It is now time for oral questions. I recognize the member for Waterloo. Thank you very much. My question is to the Premier. With more people being affected by COVID-19, this government's actions are weeks late, incomplete and contradictory. They are scrambling. They are chasing the second wave instead of being in front of it with clear and cohesive plan. Last week, the Ford government had to scramble to ration COVID-19 testing just a day after the Premier announced the scheme for asymptomatic testing. The Ford government had to scramble with new closing times for bars and restaurants. Four months after Toronto Mayor John Tory and Toronto Public Health called for that to happen. Four months late. When COVID-19 is moving so rapidly, why is the Ford government moving so slowly? The Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. Thank you, Speaker. Well, I would say that while the increase in COVID-19 cases is very unfortunate, it's also not unexpected. We have prepared for this throughout the several months. We knew that we were going to see an increase in cases. We know we're facing flu season as well, and we're trying to keep the number of scheduled surgeries and procedures also on track. That is why we developed our comprehensive plan, keeping Ontarians safe, preparing for future waves of COVID-19. And it is a six-pillar plan that comprehensively deals with the issue, first of all, maintaining public health measures, secondly, implementing the largest flu immunization campaign in Ontario's history, third, quickly identifying, managing and preventing outbreaks of COVID-19, accelerating efforts to reduce health service backlogs, preparing for surges in COVID-19 cases, and of course dealing with the health human resources that we need in order to keep Ontarians safe. That is a comprehensive plan. That is what we are putting into action right now. Thank you. Supplementary question. The Premier should be moving swiftly and making urgent investments, which is not happening. Yet the Ford government seems surprised by developments hoping to save a buck, especially in our classrooms. Nearly 200 schools now have reported cases of COVID-19. Public health experts, including the Hospital for Sick Children, have been very clear. It's impossible to safely distance in classes of more than 15. Yet the Ford government refuses to make the investments needed to safely cap class sizes, which is what needs to happen. How long will parents have to wait before the government takes the measures we know are needed now? Minister of Education. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I'm proud that the government has unveiled a plan endorsed by the Chief Medical Officer of Health of this province, $200 million in investment. Let me tell you what that investment is yielding province-wide. As of this morning, over 2,044 teachers have been hired because of government investment in ensuring the safety of our schools. Over 92 mental health workers, over 1,100 custodians have been hired. An additional 372 early childhood educators, another 162 education assistants, another 551 doubling the capacity of mental health nurses within our schools. This is investment, this is leadership, and it demonstrates that we will do whatever it takes to keep our students and staff safe from the problems of Ontario's speaker. The final supplementary. And yet COVID-19 is expanding in our school system. Parents and families are watching Ontario slide backwards. Cases continue to grow in our schools and long-term care homes. There is a backlog of 65,000 people waiting for test results. In over half of the cases, we don't know how people got sick and we lack the contact tracing in this province. And the Premier has spent the last week slowly rolling out one pillar at a time. Those pillars change day by day. So there is no confidence in this government's plan. Why, Mr Speaker? With the second wave of this pandemic upon us, is this government still scrambling to chase the crisis? Thank you. Well, I would say to the member that the plan has been in place for some time. It has already been in implementation for a long time. What we're doing is building on some of the basics that we started with testing, tracing, and isolation to make sure that we can reduce the community transmission. But specifically in terms of contact tracing, we are investing over a billion dollars, a billion dollars, to expand efforts to test, trace, and isolate COVID-19 cases. And as part of this, we are going to be bringing in more than 500 new contact tracers on top of the 2,750 already in place. And we are working with Statistics Canada. They are also providing another 500 employees of contact tracing. So we will have 3,750 contact tracers in place to deal with the increasing cases. So we were prepared for it and we are dealing with it. Order. The next question, the member from Nickel Belt. Thank you, Speaker. My question is to the Premier. In our long-term care homes, the need for action is literally a matter of life and death. Over the weekend, another resident of the for-profit extended care western villa in Ottawa died due to the COVID-19 outbreak that has now claimed 13 lives. And now the for-profit Northwood Nursing Home in Toronto report 18 new cases of COVID up from 12 just yesterday. For weeks, the four government has insisted these outbreaks were under control, even when staff were pleading for access to PPE and infection control. After all of the horrors that we saw in long-term care just this spring, why are these homes and this government still unprepared? Minister of Long-term Care. Thank you, Speaker. And thank you to the member opposite for the question. Again, our government's commitment is to the safety and well-being of residents and staff in our long-term care homes. That's the main thing that we are acting on to make sure that everyone understands the PPE that is necessary in our long-term care homes, getting that supply to them, making sure that our homes are connected with IPAC specialists. That is an ongoing effort. We have never stopped doing that. We went right from the first wave and have continued to develop an action plan and a fall preparedness plan with the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Colleges and Universities, the Ministry of Labor Training and Skills Development, the Minister of Seniors and Accessibility. This is ongoing. An outbreak in long-term care can mean no residents in the home. And in fact, the majority of our homes have absolutely no resident cases. So an outbreak is one staff or one resident case. And in the majority of our homes right now, there are no resident cases. Thank you. Supplementary question. Thank you, Speaker. On Friday, CBC Marketplace revealed that the Ford government knew the resident quality inspections help identify infection control concerns in our long-term care homes. But they cut them anyway, leaving nursing home vulnerable and unprepared for the COVID-19 pandemic. Facilities that are currently facing outbreak, like Extended Care West Envilla, like Northwood Nursing Home, have not had a thorough resident quality inspection in years. How can the government claim to know what is happening in these facilities when they cut funding and cancel the inspection that would have told them so much? Minister of Long-term Care. Thank you, Speaker. And thank you again for the important question. There is a lot of misinformation circulating surrounding inspections. And I want to make sure that this is clarified. Since January, my ministry has completed over 1,339 inspections. Every home in Ontario is inspected at least once a year. There were 2,800 inspections last year. And we also respond immediately to any reported information where there is serious harm or risk of serious harm to a resident by making inquiries and conducting inspections, processing thousands of intakes last year. These outbreaks right now are being assisted with through Public Health. We know that our inspectors are active in the homes that are affected. Public Health is engaged. The inspections have been done, and the Auditor General report back in 2015 caused a change to high-risk inspections and the focus to clear the backlog. This has been an ongoing effort, and we will continue to make sure inspections are done. Thank you. There is a difference between a full resident quality inspection and the inspection that the minister is talking about. But last week, the foreign government insisted that the outbreaks were under control in our long-term care. And just like last spring, they said that there was an iron ring around our long-term care home. Yet long-term care operators and families of residents have been pleading with this government for, first, a dedicated infection control consultant in every home which we don't have. Second, it guaranteed access to personal protective equipment which many of them still don't have. So why is it with over 700 new cases of COVID right here in Ontario today, the fourth government is continuing to try to save money by ignoring this expert advice? Minister of Long-term Care. Thank you, Speaker. I will take exception to the statement that we are ignoring expert advice. We have acted consistently and continually taking expert advice. All our homes are partnered with hospitals. The homes in outbreak, the majority, have no resident cases. And as we see communities spread and as we do testing surveillance, it's very likely we will see more outbreaks with a staff member isolating at home and no resident cases. This is a collaborative effort with Public Health Ontario, the Public Health Units, the Ministry of Health, Chief Medical Officer of Health, the experts at the command table, the science table, the public health table. These are the responsive ways that we make sure we get care to our homes. And in terms of testing, yes, the absence of rapid tests is something that the federal government could be assisting us with. And I think it makes a difference to Long-term Care. So I ask the federal government to please help us get those rapid tests. It's imperative. Thank you. Thank you. The next question, the member for Davenport. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This question is for the Premier. Speaker, while Ontarians wait for the government to bring forward a plan to contain rising COVID-19 numbers and we know today there are 700 more cases, many are wondering if there is a plan at all. We know of 36 more cases in 27 more schools, and 72 cases in schools in 137 schools across the province. It was reported over the weekend that almost one in five schools in Ottawa has reported a case of COVID-19. And as of this morning, an outbreak at an elementary school in Scarborough will see it closed until at least next week. Mr. Speaker, because the government has failed to keep class sizes under 15, it means that more of our children are exposed. More of their parents are left scrambling to take time off work or to stand in long testing lines. More of those grandparents are cut off from seeing their grandchildren. When will the Premier bring in a second wave plan to ensure schools can safely remain open? The Minister of Education. Well, thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. We have allocated well over a billion dollars of investment in locking it for school boards because we appreciate that the risk is real and we have a duty to work with our school boards and public health agencies on the ground to have every layer of protection in place to mitigate the risk of transmission. We know it is rising in our community. It's why the Deputy Premier and Premier have announced a suite of actions, $740 million just days ago to reduce the backlog, to increase the amount of flu vaccine for all students, 700,000 more, to increase testing capacity both in our school speaker. We are hiring more staff. We are ensuring every layer of prevention, including the doubling of public health nurses, additional custodians, improvements to ventilation, and, of course, speaker action to hire well over 2,000 net new teachers in a one-time investment to reduce classroom sizes, increase distancing and ultimatum that our students are safe in this province. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister's repeated assurances just do not line up with the reality of what's happening in our communities and I think the members opposite know that. This money is a shell game. That money is not flowing and the proof is in, again, what we're seeing in our communities and in our schools. It is status quo class sizes in most schools in this province and the members opposite know that. When cases are identified in schools, it also means that teachers and other education workers, custodians, ECEs, EAs are out of our schools for 14 days. On Friday afternoon, the Ottawa Carleton District School Board wrote parents to warn them not to draft shortages. They wrote parents should be prepared for the possibility of school closures if we do not have enough staff available to safely supervise students. Speaker, we can no longer approach this Premier's wait-and-see approach to this pandemic. This is the situation now. Will they deliver funding and the plan to keep schools safely open? Mr. Speaker, we are spending more in this province than any province in the country. We have a new Democratic Party in British Columbia, which is quite telling. When the member opposite seeks evidence of the investment, let me just enumerate what we are doing, what so far midstream early in this process, early in the semester, we can see investments delivering. 2044 net new teachers. That excludes Toronto's speaker. That number will be much higher when that data is known. 2000 more teachers to reduce classroom in mental health because we appreciate the impact of the isolation of students from schools. An additional 1000 more custodians and the hiring is ongoing. There's challenges hiring more custodians, getting access to that skilled labour. We have over 162 more education assistants, over 372 early childhood educators. What we have done is put funding in place for boards to do the hiring they need to ensure our schools, our staff and ultimately our communities remain as safe as possible as we respond to COVID-19. Next question, the member for Mississauga East Cooksville. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. My question is to the Deputy Premier. Over the past week we have seen the number of cases increase. I know that you have stated that you are extremely concerned and have taken immediate action in response. This includes stronger penalties for breaking social gathering rules and closing down business that continue to ignore health requirements. We always knew that a second wave is coming and our government has been able to prepare for months, thanks to the efforts from our dedicated frontline heroes in my riding of Mississauga East Cooksville and across the province. Speaker, can the Deputy Premier please share with this legislature what our government has done to provide additional support to enhance our testing and contact tracing system in the future? Next question, the Deputy Premier. Thank you, Speaker, and thank you to the member for Mississauga East Cooksville for the question and for your continued advocacy. The member is correct that Ontario is a leader when it comes to responding to the COVID-19 crisis and that includes on the issue of testing. This is why last week we announced that we are investing over $1 billion in enhanced testing and contact tracing. That is $1 billion to support testing. And this investment is going to make a huge difference, Speaker. This month we've added 500 more staff for contact tracing and case management and we'll be hiring another 500 staff on top of that 500. We're investing $30 million to enhance our response. We have a robust surveillance and testing strategy for schools and for long-term care homes. We now have 151 assessment centres providing tens of thousands of tests each and every day in across the entire province. As well, we have up to 60 pharmacies that have also joined the assessment centres to help increase our testing. And this is a telemetric question. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. These numbers are incredible and speaks to our Government's commitment to fighting this virus and follows your strong creed that we will do whatever it takes to help the people of this province. This new funding will mean thousands of additional staff will be hired to support our contact tracing system. This builds on our Government's previous announcements of $30 million to fight outbreaks and $70 million for the largest flu vaccine campaign in Canadian history. As you have said, we need the support from the government during this time until we get health Canada's approval for new rapid tests, rapid testing that other jurisdictions are currently using. The health experts are telling us that we need to be more strategic with testing. Speaker, can the Deputy Premier tell the Legislature more about our continued advocacy to the federal government on this front? Thank you. I have a question that Health Canada and the federal government play a massive role in all of this. Just imagine if we had a rapid test so that we could do in place testing and we didn't have to send tests to the labs where that is where it can take 24 to 48 hours for the response to come back. If we could do it immediately that would certainly assist us tremendously with our testing. Right now there are a number of rapid tests that are available to the federal government to assist with this, to move this forward as quickly as possible while of course still maintaining the rigorous scrutiny they have to put these tests through. But that is something that we are going to continue to move with because we know that we have to move as COVID moves quickly we have to move faster in order to make sure that we can get the latest in testing to improve our technology and make sure that we can test, trace and isolate our technology and make sure that we can get the best results that we can. Thank you. Thank you. My question is to the premier. Speaker Sally and her family have been a main stay of London's food and hospitality industry for 35 years. They operate three local businesses including Mustang Sally's just down the road for my constituency office. In April Sally's landlord reluctantly would be due for July, August and September because the landlord had unilaterally decided to withdraw from Secra. Speaker Sally invested in PPE and was able to keep 20 staff on the payroll because she believed that rent relief would continue. She now feels like she has been tricked. Instead of relying on the good will of landlords, well the premier implement a stand alone emergency commercial rent subsidy to help struggling businesses like Mustang Sally's make it through the pandemic. The parliamentary assistant to the minister of finance. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And certainly we recognize the difficulty of small businesses in this province including Mustang Sally's and those in Willowdale and in every corner of Ontario, Mr. Speaker, this has been a challenging time as we know running a small business is hard even at the best of times let alone difficult times such as a pandemic and that's why Mr. Speaker this is a very difficult time. We have to work together to support the commercial rent relief program and we continue to collaborate with Minister Freeland and try to improve the program. But as the member officer will recognize this is a federally administered program so we need to continue to work with our partners at the CMHC to advocate to make sure that we do fill those gaps and our heart goes out to Sally in these difficult times. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. We have to work together to make sure that small businesses and businesses did not get any commercial rent relief at all like Jean Coles of Sport Clips because their landlords refused to participate in the program. Some landlords wanted to enroll but were not eligible. Speaker fixed overheads and soaring insurance cost coupled with a steep decline in revenues is putting many well established businesses at risk. Some have lost as patios close and COVID case counts rapidly rise. London restaurant owners like just Jay-Z Spolstra of Craft Pharmacy fear they won't survive the winter without additional government support. Speaker, why is this government sitting on the $6.7 billion that has been allocated to help with the pandemic instead of using that funding to save jobs and keep small and medium sized businesses afloat? The response to Parliamentary system to finance. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. And certainly as this pandemic has progressed our government has recognized the need to bolster our supports for small businesses and that's why we announced an increase to the $17 billion in support to $30 billion in August Mr. Speaker and we recognize that these are incredibly challenging times. There have been however 54,482 tenants that have participated in the program Mr. Speaker and nearly 545,000 employees that have been assisted by the commercial rent relief program Mr. Speaker and we call on all landlords wherever you are eligible to participate in that program Mr. Speaker because we are all in this together. Speaker, I come from a background of small business and I understand how difficult small businesses can be and certainly Mr. Speaker we must continue to work together and advocate and collaborate with the federal government Mr. Speaker if only we have that level of collaboration imagine what we could accomplish in this house. Thank you. The next question the member for Cambridge. Thank you Mr. Speaker good morning my question is for the minister of the environment this government called Ontario's cap and trade scheme a job killing carbon tax. His predecessor the minister of finance said the government was opposed to any kind of carbon tax. The Premier said the carbon taxes days were numbered but last week they reached a deal with the federal Trudeau government to put in an industrial carbon tax that is just like cap and trade a deputy minister to Premier Alberta Premier Jason Kenny previously referred to this government's carbon tax scheme as being exactly the same as the federal plan can the minister explain why they promised to scrap the carbon tax when all they did was replace one carbon tax with another the government house leader to reply on behalf of the government. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker the member will know that the government actually moved forward very quickly with a made in Ontario plan to continue to cut emissions. Ontario has always been a leader when it comes to environmental protection this is something that we started frankly in a non-partisan way back in the 1970s before the premiership of Bill Davis our record is built on the backs of our nuclear sector the hard working men and women in the nuclear sector who provided clean energy for the province of Ontario have led us to the point where we have reduced emissions far quicker than any other jurisdiction in the country Mr. Speaker they are an example of what other jurisdictions should be doing to reduce their GHG emissions we will continue to build on that Mr. Speaker as we have always done in the province of Ontario we will meet our targets with a made in Ontario plan that tackles pollution that tackles litter Mr. Speaker and ultimately leads Ontario to being again continuing to be a national leader that others can look up to A supplementary question Thank you Mr. Speaker let me just be clear this government didn't scrap they replaced one carbon tax with another they received the blessing of the Trudeau government they blew their opportunity at the Ontario court of appeal to stop a carbon tax on fuel and today as a result of this amateur policy setting Ontario taxpayers are now paying two carbon taxes a carbon tax on fuel another by this provincial government on consumer goods the FAO reported in 2018 that by 2022 taxpayers will be paying twice as much for these two carbon taxes as they would have been paying under the cap and trade can the minister tell us why this government thinks that two carbon taxes costing twice as much are better than one it is true the federal government has forced a carbon tax on the people of not only the people of Canada but the people of Ontario we have done our part Mr. Speaker generations of Ontarians have done their part on the backs of our nuclear industry we were able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 22% far in excess of what any other jurisdiction was able to do we should all be proud of that we continue to do that in a very non-partisan way whether it was conservative NDP to find ways that we could meet our environmental priorities but make no mistake about it Mr. Speaker we are not in favor of the federal carbon tax we do not believe that the people of Ontario should continue to be punished when we have done what we have been able to accomplish 22% we think that what we have done is an example by which other jurisdictions should look at and that's why this government is working with the governments of Alberta, Saskatchewan and New Brunswick to research our reactor Mr. Speaker which I think will have the potential to do great things for the entire country I'm very proud of the record we have but make no mistake about it we do not believe the federal carbon tax is in the best interest of it. Thank you very much. And the next question is the member for Scarborough Lakeshore. Thank you Mr. Speaker. Thank you Mr. Speaker public transit plays a critical role for many Ontarians and our government has taxed metro links with the most subway expansion plan this province has ever seen. When it comes to go transit metro links is always looking to enhance the customer experience that's why in recent years metro links has introduced programs like Kids Go Free, Sunday Fund Day and lower short distance fares which actually saved my taxpayers in Tobacco Lakeshore who take Mimico and Long Ranch some savings every day. Mr. Speaker I understand that as of today go riders will have access to Wi-Fi on board could the minister of transportation please tell us more about this exciting announcement. Minister transportation. Thank you Speaker and thank you very much to the member from Tobacco Lakeshore for the question. I am pleased to confirm that beginning today customers will be able to access go Wi-Fi plus on all go buses and about half of go trains. We expect a full roll out on all go trains to be completed by early 2021. Mr. Speaker we understand how important it is to stay connected this exciting news means that go riders will now have the option to stay online during their travels be it work or play customers will be able to check emails connect with family or friends or keep entertained with TV shows ebooks and podcasts by connecting to the on board portal. Speaker we're looking to make Ontario's transit network not only bigger but better. Go Wi-Fi plus is a step to address that. Well thank you very much minister for your response and for that fantastic news for riders of go transit. This is great news for riders of all ages. I understand that Metrolinx has done their due diligence to ensure that Wi-Fi access is both safe and reliable for their customers. I also understand that Metrolinx is working hard to protect their staff and employees during this unprecedented pandemic. I also understand that Metrolinx actually had first hand experience when I toured the site with the associate minister of transportation and our minister of finance. Could the minister please share with what Metrolinx has been doing to limit the spread of COVID-19 on our transit. Thank you again to the member from Etobicoke Lakeshore for the question. To date Metrolinx has taken a leadership role to help limit the spread of COVID-19 protective barriers on buses trains and at stations hand sanitizer dispensers on buses in stations and entry zones of train fleets deep cleanings on all vehicles and at all stations and health checks and screenings for crews and critical staff. Speaker these are just a few of the critical steps that Metrolinx has taken in order to keep their customers and their staff safe. I want to commend not only Metrolinx but also transit agencies across the province for doing their part to make their transit systems as safe as possible during this pandemic. Thank you very much. The next question the member for York Southwestern. Thank you Mr. Speaker my question is for the premier. This past Friday I was pleased to joined by the leader of the official opposition in a visit to my writing of York Southwestern for a much needed announcement of our plan to save mainstream small businesses in my writing and across Ontario have been clear they need direct support and they need it now. Why doesn't the government support the mainstream businesses in my writing who desperately are looking for rent relief now. Parliamentary assistant to the minister of finance. Thank you very much Mr. Speaker and certainly as I said in my previous answer I want to recognize the challenges that small businesses are going through this province. This is a very difficult time and our government has responded with the series of relief measures because it's not just the rent that businesses are struggling to pay it's the hydro and that's why we've provided $175 million in relief to cap rates at off peak hours that's why we've cut taxes for small businesses Mr. Speaker and I'll remind the member opposite that we are a 40% equity partner and we cannot change it without that collaboration so work with us to continue to collaborate with the federal party in Ottawa to make sure that we fill those gaps for small businesses up and down Main Street so we can continue to prosper as we move forward out of this pandemic thank you. Supplementary question. Thank you again Mr. Speaker my question is to the premier what I am hearing from small business owners is that many have been forced to close their doors or lay off their staff we need an economic recovery plan and we have suggested a number of ideas business owners like Jamie and Raymond have told me they are in a dire need of rent relief we have asked the government months ago for 75% commercial rent relief and utility payment freeze what is the government's plan Jamie, Raymond and the many other struggling small business owners in my riding of York Southwestern Parliamentary Assistant Thank you very much Mr. Speaker and we recognize the challenges of the businesses in York Southwestern and in Willowdale and throughout this province Mr. Speaker and that's why our government has responded Mr. Speaker by increasing the $17 billion in support we announced on March 25th to $30 billion in August Mr. Speaker when it comes to the commercial rent relief program $700 million in participation has been requested here in the province of Ontario and I'll remind the chamber that is 55,000 nearly 55,000 tenants and 545,000 jobs that have been assisted through this program Mr. Speaker having said that we recognize there are still challenges to small businesses out there that we must continue to work to support these small businesses Mr. Speaker the message to small businesses out there is that we have your back we're going to continue to work hard so we weather this storm together Thank you Thank you Mr. Speaker my question is to the premier Ontario is at a critical juncture it will be remembered as one of those life changing events with COVID-19 ravaging our province we are at a turning point the government's actions will determine whether we come out of this pandemic better or for the worse with the 700 cases today that are positive we're headed in the wrong direction the people of Ontario are facing immediate critical needs like housing food security, mental health employment and education if the premier keeps allowing the federal government to do all of the heavy lifting while he watches schools like Mason Road junior public school in Scarborough close because it has not received the investments that it needs Ontario will see serious trouble down the road Speaker, will the premier commit today in this house to keep the legislative election date that is fixed for 2022 yes or no Order Order The next response In the middle Order Stop the clock Minister of Education come to order Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing come to order Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry come to order Member for Ottawa South come to order Restart the clock The response Government host leader Mr. Speaker I don't even know what to say to that question we're in the midst of a global health and economic emergency the member prefaced that in her question and the leader of the Liberal Party has a former Minister of Education get up in this house and ask the date of the next election what it says to me is that the Liberals have learned absolutely nothing since being reduced to a party of seven people in the last election Order we have continued and we will continue what matters most to the people of the province of Ontario making sure that they are safe making sure that the economy continues to grow making sure that our students are safe in school Mr. Speaker making sure that our main streets remain vibrant and active Mr. Speaker I will let the Liberals worry about the next election Mr. Speaker I know that the people of the province of Ontario want us to continue to focus on what matters most to them Order Restart the clock The supplementary question Mr. Speaker, back to the Premier the fact of the matter is that this government is not rising to the moment it is not business as usual the Premier can't keep touring the province doing election style events when we are in the midst of a pandemic and what can the people of Ontario rely on because we have seen the consequences of the Conservative provincial Conservatives in difference to the provincial welfare before let me remind you in 1995 Mike Harris's deep cuts to programs and services that anchor young people in this province resulted within a decade in the government side will come to order government side will come to order restart the clock allow the member for Scarborough Guildwood to speak if we want to avoid poverty, crime and violence that followed the Harris years we need a Premier that will invest now in proper supports for education particularly for young people who are at risk we need supports in testing so that people in my riding don't have to line up for four and a half hours in the washroom will the Premier invest in the root cause of poverty thank you Government House Leader Mr. Speaker what the people of the province of Ontario know is that when that member was a minister in a government that led this province to the brink of bankruptcy they wanted a new government in place that would make those investments it has become even more challenging to fight COVID the minister that was the previous government they made no changes to healthcare they made no changes to social systems they closed hundreds of schools across the province of Ontario they left our transportation system in a complete mess they left our energy sector one of the highest rates member for Scarborough Guildwood will come to order from the province of Ontario in record numbers Mr. Speaker and what does this member come forward with when is the date of the next election what makes it even more ironic is that they fixed the date of the next election Mr. Speaker before they were thrown out before until the next day of the election to do what's right for the people of the province of Ontario Government side come to order Minister of Natural Resources come to order we were doing so well let's try again restart the clock Mr. Speaker to the Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture industries yesterday September 27 marked World Tourism Day that's created by United Nations World Tourism Organization to foster awareness of tourism, social, cultural, political and economic value Minister it would be an understatement to say that 2020 has been a tough year for tourism here in Ontario anywhere in the world really we've heard you say time and time again no other Ontario industry has been hit harder the sectors you represent were hit first the hardest and are expected to take the longest to recover Minister you have been a strong and vocal champion for this sector long before the pandemic hit before the pandemic hit Tourism is a key economic driver how is our government supporting this sector during these trying times Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture industries Thank you very much Speaker I'd like to also say thank you to my colleague the member from Haldeman Norfolk for his steadfast support of these sectors within his constituency many members may not know he's a bit of a historian himself and I had the opportunity to spend some time with him as well as the member from Brantford Brant over the summer to visit their constituency and in particular take in Indigenous tourism in their community and visit Her Majesty's Royal Chapel of Mohawks it was quite touching Speaker this year World Tourism Day has an obviously different context as we recognise Ontario is dealing with about 700 cases of COVID-19 and these industries have been impacted the member opposite to Scarborough Guildwood just made a joke about the Premier touring the province Premier's job, all of our job is to reconnect Ontarians and ensure that they have confidence in our small and local businesses he said that when I got a question today that this was not a response this is a 75 billion dollar suite of sectors that lost 20 billion dollars in four months that's serious business these are serious sectors and this year World Tourism Day Thank you, thank you the supplementary question Thank you Minister for your commitment to the tourism industry during these troubling times so this year's World Tourism Day has been designated as the year of tourism and world development to promote the potential to create jobs and opportunities in our rural areas rural Ontario is a place where it's easy to find some solitude to keep your distance, to reconnect with nature and to clear your mind the best part it's right in our own backyard Minister you mentioned your tour of rural Ontario that was a wonderful day at Mohawk Chapel you were able to see firsthand some of the not only some of the tourist attractions but also to observe the strenuous safety standards that the tourism businesses have been adhering to My question can you tell us about your experience visiting rural Ontario and explain what this government is doing to support the industry across the province an opportunity over the summer to announce over 14.2 million dollars in hyper local marketing to encourage Ontarians to safely reconnect with their loved ones their neighbours and their community and find out what was in their own backyard and we were able to do that particularly in your area in many parts of rural Ontario who did have an opportunity to salvage some of these rural jobs over the summer because of increased tourism during that period of time we invested over $600,000 to celebrate Ontario funding for 14 different festivals in southwestern region including 27,000 to the and $15,000 for the Haggersville music festival speaker we recognise that those festivals couldn't continue on but we want to make sure their position next year when we finally get out of COVID-19 that they're there the other thing speaker that we've done has made significant investments into the LGBTQ plus tourism the culinary alliance tourism support local as well as $100,000 into indigenous and I'm looking forward to the minister of francophone affairs joining me in Ottawa so we can make further announcements for arts and cultural funding for the francophone community thank you the next question the member for Scarborough thank you Mr. Speaker Mr. Speaker my question is to the deputy premier Mr. Speaker parents educators and students are feeling more and more anxious about this government school reopening plan a constituent in my writing a single mother shared that her child is literally sitting in front of the computer without a teacher to teach him she said it is a shame that our government has placed so little importance on my son's education and I'm afraid that the ramification of this will impact him in the long term where he will fall behind in his academics and not be able to catch up up to what's expected of him Mr. Speaker for two weeks this mother has been struggling to find out when her son will actually start his classes she even reached out to the minister of education and has received a response Mr. Speaker will the premier tell the house what measures he will actually take to manage the chaos of virtual schooling so our students can finally start their school year thank you Mr. Speaker Minister of Education well thank you very much Mr. Speaker it was this government that announced 36 million dollars to hire principals to staff to manage and create accountability for our virtual schools let's just remind members opposite what we've done during this pandemic we've created a concurrent online learning program that has never existed in schools before the exception of high school online learning courses we've literally created a concurrent delivery of education in addition to in class that is something we should be proud of as a province not for government but for the people working in the front lines who are trying to make this work an extraordinary challenge of a pandemic and a recession that is impacting the ability of school boards largely to get access to supply the Ontario College of Teachers on Friday put out a notice to retirees to come back we need our educators to work with the school board and to come back to help us fill the shortages that exist within our board it is why we should all be pleased to note that over 2,000 net new educators have been hired hundreds in Toronto benefitting the in class and online experience and will continue to invest to ensure it is strong thank you Mr. Speaker in case the minister hasn't noticed they have created a mess in this province in our education system we have had months literally half a year to prepare and fund a plan that works for Ontarians as more and more schools are declaring Covid outbreaks including one in my writing as of this weekend parents are switching their kids from in person to virtual learning because they have no other option but parents are being told that they will be put on a wait list extending to next term one family wrote to us and I quote right now it feels like we are left on our own the government didn't ensure that families like ours are able to start school and give our child the education that every child in Ontario deserves Mr. Speaker, parents who are trying to return to their jobs are now being forced to deal with this virtual mess created by the government parents should not be on a wait list to see if their kids will be able to get an education will the minister tell us when will he start listening to parents and educators in the province with a funded plan with enough resources like educators for our children thank you Mr. Speaker Minister of Education well thank you speaker we did listen to parents the basis for why this province uniquely has an online learning option where we've set a standard that is rather high 75% of all classes that 300 minutes of instruction must be delivered live, synchronous learning zoom style learning a method of education delivery that was fundamentally and philosophically opposed by all members and it is an element of curiosity they've come around to online learning they oppose in the negotiation they oppose in the spring and now when parents expect that they're on the bandwagon trying to champion it you should have been there for parents in the spring and this government will insist we will raise the bar expect the best and defend the interests of all students who expect the very best of learning we will be there for students importantly that the quality of learning remains sound in all parts of our province the next question the next question the next question the next question my question is for the minister of education speaker parents in my riding speak to me regularly about the importance of access to affordable child care spaces it can be a significant pressure on young and growing working families especially during this unprecedented time and after 15 years of neglect from the former liberal government this government is putting the needs of families and kids first can the minister of education please tell this legislature what our government is doing to support accessible and sustainable child care across this province minister of education thank you very much mr. speaker I want to thank the member from the typical lake shore for her leadership and advocacy for affordable and accessible child care in this province we understand how important child care is to getting moms and dads back to work and their confidence as we all respond to COVID-19 we've seen great disruption in the labour market we know that we have to do more to ensure child care is available for parents it's the basis for why I joined the member in her riding with the federal minister to announce the safe restart agreement an additional investment of $234 million to ensure sustainability I'm proud that as of this morning over 93% of all child care operators have reopened to this province demonstrating that our investments and our protocol is very much in the best interest of the staff of the students and of the operators and we will continue to do whatever it takes working across party lines and with the federal government and municipal government to ensure they remain open for decades to come supplementary question thank you speaker and I'd like to thank the minister for that answer it's heartening to know that our government is taking child care so seriously speaker COVID-19 has brought challenges that few could have imagined including the temporary closure of the majority of child care centers across the province it's great to see so many centers reopening following the difficult period of closure child care centers in my riding and as the minister mentioned the learning garden center which we both visited with the federal minister they are doing an excellent job at keeping our kids and staff safe can the minister please share some of the ways that child care centers are keeping everyone safe and healthy thank you speaker obviously the safety of our youngest learners is our most pressing priority as we respond to this pandemic we have had child care open for our first responders, emergency workers essential workers really since the very beginning of this pandemic and I want to you know on behalf of I would argue I think all parliamentarians express gratitude to our DCEs and our staff and our child care centers who rose to the challenge and did something that I think was very important to support our front line staff women and men who served our province at a difficult time speaker our child care program our protocol informed by the chief medical officer of health endorsed by the chief medical officer of health ensures we've established a COVID plan with strict cohorting with a mask policy for staff stringing screening of the children and staff before they enter thorough cleaning enhanced cleaning an additional PP for all staff training and of course attendance records for rigorous contact tracing we have done this following the medical and we will continue to respond to the risk as it emerges working closely with the chief medical officer of health of this province the next question the member for Thunder Bay at a coconut thank you speaker my question is for the premier 200 workers at the Bombardier plant in Thunder Bay are losing their jobs this fall Toronto needs new street cars and subways and we can make them in Thunder Bay what is this government doing to keep the plant running and put Bombardier staff back to work to reply on behalf of the government minister of transportation thank you mr. Speaker our government has unveiled and put into motion the most ambitious subway expansion program in the history of this province part of our subway extension program mr. Speaker enables the city of Toronto to fund the purchase of new vehicles that can be built and will be built at the Thunder Bay plant I've had the opportunity to speak directly to the mayor of Thunder Bay about this who is who understands that through our negotiations with the city of Toronto we have provided the ability for the city of Toronto to then put in orders with the Bombardier plant in Thunder Bay mr. Speaker we are working very hard to execute on our plan to get such shovels in the ground and to get vehicles built so that people across the GTA in York Region can be riding subways sooner thank you and the supplementary question well the mayor of Toronto says he has his share of the money put aside so I hope that this government will come forward and have theirs over a thousand people were working at the Bombardier plant last summer and now that number is way down more layoffs are coming and the province needs to get that plant running at full capacity soon when will this government ensure the Bombardier plant has the transit orders it needs so workers can get their jobs back thank you mr. Speaker and I'm so happy that the member opposite talked about funding our government has been very clear that we are supporting and investing in much needed transit infrastructure in the GTA and across this province what we need mr. Speaker is we need the federal government to come up with their 40% during the election the federal government the liberal party said that they supported our transit plans transit plans that have been endorsed by city council by vote of 22 to 3 by your regional council and by our government mr. Speaker what we need now and what I would ask the members opposite to do is to go to the federal liberals the federal government and say you need to show up at the table now we have been waiting for a response for our request for funding mr. Speaker we are confident that the federal government will get there but we could use the help of all the members in this house to call upon the federal to support Ontario's transit next question member for mr. Saga Malton mr. Speaker mr. Speaker as we know the COVID-19 has placed an incredible burden on business sector across Ontario and when we talk about northern Ontario it has put an incredible burden on businesses across all the sectors ecotourism for an example and the indigenous tourism had 622 million dollars contributed to GDP around 13,000 jobs over 550 businesses in 2019 and they have seen the losses over 300 million in revenue they have seen the losses of 4,000 jobs loss of around 150 businesses this is an example mr. Speaker COVID-19 restrictions and border closers made it almost impossible for this tourism outfitters to have a successful season can the minister please tell the how what our government is doing to support northern Ontario businesses during this difficult times thank you mr. Speaker the associate minister of small business thank you mr. Speaker and thank you to the member for mr. Saga Malton for his question especially mr. Speaker the member is absolutely right northern Ontario has been hit hard by COVID-19 and this pandemic that's why today our government launched the northern Ontario recovery program the NORP will deliver targeted funding to help businesses get back on track and adapt to the new normal businesses can apply to NORP for assistance immediately until the end of the year there will be new projects that help them adjust to the unique impacts of COVID-19 this includes projects like buildings and new construction customer employees safety installations or marketing for new business initiatives this has been a challenging time for many of us response but it is a true northern resiliency that has and will carry us through longer than ever before the supplementary question thank you mr. Speaker and thank you minister Sikarya for a wonderful answer and I would like to say thank you to our minister of energy northern development and mines for doing an incredible job I know that the companies across the north will appreciate the support being offered through the northern Ontario recovery program mr. Speaker we know that business owners are facing challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic many are adapting to new normal to keep their businesses open it is important that as a government we adopt adapt with them and offer them the support that they need will the minister please tell us why it is so critical to create these new funding programs for northern businesses thank you mr. Speaker thank you mr. Speaker the NOHFC has been a critical source of targeted investments in northern Ontario we have heard from many stakeholders like David McLaughlin the executive director of destination northern Ontario who stated recovery for northern Ontario is $1.6 billion tourism industry depends on the sector's successful adoption of new operating protocols to keep visitors, employees the northern Ontario recovery program goes a long way to assist northern Ontario's tourism entities with the cost to implement these new safety protocols we thank minister rickford and the northern Ontario heritage fund corporation for their continued support of the sector and in this special time of need and Debbie Nicholson the President of the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce also stated the Sudbury Chamber of Commerce welcomes northern Ontario recovery program announcement made by minister rickford as another opportunity to help it thank you very much next question thank you my question is to the minister of education parents of children with special needs always had to fight for the supports that they need in schools now education workers who help these children are stretched even more thinly and special needs students are supported they spoke with one parent whose child was held back in kindergarten instead of moving to grade one because the school cannot support the transition stories like these are all too common both before covid and now speaker when will this government make children with special needs a priority minister of education well thank you very much we're obviously very concerned about the impacts of covid 19 on children with mental health and special education needs of the province we appreciate that the lack of continuity and the disruption of covid has really impacted them it's the very basis speaker why this government has invested over 42 million dollars of net new funding to hire more EAs, to hire more ECEs and to provide more special education educators in the classroom in fact speaker we have well over 162 new EAs supporting special education children in our schools that is the hiring so far supported by 72 early childhood educators we appreciate speaker there's more to do it's why this province uniquely invested in mental health more than doubled mental health funding and we recognize speaker as we see the impacts we hear the feedback of parents and stakeholders we'll continue to be there as we've demonstrated to all schools and to all parents of the province of Ontario thank you speaker children with disabilities in our school system were already treated like an afterthought one parent in the Ottawa region shared that their child who has a hearing impairment has had their class collapsed into a much larger one and due to the added noise and masks is having a very difficult time understanding and following along this parent is upset about the lack of accommodations for children with special needs speaker when speaker why does this government always forget children with special needs particularly in our education system speaker minister of education speaker I take exception to that positioning because the investments because the investments the additional staffing and the new programs in place would demonstrate that this government is very much seized with the improvement of the quality of learning and also the mental resiliency of these children speaker I joined the minister just last week at Sir James Whitney school for the deaf in Belleville really a beautiful school an example of a community that is embracing the very best and embracing a message of inclusivity providing the highest standard of educational supports for those very kids we are fully committed to ensure that they succeed they are going to benefit from the additional 162 EAs funded and hired by the province by our investment and will continue to be there for all students in the province of Ontario thank you very much so further business this house stands in recess until 1pm


OTAM, Outreach and Technical Assistance Network. Good morning, I'm Melissa Patterson and I am the Director of Adult and Alternative Education Programs in Garden Grove Unified. And I am Elisa Takiyuchi, I'm an ESL instructor and because of D-Lect, I am now the Orientation Teacher. And I just wanted to say I'm really excited to be presenting this morning. My apologies, I will have to leave as soon as the presentation is done, but any of your questions I'm sure Elisa can answer. So in the adult education program, we are fortunate to have two campuses that we can offer classes and both are conveniently located to freeways and public transportation. So we currently have about 29 part-time teachers in all of our different departments of ESL, ABE, HSC, Vessel. We have an adults with disabilities class and our CTE classes. We have classes in the morning, in the afternoons and in the evenings. And surprisingly, since COVID, our afternoons have surprisingly increased in student population whereas before it was just mornings and evenings that had our highest population. And then now we also conduct two classes, three classes on Fridays. We have quite a diverse population ages 18 to 80, and we represent 14 different languages. As you can see, most of our students are in the ESL program, but we right now, we are proud to say we have close to 1,100 active students. This year we had close to 2,000 register and start with our program. That is down some due to obviously the restrictions of COVID and the challenges, but we're very proud that our programs have continued. Our high school diploma and equivalency classes have really grown. And we continue to partner with Senn and a college with automotive classes. And we look to the future to add more CTE classes. So because of D-LAC and the Ideal 101 course, it really benefited us as an agency. And especially because Melissa is our brand new director, I think that it really helped her to see our adult ed program in a very broad way. And then the Ideal course really helped us to narrow down our goals. Because as we all know, it can be overwhelming to try to figure out some goals, especially during this past year, because a lot of our goals were very short term. We need to get this done right now. We need to get this done within the next few weeks. It was hard for us to kind of see the future, especially a two-year program. And so the Ideal course really helped us to narrow down some of the goals that we really wanted to focus on. And so because of that course, we were able to narrow down some of the goals that we wanted to get done right away. And then for the future as well, we were able to support our teachers and our students in different ways that we didn't know that we would need to, especially because of online instruction. We were able to monitor their progress in a more efficient way with more data and just statistics and timelines. That really helped us a lot. I think Melissa really benefited from the specific chapter on Just for Administrators, which in my experience, it's not very common. You don't really see a lot of just administrator sections, and I feel that that really benefited for her. And then, of course, the feedback that we got from Destiny was invaluable. Just knowing that she was supporting us and having our back, answering our questions, she was always there for us, really comforted us. Yes, definitely. Thank you, Alisa. So many great things out of the Ideal 101 and D-LAC. And I was really anxious as a year one director in a new program to step into this team, but I'm so glad I did because it has really given me some tools, I think, to make some great changes here. So one of the most important things that we looked at was looking at improving our marketing. And so as I examined past practices of how we were marketing our program here, we used to make these beautiful color brochures and we mailed them out to every member of the City of Garden Grove. And as I looked at the marketing costs of that, of the printing and the mailing, we were over $10,000 in this investment. And I couldn't find anywhere in the data that this was actually bringing students into our program. And so with some support and tools that I learned in the spring, we did a postcard mail out. And what we did is we went back to three years of students who have been enrolled in our program at any time. We sent them out. We had three languages, Spanish, English, and Vietnamese. And the total cost of printing these beautiful postcards and mailing them out was just a little over $300. So that savings from over $10,000 to only $300. I was able to put that in other areas in the much needed technology area. So we've become even well informed, better informed, and we're super excited to be doing another mailer now to talk about our fall programs. We know that we'll put all of the languages on one postcard. So we've just learned so much there. In addition, what I learned through the program is talking directly to my fellow colleagues in the district. In Garden Grove, we have 67 TK12 sites. And so I wrote personal letters to every administrator and shared our brochures and guided them to the website. And I was able to step into their admin meetings and talk about our programs. And so we know now through Alisa's orientation class and our online registration, we asked people, how did you hear about our program? And both the postcards and the administrators in the district, word of mouth, have been our best investment. And then we were also able to, through Alisa, she made great connections to the city of Garden Grove and they partnered with us and put our website and our brochure up on their city website. So one of the major goals that we had for D-LAC was the orientation. We had previously had somewhat of an orientation where students would register and then they would get an appointment to take the CASAS tests, things like that. But it wasn't really anything that we standardized and really made sure that all students went through the same process and learned about our schools. What are the expectations from them? What are their expectations from us? And so I was able to develop a new slides orientation and invited students for either online or in-class orientation. So for the first bulk of the year until April, everything was online. All of our classes were remote, so all of our orientations were online. So I started the orientations in Zoom in January. And I was able to go through and introduce the students kind of the Zoom format because many of them have never been on Zoom. So that whole idea of what it would be like to be in a class in Zoom, what are, you know, how do they, can they hear me? Can I hear them? Do they know how to mute and unmute? Start their video, stop their video, chat. So I was able to practice and kind of preview what it would be like for their classes so that when they actually got enrolled into one of their classes, they were already familiar with the process. And then the teacher that took the burden off of the teachers a little bit. And then for in on April 5th, we invited, we welcomed our students back into the classroom if they wanted. So we asked our Zoom students, if anybody felt that they wanted to come back into the classroom, they were more than welcome to. And then any new students that registered, they had two pathways they could do online instruction or they could do in-class instruction. And from that, from the registration that I was able to either give them a Zoom orientation or the in-class orientation. The Zoom orientation took about 30 to 45 minutes, depending on how many students I had and what their text girls were needed. And the in-class orientation takes about 15 to 20 minutes. And we went through the process of checking their temperatures. They used our agency created QR code for a health screening every day. And then I was able to take them on a tour of our campus and show them exactly where to park and where their classroom was so that it was a seamless transition for their first day of school. Between January and April, we had about, I did about 87 online orientations. And then just in two months of our in-class, I did 67. So there was a really good discussion yesterday about, you know, how are we going to get students back into the classroom? There is kind of a need, but it is a slow process. So we need to be still a little bit patient about that. So this is just an example of what our Zoom classes looked like. This was kind of at my peak, you know, when we first started in March of last year, it was everything I could to try to get my students back in. I lost 50% of my attendance overnight. And then slowly as we got into about May or June, and then again in September when we started the new school year, I had about 25 students online. And now since April 5th, we have what's called Hyflex, where students are choosing their path, whether they go in-class or on Zoom. And so this is just a picture of my classroom. So here I have four in-class students, and then I have my Zoom class. And then that's my setup. There's a plexiglass separating us between myself and the in-class students. And then the in-class and the Zoom students can see on the projector what it is that I'm teaching that day. All right, and something else that really impacted us in a positive way was time with Dr. Porter and his strength-based leadership. So using and encouraging those strengths, it was great for Alisa and I to recognize those and also with our coach, Susan, and taking the five elements of a highly effective team because we were excited about all the changes. Now how are we going to take this out to the rest of the team? And so using those skills that we learned through Dr. Porter, and I think we've really, it's been so helpful. We've really been met with great acceptance and we see some other leaders sort of stepping up on our campus and taking these ideas and wanting to run with them and really setting a culture for change and learning as a new director coming on and looking at past practices and what are some things that we really need to do, especially now that we're in such a pivotal time to change academics and really be here for the members of our community and helpful tips on handling conflict and then also empowering our communication skills. And then of course, the challenges and barriers that I know all of you can relate to are time and money. First is starting with Alisa and I carving out time. We're both very busy and so we found ourselves on Friday nights and Sunday afternoons meeting and talking, we set up time on Mondays, but sometimes things happened and we weren't able to always meet. And then of course, money. We wanted to make some changes and we needed to do some immediate changes, but then where's the money to make that happen? And I think on the next one, so the changes from just the admin point of view really were first and foremost was to get technology in the hands of our teachers. Many of them had never used a laptop. They were still on desktops and to zoom and go into the high flex model. So we needed to do that. We also needed to get technology for our students. We set up a technology checkout program for the first time and piloted that. As our district said, that teachers were mandated to come back to campus. I was busy preparing a safe classroom environment, making them feel comfortable, letting them know I was really concerned of their health and wellbeing. And then also when the district said, okay, now you've got to open doors to students. And then we needed to get the appropriate technology to do that as well, not just laptops, but we needed projectors and document cameras and all kinds of hubs and wiring and things to happen. So we also had to get creative with testing. As we all know, that's the bread and butter to our programs. And so how were we gonna do this safely? And then empowering our marketing skills, taking it to the next level, thinking about what are we gonna do to get more people back as the fall semesters around the corner. And then we moved all of our registration completely online. And that was huge. That saved hours of clerical time and old-fashioned triplicate paper. And this is just a more streamlined, easy, convenient data collecting, all languages. And it just really changed everything about our program. And then continuing with that professional development and using technology correctly. And so from the teacher's point of view, we went into three phases. First was survival. When COVID first hit and our school was shut down, I mean, overnight, it was literally like all the teachers pretty much scrambled to try to reach out to their students as best as they could, as best as the teacher's knowledge could, and then also as far as the tech for the students. So that meant everything from texting to calling to trying to email and then just trying to do anything that we could to connect with the students to say, hey, we're still here. Come back if you feel comfortable online. And then phase two was the new school year, September of this school year, and really kind of streamlining everything that the teachers were going to do as far as the agency, as far as our program goes. And that also meant being in the classroom for two and a half hours each class. So some of us were teaching two classes. So that was five hours of Zoom every day. And what did that mean for us as teachers and as for the students? So really being mindful about taking breaks in between, not the really long ones where students leave and come back, but just even just closing your eyes and relaxing for a few minutes and kind of getting your mind away from the computer. And so that was super beneficial for both teachers and for students. And then now with phase three, it's our high flex where now we are welcoming students back into our classroom and what does that mean for the teachers? How do we set up our classrooms? How do we feel comfortable with the safety procedures that were in place? And so that's moving on into, now we'll be going into our next phase of the fall, which is yet to be determined. And so on our next steps, we are continuing with our marketing. We are going to really, like Melissa had said, we are going to take our postcards. We had three separate postcards for different languages and now we're just going to combine them into one. So every household or every house that we're going to send them to, we'll get just one. And we will continue with the recruitment and screening. We will revamp the orientation. So the orientation that I had developed was, it's good for what it was right now, but now we also can see that there's a lot of improvement that could be made with it. And one of the challenges that I had was really screening the students. Now that they have a choice between in-class and online is kind of vetting them. If they're choosing Zoom, but their tech skills are not quite there and they're not ready yet to go into a classroom, then we're actually going to have some tech support for them so they'll go through some other classes and learn how to be a little bit more tech savvy before they enter in. Or we can also just encourage them to go into the classroom if they feel comfortable. For the orientation also, we're going to combine the orientation with so registration orientation and COSIS test, all in one because the COSIS test, the pre-test really hit us hard and we didn't start doing them until almost March. So that was really late for us. And so now we're having a hustle to try to get the post-tests in. So we'll definitely revamp that. We are continuing with our tech support for staff and students. And then because this is a WASC year for us, we'll have our WASC in October. So we are going to align all of the things that we've been learning with our D-LAC goals, our WASC goals and our SIP goals. And that's really been piggybacking on each of them. So that's really benefited us. So we just appreciate it. We're very thankful for the D-LAC program. We appreciate all the support that OTAN has given us, Dr. Porter and Destiny. And if anybody has questions or comments, I'd love to hear from you.


I've changed, and I don't have a skeleton in my closet from the point of my stand. I'm not saying that I'm a saint, but I don't do those saints. In the early 1990s, Reverend Jesse Lee Peterson began his ministry as a student of Roy Masters, a British-born talk radio personality and hypnotist. Peterson and Masters promoted a similar system of meditation and theology, a system that includes rejecting the Holy Trinity and our blessed Lord's divinity. But thanks to the feckless and spiritually absent bishops, Jesse's theological errors didn't keep him from gaining tens of thousands of Catholic and patriotic followers. Jesse's draw for conservatives was his commentary against the Marxist group Black Lives Matter.  When do we want it now? Peers into blankets, fry them like bacon, and people went out and started killing cops and everything. Exploiting many angry American men's desires for a stable family life, Jesse would directly call out feminists for their role in destroying the family as well.  The 73-year-old even visited the church militant's studio in March when senior executive producer Michael Voris answered his questions about Catholicism. Did Jesus just rise from the dead in spirit, or did his body come out also? Well, that's a big deal. He rose in the spirit. No, he rose in the body. So he rose in the body. You can't say he didn't walk out of the tomb on a Sunday. And from what we knew at the time, Jesse was an ardent opponent of homosexuality in and outside the church and presented himself as such. The spirit of homosexuality is of their father the devil. It's not them, the person. It's the spirit that made a home in them. And it came from them overreacting to some sort of a situation in life, whether it's from someone messing with them when they were kids or overreacting to an angry mother because you become like what you hate. But shortly after the March interview, friends of his came to us with a different story. These stories first came to light when Jesse's former co-host and alleged decade-long gay lover exposed him. 61-year-old Patrick Rooney has known Jesse for nearly 30 years, dating back to roughly 1992. Everybody know Patrick Rooney, one of the smartest white men on this side of heaven. The two were so close that Jesse was the minister at his wedding and the pastor at his baptism, long before Rooney claimed any homosexual activities began. Right around that time I also had started a TV show. I was doing a public access TV show in LA and with a friend of mine who had gotten off heroin and he asked me to be involved in the show to help other people get off drugs and things like that. So we started the show and one of our first guests was Jesse and another gentleman from Bond. We did a couple shows with them. And from that time forward, right after the show happened, Jesse and I talked in the green room backstage and right off the bat he started asking me stuff. Jesse's very forward with his questioning and things like that.  Rooney's characterization shows that Jesse allegedly used similar grooming tactics as other homo predators. Like Saginaw priest Father Robert DeLand who asked similar questions when preying on a young man in 2017. To discover that you have some gay tendencies is a fine thing. Because then you don't have to be so confused. Do you feel less confused? Yeah. After Jesse discovered Rooney's same-sex attraction, his relationship with Jesse was taken to the next level. Bit by bit, Jesse began edging him closer and closer to sin. Once he moved up there to do the show and stayed in the same house, Jesse would kind of do some things, kind of horse play and stuff like that with me. And at times he would do stuff where he would like grab me and then we'd kind of wrestle around a little bit. And I'd feel his private parts against me. And he did that more than once. So it wasn't like an accidental thing. He would kind of do it and then I even mentioned it like, you know, what's that or whatever. And he would kind of play around and joke about it. Fast forward to 2005 and Jesse was ready to make his final move. We did a conference with them called Moral Reconstruction which is kind of ironic now that we're sitting here talking about something else. It's called Moral Reconstruction. We did that, that first conference was I believe in 2005. And we did a follow-up conference in 2006 with them as well. And I went with Jesse to Washington D.C. for this conference. I was a fundraiser at the time. And so we did fundraising and I was part of the conference. While we were at the conference, we stayed in Virginia near D.C. So we were sitting on the bed together and all of a sudden he turned to me and just looked at me and he said, What do you want to do? What do you want to do? And he said it in a tone that was really insistent. And I'd never seen this tone from him before. It was like kind of scary. It kind of scared me. Like what? What do you want to do? I knew what he meant and then I told him, Okay, at first I'm scared and I'm like, Okay, well I'm playing along here. It kind of threw me off my game I guess in a way. I think later I realized that's kind of something that people do sometimes. It's like the devil works in a certain way by intimidating you.  And so he said, What do you want to do? And he's like, Okay, I'm scared. And then I said, I told him what I want to do. I mentioned sex acts. He knew about that. I had already talked to him about that. I was interested.  And I did the same. The next thing you know, we're fully at it. Not to get into detail here, but basically full on sexual acts.  I love you. I love you too. I know. What are we going to do? I don't know. No, what are we going to do? Rooney's description shows that after their sexual encounter, Jesse began intertwining his private homosexualism with blasphemy. After we had just done the first sexual act, and then ever since then, he told me that once we did this, I was born again. This sounds crazy, but this is the absolute truth. He said that I was born again. He would have reminded me of that through the years. Following being born again, Rooney contends that his sodomitic relationship with Peterson went on for roughly 10 years, until Rooney decided to come clean to his wife and son. My son was really angry. My son was mostly angry at me, because he had Jesse on such a pedestal. My son had Jesse on such a pedestal, he literally thought Jesse could walk on water.  You're lying. You know you're lying. And he finally came out and admitted to my son that he did that. Rooney later moved to Florida to get away from Jesse, but according to Rooney, Jesse couldn't handle the relationship ending, offering him several bribes to get him back to LA.  In the case of Father DeLand, it was now deceased Saginaw Bishop Joseph Sistone, who remains silent on DeLand's abuse for years. While serving as an auxiliary bishop in Philadelphia in 1994, Sistone allegedly watched as documents containing names of up to 64 suspected sex abusers were shredded, earning him the nickname Bishop Shredder among the U.S. bishops. According to Rooney, for Jesse and those loyal to him, the strategy was to bully and silence all victims and witnesses speaking up. Jesse did throw me under the bus, basically, and other people that did anything like that, and still does. If anybody comes up with it, they'll keep anybody off the air. You're talking about other victims? Yeah, other victims, and he'll make sure that if anybody talks about these things, calls up his show or does anything like that, they were not going to get through on the show. Patrick explained how easy it was for Jesse to discredit victims, given Bond's history of seeking out troubled young men. A lot of the people Jesse brings around him are troubled young men. They have drug problems, right? Some of them been in jail. So it's pretty easy to discredit the guy who's been on drugs, maybe in jail or something like that. It's a pretty rotten thing to do. Beginning last November, Rooney began writing a collection of blog posts hinting at Jesse's predation, leading him to a shocking discovery. After I published these articles, I found out from a young man, a very credible young man, that Jesse was fooling around with this young man. That young man was 30-year-old Samuel Arambula, a more recent member of Bond and Jesse's latest known purported victim. I started going to Bond around May 2020. 2020. This was during a coronavirus lockdowns, everything. As soon as they opened back, they were doing live, broadcasted, no in-person church for like two months or two weeks or something like that. But as soon as it opened up, I went. That was May 2020. Jesse, what he likes to do in the church is he goes around first-timers. He goes around first-timers and says, introduce yourself, what's your name? How'd you find us? Where are you here? The first thing I said, my name is Samuel and I'm here because you help me a lot. I wouldn't forget my mom. I wouldn't forget my dad. I had a lot of anger and I just dropped that and I feel way better now. I'm really growing and I want to thank you for it. Among him are three other alleged witnesses and victims who also chose to tell their stories. Samuel began his relationship with Jesse professionally, washing cars for him and doing other cleaning work at what they call the Bond House. The Bond House is where Jesse and several of his male staff currently live. And when Samuel began opening up to Jesse about his past, things got personal. I was molested as a boy, so I was like, Jesse, what do I do? This is way heavy on me. What should I do? He said, forgive him, it's in the past. Our relationship progressed slowly, closer and closer. I didn't suspect anything weird of it. There were certain times where he began hugging me where I was like, oh, I've never been hugged by a man. What was this? But I was like, this is good. He would just tell me, I just love you.  But much like with Patrick Rooney, Samuel states things went from casually close to mortally sinful. So Friday afternoon evening, I go to Jesse's house and I am sitting in his couch, relaxing. You know, I'm kind of avoiding the LA traffic at the peak hour. So it's a good, it's a good deal. And I get to stay somewhere with someone that I respect, friends. So then by this point, we're already real comfortable with like hugging and all that stuff. You know, just hugging for a long period of time. I thought nothing weird of it. I guess my guard had already been let down completely. So I'm sitting in this couch.  And I'm like, okay, this is kind of weird, but I'm like, Jesse, what are you doing? And he's like, I just love you so much. And I'm like, okay, I guess. I was just like this. So then he starts rubbing my thighs and I'm like, okay, what are you doing? Like, it's kind of crazy. And then he starts rubbing my genital area and I'm like, what's happening right now?  I'm not saying anything.  And then there, Jesse instructed Samuel to go into his so-called meditation called the silent prayer. And he's like, doubt all thoughts, all thoughts are lies. Everything Satan is telling you is alive. And I'm like, okay, but inside is telling me, hey, this is not good. What are, what are you doing? What are you allowing him to do? Samuel describes Jesse abusing the supposed meditative state, trying to convince Samuel to ignore the traumatic sexual experience occurring. Now for a few minutes, he would get up, walk away. I could hear him, I couldn't see him.  And I was like, what's going on? So then I opened my eyes and then I'm like, what just happened? Another alleged victim was Trayvon Chapman, who in 2015 told his friend, now 43-year-old Arman Martikian, that Jesse molested him.  And I say, you know, he can be saying this, you know, like, he's all against it. He's a, you know, straight conservative man, who, you know, this is like, what you're saying is bizarre, you know, doesn't make sense. But at the same time, it kind of strike me as a truth. What this guy was saying, he was explaining the incidents, like certain acts that they would do. They had some nicknames, Jesse had nicknames for, you know, say, instead of telling what the act is, he, say, named it oral massage, according to Trayvon. Arman tried to tell Jesse what Trayvon said, and he just dismissed it. I went to Jesse. I said, Jesse, I bumped into Trayvon and he was talking bad things about you. The moment I said that, his first response was, oh, he's on drugs. When he said he's on drugs, shivers went down my spine, like, aren't you going to ask what he said about me? Trayvon has since disappeared. None of the men have any idea of his current whereabouts, though they assume he's still somewhere in LA. After this encounter, Arman began questioning his own relationship with Jesse. And then I had a flashback. Back in the day, it was such an insignificant thing that it never stayed in my memory, but for some reason, the flashback had, when I was in a private counseling, he kind of gestured me, let me see down there, pointing at my, referring to my, you know, down there as in my privates, not knowing what was about, I'm at very late teens at that moment, you know, like kind of got tricked into it, pulled my pants forward, where he kind of looked at it. But at the same time, I'm thinking like, maybe he's trying to see if I'm shy, he's trying to help me overcome shyness, because I was a little shy, you know? I didn't know what to make of it. I remember saying, if somebody sees us from outside, they're going to think we're gay, I said. Later, I looked back, thought that the fact that I said, if somebody sees us, they're going to think we're gay, he kind of probably thought that, okay, his tool, where I'm not going to advance any longer. Former Bond House manager, 50-year-old Robert Santner, alleges he witnessed similarly strange behavior in 2021, between Jesse and current Bond producer, James Hake. What I witnessed him, him and Jesse, were hugging each other intensely, rubbing each other's shoulder down stuff, and he came to a point where I actually saw him kissing him on the cheek. Kissing him on the cheek and stuff, on the hallway, and talking all kinds, I can't remember what the words he said, but there were a lot of giggling, a lot of giggling in the hallway, in his James' room, and then there was even one time that just really shocked a living hell out of me, as I went to the laundry room, after I took the laundry out, and then when I got out, and there was a door open in Jesse's room, and there I saw, Jesse was sitting in the bed, and while James Hake was wrapped around bed sheets, completely around like a burrito with his head sticking out, and Jesse was embracing him and hugging him and stuff, and then kissing him on the forehead, and I was like, are you all right? Hake, to this day, is an ardent defender of Jesse and his ministry, essentially helping him ostracize all the men accusing Jesse of homopredation. Santner also described an incident where Jesse attempted grooming him to see if he was a homosexual. Then it was one night, okay? I was all by myself, it was like late night, after I came home from work, I was in the kitchen, doing my own thing and stuff, and then suddenly there was Jesse appeared on the doorway, leaning against the doorway with his hand underneath his underpants, and he was slowly massaging himself, and was giving me a look, and I turned around and said, what the heck are you doing? And he was giving me a smile and stuff and then walked away. Another witness is Martin Francis, who's largely been leading the charge against Jesse's purported homopredation. He describes himself as one of Jesse's best friends. You may recognize Francis from a video with Jesse arguing with a Univision reporter at a Prop 187 rally in Los Angeles in 1996, a rally opposing the flood of illegal aliens entering the state. Are you all right? Are you okay? Oh, I'm feeling better than ever. You all right? Yes, I'm all right.  Am I what? What do you think of these people now? Why? Why are you staying here?  Am I racist? Yeah. No, I'm not a racist. Why do you ask that? But since learning of Jesse's dark secret, Francis has led several protests against Peterson's homosexuality outside of the Bond studio. Jesse was confronted by him several times this year and refused to address any of the accusations of him praying on young men at Bond. Here's a video of Francis from March. Facing off with him, it would appear to be the post office across the street from the Bond studio. You know the guy who speaks with his brother's wife. Oh, that's nice. He wants me to tell them how I was sleeping with my brother's wife. That's fine. But Jesse, why would you not speak on your homosexual behaviors? Francis confronted him again in the back of the building with Armand Martikian in February, capturing it all on video. It's Jesse Peterson. I've known you for 25 years personally. Will you come? See, he's not coming over to me. Will you at least stand there where you feel safe and talk to me? Stand up on your porch with the door open and shout out to me. Why won't you talk to me? I've known you for 25 years. I've accused you of heinous things and you will not talk to me. You coward! Francis admits there were also a few clues that should have revealed Jesse was a homosexual long before he ever found out. He wanted to see if I was willing to have a homosexual relationship with him, of course, because that's what he was all about. He was about putting out feelers there and seeing who he could have sex with. And it didn't work with me because I had not been molested as a boy. And so eventually I told him, look, Jesse, I'm just an angry guy and I don't like these long hugs and all this stuff we're doing, you know, at night. And did he stop? Where he would come into my bed and just lay with me, you know? He would come into your bed and just lay with you? Yes. And at one time even, like, put his hand underneath my underwear to go toward my genitals, right? He never got there because he could see I wasn't getting excited. So he never got there. He just, like, at the edge, you know, because you gotta invite the vampire in is what they say in the vampire movies and it's sort of true with even psychic vampires like Jesse. And so he would do those kind of tricks or put his hand around my back and up on my chest and be hugging and all that kind of stuff just to see if maybe I could and asking me if how does it feel and it feels good, right? And all that kind of stuff. And I would meekly answer, yeah, it feels good. But only because when you're under that kind of pressure you just give the answer that he wants but you're really like wanting to get the heck out of there.  Jesse appears to have used every dirty trick in the book to silence him, allegedly trying to have Francis arrested for violating an unserved restraining order. I will go back to Phoenix and chill out with the relatives like I was doing before back on the 25th. 25th, yeah. Yes. Yes, if it was already served you'd already seen it. Church Militant asked every single victim and witness if they thought Jesse would continue sexually preying on men and they all had the same answer. Well, yeah, I would say yes. Oh, there's no doubt in my mind. There's no doubt that there's current victims. I think for sure. Jesse allegedly accuses these men of harassment but some members of his own congregation disagree like former Bond House tenant Fabian Asensio. The harassing is just an excuse for, you know, trying to shut people down. Bond has been a non-profit church for all these years. He's lied and collected a lot of money from that church, from people saying that, you know, he's been a hidden homosexual. There's plenty of evidence for it. There's no reason for us to make up anything. So for someone to be out there in the alley and talking and trying to wake up the employees and say, hey, what are you doing? Why are you still working for this liar? That's totally within our First Amendment rights. Jim Valerio, long-time donor and friend of Jesse's, also pushed back at his defenders. And for those of you people who are still supporting this so-called fraudulent, hypocritical, serial predator, homosexual, you are going to pay a price for that. That is a stain on your soul when you meet your creator. Period. Cut. This isn't even the first incident.  After the tweet was left up for hours, Jesse's account was immediately locked down and set to private. One caller on his daily JLP show broadcast tried asking him about it, and Peterson hung up on him. Did you lock your Twitter account because you got caught liking a gay-only fan post? Amazing. Do you think I handed my own Twitter stuff? Oh, somebody else did it? How come you locked the account? None of your business. What?  No, but it doesn't really matter.  You know all that stuff that's going on is not real, but you're being a girl right now. What making you be a girl right now? There's nothing wrong with it, Jesse.  They were in... Goodbye. On top of those we spoke to, there were several other anonymous alleged victims church militant was made aware of who refused to speak with us per their devotion to Peterson and his so-called ministry. Jesse continues to deny his own actions to his congregants and his fans, shutting down any victims who stand in his way. For Church Militant Special Assignment, I'm Joseph Enders, Detroit.


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