It is now time for oral questions. I recognize the leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. Thank you, Speaker. I do want to start by joining the Premier and thanking the OPP officers for their service to himself and to the people of Ontario. It's not an easy job. That's not a comment on you, Premier. Overall, it's not an easy job to be an OPP officer. That's certainly the case. I think we all know it. And we are all very grateful for the work that they do for all of us. And I also want to, on behalf of the OPP, thank Brian Bemish for the work that he's done for us for many years and the service that he's also given to the people of Ontario. Speaker, my first question is to the Premier. Yet another Ontarian who watched in terror while COVID-19 ravaged the long-term care home her mother lived in joined me this morning. Tanya Coombs' mother Dorothy was a resident at Riverland Haven Nursing Home in Sutton, a private facility run by ATK care group where 33 residents died of COVID-19. When she called for an update on her mother's health, Tanya learned that over the course of the outbreak, her mother had been shuffled in and out of rooms with COVID-positive patients. Tanya's horrified that ATK group will face no consequences and soon take back control of this facility after endangering and losing so many lives. Why is the government vending over backwards to protect these companies who have put vulnerable Ontarians in danger? The Premier. You, Mr. Speaker, the last thing I'm ever going to do is protect any of these companies, especially the ones that have dropped the ball. We're going to hold them accountable and that's why we have an independent commission coming forward in July and that's the reason we have other commissions no matter if it's the Auditor General or the coroner's office and potentially the police. If they neglected seniors and the most vulnerable in our society, these people are going to be held accountable and the last thing I'm going to do and I've said it publicly and I'll say it publicly again, we aren't going to protect these homes and I don't want to paint a broad brush because even at the peak there was close to 80% of the homes that didn't have COVID so there's always good and bad in every scenario but I'm going to assure you we'll get down to the bottom of it and I look forward to working with the leader of the opposition, working hand in hand with the leader of the opposition to make sure that people are held accountable and this never happens again. Thank you. Thank you. A supplementary question. Well, Speaker, after fighting to get Dorothy tested for other health concerns and seeing that she was still not improving, Tanya actually had to fight for her to get transferred to a hospital. She had to fight the home. When she asked outright, River Glen Haven simply said we don't do that and that she had to trust that they would be able to handle it. This is not the first time we've heard that families were having to fight tooth and nail to pull their loved ones out of dangerous situations and long-term care to get the help that they needed in hospitals. These homes have not only failed to protect residents from infection but in some cases have actually put up barriers to accessing critical care. Why is the government so committed to protecting these dangerous and negligent homes? Premier? Well, first of all, I want a message to Tanya. I understand what she's going through and the pain these families have gone through and it's totally unfair. We're here to fix the problem collectively, not separately. It doesn't matter if you're part of the orange, part of the red, part of the blue or green. We need to work together and come up with a system that's been broken for years, decades and rather than sitting there, us sitting there pointing the fingers the last 15 years that these guys are them pointing it at us, worked collectively like we are doing with the federal government and we are doing with all other premiers including the Premier of BC which has shown great leadership and again a colleague and I've always called for advice and he's a great Premier out there that we're able to get a handle on these long-term care homes but as we all know once COVID gets into these homes, it's like a bushfire going through these homes and it's extremely hard to control it and we're going to make sure that response we're going to make sure that this doesn't happen again. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And the final supplementary. Well, Speaker, as the official opposition, we certainly want to make sure this doesn't happen again and I hope the Premier's comments indicate that he's prepared to undertake a full judicial public inquiry, a find and fix inquiry to fix the mess once and for all. That's certainly something that I could work hand in hand with the Premier on. But what horrifies Dorothy and hundreds of others like her is that the Ford government insisted that their loved ones were protected when they weren't. On April 14th, the Minister of Health told Ontarians and I quote, rest assured if people need to be in hospital because of COVID-19 from a long-term care home, they will be taken to hospital. Dorothy had to fight relentlessly to get her mother to a hospital and we know families at Orchard Villa facility were also told that hospitals would not accept their loved ones even as they were dying in the facility. Why did the government claim transfers would happen and then sit by while for profit homes told families they would not? Minister of Long-Term Care. Thank you, Speaker and thank you for the question. My heart goes out to everyone affected by COVID-19. When we consider the frail of the frail in our long-term care homes, many of them have advanced care plans that they want to be treated in the home. They want to be supported in the home and their families want them to be supported in the home. Looking at the scientific evidence from across the world and determining how we manage our residents in long-term care, if the resident or their guardian or their family wants them to be moved to a hospital, that is their right and that must be the case. And so if people determine that they want to be in the long-term care home, because that is their home and that is ethical and moral ground that we must consider the right response of that individual and that family. But there was never a situation where residents would be stopped from being moved to hospital if that's what they wished. Thank you. The next question once again the leader of the opposition. Thank you so much. My next question is for the Premier but I have to say it's frightening and in fact horrifying to hear in this legislature that the Minister responsible for long-term care is basically telling all those families who very much experienced the fact that the hospitals or that the homes would not transfer to hospital that they're lying or they're not telling the truth. That's completely unacceptable and horrifying and I hope that she corrects her record and takes back those disrespectful comments speaker. So the questions for the Premier again and again families have learned that the promises of the Ford government were nothing more than empty words just like that minister just proved. This weekend the Hamilton spectator told the tragic story of Michela Caruso. She died after contracting COVID-19 from a home care worker sent to her home by a temporary agency. The family later learned that the same temporary worker was working at a number of other facilities including the Rosslyn retirement home. The source of Hamilton's worst COVID outbreak. The Premier said there would be an iron ring. Where was it? Questions to the Premier. Thank you Mr. Speaker. You know something there's no one that's worked harder than our minister of long-term care. No one. No one in this whole chamber. No one was up late till midnight at night worrying about this on phone calls making sure we did have an iron ring around these homes and obviously Mr. Speaker you know something we sent the hospitals in there. We made sure that Ontario health was in there that we made sure public health was in there. We called the military in and no one no one has worked harder because if it wasn't for the minister of long-term care it would have been a lot worse and it was terrible what happened make no mistake about it. It was terrible. One death was one too many deaths but again collectively we can work together and fix all the problems that's happened over the decades and collectively again we can work together and fix this problem. A supplementary question. Well Speaker there was no iron ring and we can't work collectively if the government refuses to acknowledge their failures in protecting seniors from long-term care when we have well over 2,000 people dead after COVID-19 ripped through their homes. In April the Premier told families there would be an iron ring protecting seniors and he dismissed concerns about temporary agency workers who were exempted from restrictions on working at multiple facilities. He promised screening and oversight. He promised protection. The Caruso family didn't get it Speaker. Michela Caruso died as a result of that and three other members of her family are now battling COVID-19. What does the Premier say to families who believed his promises and are now dealing with the devastating consequences of taking this Premier at his word. Mr. Long-term care. Thank you Speaker and thank you for the question. Our government acknowledges the crises that COVID-19 caused in our homes and we have listened. We have listened across the province to hear from families and residents. We were in the process of creating a resident-centred model and overcoming the neglect of the last 15 years of the long-term care sector. This was a combined effort of Ontario health, public health Ontario, many ministries, looking at everything we could do, every measure and we are in the process of moving forward, fixing what was left behind for us to deal with and the previous government's failure supported by the NDP. We are looking forward to a resident-centred long-term care system designed for the 21st century that includes community, that includes integration with the acute care centers, that includes research and academia and making an integrated system. Ontario health, public health Ontario, our government has worked strenuously to support our residents in long-term care and we'll continue to do that. Well, Speaker, whether it's long-term care, whether it's home care, whether it's retirement homes, the government has failed to keep their promises to families. Instead of holding care homes legally accountable and revoking licenses permanently, the government is protecting the companies from being responsible to the families of residents who died on their watch. Instead of pledging an end to a for-profit system where overworked and underpaid staff put themselves and their own residents, their staffs and their residents at risk, the Premier insists that there is no one at all to blame here. When will the Premier stop bending over backwards to protect companies that have put vulnerable Ontarians in danger? I've said from day one, you know, I'll take ownership of this and we're going to fix this problem and that's why in January we made COVID-19 reportable disease, implemented our COVID action plan, issued three emergency orders, introduced two packages of amended regulations, announced $243 million in emergency funding to support 24-7 screening, additional staffing, enhanced cleaning, additional surge in capacity. We did over 2,800 inspections last year alone and, yes, do I agree, we have to have more inspections, rigorous inspections, and working with the homes because they have to come up along with all of us. They have to be part of the solution too, and right now there are 63 homes that are in outbreak out of 626 homes, so collectively we're getting there. We're far from the end, but collectively we're getting there and 252 are resolved right now, so I guess the system is working to a certain degree, Mr. Speaker, when we're seeing this movement in a positive way. Thank you. The next question, once again, the Leader of the Opposition. Thank you so much, Speaker. My next question is also to the Premier. The tragic deaths of Ijaz, Choudhury, Deandre Campbell, and Regis Korshinski-Pakhet are prompting more and more calls for desperately needed changes in policing. Yesterday the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health added their voice, saying, and I quote, tragic outcomes occur when people with mental illness experience a crisis and are not able to get the care that they need. Racism and anti-black racism compound these crisis interactions. For too long, the health care system has relied on police to respond to mental health crises in the community. Transformative change is needed to support a new way forward. Does the Premier agree that transformative change is needed, and if so, what does he propose? Thank you, Speaker. I think this is a very important discussion for us to have, and I'm glad that the member opposite has raised it. We have made as a government a commitment to invest, along with the federal government, $3.8 billion in mental health crisis and intervention supports. We have the first Minister responsible for mental health in the province of Ontario. We made that commitment many years ago, and we are following through. I'm going to give you just a couple of examples that talk about how, when communities work together, when the police and the mental health associations work together, we get excellent results. We protect people. The Berry Police Service, nearly $500,000 to support a crisis outreach and support team, which provides crisis intervention to individuals in crisis by partnering a police constable with the CMHA crisis intervention speciality. These teams work. They protect our communities, and they get the individuals the help when they need it in the community. Thank you. Well, Speaker, it's not enough for the Premier and the Minister to, when these tragedies occur, offer thoughts and prayers, and then ignore their desperate pleas to change a system that has left too many people dead. The Premier's condolences ring hollow when he has rolled back police oversight, cut millions in mental health funding as well. The world-renowned Centre for Addiction and Mental Health was clear. Just to remind the government, they cut $325 million for mental health funding. Police should not be the first responders when people are in crisis in the community, says the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. They were pretty clear. Does the Premier agree? And if so, what is he prepared to do about it? I'm not sure the member office had actually heard some of the very specific examples that I was raising in my previous answer. I will highlight others. It's not just about what's happening in policing in Solicitor General. There was $10 million announced last week in education to assist our children. The Guelph Police Services Board, over $2 million to support impact mental health crisis teams that pair mental health workers with police officers. Look, the reality is, when someone calls 911, they want help, and that's what we're providing. We're teaming together with other ministries, with other levels of government to get this done. I would love to have you on board when we're doing this. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Premier. Speaker, yesterday the Premier and the Minister of Education announced a new math curriculum. I know that for years our students were being failed by the previous government's discovery math curriculum. For over a decade, EQ AO math scores have been failing. In fact, over half of grade six students failed to meet the EQ AO standard in math. Can the Premier tell us how our plan is delivering on our promise to address plummeting math scores and give students the skills they need to succeed? Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the member from Perth, Wellington for his great question. I also want to give a shout out to our great Minister of Education. I'll tell you he's doing a lech, but her known as lech, he's doing a great job. And I have to tell you, we have to get back to the basics, Mr. Speaker. We have to make sure that we get back to the basics of science and technology, engineering, and math. I've told this story before, but I'll tell you again, before I was involved in politics, I interviewed a young gal, came in the office, university degree, and just out of the blue, and I've never done this before, Mr. Speaker, just out of the blue, I said, what's seven times seven? She's looking around. She grabs her phone and she's going to start. I said, what is seven times seven? She couldn't answer that. That's a university graduate. They're relying on their phones. Your response? Maybe I'm aging myself, Mr. Speaker, but you're in the same vintage as I am. Remember the old flashcards you used to remember? You have the old flashcards? We have to get back to the basics of math, and that's what the Minister of Education is doing, and I appreciate the work that you're doing. Mr. Speaker, thank you to the Premier for that answer. I certainly remember the flashcards. My generation probably invented the flashcards. It's great news that the government is moving forward with these important changes, and uncertain times is more important than ever to ensure our students are equipped with the skills they need to find a good job in the new economy. The world is rapidly changing, and we need to make sure our education system is adapting and keeping up. Parents and students want an education that gives them the skills and competencies that they will need in the modern economy and job market. Speaker, I know that many parents want to be more involved in their child's education and engage with them to help them succeed. Can the Premier tell us more about how this curriculum was developed with the input of parents and is built to help them support their children? Again, the Premier? Thank you to the member. If we, you know, the people listening at home and people here in the House, you know, you think back, this curriculum hasn't changed since 2005. What hasn't changed since 2005? Everything is changing, and we have two choices here, Mr. Speaker. We either let our kids fall behind the rest of the world when we open up the economy, and I call it the new economy, different ways of doing things no matter if it's online or technology. We're competing. We're competing against the rest of the world. We need our students being number one. They're the new trailblazers. All the graduates that are graduating today, and I'm going to say a few words through virtual video, but these are our future politicians. These are our future leaders, future premiers, future prime ministers. Response. But we have to be up and compete against the rest of the world, and that's exactly what this new curriculum is going to do. Give us a fair standing when it comes to competition. Thank you. Next question, the member for domestic community conference. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Premier. The COVID outbreak among migrant farm workers is tragically now the biggest workplace outbreak in the province. But sadly, this shouldn't have come as a surprise. Meet processing plants, people working very close proximity, hotspot. But the Minister of Long-Term Care also identified in this House several times that the wards in long-term care, because people are so close together, are part of the problem, kind of like bunk houses with migrant workers who have nowhere else to go when they're sick. Everyone knew this. You knew this. The government knew this. Yet you failed that. And now, the Premier has a few times stated that it's the farm community that's holding things up. But the government knew this. This was a hotspot. Why? Why has it taken you so long to act? Why have you risked the lives of the people who harvest our food? The Premier? I appreciate the question. I guess everyone in this room supports our farmers. It doesn't matter what political stripe. But we were able to come up with a solution. That's amazing. It's amazing when you work with people, Mr. Speaker, and you sit down with the farmers that you really look up to. And these are some of the hardest-working folks out there. And we have a solution now. So the farmers now have agreed, along with the migrant workers, to get tested. And we have farms lined up one after the other after the other. And actually, a farmer ahead of one of the associations called me up and said, I appreciate the work that you're doing. I appreciate that we have two choices. Either we ignore it and it starts spreading and it gets into the community, because it's not the migrant workers fault. Remember, they came here and self-isolated for two weeks response. And Mr. I'll follow up with my comments on the second round here. The supplementary, the member for Essex. Thank you, Speaker. Without any details, the Premier did announce this morning that he finally now today has a plan to move Windsor and Essex and Leamington to stage two weeks after local officials, businesses and citizens have been begging him to show leadership, the kind of leadership that we saw in British Columbia that intervened early and contained the outbreak in the migrant worker population. Our region has undoubtedly been hit harder than others from this pandemic. And despite the lack of leadership, provincially, we've persevered. Speaker, this is not sustainable, not for one more day. Speaker, a good leader doesn't leave anyone behind. A good leader identifies the threats early and moves the resources where they are needed most. Will the Premier finally commit to deploying all available resources to test, trace and contain the outbreak on farms so that all communities in Windsor, Essex and Chatham Kent who have sacrificed so much can safely reopen and rebuild our economy? Through you, Mr. Speaker, I wasn't going to mention this. Now, since he sent a missile over, I'll tell you what the head of the association said. They named the member from Essex without prompting me and named his name and said he has done absolutely nothing here. Absolutely nothing. And I didn't prompt this. He actually called you out by name. Now the... Order. Order. Order. Take your seat. The member for Essex will withdraw. I withdraw. Premier, complete his response. You, Mr. Speaker, that's the first time I've ever heard anything like this in the house here. Honestly, it is. But we, I'll just tell you what we've done. Order. We've been in contact. We've been in contact with the chief medical officer. I was in contact with the mayor there, Mr. Speaker. We've given $15 million for purchasing of the PPE, enhanced cleaning disinfectant and making sure we were just redesigning workstations. We will do anything to support the farmers, the workers and the people from Windsor, Essex. Thank you. They know I support them. The member for Essex is warned. Order. The member for Windsor West will come to order. The next question. The next question, the member for Perry Sound, Muscova. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Minister of Heritage, Sport and Tourism and Culture Industries. The minister has been visiting communities across our province as they begin to reopen and offer Ontarians safe experiences and services. These tourist stops included a visit earlier this month to my riding of Perry Sound, Muscova. Unfortunately, Ontario's tourism industry has been one of the hardest hit since the COVID-19 outbreak began. Perry Sound, Muscova is often cited as one of the best places to visit in Canada and in the world. Thousands of jobs in our communities depend on this tourist traffic. As a former tourism operator, I know how scary this spring has been for our owners and tourism businesses. Mr. Speaker, can the minister update this house on her investments into tourism in Perry Sound, Muscova and other regions around the province? The Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries. Thank you very much, Speaker. I would like to first and foremost thank the member for his committed leadership during this crisis, particularly for his residents, but for the tourism industry and sector as a whole, as he engaged on a province-wide tour, virtually, of course, for me as we study the impacts within the ministry. We had the opportunity to visit his community on June the 14th. We visited the lake of Bays Brewery, Santa's Village, Trillium Resort and Spa, Algonquin Outfitters, Algonquin theaters, and three guys and a stove. In fact, it is phase two, so people are even allowed to get haircuts in Muscova. I would like to say our government has made a significant commitment to his community. We have invested over $350,000 in marketing and tourism dollars. Over $100,000 for resorts on Ontario to market their products across the province, and we invested $81,000 in celebrate Ontario funding for his community, despite the fact that many of these festivals are unable to perform this year, but we want them to be here for next year in 2021 when Muscova comes alive again and begins to welcome the entire world back to that community. Once again, the member for Perry Sound, though I have a haircut booked for this Saturday, I know the minister has been fighting hard for tourism. The tourism sector is busy promoting traveling within our province to Ontarians. I also know that the $100,000 in support for resorts of Ontario is a much needed investment that will be appreciated by our resort owners who have been hit especially hard. I know this investment will pay off when we are in the resort business. Resorts of Ontario had the most effective marketing programs. The minister made additional investments both in my riding and on other tour stops across the province that double down on Ontario government's support and confidence in local tourism. Mr. Speaker, can the minister please expand on other measures that will be instrumental to our tourism industry both in the interim and in the future? As you know, the tourism industry in the province of Ontario and hospitality sectors are worth about $36 billion in economic activity. It has significantly impacted a number of communities, and that's why it was important for me to make it an early initial investment for hyperlocal tourism of $13 million, which the member has talked about in his own community. I also had the opportunity to join the minister of municipal affairs and housing and get an awkward to make some significant investments there in my home city of Ottawa down to Niagara with the member from Niagara West Glenbrook up to Muskoka but also to Blue Mountain with the member from Simcoe Gray. Mr. Speaker, I'll be going to Cambridge and Waterloo this week as well as taking in the sites here in Toronto to demonstrate two things. One is when it is safe to do so, our tourism operations, our cultural attractions are going to be safe to welcome people back and that we are going to be committed as a government to supporting this vital industry where hundreds of thousands of Ontario jobs are relied upon. So, Speaker, I say this to all members of this House. It's our job collectively to get into our communities and to lead and demonstrate that as we enter phase two in almost every community across the great province this week that it is safe to go to your local patio, it is safe to go to your local operation, and it is safe to stay in a local hotel because we have asked them through labour, we have asked them through health to make sure that they are accommodating those rules. Thank you very much. Thank you. The next question, the Member for Kitchener Centre. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My question is for the Premier. Yesterday the CBC reported that 45 lawyers from the Ministry of the Attorney General sent a letter to the Chair of Cabinet describing, and I quote, countless instances of anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism on the job. I would ceseed on this correspondence. The letter paints a disturbing picture of the experiences of racialized professionals working in this government. They described degrading comments from colleagues, including being told that they were not as qualified to do their job as their white peers. The Minister has stated that he takes this seriously, but people need more than pledges of support. They need action. Will the Premier please outline the steps that are being taken to address systemic racism in his ministries? The Attorney General. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Our government has zero tolerance for racism, hate and discrimination. We're fully committed to addressing systemic racism and advancing inclusion and achieving equity in our workplaces. This includes the elimination of all forms of discrimination and challenging the deep-rooted racism that continues to operate at all levels and in all sectors of society. I thank the employees of the Ministry of the Attorney General for their bravery and leadership and sharing their feedback and perspective. We hear them and we take this matter seriously. We're taking action by engaging a third party to review the Ontario Public Services inclusive workplace policies and programs, and the President of the Treasury Board is working with the Anti-Racism Directorate and the Ministry of Government Consumer Services on a broader review of workplace culture and systemic issues. Our values of diversity, inclusivity, accessibility, equality and respect are the cornerstone of our ongoing efforts to modernize government and combating racism and discrimination in the workplace. Mr. Speaker, there is more that can be done and will be done, but I want to make clear in this House that we are committed to advancing change and progress. Thank you very much. And a supplementary question. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Systemic racism was a problem under the Liberals and it hasn't gotten any better under this government. In 2017 reports with similar experiences from OPS workers was also released. Dating as far back as 2007, OPS employees raised issues of systemic anti-black and anti-indigenous racism with government, and at that time they were promised that people would act with lightning speed to change the culture. It was only in 2017 that an anti-racism policy for the OPS was developed and OPS employees were promised anti-racism programs with measurable targets and indicators. Unfortunately, there's no record of actual concrete change from this government. And so my question is whether or not the work that has just been outlined is actually going to be public so that OPS workers, no matter who they are or what color they are or what their ethnic background is, will finally feel safe working in government in Ontario. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And discrimination and harassment have no place in any workplace, whether it be government or private sector. We are fully committed to addressing the systemic racism in all forms and we want to advance inclusion and achieve equity in our workplaces. We are committed to fostering a more inclusive workplace culture-free of discrimination and harassment. We have completed an independent external review of complex workplace discrimination and harassment cases that was in 2018, and we're taking steps to implement those recommendations. We have ensured supports and resources are available to OPS employees who face discrimination or harassment, as well as for managers to support their employees. We've developed an anti-racism competency and capacity-building program to build human resources policies that ensure a more equitable, respectful, and inclusive OPS. In 2018, we developed and launched the anti-racism policy to identify and address systemic barriers. And the President of the Treasury Board is working with the anti-racism director at MGCS on a broader review of workplace culture and systemic issues. While we are working to advance change and progress, we also know that there is more that can be done and we are committed to that action. The next question is to the Minister of Finance. Yesterday, a report released by the FAO showed a stark employment decline in cities like Windsor, Thunder Bay, St. Catharines, Niagara, and the province's biggest employment region, Toronto. Small and medium-sized businesses are the economic powerhouse in Ontario and indeed across Canada. Just this morning, I heard a seminar put on by Dan Kelly from the Federation of Canadian Independent Businesses that really talked about how small businesses were struggling and he was presenting to the Scarborough Business Association. Now more than ever, they need support from their provincial government to hold on. Restaurants and businesses frankly across all sectors in every corner of this province are needing support, liquidity and stability. And the road to recovery ahead is long, it's not going to be a quick bounce back. Tax deferrals alone will not go far enough. We need to ensure that small businesses will survive through to the recovery so that they can maintain their position in our society as job creators. Will the Minister commit to implementing a multi-year financing payback program specifically designed for small and medium-sized enterprises so that they will have the time that they need to repay these tax deferrals and give them the support that they so desperately need? The Minister of Finance to reply. Mr. Speaker, I thank the member for her question and we are open to all ideas in terms of how we will support our small businesses and our larger businesses. As this legislature knows, we introduced a $17 billion program that was $7 billion in direct support. That has included support from a rent perspective. That has included support from an electricity perspective. We've also been keen partners with the federal government in terms of their supports with regards to liquidity. Mr. Speaker, we have stepped up for small business. We have put in place the eviction ban to support small business. We have put in place a number of measures to make sure that we are listening to our small business community. Our Minister of Small Businesses has held over 40 roundtables with those businesses taking in those ideas. Mr. Speaker, what we know our small businesses really want is the chance to reopen and I'll comment on that during my supplementary question. Thank you, Speaker. And I do want to say back to the Minister of Finance, the $17 billion includes $10 billion in tax deferral, which speaks to my earlier question. Will you create a program that doesn't require that payback in the fall of this year when many small businesses are simply just trying to hold on? So I also want to say that since the minister last updated the House on March 25th regarding the province's economic and fiscal outlook, so much has changed as a result of this pandemic and as a result of the responses and the measures put in place to protect lives that has affected our economy to a great deal. Now that the Ontario government has entered phase two in the reopening, we do need a clear picture of what the economic outlook is so that we can properly plan for a full recovery. A fiscal update in August is far too late. The federal government announced last week that they will do an update on July 8th. So I'm asking the minister today, will you commit to doing an update on Ontario's economic and fiscal outlook by July the 15th so that we can have the information in this House, in this legislature, to properly plan for a full recovery in terms of the programs and services and supports that are needed, like a small business recovery plan that is more multi-year and realistic based on the economic realities that small businesses and others are facing across this province. Thank you. Thank you. Minister of Finance. So again I thank the member for acknowledging the work of this government in terms of supporting the health of people and as well for her support of the tax deferrals and her party's support of the tax deferrals which were supported unanimously by everyone in this legislature. We will and we were unique among governments of Ontario in providing an update related to COVID and we made it clear at that time we'll continue to produce those updates. So it is great to see other provinces following our lead and indeed great to see the federal government following our lead in July. We will provide an update in August as planned to make sure Ontarians know where we're going but I want to touch just briefly on the issue of reopening. We know that what our small businesses want is to reopen and Mr. Speaker it is so good to see that the plan that this government put forward a careful but deliberate plan laid out at the end of April is now leading not only to the reduction of cases in our first priority but also to the reopening not just in Scarborough but in other parts of the province and soon in all parts of the province. Mr. Speaker our small businesses and businesses want the opportunity to get out and get back into business. I echo my colleagues comments about all of us in the legislature taking the opportunity to get out to see the small businesses to see that we support them and to show Ontarians that it is safe to go back out into our communities. Thank you. And the member for Niagara West. Thank you Mr. Secretary. The question is for the Minister of Finance in my riding of Niagara West. Ontario's grape and wine industry plays a critical role in the livelihood of many workers and family farms. Just last week I was proud to celebrate Ontario craft beer week in Ontario winemake. These industries support local jobs in my riding. As our economy begins to safely reopen our government has taken steps to consult with key sectors in all regions to assess the impact of COVID-19 on the provincial economy and develop a plan moving forward. Could the minister perhaps speak about part of this plan that he could share with the House measures that we are taking to stimulate economic growth and job creation in the family owned grape and wine industry in my riding of Niagara West. The Minister of Finance. So I thank the member from Niagara West for that question. Mr. Speaker he has been an advocate since the day he was elected for the wine industry, for the farmers, for the businesses community. Thank you for that. Mr. Speaker and in large part due to the members advocacy and other members on the government side to mark craft beer and wine week last week Mr. Speaker the LCBO announced it will be featuring local wines, local craft beers, craft spirits, cider as well in their facilities. They will also be putting their marketing resources to work to make sure that we are promoting local products, promoting local businesses and encouraging Ontarians to buy and drink locally made alcoholic products. Is that the metric question, the member for Kitchener Conestoga? Well thank you Mr. Speaker and in my riding of Kitchener Conestoga a vibrant craft beer industry has developed. This sector contributes significantly to our local economy and employees people directly. That is why I've been encouraged to see our government's steadfast support of the craft beer industry. I've been pleased to see us take steps to move forward with expanding choice and convenience for Ontario consumers and modernizing the legal framework for the sale service and delivery of alcohol. Could the Minister please inform the House about other measures our government has taken to support the Ontario craft beer industry? Minister of Finance? I thank the Minister or member from Kitchener Conestoga for his advocacy for the craft beer industry. He is also an occasional customer I understand and I know that Block 3 Brewing in St. Jacobs and Rural Roots Brewery in Omaira are both keen supporters of the member as he is a supporter of theirs. Mr. Speaker our local wine, our local spirits, our local cider and our local craft beer industries are very important parts of our community. That is why the LCBO support local campaign will focus on those local craft breweries. This is in addition to the other supports that our government has continued to surprise for craft brewers and the craft industry in general. In addition to the supports we provided for restaurants and bars to make sure that they can continue to operate and provide these products our government will continue to support our local craft brewers. We know they're important, they're a part of our community and we're proud to support them. Member for York South West? Thank you Mr. Speaker somebody got left behind. That is how homeless advocates describe the death of a woman in an incumbent under a Toronto bridge. This star reports that the tragically her death went unreported and unnoticed for weeks. In epidemic the fact that no one was there for this woman in her time of need makes our failure that much louder. A single preventable death is one too many Mr. Speaker. It is clear we need to do more. So my question is to the Premier how will this government ensure that anyone and everyone who needs access to emergency housing during this crisis will get the support they need? How will you commit to ensuring that Toronto's most vulnerable never gets left behind again? Thanks Speaker. Through you to the honourable member I do share your concern and I want to express my deepest sympathy to the family of not just this tragic death in our system but the other tragic deaths that have taken place in the shelter system because of COVID-19. Minister Smith and I early on in the pandemic provided Ontario's municipalities with $200 million that could help both people and more importantly those service managers those local municipal heroes who have worked tirelessly to ensure that our shelters are as safe as possible. As well the federal government I have to commend Minister Hussain for stepping up early on as well through the reaching home program. Our government provided out of that 148 million from my ministry and the 52 million from Minister Smith's ministry that provided $39 million to the City of Toronto and I know that that one death in the system is one too many. We'll continue to work with the City of Toronto and we'll help them with the necessary monies and assistance to ensure that no Ontario is left behind. Supplementary question. Again Mr Speaker my question is to the Premier. During the pandemic it is those without homes who are exposed to some of the biggest risk. If you do not have a permanent roof over your head how are you expected to isolate or distance yourself from others. If you catch the virus where are you supposed to go while you are waiting to get better. This is why we need to be doing everything we can to ensure that everyone who needs it has a home to call their own but unfortunately for many Ontarians this government is doing the opposite of that. In fact the Conservatives made it easier for landlords to evict tenants. To the Premier. Toronto already has a housing and homelessness crisis. It is clear from the stories of the death like this and named women but this government has chosen to make things worse. Why? Well again with all due respect that's not the case. We've provided the City of Toronto almost 22 million dollars which they've invested in emergency shelter solutions. They've expanded shelters. They've used hotel and motel rooms. They have provided extra funds some two million dollars in the rent bank. But again another new Democrat has stood up in the house and provided information that needs to be corrected. Under the Residential Tenancies Act every tenant facing eviction in Ontario has the right to a hearing at the landlord tenant board. And it doesn't matter how many times you give incorrect information I will correct you each and every time. So if they want a hearing and they are facing eviction they can have a hearing. If they are worried that they're being bullied or forced out of their home by their landlord they can call the enforcement order. The next question the member for Etobicoke Lakeshore. My question is for the Minister of Children and Women's Issues. Speaker the COVID outbreak has impacted so many people across Ontario and while we've been encouraging people to stay home and socially distance it sadly may not be the safest place for those who experience violence or other forms of abuse in the home. Speaker everyone deserves to feel safe and secure especially in their own home and when that's not possible supports need to be available to them. I was relieved that shelters have remained open across Ontario so that those fleeing violence especially those fleeing gender-based violence have a place to go and I want to applaud the dedicated workers at the women's habitat in Etobicoke Lakeshore for their tireless efforts. Can the Minister please let this House know what other initiatives she and our government have taken to help victims of violence as well as agencies who are helping these individuals. The Associate Minister of Children and Women's Issues. Thank you Speaker and thank you the member from Etobicoke Lakeshore for that great question and for your advocacy of women's supports in your community. Speaker our government has been working diligently with partners at all levels to implement enhanced measures and supports to protect the health and well-being of all women across Ontario. One of the many ways we are assisting the gender-based violence sector is a $1 million relief fund to help frontline agencies adapt to remote service delivery and ensure continued operation during the COVID-19 outbreak. This funding will assist counseling service providers like the Assaulted Women's Helpline and Senior Safety Line which will together receive $200,000 to develop text and online chat platforms, set up toll-free lines, provide on-demand interpreter services and also hire additional staff to respond to increased call volume. The Attorney General is also providing over $2.7 million for victim services to help those impacted by violence during COVID-19. Speaker our government has been working hard to protect these individuals and provide supports to those on the front line who are helping them. Thank you. Elementary question. Thank you Mr Speaker and thank you to the Minister for that answer. It is so critical that victims of violence and agencies supporting them get the support especially during the time we have faced over the last couple of months. Speaker, another really important group of individuals in the province that may be facing additional hardships are our children and our youth in the child welfare system. This also includes the youth who aged out to the care shortly prior to the pandemic and are close to aging out currently. Just like everyone else in the province, we need to ensure these children and youth are being protected and getting the supports that they need. Can the Minister please inform the House what measures our government has taken to help these children and youth as well as the foster parents and the front line workers who are working on the front lines? Thank you again Speaker and thank you to the member for that great question. As soon as we saw the impacts of COVID-19 we started working with our stakeholders and officials to ensure that children and youth that were expected to age out of service got the supports they needed. That's why no youth in care or former youth in care in Ontario will age out of the supports and services they are currently receiving through Children's Aid Societies. I would like to personally thank the Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies who have provided PPE to residential agencies in need. Through our collaboration more than 2.5 million pieces of PPE have been distributed to over 800 social service agencies across this province. Speaker in Ontario we share a responsibility to protect children from harm and have a duty to report any suspicion that a child or youth who is at risk or suffering from abuse. If anyone suspects abuse or neglect they can find the phone numbers for Ontario Societies at ontario.ca stops child abuse or wherever available calling for 11. Thank you. The next question the member for Ottawa Centre. Thank you Speaker my questions to the Deputy Premier. Frontline workers are sick and tired of being hailed as heroes while being denied the four dollar an hour pandemic pay increase that this government promised to them. Workers like Paul Thomas a PSW and Ottawa Centre who is caring for our seniors every day including many with COVID-19 symptoms. Paul makes 18 dollars an hour speaker while putting his health on the line. He's semi-retired and one of the reasons he decided to put himself on the front line of this pandemic was the promised pandemic pay increase. In the letter to our office he asked us he said to us speaker quote this delay is a major setback once again both emotionally and financially. The fact that it has been months now that we haven't received it makes me feel undervalued and underappreciated. Deputy Premier when will Paul and thousands of his fellow workers receive their promised pandemic pay increase and will you commit today to making that pandemic increase permanent. Thank you very much for the question of course we're very grateful for the tremendous work that our frontline heroes are doing each and every day coming into work making sure that they keep their patients or their residents safe in some cases to their own because some of them do become ill unfortunately but we are recognizing their heroism by introducing the pandemic pay of four dollars an hour and in addition for employees working over 100 hours per month they will receive lump sum payments of 250 dollars per month for the next four months. I can tell you that we do have a system that is we are working through right now to get the pandemic pay to the frontline workers a week ago I personally signed over 500 letters to organizations indicating the total amounts that they would be receiving this has been followed up by letters that have gone out by the Deputy Ministers I'll have more to say in my supplementary answer. Thank you Mr. Speaker my question is to the Premier when this pandemic began billion-dollar companies like Lawblaws and Walmart couldn't wait to tell everyone that they thought their workers were heroes yet just three months later now that they're not in the news the billionaire families that own these companies have clawed back the two dollar pandemic pay they gave to the workers and listen to this the Walton family who owns Walmart is worth 175.2 billion dollars the western family who are Canadians and on Lawblaws are worth almost nine billion these greedy families are making record profits their workers are still working to keep our communities operating during this pandemic and risking their lives in Niagara Falls actually a small independent locally owned grocery store is still paying the two dollar pandemic pay a locally owned family business because he knows they're heroes and he continues to do so today will your government commit here today to stand up for these frontline heroes who raises have been taken away by the billionaire families like those that own Walmart and Lawblaws and we commit to using the powerless government to get the raises back for our frontline heroes who deserve it thank you Deputy Premier well I can certainly agree with you our frontline workers do our heroes and they do deserve it I can't speak to what is happening with some of the private companies I appreciate that some of the smaller groups are following up on their promises that they've made and as we're following up on our promise to provide the pandemic pay to the people who are eligible to receive it we wish we could have supplied it to everyone but unfortunately that was not part of the agreement that we had with the federal government there are over 375,000 people that will be receiving it as I indicated in my previous response the letters have gone to the organizations they've been followed up with the ADM letters the money will be flowing very shortly but we have asked the hospitals and other organizations that are going to be distributing these funds to please change their payroll arrangements so that as soon as they receive those dollars they will be going into people's paychecks right away that is going to happen imminently the next question member for Brantford branch thank you speaker and my question is for the minister of education speaker parents in my writing have been frustrated for years with the decline in the quality of math in our schools their children are struggling with basic concepts and are have not been supported by a strong math curriculum they know and our government knows how critical math is for student success after graduation can the minister please share with the house some details of our new elementary math curriculum and how it will help our students succeed the minister of education well thank you very much mr. speaker i want to thank again the member for the opportunity to speak about the new curriculum the province and premier unveiled yesterday mr. speaker after a decade of stagnating and declining math scores this province when more than half of students could not meet failed to meet the provincial math center it is clear that government must act to improve the opportunities for young people give them hope and opportunity in the job market mr. speaker that's why we unveiled a new elementary math curriculum that gets back to basics that really stores the fundamentals of math that we know young people in the job market need now more than ever we are for the first time in Ontario's history codifying financial literacy in every grade from one to eight in this province mr. speaker we're ensuring students can code having computational skills produced in the first grades grade one through eight to give them that skill set and mr. speaker we're ensuring that the foundational elements of math knowing memorizing their timetable and getting back to basics that respect is the new norm so the students could be successful and compete in the marketplace speaker and the supplementary question thank you speaker and thank you minister for your answer and for the incredibly hard work that you're doing to make sure that our students have success it's exciting that we're finally going to be seeing a new math curriculum after 15 years improving math is a critical component to our plan to equip students with the skills that they need to succeed in the classroom in post-secondary education and in the workplace going back to basics is the key but so is learning how to adapt to the jobs of today and of tomorrow can the minister please share some other examples of how our government is setting our students up for success in our ever-changing world thank you mr. education well thank you very much i appreciate the question for the member from brand for brand speaker the government is investing in a four-year math strategy to lift math scores up after a decade of failure under the former liberal government we know we must do better when it comes to enabling our young people to be competitive in the marketplace it is not a coincidence speaker in this country we have twice the rate of youth unemployment the fact that the debt-to-income ratio for millennials is 200 we must do better in getting back to the foundations of math numeracy financial literacy and coding is going to be the way forward to make on turn away stem leader in the world speaker when it comes to our focus it's about enabling investments in technology to make sure that we're embracing that area of learning 15 million more dollars in tech to get more computers out there 10 million dollars more mental health when you look at the broader vision for education it's about modernization it's about ensuring there's a for the first time a labor market lens on our curriculum so that when students graduate they graduate with confidence they're going to get a good paying job thank you speaker my question is to the premier speaker the conservatives want to pretend that they have been caught off guard by the horrors of the military uncovered in our long-term care homes but when it comes to seniors care that's all they've been able to do is pretend they pretended that they didn't hear families who had been raising concerns about conditions in senior care homes for years they pretended that there was an iron ring around long-term care homes and our seniors there wasn't and they pretended that they were going to do everything they could to keep our seniors safe and that those responsible would be held accountable and that's not happening either speaker why is it that the only action our seniors is getting is make believe and broken promises but their friends in big private for-profit long-term care corporations get legislation protecting them from being held accountable thank you speaker outright reject that premise of that question it is it is it I have said repeatedly in this chamber the importance of dealing with fact the important of dealing with truth and our government has been committed since the beginning and has worked relentlessly my ministry of long-term care and all the other ministries involved public health Ontario Ontario health we have worked relentlessly with a virus that has never been seen before in this world that is reeking havoc across the globe and our government has taken measure after measure and you've heard the premier list those measures over and over and over again I reject the premise of your question it is insinuating neglect and I say it is the neglect of the previous liberal government and you that has caused and set the stage for the disaster that we've seen in COVID-19 our government will continue to do everything possible take every measure and every tool available to safeguard our residents in long term