that you think could not be eliminated or could be used and combined to make it a better system?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: The member opposite knows that the current situation has arisen because, as he said, the CSA, the Canadian Standards Association, withdrew its national certification services and standards for grain dryers.

In fact, the provincial organization, the TSSA, has stepped in to fill the void, in an effort to ensure the public safety. Obviously, public safety is number one, so that’s why the TSSA has stepped in, Mr. Speaker. The ministry and TSSA understand that field approval is not a familiar process for farmers. They take their concerns about delays and costs seriously, and the TSSA is open to hearing from stakeholders. We are in the process of getting—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I would ask the member to withdraw that.

Mr. John Yakabuski: Withdraw.

She spreads it too.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I would ask the member to withdraw that too.

Mr. John Yakabuski: Withdraw.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Order, please. As I’ve told all members, I’m racing to the top, not the bottom.

Final supplementary.

Mr. Ernie Hardeman: I guess we’re going to have to put up with the answer to the question being the one from before, because it takes that long for the briefing notes to come in. I think it makes my case.

Premier, it’s clear that you were not briefed on these issues. You had to wait for the briefing here.

You claim that you are willing to work with the opposition. But more than two weeks ago, I wrote and asked for a meeting on agriculture issues, to have a meeting with you to discuss them. Your office hasn’t even bothered to call me to try and set up a time.

Premier, I have a large stack of emails from farmers who want a full-time Minister of Agriculture and Food. As a part-time Minister of Agriculture and Food, do you just not have enough time to do the job or don’t you want to work with us in the opposition?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: First of all, I want to apologize to the member opposite for not having been able to set up a meeting with you yet. It has been a very busy couple of weeks on this side of the House.

I have been meeting with agriculture stakeholders. I have been listening to the community. I have been paying very close attention to the concerns. You know, one of the issues that has been raised with me is about the Open for Business, and farmers making sure that we are paying attention to their concerns around regulation and making sure that we put the supports in place.

However, Mr. Speaker, I apologize. I would be very happy to meet with the member opposite. My staff, I know, are hearing this conversation and they’ll be getting back to the member to set up an opportunity for us to meet.

TEACHERS’ COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: Back to the Premier: When you forgot to swear in as Minister of Agriculture and Food, your basic instinct was a second swearing-in. Your basic instinct was to keep the power plant documents secret, and now we see you keeping secret your backroom deal with OSSTF. You have been Premier for less than two weeks, and already we have three examples of her keeping secrets from the people of Ontario—shameful.

Will you stand up today and tell Ontario taxpayers, parents and their students how much you’ve decided to hand over to the teachers’ union as part of a backroom deal that you’re not prepared to talk about? We want to know. Please, let us know.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: There is no new money. There is no new money as part of the conversations with the teacher leadership. I’ve been clear about that.

What I have said is that we need a new process going forward, and that is exactly what’s being talked about: How do we have a collective bargaining process in place that recognizes the role of the provincial government as the funder of the publicly funded education system, and how do we have a local process in place? None of the conversations at the table have anything to do with new money.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: This Premier is either incredibly naive or she thinks the people of this province are naive. No one believes you.

Look, the government says it wants to return things to the way it was. So this is what Ontario parents and students hear: that we’re either going to go back to strikes or you’re going to hand over more money to the unions. Which is it? We would like to know.

We already know that OSSTF is claiming victory for having the resignation of Dalton McGuinty; we know OSSTF is claiming victory for the NDP by-election win; and we know that OSSTF is taking claim and credit for the demotion of the former Minister of Education. What more are we going to find out in secret, leaked, confidential memos from OSSTF, or can you just tell us right here, in this chamber, with the media watching? The public’s eyes are on you, Premier. Why don’t you tell the truth?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: What this conversation is about is a grade 11 student who wants to play volleyball. It’s about a grade 10 student who wants to be part of an orchestra. It’s about a teacher or a member of the support staff who wants to coach track. It should not be about adults who are having problems having a good, respectful relationship.

What I want is that respectful relationship. I want that conversation, which is why, after I was selected leader, I reached out to the leadership of the federations and I said, “Let’s get back to the conversation. Let’s go back to having a respectful dialogue.” That’s what we’ve done.

It is almost as though the member opposite would rather have conflict. It’s almost as though the member opposite does not want any kind of respectful conversation with the employees of this province.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Lisa MacLeod: If the Premier wants to talk about volleyball, I’ll tell her, her serve didn’t clear the net.

It’s incredibly naive for her to tell Ontario families that there is no secret deal when we know that there is one. She’s had secret meetings with the union. They all of a sudden, after declaring victory on destroying her party, have now come out and given her $10,000, and we’re to expect that they’re getting nothing in return? That’s a joke.

Ontario students deserve better. This Premier is not interested in doing anything for Ontario students. We already know Ken Coran has said that many of his teachers will not go back to extracurriculars. We know it’s too early for you to be patting yourself on the back. We already know that some of these students are going out to get extracurricular activities.

So I ask you again: Are you prepared to come clean with Ontario families and tell us what’s in store? Is it more money? Are you stripping EQAO? Are you going to make sure that your union buddies get big payouts a couple of years from now? We want details, Premier, and I think you can give them to me.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Mr. Speaker, I’m not tall, but I’m right at the net, and that ball is going right back.

This is honestly about making sure that we have a good working relationship with the teachers and the support staff of this province—all of them. I’m here in this Legislature because I worked hard on publicly funded education in the late 1990s, when the relationship was in tatters. I believe that schools work better, that kids learn better when there’s a working relationship, a constructive relationship between government, school boards, the teachers and the support staff. That’s why I called the leadership and that’s why we’ve been having a respectful discussion.

There’s no more money; there is a conversation that is going to restore extracurriculars in the province.

Interjections.

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

I try my best to keep on time and to make things work as well as they do. These kinds of things do not help, nor does it help to try to tell me how to do my job.

The leader of the third party.

YOUTH EMPLOYMENT

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My question is for the Premier. In recent days, the Premier has talked about delivering change. But beyond promises, she’s actually dismissing some pretty good ideas. For example, the Premier dismissed the idea of an affordable public inquiry into the gas plant scandals. Will the Premier clarify now whether she’s also dismissing a real plan to get young people back to work?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Mr. Speaker, I apologize; I didn’t hear the last sentence in that remark—

Ms. Andrea Horwath: It’s about getting young people to work.

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: —so I will just answer the first part, which is that we’ve been very clear about getting the information that the committee asked for into the hands of the committee members.

Mr. Speaker, I just want to say to the leader of the third party that I am very interested in working with her on making sure that we put in place the supports that help young people get into work. I’ve said that the mismatch between the labour market and the labour force is of great concern to me and that we need a more systematic way to help young people get exposure to a whole range of occupations. That is one of the areas that I very much would like to work with her on.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Well, in a recent letter to Liberal donors, the Premier wrote that New Democrats would “rather [have] an inquiry than implement the recommendations of the Lankin-Sheikh report.” It’s unfortunate, because we’ve actually put forward a concrete proposal that will allow people to keep money as they transition to work. It’s a recommendation that comes directly from that report.

But we also want to get to the bottom of the gas plant scandal. Does the Premier really believe that these are mutually exclusive goals?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I really believe that the leader of the third party does want to work on implementing the Lankin-Sheikh report. It’s something that she and I have talked about and it’s something that I want to work on. What we can’t do—and I’ve been clear—is put $20 million to $25 million into a public inquiry. I’ve been very clear about that.

I want to work on the recommendations of the Lankin-Sheikh report. The issue around youth unemployment is a huge concern to me. In fact, in the jobs roundtables that I’ve already had, this is an issue that has come forward. I believe that labour, government and the private sector need to be working together to find ways to systemically allow young people to have opportunities to discover a whole range of occupations.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, with all due respect, what we can’t do is talk out of both sides of our mouth. The Premier has been making a lot of grand pronouncements, but Ontarians got a lot of that from the previous—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): That’s not a phrase that has been accepted in the House. I would ask the member to withdraw.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: I’ll withdraw, Speaker.

The Premier has been making a lot of grand pronouncements, but Ontarians got a lot of the same kinds of pronouncements from the last Liberal Premier in this Legislature. They need to know that promises are actually going to result in some real change, not endless conversation and not political blame games.

Will the Premier agree that creating jobs and getting people back to work are going to take a little less conversation and a little more action?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Actually, Mr. Speaker, it’s going to take both. It’s going to take conversation with all of the people who can be part of those solutions, and it’s going to take action.

I absolutely accept that we need to take action on that front, and that’s why the Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Employment is putting together a plan so that we can, as we move into the budget, have those pieces in place that will allow us, as I say, in a systemic way to work with labour, to work with the private sector, to work with the college and university sector, to work with our school boards—because there are things that we can do in collaboration with all of those groups to make sure that we have better access for young people into the job market.

I am absolutely ready and wanting to take action, but there does need to be a conversation so we make the right decisions.

POWER PLANTS

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My next question is to the Premier. Ontarians deserve answers about how much money was wasted on the gas plants and why that money isn’t available now to create jobs or invest in health care. Will the Premier agree to move this issue out of the Legislature by sending it to an open, transparent and affordable public inquiry so MPPs can get on with the business of putting families first?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Government House leader.

Hon. John Milloy: Again, in the interest of cross-party co-operation, I think the best answer to the leader of the NDP’s question comes from the MPP for Cambridge, who on January 30 said, “The cost of a public inquiry is excessive. We don’t believe that that’s necessary. We’re paid as individuals to represent our constituents and to hold the government, and that’s where we expect this hearing to take place, and we’re calling on the incoming Premier to call a legislative committee immediately.”

Mr. Speaker, I think it was put very well by the member. It’s too expensive. We have a committee of the Legislature which is seized with this issue, and we look forward, on this side of the House, to co-operating fully with its work.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Well, Speaker, the Conservative member from Cambridge really doesn’t interest me in terms of his opinion. New Democrats think we need to make sure that the public inquiry takes place so that we can get to the bottom of the gas plants scandal.

The Premier should know that getting to the bottom of that scandal is extremely important, and it’s not as simple as calling up the AG. His mandate does not allow him to look at who made the decisions to not let the information come out—in other words, who ordered the cover-up. It’s not that simple.

Talking about getting answers isn’t actually the same thing as getting the answers. Will the Premier agree that Ontarians deserve the answers and that they will be able to get those answers by calling an independent public inquiry?

Hon. John Milloy: Mr. Speaker, it’s a little strange that the leader of the New Democratic Party criticizes her friend the MPP for Cambridge when in fact she and the PCs came together to vote for a motion which, at its core, is vindictive against a former member of the Legislature, who is back in private life right now, and decided not to go down the route that we had proposed of having a select committee.

But again, Mr. Speaker, we will co-operate with the committee. We look forward to the answers that they will bring forward. We also look forward to hearing from the New Democratic Party about their opposition to the power plants. We look forward to them coming forward and tabling with the committee their policy analysis and their spending. Obviously, Mr. Speaker, since this seems to trump in their minds most other issues that are on the minds of Ontarians, we know that they did careful work before they opposed the power plants. We look forward to hearing about it from them at the committee.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, it’s very disappointing to see the vindictive misrepresentation of New Democrats’ positions when it comes to the power plants in this scandal—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): As I’ve indicated to you, I’m trying to race to the top, and I think that that expression to the member was inappropriate. Withdraw.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): “Misrepresentation.”

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I normally don’t respond to that, and I’m not going to, so stop. I have asked the member to withdraw.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: I did.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): I was too engaged with the other members’ heckling. Shall I hear it again?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: I withdraw, Speaker.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Carry on, please.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, it’s unfortunate that the Liberals aren’t doing their research in terms of the positions the New Democrats took when it came to the power plants. I invite both the Premier and her House leader to do so, so that they can be clear in this Legislature in terms of the history of this matter.

But I’m concerned that there’s a lot of talk about action instead of any real action being taken here. The Premier is letting this place become bogged down by Liberal scandals. Instead of getting to answers for Ontarians, the Premier keeps refusing our constructive solutions.

Will the Premier agree to send this issue to a transparent and affordable public inquiry so that Ontarians can get the answers they need and MPPs can focus—

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

Hon. John Milloy: Mr. Speaker, I’ll do some research right here on the floor of the House. Inside Halton, October 7, 2010, the member for Toronto Danforth: “I don’t agree with the Oakville power plant; I don’t think it’s necessary.”

The leader of the third party in this very Legislature, October 18, 2010: “New Democrats actually have thought for a long time that that plant should never have been built and we’ve said so.”

The member for Beaches–East York, December 2, 2010, in Hansard: “I’m glad that the people of Oakville came to their senses. I’m glad the people of Oakville hired Erin Brockovich and did all the things that they did in order to have this killed.”

Mr. Speaker, if the leader of the NDP is so opposed to the process that is being undertaken by the Legislature, why did she and her members stand in this place and go with the opposition on a mean-spirited, vindictive motion which is aimed at an honourable individual who is now a private citizen? Why won’t she answer that question?

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Member from Hamilton East–Stoney Creek, come to order, please.

New question.

TEACHERS

Mr. Rob E. Milligan: My question is to the Minister of Education. As a former teacher, I can appreciate the importance of extracurricular activities. They are instrumental in character-building and fostering leadership skills. This is why students and parents should not be used as pawns in labour negotiations.

I find it odd that when it comes to unions enforcing political action upon their members, they’re left with no choice but to toe the union line or face sanctions and fines. Yet when the union bosses tell the members to resume extracurricular activities, it’s considered voluntary and teachers can refuse. Once again, students are the ones who suffer.

Minister, you’ve chosen bigger donations over students. Will you stand up, put students first and support our motion to restore extracurricular activities immediately?

Interjections.

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

Minister of Education.

Hon. Liz Sandals: I think we have a different approach to working with our teachers. We believe that what we need to do is calmly and carefully rebuild the relationship. We believe that by working together, we can work with the people who are, after all, our front-line professionals. Speaker, that was something that the previous Harris government never understood: Teachers are not just union members. Teachers are the professionals in our schools who make our schools work. We know that they want to work with their students to help them succeed.

They want to do all those extra things in schools that make schools a positive, caring place. We expect that they will be coming back to extracurricular activities because we’re working together.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Rob E. Milligan: Parents, principals and teachers understand that some teachers are simply better than others when it comes to fostering learning. The PC Party demands that the best qualified teacher is considered for the job, not the teacher who has been in the union the longest. A recent Fraser Institute report concluded 30% of GTA schools scored below the provincial average. Hiring teachers based on seniority rather than merit does not result in the best people teaching our children.

Will you support the PC motion to remove regulation 274/12 so the most qualified teachers are teaching our students? Minister, ensure the best teachers are hired.

Hon. Liz Sandals: We actually agree with something that was said here. We want the teachers who are hired to be high quality and to be able to do work in the classroom. But we also need a fair and open and transparent hiring process. We want to ensure that when there’s an opening in a school, the job gets posted.

We want to ensure that as teachers move from the occasional list, where they might be doing one or two days, onto the long-term occasional list, where they might be doing a month or so, that in fact we’re looking at that experience, and that principals are evaluating that experience and that the people on our LTO lists are teachers who can deliver high quality. We think it’s only fair those teachers who have proven their records in long-term occasional practice have an opportunity to go—

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

New question? The member from Nickel Belt.

HOSPITAL FUNDING

M me France Gélinas: Ma question est pour la ministre de la Santé et des Soins de longue durée.

Yesterday, the Ontario Health Coalition was at Queen’s Park. They were sounding the alarm on the drastic hospital cuts occurring in Windsor, London, Niagara, Ottawa and dozens of other communities. These communities are facing deep cuts to hospital services and the care is not being replaced in the community. Can the minister explain why she said yesterday that these cuts are okay with her?

Hon. Deborah Matthews: As we discussed yesterday, the health care system is in transformation mode. We are moving services from hospitals to communities. We’re supporting more people at home, where they want to be. This does mean that the health care system has to change in order to support increased investments in the community sector, in the home care sector; things like home care but also things like day programs for people with Alzheimer’s, transportation programs and so on.

We did have to make some difficult decisions, Speaker. One of those decisions is we’re holding hospital base increases at zero per cent. That means every hospital in the province is making some tough decisions. The decisions, though, will protect patient care, and I think, if it’s better for patients, it should be better for all of us.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

M me France Gélinas: It seems like the minister is implying that the only way we can increase capacity in home care, in the community care sector: is by cutting hospital services and programs. Yet she seems to want to completely ignore proposals like ours, proposals like Don Drummond’s report, to find administrative savings in the LHINs, in the CCACs.

Will the minister please explain to those communities that are losing possible services and programs—explain to those health care workers who are being laid off—why she prefers to cut hospital services over administrative budgets?

Hon. Deborah Matthews: In fact, there is no hospital expenditure that has not been examined very, very carefully, and there are changes being made at all levels of hospital care. But Speaker, if we can support someone at home instead of keeping them unnecessarily in the hospital, that’s the right decision to make. I’m not alone when I support our transformation.

I have some quotes that I would love to share. Mary Egberts, president and CEO of Quinte Health Care, says: “It’s the right thing to do. This is going to be better for the patient…I have to commend the government.” Mark Rochon, when he was interim president of the Ontario Hospital Association, said, “The government has very clearly signalled that it has rejected harmful, across-the-board cuts to health care funding, and that it intends to move forward quickly and responsibly with implementing its action plan for health care.” These are the right decisions in our health care system—far, far preferable to the deep cuts that would result if the PC Party ever had their way.

RESEARCH AND INNOVATION

Mr. Kevin Daniel Flynn: I’ve got a question this morning for the Minister of Research and Innovation. Investing in research and innovation is important to the continued economic strength of our province. Ontario, we all know, has some of the world’s best entrepreneurs, researchers and innovators. It’s through our investments and research that our highly skilled workforce is able to take those innovative ideas and those discoveries right through to their commercialization stage.

Mr. Speaker, through you to the Minister of Research and Innovation, would the minister please let us know what is being done right now to support research and innovation in the province of Ontario?

Hon. Reza Moridi: I would like to thank the member from Oakville for his question. Research and innovation are key drivers in our economy, and our government understands that very well. That’s why we came out with the Ontario innovation agenda in the year 2008. The innovation agenda outlines our commitment to research and innovation and fostering the culture of research and innovation in the province of Ontario. Since the year 2003, we have invested $3.6 billion in research and innovation in this province. This is twice the money the Conservatives invested when they were in office.

Through these investments, we have created 30,000 new jobs, we have trained 10,000 researchers and we have established world-class research institutions such as the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research and the Ontario Brain Institute. That’s why our province has become one of the leading jurisdictions for research and innovation in the world.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary.

Mr. Kevin Daniel Flynn: These are all important achievements and it’s clear, I think, to most of us in this chamber that these investments have produced world-class research, they’ve helped grow our research and academic institutions, and of course they create jobs. We can see the tangible effects of these investments right around this building, near Queen’s Park, when we look at the MaRS building across the street. Down University Avenue, we’ve got some of the country’s leading hospitals. But we know these benefits aren’t contained just to Toronto, just to urban centres; they stretch all across this province.

Speaker, through you back to the Minister of Research and Innovation, would the minister highlight how our investments in research and innovation benefit the province of Ontario as a whole?

Hon. Reza Moridi: Thank you again for the question. Our investments in research and innovation are driving our knowledge-based economy. For example, let’s take a look at the ICT clusters around the GTA, Ottawa and Kitchener–Waterloo: These clusters are contributing $28 billion to our economy every year and employing 270,000 people. We can take a look at the life sciences cluster, which is employing 38,000 people and contributing $9.1 billion to our economy through over 1,000 companies.

Our private sector partners in Ontario have confidence in our province, and our commitment to research and innovation plays no small role in that area. We are committed to investing in research and development to grow our economy and create jobs in the province of Ontario.

POWER PLANTS

Mr. Victor Fedeli: My question is for the Premier. Speaker, I’d ask a page to send over to the Premier some of the cabinet documents, Project Vapour documents, from the Oakville gas plant. These documents date back to July and August of 2011.

Let me refresh your memory with some of the phrases from these documents: “Coming out of Project Vapour”; “Attached are the Vapour minutes”; “Just spoke to Livingston on Vapour”; “Vapour is interesting”; “Subject: re: Vapour”; and they go on and on. That’s a lot of cabinet discussion on Project Vapour back in 2011. Premier, will you acknowledge that you heard of Project Vapour in 2011?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: To the Minister of Energy, Mr. Speaker.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Halton, come to order. When I say “quiet,” I don’t want any rebuttal.

Minister of Energy?

Hon. Bob Chiarelli: Thank you for the question. First of all, I want to say that the critic for the opposition and I had a very nice meeting and discussion, and we look forward to working together, as we did with the NDP critic.

Thank you for the question. The member would know that this Legislature agreed to refer all the document issues to the justice committee. That committee, as I understand it, is going to start its deliberations.

The Premier has been open and forthright. She is willing to come to the committee. She’s willing to answer any questions, under oath, in as open and as transparent a way as possible. So I would say to the critic, next week you’ll have your opportunity to ask anybody from this side to go in and answer questions.

The documents that he is referring to, Mr. Speaker—

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

Mr. Victor Fedeli: Back to the Premier: On September 25, as I said yesterday, you stood in this House and said, “All of the documents that have been released are the documents that were available.” However, we now see that you and your cabinet saw these Project Vapour documents over a year earlier, and you knew there were no Project Vapour documents released when you stood up and proclaimed, “You have all the documents.”

Premier, your credibility is running on fumes. Set the record straight. Why did you tell us we had all the documents when you absolutely and irrefutably knew we did not have those documents?

Interjections.

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

Minister of Energy.

Hon. Bob Chiarelli: As everyone in this House will know, last week, I announced that there were some additional documents that came to my attention. On that day, I asked the chair and the president or CEO of the Ontario Power Authority to make themselves available in an open and transparent manner in the media studio. They had an hour to answer questions, and one of the questions went to the chair: “The opposition has accused the government today of a cover-up.

Would you say that it is an accurate assessment of what has happened here?” The chair of the OPA said, “We messed up some search terms, and we were trying to get them cleaned up. So I’m not sure what this has to do with the government. This is all about us. That’s my answer to you.”

CASINOS

Mr. Taras Natyshak: My question is to the Premier. The Premier has repeatedly said that she wants to create a new relationship and to start listening to the people of Ontario but, in reality, she’s not listening to communities like Hamilton, Kingston and Toronto when they say they want a chance to decide if they want casinos. Despite these concerns, the OLG is moving full steam ahead with privatizing gambling without giving communities an opportunity to have their own say.

Will the Premier start to really listen and do the right thing, which is to stop the privatization of the OLG and give Ontarians a choice and a chance to vote on whether they want casinos in their communities?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: I know that the Minister of Finance will want to comment on this, but I will just say, Mr. Speaker, I’ve been very clear that municipalities have the authority and the autonomy to decide whether they want to have casinos or not.

As a government, we will not be imposing those casinos on a municipality. It is up to the municipality to decide how it wants to consult with its constituency, with people of the jurisdiction. It’s up to them. They can have a referendum, they can do other consultation, but they are going to make the decision. The provincial government is not going to decide whether a casino is located in a particular municipality. That is up to the community.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Taras Natyshak: Premier, the OLG plan to privatize is having an adverse effect on people in urban and rural Ontario. The cancellation of the slots-at-racetracks partnership caused a 50% reduction in sales at last year’s yearling auction, which has crippled a once world-class breeding industry.

The transitional panel report stated in black and white that about 20,000 to 30,000 people work full-time in the horse racing industry, and many of these jobs will be lost.

Can the Premier tell us why she’s so determined to push casinos on communities that don’t want them and take jobs and investments away from communities that desperately need them?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: The premise of both these questions is wrong; both premises are wrong.

The first premise is that the province is going to force municipalities to take casinos. That’s just not true; we’re not doing that. The second premise is that—

Interjections.

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

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): It’s not helpful when a member from the party that’s asking the question is heckling while I’m trying to get quiet, and I actually stop the clock.

Now, before I move on, I do want to make a comment about that: First and foremost, I am doing my utmost—and as I said, I’m racing to the top—to bring decorum into the place, but it can’t be done unless you’re with me. I’m asking you: Please come with me.

When a question gets asked from the opposition, it tends to get relatively quiet, but as soon as the answer is given, we then end up with the shouting—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): And I don’t need anyone making editorial comments while I’m speaking either.

Premier?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: The second premise, that somehow we don’t want to have a sustainable horse racing industry, is also wrong. I’ve been very clear that the transition panel report is going to be the guideline for our changes in the horse racing industry. We have committed to a sustainable horse racing industry. It won’t be exactly the same horse racing industry, but we’re in negotiations with the racetracks right now. We want to have a sustainable industry. It will be changed, but it will be sustainable.

WINTER HIGHWAY MAINTENANCE

Mr. Steven Del Duca: My question today is for the Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation. We have had many winter storms already this year, and forecasts suggest that both in my riding and across the province there are more to come, including one, potentially, this evening and tomorrow.

I know that our government makes every effort to keep our roads safe. However, there are concerns in my riding of Vaughan that, in recent years, standards for snow removal have declined. Can the minister please update the House on our road maintenance standards?

Hon. Glen R. Murray: It’s my great pleasure to report to the House, as they may know, that Ontario has the safest roads in North America. When you actually look at our environment—Northern Ontario—and the challenges we have, that is really an extraordinary accomplishment, given that the more temperate climes to the south, which should naturally have safer roads, don’t. That is a testament to the incredible work of our municipalities, those that are at the Rural Ontario Municipal Association; the great work of the Ontario Good Roads Association; this government and, quite frankly, governments previously. We have shared this legacy of building excellent roads.

I know the member from Vaughan is working to ensure the 427 is extended and that the roads and highways to Vaughan meet the commercial and economic needs of his community, and we continue that tradition.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Steven Del Duca: I thank the minister for that important update. It is certainly good to know that Ontario does have the safest roads in North America and that our standards remain at the highest level.

Minister, I have certainly heard from my constituents in Vaughan that roads do seem to be closed more often in recent years when storms hit. Can you please inform the House as to the process for road closures and the role the government plays in assisting the police to keep our roads safe?

Hon. Glen R. Murray: We have maintained two things consistently. One, we have maintained the same standards of snow removal, and we have never politicized road closures. It is up to the Ontario Provincial Police to make those decisions, and I think we want to keep it that way.

Mr. Speaker, you suggested that we take a race to the top, not a race to the bottom. Right now I want to thank a few members of the opposition: the members for Perth–Wellington, Wellington–Halton Hills, Algoma–Manitoulin and Bruce–Grey–Owen Sound. The reason I want to thank them is because they have shown up with their municipal delegations at the Ontario Good Roads Association and they have set aside partisan politics to work with me as minister to continue road safety. I want to thank those members opposite, and I want to continue: that each member opposite will feel welcome in any delegations I am receiving.

It would be very helpful if they were there. Thank you very much to the members opposite.

POWER PLANTS

Mr. Michael Harris: My question is to the Premier. Premier, Ontarians have been shocked and disgusted to see that the Liberals will stop at nothing to shut down a proper investigation into the power plant scandal. In the first and most pathetic display, the Liberal government prorogued Parliament just one day before the finance committee was set to begin its investigation. Then, on just the second day of the new session, the Premier broke her promise to establish a select committee to examine all aspects of the gas plant cancellations. Speaker, within just moments of our announcement, the Premier rejected our calls for a judicial inquiry.

Premier, I have to ask, with this much stonewalling, why should Ontarians believe a word you say?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: To the government House leader, Mr. Speaker.

Hon. John Milloy: Mr. Speaker, we have a—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Yesterday I might not have been clear; I am now. To the two members who keep using that same term over and over again, it stops.

Hon. John Milloy: Mr. Speaker, we have a committee of this Legislature seized with this matter, based upon a motion that was brought forward by the member’s own party, in fact the member’s own colleague, who argued vehemently against the type of review that he’s calling for right now.

I think on this side of the House we’re all looking forward to hearing from the Progressive Conservatives about their opposition to the plant, about the work that they did in terms of policy analysis and costing. Again, I have the quotes: “We don’t support building it”—Tim Hudak, London Free Press. Here is a statement by Geoff Janoscik in a PC press release: “The only way to guarantee this power plant does not get built is to elect a Tim Hudak Ontario government. A Tim Hudak government will cancel this plant.” I have Twitter, Mr. Speaker—

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Michael Harris: Again to the Premier: After hearing answers like that, I think it’s quite clear that nobody believes this government is any different, not even the member for Kitchener Centre, whose only sense of renewal has been to flip from one page to the next in the McGuinty talking points manual. Ontarians are sick and tired of stall tactics and obstruction. They want a government that’s open, transparent and accountable, not a government that’s willing to throw its own members under the bus to keep Ontarians in the dark.

Premier, will you keep your promise and immediately establish a select committee to investigate your government’s billion-dollar gas plant scandal, or will you follow in the footsteps of your predecessor and sacrifice another one of your colleagues just to hide the truth from Ontarians?

Hon. John Milloy: Mr. Speaker, let me share a new one with you. We’ve got YouTube now. I hope members will tune in; it’s a wonderful clip. The Leader of the Opposition, the day before the election, is touring the Mississauga gas plant with the PC candidates and other adoring fans. He outlines how, if he’s elected as Premier, he’ll cancel it. Queen’s Park’s own Richard Brennan points to the site in YouTube and he says, “If you get in, is that done?” The Leader of the Opposition responds, “That’s right, done.” Mr. Brennan asks, “Done, done?” and then the Leader of the Opposition responds, to thunderous applause, “Done, done, done.”

Mr. Speaker, I suggest all members should review it. It’s YouTube. It’s called Hudak’s Power Plant Promise: Done done, available on YouTube to everyone in this Legislature, to show their opposition to the—

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

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: Speaker, my question is to the Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Employment. Communities like London continue to struggle with high unemployment, companies shutting down and economic uncertainty. When will the people of southwestern Ontario start to see the money from the Southwestern Ontario Development Fund make a difference in their communities?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: I’d like to thank the member opposite for this question. In fact, yesterday at ROMA, at the meetings, I had a number of meetings with delegations from southwestern Ontario. It’s remarkable just how much enthusiasm there is for this fund, which of course was proclaimed through passage in this Legislature and by the Lieutenant Governor just last October.

Even though it’s just been several months, this fund, we’ve invested $1.5 million so far, which in fact, importantly, has leveraged an additional $10.1 million in investments. It is early days, as applications are just coming in, but certainly we’re very confident that, as we’ve seen with the Eastern Ontario Development Fund and the success in leveraging literally hundreds of millions of dollars, the situation in southwestern Ontario will be identical.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Ms. Teresa J. Armstrong: Back to the Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Employment: The development fund received a lot of attention when it was announced, but here we are, merely two months into 2013, and the board that would actually approve grants from the fund still hasn’t been established.

When will the development fund corporation be established? When will people be appointed to the board?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Of course, my ministry officials are working diligently on this.

I wanted to mention one of the projects that has been funded already, despite that this is still early days for the fund. As I mentioned, it’s only been in existence for several months. We’re receiving quite a number of applications, of course, but we’re proud to say that Lambton Conveyor, which of course is in Lambton–Kent–Middlesex—the local business owners are very happy to see a new partner there which is funded through Lambton Conveyor. They are actually doubling the size of their manufacturing plant and doubling its workforce as well by hiring 110 new workers.

This is in Wallaceburg, in the heart of Lambton–Kent–Middlesex. I’m sure the member opposite will join me in expressing appreciation for this investment and for the hard work of the local officials.

YOUTH EMPLOYMENT

Mrs. Laura Albanese: My question is for the Minister of Economic Development, Trade and Employment. My riding of York South–Weston is home to a lot of young people who are struggling—struggling to find work, to get a job, to get experience; struggling to stay out of trouble in many cases; and struggling to develop their skills for better opportunities for their futures.

There has been plenty of coverage since the speech from the throne indicating that youth employment is one of our government’s priorities. Through you, Mr. Speaker, to the minister: What actions are we taking to ensure that young people across Ontario can find valuable work placements in co-ops and other opportunities that help them prepare for future careers? Can the minister please outline what actions we’ve taken already to address this issue?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Of course, my colleague is correct in indicating that this is a top priority for this government. It’s quite remarkable. We’ve had three jobs roundtables so far: one here in Toronto, I convened one with the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, and the Premier was in Ottawa last week as well with a jobs roundtable. It’s remarkable how much of the conversation was directed at our young people and employment opportunities, the importance of effectively addressing this issue, and also supporting our young entrepreneurs so that they can find opportunities.

We know that the youth unemployment rate is far too high here in Ontario—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): The member from Hamilton East–Stoney Creek, come to order.

Hon. Eric Hoskins: It’s also a situation in Canada and around the world. The unemployment rate is roughly double what the average unemployment rate is. But we’re doing a lot of work to address this already. Our summer jobs program has already helped to create more than 100,000 jobs for young people, including our Summer Company Program and Experiential Learning Program.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mrs. Laura Albanese: I’m encouraged by the fact that this is a priority for our government. I look forward to the opportunity to ensure that it stays on the agenda.

The minister made mention of some programs that are already in place for our youth living in Ontario to begin developing those skills and to make those connections that are needed to get that important job experience. Speaker, through you: Can the minister please provide some details on some of the programs that he just mentioned, such as the Summer Company and the Canadian Youth Business Foundation?

Hon. Eric Hoskins: Again, with youth unemployment, I’m confident that this is an issue that all parties are going to want to get behind. I’m actually quite excited that the NDP has been speaking quite vigorously about this issue, and I look forward to working with them and with the Progressive Conservatives as well.

Ontario’s Summer Company Program is actually in its 13th year and it provides young entrepreneurs with the chance to start their own business. It provides mentoring and up to $3,000 in support from the government.

The Experiential Learning Program that I referenced also works with our Ontario Centres of Excellence to help post-secondary institutions foster students with innovative ideas into creating new products and businesses.

Our partnership with the Canadian Youth Business Foundation will provide $4 million over just two years to help create nearly 2,000 jobs, Mr. Speaker, and 400 new businesses for young people.

We look forward to working with all the parties in this House, all sides, on how we can further improve the job market for our young people.

POWER PLANTS

Mr. Rod Jackson: My question is to the Premier. The McGuinty-Wynne government has produced the largest scandal in Ontario history. The campaign decision to cancel the gas plants to save two Liberal seats has cost the hard-working families of Ontario $1.3 billion, but it’s also cost your government its credibility. Political interference has obstructed access to thousands of cancellation documents resulting in no less than three document dumps. The OPA’s CEO claims that they didn’t have the searches right the first times.

This abuse of public office is further reflected in the Premier’s apparent lack of will to get to the bottom of this debacle. Premier, will you commit to calling for the select committee you promised this House and do it immediately?

Hon. Kathleen O. Wynne: To the government House leader, Mr. Speaker.

Hon. James J. Bradley: The Tories are all over the map on this.

Hon. John Milloy: Again, Mr. Speaker, as my friend the Minister of the Environment says, the Tories are all over the map on this. The fact of the matter is that they moved forward with the motion that was brought forward by the member from Cambridge, and they decided to go that route—a motion which quite frankly, particularly in light of the fact that the former Minister of Energy has now left public life, is nothing more than mean-spirited and vindictive.

That being said, Mr. Speaker, our side of the House will co-operate fully with the committee. The Premier has given her personal assurances about appearances before the committee. I think it’s about time that we let the committee start to undertake its work.

As I’ve said a number of times today, we are looking forward to hearing from the Conservatives about their plans to cancel the plants, about their costing, about their policy analysis on an issue which obviously they feel is top of the public’s agenda.

The Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Supplementary?

Mr. Rod Jackson: Speaker, I’m also a mediator and I know one thing: Mediators don’t punt their problems off to other people for resolution.

The question is for the Premier, not for the House leader. It’s getting to