I welcome you all for this today's session on Fundamentals of Traffic Flow. Myself, Parshav Kumar, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Wall-Chain University Technology, Solapur. Learning outcomes of the today's class, at the end of the session students will able to distinguish between uninterrupted and interrupted traffic flow and also describe the characteristics of uninterrupted and interrupted traffic flow. We know that the traffic stream involves the driver vehicle and the physical road futures and its environment. In the driving, in the traffic stream involves the variability because the driver behavior varies, even speed varies and vehicle characteristics varies. So driver behavior depending upon the location and time and he is behavior in the traffic stream varies and some of the drivers will go with very high speed, some of the driver will go with very low speed. So speed also varies and vehicle characteristics, we have to consider like their length, then weight, then height, all the parameters are varies. So it is a very tough challenge for a traffic engineer to consider all these varying factors and design the facilities. In describing traffic streams in quantitative terms, a key parameters must be defined and measured. So key parameters in the traffic streams are flow, speed, density and capacity. So these must be described as well as measured. Now to understand this inherent variability and define normal range of behavior. So what is meaning of this normal range of behavior? Suppose if I take the example of speed as the example to define the normal range of behavior, some of the driver will go with very high speed, some of the driver will go with very low speed and which one we have to consider for defining this stream traffic stream parameters. Whether we should define all this considering the flow, it is uneconomical. So low, it is inadequate. Now we have to define all these traffic stream parameters for normal range of behavior. Say all the vehicles are traveling with the average speed in the traffic stream. For that average speed, we are defining all these traffic stream parameters and designing the facilities. Usually the traffic flow facility is classified in two ways, uninterrupted flow facilities and interrupted flow facilities. Let us understand these two parameters in detail. Uninterrupted flow facilities where there is no external factors to cause periodic interruptions to the traffic stream. What could be the external factors? External factors are traffic signals, stop or yield signs. Sometimes even in a long rural highways between signalized intersections, yes we can also go with uninterrupted flow. Primarily it exists on freeways. It means for a driver, there is no absolutely any external interruptions due to all these parameters. But it does not mean that driver can go with very high speed. Sometimes during a high volume also within the traffic stream, the flow might decrease because of the higher volume. So when the flow is decreased, even capacity decreases, speed decreases. But this external factors not because of the external factors, your speed is reduced. It is reduced mainly because of your interruptions due to the within the traffic stream. Because of the high traffic stream, your traffic speed is reduced or flow is reduced. Interrupted flow is opposite to that your uninterrupted flow. It means you are going to receive this external interruptions like signals, stop or yield signs at the intersections and it is not available for continuous movement and time enters as a significant parameter in affecting the flow. Because here you are trying to stop the vehicle and start the vehicle, stop and start. So in this one, the time enters as a significant parameter affecting the flow. So this happens unsignalized at grid intersections where we do not have any unsignal intersection. You need to wait for the opportunity and cross the intersection. Absolutely there is no control on that particular intersection. Curve parking, yes, where we have the curb parking, parking vehicles are parked on the road, parking, unparking. There you need to again stop the vehicle. So all these operations will have an interruption to the movement of the traffic. So this creates the platons of vehicles progressing in the traffic stream. So what is the platons of vehicles? A bunch of vehicles moving in the traffic stream is called the platons of vehicles. For example, if you are stopping the vehicle at intersection waiting for a green, so there once the green is given, all the bunch of vehicles are moving and next bunch of vehicles are moving at a distance of what? So one platons of vehicle to another platons of vehicles, the spacing is larger. Once the spacing is larger, we know that again the flow is going to be decreases. With this background of uninterrupted flow, let us define the traffic stream parameters. It is classified in two ways, macroscopic measures and microscopic measures. So macroscopic measures defines the volume, speed, density or concentration. So this describes a single value of each which applies to the traffic stream as a whole. So why we are calling as a single as whole? We are defining single volume, single speed, single density or concentration. So in the headway, this microscopic measure which measures the steam parameter within the traffic stream. It means from one vehicle to another vehicle, we are trying to measure the behavior of the vehicle within the traffic stream. So we call as we have time headway and space headway, we are trying to measure this microscopic measure within the traffic stream. Now let us define this traffic stream parameters one by one. So first one is the volume. Volume is defined as number of vehicles passing a point on highway or a given lane or a direction of highway during the specified time interval. So number of vehicles passing on a specified lane or a given direction in a per unit time. So here if you are standing on this particular location, you can observe the number of vehicles passing this particular lane, particular section per unit time. The per unit time might be 15 minutes or per hour, per day also. So it is expressed in per minute vehicles per day, vehicles per hour. So q equal to n by t, n is number of vehicles and t is the observation period. What is the rate of flow? Rate of flow generally expressed in units of vehicles per hour. But this represents the flow that exists for a period of time less than 1 hour. It means if you are measuring 200 vehicles in a 15 minute period, what is the rate of flow per hour? It is 200 into 4. This is 800 vehicles per hour. It means a 4, 15 minutes exist in hour. So 4 into 200 gives the 800 vehicles per hour. So that means 800 vehicles would not be observed if 1 hour was counted. So it is expressed per hour but this can be a 15 minutes or converted into a per hour traffic. The traffic flow measured in daily volumes and hourly volumes. Daily volumes are expressed in different ways. This daily volumes should consider the variations within a year, within a month, within a week and within a day also. So how we are trying to measure that? First parameter is ADT, average annual daily traffic. This considers the overall vehicle passing in a year divided by 365. So this ADT, average annual daily traffic, considers the variations in the three seasons. Suppose the variations in the rainy season is lesser and in summer season the traffic is higher. So this considers the variation throughout the year. If you want to find out the variation in the weekdays of an year, suppose if I consider the weekdays in a year considering the 5 weekdays for 52 weeks. So 5 multiplied by 52 gives 260 weekdays in a year. So you want to find out the weekdays traffic, variations in the weekdays traffic throughout the year. So we take the parameters average annual weekday traffic that is AWT. And another one ADT that is variations within a month. So you have the month traffic divided by the total month in a total days in a month that gives you ADT. Sometimes the 7 days traffic also we take the for calculation the ADT. Then AWT within a week within a month also you can calculate the AWT average 24 hour weekly volume at a given location over a defined time period less than one year. So all these parameters are defined in terms of vehicles per day. This is the example gives you how to measure the AWT and ADT. So first, second, third column the traffic is given number of weekdays in a month and number of days in a month and total monthly traffic for that particular month and total weekday traffic for the particular month. So we know that AWT average weekday traffic, average weekday traffic it is given by 5 by 2. So what is the weekday volume and number of the weekdays? So 5 by 2 gives the average weekday traffic and average daily traffic it is 4 by 3 that is monthly total monthly traffic and total month total days in a month so that gives you ADT. So now adding all together ADT average annual daily traffic so total all month traffic divided by the number of the days in the year gives you ADT and AWT all the weekday traffic in the year divided by the number of the weekdays in the year that gives you AAWT. Now pass for a while and try to give the correct answer for this question. Now pure uninterrupted flow exists on in where? State highways, MDR, national highways are freeways and ADT measures what? ADT measures seasonal variation within a year month or a week or a day. So I hope you are able to select the correct answer. The correct answer is the pure uninterrupted flow exists in a freeways and ADT measures the seasonal variation in the within a year. So what are the application of the ADT which we are average annual it is used for payment analysis for designing the thickness of the payment, calculation the crash data, estimation of the economic feasibility basis and finding out the highway user revenues and development of improvement and maintenance programs. So all where we are trying to use the ADT as the application parameter. These are the references I have prepared for used for preparing this presentation. Thank you.


This is stock number 9320. We are here at Summit Automotive in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. You're new and used heavy-duty truck headquarters. Today we are checking out this super clean, super sharp, awesome 2013 Ford F-250 crew cab short box. This truck has a 6.7 liter power stroke diesel. From this HD video you will be able to tell that this truck is extremely clean all the way around. Factory fog lights. Headlights are nice and clear. It has some really cool fender flares on it. Open Country Toyo MT tires. These are 37x12.5 R20s and they are on 20 inch chrome rims. The type of rim they are, I believe, are fuel rims. And you can see that the tires have about 50 to 60% of the tread left. So lots of tread left on these tires. It does have a Rancho suspension lift. You can see it has Bilstein shocks on it. The springs are in nice condition. Very nicely done lift. Truck rides really nice down the road.  We shoot all of our videos in 1080p so if you have HD capabilities on your computer tablet or a smartphone device turn them on right now because it's like you're right here looking at the truck with me and definitely your best option for seeing the truck without actually being here. Passing the rims in nice condition as well. Just a couple little small things on that front bumper that I saw. We try to make sure that our customers know exactly what they're getting before they get here so that when they do get here there's no surprises. And as you go down this side of the truck you can see just how clean the body is. How reflective. And glass like that paint is. Diamond eye chrome tipped exhaust. These are fuel rims. The back rims are in nice shape as well. And the back tire has just as much tread as the front tires. Framing underbody on this truck is very clean. It's like that all the way underneath. Lower rockers look pretty good on here as well. Lower doors look pretty good.  It has the nice bed rail covers. Rear bumpers in really nice condition. I didn't see any denser dings on that. It has a full towing package which includes a receiver hitch, four pin and seven pin wiring. Tailgate is in really nice condition. It's a locking tailgate. And it comes with a drop in, pedal liner, bed liner. As we go around to this side of the truck just as clean as the passenger side. For full disclosure this back rim is in nice condition as well. Very very clean down this side of the truck. It has telescopic tow mirrors with built in directional signals. These mirrors do fold in like so. And they do manually push in and out or telescope in and out. They are heated as well. Inside the XLT package gives you the gray cloth interior. There are no rips or tears on these seats. Very clean, nice condition. Husky floor mats throughout. Carpentine is nice and clean underneath. And power windows, power locks and power mirrors. This one does come with automatic headlamps. And as we jump inside here you can see that this truck has 77,773 miles. You have a temperature and compass display. Steering wheel is in nice condition. Has bluetooth and audio controls on that side. And then cruise controls and information center on the other side. CD player.  The 4x4 shifter is on the floor. And it has the sync system which pairs your bluetooth device to the car or to the truck. And then you have stability control as well. You can see the carpeting is in really nice condition. As well as the passenger seat, no rips or tears on that. The headliner is in really nice clean condition as well. And you have your map lights up there. Center council seat, very nice as well. We'll take a quick look at the back seats and then we will check out under the hood. Back seats are just as clean as the front seats, no rips or tears back here. These seats do fold up and there is a lockable storage compartment that unlocks with the ignition key back here. Really nice feature. You have valuables that you want to keep safe. And then behind there are the latch tether anchors as well. Fixed glass rear window, husky liner back here. And you can see the carpeting is in really nice condition back here. Probably because those husky liners have been in here for a while. We'll take a quick look under the hood, the 6.7 liter power stroke diesel. This truck has been fully safety and inspected per our state of Wisconsin state inspection. By our crisis certified technicians has a fresh oil and filter change. All the fluids have been checked and tapped off. The truck has been gone through mechanically 100%. I can tell you she rides really nice down the road. And to see more pictures of this truck or one of our other 400 new and used cars, trucks, SUVs, minivans, wranglers, halftons, three quarter tons, one tons, you name it we got it.  Videos of every single used vehicle that we have all at SummitAuto.com. Thank you so much for checking out this video.  Once again that number is<PHONE_NUMBER>. Thanks again for checking out the video. If you want to check out more videos like this one and our website or our YouTube channel it's youtube.com slash SummitAuto. Remember to like, subscribe and share on those videos. In fact in a second you'll see a link to subscribe to our YouTube channel on your left. And what that does is it gives you updates on our new incoming vehicles every day. If you want to check out more HD truck videos like this one the link is on your right. And if you haven't been to our website on the bottom link to this truck on our website click those check us out. We really look forward to helping you with this Super Clean 2013 F-250 Crew Cab Short Box. Thanks again.


Mike Smith, thanks so much for your time. We might begin today by having you tell us a little bit about your background. Sure. Well, a long career in the Army, 34 years. And then when I retired, I decided I wanted to do something in this civil military space and something that was also connected with United Nations peacekeeping, which really reflected the lessons I had learned from a long time in the Army. And it was time to pay back. So, overseas postings in places like Papua New Guinea and Kashmir as a military observer. Then in Cambodia is the Defence Attache straight after the elections, the United Nations mission. And then finally as Deputy Force Commander in East Timor with the United Nations mission, it just made me realise how societies, communities, recovering particularly from conflict, how much assistance they required and how much harder we had to work to try and assist in what we could do for them. So that was how I got involved in it. And I was in Taiwan of all places on having a discussion on security dialogue. And the next thing I knew I was offered a position heading what is now Action Aid Australia, an NGO, which then was called OsteCare. So I headed that for about six years. This centre was finally established. I had been advocating for it for a while and I was asked to head it up, to kick it off. So that's what I've been doing. What made you advocate for the centre? I think being out in the field and seeing the results of conflict, seeing the tragedies of conflict and seeing that it is mainly innocent civilians who are the ones most affected these days. I mean to be in Cambodia and see people affected by landmines, you know, laid by militaries of different kinds over many years. And just to see that, those sorts of things. In East Timor, to see the absolute destruction that occurred in Timor, to see the poverty and to see a nation trying to establish itself out of the ashes. These were the sorts of things that made me want to stay in this space, so to speak. And then I saw that from a military perspective, of course, when I was serving in the military. But then when I took over the NGO, we had programs all around the world in some of those same places, Timor and Cambodia, but also in places like Palestine and in refugee camps in places like Kenya. And of course, I visited those and I started seeing things from a different angle, from a different viewpoint. And all of this just cemented my view that what we actually needed was much closer civil-military interaction between the various actors that can do something for these people. And do something which is also in our own national interests, which is really what it's all about because the more peace and security we have around the world, the less we'll be involved in conflicts overseas. So that was a passion that was driving me. To see results on the ground, to see that you can make a difference. But it requires a lot of hard work. We talked earlier to Sheila Stewart, one of the keynote speakers here, and she explained that often military tends to put national security before the importance of human security. What's your view on that? Yes, well I've actually written on human security and I'm a great proponent of human security. I think since the end of the Cold War, the days of just looking at national security in terms of deterrence and force on force and clear victories and that conflicts are fought on against rules that everybody plays to, those days are gone. And the conflicts that we're now involved in are very much interest-state conflicts, more so than state conflicts. We have to remain quite able to still be able to deter and defeat inter-state conflict, but the vast majority of conflicts now are interest-state conflicts. And it's in that environment that we find ourselves and that it's there where the civil and military actors are cheek by jowl. Whether they want to be or not, that's where they are. They have to understand each other. They don't always have to work with each other but they have to understand why they sometimes can't work with each other but more importantly where they can and how they can do things better. It was obviously a very big step for you to go out and say we need this. Was there an acceptance of that and an understanding? Well, I think when I first started advocating for it about 10 or 12 years ago now, there wasn't much buy-in to it in Australia, but then in about 2007 there was a joint parliamentary committee inquiry into Australia's role in peacekeeping and this provided a really good opportunity for people in Australia to talk about the need for a centre of this nature. And the parliamentary inquiry received many submissions saying we need something to try and bring these disparate elements together a little bit better. And of course the government then picked that up and ran with that and said well this is right and it's something that's also starting to happen overseas in other centres overseas. So there's been a real need and you only have to look now both in conflict and disaster management to see the military, the police and the various civilian entities all working together whether they would have wanted to or not they are, they have to. And so a centre like ours, the Asia Pacific Civil Military Centre of Excellence actually provides a place where these various issues can be considered and it's a great privilege I think to be able to contribute to that. Did you experience some of this yourself when you went from the military to an NGO? Yes I did. I think I experienced it in two ways. The first experience was with my NGO colleagues who, as soon as they find you're from the military you know this culture how can we accept this person sort of thing. From my own experience I didn't have that problem because I think I'd been so much in the field and I had spoken to lots of NGOs and international organisations. I was very familiar with the United Nations and organisations like the International Committee of the Red Cross and had great admiration for what they were all trying to do and what they were doing. So I didn't have that same reservation, I knew what I wanted to do. The great thing I learnt was the way that NGOs go about preparing to do their business in the field and being able to see the two different ways, the military being pretty much top down what the military would call directive control, clear statement of the mission make sure all the commanders understand and then they get on and do it. Whereas the NGO community and those working in the humanitarian and development space start from very much a bottom up approach. What does the community want? What are your needs? How is it that we might be able to help you? And so it's trying to get those two approaches coming together. Remembering all the time that the reason that you're there of course if you're a military you're there because your government has sent you but your government wants you to be there to hopefully have a sustainable peace at the end of the day and so that's why these two ways of doing business are both required, both important but they both have to understand each other. Yeah you've got organisations that are just poles apart. How do you get them to have common aims and common beliefs? That does happen to some extent but you know in the field I've found that there's a common denominator between military people and NGOs and that common denominator is service when you think about it.  And the NGOs are similar in that regard. So I think there is a strong commitment always to leave something better than what you have found it. Now the difference is that the military has a clear mission. It's there to do a military operation and whilst militaries may not want to have to kill people and impose authority they may have to do that and that's what they have to be trained to do. They've got a real role. That's why the taxpayer pays them their wages. Whereas the NGO and the humanitarian community and the development community is not interested in that at all. It's interested in the foundations of development and capacity building and local ownership and all of those sorts of things. But whilst they've got very different roles to play they can be mutually supportive and I've seen that on the ground. Can you give examples of this collaboration? Well sure I can give many examples but I always remember in Timor-Lest where I travelled relentlessly through the country one of the district administrators said summed it up to me beautifully one day when he said we need the peacekeeping force here and I said why do you need the peacekeeping force? And he said you protect the sandbox in which I can then operate. And I think that says a lot that if the military can provide security and enable these nation building activities to get underway and community based projects to get underway then that does lay the foundations for a sustainable peace and that's not an easy thing and it can't come overnight. It's a long commitment once you embark on it. And on top of having the organisations work together I suppose there's also the challenges of dealing with the host country? Well a host country is key and this is one of the big differences I would say about you know, Cold War conflict and traditional peacekeeping and all of those things where you had sovereign states sovereign states fighting each other and then the United Nations or military force would go in to keep the peace that had been decided by the two protagonists a peace agreement had been reached. Now what we find in intra-state conflict it's far more grey. There may be a peace agreement there may be a settlement but when you look at the actors in country not everybody is playing by those rules and so we get these very very grey areas where you still have conflict going on and at the same time we've got sort of development trying to start and bringing people out of poverty all these things are happening in the same space whether we like it or not. So the world's got a lot more complex and there's often spoilers. In peacekeeping parlance you will find some people who really want a United Nations presence just to give them time to re-gear and then contest for power again. So it's a very very complicated situation. As we've found very close to home I mean people now always look at Afghanistan and Iraq but I think they're more the abnormal situations rather than the normal. Let's look close at a home let's look at the situation in Timor-Leste which is still struggling to establish a sustainable peace and look at the Solomon Islands which is also experiencing difficulties so we have problems close to home and Africa has many of these problems which is why I'm very pleased Australia is re-engaging with Africa because we have a lot to learn from our engagement in Africa which is pretty much the epicentre of peace and conflict studies so we can't take ourselves out of Africa. For such a young organisation you've assembled a very impressive collection of speakers here for this meeting how have you managed to gain such traction so quickly? It's obviously my good looks. That was what I thought but I didn't like to say it. No, I think it's... I'm a great believer that if you can put a good program together you will attract people and I'm blessed with a great staff and they have lots of experience and within the centre we have a very collegiate approach we come together from different departments and we have an NGO advisor and so lots of discussions to put this program together and we've approached people and I think you'd find every speaker here would say I'd like to come and talk about this but I really want to come and talk about this because I know who else is coming and it's the networking that goes on and the mutual learning that goes on. Nobody's got a mortgage on knowledge in this space and I think the centre I often say why is it that we've done so much in our first two years and it's really performance punishment we've gone into a space and we're starting to provide something that everybody wants and my small team is saying hey boss we can't do any more we can't do any more so it's rather nice to know that we are servicing a need I think and in a way that's very collaborative in our approach. Mike, what has been your proudest achievement so far? Oh, that's a hard one. I would say if there was one thing that I thought the centre had really contributed to in its first two years it would be this very critical issue of protection of civilians. It was a bit of a gamble for us to go into that space but protection of civilians both in a conflict sense but also when disasters are on. It is a real and pressing issue particularly in these grey areas I was talking about and the United Nations has been mandating missions now since 1999 to do protection of civilians without the necessary guidelines and doctrine to be able to do it properly it's one thing to say go and do it it's another thing to say how do you do it and so the centre moved into that space very early in the piece and was able to establish I think a very credible international reputation very clearly not by saying we had the answers but by saying we'd like to contribute to finding the answers and so in the work we've done both with the United Nations and with the African Union I think we've all learnt a great deal so the centre has provided a little bit of a conduit I suppose and we're still doing that and it's very very pleasing to see it go from basically a set of people sitting around a table from Africa and the United Nations and civil society organisations only a year ago in a little motel in Queenby to say well let's develop some guidelines for protection of civilians to then take those to the African Union in Addis Ababa and let the African Union play with those and then they went to the African Union summit in July and the outcome was we want more of this so it's been quite that would be I think in our short time one of our most pleasing accomplishments but I think on the disaster management side in our own region in the Pacific and South East Asia has made a strong contribution to the development of guidelines civil military guidelines for military assistance in disaster relief operations and we all know since the tsunami that terrible tragedy that happened there that these mega disasters in the Asia Pacific region are going to occur more and they are going to take a lot of lives and so the centre I think is playing an important role in helping to bridge that civil military gap that currently exists in disaster management so it's a great great achievement for our little centre I think in two years. What would your advice be to personnel who are about to be deployed? In a word I'd say understanding understanding the nature of the situation you're going into understanding the people with whom you're going into support or protect understanding the role of all the actors that are going to be on the ground now for the military this is a really big ask because for the military we're saying to our soldiers hey we've taught you how to go and you know fire your weapons and look after each other in adversity and to close with the enemy now on top of all of that we want you to be able to go and do these sorts of functions to be supportive sometimes not to take the lead at all to show restraint to protect civilians to understand culture to be able to learn the language these are big issues you know and of course every soldier can't do everything it's impossible to be able to make all of our soldiers sailors and airmen understand the need for this and to provide within the force structure that they have the requisite resources that they can draw on to do that to be able to communicate with the other actors and particularly with the local community we need to for the police we need to be able to be sensitized to those situations and we need to make sure that they understand that the type of community policing they might be doing or the capacity building of local police forces that they might be undertaking is not the same as in Australia necessarily so they have to adapt as well and for our civilian colleagues both government and in those going to fill billets in the host government or the United Nations we need to make sure they have a good understanding of civil military relations because whether they like it or not, guess what they're going to come up against military forces and they have to understand how to work with them so it's all about understanding knowledge management, sharing information and realizing that you're a contributor and you don't have all the answers so you got to learn Mike Smith, thanks so much for your time


Hi you guys, my name is Brittany and welcome back to my YouTube channel.  I am so excited about this upcoming homeschool year, but first I really have to get things in order in my homeschool room. So I am going to go ahead and start off with organizing all of my homeschool supplies and you guys. I know I have a lot of homeschooling supplies and I really have to give a huge thanks to my mom because she has purchased all of these homeschool supplies and she has contributed to our homeschool. I am fully stocked you guys. I definitely know I have enough school supplies to last me for properly this year and a little bit beyond. So I'm so grateful for my mom for dragging me to the store and you know catching all the sales. So yeah I'm going to share with you guys all the things that we purchased from Target and from Dollar Tree. So you guys I got new paint markers, thin markers for my oldest. I have some organization supplies for my homeschool mom desk, color pencils, crayons, mechanical pencils for my oldest and some organization for all of our homeschool supplies, composition notebooks, a new dry eraser, glue and scissors and some big pencils and erasers for my younger two. So this right here is the little caddy or basket that I have at the top of my homeschool closet that I keep all of my school supplies. If you guys see me declutter you would have seen some of the supplies I had left over from last year and you guys this basket was filled to the rim when I got finished putting all of the extra homeschooling supplies in it. I could barely lift it in my homeschool closet but I'm so happy to be like fully stocked and I'm so grateful for my mom you guys. Okay you guys now for the fun part. We are working on my homeschooling cart and this cart I primarily used for my oldest daughter who is entering in the sixth grade you guys. So I'm going to go ahead and organize all of her curriculum on this cart. I typically like to organize it per subject and as you guys can see these are the same file folds or what magazine holds that we used last year so they do have some love and I know eventually I'm going to have to get some new ones but for right now they will do so as far as my younger kiddos I do organize their curriculum and supplies a little bit different and you guys will see that a little bit later. I like to keep their stuff on a go as much as I love my homeschool room you guys to really be honest my oldest daughter uses this room way more than I expected it at this point I do do one-on-one like reading instructions and lessons with my younger kiddos in the room but other than that you guys we really work around the house so I love having my oldest daughter's curriculum portable so when we are downstairs we're able to kind of just like do our schooling on a go. So these are the trays that I do use for my younger kiddos where I put all of their curriculum in. Right now I'm just getting all of my kindergarteners all about reading next lessons all prepared in her tray and as for like my preschooler I'm getting all of her like gentle and classical preschool, preschool math at home and all of her cards and CVC work cards in her tray as well. These are just some extra activities and coloring books that you guys I pick up from the Dollar Tree all the time, scissors skills just to always have extra activities on hands for my two younger ones with busy hands. So you guys a new school year is not a new school year without a library hall so this is my library hall that I picked up for my kindergartener and my pre-care. As far as Brie Algo's I already had books and independent readers on the shelf for her purchase so I didn't check out anything from the library for her just yet so I'm so excited you guys to read all these cute kindergarten books and I can't wait to come back with you guys with our favorites that we've read and starting off kindergarten. I know there's not a lot of books out there that really depicts like homeschooling families however I didn't mind still reading and getting my daughter excited about kindergarten. So this right here this first caddy that I'm working on is actually my two younger ones caddy that they're going to be using. I have found that having all of my supplies out and in this caddy it's been so helpful instead of using the school boxes that I did last year so we are really really enjoying this caddy with all of their supplies now as far as my daughter she has this cute little basket that I put all of her homeschooling supplies her color pencils and her erasable pens and things like that. So you guys now I officially have a clean table and I can get it all set up for our first day of school. So now that I have my table all ready to go for our first day of school I do want to organize one more thing which is like my teacher's area and I really like having at least these first couple of drawers organized before starting our homeschooling year. I like to keep the back stock of any supplies that I need all of like my favorite pens and my staplers my extra expo markers all of those things I like to have organized in like my teacher's station so they're just really readily accessible to us now you guys these last three drawers and this little um Alexa system from Ikea you guys they look crazy I really should have showed them to you guys but um at least the first top two ones are all ready to go and that's all that matters for right now. Okay you guys this is actually my first time actually putting together an official art cart all of these little um like what is this these little clear bins I used to just keep underneath of like my kitchen uh cabinets and just pull them out whenever it's time for us to do like art and messy art but I found that things just always was like messy chaos and since I have this extra homeschooling card that I'm not using I decided to make like an official like art cart and you know I feel like all big and bad you guys this homeschooling year but I just keep like all of like my watercolors my construction paper most of these things on this art cart really came from the Dollar Tree and five below so um I really was able to like get all these things slowly affordably for us um now and with an exception of things like my dot markers and things like that of course I didn't get those ones from like the Dollar Tree but I really love all having like all of my things all together and when it's time for us to do art you guys I just pull this baby out and it's been so convenient so I love it so you guys with the start of every new school year I always get a three ring binder in order for me to keep all of my homeschooling records in a lot of you guys ask questions about how I start my binder and what I do is I go ahead and I put in my Georgia declaration of intent form in here and I put in sheet protectors each one of the subjects we're going to be hovering for our school year so as you guys can see since we started off math I already have some math tests in here that I need to hold punch and store and you guys I still put stickers on my sixth graders math assignments and all of her tests just to let her know she did a good job I'm always going to put a sticker on those things you guys but as far as like my record keeping portfolio I just like to go ahead and started off again with each of the curriculum pieces that I'm going to be using and with a table of contents so I am able to show the growth and the progression of what each of my kiddos actually learned now as you guys will see in my oldest orders portfolio she of course has more I guess a section than you will see in my kindergartner I have started off with our core and then right here you're kind of seeing like all of our supplemental things that I want to do some literature guides I want to touch on and then towards the back I do have like our music and then I have her extra certificates that I'm going to give her when she finishes each unit in her piano now as far as my kindergartner again hers is going to be really really simple I just really have all of her math her phonics instructions that we're going to be using and hers is pretty big just so I can keep all of her artwork in it okay you guys before I leave you I have to show you how our homeschooling cart is looking for this homeschooling year this first section right here is where I'm keeping all of my oak metals teacher guides in it and one thing I love about having all my things together is that I can pull out this magazine file and take it to my desk whenever I'm doing like my planning I do have my younger daughter's math you see primer in here because sometimes we do that when we're downstairs I have all of our new schoolness notebooks uh that we will be using for our ancient history and for our science the other schoolness notebooks the vocabulary and the history timelines are actually ones from our previous school year which is so awesome you know I get to reuse them again I have like our word roots our oak metals English so like all of her English categories is all in one foul fold of course her favorite you guys rod and staff building English series I have her math which is the first subject that my daughter does every single day and of course her planner that we made for her on this second shelf I am keeping all of her like math you see manipulatives in it and I also have my planner right here on the second shelf along with this flex binder that I have extra sheets of paper that she uses when she's doing her reports and at the bottom I have all of her dry erase um boards and I keep her school supplies down there as well now this is actually like my preschool little bookshelf that I have for my younger kiddos I have like their handwriting without tears chalk and in these mesh folds are like all different like games and things I have collected over the years to be able to like pull out with them and keep those little busy hands busy this is our morning basket you guys and it really hasn't changed much from the last video that I showed you I have our hymn study in here I have our singa song of seasons our bible and my speaker you guys I use this thing so much in our home school I love having this portable speaker you guys so as far as our table I have the bookmarks that me and my daughter are going to be making in each of the kiddos first day of school signs and I do want them to fill out this all about me page that was able to print off free from Pinterest this is actually my first year doing like this all about me page and I really want to keep it for myself as like a keepsake um to see kind of like where they were at at this exact moment in time so you guys this is it my home school room it's like already in prepared to go my teacher station is all clean you guys and I'm ready to go ahead and continue starting off like my planning and prepping and have everything ready to go but um you guys this is it I'm ready for our home school year I am nervous but I am going into this year you guys with my cup filled and knowing that God he's going to provide the rest in our home school and I'm just going to stand still and watch so you guys as always I look forward to seeing everybody in my next one thank you so much for watching and we all will have awesome school years bye you guys


It is now time for oral questions and I recognize the Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Good morning, Speaker. Thank you so much. My first question this morning is through the Premier. Patients in Ontario are suffering. They're suffering in pain. Their health outcomes are deteriorating. Their quality of life is deteriorating. They can't get the health care they need and wonder why it is that their government doesn't seem to care. The surgical and diagnostic backlog as we all know has ballooned, Speaker. The Ontario Medical Association says 21 million surgeries and procedures are backlogged. People are waiting. The FAO estimated last year in May, Speaker, that it would take three and a half years to take that backlog away to clear it. And that was before Omicron hit. Why did this Premier fail to plan for and continues to fail to invest in addressing the backlog, even though he knows that the system has reached an unbelievable crisis and it's going to take years to fix it? Thank you, Speaker. Well, I'd like to assure the people of Ontario that our government has planned for and has made those investments in dealing with a number of people who unfortunately have had to wait for orthopedic procedures, in some cases cardiac surgeries and others. What we have done is we have invested $5.1 billion into the hospital services system since the beginning of the pandemic, opening up another 3100 beds, first to deal with COVID patients, but now to deal with the patients who've been waiting for those surgeries. We've also invested $500 million into allowing hospitals to operate on weekends and in the evenings so that people can have their surgeries done faster. I can advise that the actual number of people who are waiting for surgeries in the province of Ontario is $58,000. We have done extensive work in the ministry to determine this number. It's $58,000 and thanks to the significant investments that we've made, we are working on having those surgeries done faster for the people of Ontario who've been waiting so long. Thank you. The supplementary. It appears that what the minister is saying that there's nothing to see here, that it's all taken care of, that in fact there is no problem whatsoever, that here's what the experts are saying, Speaker. The experts are saying this, we all know yesterday I mentioned it, the Ontario Medical Association is saying it's going to take two and a half years to catch up on knee replacements alone. 16 months for heart bypass surgeries, 16 months, Speaker, 12 months for MRIs. Doctors are also speaking out, Speaker, Dr. David Gomez, a trauma surgeon at Toronto St. Michael's Hospital said, and I quote, this is a catastrophic problem the health care system will face for at least the next five years. So why is the government just writing off people's lives, writing off their well-being and letting them suffer for up to five years with pain, anxiety and lack of health care? Minister of Health. Our government is certainly very cognizant of the time that many people have had to wait for these surgeries and that's why we are making these significant investments, $500 million in order to allow hospitals to operate on weekends and during the evenings. We're also making significant investments for MRI and CT imaging, another $70 million to add 107,596 additional MRI hours and even more CT hours to the system. So we are working, we're making the investments, we're investing in the space in hospitals, in the equipment that people need, in the health human resources so that people can get the work done that they need to have done and it's not going to take five years to do it. Final document. Well, Speaker, what's happening here in Ontario is downright cruel, but it wouldn't have to be this way if we had a government that believed in good quality public health care. And we see that's not the case. We watched in long-term care as that was evidenced with the virus. The minister has to stop making excuses for the failures of her government. Dr. Gomez said and I quote, many, many Ontarians are not going to get their surgeries. There's going to be a significant impact to people's lives, but also to their mobility, their fertility and quality of life. Speaker, Ontarians don't have five years to wait to get a knee surgery to walk, to work, to enjoy life again. Or the fertility attention that they need to grow their family and their future. When is this premier going to stop making excuses, show some caring and compassion, prioritize the health and well-being of Ontarians and plan and make the investments necessary to clear the backlog? The health and well-being of the people of Ontario has always been our government's top priority, especially during the last two years of dealing with this pandemic. And I'd like to remind the member opposite that we have increased healthcare spending from $59.3 billion in 2019-20 to an expected $64.1 billion in 2021 and 2022. That is a significant investment in healthcare. We've invested the $5 billion in increasing hospital capacity. We'll be investing $22 billion in the next 10 years in hospital infrastructure projects that will lead to $30 billion in capital investments. So we're building for the future as well as taking care of the situation as it exists now. We are putting the money into the and making the investments that we need to make sure that we are helping the people that need our help with these procedures and surgeries that they have been waiting a long time for, but we're going to make it happen. And again, it's not going to take five years. My next question is also for the Premier, but I have to say people in Ontario have learned to listen to the experts, to listen to the people on the front lines, not the claims of this government. My next question, however, is on a different topic. As we all know, people are feeling the pinch of the rising cost of living. No one more so than people who rent in Ontario. Rents have skyrocketed in our province. Ontarians pay some of the highest rental costs for their accommodations for their homes in the entire country, Speaker. One bedroom apartment in Oshawa, $1,800. $2,000 in Toronto. Two bedroom in Mississauga, almost $2,200. Why did the Premier create this problem by ripping up rent controls as one of his first actions when he became Premier of this province? Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing. Well, thanks, Speaker. The Leader of the Opposition has got this all wrong again. When we made that decision as part of our fall economic statement in 2018, New Democrats said that that wouldn't spur on new rental housing construction. They were wrong, Speaker. So, so very wrong. Today, Speaker, we're now seeing a high in purpose-built rental construction. The likes that we haven't seen since the early 1990s. We're building upon our policy, Speaker. We're working very diligently on a consultation right now with municipalities, with the industry and with the public. We want to build upon the success. We know because of some of the reports out there, the Scotiabank report that shows that when it comes to the G7, Canada is last. We need to build all types of housing. We need to build more purpose-built rental houses, more missing middle, more single family. Speaker, we're not going to go back to the days of no under new Democrats. Our government is going to continue to say yes. Well, Speaker, if people can't afford to live in the homes that this minister is claiming are being built, what use are they, Speaker, if people can't afford them? But on another affordability issue, Speaker, here's what the Premier huffed and puffed about in terms of gas price gouging not so long ago. He said, the gas companies, I'm putting you on notice, I'm putting you on notice, you're going to start gouging the people of Ontario, it's not going to happen. That's what this Premier said. Last night, gas prices rose overnight by four cents a litre. By tomorrow, they're going to be going up another 11 cents.  How much that's costing you? Drivers are paying $30 more a month. People can't afford it, Speaker. The Premier said he'd take on the big oil companies. He hasn't done so. He said he would take on overnight gouging. He hasn't done so. The oil companies are flush with money. They have billions of dollars in cash. And the drivers have record bills. So my question to the Premier is why hasn't he stopped these big oil companies from gouging Ontario and drivers like he promised he would do? Why is he saying no? To respond to payment. I can't believe what I just heard from the other side of the aisle. You know, this is a government on the other side of the aisle. And I'm going to quote the member from a topical center. Topical center. They wanted an additional 35 cents. The leader wanted the largest carbon tax increase in the world. In the absolute world. It's increased gas prices by 11 cents. And Mr. Speaker, again, you can't talk out of both sides of your mouth here. Mr. Speaker, we're putting. And asked the Premier to take his seat. Stop the clock. And asked the Premier to withdraw his unparliamentary comment. And conclude his answer. Mr. Speaker, we're putting money back into people's pockets. We're putting $120 of the license sticker fee that they are in favor of. They would never give back to the people of Ontario. We're making sure that we're cutting tolls on the 412 and 418. That the leader of the Liberal Party said that would never happen. However, we're making sure we put minimum wage at $15 an hour. Make it more affordable to people that live. Mr. Speaker, we're a government that's cut taxes, not increase taxes. Mr. Speaker, actions are greater than words. The Premier didn't take on the gas companies like he said he was going to do. He did nothing on rents except make sure that they were skyrocketing and got rid of rent control. He even raised hydro rates each and every year since he became the Premier of this province. He stuck Ontarians with a high cost and low wage life here in this province. And it doesn't have to be this way, Speaker. When will this Premier realize that Ontarians need someone who will actually fix the crisis in affordability instead of making it worse as this government has done? Please step aside and let us do that job. The government side will come to order. The government house leader will come to order. And I'll remind the house one more time in case people have forgotten. We don't make reference to the absence of other members because from time to time, each of us might have a reason to be with you. Start the clock. The Premier can respond. Well, Mr. Speaker, I just want to remind the people of Ontario that if we cut the gas tax by four and a half percent, the only province to do that, the NDP and the Liberals, they vote against it. They vote for the carbon tax of 11 cents more. Again, the member from Ottawa Centre wants it to increase 35 cents a leader. The leader of the opposition wants it the highest carbon tax anywhere in the world. They believe in gouging the taxpayers, we believe in putting money back into the taxpayers' pockets because they can spend it a lot nicer than what we can. When it came to the 412 and 418 leader of the Liberals, Mr. Del Ducca, he said we'll never get rid of the tolls. That's their mantel. Thank you. The next question. Member for Toronto. Thank you, Speaker. My question to the Premier. A shocking new report this week from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change confirmed that we are unprepared for the impacts of climate change itself. Ontario can't afford to dither, hoping to fix climate-related problems like flooding, droughts, fires or threats to food security after they arrive. We need to prepare now. But this Premier has spent more money fighting federal climate action in court than he has spent on preparing Ontario for climate change. This year's budget for climate change and resilience is only $15.8 million. Wow. Why won't this Premier make the necessary investments to make Ontario more resilient to the impacts of climate change? Mr. The Environment, Conservation and Parks. Thank you, Speaker. I appreciate the question from the member opposite first time since January 12, 2021. Speaker, this government is taking action on climate change. We were the first province in Canada to make gas cleaner by increasing the renewable content in gasoline. That's the equivalent of taking over 300,000 cars off the road. We're partnering with industry like Algoma and DeFasco. Six megatons of greenhouse gas reductions. That's through the electrification of the arc furnace, making Ontario a global leader in clean steel production.  We're taking real action. We've put forward real ideas. All we're hearing is rhetoric on the other side. Thank you, Speaker. Thank you. Not a particularly useful answer. Thank you. Again, back to the Premier. Instead of fast-tracking developments on wetlands and floodplains, the Premier could restore the powers of conservation authorities to protect people and property from floods. Instead of putting food security at risk by paving over prime farmland with costly, sprawl-enabling highways that benefit his friends, he could work with municipalities to encourage sustainable, transit-friendly growth within existing communities. Instead of cancelling programs to make homes energy efficient, he could restore and expand them. Instead of ripping out electric vehicle chargers at GO stations, he could help local transit systems go all-electric. Why has the Premier declared and carried on war against the environment instead of preparing Ontario for the impacts of climate change? Why? You know, Speaker, I just gave tangible, massive reductions in greenhouse gas emissions under the leadership of this Premier. And that's the difference. We're going to work with municipalities and we're going to work with industry. All that member opposite has is a higher carbon tax towards the tax people to death. All they offer Ontarians is misery and poverty. That's all they offer them. We've got a plan to build Ontario. We've got a plan to build a greener Ontario, largest investment in transit, working with industry to be a leader in clean steel production. All they offer is negativity, rhetoric and misery. Ontarians can see right through that, brand for brand. Thank you, Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Economic Development, job creation and trade. And if I could just say, Mr. Speaker, the incredible work that the Minister has been doing across the province to activate our job creators. I just wanted to say on behalf of the people in brand for brand, thank you. Regional economic development has been a priority for this government since we were elected in 2018. Under the previous Liberal government supported by the NDP, rural and northern Ontario businesses were abandoned and left to fend for themselves. Can the Minister please inform this House how our government is leveling the playing field for our rural and northern businesses? Thank you, Speaker. Minister of Economic Development, job creation and trade. Thank you, Speaker. We heard from the business community and we put our plan in action. First, we focused on every area that a government has some control over, like WSIB, taxes and red tape. As a result, we lowered the cost of doing business in Ontario by $7 billion every year. Then we put business supports in place, like the $100 million regional development program. This is given our manufacturing sector the certainty they needed to reinvest in Ontario. In St. Catharines, we saw quick plug invest 3.2 million in an expansion to make peat moss plugs for greenhouses and hydroponics. This is an important addition to our agriculture sector, but in addition to that, they added 30 jobs. Our government invested $480,000 through our Southwestern Development Fund. Speaker, this is one of the thousands of Ontario business success stories showing that Ontario is getting stronger. Thank you Minister. Thank you Minister. It is so great to hear that our government will continue to be there for our rural and northern businesses. We know that companies all across Ontario are ready to invest in the critical technologies needed to transform our automotive and manufacturing sectors. Now more than ever, especially as we recover from COVID, Ontarians need our government to support local manufacturers across the province, allowing companies to create good local jobs. Speaker, there is more to be done. So can the minister please tell this house what private sector investments is the ministry making and how will they create the conditions for long-term regional economic growth? Thank you. Let's give economic development. As a result of lowering the cost of doing business in Ontario by $7 billion every year we've seen our manufacturing sector take off. We were just in Welland and saw Valbruna, a manufacturer of specialty steel products invest $50 million in a new electric arc furnace. This will improve efficiency and productivity and reduce their environmental footprint. They will be the first in Canada to produce high nickel alloys and other clean specialty steels and they are uniquely capable of producing stainless steel. Indeed, they're the only source in all of Canada for stainless steel. Our government invested $4.4 million through the Southwestern Development Fund. This fund supports regional priorities and challenges and boosts the province economic recovery. Speaker, this is yet another of the thousands of Ontario business success stories showing that Ontario is getting stronger. Next question. Thank you, Speaker. My question is for the Prime Minister. For the Prime Minister. What have not been made? In fact, cuts have forced non-emergency transfers which used to be done by paramedics to be downloaded to private transportation now handled by hospital which obviously have little offering budgets. The result I have seen in my writing, Madame Ouimet, who had to wait three days to get a non-emergency transfer. She was in the hospital in pain waiting. Her transfer to get hip surgery. Speaker, why are northerners like Madame Ouimet who have to wait and suffer not seeing the result of your so-called investments? Thank you. Well, I thank the member very much for the question. First of all, we understand that culturally appropriate care is essential in supporting improved health outcomes especially for Indigenous peoples in the north as well as for all northerners. We want to make sure that everyone has the care that they need. That's why we have a program and worked with Nishinaabe Aski Nation men to operation remote immunity working with orange. That orange assistance has continued throughout. It's very important to make sure that everyone in Ontario, regardless of where they live, has access to health services that they need. We know that many people in northern Ontario may need to be transported either to Thunder Bay or sometimes further south. Nann is there to support that and will continue to be. I'm going to insist again on the fact that this government should stop cutting on the budget of the healthcare system. This woman I was mentioning, she's a clear example of how this is hurting Ontario. She was left alone with no medicine, with no response. Speaker, when will this government stop cutting the budget for the healthcare system and assure that patients receive the healthcare that they deserve? Minister of Health. Thank you very much. Well, again, to the member opposite, our government has increased healthcare spending, as I've indicated previously, from $59 billion before the pandemic to $64 billion now. And that includes the creation also of Ontario Health with the local Ontario Health Unit to support patients wherever they are in the province and to make sure that people have that care wherever they need it within our healthcare system. That's why we created Ontario Health in order to make sure that people, whether they need home care, whether they need surgical care or long-term care, will get the assistance that they need when they need it. We are continuing with the creation of our local Ontario Health Units. We've got about 95% of the Ontario population covered now, but we're going to continue with the creation of the units and make sure that they have the supports that they need to provide safe and culturally appropriate healthcare services, but also to deal with the social determinants of health, which many governments have talked about but have not actually done anything about. We are going to do it with those local Ontario Health Units. Thank you. The next question, the member for Glen Gary, Prescott, Russia. Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. Speaker, as we speak, Ukrainians are continuing to fight bravely and relentlessly against an unprovoked, full-scale invasion by Russia. The Ukrainian forces and the civilians who have joined them are outmanned and outgunned, but they keep fighting. Their resilience is inspiring and remarkable. Yes, Ukrainians are fighting for their freedom, but they're also fighting for us, for democracy. It is critical that we, our government, and the international community do everything possible to ensure Putin does not win. Here at the provincial level, we're limited in things we can do within our jurisdiction, but it's important that anything we can do, we must do. I want to sincerely thank the government for pledging $300,000 in taking Russian vodka off the shelves that are LCBOs. Some of these measures are symbolic, but they're important. But things are escalating quickly and dramatically. Will the government take other measures to support our efforts in Ukraine? To reply, the Government House Leader. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate the question from the Honourable Member, as we've been working across party lines on this, Mr. Speaker. And let me thank all members of the House on that. She did highlight some of the measures that the government took immediately. I know that the Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism did convene a roundtable with a number of members with respect to what kind of supports that we can provide. One of the things we did here, of course, was that we should be in a position, a better position to bring more Ukrainian refugees to Canada and specifically to Ontario. And I know the Premier was very quick to announce that, and the Minister of Labor is working on that. But the other issue that we heard and have been hearing frequently, Mr. Speaker, is assistance in terms of a lethal weaponry being sent to support the brave Ukrainian forces on the ground who have been doing an incredible job in the support of Ukraine and in the support of democracy, Mr. Speaker. And I know that the federal government has acted on that as well. We're obviously not in a position, as the member has highlighted, to do that. But where we are in a position to help, we will help. And again, I think all members is a very important issue. I think all members for the unity that we've all expressed on that. Thank you. And a couple of mentioned questions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, the Putin regime is targeting and killing civilians, bombing apartments, bombing kindergartens, shooting ambulances, and much, much more.  It is essential that we, our government and the international community, do everything we can to ensure that Putin does not win. Here at the provision level, we're limited in the things we can do in our jurisdiction. But it is important that whatever we can do, we must do. I want to sincerely thank again the government for pledging 300,000 and removing Russian vodka from LTO shells. These are important steps. As we can see, the situation is worsening very rapidly. Will the Ontario government take further steps to support efforts in Ukraine? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And I would like to thank my colleague for her question. And as I said, the President has been very kind to the government and the international community. And he has been very kind to the government and the international community. And he has been very kind to the government and as I said, the Minister for Security and Multiculturalism is working and has announced immediately that we are going to give financial aids to the Ukrainian community. And we have also said that it is very important that we are going to invite Ukrainian refugees here in Ontario. And we are still working with the federal government in order to have them here as fast as possible. And I would like to thank all my colleagues. We have been working all together with the communities in all the regions and constituencies in order to help the Ukrainian community and in order to fight the Russian actions. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The next question, Member for Etobicoke Lakeshore. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And my first question is to the Minister of Labour, Training and Skills Development. Mr. Speaker, our government strongly believes that all workers deserve to come home safe after a hard day's work. There are currently over 500 field inspectors, the highest number in Ontario's history, who visit workplaces across the province every day and help businesses comply with health and safety regulations. While the majority of businesses do everything they can to keep their workers safe, there are still some bad actors out there who pay fines and unfortunately continue to put workers at risk. Will the Minister tell us what his ministry is proposing to put stronger workplace protections for our everyday workers? Mr. Labour Training and Skills Development. Great. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And I want to thank the member for this very important question. Mr. Speaker, our government has and continues to work for Ontario workers. We are leaving no stone unturned to ensure their health and safety. They are our government's top priority. That's why I was pleased to announce stronger workplace protections in Bill 88, are working for workers to, continues our promise to all workers and their families that we have their backs. Our bill, Mr. Speaker, if passed, would increase health and safety fines for businesses who put workers at risk to the highest in Canada. If convicted, these lawbreakers would face new maximum charges of up to one and a half million dollars for a worker being severely injured or killed on the job. Our message to those who treat injuries as a cost of doing business here in Ontario, no more. Supplementary question. Well, thank you very much, Minister. And Mr. Speaker, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected us all. But it has also highlighted the impact of the ongoing public health concerns. Between March 2020 and January 2021, there are just under 25,000 opioid-related deaths in Ontario. These include deaths that occurred in the workplace. As ongoing public health crisis of opioid overdoses and deaths in Ontario continues, additional action is needed to save lives. Will the Minister please tell us what our government is doing to address this public health crisis in the workplace? Mr. Labour. Thank you, Speaker Nagin, to the member. Thank you for this very important question. Speaker, first I want to offer my condolences to the families of all of those who have died of an opioid overdose. One life lost is obviously one too many. Yesterday, a Speaker I joined my colleague, the Associate Minister for Mental Health and Addictions, to announce legislation that would require life-saving naloxone kits in any workplace where there is a risk of an opioid overdose. Our new policy, Mr. Speaker, is the very first in all of Canada. And it will be matched with support from our government to train workers to help employers get the kits that they need. We have to be ambitious in fighting this epidemic because everyone should come home safe after hard day's work. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This question is for the Premier. Speaker, the Independent Financial Accountability Office released its review of quarterly spending today and have found that once again the government is withholding money it promised to spend. This time, it's an astonishing billion dollars that's being held back by this government. Speaker, Ontario is only just starting to reopen after another devastating wave, a very painful lockdown, and the cost of everything from rent to groceries to gas, they're all soaring. If there's ever been a time we needed this government to step in and shore up our healthcare, our housing, our public infrastructure, it's now. So, Speaker, through you to the Premier, is this government putting Ontario's recovery at risk by withholding billions of dollars it promised to spend? President of the Treasury Board. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. We want to take an opportunity to thank the FBO for his report and all the work that he has been doing, but as a member opposite we'll know that the FBO's methodology does not take into consideration the full impact of the government's investments and excludes consolidated entities as school boards, hospitals, and agencies, but what I can tell you, Mr. Speaker, is on February 14th the Minister of Finance tabled the Q3 financial reports in which this province invested an additional $2.3 billion over this province. That included $1.3 billion in additional funding to support our hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. That included over $300 million for the Ontario business cost rebate program and over $293 million for the Ontario small business relief grant. Mr. Speaker, our government will continue to support the people of this province. Mr. Speaker, the Minister doesn't even sound convinced and those words are cold comfort. I'll tell you, for those waiting right now for backlogged surgeries who believe this premier's promise to clear them, instead they find out today that this government held back $1.3 billion in health care spending. But, Mr. Speaker, it gets even worse. Ontarians have been subjected to a flashy new taxpayer funded ad campaign trumpeting this government's claims at success, like building bridges and highways and other infrastructure. But we know today from the FAO that they spent just 15% of their promised infrastructure spending. So, Speaker, it's smoke and mirrors. Is this government's plan to put people back to work limited to the ad agencies? To advertising? Or will they actually spend the money they promised to get our economy moving again? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I also come to order. President of the Treasury Board to respond. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. There is no government in the history of this province that has spent more to keep its residents safe than this government. Public accounts showed last year over $19 billion was spent to support the people of this province. Just as I mentioned earlier, the Minister of Finance in his quarter three report in which we are being transparent with the public about all the spending that we are doing as a government, we committed to an additional $2.3 billion in spending that's supporting hospitals that need it during the COVID-19 pandemic. That includes supporting Ontario's small businesses across this province. That includes making sure that our long-term care homes have money for prevention and containment of COVID-19. And it also means that we're providing additional funds to support electricity costs for eligible businesses and residents. Mr. Speaker, we'll continue. Thank you. The next question is from York Centre. For two years, our pandemic policy was based on gauging and preserving Ontario's hospital capacity. We're told that we must go into lockdown, keep kids out of school, close business, delay surgeries and disrupt normal life because COVID will overwhelm our hospitals. The foreign metric was the effect of COVID on our hospitals. But for two years this government and this minister were not telling Ontarians the actual toll of COVID on our hospitals. Instead, they were inflating COVID hospitalizations by combining patients hospitalized as a result of COVID with patients tested for COVID but hospitalized for a whole other reason. Finally, in late December, the minister acknowledged the distinction. Turns out that about half the patients staying in our hospitals were there and the number to us was double. The minister was knowingly inflating the numbers used to lock down and hurt 15 million Ontarians. Question, why did it take two years for the minister to differentiate the numbers and will the minister apologize to all Ontarians? Host will come to order. Government House Leader to reply. Well, Speaker, everything in that question was wrong, so what I'll do is I'll take the opportunity to explain what we actually have done, Speaker. He was right in the sense that there was so little investments done to prepare Ontario for something like COVID that we had to move very, very quickly. That's why even before a pandemic hit, we started investing in Ontario health teams. We started investing in hospitals. We started investing in long-term care, Mr. Speaker. All of these things had to happen because, as we've said, constantly this province was brought to its knees and had to have the longest and largest lockdowns because 800 people were in ICU capacity. Why, Mr. Speaker? Because the previous Liberal government refused to make those important investments in healthcare. They refused to make the investments in health and human resources, Mr. Speaker, and this government knew that that could not be the case. That's why we're making investing in 3,100 additional beds, Mr. Speaker. A massive investment to bring on new nurses, a massive investment in long-term care, new hospitals in Niagara, new hospitals in Mississauga, Mr. Speaker. New hospitals in smaller communities because we understand that healthcare leads to economic growth and that's why we're making this investment. Thank you. The supplementary question. Speaker, it's regretful that the Minister of Health did not have the courage to answer the most important, one of the most important policy questions. Why did the government mislead Ontarians about the number of patients from ... It's not the call. Member will withdraw his unparliamentary comment. Withdraw. Conclude his question. The government leader speaks of are the same 3,100 beds we've had in the first wave and the second wave and the third wave but they're triple counting them. But most importantly, we'd like to understand why weren't the numbers given to Ontarians as they were? Why did it take two years on the single most important metric that was used to lock down Ontarians, close schools, close places of worship, close businesses? Why did it take two years to tell us that the burden of COVID that we thought we were actually dealing with was not the burden that we were dealing with? Could the Minister of Health please tell us why did it take her two years to differentiate with COVID or from COVID and apologize to all Ontarians? And to respond, the government house leader. Again, Speaker, I'm not sure that anybody understood that question but what I will tell you is this, Mr. Speaker is because of the work of this Minister of Health that we are adding health and human resource capacities because of the work of this Minister of Health that Ontario has done better than almost any other jurisdiction in the world fighting COVID, Mr. Speaker. We have almost 90% of our population that has received two doses, Mr. Speaker, well on our way. I think it's actually three doses, Mr. Speaker. We are doing better than almost any other jurisdiction. 30 over 31 million Ontarians have been vaccinated in this province, Mr. Speaker, and we have kept people safe and because of the fact that the previous Liberal government under Del Ducca and Wynn and all of that crew refused to make important investments not only in our large urban areas but in smaller communities across this province we are forced to do that but we like to do that because we understand how important healthcare is to a vibrant economy and that is why we are making the investments that the previous Liberal government didn't do and thanks to this Minister of Health those investments are happening now and in the future we will have the healthcare next question, the member for Eglinton Lawrence Thank you, Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Government and Consumer Services. Speaker, on this side of the house we understand that in order to improve the quality of life for all Ontarians we must use every tool at our disposal while real estate is one of our greatest resources historically past governments haven't always gotten the greatest possible value from our properties so through you could the Minister tell us what our government is doing to ensure that Ontarians are able to reap the greatest benefits from the many valuable public real estate assets at our disposal Minister of Government and Consumer Services Thank you very much Mr Speaker and thank you to the great member from Eglinton Lawrence for her question and unlike the Wynn-Delduca Liberal-led government of the past that mismanaged our properties Mr Speaker and squadronered our tax dollars this government is finding innovative ways to generate additional value for the people of this province and through the centre of Ontario's realty excellence core we are going to unlock value and bring additional revenue into our coffers from a pool of approximately 20,000 real estate assets that are currently held by public entities within the province of Ontario we are going to be able to invest this money back into programs that matter most for Ontarians like healthcare and education not only that Mr Speaker but core is going to help us to sell unused properties reducing operating costs for the government and most importantly putting money directly back into the pockets of Ontarians and workers to help life make life more affordable Thank you Mr Speaker supplementary question Thank you very much Speaker and I want to thank the minister for his answer this new proposed initiative certainly presents a fantastic opportunity for our provinces not so distant future many Ontarians including my constituents want to learn more about how this will benefit them and what will happen to government properties in their community so through you Speaker could the minister please explain how our government is able to leverage our public real estate assets toward helping Ontarians strengthening our communities and protecting our most vulnerable Good idea Minister of Government Thank you again Mr Speaker and to the member for her question and this is really a game changer for Ontario's realty market when we look at the centre of Ontario centre of realty excellence we're presenting Ontarians with an exciting opportunity for our government to not only save the people of this province money but also to revitalize our individual communities and expand access to critical services properties that are underused or sit empty in our communities will be transformed to meet our government's vital priorities such as building more affordable housing or creating more long term care beds Mr Speaker this is a win win for the people of this province who are going to see savings while taking advantage of new supports that are happening right in their very own neighbourhoods and this is all thanks to CORE I'm proud that this is just one of the ways that we're building a stronger Ontario Mr Speaker and we're doing this by having one lens on realty for the first time ever in the province of Ontario one eye seeing all of our realty initiatives and being able to monitor those moving forward Mr Speaker next question Thank you Speaker my question is to the Premier Yesterday CBC asked the director of education of the Waterloo Catholic District School Board about an incident where police were called to de-escalate a black four year old child stating that all ministry approved policies were followed the director explained that she and I quote would take umbrage to the allegation that there is systemic racism in our board and quote the Minister of Education committed to an internal review yet has not spoken about the pattern of racism in Peel York Windsor Toronto Simco the list goes on Speaker these incidents are not isolated Educational experts understand how racism operates and they are calling on this government to do better and so through you to the Premier will the Premier commit today to implementing an independent equity audit across all Ontario schools The Minister of Education Thank you very much Mr Speaker I want to thank the member opposite for the question and the scenario in this province that a four year old child should have police called on them absolutely unacceptable and I appreciate the member opposite's advocacy on this issue as noted by the parents of black children who commented following the ministry's decision last Friday to call a third party review deploying a Ministry of Education review of the handling of that board the parents of black children said quote we're pleased that the ministry has heeded the calls of the community investigation we are committed to fighting racism in schools in Peel specifically the member noted we were the first government in the history of this province to call in a supervisor because of anti-black racism the first in this country and I accept there's more to do we appreciate the members bill specifically to help combat racism in schools and I'm prepared to work with her and all members to fight the scourge of racism and hate that's happening in our schools in our society Thank you Thank you Speaker and back to the premier Speaker education is a continuum and recognizing the patterns of racism in the different boards is important as we try to address this reports of anti-semitism Islamophobia and the harsher discipline of black brown and indigenous students continues to push them out of school and what happens in K-12 is reflected on college and university campuses when people speak out the punishment is severe York University professor Dr. Emmie Avalanto is a perfect example after raising issues of racism in his home faculty he's now had to spend five years navigating never-ending investigations the racial equity and education act provides us with the tools to build anti-racist educational systems that aren't scared to address the patterns of racism so through you Mr. Speaker and back to the premier will this government commit today to making all 67 law Thank you very much Mr. Speaker I want to thank the member opposite for that question Mr. Speaker I think we all agree in this house racism over the last couple years especially during the pandemic has been on the rise and since taking role in my ministry Mr. Speaker last June I've been working with all of our stakeholders all of the community leaders organizations to address them and our government is absolutely committed to working with every single interior Mr. Speaker on this important issue and we're committed to making the necessary resources available in investments and we have been in tune of over 30 million dollars Mr. Speaker including the doubling of our anti-racism anti-hate grant from 1.6 to 3.2 million dollars Mr. Speaker recently they announced another 25 million dollar historic investment Mr. Speaker to protecting our places of worship and other cultural organizations we know our work isn't done Mr. Speaker there's more to do we're committed to doing it until this issue is absolutely addressed thank you Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker Thank you Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker I didn't think I would have to rise again this week in this house to ask the same question that I asked twice last year the government has had weeks to prepare a support financial support package for Ottawa where is it I've been talking daily with the BIA during the occupation and again last night to talk about the lasting effects of the loss of revenues the BIA in our downtown core in Ottawa noted that quote from a landlord perspective our level of non-payment of rent is dangerously high I have a large concern if the money doesn't flow quickly we will end up with landlords defaulting as well so am I asking the government will the government commit to matching the money given by the federal government to these struggling businesses Mr. Finance Thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you for that important question from the member opposite Mr. Speaker there's no question that our government recognizes that the health measures have come at a cost and particularly for businesses in the Ottawa region who have faced a unique circumstances with the occupation in that in that city Mr. Speaker I want to remind the member opposite that we have been there for not only businesses in Ottawa we've been there for businesses right across this province not least of which were highlighted by the president of the transit board including the property tax and the electricity relief including the deferral of seven and a half billion dollars of provincially administered taxes and I'll have more to say in the supplementary thank you Mr. Speaker I can't believe that there's no announcements for financial support I can't believe that there's no announcements for financial support I can't believe that there's no announcements for financial support businesses struggling Ottawa is the second biggest city in Ontario and Ottawa workers are Ontario workers and the government should be supporting all Ontarians not only in the areas in which the government wishes to win seats a thousand businesses in my riding could not operate and that took away the paychecks to long for workers who are barely getting by so with the Minister of Finance please tell me when Ottawa will receive desperately needed financial support from this government Mr. Finance well thank you again Mr. Speaker and a very important question from the member opposite and as I look straight across here I see a number of members from the Ottawa region and we have many on our side of the aisle here as well Mr. Speaker very important we've been having conversations with those BIAs with the people affected in the region we're working with many counterparts and I'll have some more to say in the coming days as I said yesterday and it hasn't been years by the way you mentioned years you meant in the past few weeks but we recognize the struggle of many businesses in Ontario not least of which is Ottawa given the unique situation there and I'm happy to work with businesses right across this province because you know what we're getting stronger every day this province is getting stronger we're building back this province and we'll look forward to the economic recovery that all families workers and businesses will look forward to in this province next question my question is for the Premier Sherwood secondary school in my riding of Hamilton Mountain is the centre of the Sherwood Heights community Sherwood is one of two secondary schools to offer an excellent French immersion program eight elementary schools feed into Sherwood for this program alone Sherwood is at risk of closing as this government recently denied the eighth funding proposal request for repairs that is need to make this school safe the Hamilton one word district it's not going to be $9 million to contribute to these repairs but this government couldn't even meet them half way speaker schools in Ontario need to be repaired not closed can the Premier commit to providing the funding that Sherwood secondary needs to complete these repairs so their school can remain open Minister of Education thank you Speaker thank you to member opposite for the question I would like to say that there are 75 million dollars in active projects under way to improve the state of those schools to modernize and improve ventilation expand spaces and child care and I look forward to receiving the applications from all school boards submitted by submitted to you and I look forward to receiving the applications from all school boards submitted to the ministry just days ago as we work to approve another round of $500 million of capital investment so we can provide the best learning spaces for children in Hamilton and right across Ontario speaker the school repair backlog has ballooned under this government it has grown by one billion dollars since this Premier took office there needs to be real investment into our schools so staff and students have an environment they can thrive in school boards must be given the tools that they need to support their communities yet all this government seems to do when it comes to education is cut Sherwood secondary is a fundamental part of their community in Hamilton Mountain our community made a decision to save this school during the arc process in 2012 I encourage the Premier and his government to actually listen to our community on this matter and to save Sherwood will the Premier respect the community's decision and save Sherwood secondary high school thank you thank you Mr. Speaker we appreciate the advocacy for the member opposite we will continue to invest over 75 million dollars in active construction in Hamilton schools I will challenge the member opposite though because we just announced a plan an investment in public education increasing this progressive government the highest investment in public education ever accorded in the history of Ontario 90 million dollars 420% increase in mental health funding from the former Liberal government the highest investment special education 3.2 billion over 90 million dollars more to help children with exceptionalities we announced Ontario's learning recovery action plan 175 million dollars a net investment to provide tutoring publicly funded tutoring small groups averaging 5 to all children in all parts of Ontario this is a responsible plan to get our kids back on track and continue to invest in public education the next question is for the Premier recently the Premier said the province is ready to receive Ukrainian refugees seeking to escape their country's war zone but most Ukrainians are not double vaccinated against COVID-19 66% in fact the government is also allowing employers in Ontario which is likely the vast majority to continue using discriminatory vaccine passport requirements on employees so what is the government's plan are they going to screen Ukrainians coming here to ensure they are all double vaccinated against COVID-19 or is the government having Ukrainians come here facing the prospects of it being harder to find a job because of the decision not to disclose their vaccine status or will the government consider a measure again on the discriminatory practice of allowing employers to voluntarily continue using vaccine proof or passport measures Minister of Labor well thank you very much Mr. Speaker and I do want to thank the member for this very important question I want to begin to let the people of Ukraine know that we are thinking of them we're working every single day to ensure that when many of them arrive here in Ontario we're going to have the supports to be there in place for them Mr. Speaker I speak on a regular basis with the Ministry of Immigration federally Sean Fraser we've offered Ontario's full support to ensure that we help these people leave the crisis that they're facing and I can commit to all members of this house and to all people of Ontario to all of the people in Ukraine to work with the federal government to ensure that they have better lives when they get to Ontario Speaker in their announcement the Premier and his Minister of Labor said we have a labor shortage in Ontario and Ukrainian refugees can help fill those positions at number more than 300,000 but Speaker the labor shortage in Ontario has been exacerbated by this government's policies including their decision to allow employers to fire thousands of people for the last year because those people refused to use a vaccine passport or have some personal reason for not taking the COVID-19 vaccine in fact for a year people were losing their jobs and this government wasn't even protecting those who recovered from COVID from the discriminatory practice of employers mandating COVID-19 vaccination and of course none of these policies made a difference there was no COVID-zero what has this government done we hire Ontario workers who lost their job because of discriminatory policies and fill the labor shortage what's the solution for these people Minister of Labor well Mr. Speaker we live in the greatest province and the greatest country on the face of this work I'm proud to say under the leadership of Premier Ford working with our labor partners working with business companies have stepped up more than 20,000 jobs are waiting for people of Ukraine when they get here Mr. Speaker that is a great story that is a Canadian and Ontario spirit but Mr. Speaker I would argue with the member opposite there's been a skilled trade shortage in this province long before COVID-19 hit Ontario Mr. Speaker for far too long in Ontario under successive governments that they must go to university to be successful what we're doing Mr. Speaker is leveling the playing field we're beginning skilled trades training much younger in the education system Mr. Speaker we're sending dozens of recruiters into every high school across the province to recruit people into these amazing careers we all know people in the skilled trades Mr. Speaker making six figures with defined pensions and benefits thank you Mr. Speaker thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the premier last year the City of Toronto announced a supportive housing project in my riding of beaches east York and the Ford government immediately passed a ministerial zoning order to ensure it would happen quickly and by the way every elected official in beaches east York stood shoulder to shoulder and supported it we need that housing this year the government declined in the middle of the day the riding of the associate minister of transportation presumably to avoid annoying those voters who don't want a supportive housing project near them right before an election now those housing units are sitting empty in a parking lot and people are literally freezing to death on the streets of Toronto when will the government build the deeply affordable housing that Ontario desperately needs Mr. Speaker Mr. Affairs and Housing I'll ask that member of that party a question why won't they support our call for the federal government for another 490 million that we're owed to help those people to our rest of being homeless we've worked with Toronto City Council over the last year they've requested seven housing or long-term care related MZOs we've delivered on six of those seven we've accelerated the creation of over 54,000 housing units across the province and another 600 supportive housing units we're working with the council the minister has been engaged with Mayor Tory to look at this project and to try to find a way to move it forward but to have this member categorize that we haven't been co-operating with Toronto Council is absolutely incorrect in fact Mayor Tory supports our fair share campaign to the federal government thank you very much thank you that concludes our question period for this morning being no further business at this time this House stands in recess until 3pm