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November 6, 2019

42nd Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2019-Nov-06 (PDF)

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Wednesday 6 November 2019 Mercredi 6 novembre 2019

Orders of the Day

Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act, 2019 / Loi de 2019 sur les services provinciaux visant le bien-être des animaux

Introduction of Visitors

Oral Questions

Water quality

Water quality

Treaties recognition

Interprovincial trade

Premier’s comments

Consumer protection

Northern Ontario development

Skilled trades

Crime prevention

Climate change

Protection of privacy

Student assistance

Equal opportunity

Horse racing industry

Ontario film and television industry

Order of business

Introduction of Visitors

Members’ Statements

Immigration francophone

Parasport

Treaties recognition

Veterans

Public transit

David Caplan

Eastern Ontario Local Food Conference

Automobile insurance

Salvation Army

Jour de l’indépendance de la Pologne / Polish Independence Day

Reports by Committees

Standing Committee on General Government

Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills

Introduction of Bills

Plan to Build Ontario Together Act, 2019 / Loi de 2019 sur le plan pour bâtir l’Ontario ensemble

Caribbean Heritage Month Act, 2019 / Loi de 2019 sur le Mois du patrimoine caribéen

1549408 Ontario Inc. Act, 2019

Statements by the Ministry and Responses

Economic outlook and fiscal review / Perspectives économiques et revue financière

Visitor

Petitions

Poet laureate

Government’s record

Public sector compensation

Fish and wildlife management

Veterans memorial

Addiction services

Public sector compensation

Food safety

Equal opportunity

Government’s record

Orders of the Day

Time allocation

Adjournment Debate

Anti-racism activities

The House met at 0900.

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

Prayers.

Orders of the Day

Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act, 2019 / Loi de 2019 sur les services provinciaux visant le bien-être des animaux

Ms. Jones moved second reading of the following bill:

Bill 136,

An Act to enact the Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act, 2019 and make consequential amendments with respect to animal protection / Projet de loi 136, Loi édictant la Loi de 2019 sur les services provinciaux visant le bien-être des animaux et apportant des modifications corrélatives concernant la protection des animaux.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I look to the minister to lead off the debate. Again, recognizing the Solicitor General.

Hon. Sylvia Jones: It’s a special day when, as a minister of the crown, you get to do a leadoff speech on a piece of legislation—and Bill 136 is such a legislation for me—affectionately known as PAWS within the ministry. I really want to do a shout-out to some of the many, many hard-working staff who have assisted in the drafting of Bill 136, the PAWS Act, of course, led by my ever-talented deputy minister on the public safety side, Mario Di Tommaso: Debbie Conrad, Adriana, Paula Milne, Steve Waldie, Connie, Ali—there are so many individuals who can claim ownership to Bill 136.

Speaker, we were put in a situation, end of January 2018, where there was a legislative court ruling that gave the Ontario Legislature a year to put together new animal welfare legislation. The court ruled that the current model of using the OSPCA, the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, as the enforcement partner in protecting animals in Ontario didn’t have the oversight that we needed. As a result, we have before us new legislation, being Bill 136. It is what I would call game-changing.

We are moving from a model where OSPCA inspectors are out in our communities and doing enforcement pieces—and don’t get me wrong, Speaker. The OSPCA will continue a very important role of doing adoptions and educating and prevention pieces, but, for the actual enforcement, the province of Ontario is going to take over that role.

This is not a decision that we took lightly. We consulted with a large number of organizations and individuals. We reached out to the public and asked for their assistance and feedback on what they wanted to see, and I’m sure it comes as no surprise to the individuals in this Legislature that the public spoke loudly and clearly that they wanted strong enforcement animal welfare legislation in the province of Ontario. I believe, with Bill 136, we have delivered that.

What we have now, moving forward, is an enforcement model that will be hiring Ontario public service employees. They will be trained consistently across the province, and they will be the face of animal welfare and animal enforcement in the province of Ontario.

We’ve done this for a number of reasons. I think that many of us have anecdotal stories within our communities and from across Ontario where there are egregious examples of animal abuse, and, for any number of reasons— perhaps because the investigation was not done in a proper and consistent manner, or either the crowns or the courts chose not to proceed with a court hearing, or, worse, it was just thrown out because the evidence wasn’t collected appropriately. By training our animal enforcement individuals, our animal enforcement workers, in a consistent manner, you will see, I hope, an expansion on both the charges laid and, equally important, convictions acquired.

The other piece that is included in Bill 136 is—we have the animal welfare officers, but we’re also going to do some additional training with the crown attorneys. To my previous point, we can lay all the charges we want, but if we’re not getting convictions and if they are not proceeding through the court system, then we have a problem. What we are suggesting with Bill 136, if passed, is we will additionally train crown attorneys so that they understand and they can appreciate what they need to look for when they are bringing forward animal abuse cases or animal welfare charges through our court system.

The other piece that we consulted with a great deal is our existing humane societies. We have a large and diverse province, and not all of Ontario is covered by OSPCA individuals, officers and volunteers. In some cases, primarily in northern Ontario, but certainly in very rural communities, it’s often the local police that are investigating and laying these charges.

So, inlaid in Bill 136 is that if the animal enforcement officers suspect or believe that there is a criminal overlay, they will call in those local officers, whether it’s the OPP or the local police. This is very different and separate from assuming that the police have all of the powers. What we are doing is saying, when it is specialized, when there is criminal activity suspected, we will call on, frankly, the individuals who have that expertise, and that’s the local police officers.

We’ve worked with the OPP and the municipal police services. So far, my understanding is they are comfortable with this model. It means that the investigative piece, again, is consistent. If we want to see success on charges being laid and, ultimately, convictions occurring, we are going to have to be very careful on how we investigate the issues and how they proceed through the court system. We have done that with Bill 136.

At the beginning of my leadoff, I spoke about what motivated this change: the court ruling that happened at the end of January. What happened very quickly after that was that the OSPCA made it very clear that they were no longer interested in the enforcement part of animal welfare in Ontario.

So we made a change very quickly—frankly, with the assistance of a number of local humane societies that said, “During the interim model, we will continue to provide the animal enforcement piece because we know it’s important for the protection of our animals in Ontario.” So, a huge thank you and shout-out to those particular humane societies that stepped up. There were approximately 11 in total. It really made a difference, because we didn’t have a very unfortunate situation where there were gaps where the legislation was still in place but we didn’t have animal enforcement officers on the ground.

That did not occur, largely because we had local humane societies and interim animal welfare officers who took on that role. So, to them, thank you, and a job well done.

The other piece that Bill 136 does, I believe very effectively, is that no matter where you are in Ontario, there is going to be a consistent number for you to call. That, of course, is 1-833-9-ANIMAL. We will keep that process in place. We will keep that number in place, because I think it’s important. We’re a transient society. We travel. We move from community to community. It’s important that we ensure that consistency, no matter where you are in Ontario. So that 1-833-9-ANIMAL toll-free number will continue, and I’m pleased to see that happen.

I would be remiss not to thank some of my colleagues from all sides of the House for their assistance in the drafting of this legislation. My parliamentary assistant and other members have held round tables in their communities and brought together local humane societies, veterinarians—experts in their field in their community—to provide us feedback. I know my very talented parliamentary assistant, member from Etobicoke–Lakeshore, is going to delve into a lot more of the details that we cover in Bill 136.

But I really want to thank her and the member from Northumberland, in particular, for hosting the round tables and for bringing forward ideas directly to us in the ministry, because it drove a very good conversation with the stakeholders.

Speaker, I’m sure it’s no surprise to you that there are a lot of stakeholders who are interested in this file. I think the current stat is that 60% of us own a pet of some kind. Many of us love to talk about them, and it’s important for the people of Ontario that we get this legislation right. I believe that we have struck an important balance of making a commitment, as a government, to putting in place the animal enforcement workers. We are clearly sharing with the public the process in which you can share your concerns if you see animal cruelty issues.

The other piece that is embedded in Bill 136, if passed, is an oversight piece. The courts in particular were very concerned that by having the OSPCA do the enforcement part of animal welfare in Ontario, the oversight piece was missing.

So, the primary goal was to ensure that if you have a concern, or if you believe that the animal enforcement officers have not done their due diligence, then there is a pathway for complaints and there is a system where not only you can complain, but you actually get the feedback on what the results of your complaint were, and the process and the pathway of ensuring that that complaint is duly dealt with. Again, that’s something that I’m very pleased that we were able to embed.

Another piece that we heard an awful lot about was what we call “hot dogs in cars.” In the summer, and even on sunny days, when you have a situation where you leave a dog unattended, even if the window is cracked in a small way, the inside temperature of that car can go up very, very quickly and put that dog or animal in danger. So one of the opportunities that we’ve taken with Bill 136 is that first responders can react quickly and take that animal out of harm’s way.

In practical terms, that means that a firefighter or a police officer can break a window to make sure that animal doesn’t perish while they’re waiting for someone to come to the scene, something that I think is long overdue and, frankly, very appropriate—some small things that I think send a very clear message.

Dogfighting is a terrible thing that unfortunately still occurs in some parts of Ontario. They train the animals. The dogfights can last from one to two hours, and often, at least one, if not both, animals are having to be put down after the fight. Going forward, if you are caught training or participating in dogfighting, we not only will take your dogs, of course, but we’re not going to return any of the equipment that you used to train those animals.

These are some of the pieces that were in the old animal welfare legislation that, for lack of a better term, we’ve cleaned up. We want to send a very clear message to individuals who choose to abuse their animals that if you are caught and when you are caught, you are going to be charged and you are going to face very steep fines.

As I said, my parliamentary assistant from Etobicoke–Lakeshore will get into more of the details. But those are some of the glaring omissions, if I may, that were not in the previous legislation, which I wanted to make sure we were able to bring forward with Bill 136.

To recap: We’re talking about more inspectors province-wide. By the time the model is fully in place, we expect that there will be 100 animal enforcement officers across Ontario. When needed, when there is suspicion of criminal overlays, we will call in the local police, the local OPP or police services to assist on the criminal investigation side. It leads to better province-wide coverage, a one-window complaint process and the toughest penalties for offenders across Canada.

It is not surprising to me—and I’m sure other members have seen it—that there is interest across Canada in what Ontario is doing with the proposed Bill 136, because I think there is an appreciation and understanding that we need to do a better job of ensuring that our animals are protected.

There will be specially trained officers who have unique training in certain areas—I would highlight aquariums, zoos and equine. We’ve leaned heavily on my friend and colleague the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs because of the animal husbandry piece, and we will continue to call on their expertise to ensure that standardized animal husbandry practices will be allowed to continue in the province of Ontario, to ensure that we get that piece right.

When we consistently train all of our animal enforcement officers in the same methods, I think that you will see a huge improvement in what is charged and what is investigated, because there will be an appreciation and understanding of what the expectations are.

Speaker, I could talk for a very long time about animal cruelty and Bill 136, because it is a file and a piece of legislation that we spent a lot of time on over the summer. If I may, I would really just like to thank again the individuals and the organizations that assisted in the drafting of the legislation. It is not limited to to but does include AMO, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario. There were many resolutions from municipalities across Ontario that participated in providing feedback on what they wanted to see.

The veterinarians, the humane societies, the OSPCA, the animal welfare rights organizations and individual members of the public—over 1,800 people individually called, emailed and shared their desires and their suggestions for input into Bill 136.

The increase of animal welfare abuses continues to rise. There’s a 116% increase on the penalties that we’re suggesting with Bill 136. I think we need to send a message, and the message is that we’re going to be ensuring the laws of Ontario are respected. We’re going to ensure that if you choose to have an animal in Ontario, you treat it appropriately and without undue harm.

It is amazing to me, the interest in this legislation and the interest from different segments and parts of the community.

We don’t talk about it very often, but if you speak to your local OSPCA, they will talk about the causal link between domestic violence and abusing animals. So one of the pieces that we need to be aware of is, if an individual is inclined to abuse a pet or an animal, they have a higher likelihood of also being a perpetrator of domestic violence and involved in domestic violence situations. If we can shut down those animal abuses sooner and very aggressively, then it is my hope that the other overlying impacts that could occur by someone willing to abuse an animal and then going on to participate in domestic violence situations will decrease—anything that we can do.

Again, I will give a shout-out to the OSPCA, because while the enforcement piece is no longer going to be their responsibility, there is, and continues to be, a very strong role they will continue to play in Ontario with the prevention. I know that in my own community they’re very active with summer camps, and they’re in the schools educating young people on what is appropriate protection of animals and how to look after your kitten, your puppy or your lizard. That role will continue, and it’s an important piece.

I in no way would want to suggest that the OSPCA will not still be active in the province of Ontario, because I believe that they will continue to play an important role, moving forward. It’s an important volunteer-led organization that I believe many of us have supported and encouraged in our own communities. This is one small piece that the Ontario government will take over under the purview of the Solicitor General, and the rest of the work of the OSPCA will continue in our communities.

The consultation involved over 50 groups and organizations, including technical experts, academia, the agricultural community, veterinarian experts, shelter organizations and advocacy. As I said, we received input from 155 municipalities and 45 police services, and received feedback from more than 1,600 members of the public, who responded thoughtfully to our ongoing survey. To their participation and to your participation, thank you. It was, as I said, an impressive level of engagement for an issue that we had to deal with and react to very quickly over the summer, so I thank them for that.

As I said, the member from Etobicoke–Lakeshore held a round table—a number of them, as I recall—in her community.

Many of us have brought forward private members’ bills on specific individual pieces that covered animal welfare situations in Ontario, and all of those were considered and part of our consultation on how we could bring forward a stronger animal welfare act.

The big gap to fill was the fact that the OSPCA signalled to us very clearly that they were no longer interested in doing the enforcement piece. So that involved an interim model, under the leadership of Paula Milne, an experienced OPP investigator. She stepped in as Ontario’s interim chief animal welfare inspector. It has proven to be, in the interim, a very effective model, and I want to expand upon what I believe has been, for lack of a better word, a successful pilot project.

The enforcement and the participation of the local humane societies has been very valuable for that first interim six months. I know that those partners will continue to provide feedback as we move forward, if this legislation passes, to the regulation stage and ultimately implementation.

It is our goal and it is our hope that, with the will of the Legislature, we can move forward on a new animal enforcement model starting in January 2020. I am hopeful that, because of much of the initial engagement that we have already begun, the regulatory piece will fall naturally, because we already have those conversations happening with those many stakeholders who are involved.

Finally, before I turn it over to the member from Etobicoke–Lakeshore, I would like to remind people today in the province of Ontario that if you see or if you suspect any animal welfare abuses, the 1-833-9-ANIMAL toll-free number is operational, and we will investigate those concerns.

Moving forward, it is my hope that we can have fulsome but quick debate on Bill 136 because the animals of Ontario can’t wait.

Now I will turn it over to the member from Etobicoke–Lakeshore.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): I turn to the member for Etobicoke–Lakeshore for continuance of debate.

Ms. Christine Hogarth: It is a pleasure to speak in support of the government’s proposed Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act, 2019.

Ontarians are passionate about the welfare of our animals, and you can count me as one of them. I know there are many people on both sides of the House who supported my private member’s bill when we brought it forward. As we say, pets have no political stripe, and we’re here to be the voice for them.

Over the past year, I have had the pleasure of meeting with numerous stakeholders in various ridings around this province. We’ve met with animal welfare experts, and we’ve talked to the public. I also had the opportunity to review the online survey. The data came in to the ministry, and I could not believe how many people got involved in that survey. It is absolutely fabulous—the people who spent their time and filled out that survey to talk about animal welfare, animal wellness. We’ve also met with municipalities. We spoke in detail with municipal councillors and mayors.

We’ve had police at most of the round tables we had, just to get their point of view on what this model should look like, and of course the public.

Even now, more than ever, I am convinced that what Ontario needs is a single, direct-control animal welfare enforcement model. This was heard loud and clear through the police, through the people, through consultations: a single, direct-control animal welfare enforcement model.

In April of this year, before I was appointed parliamentary assistant to the Solicitor General, I wrote to the minister to let her know that almost every person that I had spoken to had concerns about the enforcement of animal welfare laws, and everybody has a story to tell. If you talk to a constituent, they’ll have a story to tell about an animal in distress, an animal of concern, a pet—who are really part of our family. They tug at our heartstrings, and we have to make sure that these pets are protected. I get calls from my constituents—and I’m sure you all do in this House. We needed to do something better.

So I expressed my concerns to the minister about the safety and care of pets through a private member’s bill that I introduced earlier this year. I was very pleased, and I thank all the members of the House for giving it unanimous support on second reading.

I’m extremely proud to be highlighting the details of the proposed Bill 136 and how it will better protect the animals and build public trust in an animal welfare enforcement system. The previous animal welfare system, as we know, was broken. It was really broken. It was failing the very creatures—our pets—it was intended to protect. This government’s proposed Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act, 2019, sets out to fix what was broken.

Let’s be clear: It’s not about putting the old pieces of the OSPCA Act back together, but proposing a new animal welfare enforcement model, introducing tough new penalties against offenders and repeat offenders, and building public trust with a streamlined complaints process and a new oversight mechanism—pieces that were missing from the previous OSPCA Act.

Speaker, I would first like to address the legal question. As the honourable members will recall, in January of this year, a Superior Court justice struck down key provisions in the OSPCA Act. The ministry believes the proposed new animal welfare system should address the concerns of the court in relation to animal welfare enforcement for the following reasons:

Enforcement would be the responsibility of the province and no longer be conducted by a third party.

Inspectors would have the specific powers they need to carry out their duties, instead of broad, police-like powers that were provided under the OSPCA Act. Use of these powers would be supported by appropriate new training. Training was key when we talked to our stakeholders.

Inspectors would be subject to a robust oversight system, including freedom-of-information and privacy legislation, and a public complaints system.

Speaker, it all begins with a provincially supported chief animal welfare inspector. This position was previously appointed by the OSPCA, and as the honourable members will recall, the Solicitor General did appoint a provincial interim chief animal welfare inspector in June. Under the proposed Bill 136, the chief animal welfare inspector’s responsibilities will include:

—appointing animal welfare inspectors;

—ensuring the necessities of care of any animal that is in the chief animal welfare inspector’s care;

—ensuring inspectors receive appropriate training regarding their powers and duties. Inspectors will not be permitted to enforce unless they have completed prescribed training;

—handling complaints about animal welfare inspectors; and

—being able to reprimand, suspend, impose conditions on or revoke the appointment of an inspector who is found to have violated the code of conduct, and notify the complainant about the results of the complaint against the inspector. I know animal lovers out there will be happy with that piece.

The chief animal welfare inspector will also be subject to the same code-of-conduct compliance training requirements as an animal welfare inspector. The minister will review and address any complaints regarding the chief animal welfare inspector.

The government is proposing to maintain the provincial hotline we launched in June, which is 1-833-9-ANIMAL, the toll-free line for members of the public with a concern about the welfare of an animal to call at any time. The call centre will gather relevant information about alleged incidents where an animal may be in distress and then route the call to a provincially employed inspector or a local police service, who can enforce animal welfare laws across Ontario.

Under the new animal welfare enforcement model, the government will expand the number of provincial inspectors responsible for ensuring that animal welfare laws are enforced. This will result in better response times, better coverage across our province and less occupational stress and burnout.

These inspectors will be directly employed by the provincial government and will have appropriate, specific powers to immediately relieve animals’ distress, and inspect and follow up on owner compliance.

For inspection of certain businesses, including where animals are kept for exhibition or entertainment, an inspector will be able to enter the premises, other than a dwelling, without a warrant.

I would like to note that inspectors will only be able to enter a dwelling without a warrant under specific circumstances. For example, if the inspector has reasonable grounds to believe an animal requires immediate intervention in order to prevent serious injury or to preserve life, and where there is no time to secure a warrant to ensure those things, we want to make sure that those things don’t happen, so we want to make sure that they are able to go in if there is a distressful situation.

All inspectors will be able to free animals in critical distress from hot or cold vehicles. This is a long time coming, and we heard this over and over again. We talk about people who still leave their animals in a hot vehicle. We don’t know how to get the message across, but please, don’t leave your animals in a hot vehicle. But now inspectors will be able to free those animals and get them out of the car when they are not attended.

Just as a message out there: Please, don’t leave your animals in a hot car.

All inspectors will be trained on the use of all of the warrants that were described above.

In cases where an inspector is responding to a complaint or investigating a situation, the inspector is allowed to enter a premises without a warrant or without the owner’s consent.

They are allowed to make orders regarding the care of an animal for an owner to follow, such as supplying food and water and ensuring medical treatment—these are the basic necessities for an animal’s life—or to seize an animal that is in distress or trained to fight. It does still happen out there.

They are allowed to have an animal euthanized with the owner’s consent, or a veterinarian’s professional opinion, if it is determined that it is the most humane course of action to take. This is hard for anyone to have to face, but sometimes it is a necessity.

With respect to agriculture, zoos, aquariums and equine concerns, inspectors will have the expertise required to perform this work. In other cases, they can consult with a veterinarian if and when required.

Zoos and aquariums will continue to be subject to inspections to ensure compliance with animal welfare laws.

Finally, inspectors will have limited powers of arrest that can be used when they believe that somebody is committing a specific animal welfare offence, refuses to identify themselves and police aren’t available to conduct an arrest.

The proposed Bill 136 maintains prohibitions similar to the OSPCA Act, such as causing or permitting an animal to be in distress. This can take on many forms, including simple neglect—such as owners not giving pets adequate food or water, or leaving them outside for long periods of time during hot or freezing conditions—or training an animal to fight, or engaging in animal fighting. But it now includes encouraging, promoting, arranging, conducting, assisting in, receiving a financial or material benefit, or taking

part in the training or any meeting.

We have to make sure that these animals are protected. One of the other things that we see a lot is animals on display. We have to make sure that when they are on display, they are looked after, they are cared for. We still go to zoos, we still go to aquariums, but we have to make sure that those animals are in good shape and they’re looked after. That’s what one of the required duties of these inspectors will be.

Bill 136 also proposes new prohibitions. A person may not knowingly or recklessly cause an animal to be exposed to undue risk of distress.

There will be strengthened provisions related to harming an animal that works with peace officers, or service animals.

There are also proposed new prohibitions which are enabled in the legislation for future development, such as prohibiting the possession or breeding of specific animals. Members of this House are all concerned about exotic animals, and, Speaker, I share that concern. This proposed legislation will enable the development of future regulations that can prohibit certain animals or require a licence to possess or breed certain animals. Such future regulations would be developed after consultation with our partners.

If anybody has concerns about the mistreatment of an exotic animal, they should call 1-833-9-ANIMAL. Anybody across Ontario can call that number if they see an animal in distress.

When we talk about oversight, Mr. Speaker, it is essential that we build public trust in the animal welfare enforcement in Ontario. The government’s proposed legislation provides a foundation that we need to build that trust. If a public complaints process is too complicated or too difficult to navigate, the complainant will get frustrated and most likely they will give up. Nothing is served when complaints go unheard—least of all, confidence in any system. To protect the animals, there must be public confidence in the protectors, and I think that’s what is missing today.

The oversight framework proposed by this government is straightforward. The Solicitor General has already detailed the complaints process, and I would just like to reiterate: For the first time, the public will have access to a one-window complaints process to review an animal welfare inspector’s conduct, so there will be no more confusion about where to register a complaint. It will be a one-window approach. This is something that we heard over and over again, of where to go: “Who do I talk to?” It’s a open-window approach. So this is great news for our stakeholders.

For each complaint, a review will be conducted to determine if there is cause for investigation. Where a complaint is found to be valid, the chief animal welfare inspector or the Solicitor General may reprimand, suspend, impose conditions or revoke the appointment of an inspector who is found to have violated the code of conduct. We firmly believe that a clear oversight and one-window public complaints process is the best way to build public trust in the animal welfare system.

I would like to add, Mr. Speaker, that as Ontario public servants, the chief animal welfare inspector and provincial inspectors will also be subject to oversight by the Auditor General, the Ombudsman and the Information and Privacy Commissioner. This was not the case before, and this was not the case under the OSPCA. It goes quite a distance in making the government’s proposed animal welfare enforcement model even more transparent and accountable. That is what people want. They want to see transparency and accountability when they call, when they deal with the inspectors, and this is exactly what they’ve asked for.

I want to talk a little bit about the Animal Care Review Board. This proposed legislation also maintains the Animal Care Review Board, to continue its important oversight role as the body to appeal orders and seizures. The ACRB—everything needs an acronym in government—will continue to adjudicate an inspector’s order requiring an individual to take specific actions relating to an animal, such as a veterinarian’s visit; an inspector’s seizure of an animal; an individual’s request to revoke an order if the animal ceases to be in distress; or an individual’s request for an animal’s return if conditions that caused the animal to be in the inspector’s care cease to exist.

I really would like to talk about penalties. I am very proud that this legislation sets out the strongest penalties in Canada for offences. This includes higher penalties for subsequent offenders, and it distinguishes between individuals and corporations and includes new mandatory minimum fines for specific offences. I want to be very clear: This government is going to impose the strongest penalties in Canada for animal cruelty. These penalties are intended to deter future offences and take into account when highly erroneous offences are committed, such as causing distress or animal fighting.

We need to stop these from happening, we really do. And how do you get to that? How do you stop this from happening? Well, you give them a big fine. You give them a fine and make them stop. You know, we need to protect these animals and we need more enforcement, and I just want to applaud the Solicitor General for bringing forward this legislation.

These fines could actually be significant, and it also could be jail time of up to two years for individuals, and high fines for corporations. For minor offences, an individual can face a fine of up to $75,000 or six months in jail for the first offence. Repeat offenders would see a rise of up to $100,000 and up to a year in jail. For more serious infractions, a first offence can carry a fine of up to $130,000 and/or two years in jail, with the fines doubling for repeat offenders. In the future, we may be exploring, where appropriate, ticketing as an option to also address certain offences.

I want to assure the honourable members in this House that although the legislation proposes new maximums and mandatory minimum fines, they remain subject to a court’s discretion, including their discretion not to impose a mandatory fine in accordance with the Provincial Offences Act. This gives the judge or justice flexibility to consider mitigating factors. Ultimately, imposing higher penalties demonstrates that animal abuse will not be tolerated in Ontario and that the tougher penalties are supported by a stronger animal welfare enforcement model to bring abusers to justice.

Mr. Speaker, we need to look forward because the clock is ticking. The court set out January 1, 2020, as the date a new, more accountable animal welfare enforcement system must be in place. Our government—this government—is confident that with the support of everyone in this House, we can meet the January 1 deadline. But passing the proposed Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act, 2019, is just the first essential step. There is a lot of heavy lifting ahead.

Indeed, the made-in-Ontario model that has been proposed today includes built-in flexibility to respond to future challenges to protect the welfare of animals in Ontario. To inform the development of future long-term regulations, the government is proposing to set up a multidisciplinary advisory table made up of a wide range of experts including veterinarians, agriculture representatives, academics, animal advocates and others to provide ongoing advice to the ministry. And this is something that I talked about in my private member’s bill—putting together a table, a conversation, so we can continue to advocate on animals’ behalf—so I’m pleased to see it recognized in this bill.

Future regulations that can be developed under the new act will include updating standards of care, prohibited and restricted animals, and a licensing and registry regime to better manage known issues such as puppy mills or inappropriate ownership of exotic animals.

And of course, Mr. Speaker we want the public to participate, and we want to make sure that the voice of the public is heard. As Ontarians, we all care deeply about the welfare of animals. Emails and letters to the ministry concerning the care and well-being of animals constantly outpace the mail on other ministerial issues, and I am personally overwhelmed by the public’s response to the government’s online survey for Ontarians to share their thoughts on how we can improve animal protection in Ontario.

It’s my understanding that just over a third of the calls received by the call centre were requests for information on just how the province will handle this service in the future, so we’re here today to share that with them.

Mr. Speaker, I am really encouraged by this level of public engagement and I think the people of Ontario will be happy as well. I want to thank all those who participated in the consultations, in the survey, who wrote letters, sent emails and called our offices to make sure that we got this right. It means that they’re watching what we do in this House on this issue with great interest.

Mr. Speaker, it is clear from the months of consultation with the public and stakeholders that they want a single, clear, accountable animal welfare regime with the appropriate oversight and transparency, and they want professional and standardized training. They don’t only want improved coverage across this province; they want consistent enforcement wherever they live—if they live in Toronto, if they live in Timmins, if they live in Sarnia or Thunder Bay. The government-proposed Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act, 2019, checks all of those boxes.

More provincial animal inspectors will result in increased coverage, a decrease in response time and an expected decrease in repeat non-compliant offenders. It will deliver a reliable service with the flexibility to deploy additional resources where and when they’re needed, while maintaining coverage across the entire province. Tougher penalties, especially those for repeat offenders, will send a strong signal that cruelty to animals will no longer be tolerated.

The proposed legislation builds on the public trust with a clear oversight framework that includes a one-window public complaints process and public access to information.

Speaker, this proposed legislation is all about ensuring that Ontario animals are protected. Since the province took over the animal welfare enforcement regime in June, it has never been easier for the public to report

an act of cruelty to an animal than through the 1-833-9-ANIMAL hotline. This House has the opportunity to build on this with better response over a wider coverage area, with better training and greater accountability. It is what animal welfare stakeholders and the public have asked for, and it is what the members of this House must deliver.

When we started talking about animal welfare over a year ago—actually, even before I was elected—this was one thing that we wanted to look at, because animals are so important in our lives. Regardless of what type of animal it is—if it’s your dog or your cat—we have an obligation to look after those animals. We might personally consider them part of our family. I know that my two pets are part of my family. They’re rescue pets. We have to make sure that they are looked after.

My sister has three rescue dogs. One was a dog that was supposed to be sold for dogfighting. His name is Frankie.

I have to do a shout-out to all of the thousands and thousands of volunteers across our province who give of their time to protect these animals and find them homes when they are in these precarious situations.

Little Frankie is a bulldog, so he was trained—he was actually supposed to be shipped off to the US to be a fighting dog. I guess because someone got wind that this was happening, the owner decided to sell the dog to a rescue agency just so that he wouldn’t get in trouble. He’s the nicest dog in the world and terrified of everything. This dog now has a wonderful home. This is one good-news story, but there are so many animals out there that don’t end up in good homes after.

I have a hard time believing that animal fighting still happens, but it does, and we need to put a stop to that. I do believe that these higher fines will make a difference, and I do believe that this legislation looks at all of the things people have been asking for over the years: the one-window approach and more transparency and more accountability of, “When I call, will somebody come?”

These animals deserve us. They deserve our support, and I am so pleased to be part of this ministry that is bringing this legislation forward. I’m so proud that this government is making the strongest fines in Ontario.

I think this a lesson for other provinces. I hope they will watch what Ontario does and make their animal enforcement agencies have even more, higher fines, because how do you get back to these people? How do you stop somebody from having a puppy mill or having a fighting dog—which still boggles my mind that these things happen these days. It’s fines. You have to hit them in the pocketbook. We need to make sure that these people are fined, or get jail time if that’s what the courts decide. That’s in the courts’ hands.

This morning I was walking my dog. I’m lucky because I live close by, so I get to see my animals every day. My cat still hasn’t realized it’s daylight savings time, so she gets me up an hour earlier in the morning. You brush them off, and then you realize there are so many animals that are in distress out there. My two, Bruce and Edward, are lucky they have a warm home to live in, but there are lots of people out there that don’t care for their animals with the basic necessities of water, food, a warm home, and then, when it is hot, bring them inside.

We have to educate people. There is a role for our humane societies to continue to educate, and I think they do a wonderful job with educating the public. We have to continue that. If we can use our voices here as people in our communities, as leaders in our communities, to continue to educate the public on cruelty to animals, I think that’s an important step that we can all take.

I do believe that everybody here in the House does believe that animals deserve better than a lot of them get. I know there are a lot of dog owners here. I know in Humber Bay Shores, everybody seems to have a dog in that area. We want to make sure those animals are protected and safe. I hope that with this discussion today, we can get a good debate going and hopefully get unanimous support on this legislation, because it is time. It’s 2019. It is time that we protect these animals. They’re part of our families. They’re part of our homes. Animal cruelty still happens. There are still puppy mills out there. We need to stop those. There is dogfighting out there. We need to stop that.

People still sell animals online. When I did my private member’s bill, it was a lot about educating the public. As I said to those watching on TV, if you are buying a pet online, you should check what kind of breeder it comes from. There are many reputable breeders out there, and if you want to buy their dog, they will interview you. You should be interviewed. When I got my rescue dog, my husband was interviewed and I was interviewed. My husband was even interviewed. They called around and checked our references, and we were so lucky to actually have our little puppy. Well, he wasn’t a puppy; he was four.

He was a rescue dog. He was about four years old when we got him. That’s a reputable rescue place that checks you out to make sure that you are the right home for those animals.

I think that we need to educate everybody to make sure that when they do buy their pets, it is from a reputable breeder out there. There are lots of them. Or go to a humane society. Our humane societies do great work out there. I always support my humane society. We have a great event every year, Leashes by the Lake. We have great people and they just give of their time. As we all learn in these jobs, we have so many people that volunteer. A lot of people love their animals and love to volunteer to help out the animals.

I want to thank all the volunteers out there who help out our animals. I want to thank all of our rescue people out there who help rescue animals. And just a message to everybody to just look after your dogs and cats, and make sure that our animals are safe.

I just want to congratulate the Solicitor General for putting out a wonderful piece of legislation, and I hope we get support all across this House to ensure that we have the strongest penalties for animal cruelty in Ontario. Let’s get this done.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Questions and comments?

Ms. Judith Monteith-Farrell: I’m very happy to add to the debate on Bill 136, the Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act. When reviewing this act, I was happy to see an increase in inspectors. But as always, I want to bring forward the concerns of northwestern and northern Ontario. We are a vast geographic area. I was lobbied, under the old regime, by the humane society and the OSPCA about the lack of resources.

In northern Ontario, it’s many hours between communities. One inspector for the vast geographic area of northwestern Ontario is insufficient. In this legislation, “increased resources” means finance, and we want to ensure that there is actually the money to pay for the proper resources. We are happy to see that the regime is going to be in place and strengthened, but without the regulation and without the proper financing, that’s not going to happen.

I have to echo my colleague’s comments about the army of people in northern Ontario who do volunteer work in assisting animals, but that’s not enough. They are constantly strained for resources as well. Often, we’re frustrated because they were unable to get enforcement in situations where animals were in dire straits.

As a dog lover and a cat lover—I also have two rescue dogs—I am happy to see this legislation but really hope that we have the proper financing and resources to make it happen.

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

Ms. Jane McKenna: First, it’s a bit ironic today because the police association leaders are here, and I’m meeting—I’m just going to shout this out—Barry, Sarah, Peter and Jodi. The reason I’m saying that is I want to thank them for their hard work and their service. With Bill 136, obviously, you have a

part in that as well.

I want to, first of all, reach out to the MPP from Etobicoke–Lakeshore and the Solicitor General and thank them for their passion and compassion on this file. Thank you very, very much. It was wonderful listening to you both speak here today.

It is, sadly, shocking that in the 21st century, Speaker, these things still go on. Sadly, animals don’t have a voice, and sometimes, sadly enough, animals get into the hands of people that they shouldn’t be in.

I was thrilled when the Solicitor General brought this forward. My twin sister has been an advocate for rescuing many dogs. She had one called Dolores. It was on the street for many, many years, and when she got it from the humane society, I don’t think the dog—it was a big dog; it was a Lab, but I don’t think it weighed more than 40 pounds. It was a big journey to turn that dog around because it was surviving on the streets and defending its own life for a very, very long time. I’m always grateful to people like the MPP for Etobicoke–Lakeshore, for her sister and herself, for rescuing dogs and animals that need the help that they can get.

I was a bit overwhelmed when I was listening to the Solicitor General speak about dogfighting, and I’ll bring that up again. I just can’t believe that that goes on today. The fact that these enforcements are going to stop the cruelty to these animals—my gosh, a pet is a pet, and they all want to be loved and taken care of.

All my kids have animals. When I had all my kids at home, we had dogs—many, many dogs. My kids all have their dogs, and they love them like it’s their own child. They’re up on the beds. I babysit these dogs once in a while, and I kind of chuckle—but anyway, thanks, Speaker. I’ve gone over my time. I could go on forever about animals.

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

Mr. Taras Natyshak: I’m pleased to rise today on Bill 136. I commend the government for actually taking this on. There were obvious gaps in the legislation around the protection of animal welfare.

However, there are some concerns that we have as members of the opposition. With any type of legislation that requires enforcement, our questions remain around the resources that are put behind that enforcement. We have seen in this House, time and time again, with successive governments where they are strong in their wording; however, when it comes time to put the resources behind those measures of enforcement, they’re not there, essentially making the bills and the measures of law ineffective.

So we would urge the government to be clear about the resources, meaning money, that they are going to provide our communities and those who are providing the oversight and enforcement mechanisms of this bill, because ultimately, the welfare of our animals requires it.

We’ll continue to see gaps and incidents of people circumventing and hiding from what should be something that is the norm in society, where we take care of our animals and we understand the responsibility of being an animal owner and the penalties that come with it.

Speaker, the other thing is that it has been claimed by the government that this is the most stringent piece of legislation to ever come forward in terms of protection of animals. That also comes with the responsibility to protect those who deal with animals on a day-to-day basis. I’m talking about our farmers and those in rural areas who could be susceptible to some of these strong penalties if it’s not very clear in terms of what their needs are. So I would hope that the government strikes a clear balance on the enforcement but also on the protection side, and safeguarding people from possibly frivolous charges.

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

Mr. Sam Oosterhoff: It’s an honour to be able to stand, as well as my colleagues, and provide some remarks and response to the member for Etobicoke–Lakeshore’s and also the Solicitor General’s speeches this morning to Bill 136, the Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act.

As someone who was born and raised on a farm—I spent the first 20 years of my life on a 100-acre farm in the Niagara region where my father and most of my family members, including my aunts and uncles, run farms. My father was a pork producer for 25 years, a farrow-to-finish. He had a large operation with almost 1,000 pigs—100 sows—and of course animal husbandry is very near and dear to my heart. He transitioned out of that industry into another agricultural industry, poultry, but still of course takes great care of all the animals that are under his care.

I see this type of legislation as very important in that we reached out to the agricultural community as well in these conversations. Of course, when we think about protecting animals, it’s easy to think about cats and dogs and the standard ideas, but this also provides a lot of certainty and clarity around what the rules are for the agricultural community. I know the Ontario Federation of Agriculture was engaged in consultations around this, as well as the Christian Farmers Federation of Ontario. I’ve heard from farmers in my riding, as well as pet owners.

Many of them are the same; I know we always had dogs growing up. They are pleased to see that now there will be certainty around protection for animals.

Of course, every farmer wants to see that the bad actors in this space are being removed—those who, frankly, bring discredit and harm to the honourable profession of agriculture—and so I’m glad to see that we’re taking steps to be one of the strongest enforcers of animal welfare in the country of Canada, and the province of Ontario is taking the lead on that.

I want to thank the Solicitor General, as well as the member for Etobicoke–Lakeshore, for their leadership and for their contributions this morning.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Now I return to the member from Etobicoke–Lakeshore for her final comments.

Ms. Christine Hogarth: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. It’s never just final, right? Animals will always be a topic of conversation for me, absolutely. I just want to thank the members from Thunder Bay–Superior North, Burlington, Essex and Niagara West for sharing your thoughts on today’s discussion. We will continue this discussion.

We talked about the inspector piece, and I’m also thrilled that we are going to make sure we have the inspectors across this province, to make sure that those inspectors are trained properly to do their jobs. That’s something that we heard loud and clear in our consultations when we went across this province—that these inspectors must be trained—and there is a training component as part of this legislation.

We talked about the penalties being the strongest in Canada, and the enforcement of those penalties. These are all key items that are important to us as well.

I thank the member from Niagara West for mentioning about agriculture. We did engage the agricultural community. They were engaged in all of our round tables. When we sent out invitations for our round tables, we opened it up to anybody who wanted to have a conversation about the future welfare of our animals.

I’ll tell you that our farmers and our agriculture people—their animals are important to them, so we wanted to make sure that they fit into this bill as well. It is my understanding that they are happy with what we are proposing moving forward.

I once again want to just thank all those people out there that give of their time to help the animals in our communities. It doesn’t matter where you live—in a small town, a big town, a big city, in a rural community, in the north—people give of their time every day to help out these animals. If we can say anything, we need to continue to educate people against animal cruelty. As I said, let’s make sure we have the highest penalties in Canada and get this legislation passed. Thank you so very much for your time.

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

Mr. Kevin Yarde: I’d like to thank the speakers so far: the Solicitor General, and the MPPs from Etobicoke–Lakeshore, from Burlington, from Essex as well as from Thunder Bay. I do have a one-hour lead, but I think I’ve probably got five minutes—

Interjection.

Mr. Kevin Yarde: Thank you, Mr. Speaker—to talk about this bill.

First what I want to do—not to delve into it too much, because as I mentioned, I don’t have a lot of time this morning, but I want to talk about how we actually got here, why this bill has been brought forth.

The bill itself enacts the Provincial Animal Welfare Services Act, 2019, and what it does is repeal the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. Now, this bill, along with the OSPCA Amendment Act, are a response to a Superior Court ruling that found the OSPCA’s enforcement powers in animal cruelty investigations in Ontario to be unconstitutional. That’s why we’re here today. In early 2019, a Superior Court judge found that the previous animal welfare legislation violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms because it effectively deputized the OSPCA, which is a private not-for-profit organization, and deputized them into a policing role.

In the meanwhile, the Ontario government passed the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Amendment Act. This was the interim period which came in early 2019. This temporary measure was instituted to keep animals protected until a new framework could be established.

While the decision was being appealed, the OSPCA announced this year that it would no longer enforce the act, citing concerns over lack of support and the safety of its officers attending properties alone as part of its investigations. This is the main reason why we’re here today.

Then on June 28, the OSPCA stepped back after 100 years of animal welfare enforcement and the humane society took over a temporary role. Now we have what’s known as the PAWS Act. It aims to provide a new, updated and permanent framework for animal welfare enforcement in Ontario.

This interim animal protection model, which was launched in June, included the creation of a toll-free number available 24/7 to report animal welfare concerns. The number is available 24/7 for police as well, for advice and support from a provincial inspector. While the interim act simply allowed the appointment of a chief inspector for animal enforcement, its framework is more robust than it was before, and that’s something I commend the government on.

So the PAWS Act is a first step in seeking to implement a new provincial enforcement model, a more detailed oversight framework, a modernized legislative framework and a multidisciplinary advisory table. So it’s more open; there is more oversight than we had in the past.

I’m not sure how much more time I have—probably a couple of more minutes.

For too long, Mr. Speaker, animal advocates and stakeholders have demanded the need for change and for a revamped cruelty enforcement regime here in Ontario. For decades, animal welfare charities and their donors had been subsidizing this province. They have been the ones providing law enforcement—a public service—to investigate animal cruelty in a severely underfunded system. We talked about that as well, with the member from Essex saying that one of the main concerns is to make sure that this new model is funded.

Now, not once did I hear from the Solicitor General or from her colleague any dollar amount as to how much this is going to cost, how much they are going to put into this system. So that is one concern that we here in the NDP have.

Another concern is regulations. We have heard nothing about regulations. That seems to be the norm in terms of every bill they put forward: There are no regulations.

So these are some of the concerns that we have, Mr. Speaker. Of course, I will talk further and in greater detail tomorrow.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Thank you very much. When this bill comes back up for debate, you will be encouraged to continue with your debate.

Second reading debate deemed adjourned.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): It is now 10:15 and this House stands recessed until 10:30.

The House recessed from 1015 to 1030.

Introduction of Visitors

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Before I ask members to introduce their guests, I’m going to introduce a few of my guests. We have with us in the Speaker’s gallery today the award-winning Canadian author of seven national best sellers, and two-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour, Mr. Terry Fallis. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Applause.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I should say welcome back to Queen’s Park, and I should add that I’m inviting members and staff to join us at a reception in Mr. Fallis’s honour today in room 340 at noon. I hope you can all attend.

We also have in the House today a group of grade 9 students who are participating in the Legislative Assembly’s Take Our Kids to Work Day. Please join me in welcoming them as well.

Miss Monique Taylor: It gives me great pleasure daily to welcome back the autism parents: Stacy Kennedy, Kowthar Dore, Angela Brandt, Faith Munoz, Amy Moledzki and her son, Amanda Mooyer, Laura MacIntosh, Karen Bojti, Kaitlen Carrie McKenny and Micau van Speyk. Welcome back to Queen’s Park.

Hon. Todd Smith: I’d like to welcome two great members of my team at the Ministry of Children, Community and Social Services. It’s his first time at question period; Aaron Seres is here, along with Maailah Blackwood.

And three members of the Belleville Police Service are here as well today: Paul Fyke, Pat Comeau and Lindsay Elliot. Welcome to question period.

Mr. Chris Glover: It’s my pleasure to welcome to the House the members of OCUFA representing the following universities: Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Lakehead, Carleton, Trent, Queen’s, UOIT, University of Toronto, Ryerson, OCAD, York, McMaster, Brock, Waterloo, Wilfrid Laurier, Western and King’s. Welcome to the House. I encourage all my colleagues to meet with OCUFA members today while they’re in the Legislature.

Mr. Mike Schreiner: I’m a proud dad today, welcoming my daughter for take-your-child-to-work day. Beata Schreiner is in the gallery here and she joined me at committee this morning. Welcome to Queen’s Park, sweetie.

Mr. Robert Bailey: It’s a privilege to be back here. I’d like to introduce some guests of mine from Sarnia–Lambton on take-your-child-to-work day: Annabelle Rayson, one of our former pages up in the east members’ gallery, joined by her parents, Eric Rayson and Stephanie Lobsinger, in the other gallery. Thank you. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Paul Miller: Speaker, it’s my pleasure today to welcome Jeanette Whitelaw, commanding officer of the Navy League Cadet Corps 17 Cougar from Hamilton and Stoney Creek, here with 25 navy cadets, along with their parents and officer chaperones. Welcome.

Hon. Lisa MacLeod: It’s my pleasure today to welcome my daughter, Victoria Varner, here today. Victoria, as you know, learned to walk on the steps here at Queen’s Park and she had an opportunity to be a page here. Today I’m really excited that she’s joining many other children on take-your-child-to-work day.

I’d also like to welcome the Niagara Parks Commission police force here, who are a part of our ministry.

Mr. Terence Kernaghan: It gives me great pleasure to welcome John Ciriello, Tracy Smith-Carrier and Rahul Sapra from OCUFA. I look forward to meeting with you later today. Welcome to the people’s House.

Hon. Ernie Hardeman: I would like to introduce Sheena Switzer from 4-H Canada. Every November 4, members, leaders, alumni and supporters alike don 4-H colours to come together to spread awareness of the positive impact the 4-H program is making in Canada and abroad.

I invite members to join us on the staircase after question period for a photo commemorating today.

Ms. Judith Monteith-Farrell: I’d like to welcome Geoffrey Hudson, my friend from the Northern School of Medicine, here with OCUFA; and, also from Thunder Bay, Todd Pritoula, Sean Shorrock, Jason Rybak and Colin Woods from the Thunder Bay police association, representing the Police Association of Ontario.

Ms. Goldie Ghamari: It’s an honour today to once again welcome members from the Ottawa Police Association—president Matthew Skof and board members Pam Twinning, Dale Hayes and Barmak Anvari—and, from the great riding of Carleton, a constituent of mine, Jamie McGarry. Welcome to Queen’s Park. I’m looking forward to meeting with you.

I would also like to introduce my OLIP intern, Eric Osborne. Today is his first day and I’m really excited to have him as part of my team.

Mr. Randy Pettapiece: I’d like to introduce my granddaughter, Danica, her mother, Karen, and my significant other, Jane.

Ms. Peggy Sattler: I am delighted to welcome two constituents from London West who are here today. Keaton Landry is a second-year political science student at the University of Toronto who is volunteering in my office, and Tristan Joseph is here from London West for Eczema Action Day. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Joel Harden: Like my colleague from Carleton, I also want to welcome Matt Skof from the Ottawa Police Association, who is here today. It was a pleasure to meet with you this morning, Matt.

I also want to welcome Larry Cauliffe, Tristan Joseph and Felix Tang, who, as my colleague just mentioned, are here from the Eczema Society of Canada. It’s an important disability for us to understand.

Mr. Lorne Coe: I’d like to welcome the executive of the Durham Regional Police Association to Queen’s Park. Welcome.

Mr. Gurratan Singh: It is my pleasure to introduce members of the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects, who are here in the galleries, and of course our good friend Howard Brown.

Mr. Kaleed Rasheed: I would like to welcome my niece, Aleeza, as part of Take Our Kids to Work Day. Welcome to Queen’s Park, Aleeza.

Mr. Kevin Yarde: I’d like to introduce and welcome to Queen’s Park Bruce Chapman, the president of the Police Association of Ontario, as well as Stephen Reid, also of the Police Association of Ontario. And I would like to welcome all the officers who have joined us from across Ontario to meet with MPPs on their advocacy day. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Deepak Anand: I would also like to welcome my daughter, Suvidhi Anand, as part of Take Our Kids to Work Day. It’s good to have an extra staffer today.

Ms. Jennifer K. French: I am pleased to welcome, from the Durham Regional Police Association, president Colin Goodwin, Brad Durst, Jamie Bramma, Tim Morrison and Andrew Tummonds. Welcome to Queen’s Park for your advocacy day.

Mr. Will Bouma: I’d just like to welcome, from the Brantford Police Association, Mark Baxter, the president.

Ms. Suze Morrison: I’d like to welcome two new staff members in my office who have joined me this week. I’m proud to welcome Vanshika Dhawan as my legislative assistant, and Angela Butron Gutierrez, my new OLIP intern, who we’re very excited to have as well. Thank you and welcome.

Hon. Peter Bethlenfalvy: I’d like to welcome Mr. Mike Chopowick from the Ontario Waste Management Association, as well as his lovely daughter, Ceilidh, who is in the ninth grade and is joining her dad for Take Our Kids to Work Day. Mike and Ceilidh are from my constituency of Pickering–Uxbridge. I’m very pleased to have both of them here for question period. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: I’m really proud to welcome Geoff Hudson, a friend of mine from the great community of Thunder Bay Lakehead University, here with OCUFA today.

Mr. Stephen Crawford: I have three guests to announce today. I have my daughters, Monica and Michelle Crawford, former pages, for take-your-children-to-work day, and my new EA, Jad Haffer, as well. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Jim McDonell: I’d like to welcome, from the Cornwall Police Association, the president, Dave MacLean, VP Jeff Lalonde and the treasurer, Mylene Lacroix.

Hon. Paul Calandra: I would like to welcome Stephanie Landon from the Eczema Society of Canada.

Mrs. Belinda C. Karahalios: I’d like to welcome all those visiting from the Eczema Society of Canada, 17 people in total: Jennifer Aves; Jim and Kyle Bruner; Lawrence Cunliffe; Aaron Drucker; Jennifer Gerdts; Reema Gill; Jennifer Johnson; Tristan Joseph; Stephanie Landon; Michael Lanigan; Amanda Melville and her son, Nathan; Rick Roth; Alexandra Spence; Felix Tang; and Elizabeth Wagdin. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

Mr. Paul Miller: I’d like to welcome the members of the Hamilton regional police who are here to join with us today. Thank you for coming.

Hon. Sylvia Jones: Speaker, you may have heard that today is the Police Association of Ontario’s lobby day. I want to join members to welcome Bruce Chapman, the president; Stephen Reid, Mike Duffy, Sarah Coulter, Mark Baxter, Dave MacLean, Colin Woods, Pam Twining, Trevor Arnold and Tim Reparon, who are all board members; and of course all members of our police associations who have joined us today.

Ms. Andrea Khanjin: I want to welcome, for her first day, Marion Davies. She’s an OLIP intern with my office. It’s great to have her on the team.

I also wanted to welcome the members from Barrie Police and South Simcoe Police Service who are here today.

Mrs. Nina Tangri: I’d like to thank and welcome Eesha Gupta, who’s joining me for take-your-kid-to-work day. She eagerly wanted to come and join me today. Thank you for coming.

Hon. Merrilee Fullerton: I’m very pleased to welcome Lawrence Cunliffe to the Legislature. He is a great patient advocate in Kanata–Carleton. Welcome.

Mr. Jamie West: I want to welcome Geoffrey Hudson, as part of OCUFA, from the Northern Ontario School of Medicine.

Hon. Doug Downey: I’d like to welcome, from the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects, Jane Welsh, Aina Budrevics, Doris Chee, Tim Dobson and Shannon Baker.

Mr. Terence Kernaghan: I’d also like to welcome Paulo and Ozzie from the Police Association of Ontario from London. Thank you very much for the great meeting.

Ms. Christine Hogarth: It is my pleasure to introduce Gabriel Czyrski, who is from my riding of Etobicoke–Lakeshore. Welcome to our House. He’s here for take-your-kid-to work day. I hope you learn a lot and enjoy your time today in question period.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I want to acknowledge the patience of the Associate Minister of Children and Women’s Issues.

Hon. Jill Dunlop: Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I didn’t think you could maybe see down here this far.

Interjections.

Hon. Jill Dunlop: I know you can hear this far.

Hon. John Yakabuski: I can assure you he can. Shots fired.

Hon. Jill Dunlop: But he can hear this far.

I’d like to introduce a grade 9 student from Jean Vanier Catholic Secondary School in Milton, Sienna Scullion, and her father, Dion; also Jamie McMillan, who’s a cofounder of KickAss Careers; and Darryl Spector, president of Promation Nuclear and vice-chair of the board of directors of Skills Ontario. Thanks for being here today—and for your patience.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I may need new glasses. I’ll look into that next week.

The Premier.

Hon. Doug Ford: Mr. Speaker, two of our caucus members are celebrating their 30th birthdays: Stephen Crawford and Randy Pettapiece.

Applause.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I want to thank the indulgence of all the members, which has allowed us to introduce all the guests here today.

Also in the Speaker’s gallery are Peter Atkins and Amira Berberovic, who are here to see page Neil Atkins in action. Welcome to Queen’s Park today.

Oral Questions

Water quality

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My first question this morning is to the Premier.

Yesterday, Global News, the Toronto Star, Ryerson School of Journalism and others revealed the results of their investigation into contaminated water in our schools and daycares. The results are beyond disturbing. They reveal that over a two-year testing period, there were 646 instances of lead exceeding federal safety regulations in daycares across Ontario.

Will the Premier tell Ontarians exactly what he plans to do to bring that number down to zero?

Hon. Doug Ford: Minister of the Environment.

Hon. Jeff Yurek: Thank you very much for that question from the member opposite.

I want to again thank the journalists who did that study across the entire country, which showed that Ontario is a leader with regard to reporting and publicly displaying the results across the entire country.

Back in 2017, my ministry passed Ontario regulation 243/07, which requires all fountains and taps within our schools and daycares to be tested by 2020. We’re pretty close to coming up to completion of that task, in which we have an understanding of the test results within our schools.

If there is a non-compliance going on within our school system, the public school system must contact the board of education, they must contact the board of health, and they must contact the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks and come up with a plan in order to make those taps safe, whether it be shutting down those taps, bringing in bottled water or doing flushing. We follow the guidance of the medical officers of health within our regions to come up with those plans.

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

Ms. Andrea Horwath: In that long list that the minister railed off, I didn’t hear him say the word “parents” one single time.

The report reveals that parents of students in schools where dangerous levels of lead have been found have been kept in the dark. Information is not relayed directly to parents whose children are being exposed to toxic levels of lead every day.

Will the Premier commit today, then, to being proactive and transparent with parents in Ontario about lead in their children’s schools and daycares?

Hon. Jeff Yurek: Thanks again for that question. Although the data is available publicly, the member opposite is correct that parents aren’t directly notified of results.

Back in 2017, again, the Ministry of Education sent a letter to all school boards throughout the province that they should look at implementing ways to send those results to parents across the school systems, if there are bad test results. Some have complied; some have not.

I’m currently speaking with the Minister of Education, who is sitting beside me here, to look to how we can remedy that situation going forward. We know we can do much better.

Ontario is a leader, Mr. Speaker, with regard to reporting and testing of the water systems within our province. We will maintain to be a leader. We will do better. We will do more. I look forward to our conversation with the Ministry of Education to rectify that situation across the province.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The final supplementary?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Well, Speaker, yesterday’s report on water quality in Ontario schools highlights the multi-billion-dollar backlog in school repairs. Yesterday, in government estimates hearings, the Minister of Education was forced to admit that the backlog has gone from bad to worse under the Ford government. The repair backlog was $15.9 billion under the Liberals, and now it stands at $16.3 billion. That’s hardly surprising since one of the first things this Premier did in office was cut $100 million from school repair budgets.

Will the Premier reverse his cuts and immediately fund the necessary school repairs to get the lead out of our children’s water?

Hon. Jeff Yurek: Minister of Education.

Hon. Stephen Lecce: Mr. Speaker, what we affirmed at the committee yesterday, and for all families to hear in the province today, is that this government is allocating $13 billion over the next decade to improve schools in every region of the province of Ontario.

What I also made clear is that we’re maintaining a $1.4-billion allocation to maintain our schools. After 15 years of dereliction of duty, where we had a multi-billion-dollar backlog that we inherited, we must do more to improve our schools. We are putting money on the front lines, more than ever before, to ensure that our schools have the maintenance they need to ensure that they have the facilities that are conducive to positive learning for all students in the province of Ontario.

Water quality

Ms. Sara Singh: Yesterday’s report highlights schools in the Peel District School Board as having the highest rate of lead in Ontario, at a shocking 773 instances. How long will this government continue to expose children in Peel to dangerous levels of lead in our school system?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Who is the question addressed to, may I ask the member for Brampton Centre?

Ms. Sara Singh: Addressed to the Premier. My apologies.

Hon. Doug Ford: Minister of the Environment.

Hon. Jeff Yurek: Thank you for that question. We do take our lead results across this province very seriously. I do want to tell Ontarians—I know the members opposite are speaking heavily with regard to their areas of concern—99% of our municipal drinking water systems are passing with regard to lead content, and 95% of our children’s daycare centres and schools are passing with regard to lead content.

With regard to issues that arise in schools where they go beyond the legal limit, that standard that we’ve set as a government, there are precautions put in place, like I mentioned earlier: contacting the board of education, contacting the local board of health, contacting the ministry of conservation and parks and, through the medical officers of health, a remediation plan is in place to ensure that children are not susceptible to that water. Whether it be closing down the tap system, flushing the system, bringing in bottled water, plans are put in place to ensure that those schools are safe if they go beyond the lead levels that are currently part of our standard.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question, the member for Timmins.

Mr. Gilles Bisson: My supplementary is to the Premier. This is a major problem across Ontario. It’s not just isolated schools.

In Timmins, Timmins High and Vocational School, which is owned by DSB One, district school board number 1, had tests done where 56% of all the tests came back with results showing levels of lead that exceed the regulations. In one case, one test came back at 100 times over the regulation.

So the schools want to know and the school boards want to know, first of all, what are you going to do to help defer the costs that they have to pay in order to flush these lines on a daily basis, and when are you going to provide them with the dollars to fix the water so our children and others in schools are not at risk?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I remind the members to make their comments through the Chair.

The question has been referred to the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.

Hon. Jeff Yurek: Thank you to the member for Timmins for that question. As I said, we take water safety seriously.

This is not an issue that was just created overnight. This is decades and decades, due to the fact that the province used to build schools with lead pipes. They haven’t been replaced yet. The member opposite even sat in this House. When he was in government, what did he do to replace the lead pipes in the school systems in order to make that fix?

We want to work together, Mr. Speaker. We are putting over half a billion dollars into our school systems in order to fix the situation. We look forward to working with the school systems in order to fix those lead pipes.

We are going to continue to be the best in the province at monitoring the lead levels and ensuring our children are safe in our schools and in our daycares, and ensuring that municipalities are below the standards, so that people across this province can continue to enjoy the water that we hold dear in this province.

Some 99% of municipal tests are below the lead standards, and 95% of the schools and daycares are as well. We stand beside our people working day in and day out in our cities to keep our water safe and we’ll continue to support—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you very much. The member for Toronto Centre.

Ms. Suze Morrison: Again to the Premier: In my riding of Toronto Centre, Inglenook Community School has a 25% failure rate for lead in the water. Inglenook Community School is a very special school in my riding. It’s a place where many 2SLGBTQ youth find a safe and supportive learning environment. But you cannot thrive in a school where you cannot drink the water.

The World Health Organization confirms that there is no safe level of lead. With one in four tests done at Inglenook exceeding the recommended levels, the students and staff at the school are in real danger every single day.

What is the Premier going to do to make sure that no more lead tests at Inglenook come back over the federally mandated limits?

Hon. Jeff Yurek: To the Minister of Education.

Hon. Stephen Lecce: We obviously have a shared commitment to improving the state of facilities in schools in this province. It’s why, as noted by the Minister of the Environment, 95% of schools are meeting that standard—child care and schools. However, we acknowledge that there is more to do. It’s why we have allocated a historic $13-billion, 10-year, long-term commitment to provide predictable funding to our school boards to improve capital.

The Auditor General of this province in 2015 asked the province to have a 2.5% allocation when it comes to renewal. Mr. Speaker, I’m proud to confirm we are meeting that request. In fact, at the Toronto District School Board, we have a 4% commitment being delivered for that school board, to ensure that they meet their maintenance needs, so that every student in the city of Toronto is able to work and live and be educated in a community that is safe, that is positive and that is conducive to learning in Ontario.

Treaties recognition

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: My question is to the Premier. This week is Treaties Recognition Week in Ontario. Across Ontario, people have gathered for treaty awareness events in schools, universities and public libraries. These events help the public have a better understanding of treaties, as we are all treaty people.

First Nations continue to honour our treaties and to share our land and our natural resources. Mr. Speaker, I want to be very clear: We never ceded our land to the government entirely, nor did we ever give up our sovereignty as nations. Does Ontario believe that it is truly living up to the spirit and intent of the treaties? Meegwetch.

Hon. Doug Ford: Minister of Education.

Hon. Stephen Lecce: I appreciate the question, and I believe all Ontarians, all Canadians, accept that we have more to do when it comes to meeting our commitments to the First Nations, Inuit and Métis people of this country, who have made immeasurable contributions.

An important part of that is ensuring that the next generation of young people know the shared history, the culture and the diversity of language that exist within the First Nations communities of this province. It’s why our government has expanded and enhanced education and learning of First Nations history from grades 1 to 8. It’s why we’ve added 10 additional courses for secondary students, so that they know more about the incredible contributions of First Nations.

We take our responsibilities seriously. We believe that there is tremendous economic opportunity and potential within our First Nations community, a fast-growing community in this province. We’re going to continue to work with them in good faith, to ensure that they are able to reach their full potential, get economic opportunity and realize their dreams that this country should be able to provide for the First Peoples of this country.

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

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: Treaties are more than contracts and real estate transactions. Actually, they are sacred agreements that set out for us how to maintain our relationship with newcomers, then and now. The crown has a role to play in this relationship too. First Nations cannot be the only ones holding up their side of the treaty.

We come to you and ask for help in getting clean drinking water, safe housing and proper infrastructure. If Ontario honoured the treaties as they were intended, we wouldn’t be asking these questions.

Is the government, is Ontario, prepared to share the resources as part of Treaty 9 and the Robinson Treaties? Yes or no?

Hon. Stephen Lecce: To the Attorney General.

Hon. Doug Downey: I’m pleased to rise and address the member’s issues. We all agree, and those who know the history of the Williams Treaties in central Ontario understand how in the past, things have not always worked the way that they should, and that there should be a level of respect, and that we should come to an agreement on some of the fundamental important pieces.

But it’s not just a piece of paper; it’s not just a discussion, Mr. Speaker. It’s about action coming out of that. That is why the Minister of Indigenous Affairs and myself were in Kenora recently, talking about the justice centres, standing with Treaty 3 and Chief Fiddler and NAN, talking about the important work that we need to do with First Nations to actualize the agreements that we have, to make sure that they’re having an impact in the communities where they need to.

I’m pleased to work with the member on issues as they arise, to make sure that we’re taking action where action is needed in ways that we can, and to work with our federal counterparts as well, to make sure that this is a holistic approach to the issues and not just singular motion with no action. We are committed to action, and the Minister of Indigenous Affairs talks consistently about levels of respect and engagement.

Interprovincial trade

Mr. Robert Bailey: Mr. Speaker, my question is to the Premier.

Premier, as you know, we have an amazing country, in particular our own province. We are truly blessed with abundant natural resources and world-class citizens who are the envy of the world itself.

Thanks to our government’s leadership, we are finally turning this country’s economy around, putting in place policies that will help all Ontarians thrive. Unfortunately, we can only do so much. Interprovincial trade barriers act as hurdles that divide this country and make us less competitive.

Can you speak, Premier, to the impact that interprovincial trade barriers have had on our potential economic output, and what our government is doing to address these burdensome regulations?

Hon. Doug Ford: Through you, Mr. Speaker, I want to thank our great MPP from Sarnia–Lambton for the question; he’s an absolute champion.

The impact of interprovincial trade regulations is staggering, a major roadblock to economic growth right across this region. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce previously called the interprovincial trade regulations “a tyranny of small variances.” The Senate committee on banking and commerce stated that regulatory overlap negatively impacts and costs the Canadian economy up to $130 billion.

At the COF meeting, we’re working to tear down those barriers to make sure that we can trade freely across this country. What it comes down to, Mr. Speaker, is just regulation over regulation. That’s putting a burden on trade.

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

Mr. Robert Bailey: Back to the Premier: Thank you for that answer. Premier, those are some astonishing numbers and they speak to how action is needed and needed right away. We are seeing increased episodes of division and uncertainty in this country.

Addressing economic trade barriers should be top of mind for all of our leaders. Our country is strengthened by ensuring goods and services are able to move through this federation with minimal disruption. At a time of increased protectionism in this world, we should be doing all we can to help ensure that our companies and entrepreneurs have all the support they require.

Premier, can you speak to Ontario’s role in helping to bridge the divide on this issue?

Hon. Doug Ford: I would like to thank our great MPP. As we saw in the last election and after the election, this country is divided. It is Ontario’s spot to stand up, unite the country right across all provinces—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order.

Hon. Doug Ford: Thank you for the cheers—unite the country right across this great country, Mr. Speaker.

Again, we’ve offered Toronto to host the COF meeting. If the chair accepts, we will come here, because what is good for Canada is good for Ontario, and what’s good for Ontario is good for Canada. We will unite this country. United we stand; divided we fall.

Premier’s comments

Miss Monique Taylor: My question is for the Premier. Yesterday, the Premier made comments about my hometown, the city of Hamilton. Question period gets pretty partisan sometimes and it can get pretty heated, but yesterday the Premier insulted an entire community.

It’s bad enough for the Premier of Ontario to call any part of the province “destroyed,” but when he attacks my hometown, the great city of Hamilton, we take it personally. Is the Premier ready to apologize?

Hon. Doug Ford: Through you, Mr. Speaker: As the member from Hamilton heard, it wasn’t about the great people of Hamilton, because they’re incredible. They’re starving for jobs, and we have a great MPP who is actually, for the first time, bringing jobs to Hamilton.

We have an investment of $100 million from DHL. We have three or four companies going there and investing. Do you know why they’re investing, Mr. Speaker? Because they love our policies. They love that we’re tearing down the regulations and red tape. They love the idea of us giving $5 billion in tax credits to encourage businesses, to create the environment for Hamilton to thrive and prosper and grow.

For the first time, I’m saying, Mr. Speaker, Hamilton has a voice with our great MPP sitting up there attracting businesses right in the leader’s backyard. The leader didn’t even know about the expansion of DHL.

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

Miss Monique Taylor: Hamilton is filled with some of the hardest-working people you will ever meet. They didn’t inherit million-dollar companies from their parents. Instead, they work hard to pay their bills and take care of their families, which, by the way, is getting harder and harder every day under this government.

Hamiltonians deserve better than a Premier insulting their town and trying to take credit for the good things that they’ve built before this Premier was in that seat. If the Premier is really interested in helping Hamilton, he could stop firing our teachers in our schools and nurses in our hospitals. Is he ready to do that?

Hon. Doug Ford: Government House leader.

Hon. Paul Calandra: The NDP actually have no policies whatsoever. Their policies would decimate job creation in the city of Hamilton. That’s the legacy of NDP governments, Mr. Speaker. Mind you, there has only been one NDP government in the province of Ontario, because the people of Ontario have never wanted to go back to that misery. What they do, though, is because they don’t have any policies to talk about, they go personal. So if you’ve worked hard, you’ve earned it and made a good living, they talk you down.

The people of Hamilton are like all of the people of the province of Ontario, like my parents who came here, who worked very hard. They came with nothing, like a number of members of our caucus. They made something of themselves. Instead of talking down to those people who have worked so very hard to make something of themselves, how about you do what we do and celebrate them, and celebrate the fact that there are a lot of jobs for the people of Ontario and across the province?

Consumer protection

Mr. Randy Hillier: My question is to the Minister of Government and Consumer Services. It disappoints me to have to ask, but it’s far too important not to, and it deserves a considered response.

There are thousands of honest, reputable builders in Ontario, but there are some bad players. The Tarion audit revealed that nearly 10,000 people were ripped off by Tarion on defects in their homes. Builders refused to fix another 4,000 homes, staff are often unqualified and provide false information, and executives line their very deep pockets while protecting bad builders. Three audits by the Auditor General and the report by Justice Cunningham have all revealed the same thing. We all know what the problem is: Money is more important than the little guy.

Speaker, will the minister answer this? Is Tarion a warranty regulator or a protection racket?

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: I appreciate the question very much, because it allows us the opportunity to stand up and talk about what our government is doing for the little people that the member alluded to just moments ago. People in Ontario, whether they’re buying a home or buying a condo—it doesn’t matter what size of home—it’s the most important investment that they make in their lives. We want to make sure that there are rules in place to protect them.

I think the biggest thing we need to do in Ontario is, after 15 years of an absolutely dismal record on this issue, we want to make sure that we can educate Ontarians, because first and foremost, Tarion does not provide warranty. The builders provide insurance, and so we recognize straight away that we need to ensure that consumers are educated with what is needed in terms of priority decisions when they’re entertaining buying a condo or a home.

I’m pleased to share with you that we accepted readily the Auditor General’s report on October 30, and we’re moving forward. In fact, in terms of compensation, I used my own minister powers to make sure that executive compensation was disclosed.

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

Mr. Randy Hillier: Again to the minister: While tens of thousands of people have been ripped off by Tarion under the Liberal administration, it continues today. Despite the minister’s tinkering, yesterday in this House, she stated that homeowners have had the rug pulled out from underneath them.

Tarion remains an accountable rogue agency that is engaged in corrupt business practices. It’s also controlled by an association that has contributed vast amounts of money to all political parties.

People need answers. Has the ministry been cautioned or directed by current or former political operatives to turn a blind eye and keep their hands off Tarion? And will the minister make public her mandate letter to dispel these concerns of political interference? Let’s put an end to this protection racket.

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: I can tell you with absolute certainty that our government is standing by homeowners. I can tell you with absolute certainty that stepping back to the very thoughtful watch of Minister Smith and Minister Walker, we have been taking progressive steps to make sure that we’re protecting homeowners and we’re making sure that the executives that have been spoken about by the member opposite are actually stepping up and doing the right thing.

I’m pleased to share with you that, just yesterday, my ministry received a letter from the board chair. He is absolutely confirming that they are moving forward on the requests that we have made to make Tarion more accountable, to absolutely make Tarion a body that is taking care of our homeowners, be it first-time new buyers for homes or condos, because both of those opportunities have to be protected when it comes to that very important decision and investing in a home.

So, again, we’ve acted on Justice Cunningham’s recommendations, 27 to be specific—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you very much. The next question.

Northern Ontario development

Mr. Randy Pettapiece: My question is for the Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction. Minister, between our mining sector, forestry industry and energy policy, we know that northern Ontario is responsible for billions of dollars of economic activity and tens of thousands of jobs related to our rich supply of natural resources. Hard-working northern Ontarians are doing more than their fair share helping to build Ontario. Could the minister tell this House what is in the package concerning northern Ontario’s critical mining industry?

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: Thank you to the member from Perth–Wellington for all of his advocacy for job creators across the province. The member is 100% right that northern Ontario’s growth and economic development are key to Ontario’s success, and our plan is working.

Under the leadership of Premier Ford and the Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade, we have helped create an environment for over 272,000 new jobs in the province of Ontario in the past 16 months.

Mining is a key part of Ontario’s economy. The mining industry accounted for nearly $10 billion worth of minerals in 2017, and creates more than 26,000 direct jobs and 50,000 indirect jobs in Ontario. That’s why we are making common-sense changes to make mining more competitive in Ontario.

Uncertainty and open-ended timelines have been making it harder for mining operations in Ontario. We are proposing 45-day guarantees to make sure mining can be more competitive and continue driving more investment in northern Ontario.

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

Mr. Randy Pettapiece: I want to thank the minister for that answer. Mining is not only a major part of the north’s economic development, but it’s also critical for Ontario’s bottom line. Could the minister tell us what other ways this package proposes to support job creation and economic growth in northern Ontario?

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: In addition to providing certainty for our mining sector, we are proposing measures to help our forestry sector. Ontario’s forestry industry generates over $16 billion in revenue and supports approximately 155,000 direct and indirect jobs.

Today, forestry companies are caught up in duplicative approval processes that cost time and money to industry. These delays have caused many of these forestry operations to close. Our package proposes to streamline approvals for our forest operations by ending unnecessary duplication in the process. It’s about making common-sense regulatory changes and getting out of the way of job creators so they can do what they do best: create good opportunities for hard-working families across the province.

Mr. Speaker, we are making Ontario more competitive, and we look forward to building up Ontario and making it the economic engine of Canada once again and building on the 272,000 jobs that we have been able to create since being elected.

Skilled trades

Mr. Guy Bourgouin: Ma question est pour le premier ministre. This week Ontario is celebrating National Skilled Trades and Technology Week. While the government is busy patting themselves on the back, their cuts to education are robbing young people of the opportunities they need to get into the trades. Schools have had to cancel construction and technology classes, and one school completely scrapped their youth apprenticeship program.

Speaker, no matter how hard the minister tries to spin it, this cancellation means only one thing: fewer opportunities for students to learn about the skilled trades. When is this government going to reverse their cuts and stop making life harder for those who want to enter into the skilled trades?

Hon. Doug Ford: Minister of Education.

Hon. Stephen Lecce: Mr. Speaker, I was proud to stand with the Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development and the Minister of Children last week, along with the parliamentary assistant for education, when we announced a historic investment in the skilled trades. An additional 50,000 students this year are benefiting from our investment: over $10 million more this year to incent more young people to enter the skilled trades, to enter apprenticeship and the high-paying, dignified jobs that exist within this sector.

We know that one in five jobs will soon be in the skilled trades. We appreciate that in remote regions of this province—in the north, in the southeast and west, in every region—there’s a supply issue of labour talent. We are working hard to skill up this province and incent young people, particularly underrepresented groups and women, to see themselves pursuing these wonderful, dignified, high-paying jobs. We’ve announced 120 additional programs benefiting 50,000 students in over 2,000 schools. We know there’s more to do, and we’re going to continue to work together to ensure more young people enter this critical sector of the economy.

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

Mr. Guy Bourgouin: Speaker, this minister can say anything he wants about his so-called investments in education. He also said not one teacher would lose their job, and we know that that wasn’t true either. The Ontario Public School Boards’—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I’m going to ask the member to withdraw.

Mr. Guy Bourgouin: Sorry. Withdraw.

The Ontario Public School Boards’ Association warned the government that their cuts mean that there will be very limited opportunities for students interested in the skilled trades. One school has already scrapped their Specialist High Skills Major, a program designed to help kids interested in the trades—and trades get jobs.

Again to the Premier: It’s not just students who are going to suffer under the cuts to education. Our economy will as well. Why does this Premier not think Ontarians deserve better?

Hon. Stephen Lecce: The Minister of Labour.

Hon. Monte McNaughton: I will say that the only thing that the member opposite had correct in his question is that this week is National Skilled Trades and Technology Week in the province of Ontario.

Mr. Speaker, with the Minister of Education and right across the government, we’re providing more opportunities to young people right through our education system to explore that opportunity of getting a great job in the skilled trades.

My friend, someone I work very closely with, Arlene Dunn, who is the Canada’s Building Trades Unions director, recently said to me that we are going to be short 260,000 skilled trades jobs in the next 10 years across Canada. A lot of these jobs pay over $100,000 per year, Mr. Speaker. That’s why we continue to educate our students, talk to parents and talk to guidance counsellors about the hope and opportunity in the skilled trades right here in Ontario.

Crime prevention

Mr. Stan Cho: My question is for the Solicitor General. Monday marked the start of Crime Prevention Week in Ontario, an opportunity to highlight how the public can work with and support our front-line police officers and first responders in preventing crime. Now, more than ever, criminals rely on increasingly complex methods to victimize law-abiding people and to evade capture. In addition, in communities like mine and across the province, we hear stories of young people caught in a cycle of violence, often leading to criminal activity.

Speaker, can the Solicitor General tell this House how the police services are working with the public and community partners to prevent crime, and why these partnerships are so vital?

Hon. Sylvia Jones: Thank you to the member from Willowdale. He’s absolutely right. The opportunity that we are having today during Crime Prevention Week, as we mark it with “Preventing Crime, Protecting People” and having the police association join us here in an education day, is important because it is not just our police services that protect us. It is citizens. It is community groups. It is the engagement that we need and we expect from our leaders in all areas, whether it’s in education or our workforces.

I trust and I hope that members opposite and across all political spectrums are meeting with their police services members today, because they can share some very true depictions of how we can make a difference to make their job easier and our communities ultimately safer.

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

Mr. Stan Cho: Speaker, through you, thank you to the minister for that response. I know all of us agree on the importance of preventing crime in our neighbourhoods.

Many of our communities have faced increased gun and gang violence recently, which I know is a concern for all of us in this House. Tackling the scourge of gun and gang violence is a key priority that requires the support of many of our government’s ministries, including the Solicitor General, the Attorney General and the Minister of Children, Community and Social Services.

Through you, can the Solicitor General please tell us what actions our government is taking to prevent and tackle gun and gang violence in our communities?

Hon. Sylvia Jones: Thank you to the member from Willowdale. It really is a multi-ministerial, all-government approach. Working with our partners with the Police Association of Ontario, with the Ontario chiefs of police, we have some very concrete ideas that they have brought forward and we are moving forward on.

Of course, guns and gangs do not limit themselves to municipal boundaries, and so our investment of $16 million to develop a comprehensive, province-wide strategy to tackle guns and gang violence includes meaningful intervention and prevention for at-risk and gang-involved youth, and tough enforcement, suppression and prosecution for serious offenders. These are all pieces that we are working on because we are listening to the feedback from our front-line officers.

If I may, I would like to invite the members of the PAO, who are here today for our lobby day, to join the Premier and I in his office after question period to continue that conversation—and thank you for your service.

Climate change

Mr. Peter Tabuns: My question is to the Premier. Yesterday, 11,000 scientists worldwide, including scientists here in Ontario, signed on to a statement calling on governments to recognize that we are facing a climate emergency. Ontarians are already feeling the impact of that climate crisis, from people facing floods on the Great Lakes to First Nations communities forced to evacuate because of wildfires.

Ontario has to be a leader taking on this climate crisis. Will the Premier reverse course today? Will he join New Democrats, scientists, youth and governments around the world and declare a climate emergency here in this province?

Hon. Doug Ford: Minister of the Environment.

Hon. Jeff Yurek: Thank you very much for that question opposite. We do take our work in fighting climate change and ensuring we have a healthy environment very seriously on this side of the House.

Last year, we proposed a draft environmental plan for the province of Ontario and we’ve started implementing some of those processes as we go forward. It’s good to mention that we’ve put forth our emissions performance standards to the federal government, which will target large emitters of greenhouse gases in this province. We’re awaiting whether or not the federal government will accept those results.

But what that will do, it will make sure that the polluters at the highest level are lowering their emissions over time. We’re going to be coming out with our new heavy truck emissions program, which will target the diesel trucks that are on our roadways to lower their emissions. We’ve changed the mandate for renewable additives to gasoline. Ethanol will go up to 15% in our gasoline by 2025. And we’ve started our work towards renewing our recycling program in this province. We’ll divert organic waste and plastics away from our landfills and ensure that we create the new—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you very much. The supplementary question?

Mr. Peter Tabuns: Speaker, again to the Premier: I hope he considers this an important question. It’s time to get real. It’s time to listen to people. It’s time to listen to the science, time to get to work on a plan for actually addressing the climate crisis. What was just listed off is not going to deal with what we’re facing. We all know that.

It’s time to stop throwing public money at a failing court case. That is a waste. It’s time to stop pretending that inaction or minor action is a solution. It’s time to get to work building a prosperous and low-carbon Ontario.

Will the Premier commit today to reversing course and coming up with a real plan to tackle the climate crisis?

Interjections.

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

The question has been referred to the Minister of the Environment, Conservation and Parks.

Hon. Jeff Yurek: We are taking our role in the environment very seriously. Ontario leads the way with reducing greenhouse gas emissions 22% below 2005 levels, and we continue on that process, Mr. Speaker.

We’ve also done other things with our plan, working towards a healthy and clean environment. We’ve issued a $950-million green bond to capitalize on the province’s ability to raise funds at low interest rates to go towards public transit initiatives, extreme weather infrastructure, energy efficiency and conservation projects. We’re waiting for the report from the special commission on flooding.

What is missing throughout conversations over the years in this province, Mr. Speaker, is resilience and adaptation to climate change. We’ve incorporated that into our plan to fight climate change. We’re not only going to deal with the causes of climate change and the high emissions in this province; we’re also going to work with municipalities and individuals to ensure that they’re able to adapt and become more resilient to the changes in climate, because we’re taking our job seriously with regard to the environment. We will build a healthy economy and we’ll balance that with a healthy environment.

Protection of privacy

Mr. Randy Pettapiece: My question is for the Minister of Government and Consumer Services. Speaker, the data economy offers tremendous opportunities for companies based in Ontario to develop data-driven business models and unlock the commercial value of data. Creating jobs and growing businesses is a central part of how our government is improving the lives of Ontarians each and every day with the ever-growing potential of a data-driven economy.

Speaker, can the minister please tell this House how the government is helping to promote trust and confidence in the protection and use of public data while stimulating economic growth?

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: I would like to thank the member from Perth–Wellington for the question. I really appreciated his participation in the seminar and consultation that we hosted last week in Stratford. I have to share with the House that, as the member alluded to, data is a resource that has limitless potential, but we need to be very thoughtful as to how we move forward with it.

That’s why I’m very pleased to share that our government is developing a provincial data strategy, the first of its kind in Canada, that will help Ontarians and businesses alike to benefit directly from the data economy, but assuring all the while they could be confident in personal privacy and cyber security.

To accomplish this goal, we have done many things. We’re hosting online and in-person consultations. We’ve released three consultation papers that we’re soliciting feedback on, and we’ve also pulled together an all-star task force, a digital and data task force, made up of industry and academic experts who are really interested in helping us hone our consultations to address the thoughtfulness that needs to—

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

Mr. Randy Pettapiece: I want to thank the minister for her answer and for joining me at the first rural round table in Stratford on Ontario’s data strategy last week. I know many Ontarians will be very glad to hear of the actions the minister has taken to ensure that businesses and members of communities across the province are given the opportunity to work with our government as it builds its data strategy.

Mr. Speaker, as part of the development of the data strategy, our government recently launched its third discussion paper on the theme of smarter, better government. Can the minister tell this House what our government is doing to make government better utilize data to improve services for the people of Ontario? And what is our government doing to make government data more open and giving Ontarians more control over their own data?

Hon. Lisa M. Thompson: Again, thank you very much to the member from Perth–Wellington for that question. Our goal is to make sure that we’re chipping away and breaking down data silos, because we’re serving Ontarians best when they only have to tell their story once. Our goal is for Ontarians to trust the cyber and the opportunities that are going to be presented to them. We’ve been studying the top 10 services at ServiceOntario, for example, and we’re moving those top 10 services online so, again, Ontarians will not be experiencing those long lineups that we see across the province.

It’s going to be easy for Ontarians to access their stickers for their drivers’ licences, or their health cards.

Most importantly, we’re listening, because, again, this is a journey that is going to revolutionize the manner in which we govern. We’re being very thoughtful and listening to the concerns and the opportunities that we’re hearing from Ontarians, be they academics, experts or somebody who just wants to make sure that their personal information is safe and secure—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you very much. The next question.

Student assistance

Mr. Chris Glover: My question is to the Premier. Today, thousands of students at universities across the province are walking out of their classrooms to protest this government’s cuts to OSAP. I’ve had students call my office in tears who, thanks to this government’s cuts, could not afford to return to school this year. I’ve talked to others who are working full-time jobs while studying full-time because their OSAP grants and loans were cut in half.

Premier, students should be spending their time studying, not worrying about making ends meet. Will you do the right thing, stop this attack on students and reverse these reckless cuts?

Hon. Doug Ford: Minister of Colleges and Universities.

Hon. Ross Romano: Thank you very much to the member for the question. We’re all aware that changes were made by the previous government to the OSAP system before the last election—in fact, on the eve of the last election. Those changes that were made were principally made in a fashion which allowed students to access OSAP who came from higher-income families, and they were receiving grants.

Now, the Auditor General has reviewed the changes that were made, and she noted that OSAP had increased by over $2 billion within the first year. It got so expensive that it wasn’t sustainable any longer.

We needed to protect the future of OSAP for future generations. That is what we have done. Not only have we protected it for future generations, but we’ve also reduced tuition by 10%, saving students more money, keeping money in their pockets, so that they can get the education they need.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The supplementary question.

Mr. Chris Glover: The students who were not able to return to school this year because of your OSAP cuts do not feel protected by this government. The Liberal government did double tuition fees in this province and then, as

an act of penitence, tried to increase OSAP. But now your government has actually cut it by $670 million, and not only that, but they have jeopardized funding for student food banks, for women’s centres, for LBGTQ centres on campus.

Given that the minister received over 3,000 letters from students begging this government to reverse this heartless decision, it is clear that these cuts are making life worse for students and families across the province. Why does the Premier think that students don’t deserve the financial support they need to access college and university, while this government squanders money on lucrative appointments for friends and family?

Hon. Ross Romano: Again, if you don’t want to take it from us, listen to the Auditor General: $2 billion in the first year and $2.7 billion within the next three years. That’s double the cost of the OSAP system, double over budget. It was not sustainable. We needed to protect it for future generations, Mr. Speaker. These changes had to be done to ensure that we would still have OSAP for our students.

What we’ve done now is reduce tuition by 10%, saving students $450 million across the province. That’s not for a single student. Every single student across this province will see those savings. That is a significant savings for students. We’re keeping money in their pockets and making sure that they have access to high-quality education, the education they need, Mr. Speaker, and the education that they deserve. We’re making sure that OSAP is there for the students who need it most.

Equal opportunity

Ms. Andrea Khanjin: My question is to the minister who inspires women and young people today, the Associate Minister of Children and Women’s Issues. In Ontario, as we know, women make up 48% of our labour force. We can do better. Far too often, women are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and math. We can do better. In fact, women make up less than 4% of the skilled trades labour force. Yes, Mr. Speaker, we can do better.

Unfortunately, among those who work in those sectors, they’re often concentrated in part-time, lower-paying or administrative roles. With so many satisfying, high-paying jobs in these sectors, we can do better, and something needs to change.

So I wanted to ask the minister if she can inform this House of what our government is doing to ensure that women are represented in all aspects of the growing STEM economy.

Hon. Jill Dunlop: Thank you to the member from Barrie–Innisfil for that question. It’s always a great opportunity to talk about what our government is doing for the skilled trades in Ontario.

Speaker, by 2021, one in five jobs in Ontario will be in the skilled trades. With so many people retiring in the coming years, the need for skilled labour is ever-increasing. This also means that we need more young people in the skilled trades and STEM, and who better to join such a rewarding sector than women?

We need more women in the skilled trades and STEM workforce—women like Negin, who I met yesterday with the Associate Minister of Energy, or Julia, who I visited on her construction site. Negin is an engineer for Ontario Power Generation, and Julia is a site supervisor for Bridgecon Construction. Both of these women add so much value to their companies that allows them and their companies to grow and to thrive.

I want to thank all of my colleagues for working to end the stigma around the trades and let all Ontarians, especially women, know that Ontario is open for skilled trades jobs and open for skilled trades business.

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

Ms. Andrea Khanjin: Thank you to the minister for that answer. I know that this topic is a very passionate subject for the minister, and I congratulate