This 10th year of Daily Tech news show is made possible by you the listener Thanks to all of you including Steve, I had a roll at Jeffrey Zilx and Tony glass Coming up on DTNS Microsoft raises its AI game the ethics of large language models begin to impact real life And is this the end of electric vehicle range anxiety? This is the Daily Tech news for Thursday March 2nd 2023 in Los Angeles on Tom Merritt and from studio Redbud, I'm Sarah Lane and from that DC area your boy Chris Ashley And I'm the show's producer Roger Jane. Ah, it's good to have everybody in the house. Thanks for joining us We we have got a world of tech news to keep you the smartest person in the room. Let's start with the quick hits Reuters sources say that Microsoft's offer of a 10-year licensing deal to not only Nintendo But also in video and especially to Sony is likely to sway EU regulators to approve its proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard the EU is just extended its deadline for its decision to April 25th Microsoft still needs to persuade regulators in the UK and also the US to approve the deal So you're saying there's a chance PCI Express 5.0 is supported by newer motherboards all PCs built around AMD's Ryzen 7000 series chips and some PCs using Intel's 12th or 13th generation CPUs Support graphics cards and SSDs that use PCI Express 5.0 But that's only half the battle you need the devices that support the faster interface to and the first wave of drives are beginning to hit store shelves the PCIe 5.0 SSD gigabyte aorus gen 5 10,000 and microcenter exclusive inland TD 510 Both promise those high speeds peak read speeds of up to 10,000 megabytes per second up from 74 50 per second in 4.0 but Cost is a little bit of a factor Ars Technica says the 2 terabyte versions are more than twice the price of equivalent PCIe 4.0 versions and the drives heatsinks are in Ars Technica's words Ridiculous very large They really didn't say that they did They may not even fit in some installation So you might want to check that the price will come down as will the operating temp Which will make the heatsinks a little smaller, but for now be warned Snapchat rolled out the ability to pause snap streaks where you can send a snap to a friend once every 24 hours All users can restore one snap streak for free But you can also buy more streak restores for 99 cents in the US The company also plans to roll out the feature as part of its snapchat plus subscription. It's not really a streak though It yeah If Antarctica can get attacked together Google and meta may soon have the distinction of being investigated for antitrust on every continent regulators from Kenya Egypt Mauritius Nigeria South Africa Morocco Gambia and Zambia have set up a working group last month and Now plan to investigate those companies and a few others the common markets of eastern and southern Africa or commesa Competition Commission represents 21 other countries and it is also joining this effort members of the group are planning joint investigations in e-commerce aggregator services e-hailing and delivery services digital advertising fintech and app stores, so the usual Garmin just launched its forerunner 265 and forerunner 965 smartwatches with OLED screens the mid-range watches are marketed towards outdoor users who usually want Readability and battery life to things that OLED is not particularly good at the forerunner 25 5s for example got more than 20 days on a charge using a memory in pixel or MIP display OLEDs are easy to read indoors and during cloudy conditions and the Verges Victoria song notes that Garmin Has been moving into more lifestyle features over the past couple of years That's the quick hits all right people been making big say rude stuff So Microsoft restricted it clamped down to get it to stop doing that But that made it refused to answer a lot of innocent questions that that people needed to get answer So Microsoft is dialing back those restrictions But now Microsoft now let you choose what kind of personality you want the bing cha bot to have You can select from three different tones creative balanced and precise the creative tone will include original and imaginative responses the precise tone gives you factual and concise answers and the balanced tone is somewhere in between Yeah, you can think of the precise tone as as me the creative tone is sarah and the balanced tone is chris Microsoft didn't clarify this but it sounds to me like a setting in the large language models called temperature is different for these different tones temperature Changes how the models pick the words. I won't go too far into it But a quick explanation If the model always picks what it thinks the most likely next word is based on its training It can sound very dry. It could sound very precise Whereas making it occasionally pick the second or third most likely word Gives it a more conversational tone, which to me could be that creative setting there. So I What do y'all think of of of bing's triangulation here? I think trying to find the right tone Definitely a smart move. Um, if you want to be able to grab the most amount of people When I when I read this over and I kind of think of two things one is you're basically choosing Which version of data you want you want data with the chip or do you want data without the chip? and then on top of that it's like You know, it's almost like the description of the matrix when they finally revealed it right when it was too perfect Nobody liked it and when it was, you know, not perfect enough. Nobody could accept it It had to have the the variations in between and it sounds like it's really falling along the same lines It's like here pick a different word or a third word as opposed to one that always comes up in that kind of like the idea of it well and something that we're always talking about in the show is like, okay, so If not, everybody gets the same results You know, how does this help what you might be doing for yourself? Maybe I want to uh, uh, you know, write some fiction So temperature actually makes a lot of sense I probably want it to be a little bit more creative if i'm doing something for dTNS I probably want it to be more precise as long as you're using the tools in a way that makes sense to you And you know, we're at you know, the beginning stages of a lot of people trying to do that I don't think any of this is you know, better or worse You know, if you were trying to say something as fact that was a little bit more creative Well, that's where we get into issues. Um, and microsoft As well as other chat bot makers have have learned these hard lessons pretty early on One of the things they're trying to do is stop people from misusing it and making it say rude and unusual things I'm guessing they feel comfortable enough that that creative tone has a better safety net Than it did before but I also think giving people three tones and making the default balanced Let's them make most of the users have a higher safety net And then if you change it to creative they can kind of give you a warning of like Hey, it might have a few more unexpected responses. Just so you know And and and that way when if it does go off the rails a little more It's like hey, we we told you you were using the creative setting if you don't like that Maybe switch back to balanced or precise. Right. It's an interesting way of doing it I wonder if there's any chance of this having the ability to combat like, uh A confirmation bias Just because if we're going to be expanded along those lines So, you know, just the fact that it's not picking what the you know, what the top answer would be but you know, three variations of it You wonder if that can then be expanded into not showing you always information that you want to hear But the information that is It's it's it's more about picking word choice and like synonyms and things than it is facts But that's an interesting thought of whether there's there's some spin off there that they could they could apply that to Yeah, right Speaking of of of microsoft's tech chops, uh, bing is using tech from open ai that microsoft is adapting But microsoft also has its own development of these kinds of smart models Microsoft scientists published a paper about cosmos one a multimodal large language model or mllm Designed to analyze images and answer questions about them so it can tell what it's looking at basically The system writes captions for images reads text from images Can't answer questions about them like I just said scientists say that multimodal systems are a necessity To achieve artificial general intelligence A lot of folks in the field think multimodal is going to be a much bigger deal than large language models are right now Microsoft plans to make cosmos one available to developers, but no details on that yet Uh, is this the next thing to to freak out about is Yes, you know that that that these these models can look at a picture and go like oh, yeah, that's that's a boy carrying a balloon or whatever absolutely Like is it though like does that frighten you? I wouldn't say frighten, but i'm all i'm frightened by all of this to be honest with you. You know, i'm watching another sci-fi but uh But no, I you know I never even thought about this angle until I actually read this article and then after I read it I was like oh, wow. Yeah, that makes perfect sense See the more inputs you have the tighter your responses are the more valid the responses probably can be So really interesting, but you know, I always think about the bad stuff people can do with this But I don't want to think about this in in that regard right now right now It sounds really cool, but it sounds super powerful at that point and the fact that they said, you know, this This model can replace more regular Functions in everyday life is like oh Imagine when you're teaching someone something how often you say look at this And if you can have a model that can do that that understands what what to show you what the image is I think that's yeah, that's fascinating Uh, they the One of the places that chris is pointing us to is the ethics debate around ai right the the idea that It can be used for ill and what are the safeguards we're going to put on it As we let more and more people use it Open ai for example is launching apis So things that developers can use to access open ai technology Not only for chat gpt, but also the whisper speech to text model to get ahead of ethics questions Open ai is clarifying that users of the apis have always and will continue to own the input and output of the models So if the output is to you you own that output not open ai There's a 30 day retention period limit for api users So they they shouldn't be keeping user input from their use of the api could even be shorter depending on the case Open ai says it will not use any data submitted through its api for training or other service improvements Unless the customer or the organization specifically opts in to do so They will they will not use it unless the customer says I would like you to use it for this Yeah, and another example of proactive machine intelligence policy shifts comes from apple It has delayed approval of an update to email app blue mail The blue mail update added an embedded version of chat gpt Trained on contents in the user's email and calendar events The idea is to help draft emails and calendar invites to the user's own style Yeah, so blue mail says apple reviewers told them to either raise the age appropriate designation to 17 or older Or add content filters But blue mail disputes this need saying that it has content filtering set to apply for users four years old and older already Now apple told the wall street journal. It's investigating the issue So, you know, we'll see what comes of that But it's worth noting that apple has had issues with the blue mail app before and It's parent company blix in 2019 You might recall that blue mail was removed from the app store over a security concern related to blix's patent On signing in without giving up personal information that issue took a few months to resolve They did it but now they're kind of back in the news. So what do we think here? Might be a beef might be a long going beef or is apple just doing that thing where they change a policy By applying it to one app first many apps later So I read through this a bit and You know, I love chile just choosing the local guy against the big guy You know, I just want to blame all the big folks But I don't know if blue mail really has a leg to stand on in this one because The the big thing that they pointed out was like look all any it tool or app that has the ability to show minors You know explicit content you got to get the rating And so if you're adding Chat gpt, which you know can potentially start saying an adult content quite easily. Yeah. Yeah, what are you saying? What blue mail saying is we put a filter on to stop it from doing the adult content Yeah But you know how how much can they guarantee that their filter is not going to inadvertently pull something anyway I mean this sounds sort of semantic to me apple saying Put a filter on in this way and blue mail is like well We did just not in the exact way that you were asking us for but we're not doing anything wrong And now apple's like hmm. Let's go back to the well and think about this a little bit I feel like there's more to the story right Either either the app reviewer missed it that there was the the filter on there Because I think apple's just asking simply like put in an acceptable filter Or I just said acceptable filter Maybe blue mail put a filter on that apple's like we know that one doesn't work There are better filters like chris was saying like use use a filter that works better But I don't think we have all the information. No Meanwhile blix is going public with this talking to to everybody like the wall street journal Because they have beef. They definitely have beef with apple. They've had it before Yeah, but You know beef has to go both ways sometimes, you know, they can you know screaming in the wind and apple Yeah, yeah, you know got their hand up with their in their forehead and they're just swinging away And just like and look chris knows about beef. Check out barbecue Beef it goes both ways period But uh, yeah, so I don't know Honestly, I don't know what four-year-old is using email and a calendaring. No, that's just that they're doing it Four years old and up so that so that people will be like a blanket like, you know We're we're filtering so good even a four-year-old should be able to use. They're not saying they want four-year-olds to use I was trying to think my daughter was I have a picture of my daughter on my desk Typing on my keyboard when she was like two, but I don't remember her setting an appointment for her next I didn't get the sense. They were marketing it to four-year-olds. I don't know. I could be wrong though Yeah, I did. Yes. It's quite possible Uh folks, if you know what's going on with the blue mail for real or anything else So you just want to say hi you want to get uh, some beef recipes get in touch with us on the social networks at dts show on twitter at daily tech news show on tiktok or dts picks dts pix on instagram. Oops. That's the wrong one. There we go We have world's most famous ford lightning owner with us chris ashley. Let's talk Electric vehicles shall we we've talked about the ev company vin fast on the show before a vietnamese company headquartered in singapore So worth noting that the company delivered its first cars 45 of the vf8 city edition to customers in california vin fast has 10 us stores In the san diego, los angeles and bay areas, but ours technica has a story In fact, they republished a story from inside climate news that I think we really want chris's opinion about Some research on electric vehicle range scientists at the university of delaware published an article in the journal energies called influence of battery energy charging power and charging locations upon ev's ability to meet trip needs basically How does this stuff really affect range? Like what are people worrying about versus what should they worry about? So they looked at 333 gas powered vehicles over the course of a year in atlanta And then modeled how well an ev would have met those drivers needs if they'd been using that instead of the gas car Yeah, and so they found that an ev with a 100 mile range could meet 100 of the driving needs of at least The driving 25 of the population So 25 of the drivers could have made all their trips with something like a Nissan leaf Also charging wherever they normally parked. Maybe it was at home. Maybe it was at work Maybe it was you know, somewhere else that they knew that they could charge So the other 75 would have needed to make a few changes to their driving habits to find charging stations Most likely during longer trips or to get a car with a bigger battery Even when they looked at larger ev's they found that most drivers would rarely if ever use the upper ends of their ranges One of the contentions of the paper is that financially It would make more sense not to spend an extra $10,000 on a bigger car with a bigger battery But just rent a car when you need to go on a longer trip Chris as a driver of a big impressive ev truck. What do you think of this study? It's amazing Uh, that's a lot of the points that they're making Everyone who listens to this show that has heard me talk about it has heard those same exact points You know, if you go on a trip and you're so concerned with the range go rent a car Um, most of the times you're asking people are asking questions about the capabilities of an ev That they don't even do with their regular car.  How long how long the vehicle goes unless you're driving like some 300 miles away to go to work Which I think, you know, most people don't have to worry about that But it's that one use case where you're like, well, I can't I can't use it for that Yeah, what if you know, what if you know, I run out of battery on, you know, the the open road now, what? Yeah, the only The concern and this is a slight concern that I think people should be aware of right is you You can get into habit of not charging the vehicle at night because by certainly you don't have to charge the vehicle every day um, and then If an emergency pops up where you're like, okay, I need to drive through grandma's house, which is, you know, two hours away Then you could run into the point where it's like, okay. I don't have enough charge currently um, but if you find a fast charger And just go hit the fast charger I mean People aren't realizing that these fast chargers are literally charging these vehicles in like 30 minutes Yeah, you know, we we were talking offline before the show and roger mentioned something that todd net is also mentioning in our chat room Todd net says I have an ev and I don't have range range anxiety have charging anxiety Will the charger I need, you know, when I stop on the highway or park in the parking garage work, will it be full? Uh, is it the compatible one with my car that kind of thing? Yeah, and that's probably a more of an issue right now is even when I went to ocean city over the summer um And even though I had More than enough charge to get to ocean city, maryland and back On one charge honestly um, I wanted to charge before I got into ocean city because I just wanted to be able to drive around and you know it was my first long is the longest trip I had taken to date with the truck And every place I stopped on the way up the chargers were broken every single one of them So I just gave up and I said, I'll just drive into ocean city now on the other side of that when I got to ocean city All the pretty much all the chargers were working and there was thankfully there was one Directly across the street from my hotel So I was able to park the car park park the truck, you know Check our things up and just plug in the truck overnight had a full charge in the morning So, uh, but that that is correct There are a lot of people that are reporting issues with some of these Not even what tesla doesn't have this issue, but for whatever reason folks on the uh electrify america that they get to get their game together because a lot of their chargers are Broken or some people have reported to where the chargers have destroyed their vehicles So those things do exist. I'm not going to pretend like everything is perfect But the the stuff that people are worried about with range and That's that's not the thing you need to be concerned with range anxiety is the thing people who don't have EV's have I the two questions I get every time is How far can you go? How long does it take to charge first first two questions right out of the game and I'm like and I if I'm not busy I'll tease them. It was like, how long does it take to charge yourself on? You don't know, right? you know we had uh At where I live um some friends with an evid come to stay a couple weekends ago and they were like Do you have like do you have a fast charger? And I was like no But I have a you know power Have electricity. Yeah, like how like how often do you need to like come and go and they were like well not often But like It's like I feel like there's sort of like this like ingrained nature of being like well, we need to have the best Chargers so we can be everywhere all the time. But like let's think about what you're actually doing Exactly. It's it's actually the opposite of that. So when I go to the airport Um, they have the super slow charger, right? I mean super slow It doesn't matter. I'm gone for three days. If it takes much three days to charge. Yes. Who cares?  Yeah. Yeah, I'm sleeping last question on this Ford told tech crunch. It's starting restarting production of the Ford f-150 lightning on march 13th Because it's reworking a battery issue that it discovered in february.  It's not supposed to affect you but i'm just curious. So for me um, I knew That I was buying the first line of the vehicle and I fully expected to be Probably have to go through some growing pains now I haven't had a lot of issues. I did take the truck in for its first issue um that i've experienced, uh, which is a uh a sensor issue on my uh my parking sensor So it's something minor. It's not a big deal. I know how to park a truck um, but you know, so while Yeah, obviously if something goes wrong with my battery, it's a wrap, right for but in the in the end I'm Pretty comfortable with how Ford has been handling updates and been handling Uh service and you know reaching out and when you know, they they gave everybody like free chargers when they were no Sorry, they gave everybody like $250 worth of charging when they couldn't get the uh chargers shipped on time um, so uh so far You know service has been good from Ford and so i'm not overly concerned I'll be bummed out if something happens to my battery, but i'm not overly concerned. Um Yeah, it does seem like the pause was an abundance of caution just because they found a weird result and they're just tracking that down So, yeah, hopefully that's the case Well, um, we like to be as global as possible on the show So let's check in with dan compost for some new tech news coming from cdmx Hello friends of dtns this week in ntx We have a special interview with uh oscar morales co-founder of safety And he's one to tell us a little bit about machine learning and how it can help international trade processes Let's go with you oscar in a nutshell It is about reducing the time to process and merchandise that goes through customs either assigning a risk assessment or Extracting data from a complicated document and then reshape it into what they need to fulfill the customs declaration The idea here is to simplify customs processes for our customers that are customs brokers And perhaps it's customs customs customs, but it is important to know that Everything that goes across the world if you have bought anything From let's say amazon us or aliexpress in china It has gone through a costume. All right If you want to learn more about this and practice your spanish check this week ntx where we have a full interview to Know more about this Anything that speeds up customs I'm into it. I'm into that Yeah, uh, you can find that article at daily tech news show dot com slash n t x Let's check out the mailbag We got a good one from daniel who wrote us on patreon Saying greetings from melbourne australia. Thanks for the info on password managers We talked about this with rod simons a couple days ago daniel says some notes about my Migration from last pass that could be useful to others Some sites won't give you feedback on valid password length Which means you're trialing and resetting passwords until you get one that's valid Other services put strange or outdated limitations like six characters alpha numeric passwords Think about what services you need to access from places that you're not going to be using your password manager before setting up That long password You don't want to be typing 60 plus characters into your playstation for example Use this as an opportunity to close those unused accounts. Oh, these are good tips. Thank you daniel For sending the email keep those emails coming folks feedback at daily tech news show dot com Indeed and thanks you chris ashley. Um, we Always love having you on the show, but let folks know what else you do Well, you can definitely find me on smr podcast and this week's episode features a touching tribute from rod simons to his favorite Podcasters, but he does not get to live that touching moment very well I mean if there was if there was ever a tease That's it. Find out what chris and rob did to rod simmons on the next smr party Uh, and always catch me on barbecuing and tech last week's episode talking about the new, uh Butcher block cutting board and I wasn't able to make that and I wanted people to understand that that image that is a full Cheap pan that is being dwarfed by that cutting board. Wow So that thing is massive. I can't wait to cut my first brisket But yeah, we're talking we're talking all kinds of barbecue and technology we use around it Love it smr podcast dot com barbecue and bbq and tech dot com and big chris ashley on the socials Thanks to our brand new bosses tom we are Four for four. What is it thursday? It's thursday. Yeah, that's four days. Yeah, andrew and john just started backing us on patreon Said thank you andrew. Thank you john. We see you And we're glad to have you today's show is andrew john and every other patron And andrew and john welcome on in get that rss feed because if you stick around for the extended show good day internet We're going to talk about two no longer operational third party twitter clients that are asking their users Not to accept a refund from the apple store very nicely. You don't have to do it. It's an interesting It's an interesting maneuver and we're going to talk about that on good day internet You can catch this show live monday through friday at four p.m. Eastern 2100 utc Of course, we're on demand But we'd love to have you join us if you can live find out more at daily tech news show dot com slash live And guess what we're back tomorrow with alison chariden and len pearl to joining us talk to you that This show is part of the frog pants network Get more at frog pants dot com Club hopes you have enjoyed this brover


Hey everyone, me again. I want to show you a few tips and tricks about how to assign resources in Microsoft project Well, first thing you need to do is go to the view ribbon and the resource sheet and Build out your resource pool if using Microsoft projects online. You could pull these resources from an enterprise resource pool But I'm not actually going to be doing that. I'm going to be using just Microsoft project standalone So to do that, I'm going to come in here and start typing the names of the resources that I want for my project You see I've already started to do that. I can add a couple more in here. I'm going to add Mary Jones You can see when you first create them work resource by default I've got other videos on on this but you know, we can create material resources cost resources work resources We can also give them a standard rate 75 bucks an hour and We're good to go so build out your resource pool. That's the first thing Once you've got that you want to have a good variation of work resources cost resources and maybe some material resources I'm going to need some concrete on my project material label here and You'll notice that I can specify how much I charge I'm going to say I will charge $50 per let's say a Truck Right, so a truck of concrete right fill that up in practice. That's a bit generous make it 500. So every time we have a truck Costs is $500. All right, so we're not drilling into that too much I want to now come back and start assigning my resources Easiest way to do that here is just come in click on the drop down select who you want. There we go I could put who was it. We just created Mary Jones Look here, and there we go. She's assigned. Oh You can see that she's actually That's been assigned to a milestone definitely not what I wanted And if you look at my previous video, it will tell you how to get that my tips and tricks in Microsoft project I'll put that up on the screen at the end so you can take a look at that But yeah, let's come out of this one and we're going to remove Mary like so And again, I'm going to come in here and put Mary on the dig foundations. There we go You see she's assigned. She's actually going to be assigned full time to work on that project You see down the bottom here. I have this little kind of widget. It's called the task form It allows me to see all the different variables that I've set So we always see that I already had a duration set for this task units work If I want to adjust this I can say well, I didn't want her to work part-time 50% units There we go. We can see she's now 50% Working on that what I actually did is push out the duration used to be two weeks She's only working 20 hours a week now as opposed to 40. So it adjusted the duration for me based on the units This is a great way to come in and quickly assign resources as well. I can do more. Let's put Krista on there Let's also Add myself Tom Henry and press okay, and they're all assigned as well I can adjust the units up or down using this task form Now for this project I'm actually coming in here And I just want to get real quick and dirty and assign to a selection of tasks myself Tom Henry We come in click on the task here Hold down the control key, and I'm going to select a selection of other tasks There we go, so I've selected a few others now I'm going to come to the resource ribbon and click assign resources. This is this bring up the assign resources dialogue Which will allow me to Assign resources to the tasks that I selected all in one go for this time. I'm gonna put Tommy on there And you can see he's been assigned to all of those you see I actually made a mistake and did actually assign Tommy there I can use this same dialogue to remove him So another nice thing about the assign resources come in and let's try that again for these tasks here I'm going to assign Krista and Tommy at the same time boom I can adjust the units up or down here as well if I wanted Maybe Krista is working part-time There we go Quick and easy So that's how you can assign resources first way just using the resource names drop down second way using that task form You can get that at any point coming in the view ribbon Clicking details and by default you should see task form if it's not click on the drop-down and select task form If this form doesn't look quite like this You can right-click and the one I'm using it's actually the default is the resources and predecessors But there are other views that you can have in this split view as well That's another quick tip there, but I like the resources and predecessors just because that's the default But there are many others You can see the predecessors to that task here You can get full access to the Assignment planning variables the duration the units and how many hours of work when that task is effort driven Essentially it locks the work for that task and you can adjust the task type. That's a whole nother topic there But uh, that's another way once you finish that just drag it down. You want to bring it back? drag it up like so and you can also access that from the view ribbon The last way I showed you was the assign resources dialog. I really like this and click assign resources I can assign multiple tasks multiple resources to multiple tasks or multiple resources to a single task or One resource or multiple resources to a single or selection of tasks lots of options there And you can get a little bit granular there not as granular as the task form, but pretty granular So those are three methods that I like to use. There's no right way to do it It's whatever works for you for whatever you're trying to achieve now You can see that I have got some significant Overallocation here because I haven't really been looking at that when assigning resources but When you do that using the task form you can definitely get into that and start figuring out Are you over allocating and make your allocations realistic? Thanks so much for watching and we'll see you very soon


A 1 2 3 guide how to become a motivator for your students. When approaching a new language, one must understand that this will be a challenging journey. Not an impossible one, but a learning process that, sooner or later, will require a great deal of motivation, passion, and commitment. As educators, I think that our first duty is not only to really outline this journey for our students, but also to bring to life their inner motivation. Teacher role in the learning process. It is quite a well-known fact that while most of the students who decide to learn English, especially if we take into consideration adults, are self-motivated and they have a well-established purpose which drives them in learning this new language, there are few categories of pupils who either are not motivated, or they have not found their motivation yet. It is our role, therefore, to help them see the meaning behind learning English and successfully engage them in a productive study. I think it is mainly the teacher, who holds in his hands the power to either walk with a student and guide him or allow him to fall. In my opinion, an unmotivated student can and will find his motivation as long as the teacher stays by his side. Before talking about different approaches to motivation as well as different types of students, I would like to state the following idea. I believe, from my own experience in a classroom, that the teachers who can motivate students the best are the ones who went on the same journey. Only through encountering the same difficulties and the ways to overcome them, can a teacher genuinely help his students. I do not say that this is the only way, but it might be the fastest and safest. Being myself a non-native speaker of the English language, I often encountered, in my years of practice, students who stumbled upon the same questions and confusions as I did. I was able to help them understand and grasp the hidden meanings only because I myself had to once understand and grasp the hidden meanings. Class Psychology Looking at the human archetype, we can draw a few conclusions when it comes to the linguistic encounter. I would divide students into two main categories, young learners and adults. First of all, I would like to take a look at how motivation is present among these two categories. When working with young learners, especially kindergarteners, teachers can easily divide them into two further categories, motivated young learners and unmotivated young learners. Most of the children have an innate curiosity and would, therefore, be interested and happy to learn a new language, as long as the teacher keeps their motivation alive. What exactly motivates young learners to be receptive to a new language? It could be playing, having fun, winning competitions and therefore the admiration of their peers or parents or a genuine interest in languages. A good teacher should quickly find already motivated children and continue to spark their interest and keep alive their motivation. This could be done through interactive games, extra worksheets if the student learns very fast, or praising. What do we do, then, with the unmotivated child? How do we resurrect that inner motivation, or how do we help him find it? There are a few motives that could explain an unmotivated attitude. It could be the fact that learning a new language was the desire of the parents, it could be boredom or even fatigue, this is quite frequent in Asian countries where children have to attend different cram schools and study every day until the sun sets. There are a few ways to deal with this type of situation, a few that I had to try while teaching in Japan, and that, to my surprise, worked quite well. 1. See their troubles First of all, we should acknowledge their struggle. We should genuinely try to understand where their lack of motivation is coming from and, if possible, start working towards sparking their interest. We can show them that learning a new language can be fun. We should build their self-esteem and respect their desire to be involved or not in the lesson. If the child is tired, sometimes skipping homework or replacing a grammar exercise with a grammar targeted game is a good way of showing them that this journey might not be as bad as they thought it would be. 2. State global opportunities I would like now to take a look at teaching adults. Although most of them are quite motivated, there might be a few reluctant students who do not wish to take the extra language hours after work. We should, first of all, ask them why they have to learn the language, who requires them to do so, and what approach they consider the most convenient for them. Showing them the bigger picture, or how them learning a new language would make a possible promotion or gain the admiration of their colleagues might be something to start with. Another good approach is to get to know our students. Once we are familiar with their interests and types of personality, we would be able to plan accordingly. Even an unmotivated student might find his inner passion if he sees the endless possibilities of learning a new language can bring. 3. Show the beauty of language Last but not least, motivation is the foundation of learning. The process of learning cannot exist if there's no motivation to support it. The challenges and obstacles can only be overcome through a strong motivation, and I genuinely believe that it is an educator's first and foremost purpose to motivate his students and show them the beauty of a new language and culture. Do you want to motivate people to learn English all over the world? Take a TEFL course. Speak with an ITTT advisor today to put together your personal plan for teaching English abroad. Send us an email or call us tollfree at 1-800-490-0531 to speak with an ITTT advisor today.


It is now time for question period. The member from NEPES Inc. Thank you, Speaker. Good morning, Speaker. Looks like my question will be for the acting Premier this morning. You hired Don Drummond to map the way out of the financial mess that you got us into. He told us to balance the budget will require, quote, tough decisions and, quote, most of the burden must fall on spending. Now we understand your plan is to shift the focus from restraint and go on a spending spree.  What you're proposing over on that side is absolutely preposterous.  How do you expect people to believe you can balance the budget by 2017 and 2018? That's a good one. Thank you, Speaker. And as the Premier has said on many occasions, we are implementing Drummond's recommendations. In fact, we've implemented 60% of them. What is absolutely preposterous, Speaker, is when they stand up and say, implement Drummond, implement Drummond, implement Drummond, and then when we do implement Drummond, they oppose us every single step of the way, Speaker. So as the Minister of Health, we've made changes to physio. You've objected to that every step of the way. We work to bring down the price of drugs. You objected every step of the way. We had some tough negotiations with physicians. You objected every step of the way. You got to choose a lane. Well, thank you, Speaker. That's rich, considering this government has added $20 billion to our debt this year alone, just this year. When Moody's downgraded you, they also said that if you don't stabilize the debt burden, you will risk another credit downgrade.  But the Bank of Canada just two weeks ago told us that Ontario will not meet our growth projections for this year, nor for next. You're not fooling anyone. But we're not the only ones who have seen through this fiscal facade. Yesterday, the revered Wall Street Journal reported that Ontario's fiscal situation is worse than California's and the province will have trouble hitting its target of deficit. And that's before your new spending announcement of yesterday. So Acting Premier, will you please tell us is the Wall Street Journal wrong in their forecast? I think it's pretty clear that there's a real difference between the opposition party and ourselves. Because you know what, Speaker? Order, please. Order, please. Order, please. Minister? Speaker, they have chosen to focus everything on reaching that zero deficit, Speaker. We have chosen growing the economy. We have chosen job, Speaker. We believe that the way they're strength, the way they're economic strength, the way they're balanced is through growth, through jobs, through prosperity, Speaker. We're still on track to balance. But I tell you, our Holy Grail, Speaker, is investing in our people, investing in our infrastructure, and having a dynamic, thriving business community. The only thing they care about is the deficit. We're not like that, Speaker. Thank you. Final couple minutes, please. Thank you, Speaker. The Wall Street Journal isn't the only respected outlet who's not buying this line from you, Acting Premier. The Globe and Mail this week called your plan to encourage corporate investment, quote, equal parts lunacy, desperation, and a return to failed 1970s style state planning. Globe and Mail, the Globe also said, quote, there is a very clear sense in which the Ontario government is playing, quote, blame the victim for the sorry state of the provincial economy. Not your own problem. These are hardly ringing endorsements. They're condemnations. Now is not the time to play riverboat gambler with Ontario's finances. We need real leadership to return to prosperity.  Thank you. Please get attention for you to start. Acting Premier. Thank you, Speaker. Our priority is clear. We're focused on creating great jobs, attracting great jobs, Speaker, and we're focused on helping support middle-class families and protecting key services, Speaker. That's our priority. So what people like them, the members of office that don't understand that achieving that zero deficit is a luxury. The member from Redfield, come to order. If it means that people don't have jobs. The member from Leeds, Grenville, come to order. No question. The member from Nepean, Carlton. Thanks very much to the Deputy Premier. Yesterday, the Liberals survived a progressive conservative motion on the gas plants. Thanks again to the NDP for sitting on their hands, abstaining and choosing, of course, the Liberal Party over the people of Ontario. Together the NDP and the Liberals have accomplished a great deal together. They doubled the debt in the past 10 years to $270 billion. They ran together a $12 billion deficit. They together voted to ensure that the horse racing industry would be destroyed in Ontario. They're keeping 1 million Ontarians from being ordered and employed. And, sir, there is one other thing that they've done together. They have found the OPP in order to have investigations into the gas plant scandal and into the orange fiasco. So this marriage between the Liberals and the NDP has been utterly catastrophic for the people of Ontario. Question. Will the Deputy Premier pull her party out of a coalition with the Liberals and actually face the people and get a mandate? Thank you. Deputy Premier. The Speaker, our Premier has made it very clear that we are working very hard to find common ground. The voters of this province sent a minority government to Queens Park and we are working to make minority government work, Speaker. That means working with the opposition party. Sometimes it means working with the NDP party. Sometimes, Speaker. But our job is to make this government work and that means working with both opposition parties so we can continue to improve the lives of the people in this province. Thank you. Secretary. Well, this Liberal government only survived because of the help of the NDP. We have a high jobless rate. It's why we have a high deficit. It's why we have a high debt. It's why we have a disastrous energy policies all aided and vetted by the NDP. But the scandal, the $1.1 billion scandal with the gas plants at Oakville is exactly what the Ontario public is the most angry about. They can't understand why this Liberal government sat in its place for two years and said the cancellation was only $40 million. When that party over there knew for over two years, it would be over $700 million close to a billion which it finally rang into. They also can't understand why the Premier of the province handed over bargaining rights to TCE and also why they obstructed the information and privacy commissioner and chose a more expensive location. But we know that we are all on the hook for $1.1 billion tab. Well, the Liberals finally start to listen to the people of Ontario and see a mandate from them. Thank you. Thank you Premier. Speak with Mr. Energy. Mr. Energy. Mr. Speaker, the member will know that speaking of the Oakville gas plant the Premier initiated the Auditor General. The Auditor General did her work. She came in, she provided a report. Mr. Speaker, what is important is that we're moving forward. That's why we're taking action to ensure electricity bills remain affordable for ratepayers. Number one, the clean energy benefit. But most importantly, cancelling or rescheduling the Samsung agreement we saved $3.7 billion over the life of the contract. Changing the domestic content rules in the feed and tariff program. Saving ratepayers more than $1.9 billion over the life of the contracts. Deferring the construction of two new nuclear reactors at Darlington Generating Station avoiding an estimated $15 billion in new construction costs. These are decisions we made over the last seven or eight months. They're making a significant difference. We're pushing the cost curve down. And this member should get with a new agreement. Mr. Speaker, please. Final supplementary. Mr. Speaker, only a party that has a $12 billion deficit would save their overachieving only a party that blew $1 billion would have the audacity to look at the taxpayers and say they were saving them money. This is a premier that is leading his party that has not been elected by the border.   And her staff obstructed the information and Privacy Commissioner, an officer of this assembly from doing her job. Stephanie Delmore of Ottawa Vanier wrote to the premier. She says, and I quote, my eight-year-old son was a gog at the idea a billion dollars was spent but nothing was constructed, nothing was gained. Even he concluded that a billion dollars was a lot of stuff for our communities. Stephanie says this. I'm asking you to become more of a grown-up, more of a citizen than a politician and have the guts to face consequences. My eight-year-old son. Thank you. Mr. Energy. Mr. Speaker, that member should have the guts to deal with her leader's position on the gas plant. We have here a quote from Mayor Rob Burden. On October 1, 2011, on the day before the provincial election, at part of the still-under-consideration Mississauga power plant, PC leader Tim Houdtak promises to stop the power plant if he wins the election. After only days before warning that he's sure it may cost another one billion dollars. So he knew the cost. Later in 2013, he insisted it was irresponsible for then Premier McGinty to have cancelled it without knowing what it would cost. Even though it cost far less than Houdtak says he thinks it would have cost when he himself promised to cancel it. This is a new height in hypocrisy even for him. That's an exact quote, Mr. The member, regardless of whether he's reading or not, let's draw a speaker. New question. Member from BGC short. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the acting Premier. Ontarians want to see Ontario's books balanced in a responsible manner. The government signed a plan to open a new corporate tax loophole to help Ontario's largest corporations write off the HST on expenses like whining and dining of clients. Under pressure from the NDP, the government agreed this was a $1.1 billion expense that Ontarians couldn't afford in tough times. When will the government permanently close this loophole or has it abandoned it altogether? Thank you. Deputy Premier. Well, Speaker, we are absolutely committed to be responsible when it comes to managing the province's finances. In fact, last year's spending was down last year for the first time since 1996. On the health care file, we've gone from annual increases of 6% to 7% per year to 2% per year and the health sector understands that that's the way it's going to be for the foreseeable future. We are transforming how we're doing business so that we can actually be responsible fiscally for services that people so heavily rely on, Speaker. So I think that if the member opposite actually paid attention to the books, he would understand that we're being extremely responsible. We're taking our responsibility seriously, but we're not going to cut services. We're not going to slash services, Speaker. Thank you. Mr. Speaker, with the greatest of respect, I asked a sensible question. I got a whole bunch of stuff in my question at all. So I'm going to try a different type. Maybe you can answer this one. Last fall, the government indicated that they were prepared to put a hard cap on public sector CEO salaries that have climbed into the seven-figure range. When will the government take that action? Or is this yet another plan the Liberals plan to abandon? And no, Speaker. We are looking at the issue of broader public sector executive compensation, because I think all of us understand that we need to have a responsible approach to executive compensation in the broader public sector. But I think the member opposite realizes that that is not a panacea. That is not the big fix, Speaker. In fact, in the healthcare sector, the issue around hospital CEO compensation amounts to 0.03 percent of the budget. So, Speaker, yes, it's something we're looking at, but we're realistic to know it's not going to fix everything. Thank you. Final supplementary. Again, no one says it's going to fix everything, but the Liberals promise things and don't deliver. Third tap. Families who have seen the government waste over a billion dollars scrapping private power deals. They blow millions on perks and they break promises of restraint at the top and dump billions of dollars more into new corporate tax loopholes that aren't creating jobs. Why should anyone take the government seriously when it comes to balancing Ontario's books? Well, Speaker, I think I would simply beg to differ with the member opposite, because in fact we are making great progress when it comes to jobs. We have done far better than recoup the losses that we had during the Great Recession, Speaker, and we're continuing to improve outcomes for the people in this province, whether it's health outcomes or whether it's educational outcomes. Speaker, we're creating jobs. We're very focused on creating jobs. Our youth employment strategy has already demonstrated that with concerted effort in partnership with the broader society, we can put young people to work, Speaker. We can put people to work because they're skilled, they're talented, we need to work together to get this economy really moving to benefit all of us. Thank you very much, Mr. Kitchener-Waterloo. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Acting Premier. For more than 10 years, Liberals have been cutting no-strings-attached, blank checks to businesses that aren't creating jobs. Does the Acting Premier still think no-strings-attached giveaways are the way to create jobs? Deputy Premier. Speaker, we have been in a position to support business in this province because that is where jobs are created, Speaker, so we are prepared to work with business community so they can create more jobs for the people of this province. Speaker, I think we have seen some excellent success when it comes to our investment in GM, for example. There are other very good examples of success and I think the member actually knows that because she lives in a community that has benefited from those investments. Supplementary. To the Acting Premier, actually, the region of Kitchener-Waterloo is successful in spite of this government. In 2011, Navistar and Chatham shut its doors and 1,000 people... Order. Order. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. In 2011, Navistar and Chatham shut its doors and 1,000 people lost their jobs. This government cut Navistar a $30 million check, but apparently didn't get a guarantee to keep jobs in Ontario. Navistar moved those jobs to a state with a job creator tax credit, something proposed by new Democrats. Later this month there is going to be an auction at the Navistar plant. Will Ontarians get any of that $30 million back? Well, Mr. Speaker, I'm happy to have the opportunity to talk to some of the investments through the Southwest Ontario Economic Development Fund. Some of them very close to the member opposite's hometown. So let's talk about what's happening in Elmira Speaker. Elmira Pet Products got a grant, created 25 jobs, retained another 146 jobs. Speaker for a total of 171. Navistar in 12 received a grant 51 new jobs, created 374 Speaker in Palmerston $250,000 to MSW Canadian Plastic Limited created 9 new jobs, retained 21 jobs. In Woodstock, NASG Canada Speaker created 50 jobs, retained 210. Speaker, this investment is working, creating jobs. All right. Final supplement. Mr. Speaker, another non-answer. People are ready to hear new promises today, but they also remember this government's track record. Over the last 10 years, 300,000 good manufacturing jobs have disappeared. Our province has the highest electricity rates in the country, the lowest productivity growth, and an unemployment rate that is above the national average. The government says their old jobs will be given while they try and roll out a new one. Are Ontarians ever going to hear a credible jobs plan from this government? I don't know why the member opposite is so darn negative, because let me tell you we acknowledge the economy still faces a challenge. We know that, Speaker, but she might want to know that employment is up to 600 jobs since our low in June of 2009, Speaker. We are creating jobs. We are retaining jobs. We believe in the people of this province, Speaker. We believe in the people of this province. We believe they are talented people and we're going to continue to work with the people of this province because we believe that that's the strength of our future. Thank you. Thank you very much, Speaker. We've heard testimony at the Justice Committee from the auditor and from senior officials in the Ontario Power Authority that your government was made aware of the costs of the Oakville Power Plant cancellation months before the Premier appeared before the committee. Your claims to not have known simply are incredible. Cabinet was made aware and the Premier was made aware. She knew that the costs were going to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars, but that's not what she told the public and that's not what she told this House. Yesterday afternoon we debated a motion that gave all members of this House an opportunity to hold her accountable for her actions and the NDP sat on their hands. My question to the Acting Premier is simply this. What secret deal have you made NDP to buy their silence? Order, please. Order, please. This is skating on very thin ice when you pose a question in a manner that impunes whether or not somebody is paying somebody. So I'm going to offer you an opportunity to resist any further reference of the such. Deputy Premier. Government House Leader Speaker. You know Mr. Speaker, the temptation is there with the ridiculous question that's just been asked. Yeah, I'm not going to fall for it because you know what Mr. Speaker? This is serious Mr. Speaker. It is very serious that the opposition over the past several months have stood up day after day after day outlining the situation with the gas plants as being one of the most serious issues before the province and yet they failed to acknowledge the fact that they were in action Mr. Speaker. They were the ones out front, their candidates, their leader that was saying the only way to see the gas plants cancelled is to elect a PC government in the province of Ontario. Mr. Speaker, it is time they came clean. The issues the member raised this morning have all been dealt with at committee, the Premier will go in front of committee but the one issue that has not been raised is their commitment to cancel a clean. This is a very serious issue Mr. Speaker. Thank you Speaker, back to the acting Premier. We know that the Liberals are willing to do anything to cling to power and yet the NDP are steadfast in their commitment to prop them up. If the Premier can be allowed to waste over a billion dollars without any consequences what is to prevent even greater scandals from happening in the future? You have it nine months and all you've done is attempt to get back that union support and today's economic plan your plan, your so-called jobs plan proves that you're doing everything you can to get that union support back from the NDP. Rumour has it that donations to the Liberals are up and that the NDP are down. This government is responsible for scandal after scandal and will excuse itself for doing anything. The Premier has held no one accountable yesterday, the NDP back in Ontario's by refusing to hold the Premier accountable. When will you finally do the right thing and let the people of Ontario pass their judgement on this corrupt, tired old guy? The member will withdraw. Withdraw. Nope. Host Leader. Mr. Speaker. We have tried with some success Mr. Speaker to make this government work. It is true Mr. Speaker. We brought forward a budget. We reached out to both parties. The PC party refused to even read the budget but yes Mr. Speaker we reached an agreement with the new democratic party and in terms of the PC party Mr. Speaker quite recently we had a motion a programming motion passed in this legislature which allowed a number of very important pieces of legislation to move forward through committee so we will continue to make this legislature work Mr. Speaker but I ask the honourable members opposite to continue to show willingness. Right now Bill 105 which is going to cut taxes for small business is stalled in committees because of the machinations of the opposition Mr. Speaker. Let's continue that spirit of cooperation. Let's continue to make this legislature work. Member from Essex. Thank you Speaker. To the acting premier Speaker the people of Windsor-Nessex County have faced terrible uncertainty and anxiety when it comes to the access to cancer surgery as well as thoracic services in our home community. New Democrats have been asking for clarity and assurance from this government for a full week but all we are hearing from the minister is spin She's made it clear that she no longer wants Windsor to provide services but the member from Windsor West has been evading the issue and implying that she supports thoracic services in Windsor. So can the acting Premier come clean and tell us what the Liberal government's position is on Windsor's thoracic services today? Thank you, thank you Premier. I can assure the people of Windsor that they will continue to have access to first-class cancer services speaker and anything suggesting that they won't is simply fear-mongering speaker. They will receive those services in Windsor. The member from Windsor West and I actually met this morning with Michael Sharar, the CEO of Cancer Care Ontario, so that we could have a further conversation about this particular situation speaker. I think it's commendable that the member from Windsor West would take the time to understand the issue, to advocate for her community and her commitment to quality of care is paramount speaker. So we know speaker that there is a relationship between volume of surgeries and quality of care. Cancer Care Ontario has driven improvement in cancer care that has benefited all Ontarians and we'll continue to work on this issue speaker. Supplementary. The speaker of this government is all too happy to put out contradictory statements and to provide empty assurances but the grim reality of the situation continues. Windsor and Essex County residents are faced with the loss of thoracic services under the threat of losing all cancer surgeries. Just yesterday the CEO of Windsor Regional Hospital told the media that the threat from Cancer Care Ontario has yet to be withdrawn and the hospital's concerns about the loss of thoracic services has not been addressed either. So will the acting Premier let my constituents know if her government is done playing games and is ready to take action to protect Windsor's health care services? Absolutely speaker. I am committed to excellent care for the people of Windsor area as I am for every other part of this province and I think it's very important that the member opposite understands that the $6 million plus that is received by the Windsor hospitals from Cancer Care Ontario will continue speaker. That funding will continue because people in Windsor and area count on that funding to get the cancer care that they need. So speaker we are continuing as I said to work on the issue specific to one type of surgery but cancer care services will absolutely continue in Windsor and for the member opposite to suggest otherwise it's simply irresponsible. Thank you. My question is to the Minister of Education. I know that Ontario's publicly funded education system is recognized as one of the best in the world and I'm extremely proud of our accomplishments as our success is based on the talent dedication and hard work of those in our education community. Mr. Speaker we have a lot to be proud of. Today 71% of students are achieving the provincial standards in grade three and six combined which is up 17 points from 54% in 2002-2003 and graduation rates are up 15 points from 2003 to 83% in 2013. While we have seen great progress over the last 10 years I know we can't become complacent with this success. Mr. Speaker I was pleased to hear that the Minister recently visited Ottawa to talk about the next phase of education in our province. Can the Minister please update this house on the consultations you have been requested. Thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you to the member from Ottawa South for raising this initiative. You know we do have a lot to be proud of when it comes to our accomplishments and education and now is the time to build on that success and redefine our vision aspirations and our goals not just for the system but more importantly for our students. I was pleased to be able to travel to Ottawa recently to participate in our provincial consultation on how to take our education system from great to excellent. I've also had the pleasure of traveling to Thunder Bay, Sudbury, London, Richmond Hill and Mississauga recently to hear directly from parents and our partners in education. We're asking questions about what skills do students need to thrive in the 21st century. How do we support student well-being and how can we get better use of technology in our schools and a host more questions that will help direct our vision for education in the future. Thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you to the Minister for bringing us up to speed on these next phase of consultations. I agree that is important for us to continue to look forward on how we can take our system from great to excellent. We are already recognized globally as having one of the best publicly funded education systems in the English speaking world. Mr. Speaker we need to continue to work and strive for the best for our students. Mr. Speaker through you to the can the Minister describe to this house what she hopes to learn from these consultations and when we will finalize this next phase for education in Ontario. Thank you Minister. Thank you Speaker and thank you again for the question. It's important to note that this consultation has been a broader check-in than just with our usual education stakeholders. We've been talking as well to business to chambers of commerce to nonprofit agencies and communities throughout the province and to our students and to our parents. And we're talking about how to improve in areas like critical thinking creativity problem solving and communication skills. All skills you need for a variety of jobs in our province. We're talking about whether we should be teaching students more about entrepreneurship and financial literacy. What does that mean. What's the role of technology in our classrooms of the future. So speaker this really is a broad range of topics with a whole host of people from every community. So we are looking forward to the release of a new vision early in 2017. Thank you. Question to member from Algin Middlesex London. Thank you speaker. My question is to the minister responsible for the Pan Am games minister yesterday in estimates committee. I asked your colleague the minister of transportation when we can expect to see the transit plan for the Pan Am games. And I have to say his response was quite interesting. Your colleague said that we might get the plan in the next few weeks but they won't really have a clear picture of the cost until the games are finished. That begs the question why even have a budget. If your strategy for the Pan Am games is just to endlessly build the taxpayers why even make the budget. The sad thing is given the minister of transportation's comments and your record whatever numbers come out of the Pan Am games transit plan will have no credibility. None. Minister do you agree with the minister of transportation.  Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much for the question. As you know the Pan Am game is a huge undertaking by the promise. From 2015 there will be 41 countries. The competitor come to Toronto and the game will attract about according to CIPC 350,000 tourists coming to our town. That's a lot of tourists. Until 2015 are leading the development of an integrated transportation plan for the games. Transportation planning for an event of this scale is complex, takes time and involves many organizations including the promise, municipality, transit systems and security planning. We are working closely with the OPP and municipal police to ensure that transportation will be safe and secure. Thank you, speaker. Thank you supplementary. Thank you, speaker. My question is to the minister responsible of Pan Am games as well. Minister you can't keep using complexity as an excuse for not having a budget. It's precisely why you need a budget. Even your own colleague yesterday threw you under the bus for the Pan Am transportation busing estimates yesterday. Apparently you won't have transportation costs figured out until after the games. Very perplexing. Let me remind you the value of having a real budget ahead of time is to ensure the people who are paying for the games are being respected and that you're being accountable. Why don't we even have ministers? But there lies the second problem minister. None of your Pan Am budgeting to date is credible. What do they do? Anytime you need more money you just buried it in another ministry and your game of Mr. Action is over. I want to know how much is buried in transportation. In any other ministry, Minister, the Pan Am transportation plan be another hidden extra above and beyond the $1.4 billion deep-water Pan Am budget. Thank you, thank you, speaker. A transportation master plan that will guide our operations as we prepare for the games and is on track. Past Game Speaker have revealed their transportation plans 12 to 18 months before they are underway and we plan to match that timeline speaker. We're also working together on an integrated stakeholder outreach and engagement plan which will be used to guide transportation related communications to all stakeholders. Speaker, transportation costs have not been fully defined. The games are the first time the province has undertaken a transportation plan exercise of this magnitude. Speaker, cost will be identified as a transportation planning process. It's completed and the full scope of the transportation needs is better understood. Thank you, speaker. Give a new question to the members from Davenport. Thank you, speaker. My question is to the acting Premier. Nuclear officials are preparing to transport a toxic stew of liquid bomb-grade uranium by armed convoy from Chalk River, Ontario to a South Carolina reprocessing site. This so-called high-priority mission marks the first time that authorities have attempted to truck highly enriched uranium in a liquid solution. This announcement has alarmed nuclear safety groups on both sides of the border and there sounded an alarm for far greater government scrutiny. What safeguards has this government put in place to protect Ontario residents from this potential dangerous practice? Mr. Premier. Mr. of energy. Mr. of energy. I know that nuclear safety is a responsibility of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission. It is 100% responsible. It provides the oversight, accepts a responsibility for it, Mr. Speaker. We work very closely with that agency when we're asked to and the member should know that. He's raising concerns. I will pass those concerns on to my federal counterpart and I'm sure like in every other case when the NDP has raised concerns about the transportation of nuclear products that they have been properly dealt with and no incidents have occurred from them. The record is impeccable, Mr. Speaker. Wow. Thank you, supplementary. Thank you, speaker. Back to the acting Premier. This government has to understand there are grave public safety issues at stake here and the trucking of nuclear waste through our communities requires proper government oversight. In August, a truck with radioactive cargo on the busy I-75 highway near Troy, Ohio caught fire but despite the fire emergency nuclear regulators in Canada where the cargo originated and in the U.S. were not informed of the incident. Will this government provide hard evidence that the transport of liquid uranium poses no danger to the public and ensure that local officials are given advanced notification of the transport of nuclear waste through their region? Nuclear safety is a top priority for Ontario and it has been for the 40 or 50 years that we've been in the business. Nuclear power has been safely providing electricity in the province for 40 years. The most importantly, Mr. Speaker, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission and Transport Canada are responsible for issuing transport license applications related to nuclear materials in accordance with stringent regulations for compliance and connection with public safety and emergency preparedness. As the federal regulator, the CNSC would not allow the transportation of any equipment material if there were a risk to the public or the environment. The type of incident he's referring to in the United States has not occurred in Ontario and it won't Mr. Speaker. Thank you Mr. President. My question is for Maria Sergio who is the minister in charge of senior affairs. Unfortunately in the society that we live in this more and more often involves elder abuse, mental, physical, even financial. The WHO defines abuse of older adults as a single or repeated act or lack of appropriate action occurring in any relationship where there's an expectation of trust that causes harm or distress to an older person. The reality is this, Speaker, seniors are often the victim of fraud. They tend to be trusting and generous individuals which of course can make them pray to fraudsters. Speaker, given the minister's role at the Ontario Senior Secretariat, I would like to know personally and I'd like Ontarians to know what actions is our government taking to protect our seniors? Thank you very much Mr. Speaker. I'm very honoured to be able to answer the question by my colleague, the members for Etobicoke North. Our seniors are not only trusting generous but very giving as well. Speaker, I have to say that thanks to their contribution that they have made our country, our province, our community, they are much better off today. Speaker, shielding and safeguarding, protecting our seniors, it's my responsibility that of the government and every member of the House. We introduced legislation seeming to combat elder abuse, to raise education and to educate as well. We injected more than $8 million into 2003 Speaker, including the bill of rights for seniors and zero tolerance as well. More than that, Speaker, let me say that in the next few days we have been extra reason to remember our seniors. Those brave men that on November 11th, they fought in the first, second world war and the Korean war so we can enjoy freedom today. When it comes to our senior speaker, we can never do enough. We will continue to do everything we can for the safety and protection of our seniors. Speaker, I appreciate the response, diligence and heartfelt commitment of the minister in this portfolio. As a physician and parliamentarian, I am seeing more and more elder abuse in my various capacities. I believe that from my writing of Etobica North, there is however a certain degree of reassurance to know that the province understands the importance of combating elder abuse and that the machinery of government is mobilized in this regard. Seniors, their contribution, their hard work, their collective wisdom are all precious resources. Even so, Speaker, sadly, many seniors are taken advantage of financially, even by their own family members. Speaker, how is Ontario working with other Canadian jurisdictions to alert seniors about financial fraud, whether it come from friend or foe? Minister? Speaker, thank you very much to the member from Etobica North. Thank you very much. And it's very, I have to say that the member from Etobica North is a real champion and it's a remarkable member when it comes to our senior speaker. And I have to say that the question couldn't come at a better time when we are celebrating National Seniors Week throughout Canada. And the theme, in fact, is fight fraud and protect our seniors finances. Speaker, I have to say that I had the pleasure a couple of weeks ago of participating with members from all the federal, provincial and territorial ministries with respect to raising the issue of seniors. And I am very proud as an Ontario minister for the province of Ontario to bring forth to the table and get approved a answer with respect to power of attorney and joint bank accounts. Speaker, I have to say that when it comes to our seniors in our province, in Ontario here, there are no boundaries. And I hope that this close forever member of the House. Thank you. The member from Halton. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions to the Minister of Health. Minister, tomorrow will be the 10th day since you promised to respond to Kim Fletcher about the crisis that she and her family face. That means that's another 10% of her medically predicted life expectancy has gone by while you have continued to do nothing.  So today I'm taking the matter directly to the people of Ontario and I'm issuing a province wide petition on Kim's behalf. The question is, Minister, will you at least now act on that sacred trust and respond to the voice and the will of the people of Ontario? Well, thank you, Speaker, and I can assure the member opposite and everyone else in this province that I take my responsibility as Minister of Health extremely seriously. I know, I know, Speaker, that people are counting on me to do my job well so they can get the health care they need when they need it, Speaker. The member opposite continues to heckle. I find that disgusting, frankly. Speaker, I think it's important that the member opposite understands that when it comes to funding cancer drugs, we have tripled funding for cancer fighting drugs. For every $1 they spent, we are spending three, Speaker. We are blessed in this province to have excellent cancer care. We have amongst the highest survival rates in the world, Speaker. We have those results because we rely on science to make our decisions. Thank you, Supplementary. Thank you, Speaker. That increased spending isn't helping Kim, is it? Minister, the petition I'm releasing today concludes the Ontario Parliament call on the Premier and the Minister of Health to extend OHIP funding of the drug Avastin so that Kim Fletcher and others like her can have as much time to enjoy with her family as possible and to tell the wind administration that our health care system includes Kim Fletcher. Again, I ask you, Minister, why doesn't your health care system include Kim Fletcher? In my health care system, people get access to the drugs they need based on their condition, not based on an MPP that they might know, Speaker. We apply the same rules to everyone, Speaker. To single out one for exceptional access is not consistent with my commitment to provide excellent care to all Ontarians. We rely on science, Speaker. We rely on evidence. The members opposite have chosen to disregard evidence, to disregard science. I think that is wrong, Speaker. I believe because I do feel I am put in a position of enormous responsibility that I must rely on evidence so that we can get people the care that you that care that will help them. Thank you for the question. Let's give a round of applause. Speaker. Seniors in the London area are facing unacceptable wait times for cataract surgery. My constituents are writing me as surely as they are writing the Minister of Health in distress. Who too, please? Because of the year-long wait times for this. Who, please? Oh, my apologies. The Minister of Health. Excuse me. She's been getting a lot of questions, so I just forgot to introduce her. Do you want me to start again, Speaker? No? Okay. So I'm going to start with the my constituents have been writing me, Minister, surely as they've been writing you in distress because of the year-long wait times of this necessary surgery. Speaker, optimologists warned this government that problems were brewing and the Liberal government chose to ignore their concerns. Question. Now seniors are waiting, are paying the price. Does the health minister think it is right that seniors need cataract needing cataract surgery are forced to wait for a year or longer in her own hometown riding? Well, Speaker, I welcome this question because this this party has a very strong record when it comes to focusing on getting wait times down. In fact, Speaker, we have recently for the sixth year in a row received straight A's from the Wait Time Alliance Speaker. Our wait times are lower than anywhere else. We've made great progress, Speaker. Province-wide we've cut five months off wait times for cataract surgeries. In the Southwest, Lynn Speaker, when we took office people were waiting 351 days. They were waiting a full year for that surgery. We have cut that wait time in half, Speaker. Across the province, we have reduced wait times for cataracts. We've reduced wait times for various surgeries and diagnostic tests. We're very transparent about it. You can go online and see what wait times are for any procedures in any hospital in this province. Thank you. Supplementary. Speaker, living with reduced eyesight can impact every aspect of someone's life. One constituent wrote about this year-long wait time and I quote, this is unacceptable. My quality of life as a senior is grossly affected. I have problems with glare and this may affect my driving. This not only affects me but also affects my immediate family as I am I am not able to pick up my grandchild my grandchildren after school which will cost my daughter after school care. The Minister of Health seems more concerned with patting herself on the back than taking the concerns of our constituents seriously. Speaker, my question is simple. Can the minister tell my constituents when cataract wait times will be reduced? Thank you, Minister. Speaker, for all of the reasons that were mentioned in that letter that is why we have really focused on bringing wait times down for cataract speaker. So across the province wait times are down significantly speaker. We were the first ones to actually measure publicly post publicly report and and invest money to bring those wait times down. We have seen tremendous success speaker. In fact I bet the member opposite would be interested in knowing our wait time success in other procedures. 98% of cancer surgeries are being done within the the priority levels for target speaker. 100% of bypass surgeries, 94% of cataract surgeries, 89% of hip replacements, 85% of knee replacements, 61% of MRIs, 87% of CT, 98% of general surgeries, 92% of pediatric surgeries. Speaker, wait times are a big focus of our ministry and we're seeing the results. Thank you, my question to the members of Auto Orleans. Thank you, Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Children and Youth Services. Minister, in my writing of Auto Orleans I often meet and listen to families as dual members of this house. One concern that I hear frequently from parents is that they want to know that the right services are in place for their child's development. This is a universal concern and I know that in Ontario where providing some of the best supports available anywhere in the world. As a parent and grandparent myself, I note these types of services make positive impacts in the lives of children. My question is, Mr Speaker, can the minister please tell this house what we are doing as a government to help children grow up to be healthy teenagers and then healthy adults. Thank you. Minister of Children and Youth Services. Thank you, Mr Speaker and thanks to the member from Auto Orleans about this question. First off, my number of children here, welcome. Welcome to all the children visiting us here today. And it's for you that this question is very important. I'm a parent as well as everyone knows and nothing's more important to me and I think everyone in this house to make sure that children are prepared for school and life. And let me say, I can say that there are much many more programs available today than there were when my kids were young. My ministry is investing $261 million in healthy development services and supports directly for children and their parents. For example, we're providing Healthy Babies Healthy Children program with $89 million. This program supports women, children and their families from prenatal period through to a child's transition to school. Through programs like this, our government is able to directly assist in the healthy development of our young people. This is part of our government's commitment to provide children with the best possible start in life. Thank you, Speaker. And I would like to thank the Minister for her answer. It is very clear to me that this government takes the responsibility of healthy childhood development seriously and is making significant investments. However, this is an area where there is always improvement to be made. As a government, we need to be constantly looking to improve the services we provide and also seek out new and better methods. I understand that in March of this year, a Healthy Kids panel released report with recommendations to improve health childhood development, specifically reduce childhood obesity. I am pleased that our government establishes this panel to help combat such an important issue. Can the Minister please tell us more about this report and how our government is responding? Thank you, Minister. Thank you very much. And again, thank you for the follow-up question. And first, I'd like to thank the Healthy Kids panel for their report that aims to improve the health and well-being. The report made a number of recommendations on some important ministry of children and youth services programs, as well as recommendations across government as well. These include our poverty reduction strategy, student nutrition program, and the mental health and addiction strategy. All strategies that we are investing in. We're committed to reviewing the recommendations in order to inform our future. And in fact, Speaker, Minister Matthews and I are co-chairing a working group on the Healthy Kids panel report to review each of those recommendations. That group will be extremely important to move toward this government's goal to improve early childhood and development services. Again, we're committed to working with our colleagues across ministries to inform next steps. Thank you. New question. The member from Chatham, 10th Essence. Thank you very much, Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Energy. Minister, I'm sending these energy bills to you. I'd like to appreciate you taking a look at them and I'll leave them with Page Serran. Thank you. Minister, earlier this week, I met with a business owner from my writing who showed me his massive energy bills. Most notably, his global adjustment has skyrocketed. And if you look at his bills, you'll notice that he's using less power than two years ago but paying much more and his global adjustment has almost tripled. Another business owner told me that he quote is considering leaving Ontario and moving to the Detroit area where he can get cheaper rent and his energy costs would be half of what they currently are. End quote. Taking jobs and tax revenue from my community. Minister, my question is simply this. If you were in my shoes, what would you tell these business owners? First of all, Mr. Speaker, I would tell those owners that we have made significant investments in the energy system because of the negligence of that party when they were in government requiring us to spend $21 billion in new generation, Mr. Speaker, $10 billion in new transmission and that pushed electricity rates up. As a result of those rates going up, Mr. Speaker, investments which were absolutely necessary to create a reliable and clean system, we created a number of programs for the energy sector, including the Clean Energy Benefit for Families for Industry and that includes small business and farmers, Mr. Speaker. The Energy and Property Tax Credit, Northern Ontario Energy Credit, Northern Industrial Electricity Rate Program, Industrial Conservation Initiative, Industrial Electricity Incentive. In addition to that over the last seven or eight months, Mr. Speaker, we've taken major steps to put pressure to put prices down, Mr. Speaker and that included about supplementary. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Well, Mr. Speaker, actions used to be louder than words and I really hope that you're not misleading Ontarians. I withdraw. Mr. Speaker, my writing of Chatham Ken Essex has lost over 10,000 manufacturing jobs since this government took place in 2003 and we cannot afford to lose any more. You tell turbine companies not to produce energy while you continue to pay them for not producing energy. All the while, more and more turbines continue to be built up not only in my writing but throughout Ontario. Here's the reality, Minister. Energy costs are doubling and crippling manufacturing. Businesses and families are struggling to pay bills and keep their lights on. Admit that your green energy act is a failure. Minister, will you admit that you do not have a real plan to lower energy rate? Thank you. Thank you, Minister. Mantid and as I said earlier today in question period by renegotiating the Samsung agreement, we saved rate payers $3.7 billion over the life of the contract. Changing the domestic content rules for the feed-in tariff program, we saved rate payers more than $1.9 billion over the life of the contract. Deferring the construction of two nuclear reactors at Darlington generating station, Mr. Speaker, is avoiding an estimated $15 billion for the new construction. All of those would have put pressure on costs going up. Mr. Speaker, these are going to put the right pressure on our investments to push costs down. And we will be releasing our long-term energy plan within several weeks. And I ask the Minister to await that and he'll see exactly what the future holds for us. Do you have a new question? We're from Canora Rainey River. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Minister of Natural Resources. Grassy Narrows First Nation was not consulted in good faith when the long-term management direction of the Whiskey Jack Forest on their traditional land was developed. MNR plans show that clear cutting on traditional Grassy Narrows territory will start as early as 2014, despite the community's strong objections. In 2012, Premier Nguyen visited Grassy Narrows as Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and talked about rebuilding Grassy Narrows' relationship with Ontario to get it right. Yet the exact opposite is happening. Will the Minister uphold his duty, do the right thing, and consult with Grassy Narrows to obtain their consent regarding any forestry plans on their traditional lands? Minister of Natural Resources. Thank you, Speaker. And I certainly appreciate the question from the member. We obviously are very concerned about the participation of First Nations in the forestry industry and their activity. The member knows full well that there is a court challenge that is going to the Supreme Court as a result of the province being successful in a case that took place earlier with respect to the province having the right to be able to issue harvesting licenses in the area. We are certainly committed to working with the Grassy Narrows First Nation. We value their involvement and their participation in forest harvesting. As the member knows as well, wood from the Whiskey Jack continues to provide economic opportunities for First Nation communities as well as the local mills and also including a mill that is owned and operated by a local First Nation member. Under the contingency plan, there is no planned harvest blocks located within the Grassy Narrows self-identified traditional lands but we are very mindful of this issue and are committed to working with the Grassy Narrows First Nation. Supplementary. Thank you, Speaker. This Liberal Government's disregard for the consultation process is causing serious problems with economic development in addition to endangering this province's relationship with First Nations.  Will this government commit today to coming to the table engaging with Grassy Narrows in serious consultation and obtaining their consent when it comes to activities within their traditional territory? Speaker, you know nothing to be further from the truth. Our government is committed to participating and working with actively the First Nations in this area with respect to the Whiskey Jack Forest as well as the Grassy Narrows First Nation. The member also knows that Wood that comes off the Whiskey Jack SFL goes to support a mill that is owned and operated by a local First Nation member and that the 10-year Crown Forest Sustainability Act as well as the Forest License Management Plan that is actively being undertaken is inclusive of First Nations interests and rights and we are very concerned and are very actively working with the First Nations to ensure their participation in this area that is so vital to their livelihood. So, Speaker, you know I'd say to the member opposite, we're going to continue to do that. We have a strong relationship in working with our First Nations, a strong partnership with First Nations and I'm certainly very pleased with the progress that we've made. Thank you, a new question. The member from Scarborough News River. Thank you Mr Speaker. My question is to the Attorney General. Legal Aid Ontario plays a vital role in providing access to justice throughout the province by providing high quality legal aid services in a cost-effective and efficient manner. Speaker, too many constituents who are in need of legal advice find it can be very costly and that may deter them from seeking appropriate legal advice. In most recent budget, our government made a commitment to expand funding to legal aid Ontario. Speaker, can the Attorney General please share how this new funding will expand services and how it may expand access to justice for low-income Ontarians and some of the more vulnerable citizens? Thank you Attorney General. Thank you very much for the question. It's unfortunate there won't be enough time for a supplementary speaker because this is a good new story. I'm happy to tell you that our government this year has committed an extra 30 million dollars in extra funding over the next three years for Legal Aid Ontario with a specific emphasis on family law services and legal aid clinics. Now that's in addition to 150 million dollars that was given over four years back in 2009, Speaker. The unfortunate part is that whereas at one time legal aid was the joint responsibility of the federal and provincial government and the funding was on a 50-50 basis, currently we're only getting 20% of the total funding from the federal government. Next week there will be meetings with other provincial and territorial ministers as well as the Minister of Justice and this is certainly one issue that we'll be addressing with him at that point of time. There is access to justice whether it's in the criminal courts, the civil courts or family court is absolutely essential if we want to have a good system of justice in the province of Ontario. There's so much to standing order 38A the member from Elgin Middlesex London has given notice of his dissatisfaction with the answer to his question given by the minister responsible for the 2015 Pan-Para-Pan American Games concerning the Games Transit Plan. This matter will be debated Tuesday November the 19th at 6 p.m. My dear friends this is the last day for our pages and we wish them well. I do believe they've done a tremendous job and they do us they do us proud and they do their families proud as well. There are no deferred votes this house stands adjourned until 1 p.m. this afternoon.


On this week's edition of the EDGE, we're going to talk about some news that may have flown under your radar last week and help you get ahead of what people are going to be talking about next week. First up, living wages. In 2005, the city analyzed where we were with the living wage and found that more than 900 employees had fallen below that. During last week's city council budget policy session, city staff said it would take two years and $4.2 million to bring civilian city employees up to $13 an hour minimum wage. And $18.2 million over three years to bring those same employees up to $15 an hour. $15 an hour is what groups including COPS Metro say is a true living wage and should be the minimum wage for city employees. City manager Cheryl Scully said the minimum wage for civilian employees is now at $11.47 per hour, up from $8.75 an hour when she first came to San Antonio in 2005. City, we had 900 employees who were earning less than the federal living wage. That meeting also included a heads up that next year's budget will probably include an incentive to get more people to recycle. What's in it for you?  And last week, a delegation of congressional Democrats hosted by congressman Joaquin Castro came to Texas to talk to Central American women and children being held in private prisons just south of San Antonio. Many of these folks should have their chance to apply for asylum and we believe would qualify as a side lease. And it's in that spirit that we visited Cards today. One lawmaker managed to shoot cell phone video with refugee women and children protesting and chanting. Coming up, expect more people to be talking about Uber and Lyft again. Now that Mayor Ivy Taylor has asked the city manager to create a framework to bring the companies back to San Antonio for a pilot period. Get the edge by going to NowCastSA for a refresher on public safety issues and why it's not accurate to call those companies rideshare. At NowCastSA.com, our mission is to democratize information. One way we do that is we make information accessible and we get it into people's hands. Here's a map of places where kids can get free food this summer. Please share it with someone you know who needs it. You can find a food service site, then click through the address and get the map with transportation options and it's free. Visit NowCastSA.com where you can share a link to that map, learn more about the living wage, watch cell phone video of the protest and children in private prisons. Thanks for watching The Edge.