L003A - Tue 27 Apr 1999 / Mar 27 Avr 1999
ROCKTON LIONS CLUB TREE DEDICATION PROGRAM
RED TAPE REDUCTION ACT, 1999 / LOI DE 1999 VISANT À RÉDUIRE LES FORMALITÉS ADMINISTRATIVES
HEALTH INSURANCE AMENDMENT ACT, 1999 / LOI DE 1999 MODIFIANT LA LOI SUR L'ASSURANCE-SANTÉ
PETERBOROUGH REGIONAL HEALTH CENTRE ACT, 1999
COLUMBUS CLUB OF SAULT STE. MARIE ACT, 1999
ONTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES LEGISLATION
PROTECTION FOR HEALTH CARE WORKERS
The House met at 1331.
Prayers.
MEMBERS' STATEMENTS
NORTHERN HEALTH TRAVEL GRANTS
Mrs Lyn McLeod (Fort William): Premier Harris actually made an important statement of principle here yesterday. He said that health care should be made available to all citizens on an equal basis.
He's right. The problem is that he says that but he does nothing about it. This Premier has done nothing and will do nothing to make sure that people in northern Ontario are getting equal treatment when it comes to health care. In fact, it's just the opposite. Instead of equal treatment, Mike Harris has given northerners a slap in the face.
People in my community are outraged that the Ministry of Health, without a moment's hesitation, offered to cover all transportation, accommodation and even meal costs for people who have to travel to northern Ontario for health care. What angers people in my community is that the government will not do the same thing for northerners.
Mike Harris knows that northerners often have to travel to receive health care that's not available in their home communities. Mike Harris knows that the maximum $420 that the northern health travel grant provides covers only a small portion of the cost of travel. I have constituents who are spending thousands of dollars of their own money to get medically necessary care, like the case of Mr Allan Rawlyk that we've raised in this Legislature, who has spent over $10,000 of his own money to get the care he needs.
Mike Harris talks about equal access to health care for northerners, but what we have now is two-tiered health care: publicly supported if you live in the south, personally supported out of pocket for people who live in the north. Northerners won't accept second-class-citizen treatment.
ADOPTION
Ms Marilyn Churley (Riverdale): I'm really dismayed by the introduction again yesterday of the Child and Family Services Act by the Minister of Community and Social Services.
I'm happy that it's coming forward again, but I have to say to you that the adoption community is extremely disappointed that once again they have been left out. Early in this government's mandate the minister promised the adoption community that if changes were made to the Child and Family Services Act, adoption disclosure reform would be part of those changes. The minister didn't move on that.
My colleague Alex Cullen came forward with a bill. I came forward with Bill 88, a private member's bill, towards the end of last session. As you know, the majority of this House, including all but three of the Tory caucus in the House that day, supported moving forward on adoption disclosure reform.
There are a million people affected by these old, outdated laws in this land, in this Ontario of ours, who are suffering unnecessarily because of outdated disclosure laws. This government had an opportunity to make a difference, to use this power and make sure that bill went through or that it was included in the new act. They have done none of that, and we are very disappointed that has not happened.
ROCKTON LIONS CLUB TREE DEDICATION PROGRAM
Mr Toni Skarica (Wentworth North): On a positive note, I would like to talk about the Rockton Lions Club tree planting program.
This program started at the Beverly Community Centre in 1977. It started as a way to acknowledge the service rendered to the community by two of the club's deceased members, Hugh Hunter and John Howell. It was agreed that planting trees at the community centre would be a fitting living memorial commemorating their many years of community service. It wasn't long before word got out and other residents expressed an interest to participate in this venture. About 50 trees were planted that first year.
The Rockton Lions Club's tree dedication program continued in 1982, 1986 and 1993, resulting in many more trees being planted. This program evolved to include dedications for families and friends of the organization as well as members who had passed on. The program now may include dedications for living family members.
On this coming Sunday, May 2, 1999, at the Beverly Community Centre, the Rockton Lions Club will honour those who have served their community at this year's tree dedication ceremony. This year's honourees include past presidents of the Rockton Lions Club, Don Smith and Carl Jones; Archie McCoy, who contributed greatly to the building of the Beverly Community Centre and who is recently deceased; Gil Powers, who served as the district governor to district A11; and members of the Rockton Lions Club: Mel Kenney, Tom Drawbell and George Schohman.
Over the years, the trees have grown and flourished, a quiet testimonial to Lions Club members and area residents who have all served their community well.
MUNICIPAL RESTRUCTURING
Mr John C. Cleary (Cornwall): Just last weekend, S-D-G & East Grenville MPP Noble Villeneuve came to my riding and announced that the government would finally pay for cleaning up the mess they created in transferring provincial responsibilities on to municipalities.
However, while juggling with pre-election cheques, the member for S-D-G & East Grenville neglected to restore the funding for the municipality in his own riding, the township of South Dundas. It seems Mr Noble Villeneuve's election goodies excluded South Dundas from the rest of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry.
Mayor Johnny Whitteker and his council want to know why they've been ignored. Where were their election goodies? Taxpayers and municipal officials in my area know that over the past three years the provincial government has been taking away from them and at the same time increasing local responsibilities.
They also know that the money is coming now because of the election. But it's here today and gone tomorrow, and we know that next year the election will be over and the municipalities will be deeper and deeper in the hole.
The government promised that the downloading scheme would be revenue-neutral. This is another broken promise from Mike Harris. The government is now simply trying to buy back voter support on pre-election cheque presentations and photo ops.
HOMELESSNESS
Mr Alex Cullen (Ottawa West): I rise today with a report in hand named Homelessness in Ottawa-Carleton. This report was tabled at the regional council in Ottawa-Carleton, and all policy-makers concerned about homelessness should be paying attention.
This report shows us that we have 5,000 people, 900 of whom are children - not street kids but children - on the streets, in the shelters every year in Ottawa-Carleton. It also shows us that we have 75,000 families paying more than 30% of their incomes on shelter, which means less money for their food, less money for their future, less money for their health. A remarkable 30,000 families are paying more than half their income on shelter, a deplorable situation.
We have a waiting list for social housing, affordable housing in Ottawa-Carleton that has swelled from 11,000 families to over 15,000 families. This report shows that when the Harris government took office, before it cut the welfare rates, over 36% of welfare recipients were paying more than their shelter allowance towards rent. After the Harris cuts it swelled to more than 80%; 84% are paying more than their shelter allowance for rent, which obviously means less for food, less for health, less for their children, less for their future.
This is a crisis here in Ottawa-Carleton. We in the New Democratic Party have a program to deal with homelessness in Ontario. We are committed to putting $250 million towards building 30,000 units of affordable social housing across Ontario.
TOBACCO MUSEUM
Mr Toby Barrett (Norfolk): It is my pleasure to draw the attention of the Legislature to the exhibit provided by the Ontario Tobacco Museum and Heritage Centre, a museum located in tobaccotown: Delhi, Ontario.
Since February, the west wing of the Legislature has been home to exhibits that describe the culture and history of communities across our province. The tobacco museum exhibit features a township of Delhi crest, photos, a band uniform and a large brass drum.
The exhibit remembers the Delhi Community Band, first formed in the 1890s and more formalized during the 1950s. One of the band's leaders, Mr Floyd Thomas, was awarded the Centennial Medal, and the band was invited to play at Expo `67 in Montreal. I am told that in its heyday people came from miles around to hear this Delhi band play.
I would like to congratulate the Delhi tobacco museum on their contribution to keeping ethnic culture and traditions alive in Norfolk. Agriculture plays a strong role in Norfolk's heritage. Many European immigrants settled on tobacco farms in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. The Ontario Tobacco Museum and Heritage Centre teaches young people and adults alike about Norfolk's rich multicultural heritage.
I am proud to have the culture of Norfolk represented in this exhibit. I urge all members to take a look at this reflection of a unique history of tobacco country.
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COMMUNITY CARE ACCESS CENTRE
Mr Bruce Crozier (Essex South): I want to bring to the attention of the government a problem in my riding and the area of Windsor-Essex county. The community care access centre, although underfunded, is trying to deal with the elderly, the frail and the sick, who are, as we all know, released from hospital quicker and sicker these days. The problem lies not in the lap of the CCAC, the community care access centre, but squarely in the lap of this government. Through its mismanagement and through its unrelenting desire for privatization and to do it the the cheapest rather than the best way, it has forced the community care access centre to dole out the service it provides in giving supplies to the sick.
What has happened is that there are now two suppliers in the city of Windsor. They will only give out supplies two days a week and one week's supply at a time. In the Leamington-Kingsville area, these supplies used to be picked up at Leamington hospital; they no longer can be. Now these frail, elderly and sick must go in to Windsor to pick up these supplies. It's inconvenient and unfair.
BELL CANADA STRIKE
Mr Peter Kormos (Welland-Thorold): It's no fun for any worker to be on strike, but unfortunately Bell Canada has given its employees no other choice. Across this province and down in Niagara, Bell Canada employees, its operators and its technicians have been forced into a strike position by a company that made an $800-million profit last year and paid its own CEO $17 million.
Bell Canada wants to sell off the operators' jobs to a US company so that rates for wages will be cut in half, and if workers want to follow those jobs, they're going to be forced to leave their homes. In Niagara, that means leaving Niagara region, perhaps leaving the province. As well, Bell Canada, with its huge profits, has been telling its technicians to take concessions, especially in the area of pensions and pension benefits and in the area of wages, where there hasn't been a wage increase for at least five years.
People, the public, rely on Bell operators and Bell technicians on a daily basis, on an hourly basis, 24 hours a day. Public safety is being put at risk. Bell Canada, with its greed, shows no concern for the welfare of the community, certainly no concern for its workers and indeed a disdain for the working women and men, the employees of Bell Canada, who have made huge profits for that company over the course of decades and generations, and Mike Harris and the Tories do nothing. They abandon high-paying, good, long-term jobs in favour of minimum-wage, part-time, temporary employ-ment. That's the kind of Ontario Mike Harris is making. When is Mike Harris going to show some leadership and tell Bell Canada to keep those jobs in Canada?
SENIORS
Mr W. Leo Jordan (Lanark-Renfrew): I take this opportunity to speak about Ontario's senior citizens, the important role they play in our society and how this government is actively working with seniors to improve their quality of life.
The Silver Seniors of Renfrew and the Arnprior Golden Valley Seniors are two groups that exemplify vitality and a community-building spirit. I attended their luncheon events recently, and I can tell you a few things about seniors in the Ottawa Valley: They're active, well organized and ready to build a better community. They know that Ontario is now fiscally capable of providing more services to a rapidly growing seniors' population. They deeply appreciate that we have saved Lakeview Nursing Home in Cobden through our commitment of $4.2 million and that $14.6 million will be available to replace or upgrade Miramichi Lodge in Pembroke.
Last Friday, I attended a meeting in Eganville, hosted by Reeve Zig Mintha. I was impressed by that community's strong desire to bring even more services to seniors, closer to home.
I thank the Honourable Cam Jackson, Minister of Long-Term Care, for providing the assistance of his staff for that meeting. Joan Kennedy and Gayle Martin did an excellent job.
INTRODUCTION OF BILLS
RED TAPE REDUCTION ACT, 1999 / LOI DE 1999 VISANT À RÉDUIRE LES FORMALITÉS ADMINISTRATIVES
Mr Tsubouchi moved first reading of the following bill:
Bill 12, An Act to reduce red tape, to promote good government through better management of Ministries and agencies and to improve customer service by amending or repealing certain Acts and by enacting three new Acts / Projet de loi 12, Loi visant à réduire les formalités administratives, à promouvoir un bon gouvernement par une meilleure gestion des ministères et organismes et à améliorer le service à la clientèle en modifiant ou abrogeant certaines lois et en édictant trois nouvelles lois.
The Speaker (Hon Chris Stockwell): Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.
HEALTH INSURANCE AMENDMENT ACT, 1999 / LOI DE 1999 MODIFIANT LA LOI SUR L'ASSURANCE-SANTÉ
Mr Duncan moved first reading of the following bill:
Bill 13, An Act to amend the Health Insurance Act to satisfy the criteria for contribution by the Government of Canada set out in the Canada Health Act / Projet de loi 13, Loi modifiant la Loi sur l'assurance-santé pour satisfaire aux critères régissant les contributions du gouvernement du Canada qui sont énoncés dans la Loi canadienne sur la santé.
The Speaker (Hon Chris Stockwell): Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.
Mr Dwight Duncan (Windsor-Walkerville): The bill will put into major health legislation in Ontario the principles of affordability, accessibility and the public nature of Canada's health care system in all pieces of provincial health care legislation.
ONTARIO COLLEGE OF TEACHERS AMENDMENT ACT, 1999 / LOI DE 1999 MODIFIANT LA LOI SUR L'ORDRE DES ENSEIGNANTES ET DES ENSEIGNANTS DE L'ONTARIO
Mr Wildman moved first reading of the following bill:
Bill 14, An Act to increase teacher representation at the Ontario College of Teachers and to make other amendments to the Ontario College of Teachers Act, 1996 / Projet de loi 14, Loi visant à accroître la représentation des enseignants au sein de l'Ordre des enseignantes et des enseignants de l'Ontario et apportant d'autres modifications à la Loi de 1996 sur l'Ordre des enseignantes et des enseignants de l'Ontario.
The Speaker (Hon Chris Stockwell): Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.
Mr Bud Wildman (Algoma): This bill amends the Ontario College of Teachers Act, 1996. The composition of the council of the college is changed, increasing the proportion of elected members of the college so that they make up 75% of the council. Provisions are added to provide that the council or a committee will not have a quorum unless the majority of the elected council members are present. The council will be required to elect one of its members as the chair. All committees will be required to have a majority of elected council members.
PETERBOROUGH REGIONAL HEALTH CENTRE ACT, 1999
Mr Stewart moved first reading of the following bill:
Bill Pr3, An Act respecting Peterborough Regional Health Centre.
The Speaker (Hon Chris Stockwell): Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.
As I'm sure you all know, pursuant to standing order 85, this bill stands referred to the Commissioners of Estate Bills.
COLUMBUS CLUB OF SAULT STE. MARIE ACT, 1999
Mr Martin moved first reading of the following bill:
Bill Pr8, An Act respecting the Columbus Club of Sault Ste. Marie Ltd.
The Speaker (Hon Chris Stockwell): Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.
SAVING LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN NORFOLK AND HALDIMAND ACT, 1999 / LOI DE 1999 VISANT À PRÉSERVER LE GOUVERNEMENT LOCAL À NORFOLK ET À HALDIMAND
Mr Barrett moved first reading of the following bill:
Bill 15, An Act to eliminate the regional level of municipal government in Norfolk and Haldimand, to cut duplication and to save taxpayers' money / Projet de loi 15, Loi visant à éliminer le niveau régional du gouvernement municipal à Norfolk et à Haldimand ainsi que le double emploi et à faire réaliser des économies aux contribuables.
The Speaker (Hon Chris Stockwell): Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.
Mr Toby Barrett (Norfolk): Today I am reintroducing the Saving Local Government act designed to eliminate the regional level of government in Norfolk and Haldimand and to have citizen participation design a new system of local government that taxpayers can afford.
The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing is required to implement any proposal, and if no proposal is put forward, the minister will appoint a commission to implement a proposal. Any restructuring plan must eliminate the regional level of government and result in at least two municipalities.
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ORAL QUESTIONS
LONG-TERM CARE
Mr Gerard Kennedy (York South): I have a question for the Minister of Health. I want to direct your attention, because it's not focused, on four hospitals which you consented to have close on Friday: Runnymede and Riverdale in Toronto, Hogarth Westmount in Thunder Bay, and St Peter's in Hamilton, four hospitals that are full of frail elderly people and chronically ill people with special needs.
What your government said on Friday is, we're going to close those hospitals down. We're going to take away care from a setting where they get five times as much nursing care to one where they get one fifth as much; from one where they get twice as much attention from a doctor to one where they get half as much; from one where they don't pay for drugs and equipment to one where they very likely may, with funding on your part, Minister, from $240 a day down to $60 a day.
You've got a lot of health commercials out there right now. Why don't you include those facts in your health commercials?
Hon Elizabeth Witmer (Minister of Health): I don't know that the member opposite fully appreciates that what is happening is that there is a conversion of four chronic care hospitals to long-term-care centres. As you know, our government wants to ensure that people in this province have the appropriate services.
Unfortunately, it was your government in the late 1980s, and then throughout the term of the other government, that did not award any long-term-care beds. We now find ourselves in a position where there are many seniors and many frail elderly who don't have accommodation. But we are building 20,000 new long-term-care beds, plus we are converting these facilities in order that these people can have outstanding facilities and quality of life and get the appropriate level of care that they need.
Mr Kennedy: Minister, you're leaving out the essential facts. You talk about beds you'll build in the future. You will not admit that you're closing 3,000 chronic care beds that exist today, that you're evicting those patients and you're going to warehouse them all across this province, not just in the four hospitals I mentioned in those three communities, but all across the province. You're going to push people with MS and Parkinson's and Huntington's disease and AIDS and people who need medical care, the attention of nurses, into nursing homes, and you won't guarantee the care.
Your own professionals went into Runnymede hospital last month. They went to Riverdale Hospital. There are 450 patients in question. Do you know how many of them they said could survive in a nursing home? Twenty-seven. Twenty-seven out of 450. What are you trying to pull off? You're trying to make us believe that you care for these patients. Minister, then stand in your place today and provide the Liberal guarantee: guarantee these patients will get the same quality of care that they get today and you'll provide chronic care in the future.
Hon Mrs Witmer: I think the member has forgotten it was our government that actually did demonstrate the compassion and the caring, and we did introduce the levels of care. Every individual will be assessed and a determination will be made as to the appropriate level of care. As you know, it was our government that provided the funding formula to the long-term care facilities that does reflect the individual level of care that is required by each individual. Unfortunately, previous governments had never seen fit to introduce that and to respond specifically to the unique patient needs out there.
We're pleased that each of these individuals will have the appropriate level of care and that these facilities will be funded in order to accommodate that.
Mr Kennedy: Soothing words, soothing words to say, "We'll look after these patients." We're closing their hospital, we're wrenching away the licence for the hospital to operate, but we'll provide for them. Is that what's happening around Ontario?
In fact, in Ottawa the Perley-Rideau centre went through one of our conversions. They converted to a nursing home and a long-term care facility, and what happened there? The board of directors of Perley-Rideau, looking after frail, elderly and veterans, is suing you to get enough nursing care to look after their frail, elderly and veterans.
You've taken away the care. You've reduced the care to those patients by $100 a day.
Interjection.
Mr Kennedy: We hear one of the members from Ottawa saying it's OK. It's not OK. It's not OK that Perley-Rideau has to sue to get proper care.
Minister, today I'll ask you again - it may be your last chance - will you, as the minister responsible for these public hospitals that you want to close, stand up today and guarantee the Liberal standard that the care will be there and these hospitals will stay open? Will you do that?
Hon Mrs Witmer: I certainly would not want to commit to what your government did, and that was not provide any new long-term care beds for about 10 years. It's our government that has responded to the unique needs of people throughout this province. As I said before, we are providing the level of funding based on the needs of each and every individual. It was our government that recognized we need levels of care. In fact, it was the NDP that dealt with Perley.
Let me quote Carl White, the president of the St Joseph's Care Group, who said on April 24: "It's really exciting to see the Ministry of Health reinvest funds in the long-term care system. This is what is needed to make the total system work."
It's our government that is making sure that each patient receives the level of care required to respond to their unique needs, and we were the first government to do so.
ONTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES LEGISLATION
Mr Dwight Duncan (Windsor-Walkerville): I have a question today for the Minister of Citizenship, Culture and Recreation. I want to ask you today about a broken promise to people in Ontario with disabilities, but moreover about a broken promise to the entire province.
When the Premier was running for election he made a clear promise. He said that he would consult people with disabilities and that he would pass a meaningful act to protect people with disabilities. We know and people with disabilities know that neither of those promises was kept. You have had four years - four years - and you failed. You failed to consult and you failed to produce. Anything that you introduce now, if in fact you're even going to bother to do that, will be seen for what it is - a sham.
Why did you break the Premier's commitment? Why did you not live up to the commitment made by this Legislature in 1996? Why did you not live up to the commitment made by this Legislature last year and why did you introduce -
The Speaker (Hon Chris Stockwell): Minister.
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Hon Isabel Bassett (Minister of Citizenship, Culture and Recreation): I would say we're not breaking a promise. We introduced the Ontarians with Disabilities Act before Christmas and it died on the order paper. In the interim, between then and now, we have heard and been listening to people with disabilities right across the province. They have said to us that they want us to withdraw the bill, they want us to reconsider what we put forward, and that is what our plan is. We are listening.
Might I say to the member from Windsor-Walkerville, you did nothing and you had five years in which you could have moved forward with a bill. So who are you to say anything?
Mr Duncan: To remind you, the Premier made two very clear commitments, as did you when you introduced your bill, which at the time, by the way, you said was a great piece of legislation. The reason you said that was because you didn't listen in the first instance.
You obviously haven't even read the letter you or the Premier received yesterday. You said you've consulted. Here's what the Ontarians with Disabilities Act Committee said: "You have continued to refuse to meet with us" - that's a quote - "the very group with whom you pledged in writing to work with to develop the Ontarians with Disabilities Act when you were seeking the public votes in the last election and before you introduced your failed bill."
Minister, who should we believe? Should we believe the Ontarians with Disabilities Act Committee or should we believe you, in light of your track record of failed legislation and broken promises?
Hon Ms Bassett: I might say to the member opposite, whom should we believe? You are saying, as you said at the press conference the other day, that you wanted us to sit down and introduce legislation in 10 days. Your leader sent a letter to the ODA Committee asking for two years to bring in legislation. In fact, your leader said, "Our goal is to complete this work during the first three years." So it's useless to ask, "Whom can we listen to?" , I say, whom can we listen to?
Mr Duncan: It's interesting to listen to the words twisted the way they've been twisted. Here's what you did, Minister. Here's what your record is, and you're the minister. You're the minister and you're the government. You took three years to introduce a substandard piece of legislation. It took five more months, up until last week, to admit that your legislation was worthless, and this in spite of all your protestations to the contrary.
The member for Sarnia remembers what happened in Sarnia when you were there. Other members on the Tory side who are laughing about this - they're laughing now, but believe me, they're going to hear in a couple of weeks. You've lost all the trust of the disabled community. You've had every chance in the world and you've blown them all. You've missed the boat.
Why don't we stop the sham? Why don't we take this to election and see who the people think is telling the truth in this sorry state of affairs?
Hon Ms Bassett: I would say we have not missed any boat. We brought forward a very valid piece of legislation that introduced a systematic plan for people with disabilities to make sure that barriers were broken down. Every single minister was required to review all the policies, programs and legislation in his or her ministry with a view to removing barriers and to present those to the Management Board for review every single year. This is the only way that you can go forward in a systematic way.
PAY EQUITY
Mr Howard Hampton (Rainy River): My question is for the Minister of Health, and it concerns this confidential memo in the ministry about funding pay equity. It says that you're not done trying to avoid paying the lowest paid women in the province the money they're due. First, you tried to avoid it and the courts said no. Now we find out we're going to pay those women who are entitled to proxy pay equity by taking money from other forms of pay equity. In other words, you're going to take money from Patricia to pay Pamela. That's what this discloses.
You've got no trouble finding money to give the wealthiest people in this province a tax cut, but when it comes to the lowest paid women in the province you're going to steal money from some low-paid women in order to cover off your obligations elsewhere. Minister, where are your priorities, paying those good, hard-working health care workers or looking after your wealthy friends?
Hon Elizabeth Witmer (Minister of Health): As the leader of the third party well knows, our government has made a commitment to pay equity. In fact the amount of money we are making available is more than any previous government has made available.
Mr Hampton: This is unbelievable. Over a year and a half ago, the courts told you that what you were trying to do was unconstitutional, and for a year and a half you've been forcing those lowest paid women who work in the health sector to wait for the money they're entitled to. That's your commitment. But this memo discloses something else. It gets worse. The memo discloses that you're only prepared to fund pay equity through the financial year 1998, but for 1999 and the year 2000 you have absolutely no commitment to pay equity.
Minister, I ask you again: What's your priority, a tax cut for the wealthiest people in the province, or all those hard-working people who work in the hospitals and the homes for the aged and who are low paid and deserve the money the courts told you to pay them?
Hon Mrs Witmer: Again I would remind the leader of the third party that the highest level of support that has ever been provided by any Ontario government for pay equity is being provided by our government. But I'd like to ask you a question, leader of the third party: Why did you introduce legislation in 1992 that delayed the implementation date of pay equity to 1998? Why did you not care about women?
The Speaker (Hon Chris Stockwell): Final supplementary, the member for Riverdale.
Ms Marilyn Churley (Riverdale): Minister, I don't think you even know what's going on in your own ministry. I wonder where this directive came from because I always had the impression that you at least in your party supported pay equity. It's clear today that you don't. No wonder women in droves are turning against this government and don't support you. You should know better.
The NDP platform very clearly states that we will live up to our pay equity law that was passed in 1993 and was not supported by the Liberals, or you by the way then, and was upheld by the courts when Mike Harris tried to get rid of it. Women know who's on their side and, Minister, they know it's not you or your Premier. I'm going to ask you: Don't evade the issue. We have the document in front of us here. These women, who do some of the most valuable work in our communities, are not getting the money you promised them. Will you commit today to pay out the money they're owed, yes or no?
Hon Mrs Witmer: Again I would ask you: Why did you as a government introduce legislation in 1992 that delayed the implementation date of pay equity until 1998? As you know full well, it was supposed to have been achieved in 1995. I would also ask you, why did you, under your social contract, strip $600 million from the wages of health care workers? Why did you strip $600 million?
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EDUCATION FUNDING
Mr Howard Hampton (Rainy River): My question is for the Minister of Education and Training. Your lawyers have successfully argued before the Ontario Court of Appeal that Catholic school boards have no right to levy taxes, that you have the right to set property tax rates behind closed doors and that you can tell school boards and local communities how they must spend their education dollars. That's the summary of the case that I think you've argued.
But last night, when more than 1,000 people gathered to hear how you've betrayed Catholic school supporters, the message that was received there was different. They were prepared to believe you when you said you would improve the funding for their children's schools, but now they know the truth. In the Toronto Catholic District School Board alone you're $10 million short.
You have won control for now. Will you use that control to adequately fund all of our schools or are you going to make parents choose between textbooks and teachers? How are you going to use that control now?
Hon David Johnson (Minister of Education and Training): The leader of the third party refers to the decision that came down today. I'm sure he has read the decision. At one place in the decision it says, referring to Bill 160, "It provides greater funding to separate schools than that previously available and it ensures that funding for education is distributed equitably to separate schools and public schools alike."
I think that is the key point in all this. That is what we have been saying, that each and every child in Ontario deserves the right to a high-quality education program, deserves exactly the same and equal opportunity to a high-quality education system in the province.
We have put more money into the classrooms across Ontario. We have distributed that money equitably and fairly across the province, in all the Catholic boards and all the public boards, in the French boards and the English boards, and I'm pleased that the decision today has supported the government's position in that matter.
Mr Hampton: Minister, what you're doing is equalizing down. You're not providing the funding that's needed; you're equalizing the funding down.
I wonder if you recognize this statement: "Keep school sites available...make school facilities available to communities so that parents and children everywhere can use the facilities the taxpayers have already paid for...." That statement is from the Mustard-McCain Early Years Study so warmly embraced last week by your Premier.
But you've already decided that you know better than local communities what should happen to those buildings. Your funding formula is forcing the Toronto District School Board to close 10 community schools. You refuse to recognize that there's any use to those schools, built by local taxpayers, beyond the hours of classroom education. Those 10 schools have five child care centres. Three of the schools are also home to parenting and family literacy centres, something the Early Years Study says is a great deal.
Minister, why are you persisting with a funding formula that forces school boards to dissolve valuable assets, approved and paid for by local communities, that will help make these Early Years recommendations come alive and provide the early childhood education that our children need?
Hon David Johnson: I'm just reading from a report in the Toronto Star today where Chair Nyberg says that the Toronto board doesn't like to sell, "Leasing is much more cost-effective." Apparently the Toronto board is not intending to dispose of their schools but to lease them out to other community uses, perhaps day care uses, recreational uses or other kinds of uses.
This is exactly what we have been saying to the school boards, that if they can find other uses to put into those schools to keep them within a community, this is great. We've been in support of that.
The Speaker (Hon Chris Stockwell): Final supplementary, member for Dovercourt.
Mr Tony Silipo (Dovercourt): It wasn't that long ago when you were telling the Toronto and other school boards they should just sell off all of those extra buildings, as you put it. The bottom line will still be that, because of your funding formula, they will not be used for what they were designed for, which is as schools and as centres for such things as child care and parenting centres, which is what they should be used for.
The reality is this: In my own west-end community of Toronto, families are devastated by the possible loss now of five public schools. Add to that the betrayal the Catholic parents so clearly told us about last night because of your funding formula. I will not be surprised if we also see the five other schools on the Catholic side that were slated to be closed come back on the list for possible closure. Again, we could see 10 or 11 schools, in a little part of west Toronto alone, having to face closure because of your funding formula. You're hearing that now from public school parents and from Catholic parents, all saying the same thing.
Minister, you've got your way for now. You won the court decision. Will you use the powers you have now to change the funding formula so that it provides adequate funding for the public and Catholic schools in this province?
Hon David Johnson: I just wonder where the member opposite was in 1994 when, under the NDP government, there were four schools closed here in Toronto. Where was the outrage at that time, when there were four schools closed in Toronto?
Interjections.
The Speaker: Minister.
Hon David Johnson: The chair of the Toronto school board has indicated on several occasions that over the past 20 years just in two of the municipalities alone, North York and Etobicoke, less than half of the area of Metropolitan Toronto, 70 schools have been closed through NDP governments, Tory governments, Liberal governments. As a matter of fact, when the Liberals were in power, 37 of those schools were closed.
Interjections.
The Speaker: Minister.
Hon David Johnson: The board is going through a normal process, looking apparently at 10 schools. None of them may close; some of them may close. They may find alternative uses for those schools, which I think would be great. These are decisions that boards have made over a period of time, any number of years, and they're going through exactly the same process here today.
IPPERWASH PROVINCIAL PARK
Mr Gerry Phillips (Scarborough-Agincourt): My question is to the Attorney General, the minister responsible for native affairs. Ontario wants to know the truth of what happened at the shooting death of Dudley George at Ipperwash. We will only find that out through a full public inquiry. The concern is that the evidence is disappearing. The privacy commissioner disclosed to us that on April 19 a senior government official was transferred, and that very day his electronic files were destroyed. We asked Minister Runciman why that happened, and he said this: "Indeed we are concerned about the loss of these files in terms of our ability to retain very important and critical files. I share your concern with respect to that. The current deputy has initiated a review of this situation and a review of the retention policy."
My question to the minister responsible for native affairs is, now that, I assume, that review has been completed, have you discovered whether or not any other Ipperwash files have been destroyed?
Hon Charles Harnick (Attorney General, minister responsible for native affairs): Certainly everything that has been requested by way of freedom of information requests has been produced. There is a full record of that documentation. We have co-operated and will continue to co-operate with the Information and Privacy Commissioner in that regard, as we have done to date.
Mr Phillips: That's not the question. The question is, have any other files been destroyed or not? That's the question. Minister Runciman made an undertaking to review. He said that he agreed these were crucial files. He was upset they had been destroyed. This is evidence, clear evidence that we will need in a full public inquiry, destroyed. The day that this person left the office the electronic files were destroyed. The minister undertook on behalf of the government to review this, to find out if any other files were destroyed or not and to give us an update. My question is this: You are responsible for our affairs with our First Nations. You have this responsibility. Tell me what you have done about this and can you guarantee the House that there have been no other Ipperwash files destroyed?
Hon Mr Harnick: As I've said, to the best of my knowledge, the record is complete. The freedom of information documentation that's been requested has been turned over in the course of a civil action. There are exchanges of documentation taking place. The record is complete and I have no further information.
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DOMESTIC ABUSE
Mr Howard Hampton (Rainy River): My question is for the minister responsible for women's issues. Your Premier is out today on the campaign trail churning out more rhetoric about law and order, and your government talks tough about law and order but the truth is you've failed to protect the most vulnerable people in this province, in this case, women and children who are victims of domestic violence. On Tuesday, April 20, Sabrina Benkartoussa and her sister were killed by Sabrina's estranged husband. He then killed himself. We have learned that the estranged husband had five charges against him: assault, assault with a weapon, assault causing bodily harm and two charges of uttering death threats, but when he appeared before the College Park court a month ago, the justice of the peace released him on bail.
The Speaker (Hon Chris Stockwell): Question.
Mr Hampton: We hear your Premier's empty rhetoric. We want to know what went wrong. You've got 213 recommendations from the May-Iles inquiry. How many crown attorneys -
The Speaker: Thank you.
Hon Dianne Cunningham (Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, minister responsible for women's issues): Mr Speaker, I would refer that to the Attorney General.
Hon Charles Harnick (Attorney General, minister responsible for native affairs): Certainly we have begun a process of implementation of the May-Iles recommendations. There is a joint committee on domestic violence looking at the day-to-day operation of the implementation. We have implemented a safety first audit. We have DART programs that are operating around the province and expanding. We have eight specialized domestic violence courts that have been created. Bail courts exist and we have increased the number of counsel, lawyers, crown attorneys, in the bail courts when they deal with these issues. We have had extensive crown training programs. We have had training programs for crown attorneys on issues of firearms. We've had training programs dealing with children's lawyers. We have been involved in a training process for court clerks.
The Speaker: Answer.
Hon Mr Harnick: Certainly we have maintained and increased resources to the crown attorney's office to deal with these issues and the May-Iles implementation -
The Speaker: Thank you. Supplementary, member for Riverdale.
Ms Marilyn Churley (Riverdale): Minister responsible for women's issues, the words we just heard aren't good enough. It's words. We're seeing more words and not enough action. Your government talks about protecting children, but you try telling that to the seven-month-old baby who no longer has a mother or a father as a result of that killing.
On Friday there was another murder-suicide. Halina Deborah Abraham was killed by her former partner who then killed himself. What are you doing to protect the five-year-old child of those people? Also on Friday, Melissa Pajkowski was killed by her ex-boyfriend who then tried to kill himself.
Minister, that's a lot of women dead in one week, a lot of children and family and friends killed in one week in just Toronto alone. It's enough to make you cry, isn't it? But tears aren't enough. You've had these recommendations for more than a year. We are tired of pilot projects and empty rhetoric. These women are now dead. We want you to take action. Minister, will you just get on with the job? Tell us what went wrong here and recommend getting on with those recommendations today.
Hon Mr Harnick: Among all the ministries that are involved in the implementation of May-Iles, approximately 80% of the recommendations have been implemented or are in the course of being implemented. The balance of the issues will be implemented. The jury indicated and recognized that it would take a significant period of time to do all this.
We created eight specialized domestic assault violence courts which are dedicated to prosecuting these kinds of terrible issues. We've expanded the use of domestic assault review teams. We've enhanced training on domestic violence and sexual assault for crown attorneys. We've doubled the number of assistant crown attorneys in our busiest bail courts. We've doubled the number of victim/witness assistance programs.
We are taking significant steps to implement the recommendations of the May-Iles inquest and we will continue to do so. We will continue to work with crown attorneys, to work with police services, to work with community groups to make sure that we do everything we can to deal with this very difficult and very serious problem.
Mr Tony Ruprecht (Parkdale): On a point of order, Mr Speaker: I just wanted to point out that we have the former member for Parkdale-High Park with us, Mr Jesse Flis.
ASSISTANCE TO FARMERS
Mr Jack Carroll (Chatham-Kent): My question is for the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. As you know, Minister, I along with several of my colleagues have urged you and the Minister of Finance to extend the rebate on provincial sales tax for farm building materials.
On behalf of the residents of Chatham-Kent and the hard-working greenhouse growers of Leamington and Essex, my thanks to you and the Minister of Finance.
As you know, Minister, strong leadership by this government has produced many -
Mr Bud Wildman (Algoma): He's looking puzzled.
Mr David Christopherson (Hamilton Centre): This is Oscar stuff.
The Speaker (Hon Chris Stockwell): Hold on. Let's keep a little order. It's hard to hear the question.
Interjections.
The Speaker: I heard that.
Member for Chatham.
Mr Carroll: As you know, the strong leadership of this government has produced many tax cuts, I believe about 69 in total. Would you share with us the province-wide impact of this particular rebate on sales tax on farm building materials?
Hon Noble Villeneuve (Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, minister responsible for francophone affairs): I want to thank my colleague from Chatham-Kent for being a very strong supporter of the agri-food industry not only in Chatham-Kent but in all of southwestern Ontario.
I am pleased that since May 1996 the rebate on capital construction at the farm level has totalled some $21 million, and that is supporting some $250 million into farm construction and farm improvements. Certainly, it's good news for Ontario, $21 million being returned to the farmers of Ontario. This was initiated by this government and we are looking to make it a permanent rebate on taxes. This is certainly good news for the farmers of Ontario.
Mr Carroll: Thanks, Minister, for that good news. I guess we can summarize that the strong leadership of our Premier and people like yourself has generated the many tax cuts for the province, and those tax cuts of course translate into jobs and prosperity.
Over and above this particular tax cut, can you share with us any other initiatives that your ministry has put forward to help expand the very important agri-food industry in Ontario?
Interjections.
Hon Mr Villeneuve: I'm a bit disappointed that somehow or other the opposition doesn't take this very seriously. It is very serious business to the farmers of Ontario. We have increased our exports to $6.3 billion in the last calendar year. It's an increase by almost 10%.
Certainly the member for Chatham-Kent is a strong supporter of -
Interjection.
The Speaker: The member for Kingston and The Islands.
Hon Mr Villeneuve: The member for Kingston and The Islands seems to think it's a big joke. I feel very sad about that, because the greenhouse industry in the area that's represented by my colleague from Chatham-Kent is increasing by some 20% a year. Thanks to the rebate on the sales tax to capital construction, this has promoted this kind of construction. We are shipping from the Leamington area tractor-trailer loads of tomatoes and cucumbers every day and we're certainly proud of that. Most of them are going to the United States of America.
The Speaker: New question, member for Hamilton East.
Mr Bruce Crozier (Essex South): You could have announced it four months before that and you sat on it.
Hon Mr Villeneuve: If you are against it, Bruce, say it.
Mr Crozier: I am in favour of it. I wrote a letter to you.
Interjections.
The Speaker: Order.
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DRIVE CLEAN
Mr Dominic Agostino (Hamilton East): My question is to the Minister of the Environment, if I can ask you about your Drive Clean program.
What we have seen is nothing but totally inept mishandling of this program by your ministry. We're seeing horror stories day after day about your pre-testing scam where mechanics rip off consumers who go in to get their vehicles tested for emissions and then come out with bills of $1,000 or $2,000.
Can you tell me how you've managed, through mishandling and incompetence, to screw up such a good program and allow consumers to get ripped off every day in the province?
Hon Norman W. Sterling (Minister of the Environment, Government House Leader): I'm sorry about the lack of support by the Liberal Party for this very important program to clean our air here in the province. We heard from the Liberal government way back in 1988 that there was going to be a program to test motor vehicles. What happened? Nothing. Nothing happened during their reign.
This is one of the most comprehensive programs in all of North America. We're going to be testing 120,000 vehicles each and every month under this program. We're going to be testing every car and light truck, every heavy-duty truck, every bus in this province over the next year. It's a very comprehensive program. We have 600 Drive Clean facilities across this province and we are endeavouring to do this in the cleanest, most consumer-oriented fashion possible.
Mr Agostino: Minister, you have totally ignored the fact of the rip-offs that are occurring as a result of your incompetence in handling this program. Consumers have been ripped off $500, $1,000, $2,000 every time they go there because of this pre-test that you've put into place.
You also have included a tax grab in this program: $10 out of every $30 goes back to your government to administer the program. That's a $12.5-million tax grab that your government has put in through the backdoor that hurts Ontarians every day.
You've conveniently excluded taxis from this program. Your trucks and buses don't kick in until September.
Very clearly you have shown that you can take a good idea and through incompetence, through not knowing what you're doing, you have managed to screw it up badly.
What do you say to the consumers who have been ripped off by your program, senior citizens who go in and come out with a $1,000 bill as a result of what you've done and the fact that you have put in no real mechanisms to protect them? Again, can I ask you how you've managed to take such a good idea and screw it up through your incompetence and your government's incompetence with this program?
Hon Mr Sterling: Both parties urged this government to implement this program. As soon as the rubber hits the road they back off and they say that they can't support the implementation of this program.
There have been allegations about some kind of rip-off artists. I have not had one reference from this member's office about an individual. We will investigate any problems. We will deal strictly with anybody who is attempting to rip off any consumer in this province with regard to this program.
We are walking the talk. We refuse to slip back into talking the talk, as this party did when it was in power.
CANCER TREATMENT
Mr Tony Martin (Sault Ste Marie): My question is for the Minister of Health. Minister, you are probably aware that a lot of work has been done over the last year in Sault Ste Marie and Algoma to make a case for the placing of satellite radiation therapy in our city. We've gotten support from the Canadian Cancer Society, from local physicians and from Cancer Care Ontario. Even the Cancer Care Ontario northeastern region council has approved the application for this service. When the Health Services Restructuring Commission came to Sault Ste Marie to talk about the new configuration of our hospitals, it gave the green light to the hospital to begin the process of working with the ministry to have this service located in our city.
Today I bring with me the phenomenal number of 28,188 petitions, signed by people from 10 Algoma municipalities, and some 135 letters just to share with you how serious we are about the need for this service in our community.
While you're answering the question as to what the ministry's response will be to this request, I am going to send these petitions and letters over to you with the pages. There is also a letter from the chair of the task force, Linda Watt, to go with it.
Hon Elizabeth Witmer (Minister of Health): As the member knows, the Health Services Restructuring Commission issued its final directions about a month ago. The ministry is presently in a position where it is reviewing the report, as it has done in the case of all of the commission's final directives, and in the future hopes to be in a position where it will make an announcement as to the responses to the commission.
Mr Martin: Thank you very much, Minister. We know in Sault Ste Marie of the co-operative efforts that are going on behind the scenes to make sure that this initiative actually happens and that Sault Ste Marie in the very near future will be the new home for a satellite radiation therapy service.
Some 100 people have worked very diligently to collect the petitions that I have just sent over, people like Peter Vaudry, Linda Watt, Mary Ellen Clarke, Dr David Wall and Anthony Ubaldi, to name just a few. They would be much interested today in perhaps some explanation from you as to the time lines. Just when will you be looking at this, when do you think you'll be ready to make an announcement and when will we in Sault Ste Marie and Algoma no longer have to travel the long distances we now have to travel to Sudbury and other places to get this very important and essential service?
Hon Mrs Witmer: I guess what this points out is the fact that the commission has taken a very careful look at your community. They have specifically taken a look to determine what programs are most appropriate. It was unfortunate that this task had not been undertaken by prior governments.
However, as you know, not only did they recommend the cancer bunker, but they've also indicated there is a need for reinvestment to the tune of $45.6 million in capital and $17.2 million in programs. That includes additional money for long-term care, for home care, for rehabilitation and sub-acute care. Again, the ministry is presently reviewing the final directions from the commission, and we hope to soon be in a position where we can make a response.
As I say, this was long overdue, our government did make the tough decisions and we will be issuing our final response soon.
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YOUTH JUSTICE COMMITTEES
Mr Tim Hudak (Niagara South): My question is to the Attorney General. Minister, for some time the people of Port Colborne have been pushing for a youth justice committee. They feel it's an appropriate way for the community to have a hands-on role in the administration of the justice system for youth in the Niagara Peninsula. In fact, the crime commission was down and heard that very thing from the people of Port Colborne. It has been very well received in the community, but there are still a few questions I face from time to time on how the youth justice committees operate. Could the Attorney General please explain to the House how the youth justice committees will help fight youth crime?
Hon Charles Harnick (Attorney General, minister responsible for native affairs): I'd like to thank the member for Niagara South for the credit and also thank him for his help in developing some enthusiasm for this program.
As you're aware, I recently announced six new youth justice committees that will be operating as pilot projects in Port Colborne, Barrie, Cornwall, Kitchener, Ottawa and Scarborough. These committees will involve members of the community who will meet with young offenders who have committed a first-time minor offence. They will develop with that young offender the appropriate response to their actions so the community can be paid back, so the victim can receive an apology and so ordinary citizens in the community will be able to hold young offenders more accountable for their actions.
This, we believe, will help ensure that young offenders will face the proper consequences for their actions and hopefully avoid a life of crime.
Mr Hudak: I think one of the reasons why the Wainfleet-Port Colborne Healthy Lifestyles Committee and the people of Port Colborne really pushed for the youth justice committees was because they felt it was a very effective way to reduce recidivism. They also felt it an important way to have a hands-on role in the justice system locally. In fact, they would say that other provinces that have tried youth justice committees have found that they have an important impact on reducing reoffending.
Could the minister inform the House of what evidence exists to help reduce recidivism?
Hon Mr Harnick: In the provinces of Manitoba and Alberta, youth justice committees have been operating for some time. It has been the experience of those programs that the recidivism rate drops considerably when a youth justice committee is involved with minor first-time offenders.
The previous government had a project in Cornwall that I think will be somewhat similar to the pilot projects that we will be developing. We've obviously used the good work that was done in Cornwall to understand that the recidivism rate is significantly less as a result of the use of youth justice committees. In Cornwall, 300 cases have been reviewed and only 33 -
Interjection.
Hon Mr Harnick: I gave you credit, if you were listening.
Only 33 people reoffended. That is about half of the reoffender rate.
The Speaker (Hon Chris Stockwell): Answer.
Hon Mr Harnick: I think the Cornwall project - Mr Hampton would like some compliment about this, and I'll give him another compliment, because it is -
The Speaker: Member for Sudbury.
Interjection.
The Speaker: You're finished.
Interjections.
The Speaker: Hold on. Would the member for Grey-Owen Sound come to order.
ONTARIO BUSINESS COLLEGE
Mr Rick Bartolucci (Sudbury): My question is to the Minister of Education and Training. Yesterday the Ontario Business College was placed in receivership at its 12 locations across the province. Unless a suitable buyer is found, the college will close its doors, leaving 1,484 students high and dry. Your Ontario student assistance program will not take any calls from these students. Instead, OSAP is referring all calls back to the financial aid offices at the 12 colleges. Panic-stricken students are asking important questions which will affect their careers and ultimately their lives, and no one is giving them the answers.
Since OSAP is refusing to take their calls and since the financial aid offices can't give them the answers, what guarantees are you, as the minister responsible, going to provide these students with respect to their course completion, their investments in tuition and their OSAP loans?
Hon David Johnson (Minister of Education and Training): The member for Sudbury is raising an important issue with regard to a particular private school with a large number of students across the province of Ontario. The assurance I will give to him is that the ministry staff is working very closely with the officials from this particular school. The ministry is aware of the seriousness of the situation, the urgency of the situation.
My understanding is that there are some potential buyers involved that would take over the situation and that the students' education would be carried on as normal in that event. That's certainly what the attempts are geared towards, to ensure that the students who are enrolled here get the value for their money and get the education they need, and all of those attempts and all of that work is taking place as we speak.
Mr Bartolucci: Minister, when an institution like the Ontario Business College opens its doors and asks for a year's tuition up front, it assumes the public trust. When you, as the minister responsible, approve OSAP loans for those courses, you as the minister assume the public trust as well.
Terry Gordon from Sudbury wants to know the status of the $6,500 investment he made for the computer program course he's taking. Lisa Defousses from Windsor wonders how she'll feed her three children, because she's not sure what the status of her OSAP loan is. There are some students, as you know, who have paid $13,995 for a massage therapy course; $8,995 for a police foundations course. There are staff who don't know whether or not they'll be having a paycheque on Friday.
Minister, they want some guarantees from you. They know there are negotiations going on, but they want some guarantees from you with regard to course completion, with regard to their investment in tuition and with regard to OSAP loans. Please give them some hope. Give them some type of guarantee today.
Hon David Johnson: The private schools in the province of Ontario are very important in terms of the education system. There are literally tens of thousands of students involved in all of the various private schools. Of course they complement to a certain degree the public colleges and public universities where there are over 400,000 students in the province.
Again, the assurance I will give is that while this is a matter that has just recently cropped up, the ministry staff had been involved immediately once the circumstances of the situation were known. The ministry staff are working very diligently with the principals involved. The ministry staff are working as hard as they can to ensure that each and every student has the education that they deserve and that they paid for through this particular private college.
TRANSIT SERVICES
Mr Howard Hampton (Rainy River): My question is for the Minister of Transportation. I want to quote to the minister something he said during the Toronto transit strike. He said people shouldn't be as dependent on public transit and that, "If you rely too much on public transit, then everything grinds to a halt."
We're wondering what world you live in, because transport studies show that if you didn't have GO Transit - never mind the TTC - you'd have to build 13 extra lanes of highway into Toronto and out.
Minister, how many Spadina Expressways are you going to build so that people are less dependent on transit?
Hon Tony Clement (Minister of Transportation): His riding is safe from a Spadina Road. But I can also tell the honourable member that I am a full supporter of public transit, as is my government. I think if the honourable member will check the record, what I was trying to convey perhaps -
Interjections.
The Speaker (Hon Chris Stockwell): I am having a great deal of difficulty hearing the minister.
Hon Mr Clement: What I'd like to repeat, as part of the interview, to this House is that I said simply that all great urban municipalities have a mix of transportation nodes or modes. It includes public transit. It includes regional transit. It includes the automobile as well as other forms of transportation. That is the test of a great city, that it has a mix of public transit or private transit available to the individuals in that city.
1450
I believe that our government has put its money where its mouth is. We have just recently given $106 million to GO Transit for capital needs. We wrote a cheque last year for $829 million to the TTC for the completion of the Sheppard subway system. Those are real dollars from the taxpayers that the opposition seems to discount or not to care about. We have put our money where our mouth is, and I support the government policy on that issue.
The Speaker: Supplementary, the member for Dovercourt.
Mr Tony Silipo (Dovercourt): I'm glad the minister is now reconsidering his position but there's no mistaking the impression he left with his own words on that radio program. He very clearly left the impression that in Toronto we were relying too much on public transit, because he said, "If you rely too much on public transit, then everything grinds to a halt." So what are people supposed to take from that? It may very well explain why his government downloaded $160 million in annual transit costs on to the city of Toronto despite the minister's previous statements.
Perhaps that's why we had a two-day transit strike that his government did nothing to resolve. Quite frankly, it took the NDP, the third party in this House, to get you out of the mess and to do the work that your Premier and your Minister of Labour should have done.
I don't know if what you'd like is that public transit should just go away or if you think it's some kind of socialist plot, but it's here to stay and it needs your support. Is it a question that you really dislike public transit so much or that you just think giving your wealthy friends a tax cut is more important than funding public transit in Toronto and throughout the greater Toronto area?
Hon Mr Clement: The answer to both halves of the honourable member's question is no, neither. The proper answer, and I think it's representative in the government's actions over the last four years, is that we want to make sure there is a strong, integrated, vibrant public transit system in the greater Toronto area.
That's why there's a Greater Toronto Services Board that can integrate public transit for the first time in the history of Ontario across regional lines. That's why we are giving those tools to the local municipalities, so that they can integrate transit. That's why we've put our money where our mouth is on $829 million worth of capital for the TTC and $106 million worth of capital for GO Transit.
I am quite happy to stand on our record when it comes to public transit and I know that the honourable member should work with us, as he did last week, to make sure that it succeeds for the people of Ontario.
PETITIONS
GASOLINE PRICES
Mr Rick Bartolucci (Sudbury): "To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:
"Whereas we, the consumers, feel gas prices are too high throughout Ontario;
"Whereas we, the consumers, support the Ontario Liberal caucus's attempt to have the Mike Harris government introduce predatory gas pricing legislation;
"Whereas we, the consumers, want the Mike Harris government to act so that the consumer can get a break at the pumps rather than going broke at them;
"Whereas we, the consumers, are fuming at being hosed at the pumps and want Mike Harris to gauge our anger;
"Furthermore, we, the consumers, want Mike Harris to know we want to be able to go to the pumps and fill our gas tanks without emptying our pockets;
"Therefore, we petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to introduce predatory gas pricing legislation in order to control the amount of money we, the consumers, are forced to pay at the gas pumps."
Of course, I affix my signature to that petition.
EDUCATION FUNDING
Mr Alex Cullen (Ottawa West): My petition is to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, signed by residents in Ottawa West.
"Whereas the government of Ontario has imposed a politically motivated funding formula that will force the closure of hundreds of schools across Ontario;
"Whereas the only reason for the funding formula is to justify removing more than $1 billion from the education system so that the wealthiest Ontarians can get a tax break;
"Whereas the schools are the heart of our communities and to close schools would be to cut out the heart of our communities;
"Whereas a properly funded, quality education system is critical to the well-being of the children of this province and the future of the province itself;
"We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:
"That the government of Ontario scrap the funding formula and save our schools by properly funding public education, starting with the return of more than $1 billion taken out of education by the government of Ontario."
I am proud to affix my signature to it.
ABORTION
Mr Marcel Beaubien (Lambton): I have a petition addressed to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario that's been signed by approximately 100 people and it reads as follows:
"Whereas the Ontario health system is overburdened and unnecessary spending must be cut; and
"Whereas pregnancy is not a disease, injury or illness and abortions are not therapeutic procedures; and
"Whereas the vast majority of abortions are done for reasons of convenience or finance; and
"Whereas the province has the exclusive authority to determine what services will be insured; and
"Whereas the Canada Health Act does not require funding for elective procedures; and
"Whereas there is mounting evidence that abortion is in fact hazardous to women's health; and
"Whereas Ontario taxpayers funded over 45,000 abortions in 1993 at an estimated cost of $25 million;
"Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to cease from providing any taxpayers' dollars for the performance of abortions."
The Speaker (Hon Chris Stockwell): Petitions. The photogenic member for St Catharines.
Mr James J. Bradley (St Catharines): Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.
GOVERNMENT ADVERTISING
Mr James J. Bradley (St Catharines): This is a petition to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.
"Whereas essential public services have been deprived of government funding because the Conservative government of Mike Harris has diverted these funds to self-serving political propaganda ads in the form of pamphlets delivered to homes, newspaper advertisements and radio and TV commercials;
"Whereas the Harris government advertising blitz is a blatant abuse of public office and a shameful waste of taxpayers' dollars;
"Whereas the Harris Conservatives ran on a platform of eliminating what it referred to as government waste and unnecessary expenditures while it squanders over $100 million on clearly partisan advertising;
"We, the undersigned, call upon the Conservative government of Mike Harris to immediately end their abuse of public office and terminate any further expenditure on political advertising."
I add my signature to this petition, as I'm in complete agreement with all of the sentiments that are expressed in this petition.
The Speaker: Thank you so much. Petitions.
Mr David Christopherson (Hamilton Centre): Speaker, I think you did that without blushing too.
PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITALS
Mr David Christopherson (Hamilton Centre): A petition to save the Hamilton Psychiatric Hospital.
"To the Honourable Lieutenant Governor and the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:
"We, the undersigned citizens of Hamilton and the surrounding communities, beg leave to petition the government of Ontario as follows:
"Whereas the Health Services Restructuring Commission has announced the closure of the Hamilton Psychiatric Hospital; and
"Whereas the government of Ontario, through the Health Services Restructuring Commission, is divesting its responsibility for mental health care without any consultation with the people of Hamilton-Wentworth; and
"Whereas the Hamilton Psychiatric Hospital has a reputation for excellence and is a leader in providing mental health care services and many unique programs; and
"Whereas in 1998 the American Psychiatric Association awarded their gold award to the Hamilton Psychiatric Hospital for its program on mood disorders; and
"Whereas both city and regional councils oppose the closure and more than 30,000 people have signed petitions opposing the hospital's closure; and
"Whereas the people of Hamilton-Wentworth will pay the price when the Harris government shuts down the Hamilton Psychiatric Hospital;
"Therefore we, the people of Hamilton-Wentworth who care about quality, accessibility and publicly accountable mental health care, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to keep the Hamilton Psychiatric Hospital site open and deliver the services and programs from that location."
I proudly add my name to those of these Hamilton petitioners.
EDUCATION FUNDING
Mr John O'Toole (Durham East): Recently I met with members of the Christian school community, John Vanasselt, George Petrusma and Fred Spoelstra from Durham Christian High School and they presented me with this petition, which I might add I support.
"Whereas this government has undertaken to reform the system of education to ensure fair funding for Ontario's children; and
"Whereas the Supreme Court of Canada has stated that the province could, if it so chooses, pass legislation extending funding to denominational schools other than Roman Catholic schools without infringing the rights guaranteed Roman Catholic separate schools; and
"Whereas providing our children with an excellent education consistent with our cultural and religious beliefs is a necessity and not a matter of preference; and
"Whereas independent schools successfully educate children across the entire spectrum of learning abilities and special needs; and
"Whereas all children of taxpaying Ontario parents deserve to have funding distributed in a manner that does not discriminate against those not using the public Catholic schools;
"Therefore we, the undersigned citizens and taxpayers of Ontario, respectfully request that the government take immediate steps to extend fair funding to all students of the province."
I will affix my name to this petition.
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PORNOGRAPHY
Mr John C. Cleary (Cornwall): I have a petition signed by 130 residents from the greater Cornwall area. Many of these signatures were collected by Frances O'Dair from the Catholic Women's League at the St Columban's parish.
To the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:
"Whereas children are exposed to pornography in variety stores and video retail outlets;
"Whereas bylaws vary from city to city and have failed to protect minors from unwanted exposure to pornography;
"We, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario as follows:
"To enact legislation which will create uniform standards in Ontario to prevent minors from being exposed to pornography in retail outlets; prevent minors from entering establishments which rent or sell pornography; restrict the location of such establishments to non-residential areas."
I've also siged by name to that petition.
ROAD SAFETY
Mr Alex Cullen (Ottawa West): I have a petition dealing with red light cameras to make high collision intersections safer, an issue very important in Ottawa-Carleton.
"To the Legislature of Ontario:
"Whereas red light cameras can dramatically assist in reducing the number of injuries and deaths resulting from red light runners; and
"Whereas red light cameras can only take pictures of licence plates, thus reducing privacy concerns; and
"Whereas all revenues from violations can be easily directed to a designated fund to improve safety at high-collision intersections; and
"Whereas there is a growing disregard for traffic laws, resulting in serious injury to pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and especially children and seniors; and
"Whereas the provincial government has endorsed the use of a similar camera system to collect tolls on the new Highway 407 tollway; and
"Whereas mayors and concerned citizens across Ontario have been seeking permission to deploy these cameras due to limited police resources;
"We, the undersigned, petition the Legislature of Ontario as follows:
"That the province of Ontario support the installation of red light cameras at high-collision intersections to monitor and prosecute motorists who run red lights."
I am proud to affix my signature to this.
PROTECTION FOR HEALTH CARE WORKERS
Mr Bob Wood (London South): I have a petition signed by 75 people:
"Whereas nurses in Ontario often experience coercion to participate in practices which directly contravene their deeply held ethical standards; and
"Whereas pharmacists in Ontario are often pressured to dispense and/or sell chemicals or devices contrary to their moral or religious beliefs; and
"Whereas public health workers in Ontario are expected to assist in providing controversial services and promoting controversial materials against their consciences; and
"Whereas physicians in Ontario often experience pressure to give referrals for medications, treatments and/or procedures which they believe to be gravely immoral; and
"Whereas competent health care workers and students in various health care disciplines in Ontario have been denied training, employment, continued employment and advancement in their intended fields and suffered other forms of unjust discrimination because of the dictates of their consciences; and
"Whereas the health care workers experiencing such unjust discrimination have at present no practical and accessible legal means to protect themselves;
"We, the undersigned, urge the government of Ontario to enact legislation explicitly recognizing the freedom of conscience of health care workers, prohibiting coercion of and unjust discrimination against health care workers because of their refusal to participate in matters contrary to the dictates of their consciences and establishing penalties for such coercion and unjust discrimination."
VISITING SPECIALIST CLINICS
Mr Michael A. Brown (Algoma-Manitoulin): I have a petition signed by literally hundreds of people from Algoma-Manitoulin. It says:
"To the Legislature of Ontario:
"Whereas the objective of the visiting specialist clinic program is to provide specialty services in communities where the population base cannot support a full-time specialist and where specialty services are established more than 40 kilometres away from those communities; and
"Whereas communities in Algoma-Manitoulin, including Espanola, Manitoulin Island, Elliot Lake, Blind River, Chapleau, Wawa, Hornepayne and Manitouwadge are situated great distances from the nearest established specialty services and travelling such distances poses undue hardship on people requiring these services; and
"Whereas the Ministry of Health is to withdraw funding for specialist support staff, seriously threatening the clinic program; and
"Whereas funding by the Ministry of Health for travel grants would far outweigh the costs to the ministry of providing support staff funding;
"We, the undersigned, petition the Legislature of Ontario to restore funding for support staff for the visiting specialist clinic program."
FIRE IN HAMILTON
Mr David Christopherson (Hamilton Centre): I have a petition to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario that reads as follows:
"Whereas two years ago, Hamilton was the site of one of the worst environmental disasters in Ontario; and
"Whereas the Plastimet fire raged for three days in a residential area of Hamilton, releasing furans, large quantities of heavy metals and other dangerous chemicals and consuming 400 tonnes of plastic, including polyvinyl chloride, PVC, which releases extremely toxic substances, such as dioxins, which are thought to cause cancer and disruptions to endocrine systems; and
"Whereas the city of Hamilton declared a state of emergency and a one-day evacuation of area residents because of fears about airborne toxins; and
"Whereas the government has cut funding to the Ministry of the Environment by more than 35% and laid off more than 750 people who worked to protect our environment; and
"Whereas we urgently need a public inquiry to find whether these cuts played a role in causing the Plastimet fire, whether the evacuation process was adequate, if residents and workers received adequate warning of the danger, are there ways to improve responses to these life-threatening fires and how to prevent the nightmare of other Plastimet fires in all our communities; and
"Whereas for the past two years the Harris government has steadfastly refused to hold such a public inquiry or listen to municipalities, labour organizations, environmental groups and firefighter organizations, who have all urged the government to hold a public inquiry; and
"Whereas the Harris Conservative government has allowed corporate polluters to operate with virtual impunity in a climate of deregulation or industry self-regulation, along with cuts to monitoring and enforcement mechanisms;
"Therefore we, the undersigned, petition the Legislative Assembly of Ontario to put the safety and health of the people of Hamilton before the interests of corporate polluters and immediately hold a full public inquiry into the Plastimet fire."
I continue to support these Hamilton petitioners.
SCHOOL CLOSURES
Mr Toby Barrett (Norfolk): I've received names on petitions from farms and towns in my riding, including Courtland, La Salette, Langton, Cedarville and Windham Centre concerning schools.
"Whereas the closing of Delhi District Secondary School would be disastrous to our town identity; and
"Whereas such closure would be a direct consequence of the creation of a new Catholic high school in Simcoe, we, the undersigned, petition the Harris government to intervene and direct the Grand Erie public and the Brant/Haldimand-Norfolk Catholic school boards to work together to ensure the continued existence of Delhi District Secondary School and other surrounding Norfolk secondary schools."
I affix my name to this petition.
GOVERNMENT ADVERTISING
Mr John Gerretsen (Kingston and The Islands): I've got a very important petition here for the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. It states:
"Whereas essential public services have been deprived of government funding because the Conservative government of Mike Harris has diverted these funds to self-serving political propaganda in the form of pamphlets delivered to homes, newspaper advertisements and radio and television commercials; and
"Whereas the Harris government advertising blitz is a blatant abuse of public office and a shameful waste of taxpayers' dollars; and
"Whereas the Harris Conservatives ran on a platform of eliminating what it referred to as government waste and unnecessary expenditures while it squandered over $100 million on clearly partisan advertising;
"We, the undersigned, call upon the Conservative government of Mike Harris to immediately end this abuse of public office and terminate any further expenditure on political advertising."
I have signed this petition as well.
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ORDERS OF THE DAY
THRONE SPEECH DEBATE
Resuming the adjourned debate on the motion for an address in reply to the speech of Her Honour the Lieutenant Governor at the opening of the session.
Mr Dalton McGuinty (Leader of the Opposition): I want to take the opportunity today to address this Legislature at some length, because I believe it is likely the last time I'll have the privilege of doing so before a provincial election. So I want to take the time to take a look back over the past four years, but I think, more importantly, to take a look ahead at the next four years, and in fact even beyond that.
Our province is, for all intents and purposes, a very different place today than it was just a few short years ago. We've gone from a province whose system of publicly funded universal health care was second to none to a province where we can no longer count on basic health and nursing care. We've gone from a province that used to boast about the fact that in Ontario any student who worked hard and made the grade could afford to go to university; we've gone to a province that is locking its doors to higher education to all but the sons and daughters of our richest citizens. We've gone from a province where parents chose public schools because they knew the quality of education was as good as any education that money could buy; we've gone to a province where enrolment in private schools is skyrocketing. We've gone from a province with a debt of $87 billion to a province with a debt that is about to exceed $110 billion, thanks to the Harris government.
This last piece of information, Madam Speaker, you will know comes as a real shock to most Ontarians, because the natural assumption is made that the angst, the anxiety, the anguish, the pain and the instability we have gone through when it comes to our health care and our education are made up for on the fiscal front. People like to think that at least the Harris government has made advances on the fiscal front. I can tell them that they have not. In fact, what they have done is they've added $23 billion to the provincial debt. They borrowed roughly $10 billion to give Ontarians a tax cut. The additional debt load works out to about $7,500 in additional debt for each and every Ontario family.
I think it's particularly telling that despite a booming economy, thanks largely to sustained economic growth south of the border, the Harris government continues to receive the same poor credit rating today as the NDP received after five years of one of the worst economic recessions in the history of this province. Unlike Mike Harris, "just as good as the NDP" is not a slogan that I would be proud to campaign on.
Mike Harris likes to say that he has made the tough decisions, and while it's true that the last four years have been especially tough on our hospitals and our schools, the decisions made by Mike Harris weren't tough; they were wrong. Mike Harris damaged patient care by cutting funding to our hospitals, firing nurses and turning our emergency rooms into waiting rooms. That wasn't tough; it was wrong. He has hurt our children by closing schools, cutting classroom spending and turning education into a battleground. That wasn't tough; it was wrong. He has threatened our future by adding $23 billion to the provincial debt, increasing property taxes and introducing new user fees. That wasn't tough; it was wrong.
The Harris agenda works for the wealthy few, the Premier's closest friends and advisers and high-priced consultants. They can buy their health care and decent education for their kids, but the rest of us want a new direction. The rest of us want an Ontario where we can all succeed, and that's what the 20/20 Plan is all about: It's a clear vision for Ontario's future.
Unlike Mike Harris's short-sighted approach to health care, education and the province's finances, our 20/20 Plan lays out what we'll do to make certain that Ontario works for each and every Ontarian, not just for the next five or 10 years but right through the year 2020.
I'm going to speak at some length about the contents of our plan today, but I want to outline very briefly what we cover in this plan - eight areas that are vital to our future - and I'll be concentrating on four: health care, education, colleges and universities, of course our fiscal plan, the environment, homelessness, strong and safe communities, and ensuring that our kids get off to the best possible start in life. Before I get into the first four, I want to share with viewers something of the values that are reflected by the commitments contained in this plan.
As Liberals, we believe, perhaps more than anything else, that it doesn't matter where you come from, it doesn't matter how long you've been here, it doesn't matter what your station in life is, it doesn't matter who you're connected to, it doesn't matter how much personal wealth you or your parents have, if you live in our province, you get the best possible publicly funded and publicly delivered health care and education.
We believe that all Ontarians are entitled to opportunity. Opportunity really consists of two things for us as Liberals. For one thing, it's a ladder. We extend the ladder of education. We build it strong, durable, and we ask our people to climb it. We can't pull them up it, we can't push them up it, and we can't guarantee anybody a job. But we can guarantee that they'll have education there, good education at the primary and secondary level and affordable education at the post-secondary level.
We also intend to ensure that there is a strong health care net at the bottom of that ladder. We want people to take comfort in knowing that if they have to be able to count on a hospital bed, if they have to be able to count on special care for their four-hours-old baby, it's there for them. We don't want them to have to worry about that, because we want them to be successful, we want them to be entrepreneurial, we want them to be taking on the world in the way that only we here in this province can.
I can tell you that on the basis of conversations with thousands and thousands of Ontarians, people don't really ask for a lot from their government. But there are two things in particular that they want to be able to count on. One of those is health care and the other is education. Our 20/20 Plan is going to deliver to each and every Ontarian health care that they can count on and education that they can count on.
Let's begin by speaking to the issue of health care, that issue which weighs most heavily on the minds of Ontarians today, because nowhere has Mike Harris's short-sighted approach been more painful than when it comes to health care.
Health care has never been a priority for Mike Harris. It wasn't a priority at the time of the last election and it obviously is not a priority for him in government. That's why health care became one of Mike Harris's favourite targets for cuts. He cut $870 million from our hospitals after promising not to take a cent from our health care. He ordered the closure of one out of every five hospitals after promising not to close hospitals. He fired thousands of nurses, leaving Ontario with the fewest nurses per capita in the country. He forced more and more patients to go to the US or turn to private companies for everything from basic medical care to their cancer treatment. Mike Harris did this, and nobody over there, not a single person on that side of the House, was willing to stand up to him and say, "This is wrong, this is short-sighted, people are going to hurt."
Mike Harris has quite obviously failed the people of Ontario by undermining their health care. He's destroyed the morale of health care workers by taking away the resources they need to meet patient needs. He's hurt everyone involved in health care, but especially the sick, seniors and our most vulnerable.
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When I launched our 20/20 Plan, I travelled to Hamilton and I launched our plan on the steps of a hospital. I did so because I'd learned of the story of a Hamilton man, 87 years of age, who just a couple of weeks ago had been hospitalized there, only he found that there was no bed available for him. So for two and a half days he spent his time on a stretcher in a busy, bustling emergency ward. He died on that bed. His two daughters were with him at the time and they grieved at their loss, separated from that busy, bustling emergency ward and everything that was taking on there by nothing more than a flimsy, rose-coloured curtain.
That man, that father, that grandfather, he'd paid a lot of taxes over the years, played by all the rules and struggled to raise his family. He'd paid for that bed, and that bed should have been there for him.
Do you know what Mike Harris was doing? He was spending 100 million taxpayer dollars on a self-promotion campaign. He was looking after his interests. He was doing whatever he could to have himself re-elected as Premier of Ontario.
If there is no other reason why the people of this province should be rejecting Mike Harris in his bid to become Premier once again, that story in and of itself ought to be enough.
We're going to put health care back on a solid footing in Ontario, and that means health care that's there for everyone who needs it and not just those wealthy enough to buy it. That's what it means to be Canadian and we won't let Mike Harris or anybody else take that away from us.
Our 20/20 Plan for health care starts with guaranteed standards that clearly spell out what you can count on, and we're going to deliver on those standards with strategic investments and innovations in health care. We'll back those standards up by making quality health care the law for everybody. For the first time, people will know exactly what they can count on when they need health care services. That, just so everybody understands it, is without precedent in Canada. We are putting into place standards so that people will know exactly what it is they will be able to count on when it comes to having their health care needs met in Ontario.
Let me tell you about some of those standards. I'm reading from our 20/20 Plan:
"Patients in life-threatening situations will get the emergency care they need. Ambulance crews will know where to go to get the care the patient needs, and when they get to the emergency room, it will be staffed and equipped to provide immediate medical attention.
"No one will wait more than 15 minutes to be assessed in an emergency room.
"Patients who need to stay in hospital will be admitted to a room. They will not be abandoned on stretchers in emergency room hallways" or in hospital corridors.
"Patients will get the right care in the right setting. Patient care will never be downgraded to save money....
"No cancer patient will wait more than four weeks for radiation treatment."
I had a young man in my constituency office about two and a half months ago and he came to tell me the story about his mother - early 70s. She'd been diagnosed with breast cancer. The doctor told her that, in keeping with the clinical guidelines, she should begin radiation in four weeks' time, but he had been told by the authorities that she wouldn't be able to get her radiation until close to the 16- or 17-week mark.
This young man told me about how heavily this weighed on the family's mind and how important it was to all of them to be able to get that treatment at the earliest possible opportunity. We speak to that family and we speak to all Ontario families, and we're telling them we're putting in place a standard that says you'll get your radiation treatment within four weeks, and you can count on that.
We're telling Ontarians that the number of nurses per person in Ontario will never again fall below the Canadian average. We're telling Ontarians that patients will be assessed prior to leaving hospital, and where home care is needed we'll make sure that it's provided.
As I said earlier, these brand-new Ontario standards will be backed by law.
In our 20/20 Plan, we commit to passing a new Ontario Patient Protection Act. It's going to ensure that these standards are publicly available and enforced.
We will be the first province ever to have something we're calling a health quality auditor reporting directly to the public. People understand the concept of a financial auditor, someone who takes a look at the province's books. We're introducing a health quality auditor, and we're going to give this person the power to inspect health care facilities, like our hospitals, and report on compliance with our new standards.
Our Patient Protection Act will also ensure that we in government will have the power, if need be, to intervene and make the necessary changes if any facility consistently fails to meet the standards. So not only are we putting new standards in place, we will monitor regularly to make sure that we are meeting those standards, that we're complying with those standards, and if somebody or something is failing to live up to those standards, for whatever reason, then we'll take whatever action is necessary to make sure those standards are being met.
Our 20/20 Plan also spells out what we as a government will do to meet those standards. In particular, these are the following things we'll do to meet our new standards. First of all, we're going to stabilize the hospital system by setting out minimum funding levels for the next five years. That may not seem like much at first blush, but I can tell you that in talking to hospital administrators and doctors and nurses who work there, they tell me on an ongoing basis, "If I could just know that there'll be specific funding available, I'll be able to plan accordingly to ensure that we're best using our resources to meet the needs of our patients." That's exactly what we intend to do.
We're going to hire 10,200 nurses, bringing the number of nurses per capita in Ontario up to the national average. In passing, it is worth reminding Ontario voters that Mike Harris spent $400 million firing thousands and thousands of Ontario nurses, and more recently he tells us he's going to spend $375 million to hire these same nurses back.
We're going to bring doctors to communities that need them. There are many, in fact dozens, of underserviced communities today in Ontario. We're going to help those communities by covering the cost of tuition for medical students who agree to practise for five years in underserviced areas, and we're going to make it mandatory for medical schools to offer training in the underserviced areas. We're going to deal with our growing doctor shortage that we're facing here in Ontario by increasing the number of medical school graduates by 15%. We're going to provide significant new funding for home care and long-term care.
We're going to help people care for seriously ill family members by passing a Family Medical Leave Act. This is going to provide up to 12 weeks of job-protected, unpaid leave to employees. Recently, I saw a woman on television here in Ontario, who I believe was from Cornwall, who approached her employer and said: "My father's coming home to die. I need to take some time off to be with him." The employer said: "Thank you very much. Here's your pink slip." We're going to change that. We don't think Ontario employees should have to choose between the job they need and the family they love.
We're going to reopen Women's College Hospital and the Montfort Hospital. These two hospitals are of unique province-wide significance. Women's College has been a world leader in providing health care to women, and the Montfort is the province's only French-language teaching hospital. We're going to work with local communities to review their health care needs, including their hospital requirements, through the year 2020, the peak of the aging baby boom. We will not be bound by the recommendations of the Health Services Restructuring Commission because the short-sighted Harris government asked it to review our needs only through the year 2003.
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Think of this for a minute: There are 11 million health care users in our province. Mike Harris put in place a hospital restructuring plan that takes into account our hospital needs through to the year 2003. So what if one of us needs a hospital in the year 2004 or 2007? It seems to me that a responsible government, a far-sighted government, a government that looked beyond the next election and considered the needs of the next generation, would understand the value of having a hospital plan in place that ensures that our long-term needs, when it comes to hospitals, will be met.
One of the things we have found in our many discussions with health care professionals and Ontarians is that there has been a huge growth in the appetite for information about how to keep yourself healthy and, if you're sick, how to make yourself better. They're also looking for convenience when it comes to accessing that information. So we make a specific commitment in here to make health care information more accessible by setting up a 24-hour 1-800-TEL-CARE line and a Web site. A team of nurses, backed by a supervising doctor, will answer questions received by telephone, e-mail or on the Internet.
We're also going to make a personal health care plan available to every Ontarian who wants one. We're going to allow our doctors to take a patient's family history, lifestyle and health care needs. We're going to allow them to create a plan for individual Ontarians that will tell them how to stay healthy, which will help us all save health care resources.
Finally, we're going to make CPR training mandatory in Ontario high schools, providing life-saving training to another 100,000 people each and every year. I want to tell you - and I say this with a great deal of pride - that our 20/20 Plan for health care is bold, it's aggressive, it's ambitious, but it is nothing less than absolutely essential. It's essential because it's exactly what needs to be done if we're going to provide health care that Ontarians can truly count on.
I want to tell you about education and what's happened to it during the past four years. After four years of cuts, school closures and instability, Ontarians don't know what to expect today from our schools. As a result, more and more parents are being forced to turn to private schools, where enrolment is up 15%. More and more teachers are so demoralized that they are leaving the profession in droves. The last four years have seen Mike Harris attack our teachers and attack our schools. He cut $1 billion from our schools after promising not to take one cent out of classroom education. He slashed special education, adult education and English-as-a-second-language programs. He continues to threaten hundreds of schools right across our province with closure because of his disastrous funding formula.
Mike Harris did all of this and not a single person on that side of the House bothered to stand up to him, bothered to tell him that this is wrong, this is short-sighted, this is going to hurt our kids and in the long term it's going to hurt our province.
It's always important to remember what it is that we're talking about when we're talking about education, the education of our children. We're talking about our future ability to compete and win. If we lose public education, the vast majority of our children will lose the best chance they could ever have at success.
If people on that side of the House have lost sight, as they apparently have, of the implicit value of public education in the lives of Ontario families, I'd ask them to ask themselves this: How many of them would be enjoying the quality of life that they lead today if their parents had had to pay for private education?
Our 20/20 plan for education lays out what we'll do to ensure that we've got the best schools, the best teachers and the best opportunities to learn for our children.
Specifically, these are some of the things that we're going to be doing. First of all, we're going to ensure that our schools have the resources they need by investing in public education. We're going to get Queen's Park and school boards out of the school-closing business for a change. We're going to scrap the short-sighted funding formula that fails to take into account what a school really means to a community.
We've got a plan to modernize our schools. Just for a change, instead of attacking our schools, we're going to modernize. We're going to provide 24,000 new computers to classrooms during each and every year of our mandate. That's 2,000 new computers every month. That means each and every school will receive five new computers every year.
We're going to keep our computer labs open before and after school. We're going to require that every school has a Web site. We're going to include electronic commerce and Internet site design in our high school business courses. We're going to require every high school student to complete a course in computer science.
We're going to stop the fighting. Students learn best in a stable environment. We're going to get the best out of our partners in education by working with them.
We're going to ensure that our students are safe by establishing safe school zones. Anyone convicted of carrying a weapon or dealing drugs near one of our schools will be subject to a new provincial penalty of up to two years in prison. It seems to me that one of the fundamental rights that ought to be enjoyed by Ontario children is the right to go to school without fear.
You know what else we're going to do? We are going to work with publishers to develop something without precedent in North America. We're going to develop the biggest and best school library in Canada, completely digitized. It will be available for the use of students, staff and the public.
In order to ensure that every child and every Ontarian is given the opportunity to learn, our government is going to restore the funding that Mike Harris cut from adult education, special education and English as a second language.
While I'm very proud to announce that we're going to be fixing the things that Mike Harris has broken, I also know that if we're going to compete and win we're also going to have to lift the bar higher and do more than has ever been done before.
Providing students with extra help is one of the areas where we're going to be doing more than ever before. Ontario parents should not have to pay private tutors to do what their tax dollars should be doing, and that's why our 20/20 Plan is going to give school boards the funding they need to offer additional tutoring and remedial programs in the evenings and on weekends.
Ontarians will know that Mike Harris and his American campaign advisers are currently filling the airwaves with attack ads. One of those claims that I'm against greater accountability in our schools. I know that Mike Harris doesn't want to let the facts get in the way of a good story, but let me be clear: I support greater accountability in our schools. In fact, our 20/20 Plan details a plan for real accountability in our schools.
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We all know that Mike Harris has done a lot of fighting with Ontario's teachers, and every time he does this, our kids pay the price. We are simply never going to bring the best out in our kids unless we get the best out of our teachers.
I know that all Ontarians - and I say this without reservation - want teachers in their classrooms who are motivated, inspired and dedicated. So I think it's important to ask ourselves, "How effective has Premier Mike Harris truly been in ensuring that our teachers are motivated, in ensuring that our teachers are inspired and in ensuring that our teachers continually rededicate themselves to a truly honourable profession?"
The fact of the matter is that Mike Harris has been an abysmal failure at bringing the best out in Ontario teachers, and our kids are paying the price. Because our kids need, deserve and, I would say, have the right to teachers who are inspired, dedicated and motivated.
When we're talking about accountability, it's telling that Mike Harris cut $1 billion from our schools, but when it came time to be accountable for the ensuing crisis he washed his hands. Mike Harris's funding formula is going to cause the closure of hundreds of schools across the province, but when it comes time to accept responsibility for those decisions, again he washes his hands.
Our 20/20 Plan for education provides real accountability in our schools. First of all, we're going to give our parents more information on what their kids are learning. We're going to require that our new teachers pass certification exams. But unlike Mike Harris, we will treat teachers the same way we treat other professionals - as nothing less and nothing more. So just in the same way that lawyers, doctors, accountants, engineers, architects and many others are required to pass province-wide certification examinations at the beginning of their careers, so will Ontario teachers. In addition, we are going to, on an ongoing basis, provide additional funding for in-service training for our teachers.
Continuing on this line of real accountability, we are also going to issue report cards for each school. The report card is going to inform parents and teachers how each school is faring on something we call a quality index. That includes programs, supplies, what kinds of innovations are taking place inside that school, how many computers are available there to the students, what kind of extra help is available to the students and, of course, the results of the standardized testing.
The goal here, by using this quality index, is to give educators and parents the real information that they need to improve their schools, instead of giving talk show hosts a few tidbits they can use to embarrass schools. Unlike Mike Harris, we understand that accountability is a two-way street, and our government will be accountable when it comes to education. We will invite the existing Education Quality and Accountability Office to test the government's approach to education and report on how we are doing and where we need to improve.
It's important to understand how significant this is. We are asking an independent third party to assess for the first time ever how the Ontario government is doing in supporting publicly funded education. That is real accountability and I can tell you that the thought of this kind of accountability absolutely terrifies this government. Mike Harris wants teachers, trustees and students tested and assessed on a regular basis, but there is no way that he will ever subject himself to an assessment by an independent third party that will tell us how well he is doing and how well his government is doing in supporting publicly funded education in our province. Again, that's real accountability.
Let me speak to the issue of colleges and universities. I think most people understand today that in the new economy you can only earn if you learn. The new jobs will only go to those who are the best educated and the most highly skilled. After four years of Mike Harris, parents and students are paying more for less in Ontario's colleges and universities. Mike Harris raised tuition fees by more than 60%. Today, Ontario is the most expensive place in Canada to get a post-secondary education.
I liked the old rules that you and I played by, Madam Speaker, and that everybody sitting in this Legislature played by. Under the old rules, you had to have good marks and you had to work hard. If you had those two things, you were able to go on to college or university. Under the Mike Harris rules, you need good marks, you need to work hard and you've got to have wealthy parents. Mike Harris is rejecting the good example of the generations that came before us, those who acted both in enlightened self-interest and through a generosity of spirit and made sure that the younger generation could find success in our province by keeping the doors to our colleges and universities open and affordable to them.
Mike Harris cut $400 million from our colleges and universities. Today, Ontario ranks last in Canada in per capita funding for post-secondary education. What Mike Harris doesn't understand is that in a knowledge-based economy, the real economic engine is the individual, a highly skilled and educated person; and he doesn't understand that our colleges and universities enable our young people to become highly skilled and educated. So when Mike Harris starves our colleges and universities for funding and when he drives tuition fees through the roof, he's robbing us of our ability to enjoy lasting economic success in Ontario. Quite simply, he's robbing us of our ability to compete.
Our 20/20 Plan outlines our plans to provide quality college and university education that's affordable, accessible and accountable. I want to speak to you about some of the specifics that are found in our 20/20 Plan. First of all, we talk about our four-point plan to tear down the barriers to higher education. We'll do the following four things.
We will immediately cut tuition fees by 10%. We will re-regulate tuition fees for professional programs. It's $44,000 today in Ontario to become a doctor, tuition alone. It's $55,000 to become a dentist in Ontario today, tuition alone. We're going to restore student aid for part-time students who've been cut off by the Harris government. The fastest-growing group of students in Ontario today are part-time students. Mike Harris likes to talk the talk. His government likes to talk the talk when it comes to long-life learning and breaking down the barriers, but that's never really going to happen unless we ensure that those who are studying part time have access to student aid. We're going to allow working students to earn up to $1,800 during the school year without having their student aid deducted.
We also understand that last place is simply not good enough for Ontario. So we're going to increase our investment in post-secondary education to meet the national average within five years. New college and university funding will be targeted at programs that are going to prepare Ontario for the social and economic challenges of the next 20 years. I'm making a bargain with our colleges and universities. I understand that they are in need of funding. I will send funding over, but there will be ropes attached. We have certain needs that have to be met in Ontario today, and I know that our colleges and universities can help us fulfill those needs.
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When we talk about accountability at the post-secondary level, we're really talking here about better information so that our young people will be able to make more informed choices. We're going to issue report cards on college and university programs so students and their parents can make informed choices. Those report cards will tell you whether the courses are taught by a professor or a teaching assistant, how large the classes are, how many students from that program have found employment and how many have been accepted into graduate school. We'll also tell you which universities' programs rank among the top in the province.
Our 20/20 Plan is going to make these investments in our colleges and universities because our goal is to make Ontario's economy the most productive in North America. We understand that a strong economy is what provides high quality of life, including quality health care and quality education. But unlike the Mike Harris government, we know that a strong economy is only possible when you invest in people.
If you look around the world and you examine those jurisdictions which enjoy sustained economic prosperity, there is a common thread that runs through each and every one of them. The common thread is as follows in those jurisdictions: They invest in their people by giving them the best possible education. They invest in the health care of their people. They make sure their people have clean air to breathe and clean water to drink, and they make an ongoing effort to minimize the gap between the haves and the have-nots. Those lessons are there now. There is no real magic to this stuff. What you've got to begin with is a responsible fiscal plan in order to effect, in order to achieve, that kind of an ideal.
We've got a balanced, responsible fiscal plan that does the right things in the right order. It calls for immediate investments in the education and health of our people, a balanced budget and then tax relief as the economy grows.
Compare our 20/20 Plan with what Mike Harris has done. Mike Harris cut health care and education, he has never balanced a budget and he borrowed every cent of his tax cut, adding over $10 billion to the province's debt. What's worse is that Mike Harris really didn't cut taxes. He shifted them. He shifted them on to property taxpayers when he downloaded more than $700 million in services on to local property taxpayers, and he shifted taxes on to our young people, our students, in the form of higher tuition. He shifted them on to our kids, because he added $23 billion to our province's long-term debt.
I am convinced that as more and more Ontarians begin to understand that Mike Harris went to international markets and borrowed $10 billion to give today's adults a tax cut, and when they understand what this means to our children, they will condemn this Premier as being selfish and irresponsible.
I can tell you that our 20/20 Plan offers the right approach to our finances in the right order. This is what we'll do. We will immediately invest an additional $2.5 billion a year in our priorities. That includes $2.1 billion in health care and education and $400 million in priority areas, which include environmental protection, help for the homeless and getting kids off to the best possible start. Not one cent of this money will come from your pocket in higher taxes. Not one cent will be borrowed. It will come from increased transfers from the federal government and money that we've identified in the current provincial budget, including money now wasted on high-priced consultants and partisan advertising.
It may be that the Conservative members of this government feel that 100 million taxpayer dollars spent on a campaign strategy, on a self-promotion program in a virtual orgy of advertising that we've had to witness in this province for the last two years is an appropriate expenditure of government money, but I can tell you that Ontarians would far prefer that that money be invested in their health care and in their education.
As the economy grows, additional revenues will be used first of all to balance the budget. You should understand that our province is on track, as Mike Harris likes to say, to be the last province in the Dominion to balance our budget. Just imagine the jokes they're telling in Newfoundland tonight about Ontario and how far behind we are when it comes to making real fiscal responsibility the order of the day here.
Once we have balanced the budget, the new revenues will be split in three ways: 55% will be devoted to our priorities, which will be primarily health care and education; 25% will be for tax relief aimed at lower- and middle-income Ontarians to help them start to catch up. But I want to emphasize again that we won't borrow money to give Ontarians a tax cut. We won't run a deficit to give Ontarians a tax cut, because to do so would be fiscally irresponsible. The final 20% of the fiscal dividend will be spent on debt reduction and a rainy day fund to ensure that health care and education are protected both in good times and in bad.
We'll shortly be going into a campaign, and our message to Ontarians again quite simply is that we're going to give them two things that they'll be able to count on: They'll be able to count on quality universal health care and quality publicly funded education.
I want Ontarians to know today that if they've got to take their 87-year-old father to the hospital they can count on a bed being there for him. And if parents of a four-year-old baby girl say, "We need special care for our daughter," I'm telling them, "You'll be able to count on that care." If somebody says, "My wife, my sister, my mother has breast cancer," we're saying, "You'll be able to count on radiation treatment at the four-week mark, in keeping with provincial guidelines."
We're also telling Ontarians that they'll be able to count on junior kindergarten. If you've got a four-year-old in the family or shortly will have a four-year-old, every community in our province is going to offer junior kindergarten. You can count on that.
If the school psychologist steps up to you one day and says, "Your child has a learning disability and your child needs special education," we are here as Liberals to say, "You'll be able to count on quality special education in your community."
We're telling Ontarians they'll also be able to count on teachers who are feeling motivated and inspired to be at their best.
We're telling all of Ontario's young people that we're going to start to turn the corner when it comes to colleges and universities and that they'll be able to count on affordable post-secondary education in our province.
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In a nutshell, that's what our 20/20 Plan is all about: giving Ontarians health care they can count on and education they can count on. That's what we Liberals are all about. That's what this election is all about. We're looking forward to the campaign. We're looking forward to taking Ontario in a new direction, one whose future is bright not just for a few of us, but for all of us.
Speaker, I move the following:
That the motion for an address in reply to the speech of Her Honour the Lieutenant Governor at the opening of the session be amended by adding the following thereto:
"This House profoundly regrets that the Mike Harris government has acted on an agenda that has created a crisis in health care and education and threatens our economic future, and condemns the government for the following: breaking its promises in health care by cutting $870 million from our hospitals; closing one out of every five hospitals and imposing $300 million worth of new user fees; hurting patient care by turning our emergency rooms into waiting rooms, firing nurses until Ontario has the fewest nurses per capita in the country, and forcing more and more patients to go to the US or turn to private companies for everything from basic medical care to cancer treatment; breaking its promises in education by cutting $1 billion from our schools after promising not to take one cent out of classroom education; hurting our children and students by closing schools, slashing special education and English-as-a-second-language programs, forcing more and more parents to turn to private school, where enrolment is up 15%, and raising tuition fees by more than 60% to make Ontario the most expensive place in Canada to get a post-secondary education; and finally, by threatening our economic future through increasing property taxes and introducing new user fees, failing to balance the budget time and time again, and adding $22 billion to the provincial debt, raising the provincial debt in our province to over $110 billion."
Interjections.
The Acting Speaker (Ms Marilyn Churley): Order, please.
Mr McGuinty has moved that the motion for an address in reply to the speech of Her Honour the Lieutenant Governor at the opening of the session be amended by adding the following thereto:
Interjection: Dispense.
The Acting Speaker: Dispense?
Interjection: No.
The Acting Speaker: "This House profoundly regrets that the Mike Harris government has acted on an agenda that has created a crisis in health care and education and threatens our economic future, and condemns the government for: breaking its promises in health care by cutting $870 million from our hospitals; closing one out of every five hospitals and imposing $300 million worth of new user fees; hurting patient care by turning our emergency rooms into waiting rooms, firing nurses until Ontario has the fewest nurses per capita in the country, and forcing more and more patients to go to the US or turn to private companies for everything from basic medical care to cancer treatment; breaking its promise in education by cutting $1 billion from our schools after promising not to take one cent out of classroom education; hurting our children and students by closing schools, slashing special education and English-as-a-second-language programs, forcing more and more parents to turn to private school, where enrolment is up 15%, and raising tuition fees by more than 60% to make Ontario the most expensive place in Canada to get a post-secondary education; threatening our economic future by increasing property taxes and introducing new user fees, failing to balance the budget, and adding $22 billion to the provincial debt to raise the total provincial debt to over $110 billion."
Pursuant to the order of the House dated April 26, the debate is adjourned and the House is adjourned until 6:30 this evening.
The House adjourned at 1605.
Evening meeting reported in volume B.